"I witness daily the consequences of armed conflict on the lives of women and girls. In the courage and dignity of victims and survivors, I have seen human nature at its best. And in the sheer brutality of crimes against them, I have seen it at its very worst."
Women and girls often bear an immense weight during periods of armed conflict beyond the fighting itself - from the threat of sexual violence to the removal of resources like education. And too often they are silenced, ignored, and denied a seat at the table during the recovery process.
Let's uplift the voices of women brave enough to share their experiences, and demand that these voices be heard. Here are 4 brilliant works by women in conflict zones to get you started:
Yemen
"You're a Nation Without Poem" by Methal
Iran
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Afghanistan
The art of Shamsia Hassani
We can't express the awesomeness of Afghanistan's first female graffiti artist better than she can:
"I started doing street art in a workshop in Kabul in December 2010.... Before that, I had no idea. After the workshop, I got the idea that street art would be very good for our society because in Afghanistan... I can change the view of the city by putting colors up and maybe covering bad memories of war...." Hassani lives abroad now, and her evocative images of Afghan women resonate worldwide.
Ukraine
Lucky Breaks by Yevgenia Belorusets
Published just this year, this collection of grounded, delicate, and heartbreaking short stories is based on Belorusets's interviews with women in Eastern Ukraine during the violence between Ukraine and Russia in 2014. As one reviewer puts it, "It's not about generals. It's not about soldiers. It's about people who don't count. It's about people who don't count when you decide to invade a country, right?... It's a book that makes invisible people visible."
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Want to support women suffering from war right now? Check out our new MAKE LOVE NOT WAR bracelet here! 100% of profits donates to CARE, providing emergency aid and long term support for countries like Yemen, Ukraine, Myanmar, and more!
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