Safe space: Black "Third World Women” forms of kinship in Zürich since the 1970s.

How do we understand safe space in spatial terms in relation to preventing and responding to Gender-based violence (GBV)? From the 1970s, migration from African countries began to notably increase in Switzerland. Whilst the social, economic, physical and political ramifications of the white Swiss nuclear family ideal have been dire for women, “Third World Women" have persisted to create liveable geographies for themselves, as evidenced by projects such as the Treffpunkt Schwarzer Frauen in Zurich (1990–2010). The research reclaims the contested term “Third World Woman”, to describe racialised Black foreign women, as a means of distinguishing intersectionalities of risk, recognising shared and particular struggles experienced by GBV survivors. The Wohnkolonie für alleinstehende Frauen (est. 1928), the Frauenhaus (est. 1979), and the Josephine's House (est. 2017) — are curious cases to historically unpack, not only due to their ongoingness and consequent contemporary relevance, but also because, of the many projects that existed over the course of women’s liberation movement, they are initiatives defined by and relying on their architectural incarnations. This research proposes to understand these buildings as safe space infrastructures, illuminating how resources such as domestic labour, social support, finance and legal aid are gleaned and shared amongst GBV survivors. This research hypothesises that such processes are facilitated through forms of kinship, ultimately constructing conditions for safe space, which have spatial imprints. What lessons might we learn from these forms of kinship that liberate and emancipate women from conditions of GBV, reimagining safe space as affirming and empowering? This is a spatial matter.