Women activists from China to Rwanda are gathering in Paris this week to call for peace, justice and equality. Whether it be in Ukraine, in Africa or on behalf of ethnic minorities, they say their rallying cry is more urgent than ever.
"Quite often, when women talk about peace, they are met with a form of cynicism, of contempt – it’s seen as disconnected, angelic," filmmaker and activist Hanna Assouline told RFI.
As co-founder and president of the organisation Guerrières de la Paix (Warriors of Peace), Assouline fully acknowledges the contradiction.
"By using these terms, we’re accepting that peace is a real battle," she says of the NGO, set up in March 2022 to tackle all forms of discrimination and hatred.
With fellow activist Fatima Bousso, she is the driving force behind the World Forum for Women of Peace (Le Forum Mondial des Femmes pour la Paix), which is holding its second edition at the Institute of the Arab World in Paris on Thursday evening.
The first took place in Essaouira, Morocco, in March this year with the support of Unesco and other organisations.
Assouline is still buzzing with enthusiasm after meeting influential figures such as Shirin Ebadi, a Nobel peace prize winner from Iran, and Huda Abu Arqoub, director of the Alliance for Middle East Peace.
'Universal dimension'
Among the speakers in Paris are human rights activists Zalina Steve from Russia and Oxana Melnychuk from Ukraine, Senegalese writer Mariètou Mbaye Biléoma (also known by her pen name, Ken Bugul) and French-Rwandan "Afrofeminist" Jessica Mwiza.
There’s also Dilna Reyhan, head of the France-based European Uyghur Institute. "It was because of her that the French parliament voted to acknowledge the genocide of Uyghurs," Assouline says.
Despite the daily headlines throughout Europe on the war in Ukraine, there is no more emphasis on this conflict than any other, Assouline insists, but rather a reminder that across the world, the message of peace is more urgent than ever.
"All questions raised here are important. There’s a chance to expose the specificities of each conflict, of each dramatic situation and the injustice and discrimination faced by women around the world. But we also want to show the universal dimension and the links that women share," she says.
"Guerrières de la Paix" was the name of Assouline’s first documentary film in 2018, where she followed the Women Wage Peace movement founded by Israeli and Palestinian women tired of senseless violence.
In 2022, when the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was all over the news once more, with negative repercussions for religious communities across France, Assouline decided it was time to create her own organisation to tackle issues it raised here.
"It was also at a time where we noticed that anti-racism groups were internally divided, some were no longer communicating with each other, and yet we are all facing the rise of extremism, fascism," she says.
"So we wanted to create a united front of women, all from different backgrounds with different experiences, but with something in common, the need to fight on the same side."
Fighting on the same side
Through monthly discussion groups, the organisation brings together women from different social and religious backgrounds.
One of the recent themes brought forward is the problem of gang violence among young people on housing estates.
Assouline is also keen to continue her national campaign "A Votre Tour" (It’s Your Turn), creating spaces for dialogue between young people to challenge prejudices.
The initiative began after the release of her second documentary "A Notre Tour" (It’s Our Turn) in 2020, which recounts the journey of young French Jews and Muslims involved in a project to combat racism and anti-Semitism.
"It works well because it’s young people’s voices. It’s not coming from institutions or a historian. It’s really down-to-earth, very blunt. Thanks to the film we’ve been able to get young people across France talking together," she says.
Courage and commitment
Her organisation also acts as a relay to promote the positive impact of other women activists – like when Women Wage Peace managed to get the Israeli parliament to include more women in committees on peace and security.
"There’s a real movement in defence of democracy today, the women are in the streets. Every weekend they gather across their countries to raise awareness. Our role is to communicate their actions, to help their voices to be heard here in France," Assouline says.
"Peace is a commitment that requires a lot of courage, that requires soul-searching and questioning one’s own positions."
