The amazing interconnected work of feminist collectives
“Feminist movements and activism have been pivotal in challenging and transforming oppressive structures and systems globally. Through grassroots organizing, advocacy, and awareness campaigns, feminists have fought against patriarchal norms, gender-based violence, and discriminatory laws. Their efforts have contributed to significant legal reforms, cultural shifts, and increased representation of women in leadership roles. Across diverse contexts and cultures, feminist movements continue to push for gender equality, social justice, and the dismantling of oppressive structures.” – Aadan B
The work of dismantling oppressive structures is neither new nor incidental to feminist collectives and initiatives. Even while operating in restrictive environments and with limited funding, feminist collectives have consistently generated tangible change. This is evidenced by global and national level reforms shaped by decades of feminist organizing, from official global recognition of women’s legal rights to country-based legal reforms like; The Green Wave’s work in South America leading to the recognition of abortion rights, decriminalisation and recognition of same sex relationships in Botswana and Angola, and the recognition of GBV as a national emergency in South Africa.
Separated by borders, we are not only connected by our different shackles of oppression, but are also bound together by the way we organise collectively. Resistance in one country often reverberates across borders, influencing and emboldening women, girls, and queer communities elsewhere. Feminist organizing is inherently transnational, relational, and collective.
Across the world, registered and unregistered feminist collectives are organizing to confront patriarchal, neo-colonial systems to create safer, more just realities for women, girls, and queer folx. These collectives employ diverse and interconnected strategies, including but not limited to:
- Fundraising and mutual aid to support girls, women and queer folx in need
- Feminist knowledge production and political education
- Advocacy for progressive and legal reforms
- Advancing self & collective care as feminist praxis
- Working towards changing harmful social norms in their communities
A Spotlight on Coalition of Feminists For Social Change
COFEM offers one example of how feminist collectives operate as political, relational, and knowledge-building spaces. The Coalition of Feminists for Social Change (COFEM) is a global feminist advocacy collective working to End Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), also referred to as Gender-Based Violence (GBV). The network brings together feminist activists, practitioners, researchers, and advocates from diverse regions and movements who are working in humanitarian and development settings.
COFEM was created in 2016 in response to shared concerns and limitations many feminists experienced in institutional, siloed, and depoliticized spaces. Having grown to over 400 members globally, COFEM exists as a member-led political and relational space – a place to think together, care for one another, and act collectively.
For almost a decade, diverse feminists have come together under COFEM to produce diverse Learning and Advocacy Tools, including but not limited to: Learning Briefs, Tipsheets, Regional Features, Research Tools, Blogs and more. COFEM members and non-members have described COFEM as:
A supportive space to grow in one’s feminist journey without judgment
An opportunity to co-create impactful feminist knowledge across diverse contexts
A powerhouse of free, accessible feminist advocacy resources
COFEM is one of the feminist collectives contributing to building safe and alternative futures for girls, women and queer folx. Her impact alongside other feminist collectives in the movement to End Violence Against Women and Girls cannot be understated.
This work, however, has not come without significant challenges. Feminist collectives remain fewer and vastly under-resourced relative to the scale and urgency of their work. Even the few existing collectives are operating under very limited budgets. According to AWID’s Where Is The Money report, feminist collectives received less than 1% of ODA funding even before the major funding cuts and the change in the resourcing landscape. Feminist collectives in Africa received an even smaller share.
As a result, many feminists face chronic burnout, precarity, and disengagement, threatening the sustainability and momentum of feminist movements at a critical moment. Feminist collectives frequently find themselves in a bind, compelled to redirect their energies toward organizational survival and fundraising rather than advancing their core mission.
Why funding feminist collectives is urgent now.
As anti-rights movements continue to expand globally, the risk of rollbacks on hard-won feminist gains grows increasingly severe. Adequate and sustained funding for feminist collectives is no longer optional; it is urgent. Anti-rights movements have strengthened in large part due to consistent, flexible, and substantial funding streams. In stark contrast, feminist collectives are often constrained by short-term, restrictive, and insufficient funding mechanisms.
“As long as the anti-gender movement benefits from financing volumes that far outstrip those dedicated towards achieving gender equality, further rollbacks to abortion (as in the USA or Poland) and LGBTQI+ rights (as in Uganda, Kenya or Ghana), will remain inevitable.” – ODI Global
Despite these challenges, alternative feminist futures for women, girls, and queer folx remain possible. However, realizing these futures requires a bold and fundamental shift in resourcing priorities. Feminist collectives must be funded adequately, sustainably, and in ways that respect their autonomy, politics, and collective care practices. This requires funders, institutions, and allies to shift how feminist work is valued and resourced.
When feminist collectives are adequately resourced, they can leverage decades of experience to drive faster, deeper, and more sustainable progress toward ending violence against women, girls, and queer folx rather than survival.
The time to invest in feminist collectives is now, not only to protect past gains, but to build the just and liberated futures we envision.
