Latin America has some of the highest rates of gender-based violence and femicide in the world. This incidence increased during the Coronavirus pandemic, with governments and civil society recognising the urgency of addressing the phenomenon. While there is much research on the nature and causes of such violence, in the UK little is known about the variety of activities and projects that aim to address this violence.

In response, LAB council members Marilyn Thomson and Louise Morris and academics at King’s College, Professors Cathy McIlwaine and Jelke Boesten, launched a new project with international researcher on gender equality, Patricia Muñoz Cabrera, to explore and celebrate grassroots campaigns and organisations that counter violence against women and girls in Latin America — in a podcast series, website, events and a book.

The project foregrounds the voices of women who have suffered gender violence and those who are building campaigns and initiatives to fight against it from the grassroots up. Examples of their work are celebrated and held up as case studies in order to positively influence broader policies around violence against women, both within and beyond Latin America.

Given that existing empirical evidence from Latin America demonstrates the intersection of gender-based violence against women and girls with many other forms of violence, this project keeps an intersectional perspective on the issues which organisations tackle, and the ways that they succeed.