Fight For Rights Like A Girl
Aidai Kadyralieva
They told her to be the “right” woman was more important than to be herself. They gave instructions on when and whom to marry, when to have children, what rules to live by. They used to speak for her. But she stopped listening and spoke out herself. Since then, everything changed. This story is not about a fictional comic book hero, but about every real, diverse and strong participant of the "Fight Like a Girl" camp.
Different stories, same idea
Girls were walking down the path of the cottage town. On one side were the mountains, on the other - the blue canvas of Issyk-Kul lake. Backpacks of different sizes swayed to the beat of their steps, wheels of their suitcases with airport stickers from different countries rattled over road bumps.
Routes from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan all came together. Each of the participants had started her own way long before that. Someone with a fearless refusal to marry a stranger, someone with a struggle for their own body. Someone with a bold artistic statement and someone with a decision to invest time in both career and childcare.
All these girls united for one goal: to speak out so that others respect their ideas and choices.
Their personal stories made them think about injustice and gender discrimination. And now they were ready to learn from each other and mentors on how to fight it.
All-inclusive Feminism.
At the starting point, some participants already called themselves feminists proudly, and some were still going over this term in their heads with doubt. Every day it was becoming easier to understand the definitions with the help of trainers. What seemed distant and complex turned out to be relevant and obvious.
The girls talked about discrimination, destroyed myths, and discussed hot topics for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They collected ready-to-use arguments for all occasions. It became clear that truly meaningful ideas include all people regardless of gender, faith, place of birth, orientation or disabilities.
Blogs for changes
In a week, activists learned to fight for their rights like a girl - effectively, supporting each other and with no fear. They acquired and honed their video skills to make content of their personal blogs cover important topics and affect millions of viewers.
How do I set up the camera? How to discuss a topic that people prefer to ignore? How to promote my blog? What are the other ways to share your ideas? A team of International trainers answered all of these questions and more. After the first practical session, these young women uploaded videos to social media and blogs. Like, repost, comment, and messages that matter started to spread within a society.
12 ideas with superhero missions were born on the campus.
All of them are about equality and justice. The goals of these bold activists, despite thousands of kilometers between them, are similar. That no woman is subjected to violence or cruelty, that she doesn’t keep silent if beaten. That every woman feels respected and heard, regardless of her appearance and nationality. That every girl has the courage to stand for her choices and interests.
"If you speak out, those who can’t will speak out too," says one of the participants.
“Fight Like a Girl” camp activists show society that speaking publicly when others are silent is a superpower.
