How was our year 2024? Difficult, interesting, feminist, and very, very bright. The warmth and light came from the people who lit our way. And we tried to shine back, to give a part of ourselves to each visitor of trainings, workshops, and informal events. We hope we succeeded.
We’ll tell you more about our year later. In the meantime, make yourself some tea and get comfortable.
Community and Events for All
We are happy to say that we managed to organize quite a few events in 2024 – 83 in total, attended more than 1020 times! Thank you for your support and for being physically with us. We really appreciate it!
Next, let’s talk about the events we’re most proud of.
This year we focused on informal events. We tried to create an inclusive space where everyone would be heard and accepted, where our participants could freely communicate, grow, and learn more about human rights protection, combating discrimination, and how to get involved in activism. We believe we succeeded!
We were also able to hold a special two-day workshop “Filmmaking is (not) a woman’s profession” for teenagers and adults twice. It was led by Gala Kozyutynska, a filmmaker, creative director, activist, and founder of the creative studio “What If” in Lviv. The event brought together people who wanted to learn the secrets of filmmaking and eventually create their own short films, music videos, or social videos. It was such a cool experience!
We continue to run comprehensive, multi-day “How to Become an Activist” trainings for those who dream of implementing their own projects but do not know where and how to start. Supporting feminist, environmental, and LGBTQ+ activists on their journey remains one of our priorities throughout the years.
Events for Teens
The “Coven: Activism Academy for Girls*” is a magical event for the very special! For two intense days, we talked about activist initiatives and did therapeutic self-healing practices.
This event is no worse than studying at Hogwarts.
For our special audience of teenagers, we created a new event format – the Secret Sisterhood. There we talked about relationships, growing up, self-identity, and self-perception. It was a place where everyone could share their own experiences of being a teenager, listen to the experiences of others, reflect together on pressing issues, and finally, just have a good time. We had to stop this format at the end of the year, but we may return to it in the future.
New\Old Event Formats
Since we’ve already started discussing new formats, let’s continue with another cool community event – Fashion Day! Together with Spaces of Things, we organized an event that became an anti-capitalist alternative to fashion events, breaking down stereotypes and norms that limit our freedom of choice and expression.
Another new format in our organization’s life is the reading space “The Silent Room”. This is a place and time specifically designated for comfortable concentration on a book, where the noise of music or conversation will not distract.
Let’s not forget our old format community’s favorite event, the feminist stand-up “A Woman’s* Place is on Stage”. This event brings together a group of people who love good humor. Our talented stand-up comedians addressed important issues with wit, and we had a great time!
We cannot forget to mention a series of events on physical safety and security that are particularly relevant to our LGBTIQ+ community. These included self-defense and assertiveness training using the WenDo method, the workshop “Your Inner Strength”, and a physical safety workshop on self-defense tools. We care about your safety!
Street Actions and a Party
On August 10, we held a street action performance “Menstruation is Diverse, and That’s OK!”, which raised an important issue and took to the streets with art posters about the beauty of menstruation.
As part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign, we also held a street action called “Violence is not a tradition” to highlight the importance of violence against women. About 30 activists joined the action and we are very happy that new people are discovering Feminist Workshop and are ready to stand with us against gender inequality.
On December 8, together with the NGO Women’s March, we organized Feminist Evenings, a party dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the Ukrainian women’s movement. This evening was unforgettable, very warm, and festive – thanks to you, our partners, we managed to close an important collection for our sister in the Armed Forces.
“This year 2024 has been very eventful – we have done a lot, brought new people together, and hope to do even more next year. We are grateful to everyone who supports us: event participants, allied organizations, and of course the FW team for the opportunity to implement such important projects,” said Maryana Zelinska, Community Coordinator.
“This year, I combined my work in the community with other projects and serious changes in my personal life, but despite these complicating factors, I did not want to give up! For me, in addition to the personal effort, it is also about teamwork, supporting each other at the level of leadership and the organization as a whole. An important step was to say goodbye to the events for teenagers – this very valuable but heavy stone, which in the last months became more and more difficult to lift up the mountain. My greatest joy of the year has been the emergence of our space, where you can see each other both in more formal events and in more relaxed hangouts. My favorite events of the year were the Halloween party and Gala Kozyutynska’s workshop on filmmaking. And of course, another new event format, the Silent Room, because I am most productive in those few hours of the week,” adds Anastasia-Lyubov Pankevych, Feminist Workshop’s Events Manager.
Professional Courses
The year 2024 for the Crisis Team began with the implementation of a new project for our organization.
For the first time, we organized professional retraining and additional training courses for women. As part of this project, we reviewed more than 500 applications and supported 22 women by paying for their education.
You can read more about this project here.
We believe that an important outcome of this project is the methodology developed for running voucher competitions. Spoiler alert: thanks to the established competition scheme, we plan to hold it in 2025 with the support of the ZMIN Foundation and the Danish Refugee Council.
Thus, in 2024, we have established a sustainable partnership in professional support for women, which will be our priority for the coming years.
The most important event of 2024: the closing of our shelter!
We are very proud of the crisis team that has taken on this responsibility. About these people, I would like to recall a quote from a cartoon when one character says to another: “Yeah, I like people best who don’t care about things like reality.”
In fact, we had to come up with solutions on the fly. There were situations where there was no solution, and the whole team would go out for a therapeutic glass of wine and pizza. We went to a lot of supervision meetings where we just cried like crazy and said, “No, we are never going back to that shelter!”
And there were times when we would get together and just hug each other and say we are very cool, we did an incredible job. That’s why working in a shelter is not about living your one human life or the life of your family and friends. It means living the lives of 20 people who lived in our shelter every day: with their problems, with their joys. We rejoiced at their successes, grieved at their failures, and were angry when new restrictions appeared.
In summary, I would like to say that this work was filled with much tenderness and care, given the fact that we met these people in such a situation.
Read more about the closing of the shelter here.
During the shelter’s operation, we provided case-specific support to the women, including assistance with employment, socialization, adjustment, volunteering, and finding solutions for women with disabilities. For example, one of our residents with a mental disability received the necessary support and was able to become a resident of a supportive housing facility.
In 2025, we plan to delve deeper into the topic of supportive housing and rehabilitation facilities that provide support, socialization, assistance, and rehabilitation, including for women IDPs. Spoiler alert: we are already developing a project about and for people!
Digital Courses
As part of the project, we organized training and support events for women of pre-retirement and retirement age in Lviv. In total, we organized 61 events for 60 women. Most of the events were digital literacy trainings based on a program developed by our team. This is a course designed to teach basic smartphone use, and understanding the operation of applications and programs. It is designed for women with low digital literacy.
To spread the word about the course and other free activities for adult women in Lviv, we created and printed a brochure with contacts and opportunities from several friendly NGOs. In September and October, we distributed 500 brochures and informed more than 500 women about the opportunities available in the city.
We also organized informative trainings and lectures on topics of interest to older women, including:
- a lecture on nutrition for women aged 60+,
- a lecture on women’s health called “Doctors in a Woman’s Life”
- two lectures on maintaining brain function,
- a lecture on dementia,
- a lecture on the state program “Affordable Medicines”.
In addition, the following events were held:
- two meetings on effective communication,
- three meetings on art therapy,
- two meetings on the topic “What questions to ask a lawyer” from the Right to Protection CF.
We also conducted two sociological studies on digital literacy among retired women as part of the project.
In addition to the successful results of the activities, an important achievement was establishing a trusting relationship with the participants. Even though retired women are usually a rather closed and passive target group, we were able to establish communication, openly discuss their needs, and involve them not only as participants but also as part of the organizational team.
In 2025, we want to continue teaching digital literacy but change the format slightly. We will continue to teach smartphone use in the format of free lessons with digital coaches, where participants can ask questions and get individualized advice. If there are requests to analyze specific topics, such as updates to Diia, drug price comparison websites, etc., we will conduct general trainings for everyone. There is a great demand from women for jobs that are not physically demanding, but such jobs often require basic digital skills on the computer.
That is why we want to create an Active Longevity Club, where we will teach computer literacy to women between the ages of 40 and 60, with an in-depth study of programs useful for employment.
Sex Education
This year we continued our advocacy work for sexuality education! More than 290 children and young people attended our free lectures on sexuality education and combating gender-based violence. We held 42 distinct events, including trainings and lectures for different age groups, and organized 2 trainings for teachers to teach sexuality education in schools using the course we developed.
We did not only create new partnerships but also develop topics that meet the age, professional, and other audience needs. For example, at the Lviv Economic Lyceum, we held a lecture for 10th-grade students on “Growing Up: Let’s Talk Legal.” During the event, we discussed gender equality, consent to sexual interaction, and liability for violations of sexual freedom.
We were also invited for the second time to give a lecture at the Sex Education Camp for Youth organized by the Foundation for Regional Initiatives (FRI). We gave a talk on “What is Sex and the Culture of Consent”. In a friendly and safe atmosphere, the participants discussed what sex is and how everyone defines the boundaries of their relationships.
This year we are also proud of a new collaboration. Together with the Child Friendly School, we launched the Sex Education Project for their students. These lectures took a comprehensive teaching approach to gender identity, relationships, sexuality, and gender equality. One of the highlights was the lecture “Friendship, Love and Romantic Relationships”. In the lecture, the psychologist explained the difference between healthy and destructive relationships and emphasized the importance of personal boundaries and mutual respect.
One of the most important collaborations this year was a series of lectures organized for the Dream Workshop, a support center for people with intellectual disabilities. We held lectures titled “My Body, My Boundaries” and “Legal Boundaries of the Permissible”. Participants discussed their own space, the importance of personal boundaries, and the legal aspects of body treatment. The teaching method with puppets was particularly interesting, as it made the material accessible to people with mental disabilities. This helped participants better understand complex concepts and apply them to real-life situations.
We are grateful to all participants and partners for their openness and active participation. We believe that together, in small steps, we will change the approach to sexuality education for children and adolescents and create a world without violence, where respect and safety are key aspects of relationships. If your organization or educational institution is interested in collaborating, please contact us at office@femwork.org.
Our Own Podcast: “Adult’ Talk”
Our podcast is an informal conversation between sexologist and psychologist Ulyana Bontsio and host Hania, who was recently a teenager herself and has a lot of questions about self-discovery, sex, and relationships.
We have tried very hard to make this podcast interesting and relevant. This project has attracted the attention of both teenagers and older people, as the podcast topics are relevant to a wide audience.
This is the first podcast about sex for teens that openly addresses LGBT+ issues and is recorded in Ukrainian. For us, this is not only an educational effort, but also a contribution to the creation of high-quality Ukrainian-language content.
For 10 podcast episodes, we have received over 263.3 thousand views and 18.5 thousand hours of video viewing. Thank you all for watching!
All videos can be watched here.
International Activities
As in previous years, it was important for us to continue to bring information about the Ukrainian resistance to russian aggression and the voices of women during the full-scale invasion to the international community. So, we maintained our English-language Twitter page, Patreon, and created videos for TikTok to let as many people as possible know about the Ukrainian resistance. We participated in international meetings where we talked about the lives of Ukrainian women during the war and the consequences of the russian-Ukrainian war for society, the crimes of the russian federation, and the importance of armed support for Ukraine.
For example, we took part in a meeting with the European Solidarity Network with Ukraine on International Women’s Day, where we also invited a servicewoman. We also held 4 meetings and completed the Ukrainian Feminist Kitchen project, where Ukrainian and international activists discussed socio-political issues and their own activist experiences, exchanging views, and building bridges for common struggle. For example, we held meetings on topics such as Collective Care and International Solidarity: Insights from Ukraine and Italy, and Elections in Europe during the War.
Together with Ukrainian activists, historians, and human rights defenders, and in collaboration with Iranian-American activist Frida Afari, we produced a video call for support for Ukraine during the full-scale invasion. It highlights the thoughts and experiences of Ukrainian women during the war and emphasizes the importance of solidarity with Ukraine and the danger of russian imperialism not only for Ukraine but for the whole world.
Thanks to the support of friends from all over the world, our publications appear in foreign languages, and the voices of Ukrainian activists are heard around the world (for example, our news have been translated not only into Spanish, English, and French but also into Chinese, Norwegian and other languages). This would not have been possible without the support of our loyal friends. This year we had the honor of meeting one of them in person and sending him a thank-you note (Thank you, Patrick!).
This year, we also attended several international conferences where we reminded of the main thing – the war is on, and Ukraine needs global support. For example, at the AWID International Forum, our activist Yosh delivered a speech from the main stage in support of the Ukrainian resistance and women fighting against russian imperialism for a democratic and free future.
We will continue to amplify the voices of Ukrainian women and the Ukrainian resistance in the coming year because we believe that the world needs to know about russian crimes and that solidarity with and support from the international community is crucial to defeating russian imperialism and its wars of aggression.
“Talking to a foreign audience about the challenges and threats of the russian invasion is difficult and exhausting – because of the general state of the country against the background of a constant crisis, different experiences, and sometimes different visions of events (russian narratives are firmly in the minds of even our allies).
We hope that we were able to debunk the existing myths at least a little bit, to strengthen Ukrainian voices, and convey that there is no Ukrainian feminism without an independent Ukraine from russian imperialism, and to achieve this we first need armed support,” says Alla Solod, International Coordinator.
Social Networks
Our online community has grown a bit this year. And we are happy with the changes we see.
80 – the number of times different media wrote about us.
17 – the number of videos we published on our YouTube channel this year.
342 – posts on Instagram,
350 posts on Facebook,
Thanks to the development of social networks, we can promote the ideas of feminism and support other women in our country, it is an important channel of communication with the community and educational activities.
We thank every one of you for your support. And for reading this to the end.
Let’s step boldly into 2025!