Women’s Voices Now – Standing Together to Speak in Time

During my amazing three month stay in New York, I’ve had the honour of meeting some extraordinarily inspiring movers and shakers determined to re-stabilize the world’s axis and better the balance for those less fortunate.

One of the most potent of these meetings was a lunch with Catinca and Amanda of womensvoicesnow.org, which provided me with ample food for thought. Through its online platform and events, their budding organization focuses on giving a voice to underrepresented women throughout Muslim majority and minority countries.

Collaborating for Change

Women’s Voices Now was born to highlight women’s struggle for civil, economic, and political rights. It collaborates with women of all faiths in countries with a Muslim presence in order to provide online content including news, articles, blogs and a film festival.

As a platform, the WVN website provides fertile ground for a network of real women’s voices that want to speak to an international audience and empowers those who wish to bring gender equality to local communities around the world.

Essentially, we’re talking about a virtual venue where women can communicate with each other, exchange views and elevate the dialogue on women’s rights.  The site seeks to incorporate multitude of views from diverse national, economic, ethnic and religious backgrounds. After all, as WVN affirms, who could possibly be better equipped to present the issues facing women of the Muslim world to an international audience than those who live and breathe them each day?

Voice and Vision

In February 2011, shortly after its first birthday, WVN will host Women’s Voices from the Muslim World, a short-film festival in LA. The organizers welcome submissions from women of all faiths living in Muslim-majority countries, as well as Muslim women living as minorities around the globe.

The film festival aims to present a neutral, and uncensored account of what life is like through the eyes of women within these countries. Submissions selected to participate will be made available for online viewing, facilitating dialogue between the women who create and feature in them and anyone who wishes to watch, listen and join the cause.

Calling Women Everywhere

Cash prizes will be awarded to the winning films, which will be screened at the main WVN Festival in Los Angeles and in venues around the world. Guest speakers will be invited to provide further insight and context to the pieces and situations that spawned their creation.

The festival is an ambitious undertaking in its aspirations to deploy short films through an online outlet and catalyse social change whilst not altering the voice of those telling their stories. But then again, nothing immense ever got off the ground without a boatload of ambition, now did it?

To find out more about WVN – visit their website or drop them a line at info@womensvoicesnow.org

“The voice of conscience is so delicate that it is easy to stifle it; but also so clear that it is impossible to mistake it.” Madame de Stael