by Sionne Neely “We’ve said it before: We don’t like prisons, but we are not afraid of them. There are thousands of innocent people who belong under the sun, not in prison cells, but we will continue with our attempts under any and all circumstances.” ~ Mahienour Elmasry To women rights defenders Yara Sallam, Sanaa […]
More than a year ago I heard one of India’s most powerful activist poets, K Satchidanandan, recite a poem he had written for Indian activist Irom Sharmila. Sharmila has been on hunger strike for the last fourteen years in protest against the brutal Armed Forces Special Powers Laws. Similar to you -and others like you, in Palestine, […]
“You’ve got rules telling me what to do but is there anyone checking up on you?” “Activism takes on many forms. I speak out through my music and share wherever I can. This song was inspired by seeing, hearing, feeling stories of injustice. It’s a plight for equal rights for all people regardless of […]
by Fatma Emam In my country, we are witnessing the backlash of an incomplete revolution. We are suffering at the hands of a military junta and the Islamists who stole our dreams. In spite of this, we go on in the heat of solidarity and the power of our passion. I want to confess […]
Sometimes, the women who fight for us, need other women to fight for them. I wondered what it must be like to be buying water to quench your thirst and your entire world changed. The news articles stated that you were buying water when you were arrested. I wondered what made you step out […]
Monday, 17th November 2014 Cambridge You were there in Kampala Dear Yara My name is Njoki Wamai, an African feminist from Kenya and a scholar activist who is currently a student at the University of Cambridge. I first heard about you in Kampala at the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) sponsored non-fiction writer’s workshop which […]
by Jessica Horn I Mtu ni watu. A person is people. Or maybe a person is not a person without other people. By defending other people you become a person. But what if that person is a woman who speaks luminous truths to dictatorial power? What if she is a woman that breathes the words […]
July 16, 2014 Dear habibty Yara, It’s Nelly Bassily here. Yara, first, I’m sending you lots and lots of solidarity and love from Canada! Habibty, you have to be one of the strongest and most amazing young feminists I have the pleasure and honour to call a friend in Egypt. When I first saw […]
By Patrice Juah For so long, we were torn apart Our voices were buried in the cold dark earth, Our songs were cries and our rain, tears. We were silenced and banned from speaking our truths. Hate towards each other burdened us, as fear crippled us. We were blinded by lies that tore our efforts […]
Messages, Poems & Prayers of Solidarity with Women Human Rights Defenders, from Southern African feminists and activists Just Associates Southern Africa (JASS SNA) & friends of JASS came together to express our solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Egypt as well as women human rights defenders standing for rights across the African continent and […]