Reproduce This! Art Contest By Girls, For Girls: CALL FOR ARTWORK INSPIRED BY THE THEME: MY BODY, MY CHOICE

She’s the First is a non-profit organization that teams up with grassroots leaders to make sure all girls are educated, respected, and heard. As the co-organizers of The Global Girls’ Bill of Rights®, we stand by Right #5, which states: “All girls have the right to comprehensive sexual education and access to free, quality, reproductive healthcare.” 

To uplift this right around the world and rally girls together, our Girl Activist Fellowship’s Sexual Health and Reproductive Rights Committee, a youth-led group in STF, is hosting the Reproduce This: Art Contest. The theme of this Art Contest is "Your Body, Your Choice," and we will be accepting all types of visual art mediums (sketches, watercolors, color pencils, acrylic, oils, etc). 

*The only eligibility requirements: being a girl* who is less than 22 years old!

The Reproduce This: Art Contest is an art contest hosted by girls, for girls, and will raise awareness for reproductive rights around the world in a SAFE way. All girl-centered and anti-oppressive entries to the Reproduce This: Art Contest will be showcased on our website, and if that's not enough... Selected entries will be showcased in two simultaneous GALLERY SHOWS located in New York City and Nairobi, Kenya, on International Day of the Girl, October 11, 2023. 

Create a difference, embrace your talents, and sign up today! Submit your art today!

Use this link to commit to creating artwork (deadline for submission is August 15): bit.ly/reproducethissubmit

*gender-nonconforming, genderfluid, transfeminine experiences included!

Download the flyer here.

In Conversation with Actress/Activist Malia Baker

Hi, everyone! I’m Dani Antonio, the Community Engagement Intern at She’s the First from the Philippines! This past year, I’ve played a special role in STF’s girl-led advocacy efforts. I have a voice in our social media and I get to participate in influential conversations about girls’ rights.

Recently, I joined an Instagram Live hosted by Malia Baker, a 14-year-old actress and activist. You’ll find her starring as Mary Anne on Netflix’s The Baby-Sitters Club and as Gabby on Nickelodeon’s Are you Afraid of the Dark? Off screen, she uses her powerful platform to advocate for gender and racial justice.

Along with the Co-Founder/CEO of She’s the First, Tammy Tibbetts, and Girls Advisory Council member Anuli Ononye, and myself, Malia talked about her journey as an activist. I was really inspired by her and everyone’s genuine drive and passion in striving for representation. As Malia said, it shows us girls that we have a place at the table.

In this chat, you’ll hear us talk about the She’s the First Girls Advisory Council and Youth Ambassador program. With that being said, I want to encourage you to get involved! Positions are open now and you can apply by June 11th here.

Enjoy the conversation!

How the Girls' Bill of Rights Lives On -- One Year Later

Author: Vishaka Agrawal
Contributors: Faith Nwando, Genevieve (Jenny) Niwenambaza, & Claris Nadini

Around the world, having explicit documentation of major policies and laws help ensure consent and set expectations. So having the Global Girls’ Bill of Rights officially documented makes us feel more empowered than ever.

The bill, which was passed at the United Nations HQ and with UN Women in October 2019 on the International Day of the Girl, was co-organized by She’s the First, Akili Dada in Kenya, and MAIA Impact in Guatemala, and it can be used as a reference by any girl around the world to demand their rights. 

One year later, we still have a long way to go in terms of the implementations of the rights featured within smaller communities, but we feel extremely fortunate that we could take this very crucial step towards a fairer, more inclusive world. Throughout the experience, we met really inspiring girl advocates and had the opportunity to represent the voice of girls from more than 30 countries. Helping draft the bill and sharing ideas with panelists from 15 different communities (and across timezones) was a proud experience. 

“The bill reaching governments of all countries will mean impact across more local communities where the majority of discrimination happens.”

The Global Girls’ Bill of Rights is the first step to ensure that girls are not denied their basic rights, and it is also a step towards achieving the potentially less obvious rights like the right to pursue STEM and representation in leadership roles. The bill reaching governments of all countries will mean impact across more local communities where the majority of discrimination happens.

We also request social media followers and influencers, global leaders, and students to help us widen our reach and amplify the impact of the bill, because it is easy to take for granted these rights when we are privileged and do not see the social problems that exist even in our own institutions. 

Vishakha (left) and Faith (right) at the UN

Alongside myself, fellow girl activists Faith, Claris and Jenny were also part of the panel that worked on the wording of the bill and finalized the final ten rights. Faith and I were two of six girls to present the bill to the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations. Later that day, we had an interview with NPR. The two of us also spoke at the annual She’s the First Summit, where I talked about inclusion in STEM (being a girl in computer science myself) and Faith introduced one of our guest speakers Isha Sesay who reported about the missing girls in Nigeria (especially with the issue being very close to Faith’s heart). 

Since launching the bill, it has impacted our own engagement across our campuses. I came back to India after the event and started the first Women in Computing chapter of my college which now has more than 300 active members. This paper in Nature, a top-tier science journal shows that women are only rarely featured as the first or last author in leading journals, so now I organize research-themed events to facilitate discussions between faculty researchers and female students to expose them to the research community. 

The right to education was the most important part of the bill for Faith. Where she lives in Maine, there is a large population of immigrants from Salmi and most kids are non-English speakers. Today, she regularly takes part in touring local high school students around, since the teachers face difficulties supporting the needs of all the students. 

Moving forward, we want to make sure that every girl is aware that the Girls’ Bill of Rights was passed at a global level, in a way that supports their rights, so that they can demand it without any hesitation. No one should be denied these basic rights. Striving tirelessly towards a better, more inclusive world is a responsibility of every citizen. 

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About the author: Vishakha Agrawal is a Computer Science undergrad from India. She is passionate about empowering girls pursuing STEM, especially research in Computer Science. You can hear more from Vishakha on Twitter (vishakha__a) and on her LinkedIn (vishakha-a).

About the contributors:

• Faith Nwando, originally from Nigeria, is a high school senior in NYC. She is an active member of her college communities and a fierce advocate of girls’ rights. 

• Genevieve (Jenny) Niwenambaza lives in Kigali, Rwanda. She is in her last year of university at Davis college, Akilah campus. She is 21 years old and a proud feminist. You can find her on Twitter (nizagenevieve) and on Instagram (jennygeniale).

• Claris Nadini is a Mechanical Engineering student at Ashesi University. She is the Chair of Badili Zone Organization that upholds education in Mukuru Community in Kenya. Claris is passionate about extending educational opportunities and bringing positive change to political leadership in Kenya. Find her on Twitter (ClarisNadini) and on Instagram (clarisnadini).

The Right to Quality Education: "I know I'm more than my disabilities"

By: Ariel Kurtz, New York City

The right to quality, free education—as outlined in the Girls’ Bill of Rights which She’s the First co-organized almost exactly a year ago—is extremely personal to me.

And here’s why: I was born three and a half months premature on a snowy Christmas Eve afternoon in the mid-’90s. I’m the oldest of twins. Due to my prematurity, I had complications. Starting from a very young age, I was put in Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy.  When I was in elementary school, I struggled learning how to tie my shoes and putting my hair up in a ponytail. 

“Girls with disabilities around the world deserve to have the right to an equal education and to have their accommodations met.”

According to the CDC, 1 in every 4 people have some type of disability. So many people think you only have a disability if it is visible. Walkers, wheelchairs, and hearing aids are examples of some common visible disabilities. Disabilities can also be invisible, like learning disabilities or a chronic illness. In the United States, the American With Disabilities Act requires employers to make reasonable accommodations, if you identify as someone with disabilities. Not every country or community has this in place to protect those with disabilities, to offer the accommodations that they need, especially those in the school systems. So many girls around the world don’t have access to equal education at all, compared to their male counterparts. All girls around the world deserve equal education. Girls with disabilities around the world deserve to have the right to an equal education and to have their accommodations met.

My single mother fought for me to have all the services I needed. When I started school, my twin and I needed different services. We went to two different schools and had two different bus stops and school schedules. After I finished kindergarten, I moved from a town on the South Shore of Long Island to my mom’s hometown on the North Shore of Long Island. My brother and I were going to our new school together, though in different classrooms. The school district we moved to had a myriad of school services for students with disabilities. For the most part throughout elementary school, I was mainstreamed in my school classes and I was active in the Newspaper and Literary Magazine club. I also played the violin and sang in the chorus, just like any other student.

“I know that I’m more than my disabilities.”

When I hit middle school, everything seemed to change. I was really struggling with math (which I never liked) and I was put into a Resource Room program, where for one period of the school day, I would get extra help with my homework and I would now get extra time on tests. I would also now take them in a separate location, different from my classmates. When my friends would later talk about their Spanish or French classes in high school, I would feel left out because I had a foreign language waiver and I wasn’t allowed to take a language. There are some days when I feel frustrated that I can’t carry heavy things or when I still struggle to button buttons, but I know that I’m more than my disabilities.

Everyone needs to know: Girls everywhere deserve to have the right to education and girls with disabilities deserve an equal education and the necessary accommodations. 

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Ariel Kurtz (She/Hers/Her) is a performer and writer based in New York City who stands for love, intersectional feminism, and accessibility. If you would like to learn more about her, you can visit her website www.ArielKurtz.com.