DignArte Cimarrona: Tackling Racialised Gender-Based Violence

DignArte Cimarrona is a feminist, decolonial, and anti-racist research project that develops art-based approaches to understanding the spatial and racialised nature of gender-based violence (GBV) in the context of protracted crises in Esmeraldas, Ecuador. Rooted in the experiences of Black and Afro women, the project underlines the importance of contextually and culturally appropriate strategies to address racialised GBV, while developing much-needed qualitative and visual creative anti-racist approaches, which have so far been invisible within Ecuadorian national statistics and GBV prevention strategies.

The project emphasises equitable partnerships, bringing together researchers from Northumbria University (UK), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (USA), FLACSO (Ecuador), and the Mujeres de Asfalto Collective (a Black feminist community arts organisation based in Esmeraldas), alongside project partners from across Esmeraldas who are committed to tackling GBV (Unión Nacional de Mujeres del Ecuador; Miradas Negras; AMATIF; GAD Timbiré; Manglar), as well as the Roots and Wings non-profit design agency (UK) and Latin America Bureau.

Working with an existing cohort of Black/Afro women peer researchers who collaborated in the RECLAMA project, this project will develop nuanced understandings of GBV from a Black feminist perspective, through participatory mapping and photovoice. Photovoice uses participatory photography to identify problems and collectively develop solutions, whilst participatory mapping elicits creative understandings of how Black/Afro women experience violence across different spaces and territories. Together, these creative approaches will produce much-needed qualitative data capturing Black/Afro women’s conceptualisations of safety and unsafety, rooted in the experiences and understandings of local communities.

This project is funded by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) programme: 'Developing innovative approaches to gender-based violence', supporting 11 research projects to tackle GBV using creative and participatory approaches.  

Meet the research team:

Northumbria University (UK)

• Lead investigator: Prof Katy Jenkins
• Postdoctoral Research Associate: Dr Sophia Valle-Cornibert
  

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (USA)

• Co-lead Investigator: Dr Sofia Zaragocin
  

Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO, Ecuador)

• Co-lead Investigator: Dr Cristina Cielo
• Research Assistant: Samira Folleco
• Research Assistant: Cindy Arroyo

Mujeres de Asfalto Collective (Ecuador)

• Co-lead Investigator: Juana Francis Bone
• Research Assistant: Nayeli Gonzalez
• Research Assistant: Maria Preciado
• Research Assistant: Shamira Benitez