Voices Against Extractivism: Sheroes for Change marks WoMin’s first foray into comic book storytelling!
Drawing inspiration from WoMin’s analytical paper Extractivism and Violence against Women, this comic book portrays the multi-layered violence faced by women and their community as a direct result of large-scale mining and extractivism.
This story focuses on the poignant experience of a fictional community uprooted by extensive mining operations, leading to their resettlement in a location far removed from essential services. It unveils the predatory nature of multinational corporations’ relentless pursuit of Africa’s natural resources, which often results in the exploitation of African women and their communities for profit as communities are dispossessed of their land and are subjected to violence by police and private security to safeguard corporate interests. The comic underscores the many layered violences women in extractive-impacted communities experience – laying bare cultures of normalisation, fear, stigma and silence that surround sexualised violence, and the systemic failure to protect women.
At the heart of this tale is African women’s resilience and the strength of local, community and Pan African organising. The characters also highlight the role women play in confronting the climate, inequality, and other crises, and resisting injustice while building and crafting alternatives from the ground up. Even as violence is a theme in this comic book, it is a story of healing, solidarity, hope, self and collective care. Most importantly, this is a story of how African women – Sheroes for Change – are on the frontlines of radical organising and movement building to fight injustice in all its forms.
Facilitation Guide
This comic book is designed to be used in community settings, workshops, popular education processes and more. The facilitation guide below can be used to build productive, sensitive and respectful conversations in discussion groups.
