Weaving territories for dignity here and there

29 October to 3 November we celebrate Weaving Territories 2022, meeting of migrant activists and women defenders for dignity here and there, The event was led by Central American women migrant activists and human rights defenders who promote this movement locally and globally.

It was a very intense day, full of learning, dialogue and sharing,  moments of reflection and, why not, moments of enjoyment and dancing, because we believe that part of our activism is to take care of ourselves and to be happy.

Cross-border dialogues of Central American women migrant activists and defenders

As part of this meeting, on 30 October, we held a space for dialogue to share knowledge and experiences of Central American and migrant women activists living in Spain in which we talked about issues such as:

• The precarious conditions experienced by women working in the domestic and care sector in Spain. 
• The difficulties of the law on foreigners to have a dignified life. 
• How being a migrant in Spain means reinventing one's life, constantly “looking for it”. 
• Migratory mourning is also seen as colonial mourning.
• How joining groups has provided them with tools, training on their rights, psychological support and guidance on immigration procedures. 
• The various reasons why some have been forced to migrate, such as repression in their countries of origin.
• The challenges faced by women human rights defenders in their work in Abya Yala.

“Our bodies are expropriated. In Mayan cosmogony, bodies are made to be happy. Illegality over bodies is one of the forms of territorial violence, of the territory of the body”.  Lorena Cabnal

Public event in Bilbao 

On 2 November we met at the Hika Ateneo in Bilbao with the objective of to make visible and reflect collectively on the issues that had been discussed internally in the previous days.

• What it is like to live in a system that reproduces inequality, in which migrant women become prey to white subordination.
• How political migration is experienced.
• How racialised migrant bodies do not feel their needs are represented in the trans law being discussed in the Spanish Parliament.
• The lack of visibility of migrant women who work here to support many white feminists.
• Recognise the powerful voices that migrant women have in Spain.
• The sense of communality that migrant women have, and how they are coming together to share and create a community that Western society does not provide.
• Recognition of the plurality we have and the ways in which we are different. 

Meetings 

During their visit to Bilbao, a group of  women human rights defenders accompanied by Calala met with Elankidetza - Basque Agency for Development Cooperation in order to to tell them first-hand about their work in Central America and the contexts and challenges that frame their work there.

Public event in Madrid 

On 3 November we travelled to Madrid where four Honduran women human rights defenders had the opportunity to talk about the importance of building support networks among Honduran women human rights defenders. anti-racist and feminist movement in Central America and Madrid.

Also, in the cultural space La Parcería, we met and talked about the defence of abortion and emergency contraception in Honduras and the Central American region. We share some of the points highlighted by Honduran advocates:

“In Honduras we live in fear and perception of insecurity due to rapes, kidnappings and murders against women. Organised crime is alive and well and the public authorities are involved”.”. Hogla Teruel, Honduran human rights defender. 

“In Honduras we are fighting to recover democracy from 12 years of a conservative regime in which there has been a regression of rights and expropriation of territories and bodies”. Regina Fonseca, Honduran human rights defender. 

“We are fighting for the right to decide for Honduran women with disabilities to be able to decide about their maternity. All maternity should be desired. Elma Perdomo, Honduran defender. 

“Talking about gender determination in Honduras is like opening a sewer. Religion, politics and football are the distractions used by the government to stop people from thinking”.  Participant in the Tejiendo Territorios 2022 Meeting.

“We have hope, many demands and wishes to be fulfilled on women's rights. The new Honduran government is slow and lacks a lot of substance. Hogla Teruel, human rights defender.

“The North has a lot to learn from the global South on sexual and reproductive rights. The work being done by migrant women's collectives in Spain is powerful. Migrant women are stronger than they appear to be”. Regina Fonseca.

Thank you to all the people who participated in this meeting, thank you for sharing knowledge, realities and strength to continue defending our rights.