Using arts-based approaches to tackle gender-based and racialised violence in the context of crises and extractivism in Esmeraldas, Ecuador

Esmeraldas province (henceforth Esmeraldas) is amongst the poorest in Ecuador, characterised by state neglect, inadequate infrastructure and services, and the presence of multiple forms of socially and environmentally damaging resource extraction.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the already fragile situation in Esmeraldas has further deteriorated, with drugs-related violence, gang warfare, and organised crime bringing heightened instability, including increasing levels of GBV. The situation is further exacerbated by climate-change induced crises.

The particular vulnerabilities to GBV that Black/Afro women face in this context of precarity have so far been absent from approaches to addressing GBV within Ecuador.

Furthermore, existing understandings are based on limited quantitative data, creating an urgent need for research that brings together creative approaches and critical feminist, anti-racist analysis.

The project brings together researchers from Northumbria University (UK), Universidad San Francisco de Quito (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 (Union Nacional de Mujeres del Ecuador; Miradas Negras; AMATIF; GAD Timbire; Manglar), and Roots and Wings non-profit design agency (UK).

Working with an existing cohort of Black/Afro women peer researchers, we will develop nuanced understandings of GBV from a Black feminist perspective, using participatory mapping, body mapping, and photovoice.

Photovoice uses participatory photography to identify problems and collectively develop solutions, whilst participatory and body mapping elicit 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.

Working with project partners, we will use these findings to co-develop locally- and culturally-appropriate strategies to tackle racialised GBV.

Project partners Roots and Wings will translate research findings into innovative and interactive outputs, including a website and other digital content.