Le croniste della rete somala Bilan Media in un campo profughi di Mogadiscio - Bilan Media

Giving voice to women. When and where they have none. Because their still too disadvantaged condition—even in our own country, where many rights have been secured—must be known and discussed. And because women must be able to speak out, telling firsthand the reality they live.

For three years now, Avvenire, on the occasion of March 8th, has chosen to invest in the specific recognition of the female world and in a female-driven narrative of reality. In 2023, the campaign focused on Afghan women—stripped of their basic rights by the Taliban—and in 2024, on women of peace—courageous witnesses around the world of the possibility of dialogue beyond the logic of war. These campaigns took us on a journey around the world, allowing us to expand networks and connections. And this is where we have decided to start again this year: with the women who continue to tell the stories of other women, even at the risk of their own freedom and lives, in countries where journalism is the first form of resistance against the deprivation of women's rights and dignity.

From Lebanon to Iraq, Mexico to Nigeria, Afghanistan to Somalia, India to Peru—ten independent networks of female journalists have joined our initiative, Women without borders, and more will follow in the coming weeks. Each of these media outlets, mostly online, plays a crucial role in its territory, publishing investigative reports and amplifying denunciations on specific issues concerning women—such as education, health, gender-based violence, and discrimination, but also empowerment and entrepreneurship. Starting Saturday, March 8th, we will publish a report from each of these networks every two weeks on these pages. Online, on a dedicated section of our website avvenire.it, the reports will be available in Italian as well as in their original languages (English and Spanish), to ensure maximum dissemination.

Because that is the goal: to give voice to female journalists from the Global South and to their stories, which find no space elsewhere—not only in the West but sometimes not even in their own countries. The topics will be diverse: religious schools in gender-apartheid Afghanistan as the only way for girls to escape isolation, the scourge of child marriages in Uganda, the struggle of female activists fighting for water rights in Mexico, the resilience of Yazidi women after the genocide in Iraq…

Many of these stories are never covered in our media. «Foreign and migrant women make the news», explained Paola Barretta, spokesperson for the Carta di Roma Association, during the campaign’s press conference at the Foreign Press Association headquarters in Palazzo Grazioli, Rome, on Tuesday. «Only when gruesome crimes occur, like the murder of young Pakistani woman Saman Abbas». The most invisible among the invisible. As documented by the focus study presented at the event by the Osservatorio di Pavia, Italian media speak little about the Global South, migration, and migrants, and when they do, it is always in an emergency-focused, alarmist tone, giving space mainly to political and institutional voices: «In 2024, only 7% of TV news reports included the direct voice of those involved, confirming a trend that has been ongoing for years. The only exception was in 2022, with the coverage of Ukrainian refugee women, who were widely welcomed in Italy with their children» Barretta continued.

Stories and testimonies, in short, disappear. And those that disappear the most are female voices, which are already underrepresented. «There is no trace of women’s conditions, their resilience, or their leadership. They are mostly portrayed as helpless, in need of assistance, or as victims». This is why, as the president of Carta di Roma and Avvenire reporter Nello Scavo reiterated, «supporting and connecting the work of female journalists from the Global South is the necessary revolution in how we narrate the world and migration». «This has always been Avvenire’s commitment» explained director Marco Girardo. «We are opening our newspaper’s doors to a global network of female journalists, to give voice to stories that would otherwise remain invisible. Why is this so important? Because reality is built through the direct testimony of those who live through conflict, poverty, and hope. And often, far too often, these stories have a female face». Sharing their experiences on Tuesday in Rome, via live connections from London, Mogadishu, and Sinjar, were the directors of three participating networks.

«In Afghanistan, we live under gender apartheid. Women are progressively excluded from every aspect of social life. Speaking about what is happening is our first form of resistance, and the possibility of being heard gives us hope» explained Zahra Joya, founder of Rukhshana Media, a platform dedicated specifically to the situation of women in the Emirate. A powerful testimony came from Hinda Abdi Mohamoud, director of the independent women’s network Bilan Media: «It is not easy to be a journalist in Somalia. When people see you out interviewing, many say, 'What are you doing here? Go home and take care of women’s things!' Bilan was created precisely to fight this discrimination. And little by little, things are changing. It is now less unusual to see a woman with a microphone or a notepad». Finally, Juwan Shro, Yazidi activist and journalist, stated: «During the massacre by Daesh militants in 2014, the Yazidi people and their women were briefly in the international media spotlight. But it was only a fleeting moment. Now, who remembers us? And yet, we continue to face enormous challenges. That’s why it is crucial to bring our testimonies to Europe and Italy».

So, the appointment with Women without borders begins on Avvenire and avvenire.it on March 8th, featuring the reports from our colleagues in the Global South.

From Lebanon to Amazon: 10 independent journalist networks on the ground​

Education, work, the fight for rights, leadership in environmental defense—and then discrimination, violence, poverty, migration. The resilience of women and, at the same time, all the suffering they are forced to confront daily in every corner of the world are at the heart of the exclusive reports that Avvenire will publish starting March 8th as part of the Women Without Borders campaign. The first chapter of this long series of reports will focus on Afghanistan, continuing the project that the newspaper launched three years ago and has never ceased to follow, documenting the dramatic situation of women in the country after the Taliban regained power. Deprived of the possibility of attending school, for many women, madrassas are their only remaining option.

This is where Rukhshana Media’s reporting begins: journalists have gathered the voices of young women forced by the Taliban to give up higher and university education, for whom religious schools represent the only way out of isolation and depression. A second report explores the pain of forced marriage victims in the country—young girls compelled by their own families to say "yes" to much older, already married men. Behind this mandate, there is almost always the desperate need to alleviate their family's poverty. More voices and stories from Afghanistan emerge in Zan Time’s investigation, focusing on work and the stories of female managers who have become poultry farmers. Due to restrictions imposed in 2022, the female employment rate in the Emirate has nearly halved. The journalists at Zan Time report that those most affected are women who held leadership positions.

Five cows for a bride. That is what Irene's parents received for marrying her off at 16 to a 35-year-old man. The scourge of child marriage continues to afflict Uganda despite legal prohibitions. Journalist Conslata Taaka from the Her Story network has collected numerous testimonies, offering a harrowing snapshot of the reality for women in the country. More stories from Africa, this time from Somalia, with Bilan Media. Climate change, conflicts, and instability have caused widespread displacement. In the Mogadishu area, several camps house internally displaced people, where women and girls are the most vulnerable. In her journey to the heart of this crisis, reporter Naima Said Salah has encountered raped women and young girls married off to elderly men, all lacking proper healthcare and psychological support.

The disproportionate impact of climate change on African farmers, particularly rural women, is at the center of a report by the Nigerian network African Women Journalism Project. Their investigation highlights the resilience of female farmers who implement sustainable, eco-friendly agricultural techniques to mitigate the effects of drought and extreme weather patterns devastating the country. On the other side of the world, in Mexico, women are raising their voices to defend the environment. The southern state of Oaxaca has the highest number of attacks on environmental activists in the country. A report by Red de mujeres periodistas de Oaxaca reveals that women are the primary targets—between 2018 and 2024, seven Indigenous women were murdered, and many more have disappeared.

Women are the backbone of India’s agricultural economy. A report by the Khabar Lahariya network tells the stories of female farmers in Uttar Pradesh, juggling family responsibilities and fieldwork yet remaining invisible in political discussions. Another piece sheds light on the daily struggles of nurses caring for people in rural India—many of whom, despite being government employees, lack fixed salaries and are paid based on the number of services performed. Discriminatory labor practices and exploitation are the focus of one of two reports by the historic network of independent female journalists Sharika Walaken in Beirut, Lebanon. Their investigation offers an exclusive look into the kafala system, which regulates migrant labor in Lebanon, where the vast majority of workers are women. The second report focuses on Lebanese women forced by poverty to embark on dangerous journeys to Europe and Italy, often with their newborn children. How many are they? Why do they leave? How difficult is it to make that decision? From Iraq, more women’s voices. The network House of Coexistence, with reporter Juwan Shro, will explore the lives of Yazidi women who survived violence, mass rape, slavery, and the extermination of their families during the 2014 genocide. And finally, from Peru: reports by Colectivo Todos para Una, periodismo juvenil de Radio Ucamara will uncover the challenges and discrimination faced by Amazonian Indigenous women when they leave their villages to relocate to the cities.