After a Special Issue to #StandwithUkraine (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), we are back for our third edition to continue to shine the light on inspiring stories, changemakers and initiatives all around us.

Don’t forget to share YOUR solutions with the Community of ReSolvers on your preferred platform:
Instagram (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) / Facebook (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) / Twitter (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) / Linkedin (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) / Email (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). 

These will be published in the follow-up ‘Community Edition' at the end of the month, so stay tuned!

Issue #3 - April 2022 Gender Equality 💜🏳️‍🌈

Following Women's History Month  in March and before the Pride Month in June, we release this issue to celebrate and highlight the work of those who are actively contributing to a fairer and gender-equal Europe.

Gender discrimination is multifaceted and sometimes so deeply rooted in our cultural lives that it goes unnoticed or unchallenged. Our selection below shows us that it’s possible to address this crucial issue in very diverse ways and spheres of life. We present six solution stories  ranging from groundbreaking labour policies to youth activism in hostile environments; six inspiring changemakers from France, Germany, Hungary, Spain and the UK; and six innovative initiatives such as a Twitter bot for equality, a Rainbow Index or a network for female business founders.

We see that by acting from local to political levels, it’s possible to strive for equity and work together to make a gender-equal Europe possible.

Weighing words: fixing Macedonian media coverage of gender-based violence (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)
✍️ By Elena Gagovska for Unbias the News on 21 March 2022

Media in North Macedonia still have a tendency to sensationalise coverage of gender-based violence and blame the victims. Activists are working with the state Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Services to develop new tools, training and increase social awareness. They hope it can help improve the way that victims are portrayed in the media.

Germany appoints first 'commissioner for queer affairs'
(Öffnet in neuem Fenster)✍️ By Rina Goldenberg and Kyra Levine for Deutsche Welle English on 06 January 2022

Sven Lehmann from the Greens was appointed to help Germany "become a pioneer country in the fight against discrimination". He will be in charge of preparing a national action plan to promote acceptance and protect diversity. The move was welcomed by a number of LGBTQ+ groups in Germany, including the Lesbian and Gay Association, with a tweet reading: “Congratulations to @svenlehmann. We look forward to the queer-political awakening promised by the traffic light and to the noticeable improvement in the rights of LGBTI people”

The LGBT+ youth fighting for a 'Polish Stonewall' (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)
📹 By Isolde Penwarden for I-D UP+RISING in Poland on October 2021

See also more recently ‘How Polish & Hungarian activists are helping queer Ukrainian refugees (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)’ and the work of the ‘Campaign Against Homophobia’ in Poland.

Iceland's trailblazing wage law narrows gender pay gap
(Öffnet in neuem Fenster)✍️ By RFI on 24 September 2021

While most countries have equal pay laws, Iceland has made unequal pay a criminal offense and a health and safety violation. Before, employees had to prove they were subject to discrimination, today companies have to prove they are paying men and women equally.

Paternity leave extended to 16 weeks in Spain (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)
✍️ By Cristina Saldaña for El País in English on 06 Jan 2021

In January 2021 Spain adopted a 16 weeks 100% paid non-transferable paternity leave, pushing forward the message that fathers too have the right and obligation to be carers, as well as preventing gender-based discrimination in the labour market. In March 2022, Denmark (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)passed a similar law for each parent to get 11 weeks of non-transferable parental leave. For a snapshot of the situation in other places, see this update by Moonshot News on ‘The best European countries to be a father (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)’.

Our Podcast recommendations 🎧

• Gender Reveal Podcast (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (EN), an award-winning podcast about nonbinary, transgender, and queer folks. They interview LGBTQ+ artists, activists, and educators to analyze current events and answer listeners’ questions to get a little bit closer to understanding what the heck gender is. See above their Gender 101 episode to get back to basics!

• Homo Sapiens (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (EN), Christopher Sweeney presents the world from a Queer perspective with conversations, stories, and a good old laugh with LGBTQ+ icons and allies (already more than 170 episodes and counting).

• The Frontline (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (EN), ILGA-Europe brings you to the core of queer activism and presents the extraordinary ways in which the work of those on the frontlines continues in a rapidly changing world. Listen to their most recent episode ‘LGBTI People and the War in Ukraine (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)’.

• Les Couilles sur la Table (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (FR), a feminist podcast in which Victoire Tuaillon and her guests discuss different types of masculinity and analyse the patriarchy at the root of our societies. See also the 10+ other productions from Binge.audio (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

• Generación Futuro (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (ES), they propose to create a space for dialogue between young activists and renowned thinkers, and Spanish government officials, to imagine the future together.

Dorottya Redai

Academic, author and activist in Hungary
See her work at the CEU Democracy Institute (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and the Labrisz Lesbian Association (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

The LGBTQ+ community in Hungary is a recurrent target of hate crusades and smear campaigns by the party in power. Dorottya is a symbol of the courage needed to advocate for their rights in such an environment. She spearheaded the development of the children’s book A Fairy Tale for Everyone (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), which incorporates LGBTQ+ characters into reimaginings of traditional fairy tales, and became a symbol of resistance in the country and abroad.

See also the activism and work of Viktória Radványi (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)(on Nitter) and Bartosz Staszewski (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (on Twitter).

Irene Montero

Equality Minister of Spain.
Follow her latest decisions and work on Twitter (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), Instagram (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and Facebook (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

A protester-turned-politician, Irene has embraced a confrontational style hallmarked by an assertive defence of feminism and was flagged as one of the most influential European politicians under 30 by Forbes magazine. In 2021, she presented a law on transgender rights to let people register a gender change on their identity documents without a medical report.

“Feminism is the best thing that ever happened to this country.”

Maïmouna Doucouré

Screenwriter and Filmmaker in France
Follow her on Instagram (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), see her movies and more on Linktree (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). Below, her interview by Brut about making it in the male-dominated movie industry without money or contacts:

Adwoa Aboah

Model and Mental Health Campaigner in the UK
Follow her on Instagram (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and listen to, or participate, in the Gurls talk (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

Adowa has starred on the covers of international publications, featured in short films, music videos and in Hollywood movies. Nevertheless, having struggled with depression and addiction, she recognised the lack of mental health resources for young women. This inspired her to launch Gurls Talk, a mental health organisation that offers a safe space to discuss a wide range of issues, including loneliness, body image and sexuality.

See also the radically inclusive social media accounts of Jameela Jamil (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and her work with I Weigh Community (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) dedicated to promoting self-worth and a body-positive movement.

Tijen Onaran

Entrepreneur, author and influential voice on diversity in Germany.
See her numerous work on her website (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)or follow her directly on Linkedin (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), Instagram (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and Twitter (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

Tijen is not only committed to promoting gender equality but also to playing an active role in seeing it come to life. For that, she founded ‘Global Digital Women (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)’, a leading international diversity consultancy, which supports and advises companies on diversity and inclusion.

Bilal Hassani

Singer, Youtuber and queer activist in France.
Watch and listen to his songs on Youtube (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and on TikTok (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

French Youtube star Bilal Hassani is one of the country's most glamorous popstars. After taking part in the Eurovision and receiving a backlash of negative comments, he started an anti-bullying campaign in French schools. Here are some of the lyrics from his song ‘Roi’ (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) that was presented at the 2019 Eurovision song contest:

“You put me in a box, you want me to be like you
Je suis pas dans les codes, ça dérange beaucoup
At the end of the day you cannot change me!
Alors laisse-moi m'envoler”

• 🤖 @BotForEquality (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), he’s just a young intersectional bot, amplifying gender equality content published on Twitter.

• 🌡️ Gender Equality Index by the (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)European Institute for Gender Equality (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)that measures the progress of gender equality in each European country and gives more visibility to areas that need improvement. See also the Rainbow Index (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) made by ILGA-Europe (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

• 🗣️ Aino Aid (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) by We encourage (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) in Finland, a conversational AI tool for victims of domestic violence that provides psychosocial support and guidance 24/7, for everyone, no matter your gender.

• 🚀 AcceleratHer (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) in the Uk, a network to accelerate the growth, visibility and backing of talented female business founders and leaders.

• 🩸 Needie Paddie (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) in Belgium, to fight the double sanction of cost and taboos around sanitary products for women, they install collected boxes in strategic places to collect and distribute the products to people in need.

• 🎥 13th LGBT+ Film Festival (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) in Poland, happening in few days in April-May 2022, is the biggest LGBT+ celebration in Central and Eastern Europe and an act of resistance in itself.

We hope you found this content inspiring!

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