I was commissioned to write a piece about women in the Bahraini revolution for Women's eNews, an online news site that is several years old and launching an Arabic website. I pitched an article about the role of young women using digital tools and cyberactivism in their struggle for greater political rights after having met several amazing Bahraini women over the past few months: Amira al-Husseini (@justamira) of Global Voices at a cyberactivism conference in Denmark, Miriam al-Khawaja at the Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway and again in Washington when I was honored to have her over for a dinner with other digital dissidents, and Lamees Dhaif in Washington at a conference with cyberactivists from around the world hosted by NED.
"One of the things I love about the Bahraini revolution is that you have a female who became a symbol for the revolution, and it's not only the girls that look up to her, it's the men as well," Maryam told me as we chatted about the latest developments on the ground in Bahrain following the sentencing of her father and brother to extensive prison terms. "I love the fact that all my guy friends were talking about how much they look up to her and how she was like the icon of bravery to them."
But as the tagline for the story reads: Bahrain's revolution is muffled by a combination of Saudi influence and U.S. reticence. Several young women--from both inside and outside the troubled kingdom--are overcoming the forces of silence.
You can read the story Bahrain's Young Women Keep the Revolution Aloud in its entirety here.
"One of the things I love about the Bahraini revolution is that you have a female who became a symbol for the revolution, and it's not only the girls that look up to her, it's the men as well," Maryam told me as we chatted about the latest developments on the ground in Bahrain following the sentencing of her father and brother to extensive prison terms. "I love the fact that all my guy friends were talking about how much they look up to her and how she was like the icon of bravery to them."
But as the tagline for the story reads: Bahrain's revolution is muffled by a combination of Saudi influence and U.S. reticence. Several young women--from both inside and outside the troubled kingdom--are overcoming the forces of silence.
You can read the story Bahrain's Young Women Keep the Revolution Aloud in its entirety here.
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