Cherishing Female Empowerment as Non-Violent Resistance

Following the debut of Half the Sky as a PBS documentary, the attempted assassination of a 14-year-old in Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai, again showed the dangerous reality of female empowerment in the developing word. Where Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn’s book brilliantly highlights the struggles and hopes of females living in the developing world and calls for a change in international thinking, the shooting of Yousafzai shows the possible dangers in striving for gender equality. Yousafzai was shot twice outside of her school by members of the Taliban, who had been plotting her assassination for years following the release of her diary by the BBC. She is still in critical condition, and if she survives her life will continue to be threatened by the men who attempted to kill her. 

What I’m afraid will be lost in the discussion of Yousafzai’s story is that very trait that made her a target: Her bravery and her resistance.  Issues regarding the Taliban – issues of religion, geopolitics, warfare, troop levels, November’s election – are not what interest me at the moment. What interests me is Yousafzai’s fight, and the fight of women around the world to non-violently stand up against the oppression they live with. 

With that in mind, I hope you will listen to the words of Zainab Salbi as she discusses the role of women in the midst of war, and the importance of engaging females and non-violent actors at the end of conflict. I have listened to her speech more times than I can count, and I keep her words in my head as I prepare to travel to Uganda. 

I’ve long-struggled with my role as a white male in Uganda stressing female empowerment in a culture that is not my own. Last year I was one of five members of the staff who helped to organize and run a soccer tournament and peace building exercise specifically designed for women. Of the five of us, only one was female. Over time I hope a more equal balance will be achieved, but I think the importance of the event and our work remain the same: In post-conflict and conflict-recovery settings where males dominate the discussion, female empowerment on any level is of utmost importance.

With that said, it is hard as a male to encourage acts of female resistance when the consequences faced by females for their actions can be so devastating. Yousafzai almost paid her life for speaking and acting against the Taliban; in September, six members of Skateistan - an NGO encouraging empowerment through skateboarding in Afghanistan with 40% female members – were killed in a suicide attack. Their stories are unfortunately not outliers in the region.

Their lives and the lives of thousands of other female dissidents risking everything to push back against systems of oppression should be celebrated, their bravery and ultimate sacrifice should be mourned and justice should be demanded. In developing countries where gender equality is being fought for – where going to school or speaking out against oppression means risking your life – simply pushing back against systemic oppression by living life should be cherished. What needs to be paramount to the discussion is not only the brutality of the conditions many women in the developing world live in, but the bravery of girls and women like Yousafzai and the hope and beauty in their resistance.