Project: Countering Backlash: Reclaiming Gender Justice
Global progress on gender equality is under threat. We are living in an age where major political and social shifts are resulting in new forces that are visibly pushing back to reverse the many gains made for women’s rights and to shrink civic space.
This patriarchal backlash is escalating globally. It aims to ‘other’, demonise and disempower those who seek to advance gender justice, and to re-valorise patriarchal traditional gender roles and stereotypes, founded on male supremacy and the subordination of women. It deploys a polarising politics of mobilising populist narratives which comingle misogyny, xenophobia and homophobia – and with scant regard for evidence or ‘truth’. It is also co-opting existing policy processes for gender in development, undoing and reversing much progress made in the past.
This timely six-year programme of work will create much needed new knowledge of these complex phenomena, and identify opportunities for women’s rights organisations and other gender justice defenders to counter backlash and address the erosion of gender objectives within development. The programme is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
We will carry out engaged research, generate new thinking, and build capacity across networks and strategic partnerships with women’s and other human rights organisations, activists, academics and policymakers, regionally and globally.
Focused on our central objective ‘to enhance the understanding, capacities and opportunities needed for women’s rights organisations and other gender justice defenders to counter backlash and address the erosion of gender objectives within development’, we will deliver two key sets of results:
• Increased access to and use of gender equality research focused on backlash
• Enhanced methods and capacity development for gender equality efforts.
The project will co-create and communicate evidence and methods on backlash, the erosion of gender policies and new opportunities for feminist action. We will also – by enhancing capacities – indirectly contribute to other strategic gender equality objectives under Global Goals 5 (Gender equality) and 16 (Peace, justice and strong institutions).
The challenges of backlash, the erosion of gender policies and finding new opportunities for feminist impact will be addressed through three intertwining strands of work: ‘Voice’, ‘Patriarchy’ and ‘Policy and Practice’.
Each will engage research partners and activists, feminist networks, social movements and policymakers in East Africa, South Asia, Brazil and the Middle East. We will collaborate with actors in research, capacity building; convening debates and communicating knowledge and strategies for reclaiming gender justice nationally and internationally. We work collectively to enable adaptive planning, conceptual development and analysis for influence at all levels.
The AiW-IDS Partnership
The Arab Institute for Women (AiW) at the Lebanese American University (LAU), in partnership with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), has embarked on a 5-year project under the title “Countering Backlash: Reclaiming Gender Justice”. In light of trends seeking to reverse the gains harvested for women’s rights and gender equality and to reduce the civic space for progressive movements, the project aims at creating the necessary knowledge and identifying opportunities for women’s rights organizations and gender justice advocates to counter the backlash and address the erosion of gender objectives. The AiW is working under the three strands of “Voice”, “Patriarchy”, and “Policy and Practice” in order to address the backlash, the erosion of gender policies, and find new opportunities for feminist impact.
Policy and Practice (P&P) Meeting in Lebanon: January 17, 18 and 19, 2023
On January 17, 18 and 19, 2023, The AiW, in partnership with IDS, hosted a three-day P&P strand meeting at the Lebanese American University (LAU). Partners from countries like Bangladesh (BRAC Institute of Governance and Development); Brazil (NEIM: Interdisciplinary Women’s Studies Nucleus, Federal University of Bahía); India (Gender@Work); Lebanon (The AiW); and Uganda (Wougnet – Women of Uganda Network) participated in the meeting. Through workshops, group work, presentations and thoughtful discussions, representatives of the above-mentioned organizations presented their latest deliverables, their research work on the thematic areas of choice, the unfolding backlash and counter backlash dynamics in their respective countries, and their future plans.
On a concluding event, The AiW, in partnership with IDS, hosted a multinational seminar to discuss the manifestation of backlash and counter backlash dynamics in Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Lebanon and Uganda.
Paper Launchings
Within the context of this project, the AiW hosted two panel discussions:
- One titled “Lebanon: Understanding Anti-Feminist Backlash” which served as a launching event for the working paper “Understanding Backlash in Lebanon”, written by Activist and Researcher, Ms. Nay El Rahi. The launching took place on March 14, 2023.
- Another titled “Backlash in the Media,” which served as a launching event for the working paper “Media Hostility: Case Studies on Backlash in the Lebanese Media”, written by Activist and Researcher, Ms. Nay El Rahi. The launching took place on May 16, 2023.