Women’s Voices from the Muslim World

From Victim to Heroine. When I first started building this collection, there was a clear void in information received directly from women living in Muslim-majority countries. The discussion in traditional media sources was too often between interested parties who cared little for women’s rights and used women’s issues to further other political and economic gains. When we did receive information, it was typically about a woman who was abused, oppressed, broken; a victim with no hope or future. But this bleak view could not be the only side of the story for the billions of women living in Muslim-majority countries. I wanted to expose a truer, more complex and nuanced view of the woman who was at the center of the international community’s dialogue on women’s rights.

Watch: It is Written (Iran)
Watch: Male & Female (Egypt)
Watch: 1800% Project: Mistaken for Muslim (USA)
Watch: Post Violence (Lebanon)

Armed with a strong mission to empower women, and with no political or religious agenda of its own, Women’s Voices Now (WVN) collected over 200 films from 40 countries on four continents: all personal accounts of women of all faiths and backgrounds living in Muslim-majority countries and Muslim women around the world. The ensuing collection of 98 films is groundbreaking and unique. Who better to teach the world about their lives, struggles and hopes than the women who live these stories each day? These personal accounts are instrumental to informing our support for policies, our philanthropic decisions, and our personal relationships.

The results are inspiring.

World, please welcome your heroines and change-makers. They are the feminists, whether men or women, who give voice to the global struggle for women’s civil, economic and political rights.