There continues to be a lot of Covid-related news, and it’s generally not good for women. So let’s take a few minutes to admire some fighters amongst us, and see some suggestions for how to be fighters ourselves:
From Charter for Compassion: 23 Inspiring Women Fighting For Women:
In the face of adversity, these 23 female change agents are making a transformative impact on the lives of women around the world. We applaud them. While the equality movement is empowered by both men and women, this article highlights the extraordinary women doing extraordinary things for equality issues.
There are many names on the list you may not know, since these leaders come from all over the world, but fair use limits me to 3 paragraphs:
Zahra’ Langhi
Zahra’ Langhi is a Libyan gender specialist and political activist advocating peace, human rights and women’s equality. She is the co-founder of the Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace, an organisation pushing for women’s empowerment in both politics and society as a whole, and promoting the role of women in peace building. Langhi has also worked with UN Women and other organisations to help integrate females into the democratic process in post-revolutionary Libya.Wajeha al-Huwaider
As co-founder of the Association for the Protection and Defense of Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia, Wajeha al-Huwaider is at the forefront of the fight for female rights in the region. She leads campaigns to earn women the right to drive cars and challenges the domestic abuse of women in Saudi Arabia, often risking sanctions from the government. Al-Huwaider is also a prominent Saudi author and journalist, but her liberal views have led to a ban on her work being published in Saudi Arabia. In 2006 she was arrested and banned from travelling after she organised a women’s rights protest. However, none of this has dented her determination to improve gender equality.Sampat Pal Devi
As founder of the Gulabi Gang, also known as the Pink Sari Brigade, mother of five and former child bride Sampat Pal Devi is one of the most hands-on change agents in India. The Gulabi Gang have been active since 2010 in northern India and are famed for their opposition to domestic and other violence against women. Wearing pink saris and armed with bamboo sticks, they visit abusive husbands in an attempt to help the men change their ways. To date 270,000 people have joined the cause, in a country where everyday violence against women reaches the headlines all too rarely.
Read the rest for a truly inspiring line-up.
On Yahoo (amazingly): Fellow White Women: We Must Support the Fight for Reproductive Justice— Especially in the Time of Covid-19:
The US is the only developed nation where maternal mortality rates are rising but when you look closer at the statistics, it’s clear that mortality rates are not rising equally across the U.S. population. Black women are four times more likely to die in childbirth, more likely to experience pre-term birth, and more likely to experience pregnancy complications.
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Now in the midst of a pandemic, many of these inequities will be worsened.
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There are many ways to get started. My organization, 500 Women Scientists, is hosting a series of webinars to introduce the reproductive justice framework and its intersections with science, LGBTQIA+ , and environmental justice. This is a great place to start to educate yourself and learn how you can join the fight. There is much work to do and paths have already been charted: This year, SisterSong, an organization leading the charge on the Reproductive Justice, released a Blueprint for Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice. There are solutions to these inequities.