In-depth

In Lebanon, in the tobacco farming community, female workers are often exposed to sexual violence. These women and girls – many of whom are minors – are doubly abused: the first time when the abuser rapes them, and the second when their families sentence them to death to wash away the “source of shame”.

At a time when men are abandoning farming, the workers on the fields of Regueb are now armies of women ensuring food security for all Tunisians while still underpaid, uninsured and unorganized.

Handling insecticides with their faces uncovered. When paid, it’s half the amount men receive. Their work is still overlooked by official statistics. They are thousands to take the road to the fields, crammed up on top of each other, risking their lives, every single day.

Ana was forced to join a group of Moroccan female laborers. But what was meant to be a punishment against her for having denounced the abusive rules suffered by agricultural workers slowly turned into a blessing. It was the starting point of a feminist vision advocating for the rights of daily workers.

After being the scene of violent feudal struggles and devastating earthquakes for centuries, the ‘ghost village’ named Pentidattilo was abandoned in 1971 as it was declared uninhabitable. But today two people live there: Rossella, a peasant and shepherdess from Viterbo, and Maka, the young Malian who helps her in the fields and with the goats.

If the Algerian Civil Code grants women the same right as men in terms of buying and selling the property they have acquired or inherited, the more unequal Family Code in terms of suc-cession provides 1/8 for the widow with children, 1/6 for the childless widow. The brother’s share is twice that of the sister.

In Morocco, the fight against menstrual precariousness begins with the breaking of taboos thanks to several emerging initiatives in rural areas.

The women who choose life among the pastures, alone, in a couple or a family, all share the desire for a more respectful relationship with animals and the environment in search for a simple and essential lifestyle. With an intimate and choral narration, a documentary film tells the stories of these courageous guardians of life.

Not everyone today takes for granted the old saying that motherhood is our inevitable biological destiny. However, those who choose not to procreate still fall victims to deep-rooted prejudices and suffocating social pressures. It’s like some sort of polarization in which we continually ask ourselves: “On which side are you?"

Since 2008, “Lucha y Siesta” has been a unique model of active citizenship and solidarity for the capital city. A space that is more than a mere building, or group that resists, but rather an irreversible process born from below. After years of precariousness, negotiations and threats, the Lazio region has finally won the battle for the property.