Article by Andrea Rodríguez Valdés, RIPESS Europe
The cis-heteropatriarchal system, the hierarchies and the relations of power and oppression that it brings with it, permeate all spheres of our lives, and are present even in supposedly anti-authoritarian and liberated spaces. We understand that these violences, because they are systemic, must be tackled together, and it is necessary to collectively assume the responsibility of ensuring that they have no place in our Social and Solidarity Economy organisations.
That is why we have decided to launch this protocol to build a policy for a space free of aggression. For us, a safe space for all is one in which people are free to express themselves, relate, live together and act as they want, when they want and with whom they want without facing the risk of violence or persecution based on gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, class, identity, migratory status, geographical origin, age, religion, neuro-functional diversity, etc.
This document, which is intended as a tool for individual and collective self-defence, encompasses countless ways in which this safe and feminist space can be made effective. In it you will find a self-diagnosis document for SSE organisations, questions addressed to our teams in order to start reflecting on who does the reproductive tasks in our organisation, what awareness-raising activities are being carried out, what weight is given to care in our work environment, etc.
In addition to this, RIPESS Europe has also validated the creation of a Care Commission, a body in charge of promoting the wellbeing of workers, ensuring the construction of democratic and cohesive work teams. Having a space to share feelings, in addition to being a counter-hegemonic movement against the productivist, mercantilist and dehumanised character promoted by the patriarchal, colonialist and capitalist societies in which we live, allows us to create proximity and union between people. Sharing our vulnerabilities creates cohesion, and a feeling of group solidarity that allows us to repair our self-esteem, and increases our capacity to adapt and defend the environment in which we live. Knowing that there is a space to which we can turn to at any time is extremely structuring from a psychological point of view and counteracts the fear and the isolated and individualistic logic promoted by the system.
In addition, this committee will also be responsible for carrying out specific awareness-raising activities, continuing to revise the protocol, which for now is conceived as a dynamic document that will be adapted to the times, and for generating or sharing other documents of interest with the aim of creating a collective feminist awareness and a space for care in the workplace.
Do not hesitate to translate the protocol in your respective languages!
