History
From Women and Society to Association for Autonomous Women’s Initiative AWIN
The Association for Autonomous Women’s Initiatives AWIN is a women's organisation established in 1997 and based in Belgrade, Serbia.
Association for Women’s Initiatives has developed out of the group Women and Society, the group which in eighties of the last century gathered women who stood for empowerment of women’s status in society and were developing feminist activism and education.
In 1978 an International Feminist Conference: Comrade Woman. The Women's Question: A New Approach? (Drug-ca žena. Žensko pitanje. Novi pristup?) took place in Belgrade, at Student Cultural Centre (SKC).
Starting in 1979 and during the eighties the newly founded feminist group Women and Society created possibilities for women in Belgrade to deal with the issues of patriarchy, discrimination, gender based violence, representation of women etc.
Few years later, the network of feminist groups in what was then SFRY was founded in order to provide opportunity for exchange of experience between feminists from Zagreb (Croatia), Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Belgrade (Serbia). Up to the 1990 the feminist group organized various workshops, panel discussions, round tables, research, protests and other actions in Belgrade.
The feminist group initiated foundation of many other groups: in 1990 - SOS Hotline for Women and Children Victims of Violence, in 1991 Women’s Lobby, Women’s Parliament, Women in Black Against War, in 1992 Center for Women’s Studies, Research and Communication.
After the war began, the feminist group continued its activities in Centre for Women’s Studies, Research and Communication with the effort to develop a broader feminist network in FRY.
In 1997, feminist group Women and Society was registered under the name Association for Women’s Initiatives, and continued to promote the same ideas (strengthening women’s activism; technical assistance and capacity building of the new groups across Serbia and Montenegro).
AWIN's project »Women's Movement-Women's Network« started in 1997, step by step making contacts and identifying women in towns of FRY interested in women's issues and encouraging them to start any activities concerning women.
The project was structured as to support the initiatives to make their own agendas, to register as NGOs and to develop in the way the most appropriate for their interest and according to opportunities in different communities. Support was given through visits, discussions, workshops and lectures initiated by the cooperating women's groups from Belgrade.
Many women activists, lecturers, facilitators from different groups from Belgrade were involved in the project which was coordinated all the time by two or three women from different experienced groups from Belgrade. The message of the activists was: diversities, authonomy, non-centred cooperation and creativity. This basic elements are always present.
In the following years, apart from a continuous activity in terms of visits to the groups, we focused our activity on organising seminars. They included different topics. The content was designed according to the needs and preferences of the groups and individuals who attended, but they also included issues relevant in the terms of global action for women’s human rights (such as sexism, violence, prostitution, sex trafficking, economy, PR, gender stereotypes etc.)
Since 2000, the Network has also gained enough momentum to carry out important campaigns such as Go Out and Be Active, More Women in Parliament, March 8th celebrations, initiated ASTRA (Anti Sex Trafficking Action) campaign, For Us, For Others campaign (promotion of women’s cooperatives), participated in etc. AWIN also co-organized the campaign Economically Equal in 2002 for better policies for women in the labor market.
Since October 2010, after major initiatives grown into into independent organization, Association for Women’s Initiative has transformed into an organization with current name:
Association for Autonomous Women’s Initiative AWIN.