filia.die frauenstiftung

For some people diversity is a question of survival.
Excerpts from an essay by Claudia Bollwinkel

“We feel particularly obliged towards women who are discriminated not only because of their gender, but also because of the colour of their skin, their origin or their sexual orientation.”
From the Certificate of the Foundation

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Feminist foundations are alliances between those with money and those who need money. A connection is established between different parties who enter into an exchange which ideally is open on both sides. filia as a community foundation manages the transition from personal affluence and money power to joint and responsible use of this power. New endowment contributors are joining us continuously. In this way the capital has increased from 250,000 Euro in 2001 to 15.677 million Euro at the end of 2008. The capital is invested in accordance with the foundation’s objectives on the basis of social, sustainable and ecological criteria. The Foundation Council is a “diverse” body with women from different professions, of different origins and with different opinions. Diversity is a significant value internally within the foundation as well.
filia is a daughter of the women’s movement. This goes hand in and with an awareness of existing power divides – in women’s own activities too. If women are to be strengthened, the how is just as important as the what. The nature of communication with the women receiving promotion is just as crucial as the content of the projects supported. What does promotion in feminist terms mean? First of all it means being easily approachable. The bureaucratic obstacles for those seeking project support should be low so that as many different people as possible are encouraged to submit applications. filia endeavours to listen to the project operators carefully. What exactly are their needs? If necessary the promotion strategy is modified. Alongside money, confidence and esteem are the most important contributions that lead to strengthening people. Recipients see that someone has confidence in their power and their competence. That is why filia refrains as far as possible from monitoring in communications. Funding with small sums up to Euro 10,000 works like a microcredit system. It reaches grass-roots groups that can achieve a lot with small amounts of funds. And like microcredits, this only seldom goes wrong. The confidence that filia places in its women partners is responded to by transparency and care. The idea works.
In every-day consciousness, diversity and difference are frequently connected with hierarchies – top/bottom, better/poorer, worth more/worth less. Excluding those who have been devalued from access to power and resources is discriminatory. filia specifically supports groups that are particularly subject to discrimination and marginalisation. It knows from experience that the women and communities affected find the most sustainable solutions themselves. Empowerment is most powerful when it proceeds from the actual parties involved.

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The project LesMigraS works with a group of people who are subject to discrimination even among those who are discriminated against. It is supported by the Lesbian Counselling Centre in Berlin. The project focuses on lesbian migrants and black lesbians. These persons do not really fit in anywhere. They are marginalised in the community of German lesbians because of their different cultural backgrounds. They can often only manifest themselves with difficulty in female migrant communities because of their different sexual leanings. N., a Turkish lesbian, tells us, “you have to keep it secret. You get used to the fact that this is how it is, that you have to live like this. And even if you do let it out, then there is another kind of separation. Then there are people to whom you can’t talk, and others you can only tell because they don’t know your parents and your family.”
LesMigraS supports lesbian migrants and their families in this no man’s land. The quotation comes from a series of brochures published by LesMigraS in which lesbians from Iran, Turkey and Russia living in Germany are given a voice, describe their experiences, and formulate their wishes and demands. The brochures are bilingual – alongside German they also appear in Arabic, Russian and Turkish. They are intended as bridges that both sides can cross.
Such a bridge sometimes consists of a person. With money from filia, LesMigraS started a project aiming to canvass for the right to sexual self-determination among migrant women’s organisations in Berlin. The fears of contact with this issue initially appeared to be insurmountable. Mitra Sadatgousheh, a staff member of LesMigras, tried to establish contacts by telephone. Without any success. It was only when she went out and visited organisations personally that discussions began. Now thematic evenings on sexual self-determination are planned. The films for these come from the Lesbian Counselling Centre. A poster issued jointly proclaims, “It’s your life, you decide … regardless of who you are, regardless of where you come from, your religion, or whether you’re lesbian, transsexual or hetero”. With their logos printed on the poster, supporting organisations set an important symbol for tolerance. By the way, the poster was designed by a German-Turkish lady.

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Diversity is so valuable for filia because women in the foundation know that variety bears the seed for growth and creativity.
Because they are convinced that human beings are different, but all of equal value. And because it is enriching to repeatedly see the world afresh with the eyes of the others.

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