Estefanía Mendoza is the Coordinator of Plans, Projects and Planning for Mulier, a civil society organization that was established as a communicational platform to inform about women’s issues in the world, in Venezuela and of course, in Maracaibo.

Andrea Márquez, along with her best friend, did not just want to inform about the progress and difficult conditions of women around the world, they also wanted to create pockets of hope and sisterhood; generate support movements and collaboration: all with one, and one with all.

This idea from these two friends has now become a hub for conversation and an encounter for women on a global scale. You only have to look at Mulier’s Instagram profile and open one of her posts to find lively discussions of hundreds of female users who share their issues, doubts, hopes and fears about what it means to be a woman.


‘After we were faced with the situation women go through in the world, in Venezuela and in Maracaibo, we said to ourselves: we have to do something more than just inform’, comments our defender of the month at the start of the interview. After participating in a forum to prevent trafficking of women and child in migratory contexts, Estefanía sat with us to talk about Mulier’s new continuously growing projects, to generate a larger impact and search for conditions that benefit Maracaibo’s women.

What are Mulier’s next initiatives?

In the last two years, with the support of Convite AC, we monitored medication specifically for women. We were also a part of the drafting of reports, undertaken by the NGO Civilis, about the complex humanitarian emergency by offering a gender perspective.

This year, we are focused on preventing trafficking of women and child in migratory contexts. Today, we held an event about it, and the idea is to generate a prevention campaign for women, adolescents and girls, that allows them to know the ways they could be exposed to these trafficking networks and can protect themselves to migrate safely or stay in Venezuela without being at risk.

In September, we’re also starting a new educational project aimed to give tools to teachers to detect gender biases in their lessons.


Tell us more about the “Free and Safe” campaign.

 
For us is very important to promote the “Free and Safe” campaign, that has the intention of informing about the dangers of human trafficking, in order for women, adolescents and girls know that this crime is on the rise.


All of us are vulnerable, especially those who decide to leave the country or those who are in such a vulnerable condition that they can get trapped in deceiving job offers. It is very important to talk about this topic and for us to contribute to the prevention of human trafficking in our role as civil society.

What does it mean to be a woman in Venezuela today?

To be a woman in Venezuela today means to confront many challenges, not only the problems we can see at face value, like hunger and economic, health and transportation crises. There are also the personal and private decisions, like leaving to another country and leaving your family and children to make money to support them. ,There is also the personal decision of having children or not in such a difficult situation in the country.

Family separation is a very significant challenge for the Venezuelan woman, whom culturally has a very close relationship with the home. I think that it is time to re-examine our priorities and objectives, to not limit our life to just one aspect, but to develop our professional careers and have a wholesome outlook of what it means to be a woman.

Why bet on feminism?  

As time goes by, we start to ask ourselves: why is no one asking me when will I get a job promotion? How is the Masters degree going? Why are they always asking me when will l get married? Why does society only sees me in the maternal role? To answer these questions about this kind of inequality and social pressure, the only answer is Feminism.

Feminism is a political concept that is very freeing for women. We are programmed to feel guilt if we do not get married, if we do not have kids or if we do not look a certain way. Feminism tells you: No, you have the liberty to be whoever you want to be and do whatever you want to do. You shouldn’t be imposed with stereotypes and roles.

Women are constantly questioned and scrutinized, too much is expected from us and we are barely helped, and what is done for us is understood as help and not an act of shared responsibility. If we want to have a democratic society, the first thing that has to change is our personal relationships and, unfortunately, our relationships are tainted with inequality between men and women.

What is the most satisfactory thing about your work as an activist?

What I enjoy the most is the possibility to be able to do new things and new projects. In these last two years, I have worked with people who are doing wonderful things for the country, not only in Mulier, but also in organizations such as Convite AC, Codhez and Civilis.

Related to women’s matters, for me the education aspect is the most important: to bring information to women and understand that gender equality goes beyond a discussion of who is better, is to transform our personal relationships so that they’re more democratic and so that there is not a subordinate, but equals who can develop their own potential without any other limitation than their own choices.

What are the challenges for the Feminist movement in Venezuela?

The biggest challenge is the situation itself; there are so many things to do, but few people to take on these things. The Feminist movement in Venezuela has dedicated some time to achieving better life conditions for women as well as the society in general, because these measures and policies that benefit women also benefit society.

This situation is a true challenge because we are going through the same circumstances for which we are motivated to help, and we must garner strength and take advantage of the commitment that we have to help each other.

We are making an effort to unite and achieve our objectives: to live in a Venezuela that does not discriminate, where there is equality of opportunities and women can live in freedom, making their own decisions about their body and destiny. I think we will achieve it.