footnotes.¹

From Mexico City in 1975 to Beijing in 1995 to the celebration of Beijing +30 at the United Nations Commission of the Status of Women (CSW69) this March, an evolution of ideas and strategies leading to the formulation of Feminist Foreign Policies (FFPs) have emerged as transformative approach rooted in principles of gender equality, human rights, and social justice. In a world where these principles face increasing erosion and threat feminist activists can harness FFPs as a tool to support fragmented gender equality efforts on a global scale, ensuring that they serve the interests of marginalized communities whose voices are often ignored and silenced. by Dr. Kristen Ali Eglinton Feminist Foreign Policy did not emerge in a vacuum. It stands on the foundation of decades of feminist activism—on the voices, struggles, and strategies of those who came before us. In this brief article, I focus on a particular kind of Feminist Foreign Policy—one that is deeply rooted in praxis; that is, on ...

Footage's FemSMS is an informational project, specifically for Ukrainian women, launched shortly after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022. It focuses on those living in conflict zones, survivors of gender-based violence, or those forced to relocate because of war. FemSMS aims to provide emotional and psychological support, help women overcome trauma, and inform them about ways to maintain their mental and physical health and safety through compassionate SMS messages.  "The feeling that I am not alone, that someone cares about me," says one of the Ukrainian women who, like many others, faces the challenges of living in a war zone. Thanks to the FemSMS initiative, she feels supported in navigating this difficult experience. The initiative was implemented by Footage in partnership with non-profit organizations, Project Kesher and Project Kesher Ukraine . Since the project's launch, Ukrainian women who subscribe to the FemSMS service have recei...

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), is the proposed 28th amendment to the Constitution that would guarantee equal rights to all people regardless of sex. The ERA was first proposed more than a century ago and finally passed the threshold for ratification in 2020 when Virginia became the 38th state to ratify. When President Trump took office in 2017, ERA supporters expressed concern that the incoming administration’s priorities—conservative judicial appointments, skeptical attitudes toward new constitutional amendments, a desire to roll back certain equality measures, and the refusal to acknowledge ratification beyond the original deadline—would slow or even prevent the ERA’s long-awaited addition to the U.S. Constitution. Recently there have been calls from organizations like Indivisible.org for President Biden to instruct the National Archivist to publish and certify the ERA before he leaves office in January 2025. Certification of the ERA by the Archivist now would both guarantee equa...

In September 2019 we worked with Hamrin Hanan, who we met in the Skaramagas refugee camp in Greece. Hamrin participated in Footage’s Her{connect}Her program to create and publish this book. In her book, through her writing and illustrations, she shares her experiences of the devastation that the outbreak of war in Syria had wreaked on her family, her home and her community in Afrin, Northern Syria. Her narrative paints painful testimony to unendurable trauma of war and its impact on women and girls who are subjected to sexual violence as a weapon and means of subjugation and degradation.  Here’s a reminder from her book about the Syrian war which started March 15th, 2011: "It was the worst day of my life, a day that shattered all my dreams and ambitions, destroying homes, killing children and innocents. I was thirteen years old, I left school due to the raids that threatened my life with each bullet, I was behind in my studies and stayed home, counting the faraway sounds of bull...

By Dr. Kristen Ali Eglinton As I am still integrating the significant gathering that was the III Ministerial Conference on Feminist Foreign Policies— FFP—in Mexico City, I’ll start with a description of one moment—not necessarily of the event itself, but rather of a moment or space bursting at the seams with the undertow—perhaps riptide—of change, resistance, co-creation, evolution. Every one of us interested in making policies more feminist might consider holding the spirit of this moment or space as the force of change needed in imagining a future landscape of inclusive policy creation, compassionate actions, and diplomacy as dialogue—a landscape aligned, reflexive, and polyvocal—capable of deeply undermining and transmuting the growing dangerous energy of anti-rights movements. On my final day in Mexico City, with a few hours left, I decided to feel the energy around Frida Kahlo’s home. While I asked a taxi to take me to Frida Kahlo's house, I was dropped off in Mexico City'...