Human industrial activities continue to flood our environment with chemicals that are harmful to it and to humans and other organisms. Every day we are exposed to many of these toxins, some of which will stay in our bodies and the environment forever. Worryingly, children are born with hundreds of harmful chemicals and microplastics in their bodies. 

People of all genders are affected differently by exposure to chemical pollution, and do not react in the same ways to its impacts. Especially (pregnant) women and children suffer from higher vulnerability. This can be caused by many different factors, including differences related to biological sex, social gender roles and gender-specific division of tasks or occupation. These differences are often not taken into account in risk assessment and political regulations. However, in order to better protect women and girls in particular, it is imperative to use a feminist approach to achieve a toxic-free future. 

In this project, we engage and cooperate with feminist target groups, stakeholders and network partners to communicate about health risks from chemicals in consumer products and measures that are needed to phase out toxic chemicals. In doing so, we aim to raise awareness and gain public interest and support for a just transition to a toxic-free future. 

The project focuses on four main activity areas: 

Capacity Building towards a toxic-free future and a broadened understanding of the health impacts from toxic chemicals and measures needed for a toxic-free future. We mainly engage with (young) feminist and human rights activists and their civil society organisations, but also focus on women and gender diverse people, health professionals, scientists and parents, among others.  

Communication and outreach campaigns to inform about toxic chemicals in consumer products and promote substitution by safer alternatives, as well as responsible consumption and production. 

Engaging with stakeholders through dialogues that discuss toxic chemicals in consumer products and ways to reach a just transition to a toxic-free future, working across sectors, to build consensus on the needed shifts to inclusive and sustainable actions. Stakeholders include universities, research institutes, entrepreneurs, health authorities, trade unions, and educational institutes, among others. 

Strategic Cooperation with our network partners and European and international civil society partners to share information and coordinate key joint messages and activities. This particularly revolves around key chemical stakeholder events (on national, regional and international levels), as well as ongoing meetings from the EU and UN chemicals processes, such as the European Green Deal; REACH Revision; Classification, Labeling and Packaging (CLP); Basel Rotterdam Stockholm Convention (BRS); negotiations for a Global Plastic Treaty; Agenda2030; and the Global Framework on Chemicals (GFC), which is the follow up process of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM)

Countries 

Our activities related to the project are conducted by our offices in Germany, France and the Netherlands.