To alleviate the impacts of COVID-19 policies, many initiatives have been developed by civil society organisations – NGOs, local governments, or citizens. A team of national researchers from the RESISTIRÉ project has collected and highlighted a set of particularly relevant initiatives in 27 European countries and in Iceland, Serbia, the United Kingdom and Turkey. These Better Stories cover eight specific domains: gender-based violence, the labour market, the economy, gender-pay and pension gaps, gender care gaps, decision-making and politics, environmental justice, human and fundamental rights.

This Better Story was collected by María López Belloso and Elena Ghidoni

Building a spirit of solidarity

Led by the cooperative Options, the campaign was launched during the pandemic crisis to promote solidarity and inclusivity. Its primary focus was to support vulnerable groups while also advocating for local and ecological agriculture, responsible consumption, and social enterprises.

Celebrating sustainable choices

The organization’s goals were:

• Practical Guidance: The campaign aimed to provide practical information and resources, offering people clear alternatives and insights into responsible consumption.
• Economic Benefits: Through partnerships and collaborations, the campaign aimed to offer economic advantages to participants.
• Smooth Transitions: Recognizing that change can be challenging, the organization worked to simplify the process. It provided assistance and arrangements to make adopting responsible consumption practices easy and hassle-free.

Image by aleksandarlittlewolf from Freepik

Find out more about the initiative

To alleviate the impacts of COVID-19 policies, many initiatives have been developed by civil society organisations – NGOs, local governments, or citizens. A team of national researchers from the RESISTIRÉ project has collected and highlighted a set of particularly relevant initiatives in 27 European countries and in Iceland, Serbia, the United Kingdom and Turkey. These Better Stories cover eight specific domains: gender-based violence, the labour market, the economy, gender-pay and pension gaps, gender care gaps, decision-making and politics, environmental justice, human and fundamental rights.

This Better Story was collected by María López Belloso and Elena Ghidoni

A group of neighbors in Vallecas (Madrid), along with various collectives and community associations, organized through WhatsApp to provide mutual support during the COVID-19 crisis. Multiple groups were formed in each part of the district with the primary goal of assisting individuals who were unable to leave their homes to meet essential needs such as groceries and pharmacy supplies.

Solidarity establishment

Initially, volunteer neighbors displayed their phone numbers on balconies, and the media subsequently spread the news about the initiative, leading to an increase in calls for help. These groups also reached out to healthcare centers, pharmacies, and hospitals to establish a safety protocol. As circumstances changed, families began requesting food assistance, prompting the initiative to establish Solidarity Store Rooms (Depensas Solidarias) in each neighborhood.

Strong collaborations

Local organizations collaborated in this effort, including Centros Sociales like La Villana and La Brecha, the Cultural Association La Horizontal, CSJO La Atalaya, and the Neighborhood Associations of Puente de Vallecas. Thematic groups were also formed to address specific needs, such as maternity support, creativity, eco-social concerns, youth, employment, animal welfare, psychological support, and telephone companionship.

Two years after the pandemic outbreak, this initiative gave rise to four new active associations and working groups: Somos Palomeras, Somos Red Entrepozo, Somos San Diego, and Somos Mujeres.

Photo by Asterfolio from Unsplash

Find out more about the initiative

To alleviate the impacts of COVID-19 policies, many initiatives have been developed by civil society organisations – NGOs, local governments, or citizens. A team of national researchers from the RESISTIRÉ project has collected and highlighted a set of particularly relevant initiatives in 27 European countries and in Iceland, Serbia, the United Kingdom and Turkey. These Better Stories currently cover eight specific domains: gender-based violence, the labour market, the economy, gender-pay and pension gaps, gender care gaps, decision-making and politics, environmental justice, human and fundamental rights.

In Spain, the “Urgent measures for the protection and assistance to victims of gender-based violence (Law 1/2021)” addressed the special vulnerability of women victims of GBV and trafficking due to the policies enforced in relation to Covid-19. It considered GBV as a threat to human rights, which needs to be tackled by guaranteeing access to integrated social assistance.

The law aimed at maintaining and adapting existing services (integrated assistance and protection services) to ensure their functioning during the pandemic, establishing organizational measures as well as adaptation of the modes of provision.

To this end, such services were declared essential and the law explicitly states that these services shall be guaranteed to all women, “regardless their ethnicity, socio-economic level, age, migrant status, functional diversity, disability, dependency, place of residence and any other situation” amounting to intersectional discrimination. The law makes specific reference to women with disability and women living in rural areas and the barriers they may experience in accessing the support services.

Photo by Javier García on Unsplash

To alleviate the impacts of COVID-19 policies, many initiatives have been developed by civil society organisations – NGOs, local governments, or citizens. A team of national researchers from the RESISTIRÉ project has collected and highlighted a set of particularly relevant initiatives in 27 European countries and in Iceland, Serbia, the United Kingdom and Turkey. The initiatives currently cover eight specific domains: gender-based violence, the labour market, the economy, gender-pay and pension gaps, gender care gaps, decision-making and politics, environmental justice, human and fundamental rights.

Women, especially migrant women, are generally over-represented in the domestic work sector worldwide. In Spain, where the International Labor Organisation Convention on Domestic Workers has yet to be ratified, women who lost their job as domestic workers during the pandemic were not entitled to receive unemployment benefits under the Spanish Labour Law. 

Despite a first attempt by the Spanish government to mitigate the situation by approving a special amendment in April 2020 which granted a temporary subsidy, many women were still left out, because the regulation applied only to the domestic workers registered in the Social Security system. However, the prevalence of informal employment in this sector remains extremely high, with around 30% of domestic workers do not have an employment contract at all, and many others who find themselves in a situation of administrative irregularity. This led to a situation where many domestic workers were left even more unprotected during the pandemic.

Supporting the domestic workers who lost their job due to COVID-19

To address this issue and provide relief and support to these women, several local feminist associations got together to organise the crowdfunding campaign “Yo no las dejo solas” (“I do not leave them alone”). The campaign aimed at raising funds to provide financial support to domestic workers that had lost their jobs in the Basque region and who could not access unemployment benefits for not having a contract or for being in an administrative situation of irregularity.

They managed to raise a total amount of 22’740 Euros from 270 donations and distributed the funds to 136 migrant women. The money was used primarily to help women paying their rent. Exceeding their initial aim of 13’000 Euros, the campaign was a successful tool for raising money but also a means to advocate for a political solution to the situation. 

The campaign was launched by four associations of migrant women (Feministas por Nicaragua Euskal Herria, Mujeres con Voz, Mujeres Tejiendo Red, Trabajadoras No Domesticadas), and had the support of three local feminist organizations (El Fondo de Mujeres Calala, Pikara Magazine and Sortzen Consultoría).  

Learn more on their pages:

Feministas de Nicaragua – Euskal Herria

Mujeres con Voz

Mujeres Tejiendo Red

Trabajadoras No Domesticadas