Oxfam Canada Feminist Principles 2023

OXFAM CANADA FEMINIST PRINCIPLES

No one is born believing that women [girls and nonconforming people] deserve less rights than others – the patriarchy teaches us that. Everyone is born a feminist; and you either remain a feminist or you become a misogynist.

OXFAM CANADA’S 10 FEMINIST PRINCIPLES

1. We tackle the root causes of gender inequalities and injustices faced by women, girls and gender non-conforming people, in all their diversity.

2. We take an intersectional approach to tackle discrimination and oppression faced by women, girls and gender non-conforming people, in all their diversity.

3. We recognize our power and privileges and seek to share and shift power to the most disadvantaged women, girls and gender non-confirming people, in all their diversity.

4. We put women’s rights, 2SLGBTQ+ rights, and feminist organizations and movements at the centre of our work.

5. We practice ’nothing about us without us.’

6. We prioritize safety in our organization and in our work.

7. We lead by example on feminist organizational transformation.

8. We connect the everyday barriers experienced by women, girls and gender non-conforming people, in all their diversity, to larger social and political issues, with the understanding that ‘the personal is political.’

9. We take care of ourselves and each other and lift each other up as individuals and as a collective.

10. We uphold feminist climate justice as indispensable to achieve gender justice (and vice versa).

You don’t become a feminist; you are born a feminist.

Preamble

Oxfam Canada is a not-for-profit international development and humanitarian organization founded in 1963, and an affiliate of the Oxfam International Confederation since it was formed in 1995. We are a feminist organization with a vision for a just and sustainable world, and a mission to fight inequality and patriarchy to end poverty and injustice. We have a deeply held conviction that ending poverty and injustice is only possible when gender equality is achieved and gender non-conforming people and women and men, both cisgender and transgender, in all their diversity, fully enjoy their rights. We (and by ‘we’ we mean Oxfam Canada’s staff and Board) strive to act in alignment with the Oxfam International values of accountability, courage, empowerment, equality, inclusion and solidarity and in alignment with our own Feminist Principles and our Anti-Racism and AntiOppression Principles.

plans since 2007 . Oxfam Canada played a key role in influencing the Canadian Government to adopt in 2017 its first Feminist International Assistance Policy. In 2018, Oxfam Canada created its Feminist Principles Committee with the mandate to create our first set of Feminist Principles - an aspirational framework to guide our work both internally (e.g. organizational culture, policies and practices) and externally (e.g. how we work with partners, supporters, donors and the people in countries where we operate). In the first version of the Principles, we argued that a feminist approach means committing both to an OUTCOME (the advancement of the rights of women and girls), and to a PROCESS (our ways of working and the values that underpin our decisions). In 2019, Oxfam International developed a similar set of Principles for the whole Confederation.

when this became an integral part of all subsequent Oxfam Canada’s strategic frameworks. We influenced Oxfam International to include gender equality as one of the goals in the Confederation’s strategic

WE HAVE FOCUSED OUR WORK ON ADVANCING WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND GENDER EQUALITY SINCE 2006,

IN 2018, OXFAM CANADA CREATED ITS FEMINIST PRINCIPLES COMMITTEE

IN

PRINCIPLES COMMITTEE STARTED

to move beyond the binary categories of male and female; to ensure complementarity with our Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression Principles; and to bring intersectionality much more to the center of our feminist work and approaches. We were inspired by the seismic shifts taking place across the globe such as the #MeToo movement, the Black Lives Matter movement, and 2SLGBTQ+ rights-related movements, along with the push to decolonize development.

We are pleased to present this updated version of Oxfam Canada’s Feminist Principles. They incorporate our own learning and adaptation over the past five years. While imperfect and non-exhaustive, they are our attempt to outline what we aspire to. We understand that each step we take to implement our Feminist Principles is part of a journey on a path that is far from linear. We know that we do not have all the answers, that there are no ‘one size fits all’ solutions, and that we will make some mistakes along the way, but we hope that these Feminist Principles will help to guide us to where we want to go.

We are committed to promoting constant learning and to continue refining them. And more importantly, we are committed to doing the hard personal and organizational work and learning that is required to put these Feminist Principles into practice.

We are seeing a rise of regressive and anti-democratic social, economic, and political forces. Civic space for organizations and movements working for women’s rights and 2SLGBTQ+ rights is under threat. We continue living and operating in a patriarchal system, entangled with racism, white supremacy, white feminism and colonial practices. This system is causing a climate crisis –the biggest crisis the world has ever faced - which disproportionately impacts women, girls, and gender non-conforming people - particularly those who live in remote or rural areas or the Global South and those who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color. All of these phenomena are making the dream to achieve a gender-equal world - at the current rate of progress - still 3 00 years away . With the guidance of our ever-evolving Feminist Principles, we at Oxfam Canada will be better equipped to live out our values and effectively contribute to gendertransformative change in the world.

The feminist principles need to evolve as society continues recognizing and deconstructing various forms of inequality and injustice. We are eager to hear your views on the changes we can make to improve these Principles. If you have any advice for us on this, please contact CAN-TeamFPWG@oxfam.org.

2021, THE OXFAM CANADA’S FEMINIST

A PROCESS TO REVIEW THE 2018 VERSION OF OUR PRINCIPLES TO BETTER REFLECT THE CHANGES WE WANTED TO SEE AND SUPPORT;

WE KNOW OUR FEMINIST PRINCIPLES WILL NEVER BE A ‘FINISHED PROJECT.’

WE STRONGLY BELIEVE WE NEED FEMINIST PRINCIPLES MORE THAN EVER.

Glossary

Belonging:

Feeling that comes from not only being in a group, but sensing that we belong in that group, that we are wholly accepted and appreciated for who we are, and that in the group we are safe to participate and thrive and that we truly matter to others.

Cisgender: A term that describes someone whose gender identity aligns with the sex assigned to them at birth.

Discrimination:

Unfair or prejudicial treatment of individuals and groups based on characteristics such as race, gender, ability, age, or sexual orientation.

Diversity:

The wide array of differences among people and their perspectives on the world. In the context of Diversity v. Inclusion, diversity typically means proportionate representation across all dimensions of human difference (as race and gender) within a community or organization.

Feminism:

It is an approach, an intellectual commitment and a political movement that asks questions and searches for answers to end all forms of discrimination, injustice and violations of rights suffered by women, girls and gender non-conforming people. At its most basic, it seeks to ensure that people of different genders and intersecting identities are equal in law and in practice. Its objective is to create positive futures that uphold the dignity and rights of all. To Oxfam Canada, feminism is unequivocally and unapologetically inclusive of trans rights.

Gender equality:

Refers to the equality that will be achieved when people of all genders, across their life-course and in all their diversity, have equal enjoyment of rights, responsibilities, freedoms, protections and opportunities. It also means that the interests, needs and priorities of all are respected. It does not require that girls, boys, women, men and gender non-conforming people be the same, or that they be treated exactly alike.

Gender non-conforming people: Umbrella term for people who identify or express themselves outside of the gender binary.

Gender transformative change:

Seeks to tackle the root causes of gender inequality and challenge unequal power relations. It moves away from a focus on a deficit model (i.e. lack of something) that focuses entirely on individual ‘empowerment’ and towards transforming the social, political and economic structures that reinforce gender inequality.

Inclusion:

The creation of an environment that enables diverse peoples to participate fully, be respected and feel valued.

Intersectionality:

Term coined by Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw describing how people’s lives are shaped by their different social identities (e.g. race, age, gender, ability, sexual orientation, faith, class, etc.). and that the overlap of these identities creates intersecting/compounding forms of privilege and oppression depending on a person’s context and existing power structures.

Intersectional feminism:

It is feminism that acknowledges and centres the voices of women, girls and gender non-conforming people experiencing overlapping, concurrent forms of oppression in order to understand and address the depths of the inequalities and the relationships among them in any given context.

1 We recognize this is a limited list of definitions and also that definitions evolve. For all other terms that are not defined here, we recommend to consult the Glossary of Terms created by the Canadian Center for Diversity and Inclusion.

LGBTQ2+/2SLGBTQ+ and other acronyms:

Umbrella term that stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, and Two-Spirit. A plus sign or asterisk added to any acronym indicates the inclusion of identities not explicitly included in the acronym.

Misogynist:

A person who hates or discriminates against women and girls and believes that masculinity and maleness is more desirable, superior, more powerful, and/or dominant.

Neocolonialism:

The practice of using economics, globalization, cultural imperialism and conditional aid to influence a country instead of the previous colonial methods of direct military control or political domination.

Oppression:

The unilateral subjugation of one individual or group by a more powerful individual or group, using physical, psychological, social or economic threats or force, and frequently using an explicit ideology to sanction the oppression. Refers also to the injustices suffered by marginalized groups in their everyday interactions with members of the dominant group, or with the social systems that reinforce the dominant group’s social position.

Patriarchy/patriarchal systems:

Social systems built around male privilege and dominant masculinities that perpetuate sexist and hierarchical power relationships. They legitimize the discrimination and exclusion of women, girls and gender non-conforming people through harmful social norms, policies and institutions.

Racism:

A systemic form of oppression based on the social construct of race. It can be individual (a person’s belief attitudes and actions that perpetuate the ideology that one racial or ethnic group is inherently superior); institutional (Policies, practices, and dynamics embedded in established institutions that result in disadvantage or advancement of specific groups of people) and systemic (Racialized people have been historically left out of the development of society and its systems, resulting in deeply entrenched disadvantages, barriers, and biases).

Systems of oppression:

Historical and organized patterns of oppression that are woven into the very foundation of a culture, society, and laws and that contribute to or reinforce the oppression of marginalized social groups while elevating dominant social groups.

Transgender:

An umbrella terms used to describe a person whose gender identity is anything other than their sex assigned to them at birth.

White feminism:

Efforts or actions in the name of feminism that uplift white women but that exclude or otherwise fail to address issues faced by other groups, especially women and gender non-conforming people who are Black, Indigenous, people of colour, queer or trans.

Women’s rights organizations:

Women-led, autonomous organizations with rightsbased, transformative and intersectional approaches. This includes organizations that cannot openly identify as women’s rights organizations due to security concerns or contextual factors.

White supremacy:

Ideology that White people and the societies they developed “the West” and their beliefs are superior to other people, nations or communities, resulting in White people having more privilege and power than racialized people, and in the exploitation and control of other racialized groups and societies.

OXFAM CANADA

1

We tackle the root causes of gender inequalities and injustices faced by women, girls and gender non-conforming people, in all their diversity.

Women, girls and gender non-conforming people, in all their diversity, have faced historical discrimination, oppression and injustice.

We will prioritize initiatives to address these wrongs in a meaningful and long-lasting way, bringing about gender-transformative change.

This requires understanding and tackling the root causes of such discrimination and oppression -not just the symptoms- at various levels: at the individual level, within households, within societies, within institutions and policies.

We take an intersectional* approach to tackle discrimination and oppression faced by women, girls and gender non-conforming people, in all their diversity.

Prejudices against women, girls and gender non-conforming people often overlap or ‘intersect’ (e.g. a Black or Indigenous woman might earn less than white men, but also less than white women).

We will seek to understand how women, girls and gender non-conforming people experience unique and often reinforcing forms of inequality associated with the many aspects of their identities such as race, age, gender, ability, sexual orientation, faith, class, among others.

We will listen to and value the voices, knowledge, experiences and stories of women, girls and gender non-conforming people from diverse backgrounds; make space for them and their organizations and aim to center them in our work; we will consider their particular needs when designing initiatives; help others see the compounding inequalities that exist; and promote diversity, inclusion and sense of belonging within our organization and programs.

*Intersectionality was first coined by Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989.

and neocolonial dynamics, which leave the most marginalized women, girls and gender non-conforming people behind.

We will shine a light on those power imbalances and the injustices that they create, and will support initiatives to transfer power and resources to women, girls and gender non-conforming people, in all their diversity.

We will also acknowledge our own power and privilege as an organization and as individuals in this organization, and act to share power in the way we work and champion gender equality in Canada and around the world.

4We put women’s rights, 2SLGBTQ+ rights, and feminist organizations and movements at the centre of our work.

Women’s rights, 2SLGBTQ+ rights, and feminist organizations and movements are the backbone of societies’ efforts to bring billions of women, girls, and gender non-conforming people together to claim their rights. However, they remain severely underfunded, undervalued and left out of key policy-making decisions and spaces.

We will prioritize collaboration and partnership with these organizations for collective action; listening to them; supporting where they need us; amplifying their access to spaces where decisions are made; giving credit; standing up in solidarity; and often stepping aside.

5

We practice ‘nothing about us without us.’

The most marginalized and oppressed women, girls and gender non-confirming people are often excluded from the decision-making spaces about their own lives and futures.

We recognize them as active agents of their own development, and will ensure they are fully and directly included in making decisions on matters that affect them in the work we support and fund.

Our initiatives will be context-specific and supportive of, in collaboration with and in response to the expressed needs and interests of partners and people who are closest to where change is to take place and will be most impacted by the change.

6 7

We prioritize safety in our organization and in our work.

Women, girls and gender non-conforming people and their organizations are often at risk of harassment, violence and abuse, and so are those who are fighting alongside them for their rights. We will have zero tolerance for any form of harassment, violence and abuse – sexual, racial or otherwise – within our organization or in our work.

This applies in both physical and online spaces. We commit to ‘do no harm’ and to protect ourselves, our colleagues and partners from undue risks.

We lead by example on feminist organizational transformation.

No organization or person can legitimately work to fight inequality and patriarchy unless they hold themselves individually and mutually accountable for the change they want to see in the world.

We will lead by example, advancing feminist organizational change at all levels of our organization: governance; culture; practices (e.g. management, policy-making, budgeting, programming, monitoring and evaluation); and all internal processes.

We will also seek to dismantle practices and approaches of colonialism and white feminism in our organization and in our work.

We connect the everyday barriers experienced by women, girls and gender non-conforming people, in all their diversity, to larger social and political issues, with the understanding that ‘the personal is political.’*

Historically, everyday inequalities and injustices faced by women, girls and gender non-conforming people were dismissed as ‘personal/private matters,’ often in the context of domestic life. This led to those issues (e.g. genderbased violence or unequal distribution of care responsibilities) being ignored by policy makers.

In our work we will actively draw connections between the issues in the private sphere that contribute to the oppression and discrimination of women, girls and gender non-conforming people, in all their diversity.

We will work with our partners to bring those important issues and solutions to the forefront of political change.

We will also ensure that our personal actions and decisions are consistent with the political actions Oxfam Canada takes in support of gender justice and equality.

*First in print as the title of a 1970 essay by the New York radical feminist Carol Hanisch.

We take care of ourselves and each other and lift each other up as individuals and as a collective.

The complex and often dangerous work that is required to challenge discrimination and oppression faced by women, girls and gender non-conforming people, in all their diversity, can often lead to debilitating stress, fatigue, burnout and feelings of hopelessness.

We recognize the importance of physical, emotional, spiritual and mental wellbeing, safety and dignity of those with whom we work, as well as our own.

We will practice and encourage self and collective care as a feminist political act*, which in turn makes our work more effective, safe and sustainable.

We will also commit to taking care of and lifting each other up as an act of solidarity.

*“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” Audre Lorde

The climate crisis is the greatest threat the world has ever faced. Canada has substantially contributed to the crisis, reaping enormous economic benefits while accumulating significant carbon debt. Those paying the heaviest price live in lower income countries and are least responsible for the crisis. The most marginalized women, girls and gender non-conforming people, in all their diversity, are being hit the hardest. While often unable to influence decisions affecting their very survival, they are leading on climate and sustainability solutions worldwide.

We will promote collective feminist climate action and solutions. We will encourage and support organizations, activists and movements -particularly those that are Indigenous-led- to bring to the decision-making table the voices of the most marginalized women, girls and gender non-conforming people, in all their diversity.

We will connect national and global movements for climate justice, and advocate alongside them to achieve global cooperation on climate change, and for countries such as Canada to transition to a green economy that effectively contributes to gender equality.

We will also ‘walk the talk’ when it comes to climate justice and acknowledge that our actions as individuals and as an organization have an impact on the environment and on climate change. We will uphold our environmental stewardship policy, which demonstrates a pathway towards a resilient and netzero energy and carbon future in all aspects of our work.

We uphold feminist climate justice as indispensable to achieve gender justice (and vice versa).

Elizabeth Wathuti (Activist) at climate march.

PHOTO © Sommie’s Photography

August 2023

Oxfam Canada

Ottawa unceeded Anishinabe Algonquin Territory

oxfam.ca | @OxfamCanada