genderequality Archives

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN NIGERIA: Sumayyah’s Story and the Thousands Like Her

Author: Mutmainat
Published: October 21, 2025
Categories: in Civil Activism, Current Events, Friendship, Gender and LGBTQ, Human Rights, Nigeria
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, activism, change, discovertheregion, education, family, gender equality, genderequality, hope, Humanity, MENA, women, women rights, yala young leaders, yalayoungleaders, youth

Sumayyah is a thirty-year-old Muslim woman. She is beautiful, kind, hardworking, religious, and a Yoruba woman from Ondo state who grew up and lives in Lagos. While studying in Lagos for her BSc, she began training as a tailor so she could become a fashion designer after graduation. She comes from a small family of […]

Opinion |15 years old boy murdered for “looking gay” by Mariyem, Morocco

Author: By Mariyem, Morocco
Published: October 16, 2018
Categories: in Conflict & Peacebuilding, Current Events, Education, English, Gender and LGBTQ, Human Rights, Identity, Iraq, Morocco, Opinion and Analysis, Tolerance
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: genderequality, LGBTQrights

Dirt and blood were splattered over his body. His voice weakly whispering in an Iraqi accent, asking what was happening, between a state of life and death. The murderer held his phone, recording a video and talking with the struggling 15 years old’s body in an indifferent tone. Hamoudi Al Matiri asked, “What’s this coming […]

Schizophrenia by Mayssa Benyounes, Tunisia

Author: By Mayssa Benyounes, Tunisia
Published: July 25, 2018
Categories: in Civil Activism, Culture and Heritage, Democracy, Development, English, Gender and LGBTQ, Human Rights, Identity, Tunisia
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Tags: genderequality

…And all of a sudden you figure out that when people see you, they think about men! “Doesn’t she have a father?” “Wouldn’t she have a husband?” “Where is her father?” “Why is she like that?” “Why is she FREE?” “She mustn’t think!” “CUT HER BREATH!” “When will she get married?” “She MUST get married, […]

Alexandria’s Martyr Heroines by Samaa Ibrahem, Egypt

Author: By Samaa Ibrahem, Egypt
Published: April 25, 2018
Categories: in Civil Activism, Culture and Heritage, Education, Egypt, English, Gender and LGBTQ, Human Rights
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, genderequality

The inspiring account of two women who defied the gravity of patriarchy draped in the robe of “Religion”. Alexandria city, the land of magic and knowledge, buried two female treasures who fought the curse of patriarchy with the sword of religion. Both of them sacrificed their lives for the sake of their beliefs. They chose […]

Fighting for my rights by E. – Palestine

Published: March 6, 2018
Categories: in English, Gender and LGBTQ, Human Rights, Identity
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: family, genderequality, palestine, Society, woman, women, women rights, womensrights

I want to talk about my story. A story of struggle of every girl who grows older and didn’t find marriage. I was the only girl in my family, surrounded by my brothers so I had to suffer a lot and fight for my rights. I couldn’t speak up because I was raised in a […]

A Pair of Tortured Eyes

Author: Widad Fakhr-Eddine, Morocco
Published: December 6, 2017
Categories: in Education, English, Gender and LGBTQ, Human Rights
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, abortion, equality, family, genderequality, morocco, societies, Society, traditionalsocieties, traditions, values, women, womenempowerement

Our first encounter dates back to 2014 when we were introduced to each other by a common friend. I can hardly remember the conversation, in which I took almost no part, was about; I was too busy studying her eyes – they were as dark as a grave and looked greatly weary. But there was […]

Transparent by Kessem Adiv, Israel

Published: September 4, 2017
Categories: in Civil Activism, Current Events, English, Gender and LGBTQ, Human Rights
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, genderequality, Interview, IsraelPalestine, jerusalem, occupation, palestine, socialwork, socialworker, violenceagainstwomen, women, women rights, womensrights, yalacampaign

In the past four months, I have been teaching Hebrew twice a week to a group of social workers from East Jerusalem. They come to learn Hebrew (with an exceptional enthusiasm and determination, it should be noted), and I come to teach them Hebrew. At first, that was the atmosphere – I’m the teacher, […]

Growing up by Teny, Palestine

Published: August 21, 2017
Categories: in English, Gender and LGBTQ
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: genderequality, palestine, yalacampaign, youth

What happens when a teenager turns 18? What happens when you start feeling lost with your life? What happens when you start feeling guilty asking your parents for money? Start looking for a job, education, and time management is the answer. High school. Graduation. Parties. Friends. Trips. All of these were accomplished by this girl […]

Unchaining Feminism By Ala Oueslati, Tunisia

Published: June 14, 2017
Categories: in Civil Activism, Culture and Heritage, Current Events, English, Gender and LGBTQ, Lebanon, Tunisia
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: Feminism, Gender, genderequality, men, tunisia, women, womensrights

Being a feminist nowadays requires more than just believing and advocating for gender equality. It requires determination and patience in order to be able to confront the anti-feminist ideologies and stay true to one’s values. My name is Ala Oueslati, and I am a feminist and gender equality advocate from Tunisia. As we all know, […]

Photo Essay | Make Universities Safe Again

Author: by Ayelet Kessel, Israel
Published: June 12, 2017
Categories: in Civil Activism, Current Events, Education, English, Gender and LGBTQ, Israel, Photo Essays, Tolerance
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: genderequality, protest, safespace, safety, sexualharrassment, universities

It all started one morning, when one of my friends saw a sign posted on a board at a university building. The sign (pictured below) was a small, A4 sized white paper sheet, that contained this message: “In a complaint of sexual harassment that was filed by a Ph.D student and a research assistant against […]

Photo Essay | نهج الباشا Pacha Street

Author: Khaoula, Tunisia
Published: April 6, 2017
Categories: in Civil Activism, Gender and LGBTQ, Photo Essays
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: change, education, empowerment, genderequality, tunisia, women, womenforpeace, yalayoungleaders, youth

Pacha Street is one of the main veins of the Medina. It starts from Zeitouna Mosque towards Bab Swika. Everyday hundreds of kids and teens pass through Pacha Street to go to the Bacha high school or to Ben Achoor library to study and prepare for their exams. In the previous century, Ali Pacha built […]

Perceiving Gender Equality, by Ala Oueslati, Tunisia

Published: April 2, 2017
Categories: in Civil Activism, Education, Gender and LGBTQ, Human Rights
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #yalaalumni, change, diversity, Feminism, genderequality, history, tolerance, tunisia, women

Humans have always adjusted to the needs of their communities and societies throughout history. These adjustments shaped the way we live and changed our perception of life. In modern history, everyone played a role in making adjustments and coping with the rapidly-changing circumstances of our world, because isolation was no longer an option. The interaction […]

Clandestine Attitudes by Rima, Tunisia – photo essay –

Published: March 23, 2017
Categories: in Gender and LGBTQ, Photo Essays
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: family, genderequality, religion, traditions, tunisia, women, women rights, yalayoungleaders

This is a series of pictures taken from different hidden parts of an Arab girl’s diary. Most women I have known in my country are having two or even three parallel lives so that they can satisfy their family and the society’s expectation and then a “clandestino” life where a woman can think about herself […]

Photo Essay | Letter to the Young Me

Author: YaLa Women
Published: March 8, 2017
Categories: in English, Gender and LGBTQ
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: genderequality, MENA, women rights, womenforpeace, womensday, womensrights, youngme

Today women around the world still have to fight for equal rights, equal respect, equal pay… What if we were all raised in the same way? what if we were offered the same opportunities since childhood? What if both boys and girls were told that they are strong, smart, important and that they can become […]

Things that changed my vision of life as a child by Rima, Tunisia

Published: January 4, 2017
Categories: in English, Gender and LGBTQ
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: childhood, Gender, genderequality, memory, tunisia

I remember when I was a child; a friend of mine came to my house full of delight and excitement. She told me that her mother is waiting for a new baby. I congratulated her but remarked that she was 9 years old and she is plenty older and that she wouldn’t be able to […]

The Breaking Point Maryam Al-Kubati, Yemen

Published: December 28, 2016
Categories: in English, Gender and LGBTQ
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: empowerment, genderequality, girl, independence, woman, yemen

It was early September 2007; I had just received my exam results for my secondary school test (thnawiya alamma). I was overly excited for my future as my father had promised that I would be allowed to travel to Malaysia for my bachelor’s degree. I didn’t bother about the grades, after all, my father would […]

Raped childhood, broken future

Author: Photo Essay | Yasmine Kassar, Tunisia
Published: December 26, 2016
Categories: in English, Gender and LGBTQ, Human Rights
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: childmarriage, genderequality, humanrights, rape, rapeculture, tunisia, womenrights

What is a 13-year-old girl supposed to do? Most of you will say that she has to be at school, learning new subjects, new languages or historical events. Others will say she might be playing with other kids of her age in the courtyard, having fun and having nothing to worry about. Some will say […]

The Truth Behind Women in Government by Sabrina, Israel

Published: October 6, 2016
Categories: in English, Gender and LGBTQ
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: education, genderequality, government, women

Living in the U.K. and Israel in what I perceive to be quite a sheltered life, I never thought I would be confronted with outright sexism. Not to mention, I definitely didn’t expect to hear it from an international student at my university. I was sitting in the library waiting for a friend when someone […]

“Cut your wings” by Leila Ali from Tunisia

Published: July 20, 2016
Categories: in English, Gender and LGBTQ
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: genderequality, traditions, tunisia, women, women rights

It wasn’t said to me, not straight and harsh like that, but it was said indirectly and slowly with time. It was said in words that took the mask of advice even though they seemed more like threats and an abuse of power. It was one of many selfish attempts that humans used to make […]

Trapped in a dream of equality. By Houda Laabadi, Morocco

Published: January 12, 2016
Categories: in English, Gender and LGBTQ
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: catcalling, genderequality, men, morocco, rape, traditions, women, women rights, yala young leaders

I remember the first time I really thought about my condition as a woman in Morocco. I was in ninth grade and I had just finished reading what is still one of my favorite books today, “Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood” by Fatima Mernissi. What she said about the women of Scheherazade’s […]

Tag: genderequality