Last Month at OFC | April 2020

Feminist Futures Meetup #3: How Are We Feeling?

We hosted our 3rd Feminist Futures meetup on the 1st April where we held space, checked in on how each other were feeling and explored ways in which we could take care of ourselves and our communities better during the pandemic.

Youth Dialogue: Human Rights during COVID-19: Sexuality and Gender

We hosted a super successful dialogue on Human Rights during COVID-19: Sexuality and Gender on 2nd April. Over 20 participants from various South Asian organisations working with and for the LGBTIQ communities in South Asia brainstormed upon insights on the challenges they face during the pandemic.

Feminist Futures Meetup #4: Mental Health during COVID 19

We hosted our 4th Feminist Futures meetup on the 8th April virtually on mental health during COVID 19. The meet-up discussed aspects of our physical and mental well being and what actionable measures we can take to practise self and community care.

Tweetchat: Mental Health during the COVID 19 Pandemic

We hosted a tweetchat on Mental Health during the COVID 19 pandemic on the 10th April from 7-8pm where we explored self and community care, managing anxiety and loneliness and effects of social isolation during this time.

Feminist Futures Meetup #5: Mental Health for Frontline Workers

Our 5th Feminist Futures meetup on the 11th April focused on mental health for frontline workers led by Pragya Lodha from our team. The discussion was insightful and saw around 8 participants sharing inputs.

Feminist Futures Meetup #6: Feminist Leadership during the COVID 19 Pandemic

We hosted our 6th Feminist Futures meet up on the 18th April on the theme of feminist leadership and what that means during the pandemic. We spent a lovely evening co-learning with a bunch of budding leaders from across India.

Feminist Futures Meetup #7: Interactive Open Mic Night on Justice and Healing

We hosted an Interactive Open Mic Night as our 7th Feminist Futures meetup on the 22nd April where we worked together to understand justice and how poetry can express justice and contribute to one’s pathway to healing. We also created some wonderful poems through a blackout poetry exercise as a part of the meetup.

Workshop: Mental Health, Workplaces and COVID 19

We hosted a virtual workshop on mental health, workplaces and COVID 19 with Redockto for ARISE on April 24th. We had a lovely time engaging and co-learning about community care, supporting each other and paying attention to our mental health needs during this period.

Sanskaari Girls Book Club Meetup: Poetry Reading on the theme ‘Community’

We hosted our 12th meetup of our Sanskaari Girls Book Club virtually on 26th April. This meetup was an open space that explored the idea of community through poetry reading, sharing and discussions.

Virtual Certificate Course: Mental Health and Crisis Management

We hosted a 7 day virtual course in mental health and crisis management, facilitated by Havovi Hyderabadwala and Pragya Lodha from 20th-26th April. 25% of the revenue we raised from this course went towards supporting COVID 19 relief efforts.

Virtual Certificate Course: Queer Sexual Health and Pleasure

We hosted a seven day online certificate course on Queer Sexual Health and Pleasure from the 27th April-3rd May. It was a fantastic experience involving an enthusiastic group of participants who brought loads of value to our space while learning and unlearning various aspects of LGBTQIA+ sexual health. 25% of the revenue we raised from this course went towards supporting COVID relief efforts.

Playlist: Revolutionary

We curated a playlist on what the soundtrack for the revolution sounds like for us. Click here to access the playlist.

Playlist: Different Loves

Listen to music that reminds us of different loves, curated by out team on Spotify. Click here to access the playlist.

COVID 19 Related Resources

A Guide | Domestic Violence during COVID 19

We have compiled a work in progress guide with recommendations, resources best practices and bystander intervention guidelines to support survivors of domestic violence during this period. Click here to access the guide.

Informative Videos

We have curated and published various informative videos on our Youtube channel on the following topics:

– How Can we Support People who may be Facing Domestic Violence during COVID 19? Click here to access the video.

– Sexual Health During the COVID 19 Pandemic. Click here to access the video.

– How to Draw Boundaries at Home During the COVID 19 Pandemic. Click here to access the video.

Informative Posters

We have also created various informative posters on COVID related topics. They are as follows:

Is Sexual Wellness related to Mental Wellness?

Things You Should Know about Supporting a Survivor

How Can You Manage Negative Thoughts?

How to be there for Yourself and Others?

Signs of a Toxic Workplace

How can We Set Boundaries at Home during COVID 19?

Setting Boundaries during COVID 19

How to Address Feelings of Isolation during COVID 19?

Upcoming events:

Feminist Futures Virtual Meetups:

We have many interesting feminist futures coming up in the month of May. These are as follows:

-6th May | Sneak Peek- One Future Fellowship

-13th | Trauma Informed Care for Survivors of Gender Based Violence and Ourselves during COVID 19

-20th | Poetry Reading and Discussion

-27th | Feminist Quiz Night

To sign up for either of these, click here.

Certificate Courses:

We have some interesting intensive courses coming up in the month of May. These are as follows:

– 27th April to 3rd May | Queer Sexual Health and Pleasure

– 8th May to 7th June | Queer Sexual Health and Pleasure

-4th May to 10th May | Introduction to Feminist Lawyering

-14th May to 12th June | Introduction to Feminist Lawyering

To sign up for either of these, click here.

Programme: Learning with OFC

Learning with OFC is a three month (20th May to 20th August, 2020) journey of co-learning, unlearning and creating along the themes of gender justice, mental health and feminist leadership with a curated community of thinkers and doers. Learning with OFC includes the following:

– Two Certificate Courses: You can pick from the courses that we are conducting at no additional costs or the participants can come together and choose from our list of courses and have that conducted exclusively for them.

-Three Exclusive Workshops led by senior industry leaders on themes requested by participants.

-Community Group: A space for learning from each other and developing nuanced perspectives on current issues, facilitated by those working on these issues.

-Fortnightly Community Meet-ups: Access to exclusive spaces to share, learn and grow with each other, including open mic nights, book readings, workshops and open spaces.

-Fornightly Curated Learning Resources: A curated resource pool of short books, articles, papers, music, films, podcasts and more.

-Reflection Assignments: Optional spaces to reflect, write and share.

-Exclusive 1:1 Mentoring for community members with team members.

Learn more about the program and sign up here.

FemJustice Legal Aid Helpline: Extended service hours during COVID 19

As staying at home during this lockdown is not a safe option for many of us, we want to extend our legal advice and support services to those in need. In view of this, we are extending our FemJustice Helpline (+919019548792) service throughout the week to provide preliminary legal and mental health advice to survivors of gender based violence. The revised timings of the helpline are 12-2pm from Mondays to Wednesdays and 12-4pm on Thursdays and Fridays.

Healing Circles

We are curating a healing circle for queer persons to share and support each other. Initially the circle was going to be an offline support group but keeping in mind the COVID 19 crisis and the need for queer persons to have access to safe spaces, we are starting the circle online. You can sign up here. The circle will meet on the first Sunday of every month from 3-5pm for an initial duration of six months.