The Gendered Resistance Lab (GRL) is a digital platform that serves as a living, evolving archive of over ten years of ongoing research
led by Professor Cathy McIlwaine (King’s College London), in collaboration with researchers, artists, facilitators, grassroots organisations, and community leaders.
What began as an academic study of gendered violence in Brazil and among Brazilian migrants in London has since developed into a broader, user-led body of work centred on women-led empathy, care, and connection.
Using rigorous social science research methods alongside storytelling, performance, and visual arts, this work highlights how women resist violence and build solidarity across borders. Creative approaches have become central—not only to research, but also as powerful tools for policy making, activism, and transformation.
The GRL presents the outcomes of this ongoing work, including data, artworks, testimonies, and reflections, serving as both a resource and a space for reflection and knowledge-building. It stands as a documentation to how research can bring together evidence, empathy, and creativity to support resistance and community across diverse backgrounds and experiences.
River of Life
The River of Life is a visual map that guides visitors through the many research and action projects developed over the years. Like a timeline, it traces the evolution of work highlighting key moments, collaborations, and outputs.
Methods:
Survey
In-depth interviews
Focus groups
Service provider mapping
Artistic Output:
SCAR by Bia Lessa (multimedia installation with PPP)
Efêmera by Gaël Le Cornec (verbatim theatre with CASA Latin American Theatre Festival)
Ana by Gaël Le Cornec (short film with Footprint Productions)
Methods:
Survey and in-depth interviews
Artistic Output:
Believe by Gaël Le Cornec (sound installation with Footprint Productions and VEM network)
Methods:
In-depth interviews
Focus groups ×5
Interviews with women working in local campaigns
Body-territory mapping workshops ×5
Museu da Pessoa oral histories/testimonies
Artistic Output:
Museu da Pessoa (digital storytelling and films) and online exhibition (Female Lives)
Observational drawing of focus groups (artist – Mila de Choch)
Body-territory mapping workshops
Methods:
10 applied drama workshops
Evaluation survey
Artistic Output:
Evaluation survey
Methods:
Photovoice workshops in London (6 women) and Rio (11 women)
Transnational knowledge exchange
Artistic Output:
Who’s Behind Your Order? exhibition, London
Transnational knowledge exchange
Methods:
In depth interviews and Podcast
Artistic Output:
WRV book
Podcast series
Methods:
Arts-based workshops
In depth Interviews
Photovoice
Banner-making
Artistic Output:
Book All of Us
Large scale banners
Exhibition ALL of Us
Output:
Arts based workshops
In depth interview
Focus groups
Local Festivals curated by young women