Our mission is to empower women and give voice to the struggle for civil, economic and political rights. In our first year, WVN is hosting Women’s Voices from the Muslim World: A Short-Film Festival giving voice to women of all faiths living in Muslim-majority countries and Muslim women living as minorities around the world.
We are a young organization founded in January 2010. We have made great strides since that time and have earned the support of countless established and respected partners. Watch us grow and please support our efforts. We aim to engage with an international audience and empower women to bring gender equality to local communities around the world.
Our Story +
The Problem
Millions of women throughout the world are discriminated against and deprived of their fundamental human rights for no reason other than that they are women. Given the clear connection between expanding women’s freedoms and peace, democracy and economic development, solving this problem is critical.
Where We Come In
Our Mission is to empower women and give voice to the struggle for civil, economic, and political rights. We have created an on-line platform where underrepresented women are being heard in 176 countries and counting. Women are communicating with each other, and the dialogue on women’s rights is being elevated by a multitude of views from diverse national, economic, ethnic and religious backgrounds.
Theory of Social Change
Currently hundreds of pro-women artists and organizations are working around the world to improve the lives of woman. Connecting these voices elevates the dialogue on the critical importance of gender equality. Such connections both educate an international audience and facilitate artists and grassroots programs to enable one another and earn support on a global level.
We Believe…
...in the freedom of expression, and the unique power of creative media.
...in the innate equality of all human beings.
...in the dissemination of unfiltered and neutral accounts.
...that gender equality is a birthright.
What We’re Doing
In our first year, WVN created Women’s Voices from the Muslim World: A Short-Film Festival giving voice to women of all faiths living in Muslim-majority countries and Muslim women living around the world. We made 98 critical short-films presenting insight and solutions to women’s rights issues freely available to anyone at any time. Thus, all films are available for viewing online where these women speak directly to each other and to an international audience. On March 17-19, 2011 in Los Angeles, the first Festival competition convened. Top films, coupled with panels of speakers providing further insight and context, were screened, and cash prizes totaling $31,000 were given to 23 filmmakers. Today, we are taking the Festival around the country and around the world with screening events connecting pro-women actors. In March 2012, we will convene dozens of filmmakers, scholars, activists and philanthropists in New York City for an Academic Conference to further fuel the global struggle for gender equality.
Why the Muslim World?
Today, women in Muslim-majority countries still face many legal and cultural impediments to their basic freedoms and civil rights. However, these women are showing an incredible capacity for transforming their communities from patriarchal societies, with large discrepancies between the rights and welfare of men and women, into more open and tolerant societies, accepting of diverse religious, political and social standpoints. No group is better equipped to present the issues facing women of the Muslim world to an international audience than the women who live and breathe them each day. These women are at the forefront of challenging abusive and limiting political, religious, economic, social and educational environments and giving them a voice is key to their success. But, broad and lasting social change can only be achieved by an educated and united community.
In a Nutshell
The Festival provides a multimedia forum through which to elevate an already complex and nuanced dialogue; a dialogue to which justice can only be done by a multiplicity of voices from diverse national, economic and religious backgrounds. No other film project exists that is focused exclusively on women of the Muslim world, and no other film project exists that obtains the diversity and breadth of audience WVN is working towards. We create a catalyst for social change by providing the most widely accessible on-line outlet for emerging discussions on women’s rights issues, thereby educating, empowering and uniting those who participate. The Festival contributes to the awareness, empowerment, and connectivity of women from the Muslim world themselves–crucial weapons in the fight for women’s rights.
Women’s Voices Now
119 W. 72nd Street, #167
New York, NY 10023
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For general questions, please email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Staff +
Catinca Tabacaru - Executive Director and General Counsel catinca@womensvoicesnow.org
Catinca is a human rights attorney and an art/film curator based out of New York City. She obtained her J.D. and LL.M. (Masters in International and Comparative Law) from Duke University School of Law in 2007. While earning her degree she interned for the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania, and worked as a legal assistant for the Office of Chief Defense Counsel for the Military Commissions in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. After spending two years as a commercial litigator for Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP, Catinca's search for meaning in her career led her back to the not-for-profit international public service world. The issues of gender equality, ethnic and religious intolerance, and the upholding of human rights in our modern world are the driving factors behind Catinca's work. An idealist with a pragmatic mind, Catinca focuses on playing her part in transforming our global society into a world where women and girls can be privy to the same freedoms and opportunities available to their male counterparts.
Miriam Wakim - Director of Development miriam@womensvoicesnow.org
Miriam graduated from Indiana University in 2006 with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. Since then she has worked with the United Nations World Food Program in Syria assisting Iraqi refugees and has traveled extensively in the Middle East and Europe. She is currently completing her studies in New York University’s Near Eastern Studies Master's Program. Her research interests include women and gender in the Middle East, the political economy of Syria, and language. Miriam currently lives in New York City and speaks Arabic and French.
Suzie Abdou - Director of Global Programs suzie@womensvoicesnow.org
Suzie is a policy analyst in the government sector. She holds a Masters degree in International Relations from the University of California Riverside. Her research focused on the role of Coptic women in the early Egyptian feminist movement. She has spoken on her research at conferences domestically and internationally. Her interests are in human rights, women’s rights, religious freedom and social movements. She has traveled extensively through out the world including the Middle East region. She has lived in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Israel. Spending much time in the region lead her to the conviction that the survival of those countries in the modern world is highly dependant on the empowerment of their women. Before joining Women's Voices Now, she worked in the entertainment industry and was the publicist for the Arab Film Festival in Los Angeles. Suzie lives in Los Angeles and is fluent in Arabic.
Betsy Laikin - Project Manager betsy@womensvoicesnow.org
After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Latin American studies and Spanish, Betsy moved to Montevideo, Uruguay, where she worked as an English teacher and grant writer/translator for several non-profit organizations. Receiving a fellowship, she moved to Israel and worked as a mentor for Spanish speaking immigrants, while teaching in Arab schools with the Jaffa Institute. Betsy developed a strong passion for film while working with the Tel Aviv Cinemateque. She then moved to New York City, and after interning for the Havana Film Festival, she joined the incredible team of Women's Voices Now. She is elated to be part of an organization that connects and empowers women throughout the world by utilizing film and art.
Tiara Fields - Graphic Design Intern tiara@womensvoicesnow.org
Tiara is an young, up-and coming Graphic Designer. She began her study of graphic design at Anthem Institute. After the completion of her education, she had the privilege to work with musicians, actors, and other significant figures at victory2multimedia where she interned. Her influences include 80's art, illustration, grudge and dark textures, and simplicity. She currently lives in Queens, New York.
Andrea Magaña - Intern andrea@womensvoicesnow.org
Andrea is majoring in Diplomacy and World Affairs and minoring in Film Studies at Occidental College. Passionate about social justice, the spreading of awareness, and the breaking down of social stigmas, Andrea was able to create and implement various programs through her work at Occidental College’s Intercultural Community Center. The Middle East and North Africa region are of particular interest to Andrea and she will be studying abroad Fall 2011 in Morocco while researching the topics of transnational identity, migration, and refugee status in Europe. She started working with WVN in Los Angeles as a volunteer during Women’s Voices From the Muslim World: A short film festival, became an intern for WVN in New York, and she know lives in Los Angeles, where she continues her work as an intern. © Photographed by Yura Liamin
http://YuraLiamin.com
Board Members +
Leslie Sacks - Chairman of the Board
Leslie is the Founder and seed funder of Women's Voices Now. It was his vision that sparked our first project, Women's Voices from the Muslim World: A Short-Film Festival. Leslie is a Los Angeles-based art dealer and an active fundraiser and promoter of charitable organizations and causes, in particular those areas promoting moderate Islam, including the advancement of women’s rights through an interpretation of the Koran from a moderate and tolerant perspective. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Mr. Sacks holds a degree in both psychology and computer science from the University of Witwaterstrand, South Africa. Leslie has been integral in the development of WVN not only through his generous donations, but also through his invaluable support, advice and encouragement.
Mark Rosenberg - Director
Mr. Rosenberg is a Middle East and Southern Africa analyst for Freedom House and is completing a Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. As a board member, he advises on all aspects of WVN’s projects and philosophy and assists with the organization’s networking and fundraising.
Justin Anthony - Director
Mr. Anthony is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Goodspark.org. As an board member, he advises on all aspects of the WVN’s projects. He reviews the organization’s marketing materials, assists in developing WVN’s mission structure and strategic direction and assists with the organization’s networking and fundraising.
Qanta Ahmed, MD - Director
Dr. Ahmed is the author of In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor’s Journey in the Saudi Kingdom. She is a board certified sleep disorders specialist at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, New York. She is Associate Professor of Medicine at the State University of New York (Stony Brook). Dr. Ahmed is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians and fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. She practices sleep medicine exclusively in Garden City, Long Island. Previously, she has practiced in the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, in the National Guard Health Affairs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and in the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC. Dr. Ahmed holds an Honorary Professorship at the School of Public Health at Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland. She is the first Muslim woman and the first physician to be selected to be a 2010 Templeton-Cambridge Journalism Fellow in Science and Religion at the University of Cambridge, England. Dr. Ahmed’s advice, guidance and insight as a woman of the Muslim world is considered an invaluable resource at WVN.Photo courtesy of Jack Alterman Studios, Charleston SC