With International Women’s Day right around the corner, I thought it would be a great opportunity to share with you some women-led organisations who are working towards #BreakingTheBias. Around this day especially there can be so much faux, white washed feminism who will convince you empowerment must be bought through a girl-boss slogan t-shirt (most likely made by a woman working on poverty wages). So this is my call out this International Women’s Day to donate directly, or if you are unable to donate please follow and share these organisations to spread the word of the amazing work they do.
Also if there are any women led organisations or community initiatives you think deserve more love, please let me know via my Instagram or Twitter as I would love the hear about them.
HEY GIRLS
Hey Girls believe young people should never have to compromise their wellbeing or health. Period products are a necessity, however are expensive. So with every purchase of their environmentally friendly leak, chlorine and bleach free period products, the profits go directly into helping young people in need. Period poverty is a major issue in Britain, effecting around 14 million people and 1 in 10 school students across the UK. Providing them with free period products keeps them in school, improve concentration, encourage participation in activities such as sport and promote good health. They do a range of environmentally-friendly products from pads, tampons, period pants, menstrual cups or reusable pads. And with every product you buy, they will donate one to someone living in period poverty.
Website / Twitter / Instagram
GIVE YOUR BEST
Give Your Best are a social enterprise who aim to empower those in need of women’s clothes who are refugees, seeking asylum, destitute, with no recourse to public funds or with precarious immigration status, through access to choice. People are able to ‘shop’ through their catalogue of donated clothes for free meaning they are able to pick clothes that are suited and comfortable to them, which also restores a bit of their dignity.
They are also passionate about sustainability and tackling donation waste. They’re an LGBTQI+ inclusive platform and stand strongly and passionately for all human rights, an organisation that is very close to my heart and especially now a great one to support. If you’re having a wardrobe clear-out soon please consider donating these clothes to Give Your Best.
BLACK GEOGRAPHERS
Black Geographers was created to look into why there were so few black people in Geography and to support the next generation of black geographers and geoscientists. This organisation was created after its founder, Francisca tweeted about being the only black girl on her university course, which sparked an online discussion with other black Geography students who felt alone. Black Geographers has since grown to offer mentorships, work experience, career workshops & events and scholarships to its 10,000+ members.
This is an organisation I have watched grow over its small but impactful lifetime, and it is so inspiring to see the amount of work Francisca and her team have put into Black Geographers. It is definitely one to follow (and donate to if you can).
BEHIND BRAS
Less than 10% of women leaving prison are able to secure employment, with around a third having already lost their homes and possessions whilst in custody. Without sufficient resources or support, this leaves them un-prepared to get back into work afterwards, which makes it more likely for them to reoffend and return to prison. However Behind Bras is trying to change this by helping incarcerated women get into meaningful employment in the fashion, retail and the creative industries. They work with women’s prisons and women’s centres, welfare providers, resettlement and mentoring charities, universities and experts in the fashion retail and creative industries to train women inside and outside prison to help them into employment and become self-sufficient.
REMAKE FASHION
Remake is a non profit organisation who aims to change the fashion industry’s harmful practices on people and the planet. Through their three pillars of work; education, advocacy and transparency, they aim to make sustainability accessible and inclusive to their community of fashion lovers, women’s rights advocates and environmentalists. They run and support multiple campaigns such as the Pay Up campaign, Fashion Accountability Report and Stop the Worst Wage Theft and also have a great ambassador program for those looking to get more involved in fashion & women’s rights activism.
23 CODE STREET
23 Code Street are a coding school for all women and non binary people. Created with the intention of creating a more diverse technology industry. The gender disparity effects the products and services that are produced and who they are targeted at, and we need a workforce that is more representative of the people it wants to serve, or should be serving. Whats even better is for every paying student on their courses, they teach digital skills to a woman in the slums of India.
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So many of these sound wonderful, especially Behind Bras and Remake Fashion. What a great roundup x