Focus on Azerbaijan

The call is open for everyone - participants of all genders, professions, and professional levels, such as students, researchers, cultural professionals, fiction writers, poets, illustrators, photographers, etc. 

Vusala Hajiyeva, a transgender woman from Baku, Azerbaijan, tells about the isolation, which did not start during the covid-19 pandemic. She shares her personal story describing the multifaceted difficulties that transgender people face in her country, both on an individual and systemic level. Vusala tells stories of failure, hatred, love, and hope.

This article takes a story-based approach by talking to women engaged in informal economy and describes effectiveness and inclusivity of support mechanisms.

In Azerbaijan, antagonism and phobia against feminism have been so extensive that adopting a feminist identity and establishing feminist initiatives and organizations were incredibly slow-moving.

"There is a house in Baku where cis and trans women live together and support each other. They also don't allow any transphobic people or anyone who could potentially be a threat to move in."