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The Suffering of the Olive Branch in Afrin, by Hamrin Hanan

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In September 2019 we worked with Hamrin Hanan, who we met in the Skaramagas refugee camp in Greece. Hamrin participated in Footage’s Her{connect}Her program to create and publish this book. In her book, through her writing and illustrations, she shares her experiences of the devastation that the outbreak of war in Syria had wreaked on her family, her home and her community in Afrin, Northern Syria. Her narrative paints painful testimony to unendurable trauma of war and its impact on women and girls who are subjected to sexual violence as a weapon and means of subjugation and degradation.  Here’s a reminder from her book about the Syrian war which started March 15th, 2011: "It was the worst day of my life, a day that shattered all my dreams and ambitions, destroying homes, killing children and innocents. I was thirteen years old, I left school due to the raids that threatened my life with each bullet, I was behind in my studies and stayed home, counting the faraway sounds of bull...

Art & Activism: Early Reflections on the III Ministerial Conference on Feminist Foreign Policies

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By Dr. Kristen Ali Eglinton As I am still integrating the significant gathering that was the III Ministerial Conference on Feminist Foreign Policies— FFP—in Mexico City, I’ll start with a description of one moment—not necessarily of the event itself, but rather of a moment or space bursting at the seams with the undertow—perhaps riptide—of change, resistance, co-creation, evolution. Every one of us interested in making policies more feminist might consider holding the spirit of this moment or space as the force of change needed in imagining a future landscape of inclusive policy creation, compassionate actions, and diplomacy as dialogue—a landscape aligned, reflexive, and polyvocal—capable of deeply undermining and transmuting the growing dangerous energy of anti-rights movements. On my final day in Mexico City, with a few hours left, I decided to feel the energy around Frida Kahlo’s home. While I asked a taxi to take me to Frida Kahlo's house, I was dropped off in Mexico City'...

Welcome to footnotes.¹, the newest platform of Footage.

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footnotes.¹ is a new space to share important, inspiring stories. Just a little of our background to refresh your memory:  At Footage our vision is a world where every person feels seen, heard, and worthy. We are a feminist organization raising voices to elevate lives through creative research, wellbeing interventions, and advocacy—all advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda. Footage has received ten Public Diplomacy awards from the U.S. Department of State to design and implement programs focusing on gender-based violence. A nonprofit organization founded by five women PhD colleagues at Cambridge University, Footage uses narrative and expressive approaches empowering women, LGBTQIA+, and marginalized groups around the world to connect as agents of social change. Our programs provide connection — a community for those on the frontlines of gender inequality where their ideas matter and their voices count. We have a particular focus ...

"Her story is more than this." JS's Story

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“No one goes anywhere alone, least of all into exile — not even those who arrive physically alone, unaccompanied by family, spouse, children, parents, or siblings. No one leaves his or her world without having been transfixed by its roots, or with a vacuum for a soul. We carry with us the memory of many fabrics, a self soaked in our history, our culture; a memory, sometimes scattered, sometimes sharp and clear, of the streets of our childhood, of our adolescence; the reminiscence of something distant that suddenly stands out before us, in us, a shy gesture, an open hand, a smile lost in a time of misunderstanding, a sentence, a simple sentence possibly now forgotten by the one who had said it.” (Paulo Freire,  Pedagogy of Hope )   H er Routes and Roots   is a series on journeys of displacement undergone and told by young women, focusing on their resilience and pivotal moments of strength. Stories are drawn from in-depth narrative interviews conducted during   Her{con...

"They told us, 'Leave, go away, anywhere you want'." YP's Story

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“No one goes anywhere alone, least of all into exile — not even those who arrive physically alone, unaccompanied by family, spouse, children, parents, or siblings. No one leaves his or her world without having been transfixed by its roots, or with a vacuum for a soul. We carry with us the memory of many fabrics, a self soaked in our history, our culture; a memory, sometimes scattered, sometimes sharp and clear, of the streets of our childhood, of our adolescence; the reminiscence of something distant that suddenly stands out before us, in us, a shy gesture, an open hand, a smile lost in a time of misunderstanding, a sentence, a simple sentence possibly now forgotten by the one who had said it.” (Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of Hope) H er  Routes and Roots   is a series on journeys of displacement undergone and told by young women, focusing on their resilience and pivotal moments of strength. Stories are drawn from in-depth narrative interviews conducted during   Her{connect}Her...

"Now, I have papers, but I do not have peace." KC's Story

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“No one goes anywhere alone, least of all into exile — not even those who arrive physically alone, unaccompanied by family, spouse, children, parents, or siblings. No one leaves his or her world without having been transfixed by its roots, or with a vacuum for a soul. We carry with us the memory of many fabrics, a self soaked in our history, our culture; a memory, sometimes scattered, sometimes sharp and clear, of the streets of our childhood, of our adolescence; the reminiscence of something distant that suddenly stands out before us, in us, a shy gesture, an open hand, a smile lost in a time of misunderstanding, a sentence, a simple sentence possibly now forgotten by the one who had said it.” (Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of Hope) H er  Routes and Roots   is a series on journeys of displacement undergone and told by young women, focusing on their resilience and pivotal moments of strength. Stories are drawn from in-depth narrative interviews conducted during   Her{connect}Her...