Widespread in Germany, the term denotes a coalition between cis women and other marginalised genders. But, as Amelie Kahl explores, the acronym can be used to police rather than open the boundaries of gender.
WORDS BY AMELIE KAHL HEADER DESIGN BY YOSEF PHELAN Safe spaces have a long tradition as a political instrument in feminist movements.
Collective experiences of gendered violence resulting from a structural inequality of power gave rise to the desire for spaces that were more free from patriarchy.
In the 1970s in Germany, the feminist endeavour to create safer spaces was called Frauenräume (“women-spaces” in English), but many participants did not feel safe in them.