For decades, the state of Haryana was infamous for high reports of honor killings, rape, domestic violence, dowry deaths, and sex-selective abortions. The result was the lowest female: male sex ratio in all of India; about 880 females to every 1,000 males. Women and girls did not have the same value as men and boys. […]
In this blog series, Koen shares some of his experiences from the making of Girl Connected. In his visit to India, Koen meets Ayesha, an international Karate champion and advocate for women’s safety. Koen remarks, “Girls as young as six years old come to her weekly class…When she enters the park for her training sessions, everything changes… Her speech becomes louder and clearer, and her body is strong and determined… This is where Ayesha is at her best, fulfilling her dream to become a teacher to other girls.”
In this blog series, Koen shares some of his experiences from the making of Girl Connected. In his visit to Bangladesh, Koen meets Latifa, a fourteen-year-old anti child marriage activist, driven by her own narrow escape from the fate of a child bride. Koen shares, “When you hear Latifa argue with the adults, you’d think she was 18… Then as she walks on to the next village, a duck crosses her path. She starts chasing it with a friend, giggling their way through the high grass. You look at her then and she’s twelve years old again, living the moments she missed when she went into hiding, fearing for her destiny.”
WGLG India’s Hero Academy initiative has been engaging boys and men to become heroes for women’s rights through an intensive nine-week course that uses a film-based curriculum to cultivate empathy and respect for women and girls. On March 17, WGLG India partnered with USAID India to celebrate real life “Heroes for Gender Equality”. “Men and […]
Josi, Michelle, Ghazal, Latifa, and Ayesha live thousands of miles apart, but the five young women are connected by a single mission: improving the lives of other girls in their communities. In Women and Girls Lead Global’s new film made by Koen Suidgeest, Girl Connected, we meet young women from Peru, Kenya, Jordan, Bangladesh and […]
The Hero Academy is a nine-week course for young men that uses a film-based curriculum to cultivate empathy and respect for women and girls. One of the Hero Academy’s key activities is community mapping. Inspired by a community mapping exercise in a film called Revolutionary Optimists, the activity challenges participants to interview women and girls […]
Girl Connected captures complex and inspiring stories of girls in five countries taking on the enormous challenge of tackling issues like child marriage, gender-based violence, reproductive health rights, and the many forms of discrimination girls face all over the world - all while balancing their lives as teenage girls. The film launched globally on our […]
As a community activist working to create sexual and reproductive health awareness, “Girl Connected” Josi is invested in empowering girls. She reminds us that the struggle against gender-based violence “is still on! It’s not over when the 16 days of activism against gender violence are over.”
This 16 Days of Activism, “Girl Connected” Latifah is confident “in the future, women will be more courageous to speak out about the humiliation and torture they have been facing from husbands, in-laws, fathers and their brothers.” In the meantime her call to action for us is to create a world where women feel safe to voice their concerns.
This 16 Days of Activism, “Girl Connected” Ayesha Noor encourages girls to take up self defense lessons and fight GBV. How will you fight for girls’ rights?