Spring Edition of the WEAvings Newsletter: When women are safe

Dear Friends,

We’ve experienced the full spectrum of the human experience this month. We felt the solidarity of International Women’s Day as we gathered with many of you to plant trees and build the momentum of women led tree-growing efforts. We celebrated Women’s History Month and honored the legacy of generations of women leaders who came before us. We welcomed the renewal that comes with the first days of Spring. And we faced the grief of the one-year anniversary of the death of Breonna Taylor, and now the horror, anger and deep sadness over the anti-Asian violence and ongoing white supremacy that has a foothold in our country.

What happened in Georgia isn’t an isolated event. More than 3,800 anti-Asian hate crimes and acts of violence occurred in the past year—and women were targets in most of them.

WEA's work is about ensuring women’s rights and safety as a prerequisite to the larger global changes we know are possible for our world. The climate and environmental solutions ushered by Alliance leaders around the world ensure that women are less vulnerable, and that they're safe. Using a clean cookstove or a rain water harvesting tank means women and girls don’t have to make the long, dangerous walk for water and wood. Gaining access to titled land means that women and their families have a safe place to call home where they can grow food for personal use and to take to market. And halting the perilous extractive industry and colonization of Indigenous territories ends destruction of the earth and makes women less vulnerable to unacceptable assault and disappearances all too common on fracked and mined lands.

The targeting and murder of 6 Asian American women this month highlights yet again the violence women continue to face. And it calls us to continue coming together for important bridge-building work that uplifts, heals and reimagines broken systems. Women’s Earth Alliance stands firmly in solidarity with the Asian American community, and we thank our global community for joining us as we raise our voices to put an end to anti-Asian hate and all forms of racism. 

In solidarity,

Amira, Melinda and Kahea
WEA Co-Directors