We are so honored to announce that our Greek chapter’s documentary short film “Escape to Justice” is among the winners of 47th Annual Gracie Awards. Congratulations to the film’s team of producer/directors/editors:
Eli Fazlohah
Sude Faslohah
Andriana Theochari
Eleni Spyrou
Sara Pata
We want to congratulate all the inspirational women and their remarkable projects that were awarded, and look forward to the award ceremony in New York City in June!
We are proud to announce Andriana Theochari, one of our global girl reporters from Greece worked on a photo-journalism project this summer about the devastating wildfires on the Greek island of Evia, with award-winning photojournalist Gideon Mendel. Their work garnered a huge spread in the U.K. paper, The Guardian, and has gone on to be featured in photo festivals. Stay tuned for more from Andriana! She is a rising star!
GGM Los Angeles reporters investigate how the Covid-19 crisis has impacted their education, and how online classes, school administrators, students, and teachers are coping.
In the first episode of our new series “Young, Woke, & Free” GGM L.A. reporters get out into the streets and meet Black Lives Matter protestor Lila who shares what inspires and motivates her activism.
A personal, even humorous account of Atta, a child bride from Syria, who is now in Athens, separated from her husband and children, determined to realize her dream of becoming a lawyer.
This video details the life of every refugee in stark black and white: an endless line of waiting. Also features an original song sung by one of our Globalgirls, originally from Afghanistan, now living in Greece.
A searing account of one young refugee woman’s harrowing sexual assault by her smuggler, which inspired her to draw, paint, and eventually find the strength to speak out about the abuse and neglect of women on the move, even from the police and NGO’s who are supposedly there to help.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Morisha is quarantined at home with her mother and grandmother. She reports on how her mother, an “essential worker” at a hospital for NHS, has to maintain distance from them to keep her grandmother safe. A moving story about three generations of Tamil women learning from each other and the pandemic.
Contra turns 21 during the Covid-19 pandemic, and even though she doesn’t get to celebrate as planned, she shares how spending her teen years battling serious depression actually prepared her well for the disappointment, anxiety, and isolation of lockdown. A courageous share, she blows out her candles facing a still uncertain future, like so many millennials.
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.
