Jennifer Kamau
Jennifer Kamau is a Berlin-based activist and researcher. In 2012, she co-founded
International Women* Space (IWS), an anti-racist, feminist collective consisting of refugee and migrant women as well as women without this experience. The group was formed during the occupation of Oranienplatz (a public square in Berlin’s district of Kreuzberg) and the Gehart-Hauptmann School in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Women’s resistance is often oppressed, and women’s history is hidden or ignored - especially that of migrant and refugee women. IWS works to counteract this by documenting, making visible, and publicising their stories. IWS fosters solidarity and cooperation among migrant women and organizes campaigns, protests and events on the topics of seeking asylum and migrant women’s struggles.
In 2019, Jennifer initiated the Break Isolation Group (BIG) within IWS - a self-organized refugee women’s working group - a space to come together and organise against isolation and discrimination within the asylum process. The group regularly visited refugee accommodations (Lagers) to connect with more women, when this had to stop due to Corona regulations, the group initiated the Lager Reports- which sees women recording audio messages on their current situation in their different accommodations.
In 2020, IWS launched a podcast series on the migrant woman experience which Jennifer regularly hosts, diving deep into topics like migration and mental health, anti-discrimination laws and systemic racism.
Jennifer is a political activist and commentator of EU policies on migration and the digitalisation of migration control. Since 2023, she co-leads, alongside Equinox Initiative for Racial Justice and the Greek Forum of Migrants, a Migrant Justice Community of Practice, bringing together migrant-led organisers across Europe to taking a leading role in major political discussions affecting migrants. In 2024, she co-organised the European Colour of Surveillance Conference, which gathered activists building joint solutions to digital surveillance in the migration space.
Jennifer also works as a tour leader for querstadtein, giving tours that follow the trail of the Oranienplatz movement through Berlin-Kreuzberg. She talks about her involvement as a feminist within the protest movement against asylum policies and the impact these have on the lives of those affected.
