The Gender at Work Podcast

How do you break up violent ways of behaving and the exercise of power over? How do change what is considered normal? How do you create a new culture that values others no matter how different they are? A community in Gauteng, South Africa, supported by Gender at Work and the Labor Research Service, launched an initiative called Letsema 5 years ago to end gender based violence in their community. In this episode, they tell us about the dialogues they had across very different people and groups ranging from gang leaders to traditional leaders to gay and lesbian members of their community. They recount the healing processes they learned about and used to build their confidence to say, "we have the solutions within our own means." Join us and listen to their stories told with open hearts.

We are living in a time, which adrienne marie brown describes as apocalyptic - a time that demands that we draw our imagination to think beyond what is politically possible, which she says is "simply not enough". What does feminist leadership look like in such times? In this episode, we talk to two globally recognized, inspiring feminist warriors from South Africa, Pregs Govender, a former ANC member of parliament and Deputy Human Rights Commissioner, and Phumi Mtetwa, an award winning anti-apartheid, gay rights and AIDS activist, on what it takes to be active within this co-existence of apocalypse and utopia. Drawing on her book, Love and Courage: A story of Insubordination, Pregs talks of what it means to build a revolution of love grounded in human dignity and rights. Phumi talks of how insubordination was central to her emergence as a young South African lesbian leader. Both discuss how they have fought structures and systems of discrimination and exclusion to build toward a feminist vision of a just and equitable world, to interweave relationships of resilience and ways they practice insubordinate leadership now.

This episode walks us through Catherine Claxton's story, which has been assembled by G@W Senior Associate Joanne Sandler and Julie Thompson, both long time UN staffers. Catherine's lawyers -- Mary Dorman and Ellen Yaroshefsky -- recount the events that led Catherine, a junior UN staffer, to charge an Undersecretary General with sexual abuse. What unfolded in response mirrors the Me Too stories of today. Patriarchy closed ranks around the perpetrator and demanded allegiance to authority from those in the system; attempts were made to discredit the complainant – in this case, Catherine - and bury her in bureaucratic legalese as she sought to use the existing mechanisms and processes of adjudication to seek justice; and when all the evidence was in and a third party judgement came in favoring her, the UN buried the report. Finally the perpetrator was fired and was given a glorious send off. Sound familiar? Is this what justice looks like in cases of sexual harassment and abuse? How do we impeach patriarchy and hold it accountable? Listen in and tell us what you think.

At a time when conservative, fundamentalist and fascist forces appear to achieving political dominance, the need for progressive movements to build strong alliances and collective resistance appears paramount – yet, few such alliances are visible and sustaining cross-movement solidarity is very hard work. This episode explores why this is the case, what are the fault lines, and some success stories of cross-movement alliances and the lessons we can learn from them.

Participants include: Aruna Rao (moderator); Roselyn Odoyo (Roxy), Queer Rights Activist, Kenya; Daysi Flores, Just Associates (JASS) Mesoamerica, Honduras; Alex Bradley, JASS, USA; Rupsa Mallik, CREA, India.

Gender at Work and CREA co-developed a podcast series on feminists rethinking politics and resistance, reimagining change and transformation and rebooting struggles and movements. We asked participants at CREA's Re-conference in Nepal - artists, performers, writers, activists, policy makers, film makers and many others from the disability rights, sex worker rights, environmental rights, sexual and reproductive rights and queer movements from around the world - to reflect on a series of provocative questions: How are you responding to criminalization? How are you standing up to threats to critical thinking, freedom of expression, right to organize and protest, and suppression of rights? How are artists, activists and movements on the margins addressing issues of exclusion and inclusion in more intersectional ways? In the face of progressive terminology, how can we rethink language and terminology so as to shape new strategies, narratives and advocacy? Why and how do we need to reimagine ideas around consent, pleasure and danger? How can we reboot cross- movement alliance building for greater collective voice and impact?

All episodes were recorded at the CREA Re-conference in Nepal in April 2019.

This episode examines why we need to reimagine prevailing ideas around consent, pleasure and danger as embedded in our laws, social norms, and feminist movement politics. The discussion explores why pleasure needs to be moved from the margins of feminist agendas to be viewed as integral to dismantling patriarchy; why the connections between pleasure and danger must be rethought; and why consent must be disconnected from a protectionist approach that denies the agency and right to choice of individuals.

Participants in this episode are: Aruna Rao (moderator); Dipika Srivastava, TARSHI, India; Solome Nakaweesi, Independent Consultant, Uganda; Subha Wijesiriwardena, Women & Media Collective, Sri Lanka; and Kawira Mwirichia, Artist & Curator, Kenya.

Gender at Work and CREA co-developed a podcast series on feminists rethinking politics and resistance, reimagining change and transformation and rebooting struggles and movements. We asked participants at CREA's Re-conference in Nepal - artists, performers, writers, activists, policy makers, film makers and many others from the disability rights, sex worker rights, environmental rights, sexual and reproductive rights and queer movements from around the world - to reflect on a series of provocative questions: How are you responding to criminalization? How are you standing up to threats to critical thinking, freedom of expression, right to organize and protest, and suppression of rights? How are artists, activists and movements on the margins addressing issues of exclusion and inclusion in more intersectional ways? In the face of progressive terminology, how can we rethink language and terminology so as to shape new strategies, narratives and advocacy? Why and how do we need to reimagine ideas around consent, pleasure and danger? How can we reboot cross- movement alliance building for greater collective voice and impact?

All episodes were recorded at the CREA Re-conference in Nepal in April 2019.

Language is often the medium through which exclusion, stigma and invisibilisation of certain groups, experiences and identities is normalised and justified. This podcast discusses whether and why language and terminology matter, how new words and frames can be created in diverse cultural contexts to claim power, presence and voice, and analyses the hijacking of progressive feminist language by conservative political movements.

Participants in this episode include: Aruna Rao (moderator); Jayanthi Kuru, Independent Consultant, Sri Lanka; Shalini Singh and Srilatha Batliwala of CREA, India; Rudo Chigudu Warrier, Artist-Activist, Zimbabwe; and Cynthia Rothschild, Independent Consultant, USA.

Gender at Work and CREA co-developed a podcast series on feminists rethinking politics and resistance, reimagining change and transformation and rebooting struggles and movements. We asked participants at CREA's Re-conference in Nepal - artists, performers, writers, activists, policy makers, film makers and many others from the disability rights, sex worker rights, environmental rights, sexual and reproductive rights and queer movements from around the world - to reflect on a series of provocative questions: How are you responding to criminalization? How are you standing up to threats to critical thinking, freedom of expression, right to organize and protest, and suppression of rights? How are artists, activists and movements on the margins addressing issues of exclusion and inclusion in more intersectional ways? In the face of progressive terminology, how can we rethink language and terminology so as to shape new strategies, narratives and advocacy? Why and how do we need to reimagine ideas around consent, pleasure and danger? How can we reboot cross- movement alliance building for greater collective voice and impact?

All episodes were recorded at the CREA Re-conference in Nepal in April 2019.

Social power and injustice are often expressed and experienced through inclusion and exclusion. This episode explores what constitutes inclusion or exclusion, who are the most excluded groups and identities, and how diverse constituencies are connecting to challenge their marginalisation. The role of creative people in raising awareness about exclusionary politics is also explored.

Participants in this episode are Aruna Rao (moderator), Janet Price, Independent Activist, UK/New Zealand; Thea Khoury, AFEMENA, Lebanon; Gabrielle le Roux, Artist-Activist, South Africa; Nthabisend [Babalwa] Mokoena, Intersex Activist, South Africa; and Dada Ben Azouz, Artist, Tunisia.

Gender at Work and CREA co-developed a podcast series on feminists rethinking politics and resistance, reimagining change and transformation and rebooting struggles and movements. We asked participants at CREA's Re-conference in Nepal - artists, performers, writers, activists, policy makers, film makers and many others from the disability rights, sex worker rights, environmental rights, sexual and reproductive rights and queer movements from around the world - to reflect on a series of provocative questions: How are you responding to criminalization? How are you standing up to threats to critical thinking, freedom of expression, right to organize and protest, and suppression of rights? How are artists, activists and movements on the margins addressing issues of exclusion and inclusion in more intersectional ways? In the face of progressive terminology, how can we rethink language and terminology so as to shape new strategies, narratives and advocacy? Why and how do we need to reimagine ideas around consent, pleasure and danger? How can we reboot cross- movement alliance building for greater collective voice and impact?

All episodes were recorded at the CREA Re-conference in Nepal in April 2019.

Various narratives, social norms and political agenda underlie the criminalisation of people based on their gender identities, sexual expression, reproductive choices or occupation (such as sex work). This podcast explores the impacts of this approach not only on these groups, but on societies as a whole, and the nature of resistance to criminalisation. Participants for this episode are: Aruna Rao, Lady Grew, Sara Hossain, Estefania Vela Barba and Mindy Roseman.

Gender at Work and CREA co-developed a podcast series on feminists rethinking politics and resistance, reimagining change and transformation and rebooting struggles and movements. We asked participants at CREA's Re-conference in Nepal - artists, performers, writers, activists, policy makers, film makers and many others from the disability rights, sex worker rights, environmental rights, sexual and reproductive rights and queer movements from around the world - to reflect on a series of provocative questions: How are you responding to criminalization? How are you standing up to threats to critical thinking, freedom of expression, right to organize and protest, and suppression of rights? How are artists, activists and movements on the margins addressing issues of exclusion and inclusion in more intersectional ways? In the face of progressive terminology, how can we rethink language and terminology so as to shape new strategies, narratives and advocacy? Why and how do we need to reimagine ideas around consent, pleasure and danger? How can we reboot cross- movement alliance building for greater collective voice and impact?

All episodes were recorded at the CREA Re-conference in Nepal in April 2019.

It's almost 25 years since the landmark women's conference held in Beijing in 1995. What did women achieve at Beijing and what are some of the key new and unfinished feminist agendas? In this podcast Joanne Sandler, the former Deputy Director of Unifem and current senior associate G@W starts us off by tracing some of the intentions, magic and results from Beijing. Then we discuss the new and unfinished agendas in the area of LGBTQ rights, economic inequality and disarmament and human security with Menaka Guruswamy, from Columbia University who spearheaded the historic LGBT rights victory in the Indian Supreme court, Vasuki Nesiah from New York University who specializes in issues of public international law, human rights and economic justice; and Ray Acheson, who heads the disarmament program of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

There is no greater time than now, when we are experiencing a tremendous pushback against women's rights and women's rights defenders, to search for new and powerful ways to express ourselves and advocate for change. In this episode, we meet three powerhouse artists and activists: former Ford model and philanthropist, Monica Watkins, Australian singer-songwriter Jess McAvoy, and no-bounds visual artist/activist Sarita Kvam. Their narratives speak strongly to the human condition, what drives individuals to speak truth to power, and what roles art can play in today's movements, women's empowerment in particular. Join with us in this special episode to learn from these mighty change makers tied together through art and love - and the freedom that ensues when you bring them together.