STICHWORT's
Documentation of Groups in the Austrian Women and Lesbian Movement

Stichwort: AUF, Belladonna, Sappho Singers and Co.
Documentation of Groups in the Austrian Women and Lesbian Movement

Gitti Geiger in: STICHWORT Newsletter 4/1997

STICHWORT has continuously documented the recent history of the lesbian and women's movement from the 1970s to the present. The material now comprises more than 400 groups, initiatives, projects, associations and temporary action groups, local women's groups and interregional networks, including autonomous and politically allied or institutionally supported groups. Collected in 40 green binders, the documentation material includes fliers, event announcements, calls for demonstrations, protest writings, open letters and editorials, self-presentations, project descriptions and concepts, folders, news articles, and the various groups' internal publications (protocols, letters, address lists, which fall under top secret information are off-limits without prior approval by STICHWORT).

Of particular value here is material witnessing the beginnings of the New Women's Movement of the 1970s, which documents a series of firsts when the first positions were taken, demonstrations against paragraph 144 (the Austrian law restricting abortion) were called for, Frauenzentrum opened, the first women's festival took place, etc. While material documenting the beginnings of the women's movement in the provinces can only be found in scattered documents, the documentation of AUF (Aktion Unabhängiger Frauen), later renamed Frauenzentrum Wien, comprises several binders. Similarly, the later material also contains mostly documentation of the Vienna groups (around 220) compared with about 60 groups from all the provinces combined. Most of the material derives from later years: more than 50 percent dates from the 1980s and about 40 percent from the 1990s.

The groups have also been ordered according to subject and activity area: 30 lesbian groups, for example, are evidenced here and more than 50 research groups ranging from historians to philosophers to natural scientists. STICHWORT's comprehensive databank accounts for the bulk of the collection, or, all relevant data from the years 1972-1990. The group binders are mainly used for research, documentation and exhibitions, yet they also provide, visually as well as content-wise, an impression of the changes and developments for the last 20-30 years in the women's movement.

Most of the groups' documents are sent regularly by the groups themselves, or donated to STICHWORT by 'private archivists'. STICHWORT again expresses their gratitude for the cooperation of women and groups who share an interest in continuing to make women's political activities visible.