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A group of women march on a city street in daylight. Two of them are holding a red banner with white lettering. The top of the banner is crumpled and much of the text is obscured. The word mujeres can be seen at the top, at the bottom the words Latin American Womyn's Collective can be seen. Above the group is single traffic light hanging from a street pole. Behind the group is the bottom half of a tall, beige apartment building.

Riding the Waves: Latin American Feminism in Toronto

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Latin American Feminism in Toronto

A group of women march on a city street in daylight. Two of them are holding a red banner with white lettering. The top of the banner is crumpled and much of the text is obscured. The word mujeres can be seen at the top, at the bottom the words Latin American Womyn's Collective can be seen. Above the group is single traffic light hanging from a street pole. Behind the group is the bottom half of a tall, beige apartment building.

Latin American Women’s Collective marching on International Women’s Day, John Street, 1985. Courtesy of Magaly San Martin.

Image of a flyer advertising an event with Sofia Montenegro at the Harbord Collegiate Auditorium. Her name appears at the top in bold black lettering. Friday, March 4 1988, 7:00 pm also appears in black lettering in the middle of the image. A small black and white photograph of a woman with black hair is also featured.

Flyer for Sofia Montenegro event, 286 Harbord Street, 1988. Courtesy of R. Magaly San Martin.

Image of an event poster that features an illustration of three women in each corner of the image, and a yellow sun in the upper right corner. In the middle is a drawing of Central and South America. At the bottom of the image white text on a purple bar spells out in Spanish primer encuentro de mujeres latinoamericanas. Translated into English, it reads the first meeting of Latin American women. Beneath this text, another purple bar has white text which reads in English Toronto Ontario 1995.

Poster for the Primer Encuentro De Mujeres LatinoAmericanas (First Meeting of Latin American Women), Toronto, 1995.

The Latin American Women’s Collective

One of Toronto’s earliest Latin American feminist groups was the Latin American Women’s Collective (LAWC). Formed in 1983, the LAWC encompassed multiple nationalities and operated on a grassroots level, holding local events in community spaces, including the Centre for Spanish Speaking Peoples.  

The group worked to not only raise money to support political causes in their home countries but also bring those issues to the attention of Torontonians. As a feminist collective, members also actively supported the women’s movement in Canada. The group hosted public lectures featured distinguished guests such as Nicaraguan journalist and feminist Sofia Montenegro. They also participated actively in International Women’s Day events throughout the 1980s. The collective dissolved around 1990, but their activity laid the groundwork for future groups to continue the spirit of their work.

The Latin American Coalition Against Violence against Women and Children

The Latin American Coalition Against Violence against Women and Children (LACEV) was formed in 1991 as a subsidiary of the Hispanic Development Council (HDC). LACEV faced an uphill battle from the onset of its creation as many within the HDC did not see violence against women as a “priority issue.” 

Nonetheless, the group persisted and, in 1992, secured funding to hold workshops and training sessions for community workers on providing aid to the Latin American community. This included the development of a manual and a four-day training program, which featured a feminist focus. Steered by Ana Maria Santinoli, a former member of the LAWC, LACEV emphasized how women within the community faced daily experiences of racism and discrimination. 

Encuentros

On June 16, 1995, LACEV’s most ambitious project took form. Primer Encuentro de Mujeres Latino Americanas En Ontario (First Meeting of Latin American Women in Ontario) was a three-day event held at the Harbord Collegiate Institute. The event was inspired by Latin American and Caribbean feminist Encuentros, which took place in South America in the early 1980s. These events gathered Latin American feminists and activists to discuss gender-based oppression as well as social and political issues prevalent in the continent at the time. The 1995 Encuentro in Toronto became a rallying call for Latin American women living in Ontario.

Below is a clip from a video produced by the organizers of the 1995 Encuentro featuring interviews with attendees:

The Toronto Encuentro and its impact

The Toronto Encuentro was an effort to create a space for Latin American women to come together and share their experiences, while fostering a connection for future events. The three-day conference featured discussions and workshops on various issues, including reproduction rights, mental health, racism, and sexual violence. Over 500 people from all over Ontario and Quebec attended the event. Reports following the 1995 and 1996 Encuentros called for “…the creation of an organization that represented all Latin American women.”

This recommendation was realized with the formation of MUJER in 2003. The organization provided a wide range of programs and services, including summer camps for young women that highlighted issues around body image, eating disorders, and identity, all within a feminist framework. Overall, the legacy of the Toronto Encuentro solidified a collective need for Latin American women in Canada to mobilize, leading to decades of programming and advocacy for Latin American women in Toronto. 

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