25 June 2023 Beirut, Lebanon
On the occasion of its tenth anniversary, FEMALE organized on Friday and Saturday, June 23/24, a feminist festival, the first of its kind in Lebanon and the Middle East, at the Beirut Hippodrome.
FEMALE’s inception was when a group of feminist activists, journalists, and young women decided in 2013 to take the initiative and work towards realizing their vision of a just world, free from all forms of patriarchy and oppression. Today, the association celebrates its achievements and development in this festival and its recreational and informational activities, which were directed to various groups to spread and acquire feminist knowledge, since the feminist movement that FEMALE believes in has always been at the core of society and its issues.
The festival opened with an official ceremony, during which a documentary was played highlighting the work and history of the association. It was followed by a speech by Executive Director and founding member of FEMALE, Hayat Mirshad, who recalled the beginnings of the association through its first initiative, the “Sharika Wa Laken” program, which has grown and evolved, according to Mirshad, into “a feminist media platform that operates regionally, to include more than 150 journalists from the Arabic-speaking countries, targeting women’s and girls’ news and issues in its production and daily coverage of the region, in addition to spreading feminist knowledge, documenting and reshaping narratives from an intersectional feminist perspective, and giving prominence to marginalized individual stories, whilst lending an ear and a voice to these issues, and speaking out loud to advocate women’s rights, and to stop the oppressive and unjust practices against them.”
“Today, 10 years after its establishment, we renew our commitment to strengthening and expanding feminist movements in Lebanon and the region, in addition to combatting the scourge of gender-based violence represented by discriminatory societal and legal attitudes, concepts, and practices, and reclaiming spaces and rights in the real and virtual worlds to ensure maximum safety and inclusiveness for women and girls in all their diversity,” said Hayat Mirshad.
“Our feminist struggle has never been separated from our political and social struggle, and today we are more committed to it, especially in light of all the challenges and difficult circumstances that Lebanon is going through, and given the backlash and demonization and distortion campaigns human rights and feminist activism are facing,” Mirshad added. “The failed and corrupt political authority has persisted for decades, destroying state institutions and robbing the rights of women and basic marginalized groups jointly and severally with the religious institutions and authorities that practice on a daily basis the most heinous types of violence against us through unjust personal status laws and inflammatory and misleading fatwas. “
The Executive Director of FEMALE proceeded, “This authority excels at fabricating cases to distract people from its corruption. They stole the money and aid at the expense of refugees, and today they incite against refugees and apply oppressive and arbitrary practices against them. they looted the country’s resources, blew us, abandoned us, and starved us while justice is still absent and confiscated. After a time Beirut was a refuge and a haven for every freedom-seeker, today this authority drags us backward through its systematic campaigns to suppress individual and public freedoms, crush the right to organize and freedom of expression, and reduce spaces for civil action and rights.”
“FEMALE and other feminist groups and initiatives will continue to advocate for the rights of women, girls, refugees, migrants, non-binary individuals, the disabled, and everyone left behind until they obtain justice, the right to life, and protection,” Mirshad concluded.
The opening session was completed by a panel discussion entitled “Girls Lead Change”, opened by Ms. Rana Al-Houjeiri, Country Representative and MENA regional Advisor of Malala Fund, in which she stressed the need to bridge the gap of inequality in education and to make equitable, inclusive and quality education a priority amidst the educational and economic crisis that Lebanon is going through today, especially the education of girls and marginalized groups.
Al-Houjeiri stressed that education is a right that should be accessible to all and not a privilege. “We work tirelessly to reach areas that have always been on the margins of deprivation and to collaborate with a large network of partnerships, and this is reflected today through our partnership with FEMALE and joining the first feminist festival of its kind in Lebanon and the Middle East,” she said.
Al-Houjeiri added: “This is only the beginning of partnership and teamwork to make education, especially for girls, not only an academic target, but also a unifying mission which helps build the individual and establish the basis of equality, social justice, and equal opportunities, and make these a priority in our plans to support equitable and inclusive education as a community project and a collective wealth.”
Over the course of the two days, the festival hosted a variety of sessions ranging from discussions, and talks by women about their touching experiences, their impact, and effectiveness in their communities, to sports, entertainment, and artistic activities for all family members and people from diverse backgrounds.
The platform provided a place for more than thirty women to share their experiences, and for many activists, girls, and women to discuss their issues such as the role of independent journalism in raising awareness of women’s and girls’ rights and promoting gender rights, the shape of a just feminist future for women and girls in all their diversities, ways to confront gender-based violence, the sexual and reproductive health and sexuality of women and girls and their right to pleasure, challenging violence, discrimination, racism and stereotypes, mental health and self-care, participation in various areas of life, political, social, sports, entrepreneurship, economic…
This festival was organized with the efforts of feminists working in FEMALE, Sharika Wa Laken, and volunteers from various centers throughout Lebanon, in addition to the support of a group of institutions and entities, along with the cooperation of experts in various fields.
It is worth noting that the idea of celebrating FEMALE’s 10th anniversary through this festival instead of the usual traditional ways came in a spontaneous discussion session inside the organization’s office in Beirut, and was achieved by working day and night over a month and a half with passion and love stemming from the belief in the need to create spaces where we meet and strengthen our relationships, and create safe spaces where there is no place for threat, fear, violence, or discrimination that we experience outside.
For more info about FEMALE, you can visit our website: https://www.fe-male.org/
To view the festival program and full details, follow this link: https://www.fe-male.org/feminist-festival-2023