The international meeting Anti-gender turn in politics and public globally: new forms of organising against the crackdown on women's rights in the world took place at the Centre for Social Studies (CES) of the University of Coimbra, July 8-19.

Held, at CES, in partnership with Promundo Portugal and the Ivanovo Center for Gender Studies (Russian Federation), the meeting brought together some 30 academics, students and activists from the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Over the course of two weeks they analysed the impact of the growth of populism and far-rights on the rights and well-being of women and LGBT people and the consequent setbacks in the struggle for gender equality: the spread of anti-feminist movements, of which the struggle against «gender ideology» is one of the main expressions; the strengthening of neoconservative misogynist policies in areas such as reproductive rights, sexual autonomy and domestic violence; contestation movements against gender studies in teaching and its banning from various academic institutions.
The meeting was not just a space for analysis, but also an opportunity for activists from geographies marked by memories and legacies of conflict and violence to exchange experiences, articulate struggles, create and strengthen networks and common initiatives. The conviction that the feminist response includes educational initiatives and programmes aimed at the promotion of non-violent masculinities (handbooks, workshops, flashmobs), the investment in the alteration of the legislative framework (advocacy of paternity leave, same sex marriage, criminalisation of sexual harassment), attention to socio-cultural issues (advertising, TV), and the struggle for medical services and societies free of military conflict was emphasised.

The meeting included the training action “Illicit Financial Flows: What They Are and How They Influence Households' Economy” (Olga Shnyrova and Alexandra Kolesnikova/Ivanovo Center for Gender Studies) and the seminars “Feminist Strategizing in the Conditions of Anti-Gender Turn”: regional aspects ”(Nina Potarska/Women's League for Peace and Freedom, Ukraine, Almut Rochowanski/PeacebuildingUK, Janette Akhilgova/NGO Razvitie),  “Anti-gender turn globally: a new agenda of feminism and gender studies”(Anna Temkina/European University of St. Petersburg) and “Non Violent Masculinities: How to Work with Men for Gender Equality?” (Tatiana Moura, Sofia Jose Santos, Julia Garraio/CES, Linda Cerqueira, Milena do Carmo/Promundo). The last day was dedicated to the roundtable “Crossnational strategies and campaigns. Feminist reply to anti gender turn” by presenting participants' situation analysis projects in their home countries and proposals for activism.

The organising committee of this initiative included Tatiana Moura, Julia Garraio and Olga Shnyrova. The meeting took place in the framework of activities of four ongoing projects at CES, namely, EQUI-X (ref. 776969), PARENT (H2020, ref. REC-RDAP-GBV-AG-2017), DeCodeM (FCT, ref. PTDC/COM-CSS/31740/2017) e (DE)OTHERING (FCT, ref. POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029997)  and was supported by Oxfam, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung and V. (Germany) and the Centre for Peacebuilding and Community Development (UK).