WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT
ZARYA AZADI Supports Women’s Equality with her new campaign “Evolve Your Heritage”
Interview by Jules Lavallee You are a Global Influencer. Tell us about your initiatives. My initiative is not just a regional matter or regional project but rather a global issue. My campaign ‘Evolve Your Heritage’ focuses on the oppression of women based on their freedom to decide over their own body, who they love, their sexuality, forced marriage, and child marriage, honor killings, and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) on women worldwide as all of it is still practiced in many different countries. The main issue is why women are being oppressed in many countries is based on the ancient and traditional-cultural rules of virginity until marriage. All of these horrific practices that I’ve mentioned above have developed because of it and have been part of many cultures for centuries. It’s a form of control that is justified with the purity of a woman and therefore the honor of a family. I’ve started with an editorial photo shoot called ‘Red Ribbon’ to highlight this issue so many women are suffering around the world. The ‘Red Ribbon’ is wrapped around the bride’s waist at the wedding and symbolizes her virginity in many cultures around the world. This form of oppression is very old fashioned and should be abolished. It’s a difficult fight because it is a taboo subject and most people in the communities don’t talk about it publicly. Many people in the West would ask; why these women don’t just leave to live their own lives. It’s not that simple. When you, as a woman, reflect the honor of an entire family, it’s not about you anymore and girls are being raised to believe and to tolerate these forms of cultural expectations. Another horrific practice of course is FGM. There are still several countries where this is practiced Flyer editing © 2020 Courtesy of graphic designer Ricardo massively, especially in developing countries in Acosta E. @itchirae and creative director Zarya Azadi e.g. Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. FGM is a human rights issue that affects girls and women Some of the countries where FGM is being practiced are e.g. worldwide. I’ve joined the Spanish NGO Mundo Cooperante as a cooperating partner and ambassador to fight Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia, and Egypt. against this horrific practice. According to the UNICEF data Even Iraq is on the list with approx. 4 million affected girls and work on FGM the exact number of girls and women worldwide women. It’s also been practiced in the Kurdish regions of Iraq. who have undergone FGM remains unknown. But at least 200 This was a great shock to me as these are Kurdish areas and I million girls and women in 30 countries have been subjected to have never heard about this being practiced in our community this horrific and barbaric practice to control women’s sexuality. before, ever! 66 | eYs Magazine, December 2020
