Déchainé·es
Déchainé·es is a grassroots collective willing to reclaim the public space and the bike world in Brussels for all women* and gender minorities. We organize monthly rides and bike repair workshops "en mixité choisie" to help support and empower female, trans and non binary folks. We are committed to being intersectional, anti-racist, anticapitalist and pro-choice feminists.
Who’s involved in it?
We are around 15 people in the operative crew, but we have been over
400 people during some of our epic rides :) We decide everything
collectively and try to function on a very horizontal level.
What’s your origin story and your motivation?
We were inspired by the documentary "Ovarian Psychos", which was
shown one night of March 2019 at Le Poisson sans Bicyclette
. After the
screening, a few of us decided to gather and organize something similar
in Brussels. We were all already feminists and cyclists and it seemed
only logical to link the two to address the issues of street
harassment, reclaiming public space, autonomy and empowerment.
Do you want to share a special memory with us?
We had our first ride in June 2019 and we weren't sure how many people
would show up. We ended up being around 40, and the energy and joy
coming from the group was amazing! Now we've celebrated the second year
of the rides with a special ritual and still so much love (for our
"adelphes") and rage (against the patriarchy).
What are some of your favorite spots in Brussels?
The streets that we roam endlessly on our bikes! (one of our favorite
chants is "A qui la rue? A nous la rue!").
Where can we find you virtually and/or physically?
We try to organize our bike repair workshops in different places so
we get to be in different areas of the city and reach different crowds,
but we are often at Molenbike or more recently
Dynamonik at Naast Monique and soon in Garage Gonflette, 144 rue de
Montenegro at Maxima.
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Déchainé·es, 2021
