It is we sinful women/who come out raising the banner of truth/up against barricades of lies on the highways/who find stories of persecution piled on each threshold/who find that tongues that could speak have been severed.
Kishwar Naheed, Pakistani poet
Min cheua peak srey as srauv pouch.
If you do not listen to the advice of a woman,
you will not have any rice seed next year.
Khmer proverb
What revolution worth its salt can be fueled by demands of freedom and dignity and not have gender nestled in its beating heart?
Mona Eltahawy, Egyptian activist
You cannot change any society unless you take responsibility for it, unless you see yourself as belonging to it and responsible for changing it.
Grace Lee Boggs, Chinese American social activist
I always tried to be the voice of the silenced. Yes, the struggle has yielded results. This is good, but not enough. We have many more hardships to face. Each system is the mirror of a society.
Leyla Zana, Kurdish rights advocate
We have to build things that we want to see accomplished, in life and in our country, based on our own personal experiences … to make sure that others do not have to suffer the same discrimination.
Patsy Matsu Takemoto Mink, late Japanese American politician from Hawai’i
If women are educated and develop interests in society, they would realize that their rights as human beings are equal to men’s. They would also find a way to stop the brutality of men.
Tongnip Sinmun (The Independent Newspaper), Korea’s first vernacular newspaper in an 1896 editorial
Being merely ‘a writer’ without doubt ensures one a status of far greater weight than being ‘a woman of color who writes’ ever does. Imputing race or sex to the creative act has long been a means by which the literary establishment cheapens and discredits the achievements of non-mainstream women writers.
Trinh T. Minh-ha, Vietnamese American writer and filmmaker
It is necessary to have a clear understanding of the role women have to play in achieving the welfare of the majority – to reach out to build a more rewarding life for women and humanity.
Vivienne Goonewardena, late Sri Lankan leftist
Monsoon United Asian Women of Iowa
Our mission is to end all forms of gender-based violence and build healthy communities through transformative justice and social change. We serve all 99 counties in Iowa, and all our services are both free and confidential. Our programs include direct services, community outreach and education, violence prevention and technical assistance.
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