The Daily Journal.- Recently,  the  self-managed  platform  Encuentros  Feministas  celebrated  its  anniversary  edition  by  addressing  a  question  that  often  bursts  into  public  opinion  whenever  a  major  event  shakes  the country:

 “Where are the feminists?”

 To  answer  it,  the  organizers  invited  four  prominent  voices  from  local  activism,  opening  a  space  for  reflection  on  the  many  ways  the  movement  is  currently  engaging  with  Venezuelan  society.

 This  independent  initiative  was  born  on  June  3,  2023,  inspired  by  the  Feminist  Cycles  of  the  Red  Mérida  Feminista  in  the  Andean  region,  in  response  to  the  urgent  need  to  establish  a  permanent space for learning and action concerning women’s rights.

Throughout  these  three  years  of  work,  the  project  has  become  a  forum  for  exchange  and  contemporary  social  struggles  in  the  country,  recording  a  balance  of  15  gatherings,  72  panelists, and more than 700 attendees.

 The  project,  co-created  by  journalist  Ariadna  García,  international  relations  specialist  Lety

 Tovar,  and  attorney  Victoria  Capriles,  embraces  its  plural  identity— “Encuentros  Feministas”  (“Feminist  Encounters”)—under  the  premise  that  there  is  no  single  current  of  feminism  nor  any absolute doctrine.

 Participating  in  this  special  edition  were  journalist  Gabriela  Rojas,  creator  of  Venezuela’s  first  feminist  media  outlet,  Redsonadoras ;  anthropologist  Aimé  Zambrano,  director  of  Utopix’s Femicide Monitor  ; ecofeminist Liliana Buitriago; and  trans activist Adriana Carvajal.

 More Than a Label, a Way of Being in the World

 Journalist  Gabriela  Rojas  offered  a  provocative  interpretation  of  the  question  that  gave  the  gathering  its  title.  Drawing  inspiration  from  Shakira’s  song  Where  Are  the  Thieves? ,  she  invited the audience to transform the question into a personal and collective reflection.

 “What if it is them? What if it is me?”  she asked.

 For  Rojas,  feminism  is  not  limited  to  an  organization,  formal  activism,  or  an  institutional  space  of  power.  Rather,  it  permeates  everyday  life  and  the  ways  people  relate  to  their  surroundings.

 “Feminism  is  not  a  category;  it  is  not  a  section.  Our  lives  are  crosscut  by  this  reality,”  she affirmed.

 Drawing  on  her  experience  in  journalism  and  university  teaching,  she  defended  the  need  to  incorporate  a  gender  perspective  into  all  areas  of  society,  including  those  often  considered  unrelated to such discussions.

 Making Violence Visible in Order to Combat It

Anthropologist  Aimé  Zambrano  approached  the  question  through  the  work  carried  out  by  Utopix’s  Femicide  Monitor ,  an  initiative  that  documents  the  murders  of  women  in  Venezuela  based on press reports, given the absence of disaggregated official statistics.

 According  to  Zambrano,  one  of  the  principal  challenges  is  combating  the  revictimization  that  often accompanies these cases.

 “Before  asking  where  the  feminists  are,  what  often  happens  first  is  that  the  murdered  woman is blamed,”  she noted.

 For  Zambrano,  feminism  has  played  a  fundamental  role  in  making  visible  the  fact  that  femicides  are  neither  isolated  incidents  nor  crimes  of  passion,  but  rather  expressions  of  structural violence associated with the patriarchal system.

 “We  began  speaking  about  this  as  a  structural  problem  and  not  as  isolated  cases  of  a  man who went mad or was jealous,”  she explained.

 The researcher also defended the diversity of currents within the feminist movement.

 “There  is  no  single  feminism;  there  are  feminisms,”  she  affirmed,  highlighting  the  need  to  build alliances around common objectives despite differences.

 Feminism, Territory, and the Defense of Life

 From  an  ecofeminist  perspective,  Liliana  Buitriago  argued  that  struggles  for  women’s  rights  are deeply connected to the defense of territories and nature.

 “Bodies  and  territories  are  united;  everything  that  happens  to  the  earth  happens  to  women,”  she stated.

 The  activist  emphasized  the  importance  of  Latin  American  community-based  and  territorial  feminisms, which place care and the sustainability of life at the center of political action.

 In  that  sense,  she  questioned  extractivist  models  that,  in  the  name  of  economic  development,  intensify forms of violence against communities and ecosystems.

 “Neither  territories  nor  bodies  are  sacrifice  zones,”  Buitriago  asserted,  warning  that  extractive policies often disproportionately affect women and vulnerable populations.

 A Struggle That Also Includes Diversity

 For  her  part,  Adriana  Carvajal  defended  the  need  to  fully  incorporate  the  experiences  of  trans  women and other gender identities within feminist struggles.

 The  activist  pointed  out  that  high  levels  of  misinformation  about  trans  realities  still  persist  and denounced the scarcity of research and data concerning this population in Venezuela.

 Carvajal  stressed  the  importance  of  building  bridges  among  different  social  movements  based  on shared concerns.  “We must connect through what unites us, not through what separates us,”  she said.