Check out the newest issue of The Girl Gazette: Volume 5, Issue 1 for Winter 2024! The Girl Gazette amplifies the voices of girls globally and empowers them through art, poetry, and more. We highlight girls around the globe who are a part of our Partner Coalition organizations.
Youth Ambassador Gladys Njeri shares her experience participating in the Girls First Summit, She’s the First’s annual event that brings together organizations for knowledge-sharing and targeted training, with local and global insights on best practices for supporting girls’ rights.
While menstrual stigma has long been a political topic, one Hon. Gloria Orwoba made a very public plea for women’s and girls’ rights this year in a new and different way. A first-time senator, Hon. Orwoba made her way to the Kenya Parliamentary session on 14th February 2023 in clothing that had menstrual blood. She was asked to leave halfway through the session after her fellow parliamentarians requested the speaker to eject her for supposedly violating the house’s “dress code.” Hon. Orwoba’s actions made a strong statement to advocate for free pads for school girls and female prisoners. As a young woman at the forefront of addressing Period Poverty, this was such a relief for me.
The month of April memorializes sexual violence awareness month. For generations, women have heavily yet wholeheartedly shared the stories of their battles and redemption—empowering other girls to be unafraid to do the same. In the Philippines, a haunting history still lingers: the sexual enslavement of women during the occupation of the Japanese Imperial Army in World War II.
By Punya, 18, India
In shadows cast by doubt and fear,
A woman rises, strong and clear.
Her spirit, fierce, a beacon bright,
Empowered soul, a guiding light.
With every stride, she breaks the chains,
Defies the echoes of old refrains.
In unity, her strength unfolds,
A tapestry of stories told.
No longer bound by biased views,
She paints the world in vibrant hues.
Her voice, a melody of might,
Resounds through every day and night.
In resilience, she finds her grace,
A symphony of strength, embrace.
Empowerment, a flame untamed,
A legacy by her name proclaimed.
Through trials faced and battles won,
A woman's journey's never done.
United, let our voices ring,
In empowerment, together sing.
Punya is an 18-year-old teen who is driven by a fierce passion through various forms of creative writing, including poetry. Through her dedication to reading, writing, and learning, Punya has cultivated a deep curiosity about the world around her and a desire take a meaningful impact on the society. She was previously published by She’s the First as part of the Power of Poetry campaign.
Artwork provided by British Library/Unsplash
By Mishika Kapoor, 19, India
The scars prominent
Fevering the skin into dominance
The splashes still alive
Burning my heart from inside
Bruised face I hide behind the veil
Cause no one will stand for my pain
My eyes rain heavily
But emotions go silent
If I speak out people will talk
Such are the words I hear on loop
Will I hide all life
Covering my face can I survive
The revenge was baseless
Denial was my decision
But it wasn't respected,
I was abused, and lashes were painted on my face
A small ego destroyed my existence
For them it was a joke
But my whole life will rot
They are laughing while I cry in pain
I won’t sit behind bars
It wasn't even my fault
The guilt will cry
Many more like me will come out with pride
I will voice against the wrong
Acid attacks are not cool at all
The bruises burns the heart
Ripping the soul deeply apart
Sitting under the open sky
Gazing, as the stars fly
In the embrace of winters
Feeling frozen even around cinders
I think about the world
And my mind all swirled
A muse with the stars
The future bars.
My fallen stars
Jingling at my door while playing guitar
For I never wanted the story to end
YOU were a blessing to me, Oh Friend!
A magical spell so pale
Just like the fairy-tale
Of Prince, Princess and the Magic Hat
People said, ‘life isn’t like that’.
‘There are no wonderlands, no magic’.
But still I had dreams, such dramatic
My magic spell got shattered and frozen
Leaving just a soul completely broken
Which was mine, such a plight
Was the world right………?
Mishika Kapoor is a 19-year-old student studying Medicine who has had two volumes ov her poems published. “Being from India, I have seen women go through a lot since my childhood. Women choose to keep quiet due to societal pressure, and this is what I want to stand up for. I think women are no less than men, and men have no right to violate women or their rights.” Mishika wants to motivate women to speak out and change this patriarchal society. She has been writing since she was four, and her poems have been published in various national and international journals.
By SarahAnne Nigra, 21, She’s the First Youth Ambassador
You can try to take my freedom
My decisions
Strip me from my innocence
Destroy property that doesn’t belong to you
Wipe my dreams with your words
Remove my power
Leave me feeling helpless
Push the standards society has set for girls like me
Tie me down with restrictions
And critique my every move
But the most powerful thing I have is my voice and knowledge
It might get silenced from your ignorance
But you cannot take that
My mind and intelligence will never be yours to take
That will stay even when you try to put me in a box I will find my way out
Every obstacle I encounter I am freed from because I am in charge when it comes to
My education
My dreams
My goals
The knowledge I carry
I will be heard
You can try to take what’s not yours but my mind will always win.
This is a never ending battle
but the willpower I’ve gained from walking out of the impossible cannot ever be
broken
It will not be easy but it is my path
And my voice and decisions will not only be listened to but heard
An educated and respected woman I will always be even when the odds are not in my
favor.
A girl with an education is unstoppable—but barriers like gender discrimination, poverty, and exploitation prevent many girls from reaching graduation. Our Youth Ambassadors created the Power of Poetry campaign to amplify girls' voices about this issue for Poetry Month and the the Global Action Week for Education.
SarahAnne Nigra is a 21-year-old college student who is working toward becoming a psychologist. Outside of her schoolwork, she is a model who loves writing poetry, horseback riding, and volunteering at her local stable. She is also a Youth Ambasssador for She’s the First. “Girls’ rights to me means all girls should have a voice and it should be heard.”
Author: Jessica Chukwu
She does not want children
This feels contradictory
Mutually exclusive as if “she” and this particular desire cannot exist at the same time
She knows it’s religion not God that makes this phrase feel
The way it does
uneasy, as if something is out of order
a man would hear what I want and say “that’s out of order”
a woman would hear what I want and say “that’s out of order”
so I guess I’m out of orders
out of rules and restrictions
out of a need to think beyond myself, I guess I don’t have the woman “gene” or conviction
a contradiction
I am a postmodern woman, I have nothing to say to tradition.
it’s Christmas time, the room’s aroma is rich with jollof rice and chicken. My family are gathered around while “fresh prince” plays on the tv. We are laughing, conversing and catching up. A quick fire round of charades begins, the music blasting on speakers soon follows. The afro beats of the early 2000s take us back to our childhood. We sink deeper into the evening. Eating our sugar filled deserts. My aunty starts asking us about our goals, our future, what we think our families will be like, how many children we want. All of us are sitting in a circle like shape, the most intimate where the warmest conversations are born. The cousins are answering, response range from 2 to 5, we are laughing at each other’s answers and envisioning our cousins as parents.
As the gentle laughter dies down again so the next person can speak
I see that the next person is me.
I’m uncomfortable but they don’t know.
I blink and look at my aunty extra hard, maintaining eye contact, willing my eyes to waver so she will know I don’t want to answer. When this quickly failed I prayed to Gaia and hoped some womanly instinct would tell her to move on.
She doesn’t. So, I lie “I don’t know maybe 2 or 3, my aunty shoots a smile my way, nods and moves on to my little sister.
My answer was distant. Impersonal.
“How many children do you want?”, enquiring about secondary desires when you have already gotten my primary desire incorrect.
“How many children do you want?” the question preceding that, whether I even want children is already answered for me and I must accept it.
“How many children do you want?” a question that would like me to speak, a question that silences me.
So, I cannot.
often
a woman is seen as a mother in waiting.
I am a woman, content.
A girl with an education is unstoppable—but barriers like gender discrimination, poverty, and exploitation prevent many girls from reaching graduation. Our Youth Ambassadors created the Power of Poetry campaign to amplify girls' voices about this issue for Poetry Month and Global Action Week for Education.
Jessica Chukwu, 19, is from London and Nigeria. “Growing up the stencil that is consciously and subconsciously put onto girls via the media, family, and teachers’ expectations of what a ‘woman’ is, was prominent. The idea that there is a set of outer and inner characteristics that entrench one as a woman is a ridiculous and harmful narrative I am motivated to eradicate. Such notions limit and constrain creativity and freedom, as well as perpetuate shame for those that do not fit into this strict patriarchal mould. I think that is unfair, because creativity and freedom are the qualities that create a fulfilling life. I am passionate about women's rights because I believe women should be able to mould a life of their choosing, with their mind and their wants.” She enjoys writing poetry, and her favorite author is Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie.
