By Karla Cloete
Edited by Imaan Moosa
Riots, rebels and radical uprisings – so many women have helped to shape history.
Throughout history, women have been at the forefront of human rights movements and social change. From the women's march on Versailles during the french revolution to women banding together in colonial Nigeria to fight against British tax systems, women have shaped our world. Here are a few women who have revolutionised the world we live in.
“In the name of humanity, women take to the streets!” – Protest Banner from Barcelona, 1918
Image sourced from womenshistory.org
The first female president of the Philippines, Corazon Aquino’s political journey began when her senator husband was assassinated in 1983 in his bid against Ferdinand Marcos, the autocrat who would rule the country for 20 years. After her husband's killing, Marcos claimed his presidential seat and Aquino led a nationwide peaceful protest against him.
Aquino was timid and stoic but persevered in her mission. She restored democratic rule and became president in 1986, overseeing the creation of a new constitution. She died in 2009 due to colon cancer.
Image sourced from The Star
2) Tawakkol Karman, Yemen
Tawakkol Karman is a Yemeni journalist, the chair of Women Journalists Without Chains, a human rights group in Yemen, a mother, and a Nobel Peace prize winner. Her activism started in 2007 with weekly sit-ins in front of the capital of the nation every Tuesday, which continues today. Her peaceful activism and the pressure her movement put on President Saleh to step down and restore democracy and freedom of speech reverberated across the Arab world. Karman was a central figure in the Arab Spring of 2011. She was arrested and persecuted throughout her life for her work but ultimately, her arrest in 2011 caused massive protests which led to her release and subsequent massive gains in the movement. She still works as a journalist today.
Image sourced from Twitter
3) Asya Abdullah, Syria
Asya Adullah has been fighting for Kurdish freedom in Syria for years – rallying for their rights and citizenship and for women’s rights in the region. She has been heralded as “one of the most radical and effective revolutionaries”. Abdullah had to go into hiding during President Assad’s regime. Her work also seeks to build communities and societies that will persevere until the civil war finally ends.
Image sourced from Law.Cornell
4) Stormé DeLarverie, United States of America
Stormé DeLarverie is a gay rights activist and performer, well known for her crucial part in the Stonewall uprisings. Many credit her with throwing the first punch which began the uprisings in 1969 that jump-started a massive gay rights movement in the States. She was chief of security, ambassador and later vice-president of the Stonewall Veterans Association. She was actively involved in the gay club scene as a singer and a bouncer where she prevented anti-gay and anti-black movements. She continued to be a vocal activist until her death in 2014.
Image sourced from Cornell
5) Leymah Gbowee, Liberia
Leymah Gbowee is a Nobel peace prize winner who led a non-violent movement that ended the Second Liberian Civil War after 14 years. Her movement in 2003 brought together Christian and Muslim women to seize and blockade buildings. During the civil war, she worked as a trauma counsellor with child soldiers.
Image sourced from Ahram Online
6) Asmaa Mahfouz, Egypt
Asmaa Mahfouz was only 26-years-old when she started a Cairo uprising that led to the Egyptian revolution of 2011. She used the power of social media and video blogging to kickstart her viral movement as thousands joined to protest the regime.
Image sourced from Women Make Moves
7) Yuri Kochiyama, the United States
As a child, Yuri Kochiyama was forced into a Japanese internment camp. She was a huge activist alongside Malcolm X. She organised boycotts against segregated education in New York. Her campaign to procure a formal apology and reparations for the treatment of Japanese-Americans in World War 2 not only succeeded but also led to the creation of the 1988 Civil Liberties Act.
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