11. Amna Sulieman: Challenging Restrictions on Athletic Activities for Women
Throughout much of the Arabic-speaking world, female cyclists are a rarity. Though women cyclists organize group rides in Egypt and Lebanon, many conservative Muslims view women who ride as bicycles as immodest for showing off their legs and bottoms “inappropriately.” In Palestine, the Hamas movement has implemented restrictions on some athletic activities for women, particularly athletic activities in public. 33 year-old Amna Sulieman has continuously challenged these rules, leading her to create a small cycling club for women in Gaza. Though local men have called them “detestable and ugly” and accused them of “violating” Gaza values, Sulieman and her companions continue to ride. “Riding a bike makes you feel like you are flying. I feel free,” Sulieman told the New York Times.
12. Marley Dias: Campaigning for Greater Diversity in Children’s Literature
When she was in fifth grade, Marley Dias thought it was strange that all the books she had been assigned in elementary school only featured white protagonists and characters. When she told her mom about the lack of diversity in kid’s books, her mom asked her “What are you going to about it?” Her mother’s question motivated Dias to begin collecting novels with African-American protagonists and donating them to public schools in the area. Since she began her campaign in November 2015, Marley has collected over 7,000 books and has donated them to six different cities.
13. Maminydjama Maymuru: Smashing Stereotypes of Female Beauty in Australia
Since European settlers arrived to Australia en masse, Aboriginal women have been the victims of deeply entrenched definitions of beauty that explicitly favor Europeans. Aboriginal women were historically characterized “savage” and “ignoble” as well as derided as “hideous” and “hag-like” by groups of European settlers. Many others were treated like concubines by male colonists. Maminydjama Maymuru, a 19 year old aboriginal woman, has shattered these harmful stereotypes by becoming the Northern territory’s representative for the Miss World national finals in Australia. Now, Maymuru’s beauty is being celebrated for its “natural” qualities and she is using her blossoming modeling career to overcome other negative stereotypes of Aboriginal youth as underachieving and lazy in order to “break the cycle of how people see life back in [Aboriginal] communities.”
14. Nanfu Wang and Ye Haiyan: Exposing the Epidemic of Sexual Violence in China
Nanfu Wang, a young Chinese filmmaker, released the documentary “Hooligan Sparrow” earlier this year. The name of the movie is the nickname of Chinese women’s rights activist Ye Haiyan who has been arrested repeatedly for speaking out against sexual abuse and supporting women’s rights. The documentary also covered the sexual abuse of 6 female elementary students who were raped by their school principal. They exposed undercover police working to cover up the scandal and prevent activists like Haiyan from exposing this and other cases of sexual violence against women. Wang and Haiyan, while filming was taking place, were subjected to harassment, interrogations, and imprisonment and their documentary was banned from theaters in mainland China. However, their work was well received and praised in Hong Kong and Taiwan as well as other countries.
15. Esther Ibanga: Empowering Women to Become Nigeria’s Peace Makers
Esther Ibanga is a Nigerian pastor who truly practices “loving thy neighbor.” Ibanga founded the organization “Women Without Walls,” which brings together women from bitterly divided Christian and Muslim groups within Nigeria and teaches them to seek practical ways for making peace. “Whatever must be done to bring peace, we do for ourselves,” she said of the project. She strongly believes that “women are the key” the the peace process as they “understand peace” but must be empowered to be “brave enough to assert our strengths.” Ibanga is also one of the few Christian pastors in all of Nigeria that has actively tried to reach out to Muslim communities.
