Living our values

Learn how to make a participatory and community centered CommsLab, Transfeminist tech and further information, recommendations and resources.

Healing justice

Generational and present-day trauma from experiences with state and other forms of violence deeply impacts those working in movements for social justice. Healing justice is a response to this trauma, lifting up practices that support wellness and safety to our sustain our community and movements. There is no template for healing justice work. It needs to emerge out of real people in real time, grounded in community and place. Organizations and movements need access to healing practitioners with shared experience; in turn, practitioners need to be able to sustain themselves and their work. 

Applying a healing justice framework requires rethinking organizational infrastructure, human resources, budgeting, safety and security, and supervision. 

Create a warm, welcoming, and intentional space! Whether virtual or in person, the way we invite people in makes a difference. This means being mindful of the amount of time and energy we are asking folks to give. Below are some examples of strategies we've used in the past to consider.

Before the event

At the event

Follow up

Language justice

Language justice is a concept that emphasizes the right of all individuals to communicate in their preferred language and to have their language and cultural identities respected and valued. In the context of activism and translation/interpreting, language justice seeks to ensure that marginalized communities, including LGBTQ+ communities, have access to information and resources in their preferred languages and that their voices are heard and valued in multilingual spaces. This guide discusses how we can use language to affirm and celebrate each other’s identities and promote language justice, while actively countering oppression that is sometimes embedded in language. Language is constantly evolving, so these are meant to serve as starting points for co-creation and not rules.

Language justice is a concept that emphasizes the right of all individuals to communicate in their preferred language and to have their language and cultural identities respected and valued. In the context of activism and translation/interpreting, language justice seeks to ensure that marginalized communities, including LGBTQ+ communities, have access to information and resources in their preferred languages and that their voices are heard and valued in multilingual spaces. This guide discusses how we can use language to affirm and celebrate each other’s identities and promote language justice, while actively countering oppression that is sometimes embedded in language. Language is constantly evolving, so these are meant to serve as starting points for co-creation and not rules.

Access versus Justice

Language access means ensuring that all participants are able to contribute in a shared language that they can understand. Language justice goes further to creating an inclusive environment where people have the right to express themselves in the language they are most comfortable and can best express their feelings and ideas. A justice centered approach works to challenge the historic and systemic injustices that privileges some languages over others. For example, in Central Asia many people speak English and Russian. Not only are English and Russian many peoples second, third or fourth languages learned, but these languages proliferated because of colonial influences and history, often working to erase indigenous and local languages and culture. A language access approach might have resources available in those two languages but a language justice approach would work to allow for more language access for participants.

General guidelines

It is important to remember that language is constantly evolving, and we are all co-creating a more inclusive way to speak and to write. This guide is not a set of rules, but rather a starting point for us to think about how we use language. When you speak or interpret, use the best language you have now. It’s okay to make mistakes! We encourage you to experiment and collaborate to make our language(s) more inclusive and respectful. We are on this journey together, as we learn from each other as we work toward better language accessibility, equity, and justice. 

Here are some key guidelines to help us use language that creates safety, inclusion, and respect.  

Use plain Language

Plain language helps makes your event more accessible and promotes language justice.

Use simple, clear language that is easy to understand. Avoid using jargon, technical terms, idiomatic expressions or regional expressions that may be unfamiliar to some people.

If you have to use a term or expression that may be unknown to your listeners, consider explaining or defining it. 

Using plain language makes it easier for everyone to understand you. This includes people for whom the language you speak is not their primary language. This also makes the job of the interpreters easier and enables them to communicate your message into other languages more accurately. 

Be gender inclusive

If in doubt, you can always ask—and even make a decision together as a group about the language you’re going to use!

Use gender-neutral language

In languages without a grammatical gender (such as Georgian, Kyrgyz, or English) this means not using gendered language when talking about all people. For example:

  • In English, this means using words like firefighter instead of “fireman” or “artificial” instead of “man-made”. Generally, avoid words that center men and masculinities or communicate the assumption that a certain activity or profession is the province of men.
  • In languages that don’t have a grammatical gender, avoid adding the word “woman/lady” to nouns that have been traditionally associated with men. For example, in Turkish, avoid saying “bayan müdür” when referring to a manager who happens to be a woman. 

In languages (such as Russian) that have grammatical genders and that have traditionally centered words in the masculine gender, there are several ways we can make language more gender neutral. For example:

  • Change the phrase or sentence from singular to plural:
    • Человек способен на многое (мужской род). → Люди/мы способны на многое.
    • Получить доступ к этому ресурсу может любой. (мужской род) → Получить доступ к этому ресурсу могут все. ИЛИ Этот ресурс доступен всем.
  • Use a conventional gender-neutral word:
    • Каждый может сделать свой выбор → Каждая персона может сделать свой выбор.
    • Просим всех участников пройти в зал → Просим всех пройти в зал.
  • Use feminine word forms (феминитивы) with an asterisk or a “gender gap” underscore before the feminine ending. This tends to work better in writing:
    • Мы пригласили к участию активист_ок. (феминитив)
    • Руководство для пользователь*ниц. (феминитив)
  • Use feminine word forms by default or use less conventional neutral words:
    • Специалистки / Cпециалиста пришло к заключению, что... (феминитив / неконвенциональный нейтралитив)
  • Use feminine and masculine forms one after another. This tends to work better when speaking. Keep in mind, however, that this is not inclusive of all gender identities and can be seen to reinforce the gender binary:
    • Благодарим наших фасилитаток и фасилитаторов…

Non-binary language

Avoid using language that implies that gender/sex is binary (women or men). For example, say “all sexes” instead of “the two sexes”. Use “they” instead of “he or she” when referring to a person whose gender is unknown.

Personal Pronouns

When possible, find out what pronouns people use and use those pronouns. Do not assume pronouns based on a person's appearance or names. 

In English, the pronoun “they” is commonly used as a gender-neutral pronoun, and in Russian it’s now more common to refer to a single person as “они”, and some non-binary and gender-diverse people use that pronoun too. 

In Russian, "они/их” is becoming increasingly common. When in doubt, ask the people in the local LGBTQ+ community and explore resources online (some are listed in the Resources section below). Language is always evolving, and we can be part of the evolution!

 

Be respectful to all

Think critically about how you use your language to show respect to others and value and affirm their identities.

Names

The way we use names shows respect. If you are not sure what to call someone, please ask the person what name they use.

Don’t assume that the person’s legal name (the name on their official documents) is the name that they use. Deadnaming (деднейминг) is when someone refers to a trans or non-binary person by the name they were given at birth, rather than by the name they use. This can be hurtful and invalidating to the person’s identity. Using the person’s affirming name is an important way of valuing their identity.

Using people’s names accurately and learning to pronounce them correctly is an important way of acknowledging and valuing their identity.

If a name is unfamiliar to you and you are unsure how to pronounce it, you can ask for help. Many people will appreciate the effort you make in learning their name!

Refer to people by their name rather than by their role.

  • For example, instead of saying “We would like to thank our interpreters”, consider saying, “We want to thank Altynai and Tamar for their interpretation today”. 

Respectful language

We can use language to include everyone and to show respect. Consider the assumptions you make in your language of people of various ages, abilities, ethnic or cultural backgrounds, sexualities, gender identities, etc. Be willing to learn and be open to feedback from others. 

Using people-centered language can be a helpful way of showing respect. For example, say:

  • people with disabilities
  • люди/персоны с инвалидностью

Various forms of oppression, including sexism, heteronormativity, cisnormativity, abelism, ageism, racism and xenophobia, can be deeply embedded within a language. Learn to recognize it.

Avoid assuming the gender of people when addressing a group and don't use gendered words to address people (for example, don’t say, “You’re doing great, ladies”, or “Hey guys!”). 

Consider these common, but sexist phrases used to refer to women in Russian: “Прекрасный пол”, “Слабый пол”, “Наши милые дамы”. 

Avoid common expressions and phrases that are ableist. For example, consider saying:

  • they are unaware of this (instead of “that's their blind spot”)
  • that’s awful (instead of “that’s lame”)
  • this is really shocking (instead of “this is crazy”)
  • это меня повергло в шок (instead of “с ума сойти”)

Use respectful language when talking about a specific age group. For example, say older adults (instead of “seniors”).

Educate yourself on how our language reflects racism and prejudice in our society and avoid using phrases with racist origins.  Actively avoid using language that is derogatory or offensive to people who are racialized or belong to a certain ethnicity.

Avoid using language that assumes everyone is heterosexual and cisgender. For example, use partner (instead of “husband” or “wife”, “girlfriend” or “boyfriend”). 

In some languages, the words commonly (and even officially!) used to describe some forms of sexual identity and expression may be stigmatizing and even offensive. Remember to use words that show respect and, if in doubt, ask people what they prefer. 

 

Working with interpreters

To make the event more accessible across languages, use plain language, speak slowly and clearly, share resources with interpreters, and be mindful of the context. Encourage and welcome interpreters’ suggestions and feedback.

Your event may be interpreted into other languages in several ways:

  • Simultaneous interpretation (interpreters speak at the same time as the speakers, using special equipment, with interpreters and participants speaking into microphones and wearing headphones);
  • Consecutive interpretation (an interpreter usually stands in front of the audience; the speaker says a few sentences and makes a pause, during which the interpreter interprets);
  • Whisper interpretation (similar to simultaneous, except the interpreter sits next to the participants requiring interpretation and whispers to them; headphones are not used).

Interpretation requires a lot of effort and skill. There are several ways in which the speakers and the participants can support the interpreters to make the event smooth and comfortable for all.

Here are some key principles:

  • Encourage and welcome interpreters’ suggestions and feedback (both before and during the event). It’s helpful for interpreters to have a way to let the organizers or the speakers know that something is not working, the speaker is talking too fast, or that the interpreters need a break.
  • Use plain language and speak slowly and clearly. This will help the interpreters communicate your message more clearly and will make the experience less stressful for them (and for the participants, who will be able to understand you better!).
  • Share resources with the interpreters ahead of time. This can include presentation slides, your speaking points, or links to online resources. Providing reference materials to interpreters ahead of time will help them prepare to better understand the topic and look up any specialized terms.
  • Help the interpreters clearly see you, your slides, and any props that you use. A lot of communication is non-verbal!
  • Remember to use the microphone and speak in an even tone of voice. Check with the interpreters and/or the technical support staff to make sure that you’re not too close and not too far from the microphone. Be careful not to hit any objects against the microphone and make sure it doesn’t rub against your clothes or hair (the sound is amplified through interpreters’ headphones).
  • Plan for breakout rooms and other activities. Make sure to account for the event being interpreted. For example, if you are breaking into several groups, do you have enough interpreters? (Remember that interpreters work in shifts and need breaks). Will the interpreters be able to hear you and the participants? Will the participants be able to hear the interpreters? Do the interpreters know what the activity is about?
  • If showing videos, use subtitles for translation. It is extremely difficult to interpret videos simultaneously (the sound would need to be fed into the interpreters’ headphones, and usually the speed of speech in videos is much faster than in everyday life, making it hard for interpreters to keep up). Using subtitles or asking the interpreters to interpret a verbal summary after the video is shown are some practical solutions.

Interpreting names into other languages:

  • When an event is interpreted into other languages, interpreters may find it difficult to hear and correctly interpret people’s names, especially if the speaker is speaking quickly and the interpreters are not familiar with everyone in the audience.
  • Speakers: Try to pronounce the person’s name slowly and clearly so that the interpreter can hear it. You can also use gestures or look at the person (if they are in the audience) to help the interpreter understand who you are talking about. If you are referring to someone who is not in the room, explain who that person is (for example, “American author bell hooks”, “our colleague Ariadne”). This will help both the audience and the interpreter understand you better.
  • Organizers: Give the interpreters a list with participants’ names (make sure to list affirming names, and, if possible, pronouns; it is also helpful to include individuals’ roles, organizations, and any other information that may be relevant to the event).
  • Interpreters: If you didn’t quite catch the name, it can be okay to omit it. For example, you can say “One of our participants said earlier that...” or “Our organizers made sure to...”. Remember, however, that using people’s names shows respect, so when you have the chance, consult your list of participants’ names or check with the participant to see if you got their name correctly. You can also ask the organizers to speak more slowly when naming participants or including other essential information.

Budget

Creating a multilingual environment means requires thoughtful budgeting and timeline. Think through what kind of supports will be necessary in the planning and on site for participants.

Planning

Virtual calls

Communication

On site

Support Interpreters

Resources

Russian

English

 

 

Principles of participation

Nurturing an environment where each person feels seen and heard, with an acknowledgment of their experience, contributes to a work flow that welcomes shared learning, intersectional conversations, mutual support, and creative collaboration. 

Here are our principles and valued practices of participation: 

Transfeminist tech

Introduction

In light of the specific context of Covid19, APC collaborated with Astraea translating CommsLabs to a hybrid setting, addressing additional safety and security considerations on creating safer places for organizers, advisory board, and participants who belong to marginalized, and in some countries, criminalized communities. An online space, based not only on free/libre and open source technologies, but care and well being, offering, beyond the specific events, a continuum for solid movement building and cooperation between different regions, that they could use without fear, being themselves.

Transfeminist politics make a specific accent on the centrality of community, intentionality, humility and active listening; an embodied politics of care that really articulates what it means when technology is enacted by people of different and discriminated genders, place, age, caste or class. They are not an “addon” but a positionality that helps and facilitates the use and the choice of technology in line with the actual needs, conditions and desire of the people.

Listen to the conversation about transfeminist perspective

Transcript

[in the background gentle upbeat Marimba music]

The invitation of Astraea toward APC to engage, work on the realisation, ideation, implementation of CommsLabs was rooted in an existing relationship of trust, feminism, ways of looking and understanding the politics and the values of the politics very close. Astraea was interested in exploring intentionally this specific intersection of CommsLabs with the way APC uses, talks and practices technology.

I remember fondly this first month of collaboration between APC, RAD and Astraea where we were navigating together how we would translate and accommodate all the requirements of physical, digital and psychological safety in this new format. Where we learned so much about the local context shaping the work done by LGBTQI+ activists in the Caribbean.

CommsLabs were one of the rare spaces where queer people and sex workers from the Caribbean and Central Asian South Caucasus regions could safely co-create and share space, discuss issues and share experiences. It offers unique opportunity to connect with activists across the region.

Participants, their needs and wishes are put in the central stage of everything related to the event. This means really listening and designing the event with this learning in mind.

[music fades out]

Central Asia and South Caucasus CommsLabs was influenced by the wars and the strong Russian influence on governments which work against social justice movements, particularly LGBTQI movement. On the other hand, Caribbean CommsLabs had more focus on addressing the effects of colonialism, land ownership, racial justice and usage of online platforms for advocating about LGBTQI issues. [music: dynamic arpeggio of metallic tubes fade in and out] When the precondition to be online remotely in order to discuss, prepare, plan and engage already starts from a high risk situation, it's completely different. And we can say that our experience of the two CommsLabs in this regard were somehow extreme.

The Caribbean edition started to be planned in a moment where the global COVID-19 pandemic had severely aggravated the visa injustice, making it even more difficult for people to travel. For this reason, we designed an event happening simultaneously in two different places, which were still connected to one another in order to make it feel like an actual regional meeting. This was our workaround to a structural challenge we could not change. At the same time, having an event this dependent on internet connectivity and access to technology added barriers that also required a lot of attention. We offered training, tech support on all the tools we were using throughout the event design and implementation, and we also offered data plans to make sure folks could be connected at all time. We were cognizant of the different ways people engage online and the overwhelming fatigue caused on people through online presence at this late stage of the global pandemic. And we tried to have this understanding translated in the design of our event and its preparation stages too.

[Pensative hang drum music fades in and out]

For me, attending CommsLabs and visiting countries where LGBTIQ lives are criminalized was one of the biggest eye-openers. First of all, learning about the laws, but also how communities are organizing to be able to do the work, have fun, respond to violence, threats, and connect with activists in other countries to form networks of support and collaboration.

Since the CommsLabs events had been, until this point, a completely in-person meeting, the approach to safety and security was focused more on physical and logistic aspects of it. When APC joined, we came in specifically to help with translating CommsLabs events to a hybrid setting, bringing our experience with holding fully online events and hybrid ones, and all the necessary adjustments this implies.

It added additional safety and security considerations, not only about safety and security of the in-person events, but also how digital tools used during the preparation and hybrid events need to create safer places for organizers, advisory board, and participants who belong to marginalized, and in some countries, criminalized communities.

[Relaxing meditative bells fades in and out]

I think the most beautiful experience is the working group on safety and security and then a specific working group done by trans people that were part of the activist advisory board, the coordination team, and facilitators, which created, not only a protocol, but actual a physical experience of moving through borders together, providing prevention, protection and support.

It was important to look at all angles of digital security, from server and platforms themselves, to how sensitive information is handled and where we store it.

We wanted to create a safer online space where informed consent and self-determination are giving everybody space to express themselves, from choosing the user name, uploading profile picture, sharing more information about themselves, sharing contact details, and pronouns. Giving users of the platform's choice to decide for themselves which information they want to share and how they want to represent themselves was empowering for many. We also wanted to create an online space where multiple CommsLabs events can be held and people from different regions could be connected in one big activist network for longer time, not just for the duration of the in-person events.

[upbeat marimba music fades in]

We wanted to create an online space the communities participating in the CommsLabs could own, that could serve them before, during, and after the event. A space that would extend their connection, making so that the actual dates of the event would represent just an increase in engagement, but that the conversation would be a continuum for solid movement building and cooperation between different regions, that they could use without fear and be themselves.

It was very important for us to make sure that we are not using corporate tools which might put the participants in danger if and when their government request data from the platforms. It was also very important that services we use are not part of any advertising networks which gather data, categorize it, and make it available to the highest bidder. The infrastructure that would satisfy all these criteria can only be self-hosted platforms on a secure server which is regularly updated and maintain

[music fades out]

We facilitated this process through participant onboarding and training on the tool, as well as being available for any questions or issues they had throughout the whole process.

We have definitely worked on making the usage of the platforms easier, for example with single username and password that gave access to all platforms. However, there is also a need to integrate the basic instructions into every online meeting and informing participants how to use the features. During the preparation of the events, we have noticed that participants gravitated back to the familiar tools, for example wanting to use Zoom instead of adopting Big Blue Button. Sometimes it was the issue of connectivity and sometimes just familiarity with the tool. When it was challenging to convince people with limited time and attention to read through manuals or attend an onboarding session, it was very important to explain why self-hosted solutions were chosen and what are the benefits, how it enhances safety and security, and how it is on the whole community to create this safer space.

[inspiring hangdrum percussive music fades in]

Transfeminist politics make a specific accent on the centrality of community, that is, at the same time, the one that will think, live, experience the event; but will also identify the issues, the themes, the specific nuances or intersections that matter to them and space. The free and open source technologies that we have mostly used during the CommsLabs don't come from a point of fear, they come from a point of care and well-being. And that's why it is so important that we position ourselves into this realm of digital technology from a perspective that is not only embodied, but of an embodied politics of care that really articulates what it means when technology is enacted by people of different and discriminated genders, place, age, caste or class. All those variables are really central to the discourse. They are not an “addon” and it's from this perspective, from this positionality, then technology is designed, experienced, translated, explained, introduced to people that might not have used that specific tool or that specific way.

It is a positionality that helps and facilitates the use and the choice of technology in line with the actual needs and the actual condition of the people. This is what transfeminism brings to understanding technology, to the intentionality, bridging the intentionality of Atraea and APC in practicing and being in a more active listening and humble position, to really listen and understand what the communities were saying and asking; and then trying to do the translation bit so that the application of the technology of the space of infrastructure, the model of the events that we had would be supportive of their reality and their desire.

 

Texts, videos and websites

Guides

Collectives

Meet some amazing transfeminist collectives.

Association for Progressive Communications Women’s Rights Programme

The Association for Progressive Communications Women’s Rights Programme (APC WRP) has a long-term goal of ensuring that women and people of diverse sexualities and genders participate in, shape and co-create the internet and digital technologies that reflect and respond to their lived realities. APC WRP plays a vital role in bringing together people, organisations and communities, working to provide a feminist analytical framework of internet rights, and to locate women's and sexual rights agendas at the centre of debates around internet rights. It works through four interrelated strategies: knowledge building, capacity building, policy advocacy and movement building.

Based in: Global

Some of their projects:

Some more

Online Gender Based Violence Helplines

In different parts of the world, feminist collectives and networks are creating local and regional helplines for people facing gender-based violence in digital spaces. And even though they usually work with limited resources, these initiatives are acting on the front line to mitigate digital threats and attacks.

Mujeres Activistas por el Software Libre (Venezuela) seek to feminise technology by organising workshops, providing advice, and supporting people facing digital violence. They also create content to raise awareness.

Digital Rights Foundation (Pakistan) is a feminist, notfor-profit organization based in Pakistan working on digital freedoms since 2013. Digital Rights Foundation envisions a place where all people, especially women, can exercise their right of expression without being threatened.

Community centered participation

How to make a participatory and community centered CommsLab?

Deep dive into presentations of online session