WE-Change

WOMEN Empowerment (WE)-Change is making strides in empowering women by participating in social justice advocacy and creating safe alternative spaces for women.

Latoya Nugent, associate director, told All Woman that the initiative, which was launched on May 15, 2015, came out of the need to create a space for all women and empower them to have dialogue with stakeholders at a higher level.

“There’s a recognition that stigma and discrimination in any respect, in any sphere, once certain people are discriminated against or are not able to live their lives fully, it impacts all round. Women in general face a lot of issues disproportionately to their male counterparts and for that reason the group was formed,” she said.

The group, which is also part of the 51% Coalition, uses storytelling as a tool for advocacy, and Rochelle McFee, monitoring and evaluation officer, said this format allows for more openness relating to the issues women face.

“Once they can relate or see someone talking about an issue coming from that experiential page, people tend to be more open to the ideas of what people are saying, and they get it,” she explained.

The group hosted an event dubbed Orange Lights in December, were they featured real experiences with gender-based violence and the resilience of the Jamaican woman in the form of storytelling in keeping with the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.

“We used it to highlight the impact of gender-based violence, and how it affects women across sectors regardless of sexual orientation or identity,” McFee said.

Another event they pride themselves in is Her Legacy, which highlights the work being done by women in society who are contributing to social justice advocacy and the fight against gender-based violence.

The group is also passionate about the limited access to resources that rural women have, especially in agriculture, and is seeking ways to help adjust this.

“Women own about two per cent of land. Also the process of what is required to access land to do agricultural work is discriminatory,” Nugent said.