Before starting to work at the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) last fall, I hadn’t really had much interaction with feminists and women’s health and rights issues outside of the global north. I had traveled internationally to work and lecture, but my travel had been limited to Western Europe (not that I’m complaining, getting paid to go to Europe and talk about sex on the same bill as Annie Sprinkle is pretty amazing). My work in academia had also been very local – I have a masters in American Studies.
So to say that this job and the perspectives I’ve been introduced to has been a kick in the ass might be a bit of an understatement. I do know a lot of stuff – but wow, there is so so much stuff that I don’t know. So I’ve been on a bit of a quest to get educated about women’s health and rights in the regions in which IWHC has partners: Asia, Africa, and Latin America. That’s no small task – and so far, what I’ve realized is mostly that I don’t know anything. The framework I’ve been educated with is a rights-based approach that values individuality and the choices of women, an approach that trusts women to know what’s best for themselves, and has prepared me to listen to women’s stories, which in turn should inform policy, research, and academic work. Which is all well and good, but also very much embedded in the concept of individuality that Americans hold so high.
I want to be useful – probably most of the people reading this blog feel that way too.
But being useful to women in faraway lands is very different than being useful to women in my immediate community. And so, I’ve been learning and relearning the power of listening, of support, and getting out of the way when necessary (which is a lot of the time).
Back in February I attended my first board meeting at IWHC and I got the chance to interview Mabel Bianco, who until recently was our Board Vice Chair. Mabel is a medical doctor by training and is the founder and president of the Foundation for the Study and Investigation of Women (FEIM), a research and advocacy organization based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that has advised both government and civil society on women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights since 1989. Suffice to say, she’s pretty amazing. Since she’s on her way out of being on the Board, I was charged with the task of asking Mabel about her involvement with IWHC over the years and her initial impressions of the organization when she met our founders, Adrienne Germain and Joan Dunlop. She leapt into talking about the tension between feminists from the global north and women from the global south, and the suspicion that women from the global south rightfully have about helpful feminists (and their NGOs) from the global north. She was impressed with Adrienne and Joan, but the history of helpful-cum-imperialistic organizations from the global north is hard to live down. In this one minute video, Mabel gives her three tips for how advocates from the global north can be supportive of women from the global south.
An earlier version of this post can be found on Akimbo as Supportive Advocacy and Solidarity.