Angelica Spearwoman, former Catherine Place volunteer, shares about her plans as a Watson Fellowship recipient.
1) Could you tell me a bit about your project? Where will you be travelling, and what do you plan on doing there? As a Watson fellow, I want to understand what both men and women are doing to address and cope with violence against women cross-culturally. How are men and women creating safe spaces for women given the constant threat of violence? How are women in each country reclaiming their power and agency from fear? I will spend time in Australia, India, and Thailand to examine these questions in different cultural contexts. I will engage with women and men in diverse cultures to understand the unique conditions and structures in place that influence the violence women experience. In each space, I will make it a priority to work with both men and women, as I know that this struggle must be overcome together, even as women’s experiences of safety and violence differ around the world. I will also explore how men and women are working together to negotiate a sense of safety and security for women given the constant threat of violence women face daily. By naming violence against women and narrating shared experiences with it, I hope to continue to build upon already existing global networks of men and women working to combat many of the injustices women all around the world face.
2) Why were you interested in the proposal you applied for? What do you hope to gain from it? Since losing my sister to murder, I have been deepening my understanding of the obstacles women face in my own community and abroad. My work with Equal Rights Advocates, a non-profit law firm in San Francisco, the Ni Una Menos campaign in Argentina, Our Sisters’ House, and Catherine Place in Tacoma exposed me to the ways in which women are reclaiming their own sense of safety and security given the constant threat of violence. During my Watson year, I will listen to and engage with how women and men are breaking down barriers that exist for women in society.
While much of my drive to apply for the Watson is for and about my sister, my own parallel journey of looking at my body, my vulnerability, and my position as a woman has given me greater insight into the ways in which women are extremely susceptible to violence and oppression. No body is unassailable. We each navigate within our own structures to accommodate our existence and pursue what matters to us.
With the Watson, I will get a grounded, cross-cultural view of how women in different cultures deal with violence. I will also explore how men and women are working together to negotiate a sense of safety for women given the constant threat of violence women face daily. By naming violence against women and narrating shared experiences with it, I want to contribute to communities that combat many of the injustices women all around the world face.