Community News: Highlighting Our Members
September 18, 2020

Elizabeth Headshot

Dear Colleagues,

This week, horrifying allegations of forced sterilizations and other abuses at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility were exposed by a nurse at a private immigration detention center in Georgia ([link removed]) . According to the whistleblower, the center is allegedly performing mass hysterectomies ([link removed]) on immigrant women without proper consent.

This latest atrocity illustrates why intersectional feminism must demand freedom from all state violence on Black and brown bodies - including the freedom from reproductive abuse through sterilization, forced birth, and mass incarceration.

Indeed, we should be outraged and deeply saddened but we should not be surprised by these latest allegations. Forced sterilization and reproductive violence against Black and brown communities has a long, shameful and undeniable place in our nation’s history and, in fact, never ended ([link removed]) . In California women in prison were coerced or forced to submit to sterilization, as recently as 2010 ([link removed]) . The victims of the California sterilizations were overwhelmingly women of color, many Latina. (The practice wasn’t even banned in state prisons until 2014 ([link removed]) .)

Forced sterilizations were historically highest in California and Puerto Rico because of the large Latina populations ([link removed]) . The violation of Latina women’s bodies by ICE is not surprising, as government officials have justified the practice by labeling Latinas as “sex delinquents ([link removed]) ” whose sterilizations were to protect society.

Your efforts to place women of color at the center of decisions and power over their own bodies and futures is critical, now more than ever.

We cannot — and will never — have gender justice without racial justice. Thank you for continuing to hold philanthropy accountable, ensuring that all women and girls are respected and afforded our human rights.

Yours for equity and justice,

Elizabeth Barajas-Román
Women’s Funding Network
President & CEO
WFN MEMBER INITIATIVES
Welcome our New Member, VidaAfrolatina!
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VidaAfrolatina is an emerging international women's fund that mobilizes diverse resources, including philanthropic funding, and connects them with Black women’s groups in Latin America. Our goal is to strengthen and proliferate community-based organizations that provide healing services for sexual violence survivors and that create and lead systemic change to end sexual violence.
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Kelley Griesmer, President & CEO of The Women's Fund of Central Ohio, featured in the Columbus Dispatch, about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on working moms, also known as the "she-cession." Read the full story here ([link removed]) .

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The Women's Fund of Minnesota, along with the Center on Women, Gender, and Public Policy of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, released their newest report, "2020 Status of Women and Girls in Minnesota ([link removed]) ."

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Victorian Women's Trust is hosting an online event with Jacqueline Kent, as she discusses her new biography, Vida: A Woman of Our Time. A celebrated crusader for women’s rights and the first woman in the Western world to stand for a national Parliament in 1903, Vida Goldstein was a true pioneer. In this captivating biography, Kent explores the difficulties Goldstein faced entering politics, and draws parallels to the issues women continue to face today.

September 21, 2020
6:30pm AEST
Register here ([link removed]) !

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The Women's Fund Miami-Dade is hosting a virtual impact collaborative, "The Economic Benefits of Achieving Equal Pay," where they will discuss Equal Pay success stories with representatives from the private and public sector, as well as expert researchers.

October 1
9:00-10:30am
Register here ([link removed]) !

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The Women's Fund of Western Massachusetts began their new virtual series, Power Women Hour, to feature women-owned businesses, particularly women of color-owned business or women-led nonprofits, and bring their business to new markets. The first episode aired this week and was dedicated to bolstering women’s economic security.

Check out the series here ([link removed]) ! Power Women Hour will be available every second or third Wednesday of the month at noon (12:00 PM EST).

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Join The Asia Foundation for a virtual event, "Leaders On The Frontlines: Investing In The Future," where they will be honoring prominent individuals from government, business, and philanthropy; extraordinary leaders advancing Asia’s progress; and inspiring changemakers in gender equality.

September 24, 2020
6:00pm PT
For more information and to register, click here ([link removed]) !
OPPORTUNITIES AND RESOURCES
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Join The Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society, The International Rescue Committee & The New York Times for a special conversation, "Look Back, Plan Ahead: Beijing+ 25 and its impact on women and girls", ([link removed]) with Hillary Rodham Clinton, David Miliband & Lilian Dawa.

Thursday, September 24th
12.30-1.30pm ET / 5.30-6.30pm UK/ 6.30-7.30pm CEST

Register here ([link removed]) !
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Funder's Committee for Civic Participation (FCCP) has released a new report, "Civic Engagement Infrastructure & Ecosystem," ([link removed]) which provides a typology of the civic engagement ecosystem. With the world-altering changes we’ve seen in 2020, there is an acute need to continue strengthening philanthropic support of civic engagement efforts.

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Stronghold is hosting a "Collective Practice to End White Supremacy," a virtual 8-week study & practice series for white folks who are longing to do the brave work of reckoning with the ways that white supremacy lives in and through.

Mondays, October 12th through November 30th
5-7PM PST
For more information and to register, click here ([link removed]) !

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Join VidaAfrolatina for Historias by VidaAfrolatina, an opportunity to deepen your connection with Afro-descendant women in Latin America and invest in their leadership. Three powerful leaders in Latin America will share with you via Zoom the current impacts of COVID-19 and sexual violence on the lives of Afrodescendant women in their communities.

Saturday, September 19th
6 pm to 7 pm (EDT)
Register here ([link removed]) !

WEEKLY READ
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The demonstrations in Belarus point to a broader trend: "Over the past decade, women have stood out as symbols of movements as far afield as Algeria, Lebanon, Sudan, and the United States." - The Atlantic ([link removed])

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Black women-owned businesses were thriving until the pandemic struck. "From February to April, the number of Black businesses dropped more than 40 percent, compared to 22 percent overall." - NBC News ([link removed])

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As a part of New York Time's "In Her Words" series ([link removed]) , author Kate Manne delves into the topic of mansplaining.

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From Donna F. Edwards and Gwen McKinney, an opinion piece ([link removed]) on the term "women of color": "We are Black women. Stop calling us ‘women of color.'"

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Nicole Mason in The Lily, an opinion piece ([link removed]) on the struggles of working mothers. "We understand the system is broken and that it’s not our fault. It was never made for us. It was made for working men."

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Female voters in presidential elections outnumber men. If Trump loses, you can thank women. - Washington Post ([link removed])

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Amnesty International ([link removed]) declares that Slovakia must reject an abortion bill that is currently in parliament. If passed, the law would introduce additional barriers to women and girls seeking abortion.

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International Peace Institute (IPI) has released a new report, "Peacebuilding during a Pandemic: Keeping the Focus on Women's Inclusion." ([link removed]) which lays out key factors that could help the UN and its member states keep the focus on women peacebuilders during the pandemic.

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WATCH: Meet Team Lioness, an all-women team fighting poachers in Kenya who are breaking gender stereotypes. "This kind of physical, demanding job, they believed that it was not meant for us as women."

If you have a story to share, please email Megan at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
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