"We're building the plane as we fly it" — Interview with Aiski Ryökäs
- European Center for Digital Action
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
Today, women's rights issues are often dismissed as less important than other issues dominating the news and public attention. In the meantime, abortion rights are under attack, femicides are on the rise and misogynist hate speech flourishes online. But Feminist organizers and activists won't be kept down — across the world, campaigns are pushing people to stand up for gender justice.
One example is the Women’s March which took place for the first time in Finland last year. The march brought 10,000 people out onto the streets — a historic achievement thanks to the tireless work of civil society organizers, and a powerful sign of what is possible.
Aiski Ryökäs is a long-time activist who has worked on migrant rights, run as a political candidate, and is currently a feminist campaigner, fundraiser and organizer at Unioni, Finland’s 130-year-old women’s rights organization. In this Q&A, she sets out a case for feminist activists to be bold in every sense — in their ambitions, messages, and calls for support.
Q: The current political agenda and media headlines are dominated by issues like defense and inflation, with women’s rights and gender justice issues getting pushed ever further down the agenda. Would you say we’re at a low point when it comes to feminist campaigning, whether in Finland or in Europe as a whole?
A: In Finland, I’d say we’re at a kind of mellow point, rather than a low point. We had the Me Too moment — a lot of individual activism and momentum — but things have shifted.
One major issue is that violence against women and gender-based violence is so normalized. A recent study showed that by many measures, Finland is the most dangerous country in the EU for women. One in three women here has experienced sexual violence, physical violence, or the threat of it in a partnership. Unfortunately it doesn’t make headlines and hasn’t sparked the kind of momentum you’d expect.
That’s why at my organization Unioni, we try to make feminist causes mainstream — to show that tens of thousands of people care about these issues and are willing to stand up against violence.
I think in Europe and across the world we’re seeing some really inspiring feminist campaigns that are helping to fight the backlash and create some momentum to talk about issues like reproductive rights. But this doesn’t happen by itself — it’s up to us to do it.
Creating momentum doesn’t happen by itself — it’s up to us to do it.
Q: How do you build that momentum? What kinds of messages work to bring feminist issues into public debate and mobilize people?
A: Last spring, we organized the first large Women’s March in Finland, with 10,000 people attending. In a country like Finland where people rarely take to the streets and these issues aren’t present in public debates — this was a big deal. One of the best ways to capture attention and mobilize people was by collecting personal stories about harassment beforehand and tying them to a collective call to action. Everyone recognizes these stories. Framing them as a reason to rise up and say “enough” built real momentum.
Similarly to the topic of gender-based violence, being very clear and vocal after femicides is really important — showing that these are not isolated incidents but structural problems. People need a strong voice to fight apathy and numbness.
Q: How do you see the role of digital tools and platforms? Social media is essential to reach audiences effectively but can often be a space for gender-based violence itself.
A: Many online spaces are saturated with misogyny and hate, but we can’t ignore them — we have to navigate the digital world as it is. For example, we avoid X because it’s become irrelevant for us, but we’re active elsewhere.
We also have a social media policy and clear moderation rules. We tolerate debate but not hate speech or disinformation. We’re transparent about these rules and we also don’t shut down every critical comment — I think disagreement has its place in a democratic space. But because of all these problems, it is pivotal that we have a direct communication line with all our supporters and community, and for that email lists are irreplaceably important.
Q: How do you see fundraising as part of building power for feminist groups in the long term?
A: I think NGOs have sometimes been too shy about asking for money because it feels unethical somehow. I disagree with that. As Virginia Woolf said, a woman needs money and a room of her own to write — women need resources to work and fulfil their goals — and the same applies to feminist organizations. Asking for money is simply being transparent about the fact that we need it, and money is simply the tool that allows us to do the work well.
I think we need to push more and raise our level of ambition by setting higher goals. We are here to change the world and we have to be f*cking good at it — and we need money for that!
So, I see fundraising as giving people possibilities to join the cause. Not everyone can march in the streets or share messages online, but some can donate. Others can give time or lend their voice. People’s circumstances change, so offering different ways to engage is essential.
We are here to change the world and we have to be f*cking good at it — and we need money for that!
It’s one of the methods of engagement. At Unioni, we’re still learning how to keep regular contact with donors and engage them meaningfully. We’re building the plane as we fly it — developing donor engagement, lead generation, and data use all at once.
The important thing is to recognize that people rarely engage in only one way. Someone might donate at one point, join a protest later, and share messages online at another stage. Fundraising is one entry point among many, but it has to be integrated into a broader strategy of sustaining engagement. This is where data can be really useful — to track this kind of engagement. This is why it’s very useful to track how your emails are received, interacted with, to see what works, what doesn’t, and what to do better.
Q: Are there aspects of fundraising in Finland that are specific to the national context?
A: Yes, there are both commonalities and differences across Europe. In Finland, there isn’t much tradition of philanthropy. That’s starting to change, partly because austerity has cut NGO funding so dramatically in recent years.
Another difference is political culture. Finland has a long tradition of consensus politics — you don’t attack opponents directly if you want to be taken seriously.
The far right doesn’t play by those rules, but most actors still do. In other countries, antagonist fundraising — mobilizing people against a clear opponent like Orbán, Trump, or corruption scandals — works very well. In Finland, it’s harder. When Google removed Women’s Day from their calendars, that gave us a simple external “opponent” and worked well, but targeting individuals doesn’t fit the culture here.
Q: When you started, did you anticipate people in Finland would respond in the way they did? That people would actually support and donate given the lack of attention to these issues and the obstacles campaigns face?
A: We had no expectations or reference points for what kind of response to expect. Such a demonstration hadn’t been done before, and this was Unioni’s first bigger small-donor fundraising campaign to test the new tools. We were just accumulating new expenses for the march, and decided that we’ll do whatever is needed to collect enough money to cover them! But we couldn’t be sure it would actually work out, although the momentum, the vibe gave us a hint that it would work out. And it did, perfectly. We were extremely happy about the result. Which means that we’re going to at least double it next year to make the march even bigger and make Feminist history again.
To hear more from Aiski and other Feminist campaigners who are pushing for and securing ambitious campaigning and fundraising wins against the odds — join us at our upcoming Feminist soiree "Money, Power, Liberation: Reimagining Funding for Feminist Struggles" where we’ll be talking about funding for Feminist struggles.
Featured image by Moud Barthez Ellouta (via Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0)
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