Maybe it’s time to  flood the spaces now!

By Ayesha Bashir

At the Academy Convening held in February this year, we came together in a space shaped by years of shared trust, care, and collective resistance. This wasn’t just another gathering; it was an act of defiance in a world that is becoming increasingly hostile to our voices, our movements, and our very existence.

It marked yet another chapter in our long and deliberate journey — one that began when we boldly chose to put the word “abortion” at the heart of our name. Since then, this journey has grown into a vibrant network of feminist resistance: from our Youth Advocacy Institutes, which have nurtured hundreds of abortion rights advocates across the globe, to the Abortion & Reproductive Justice Conference, which reimagined what feminist gatherings can look and feel like.

And now, with the ASAP Academy, we are embracing the rapidly evolving digital landscape, not just to expand access to knowledge and build collective power, but to also be mindful and resist the constant surveillance and silencing that seek to contain us.

ASAP’s work has always been rooted in feminist ideologies, in action-oriented knowledge that is inspired from lived realities. From launching the first safe abortion hotlines in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, to co-creating musical dramas on abortion rights in India with our partners, to now pioneering the world’s first online academy exclusively focused on safe abortion, we’ve never just responded to the moment, we’ve shaped it.

The Academy is a continuation of that tradition. A space to unlearn, relearn, reflect, grieve, rejoice and most importantly, to build. Because now more than ever, in the face of growing fascism, shrinking civic spaces, erosion of funding support and political will and an increasingly co-opted global feminist movement, holding space for safe abortion rights is nothing short of revolutionary.

In February this year, we hosted our first-ever Academy Convening where activists, abortion seekers, queer feminists,  community providers and more, all came together to unpack how old issues like patriarchy, neo-colonialism combined with new challenges like tech violence and climate collapse are shaping our SRHR realities. We all wanted to be there in solidarity, but we also wanted to strategize and imagine resistance that is fierce, joyful, messy, and collective.

The Academy, or the Convening, or the series of webinars that we are now planning to host, is not just about tokenistic representation. It’s not even about holding the space anymore, it’s about flooding the space. All these are also a response to a world that often sidelines the Political South voices even within the global feminist movement. We are not here just to talk about ‘problems’ or ‘challenges’ being faced by the ‘Political South’, we’re also here to build solutions for ourselves and for others.

We are here to lead the world and shift the narrative.

It’s through all these spaces and conversations, that we are increasingly understanding and addressing the contradictions of our times: progressive laws alongside regressive access, digital tools that serve as both lifelines and new grounds of suppression and movements that are expanding even as they are attacked. But we are also finding hope. In each other. In our shared language of resistance. In our continued refusal to be divided, silenced, or made small.

Therefore, we need to remind ourselves that decolonization isn’t just a catchphrase or politically correct language,  or just a slogan. It’s a deeply political practice, that requires us to take charge and not just follow. And spaces like these are how we keep that practice alive.

So,with each class, gathering, or webinar, we are committing. To show up, take charge, and to organize across borders. To fight for safe abortion not as an isolated issue, struggling to bypass moral panic of different authorities, but as the most ultimate right to our bodily autonomy, which is central to feminist justice and human rights. Here’s to keep building spaces like this, in person or digitally, where our power is not only recognized, but nourished and celebrated.

We refused to be censored and we’re just getting started!

Ayesha Bashir is the Communication and Network Manager of Asia Safe Abortion Partnership