Joan Kembabazi is a 25-year-old feminist activist who champions an end to child marriage and girls' education in Uganda. Joan is the Founder and Team leader of Gufasha Girls Foundation and is currently a fellow in She’s the First’s Girl-Centered Incubator.
The latest edition of The Girl Gazette is here! This edition features a powerful poem about girls' leadership, an important essay about a patriarchal community, and artwork that encourages girls to end period stigma and feel good about their bodies.
The Girl Gazette shares girls' voices from around the world who work with our Partner Coalition organizations. Girls from She’s the First’s Partner Coalition express themselves through art, poetry, and essays about their experiences.
Safiya Speaks Up!, the impactful children's book developed by five She’s the First Girl Activist Fellows, is making significant strides in Southeast Asia through the efforts of two of its passionate authors and advocates, Anya Legarda and Allison Choong. It was created to educate young girls about combatting sexual violence and using their voices. Since its digital publication last fall, mentors and parents have shared Safiya’s story with more than 3,000 girls across the globe.
Check out the newest issue of The Girl Gazette: Volume 5, Issue 1 for Winter 2024! The Girl Gazette amplifies the voices of girls globally and empowers them through art, poetry, and more. We highlight girls around the globe who are a part of our Partner Coalition organizations.
Youth Ambassador Gladys Njeri shares her experience participating in the Girls First Summit, She’s the First’s annual event that brings together organizations for knowledge-sharing and targeted training, with local and global insights on best practices for supporting girls’ rights.
“Two months ago, I had the amazing opportunity to be a delegate for the Chilean delegation for the IX Conference of States Parties for the Belém do Pará Convention the Interamerican Convention to Prevent, Sanction, and Eradicate Violence Against Women. This convention is the biggest women’s rights instrument that punishes forms of violence against women and girls.”
By Mishika Kapoor, 19, India
The scars prominent
Fevering the skin into dominance
The splashes still alive
Burning my heart from inside
Bruised face I hide behind the veil
Cause no one will stand for my pain
My eyes rain heavily
But emotions go silent
If I speak out people will talk
Such are the words I hear on loop
Will I hide all life
Covering my face can I survive
The revenge was baseless
Denial was my decision
But it wasn't respected,
I was abused, and lashes were painted on my face
A small ego destroyed my existence
For them it was a joke
But my whole life will rot
They are laughing while I cry in pain
I won’t sit behind bars
It wasn't even my fault
The guilt will cry
Many more like me will come out with pride
I will voice against the wrong
Acid attacks are not cool at all
The bruises burns the heart
Ripping the soul deeply apart
Sitting under the open sky
Gazing, as the stars fly
In the embrace of winters
Feeling frozen even around cinders
I think about the world
And my mind all swirled
A muse with the stars
The future bars.
My fallen stars
Jingling at my door while playing guitar
For I never wanted the story to end
YOU were a blessing to me, Oh Friend!
A magical spell so pale
Just like the fairy-tale
Of Prince, Princess and the Magic Hat
People said, ‘life isn’t like that’.
‘There are no wonderlands, no magic’.
But still I had dreams, such dramatic
My magic spell got shattered and frozen
Leaving just a soul completely broken
Which was mine, such a plight
Was the world right………?
Mishika Kapoor is a 19-year-old student studying Medicine who has had two volumes ov her poems published. “Being from India, I have seen women go through a lot since my childhood. Women choose to keep quiet due to societal pressure, and this is what I want to stand up for. I think women are no less than men, and men have no right to violate women or their rights.” Mishika wants to motivate women to speak out and change this patriarchal society. She has been writing since she was four, and her poems have been published in various national and international journals.
We’re proud to launch of Safiya Speaks Up, a children’s book and mentor’s guide written by girls between the ages of 15 and 21 from the She’s the First’s Girl Activist Fellowship. This “tell-all” is a memoir of the stories behind the book, as well as the memories we shared throughout its creation.
By SarahAnne Nigra, 21, She’s the First Youth Ambassador
You can try to take my freedom
My decisions
Strip me from my innocence
Destroy property that doesn’t belong to you
Wipe my dreams with your words
Remove my power
Leave me feeling helpless
Push the standards society has set for girls like me
Tie me down with restrictions
And critique my every move
But the most powerful thing I have is my voice and knowledge
It might get silenced from your ignorance
But you cannot take that
My mind and intelligence will never be yours to take
That will stay even when you try to put me in a box I will find my way out
Every obstacle I encounter I am freed from because I am in charge when it comes to
My education
My dreams
My goals
The knowledge I carry
I will be heard
You can try to take what’s not yours but my mind will always win.
This is a never ending battle
but the willpower I’ve gained from walking out of the impossible cannot ever be
broken
It will not be easy but it is my path
And my voice and decisions will not only be listened to but heard
An educated and respected woman I will always be even when the odds are not in my
favor.
A girl with an education is unstoppable—but barriers like gender discrimination, poverty, and exploitation prevent many girls from reaching graduation. Our Youth Ambassadors created the Power of Poetry campaign to amplify girls' voices about this issue for Poetry Month and the the Global Action Week for Education.
SarahAnne Nigra is a 21-year-old college student who is working toward becoming a psychologist. Outside of her schoolwork, she is a model who loves writing poetry, horseback riding, and volunteering at her local stable. She is also a Youth Ambasssador for She’s the First. “Girls’ rights to me means all girls should have a voice and it should be heard.”
Author: Adelia Khalid
If I ever have a daughter,
I will teach her to be brave.
I will tell her to be wise.
I will teach her modesty but I will also teach her pride,
I will tell her that her worth is not defined by,
The size of her lips or her hips or her eyes,
But of the honesty of her heart and the intricacies of her mind,
I will tell her to smile,
Because the world needs more smilers,
I will tell her to work hard,
Because sometimes she will have to work twice as harder.
I will tell her that there will be people who think that she doesn't deserve the things that she's achieved,
I will tell her that there will be people who will never believe what she has to say,
Never listen to her just because of who she is,
I will teach her that she is not just a supporting role in someone else's story.
I will tell her that she is more than just her body,
That she was not put on this earth with the sole purpose of satisfying someone else,
That she is not an accessory to a crime she didn't commit,
I will teach her to have empathy.
I will teach her that her existence is a resistance to those who disagree.
My daughter,
I will teach you to be kind,
But if someone touches you,
In a way you know they shouldn't,
I promise you,
I don't think they will make it home.
If I ever have a son,
I will teach him to be strong,
I will teach him to be gentle,
I will tell him that it is not a crime to feel,
That crying to human beings is just as important as watering is to a tree,
I will tell him that his worth is not defined by.
Muscles and emotions you think you have to hide,
And there is nothing wrong with liking the colour pink,
And that you are not excused from kitchen duties and dirty dishes in the sink,
I will tell him that people will expect too much of him,
And if it gets too much,
I will be there for him and tell him that he is more than enough for me.
There will be people who will tell you that you are inherently vicious,
When you and I know otherwise,
I will teach him that violence is never the answer,
I will remind him to protect his sister when
I won't be able to.
I will tell him that it is more than okay to say "I'm not okay" "I love you,"
I will teach you to be brave,
To stand in the eyes of hate,
Shout to the ears of wrong-doers,
Listen and let their victims tell their story,
I will teach him that his existence is a resistance to those who disagree.
I will teach you to be kind,
I will try to be kind,
But if you come home having touched someone's daughter,
In a way you know you shouldn't have,
Not even thinking if the same happened to me or your sister,
Even when I've taught you to,
I assure you,
You will no longer have a home to come back to.
If I ever have children,
I will teach them to love,
Until the world starts to do the same,
In the meantime, my child,
I will promise you,
I will love as furiously as I hope you do too,
So that when you get here,
You won't have to.
A girl with an education is unstoppable—but barriers like gender discrimination, poverty, and exploitation prevent many girls from reaching graduation. Our Youth Ambassadors created the Power of Poetry campaign to amplify girls' voices about this issue for Poetry Month and the the Global Action Week for Education.
Adelia Khalid, 21, is the #1 MPH [the Malaysian bookseller] bestselling author of All Minds Are Broken. Growing up in Malaysia, she would be seen with a book wherever she went. Her love for books and reading moved her to start writing her own stories. Eventually, she wrote her debut novel at 17. She is currently pursuing her Degree in English Literature at Universiti Malaya. She writes songs and poetry in her spare time.
The month of April memorializes sexual violence awareness month. For generations, women have heavily yet wholeheartedly shared the stories of their battles and redemption—empowering other girls to be unafraid to do the same. In the Philippines, a haunting history still lingers: the sexual enslavement of women during the occupation of the Japanese Imperial Army in World War II.
One year ago, on February 24th, peace in Ukraine shattered when shots rang through the air, missile strikes destroyed homes, and artillery fire turned villages into graveyards. Russia invaded Ukraine, bringing death and destruction to its neighboring country. The war in Ukraine has severely impacted human rights, ripping away girls’ basic right to safety. By talking to Ukrainian girls my age, I realize how important it is for the world to hear their powerful words.
Women, Life, Freedom. This powerful motto, shouted out by Iranian youth, became a symbol of unceasing protests in Iran. For decades, women in Iran have faced many discriminations in almost every area of their lives.
On September 16, 2022, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old, was beaten and killed by morality police for allegedly breaking Iran’s strict dress code. Since then, women’s rights protests have erupted within Iran, calling for freedom, dignity, and reforms.
Homophobia is a feminist issue. Homophobia and sexism feed into each other. Both forces maintain traditional gender roles and inequalities in our society. Without addressing and eventually eradicating homophobia, the feminist agenda can never be fully fulfilled. It is time to stand up to injustices and senseless impositions of historically patriarchal societies on those who fall outside of rigid norms.
