Special Issue: Feminisms in Occupational Therapy Practices

Abstract

While this issue was being developed throughout the year 2023, violence against women and gender-diverse individuals increased worldwide, driven, among other factors, by the rise of far-right politics, armed conflicts, anti-feminist movements, and the reinforcement of patriarchal culture in daily life. At the same time, various forms of resistance and re-existence promoted by women, gender-diverse individuals, communities, and disciplines such as occupational therapy are also emerging strongly to confront this landscape and offer alternatives to a new way of thinking about life, all lives. It is these tensions and resistances that we have sought to convey through the illustration accompanying the cover of this special issue, created by occupational therapist Constanza Mansilla Uribe, originally from Puqueldón Island in the Chiloé Archipelago. In the artist's words, this illustration shows how "struggles converge and recognize each other, become stronger, and voices become more resonant; feminism transcends differences when we walk together for a common good and shared purpose."

For this call, we received articles from occupational therapists in Chile and Argentina who chose this issue to disseminate their work and experiences, such as reflections, research findings, and systematizations of feminist practices and work by feminist organizations. Now, with this issue complete, we believe it is fair to speak of feminist occupational therapy.