GlobalGirl from Greece gets credit in The Guardian

FEATURING AMIE WILLIAMS, SHAFI, KARIME, and ADELE QIAS – Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tspiras is under pressure to hold snap elections after his Syriza party lost big in recent Parliamentary elections. Although Tspiras’s term ends in October, he is hoping snap elections will salvage some political power before then. Among the issues at stake is the fate of refugees who have become political scapegoats in European nations like Greece.

Today we go to Athens for a special report on Afghan refugees in Greece.

Amie Williams, journalist and filmmaker, Shafi Qias, clothing designer, refugee from Afghanistan, Karime Qias, aspiring poet and filmmaker, refugee from Afghanistan, Adele Qias, high school student, refugee from Afghanistan

UNDER THE LEMON TREE from GlobalGirl Media on Vimeo.

Find out more about the crowdfunding efforts of the Qias sisters to secure a home for themselves: https://gogetfunding.com/a-home-in-athens-♡-♡-♡/

Sign Amnesty’s petition for women refugees in Greece: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2018/10/refugee-women-in-greece/#tendemands

Global Girl Media Greece hosts a very special evening in Athens, October 2, 2021.
OVER TO HER is a podcast and video series produced by GGM Greece to promote the goals of the United Nation’s Gender Equality Forum. Six videos and an ongoing podcast celebrate the current #metoo movement, broken open by Olympic athlete and sailor, Sofia Bekatorou, who will be in attendance. The videos profile various feminist organizations, activists, leaders and female entrepreneurs, tackling intersectional issues of women’s and refugee rights.

GLOBAL GIRL MEDIA GREECE is a media and leadership collective of both Greek and refugee/migrant young women in Athens that utilizes media to fight for women’s rights: www.gobalgirlmediagreece.com. They are the ONLY group organizing and raising awareness in the Greek media (with translations in Farsi, Arabic and French) around gender justice issues, which is critical to the very survival of some of of their members. They use media as a tool of empowerment and are building a social enterprise to introduce more marginalized voices into the professional media landscape, resulting in real employment opportunities.

FROM NEWSWEEK

Author: Laura Powers

A new film is changing the narrative of young woman and girls in Africa. Produced by young women, “Sophia Rising” follows the story of Sophia, a nineteen year old in Northern Kenya, as she escapes child marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM) and limited access to education to graduate high school and apply for university. The film was written, filmed and produced by Kenyan and Tanzanian girls, as part of the UNEARTH project, is a collaboration between BRAVE, Global Girl Media, and Samburu Girls Foundation, and puts young women and girls at the center both as the subject and as the storytellers.

The challenges that Sophia has faced are not uncommon. At 14, her family (predominantly her uncles) pressured her to marry a 58 year old man. With the support of her father, she was able to avoid that life and attend school instead but not all have been as lucky. According to UNICEF, in 2014, 23% of women in Kenya were married before the age of 18. Sophia’s older sisters were married by the age of ten, and there is pressure for her younger sister to follow suit.

With the pressure to marry at a young age, receiving an education can be challenging. In Northern Kenya, 19% of girls start school, let alone finish. But studies have shown that higher rates of young women with an education and an independent income reduce violence against women and improve overall economic strength. Women often bear the brunt of negative impact from climate change, political violence and economic downturns, but without access to education, it is difficult for them to enter spaces where there voice will be heard on these issues.

As the film and Sophia’s story highlights, women in these difficult situations are not without agency. Without being handed the space to speak out, women in places like Kenya are increasingly creating their own spaces to tell their stories. Non profits are supporting these efforts, like Fempo in Democratic Republic of Congo, which gives women the training and tools necessary to run for public office.

One of the co-producers of the project,  BRAVE, has discovered a unique way to support young girls and provide them with skills and self-confidence to speak out: Travel. BRAVE takes young women and girls facing violence, child marriage and FGM and takes them on a trip across their country, which is often the first time these girls have left their communities. India Baird, the founder and director of BRAVE, says, “BRAVE uses the challenge of travel and adventure in wild places to create opportunities for girls, and works with those who can provide the resources, knowledge, experience, and safety that girls need to lead.” The trips create a safe space for them to speak about their experiences, while learning about things like conservation, advocacy and even filmmaking. By learning from other girls in different situations, as well as discovering the experiences of people in other parts of the country, these young women gain understanding of issues that they face, and brainstorm solutions.