For homeless people in Budapest, for migrants in Linz, for LGBTQ rights in Warsaw: How three civil rights activists are fighting moves to curtail our freedom.
When Poland joined the EU in 2004, some 94 percent of the population rejected homosexuality. By 2013, that figure had fallen to just 26 percent.
Before the economic and financial crisis hit in 2008, around one million Hungarian households took out booming Swiss franc loans to buy a house or a flat.
Viktor Orbán likes to claim he speaks for the common people. Agnes Kalota argues: "Our government isn't interested in the weak."
Shortly before Christmas 2017 Caixeta was unexpectedly asked to attend two meetings. Suddenly, "maiz" was short of €42,000 - a fifth of its budget.
Belky, a young woman with a friendly smile and her dark hair tied up in a ponytail, sits at a desk in the entrance hall of an office in Linz. Holding a phone to her ear with one hand, she uses the other to scroll patiently through the advisory centre's appointment calendar. The next few weeks are almost full. Anyone looking for an appointment now will have to wait up to two weeks. To save money, the association has made staffing cuts. Caixeta, for instance, now only works part time - but the time that she invests in maiz hasn't really changed.
Caixeta believes that, contrary to what the government says, its women's policies are not equally targeted at all women. She says the cuts mean that support is being taken away from the women who need it most - those who are affected by racism and precarious conditions, and are therefore doubly disadvantaged. Caixeta says that women are also experiencing it in their day-to-day lives. Migrant women, for instance, are more frequently reporting verbal abuse on the streets of Linz. And the attacks often go further than just words. In a recent incident, a black woman waiting in a supermarket queue was elbowed in her stomach. She was pregnant. Many women are staying at home out of fear. Caixeta says that maiz is needed now more than ever.
Original in German. First published in October 2019 in DATUM. Translation into English by Jen Metcalf. This text is protected by copyright: © DATUM / Lena von Holt. If you are interested in republication, please contact the editorial team. Copyright information on pictures, graphics and videos are noted directly at the illustrations. Cover picture: Luzenir Caixeta, Oktawiusz Chrzanowski und Agnes Kalota. Three civil rights activists who are fighting moves to curtail our freedom. Photo: © Ilir Tsouko