ARGENTINA

Interview with Juliana Roman Lozano.

Q. How long have you been involved with La Nuestra Futbol Feminista and why do you do what you do?

My name is Juliana Román Lozano. I am a Colombian migrant in Argentina, a footballer, a National Football Coach, and a feminist activist. I have been part of La Nuestra for 15 years— a space born from the desire and political power of playing. We understood that social constructs, prejudices, and the context itself prevented us from taking the field freely, safely, and without violence and created a collective space to change that and reclaim our right to play.

I am part of La Nuestra because I found here my place in the world, not only to heal from the oppressions we face as women who want to play but also to organize collectively and build a new order— a pitch where we are all welcome, where a pedagogy and methodology exist that recognizes us as subjects of rights in sports.

From this standpoint, we also step forward to defend our rights: the right to make decisions about our own bodies, to occupy public spaces as women athletes, to be visible, to live free from violence, and to participate in decision-making within sports institutions. We seek to ensure that these decisions translate into dignified conditions and spaces of permanence, joy, and enjoyment. Because playing is our right, and in every match, we also play our own struggle.

Q. Where is La Nuestra Fútbol Feminista now.  What is happening?

This year, La Nuestra celebrates 18 years in the territory of Villa 31, establishing itself as a space of resistance, organization, and transformation through football. What began as a handful of girls fighting for a place to train has now grown into a club with six age categories, training simultaneously on four public fields, with a coaching team made up entirely of women.

Our growth has been deeply tied to the community. Today, more than half of our coaches are women from Villa 31, who have grown, trained, and developed within the organization and now shape the sporting and political vision of our project. La Nuestra is not only a key reference in the community but also a central actor in the feminist movement in Argentina, bringing to light the role of sports as a space where meanings and rights are contested.

Over the years, we have driven the development of public policies, influenced academic spaces to bring these discussions into universities, and pioneered the creation of a regional movement that unites organizations led by women and gender-diverse people in defense of the right to play.

However, the current context deeply concerns us. With the victory of Javier Milei’s far-right government, we are witnessing a systematic attack on our constitutional rights. The government has dismantled key institutions we previously worked with, such as the Ministry of Women, Genders, and Diversity, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the National Institute of Youth (INJUVE), and the National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Racism (INADI).

Additionally, it has promoted discriminatory and regressive policies, such as eliminating femicide as a legal category from the Criminal Code, defunding services for gender violence survivors, and dismantling access to justice for women and marginalized communities.

This hostile landscape is further exacerbated by the growing unemployment and poverty crisis, which disproportionately impacts working-class communities and is felt even more acutely in our territory. Despite this, we remain organized, resisting, and reaffirming that football is and will continue to be a tool for struggle, community, and transformation.

Q. Is their potential for more Peace Field Project Peace Pitches in Argentina or South America?  If so, where and why?

Yes, there is enormous potential for more Peace Field Project Peace Pitches in Argentina and throughout South America. Over the years, La Nuestra has identified and built deep, meaningful connections with organizations across Latin America and the Caribbean that share our vision of using football as a tool for resistance, empowerment, and peace-building.

Just as women sustain the roles of care and carry the weight of multiple forms of discrimination and oppression, we have also been, historically and unfailingly, at the forefront of struggles for dignity, justice, and life itself. We have been the ones organizing and uniting in the face of hunger, pandemics, lack of access to healthcare, education, and sports, finding collective solutions where the state and institutions have failed.

Women are ancestral defenders of life—from the mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina, who resisted dictatorship with their bodies and their memory, to the indigenous women of Brazil who stand between corporations and the destruction of the Amazon. Throughout history, wherever there has been war, violence, and injustice, there have also been women organizing, resisting, and building peace, using creativity, community, and collective action as their weapons.

Football, for La Nuestra, is one of those powerful tools. It is not just a game; it is a way to reclaim space, demand visibility, and fight for equality. It is a tool to heal, resist, and dream. It is a way to show the world that we belong, that our struggles matter, and that we are here to change the game—on and off the pitch.

Creating more Peace Pitches in Argentina and the region would not only strengthen autonomous movements but also bring visibility to the countless women-led organizations that have been transforming their communities through sport, education, and activism. Recognizing these spaces and the unique ways in which women organize, heal, and resist is fundamental to building peace and placing life at the center. Our work, strategies, and collective power are essential, irreplaceable tools for sustaining peace, challenging injustice, and sustaining the future.

Q. What are Fútbol Feminista struggles in terms of respect and support in Buenos Aeries?

Fútbol feminista in Buenos Aires faces multiple struggles in terms of respect and support, both within the broader football culture and in institutional settings. These challenges are deeply connected to gender inequalities, systemic discrimination, and the historical marginalization of women and gender-diverse people in sports. The dismantling of key public institutions under the current ultraconservative government, including the Ministry of Women, Gender, and Diversity, the National Institute Against Discrimination (INADI), and the Ministry of Sports, has significantly reduced state-backed initiatives for gender inclusion in football. Many grassroots teams and feminist football projects, such as La Nuestra Fútbol Feminista, have historically relied on these institutions for funding, visibility, and structural support. Their absence leaves these projects more vulnerable.

 Also, women’s and gender-diverse football teams often struggle to access public football fields, as priority is still given to men’s teams. Football culture in Argentina is still deeply machista, and women playing in public spaces often face harassment and microaggressions from men who question their skills or right to play. 

On the other hand, Sexist and homophobic violence is still a major issue in football culture, both in professional leagues and grassroots spaces. Players, coaches, and activists advocating for gender equality in football often face threats and online harassment. The elimination of legal protections, such as the removal of the feminicide category from Argentina’s Penal Code, creates a hostile climate where gender-based violence is not taken seriously. La Nuestra Fútbol feminista´s work is not just about playing—it’s about reclaiming space, creating new narratives, and demanding systemic change. Despite the setbacks under the current government, La Nuestra remains a key site of political and social activism, proving that the game is also a battlefield for equality and justice.

La Nuestra Fútbol Femenino

https://www.facebook.com/LaNuestraFutFem

Since 2007 THE OUR FEMALE FOOTBALL holds a training space in women’s soccer on the Güemes court for girls and young women that is complemented by a workshop space for reflection from a gender perspective.

Although there are other women’s football teams in the neighborhood and in the city, they do not have access to basic sports and technical training; furthermore, there is very little provision for workshop spaces to facilitate channeling and addressing problems the participants face on a daily basis. Thus, La Nuestra has become the only neighborhood organization that proposes a space forwomen’s football, integrating it to work with a gender perspective, encouraging women to do a sport that – in general, they do not have the possibility of practicing and, from that proposal, to address issues related to gender stereotypes, sexual and reproductive health, gender based violence, discrimination, use of free time, social inclusion, friendship and citizenship.

The multi-faceted workshops, support women using sport as a vehicle to learn about citizenship and promote social inclusion.   Raising the profile of women’s football in the neighborhood will benefit health, families, education, equal opportunities and community cohesion.  The aim of this practice to be sustained and multiplied.

La Nuestra represents today a space that was appropriated by the participants themselves, who continue to build it with their language, customs and presence, by expressing and learning new forms of conflict resolution, channeling the different problems they experience from their position as young women in situations of social exclusion, as well as generating identity and belonging, contributing to the construction of an identity for women’s football.