On 8 September 2023, Morocco was hit by a magnitude-6.8 earthquake — the most powerful earthquake the country has experienced in over 100 years. The number of casualties continues to grow. At present, around 3,000 people have been killed and nearly 6,000 injured. Morocco will continue to feel the effects…

When I got my first tattoo, I knew that society wouldn’t like it. My family wouldn’t like it. There’s still a stigma around women with tattoos. No one said yes, get a tattoo. But I didn’t care. To me it was deeply personal and private, coming from a place where…

In 1996, I was in grad school and desperate to start working on women’s human rights. I landed a fellowship at a human rights organization on their women’s rights team. That was the year the Taliban took over Kabul. …

On Friday last week, a riot broke out in a public park near me. I’ve been thinking about it a lot since then, wondering why things had to get violent. And also wondering if it had been a gathering targeting more women, would the outcome have been the same? Sure…

I wasn’t in Beirut on the day the government blew it up. I‘d left Lebanon the year before, after working there for four years. I lived in a modern building in Mar Mikhael, an ancient part of town with its mix of old Lebanese architecture and ultra-chic bars. The building…

Another year, and seemingly less independence. So of course I wanted to write a blog about freedom — and what that means for us, as women, when we’re not even close to being free. As I sat down to write, it turned into a blog about my own freedom. I’m…

Every so often, women reach me wanting to tell their stories. A few years ago, I set up a space for this called Yalla Feminists. In Arabic, the word yalla means come on, let’s go, move it, keep going — and so much more. The idea was to create a…

As someone who’s bleeding days are nearing a close, I still care deeply about what happens to women and girls who continue to face challenges when addressing something as natural as this. Like, really, what’s the big deal?! Menstrual Hygiene Day was May 28th. If you read my blog regularly…

Today we lost a legend. We will spend the next few days celebrating her life, recalling her legend, honoring her legacy. And probably also praising her legs. But Tina Turner was so much more than these things. I’ll let other articles talk about her musical genius, and how she inspired…