Feminist Figures
The Outreach team from Politics4Her presents Feminist Figures.
The project was founded with the aim of connecting with other grassroots organizations and highlighting their feminist founders, leaders, and seminal contributors.
Each month we present a feminist thinker who has made an impact in areas such as gender-based violence, education of women and girls, sexual reproductive health rights and bodily autonomy, and feminist political participation and leadership. Each volume aspires to be an ode to women who inspire us and an educational bank of information and tools to battle the patriarchy. We hope these women inspire you as they have inspired us.
If you’d like to nominate an inspiring feminist leader or feminist organization, fill out this form.
Pashtana Durrani
Pashtana Durrani is an Afghanistani activist, author, and educator who founded the non-profit LEARN Afghanistan. Born in a refugee camp in Pakistan, education was always a core tenant of her family. When they moved back to Afghanistan, Pashtana realized the deep lack of access to education for women and girls and founded LEARN. The organization now has 18 schools across the country, helping support and educate girls despite the bans imposed by the Taliban regime.
In this special edition, we are also highlighting a crucial campaign by Politics4Her Europe and Associazione di Solidarietà Donne per le Donne (ASDD) aimed at furthering the rights of women in Afghanistan. In October 2024, the United Nations will finalize the drafting of the new Treaty on Crimes Against Humanity. P4H Europe and ASDD partnered to launch the #EndGenderApartheid campaign and have started a petition urging the UN to explicitly include gender apartheid in the treaty and recognize it as a crime against humanity.
Read our Feminist Figures Volume 7 here
Marta Dillon
Marta Dillon is an Argentinian queer feminist journalist and activist. As a child, Marta’s mother was involved in political activism against the Argentinian dictatorship starting in the 1970’s. Her disappearance at the hands of the state instilled in Marta a militancy for the struggle for human rights and against the impunity of crimes against humanity. Marta has worked across sectors of feminism such as queer and transfeminism, worker’s rights and unions, abortion rights, and decolonialism.
She was awarded the Jose Marti award, the Women's Union of Argentina Award and the Lola Mora lifetime achievement award. Marta was also named Ambassador of Reproductive Rights by the Instituto Social y Político de las Mujeres in 2005. Her work within many facets of feminism for decades has led to an international movement, increased awareness of violence against women and queer people, and facilitated wider social change.
Read our Feminist Figures Volume 6 here
Blessing Okojie Eze
Blessing Okojie Eze is the founder and executive director of the Women of Inestimable Value Foundation based in Nigeria. The organization works to raise awareness for abuse against women and girls, providing sexual health and women’s empowerment education. Her inspiration and passion comes from her experiences witnessing domestic violence in Nigeria and how it is often justified, even by women, as part of the culture.
Blessing and her foundation work to change that mentality and show how valuable and capable women and girls are in every community. She has won many awards in the field and was named one of the top 100 women making an impact in Africa.
She is also the author of two books, one providing support and information around rape and sexual violence that the foundation distributes to schools.
Read our Feminist Figures Volume 5 here
Ayesha Amin
Ayesha Amin is a feminist activist from Pakistan who advocates for gender equality and reproductive health. Her focus lies on addressing social taboos impacting women's health, including access to menstrual hygiene products, preventing gender-based violence, and enhancing women's access to sexual and reproductive health. She received the Fulbright Scholarship and completed a master's in social policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
Ayesha founded Baithak, a non-governmental organization working towards sexual and reproductive health rights in Pakistan. One initiative by Baithak uses AI and advancing technology to create Project Gul, a chatbot that provides non-judgmental and gender-inclusive reproductive advice for women and girls. Ayesha and Baithak challenge male-dominated tech spaces to develop inclusive programs and show how technology can be used to help women and girls around the world.
Read our Feminist Figures Volume 4 here
Zahra Al Hilaly
Zahra Al Hilaly is a gender equality and environmental activist from Australia. Her experience growing up to Palestinian and Iraqi immigrant parents shaped her advocacy for human rights and the empowerment of marginalized voices.
She represented Australian youth at the UN and was named in the UN Women’s 30 for 2030 cohort. She has also received numerous awards based on her impactful work worldwide. She is the co-CEO of Oaktree, a youth-led movement advocating for sustainable development in Australia.
Read our Feminist Figures Volume 3 here
MARIJANA SAVIĆ
Marijana Savić is a Serbian human rights activist and the founder of NGO Atina - the citizen‘s association for combating trafficking in human beings and all forms of gender-based violence.
Marijana has a law degree from the University of Podgorica and works on the development of the social and political environment in Serbia, focusing on advocating for victims of human trafficking, sexual abuse, labor exploitation, discrimination and violence.
Read our Feminist Figures Volume 2 here
BYLLYE AVERY
In Black communities, racism, social exclusion, and economic inequality have persistently obstructed the pursuit of physical and mental well-being. This predicament is even more pronounced for Black women, who grapple with added dimensions of bias rooted in both gender and cultural stereotypes.
At Politics4Her, we recognize that gender equality cannot be achieved without addressing intersecting forms of discrimination based on race, class, sexuality and other factors. We envision a world where gender-based discrimination, stereotypes, and biases no longer hold young women and girls back from realizing their potential.
We believe that by investing in the health and well-being of women and girls, we can create a better, more equitable world for all.
Read our Feminist Figures Volume 1 here