16. Melina Laboucan-Massimo: Demanding Answers for Canada’s Massacres of Indigenous Women
Throughout North America, fossil fuel companies have exploited large amounts of indigenous land without consent, all in the name of oil and gas development. A perfect case study of this exploitation are the tar sands of Canada, home to one of the “dirtiest” sources of oil in the world. This oil has caused a “boom” in the region, but has come at a great price for the indigenous people in the area. In Northern Alberta, the territory of the Lubicon Cree tribe has undergone massive oil and gas development without tribal consent and without recognition of their rights. Melina Laboucan-Massimo took it upon herself to make sure this trend doesn’t continue. Laboucan-Massimo has campaigned for indigenous rights in Canada for the last ten years, a struggle which claimed the life of her sister. She is a vocal opponent of the tar sands development, campaigning around the world with Greenpeace to raise awareness of the situation. However, she didn’t stop there. Laboucan-Massimo also spear-headed a community-owned solar project to lessen local reliance on fossil fuels and help her community.
17. Asieh Amini: Protecting Vulnerable Women from “Honor Killings”
Determined to succeed from a young age, Asieh Amini worked diligently, eventually becoming a prominent journalist and poet. In 2004, Amini’s life changed forever when she stumbled upon the story of Atefeh Sahaaleh, who was executed at the age of 16 for having sex outside of marriage despite the fact that she had been raped. The laws that allowed for Sahaaleh’s execution were then unknown to Amini, who was so disturbed and dumbfounded by the practice that she transformed into an advocate against so-called “honor killings.” Amini first served as an advocate for a 19 year old girl who had the mental capacity of an 8 year old. She, like Sahaaleh, stood accused of having sex outside of wedlock even though that sex had never been consensual. The girl had been raped repeatedly by family members. She was sentenced to death by stoning, but Amini stepped in and secured her release. In 2006, Amini founded the “Stop Stoning Forever Campaign,” which she now manages from Norway where her work continues uncensored and where she can work free from threats.
18. Iceland’s Women: Striking in Protest of the Country’s Gender Pay Gap
In 1975, women in Iceland held the first “Women’s Day Off,” which saw 90% of women in Iceland stop working – at home and on the job – in order to raise awareness about the value of women’s work. 41 years later, women in Iceland did it again, leaving work en masse at 2:38 pm local time to protest the country’s gender wage gap. That time in particular was chosen because the wage gap essentially means that women are working for free after that time due to the fact that women in Iceland make 14% than men. Thousands of women participated in a show of solidarity, proving once again that there is power in unity.
19. Nilcilene Miguel de Lima: Fighting to Protect the Amazon Against All Odds
The rate of deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon is reaching unprecedented levels. With the Brazilian government content to let loggers and ranchers continue destroying the world’s largest intact rainforest, local activists are forced to stand up against daunting odds. Nilcilene Miguel de Lima is one such activist, heading an association of nut farmers and rubber tappers who use the bounty of the native forest to make their living. In de Lima’s region, six community leaders such as herself have been murdered in the last few years, with 51 others, including de Lima, facing constant death threats from loggers and other developers. De Lima worked hard to advocate for 160 families, but ultimately lost as they, along with her own family, were driven out by loggers, farmers, and their hired guns. De Lima continued to speak out against these tactics and the abuse, leading one lumber mill owner to take out a $34,000 contract on her head. She was forced into hiding, but refuses to be silenced.
20. Unknown Chilean Activist: Defying Police Brutality and Protesting the Legacy of Dictatorship
On September 11, 1973, a bloody coup, sponsored and paid for by the US government, overthrew the democratically-elected President of Chile, Salvador Allende, and replaced him with the ruthless fascist dictator Augusto Pinochet. In the ensuing chaos, thousands were rounded up and murdered in the national stadium while scores more were “disappeared,” never to be found. This year, a massive protest took place on the 43rd anniversary of the tragedy to remember Pinochet’s victims. However, protestors were confronted by with riot police despite the peaceful nature of the protest. When police began to forcibly disperse the peaceful crowd and arrest them, one brave Chilean woman – still unidentified – viciously stared down the police and became a symbol of defiance in the face of state oppression.
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