Changing Culture

A project of the Chicago-based Women & Girls Collective Action Network, Females United for Action (FUFA) brings young women together to "galvanize outrage" against a culture that objectifies women and girls. In 2005, FUFA initiated a media campaign to protest a series of overtly sexist Spanish-language ads that were running across the city. Six months after FUFA's campaign began, the radio station running the ads not only agreed to stop using them, but also agreed to give FUFA airtime to discuss their efforts to end violence against women.
Through their multi-media two-woman show, Hurricane Season: The Hidden Messages in Water, Brooklyn's Climbing Poetree is using performance as an organizing tool for change. The show connects issues that surfaced in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to the challenges that many communities experience daily across the U.S. Following each performance, audience members are offered the opportunity to dialogue with local grassroots organizations and community leaders to develop much-needed solutions to the problems at hand.
Through its unique Women in Construction training program in Biloxi, Mississippi, Moore Community House is preparing a diverse group of low-income women to take on jobs in an industry usually reserved for men. The course-which aims to challenge gender discrimination and break down existing gender barriers in the construction industry- provides participants with basic construction and life skills, and has trained more than 80 women on the Gulf Coast to enter the construction industry in 2009 alone.
After identifying street harassment as a pressing concern in their community, Atlanta-based HOTGIRLS (Helping Our Teen Girls in Real Life Situations) developed and hosted a series of teen summits to raise awareness about the issue. The group collected stories about girls' experiences with public harassment and created educational materials highlighting the impact of street harassment and violence against women and girls in general. They've also produced an anti-street harassment song, and are now preparing to launch a website that encourages men and boys to treat women and girls with respect.
Founded on the belief that teenagers can and must speak for themselves, Urban Word NYC provides free, safe and uncensored writing workshops to more than 15,000 New York City teens, year round. Their Women Reborn Through Music, Media & Culture workshops provide a space where young women can safely and creatively respond to issues of violence through media analysis, discussion and the creation of spoken word pieces - allowing them to play an active role in transforming conventional definitions of womanhood and representations of gender violence.