STANDING FIRM: WOMEN AND TRANS-LED ORGANISATIONS RESPOND TO CLOSING SPACE FOR CIVIL SOCIETY

The report is based on fifteen interviews with activist groups led by women and trans people working from a feminist perspective in six countries where closing space is a pressing reality: China, Egypt, India, Russian Federation, Turkey and Uganda. All activists interviewed are grantee-partners of either Mama Cash or the Urgent Action Fund. Following individual interviews, the activists later came together in a separate convening to review and validate the findings and develop shared analysis and recommendations. As such, the report documents the perspectives and experiences of these women’s rights and trans rights activists, and provides examples of the gendered impact of closing space. The report includes activists’ recommendations to the funding community on ways to support their organising and counter the closing space trend, and shares lessons and strategies that may be useful to other activist groups facing threats.

In collaboration with Mama Cash, we offer this report as a tool, resource, and testimony to inform the understanding of how closing space, in all its forms, has a gendered impact.