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Lina AbiRafeh, PhD

creator | curator | connector

Sidewalk Sexism

Jul 28, 2022
3 min

Sidewalk Sexism

Every time I walk down a New York City sidewalk, I’m in a 1950s James Dean movie. We’re playing a game of chicken, where — at least in the movie version — two cars drive toward each other along the same path. The first one who swerves out of the way to avoid collision is labeled “chicken” — the weaker one. In my case, it’s not with cars, but with humans. Human males, in particular. When a male body — of just about any age — is walking towards me, I continue as long as I possi

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Mind the (Gender) Gap

Jul 19, 2022
3 min

Mind the (Gender) Gap

It’s no secret — no country in the world has achieved equality. No, not a single one. To prove this point, the World Economic Forum created its Global Gender Gap to explain that yes, a big fat gap exists between women and men in the areas of health, education, politics and employment — basically the core building blocks of our lives. If men and women aren’t equal in those foundational areas, they aren’t equal at all. So, every year since 2006, the Global Gender Gap Report com

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Afghanistan, an earthquake, and what earthquakes mean for women…

Jun 29, 2022
3 min

Afghanistan, an earthquake, and what earthquakes mean for women…

A 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit Afghanistan on Wednesday 22 June leaving more than 1000 dead, over 1500 injured, and 3000 homes destroyed. And with this being the worst earthquake in 20 years, the numbers are likely to rise. At this stage, it is estimated that $15 million is needed just for immediate relief — emergency shelter, food, water, and sanitation. And even then, efforts have been disrupted due to telecommunications issues and poor weather conditions. Afghanistan was a

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Sexual violence in conflict and everywhere

Jun 23, 2022
5 min

Sexual violence in conflict and everywhere

The last few weeks I’ve been talking about violence against women both in conflict and humanitarian settings and also in everyday life post-COVID. Actually, I’ve been talking about violence against women for over 30 years. And we’ve been dealing with it since the beginning of time. I often wonder if this talking is actually doing anything. But then again, silence certainly isn’t an option. So here we go. Sunday June 19 was the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual V

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Weathering the Storm: what decades of humanitarian aid taught me about real life

Jun 11, 2022
5 min

Weathering the Storm: what decades of humanitarian aid taught me about real life

The world seems pretty bleak right now. We’re hardly managing one crisis before another hits. We’ve got too much on our equality and rights agenda — with most of it moving backwards. I think back on my experience in humanitarian emergencies. Surely there’s something we can learn from those decades of work — the stuff we need to build resilience (even though I hate that word!) before an emergency hits. We can either be proactive, reactive, or ridiculously unprepared. Let’s sta

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Guys, Guns, and Gender-Based Violence

Jun 3, 2022
4 min

Guys, Guns, and Gender-Based Violence

There’s a lot being said about mass shootings these days. A lot of anger and despair at yet another senseless killing. So far in 2022, we’ve had 214 mass shootings in the US – more shootings than the number of days of this year. We all know the numbers – they’re astronomical. And while the US criticizes the human rights records of many other countries, this country is among the worst in terms of gun violence. We’re not as civilized as we claim to be. Americans are 25 times mo

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End violence against women — everyone’s voice is essential

May 25, 2022
8 min

End violence against women — everyone’s voice is essential

I was recently a guest on Wilmer Valderrama’s Essential Voices podcast with actor and advocate Gabrielle Union and sexual assault response worker Solange Ramkissoon to highlight the role of essential workers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic — here’s the summary. I love the idea that we’re honoring frontline workers, and defining that more broadly. We’re really thinking differently about what it means to be on the frontlines — and how those frontlines are all around us. Violen

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Mother’s Day Musings: What does it mean to be a mother in war?

May 13, 2022
4 min

Mother’s Day Musings: What does it mean to be a mother in war?

The Gnostics ask: “How long will men make war?” And the answer? “As long as women have children.” There are so many ways to interpret this, but one explanation is this: Men make war because women have children. Women are breeders of soldiers. Or so is said. But this seems rather simplistic. There’s a lot more to say about war and womanhood. And motherhood in particular. Here goes. This past weekend was Mother’s Day in the US. We should spend every day honoring our literal and

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The not-so United States of Abortion

May 4, 2022
3 min

The not-so United States of Abortion

I first read The Handmaid’s Tale in 1989, four years after it was published. I was 15. Damn! That’s nuts! I thought. That can’t ever happen… Fast forward more than 30 years. I’ve worked on violations of women’s rights around the world for decades, often to hear “but this doesn’t happen here” when in the US. Well, maybe now we’re reminded that yes, it’s been happening here all along. Last night, while America gawked at the gowns in the Met Gala’s “gilded age”, American women w

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<strong>Nice a**! Just smile!</strong>

Apr 27, 2022
2 min

<strong>Nice a**! Just smile!</strong>

Catcalling never seems to die. You look like you need a big d***! That’s the kind of a** I’d like to bite! Look at that tight white t-shirt on a cold day! Why don’t you just… smile!? Sound familiar? At least in some form? For women and girls, that is. We know it all too well. The sexually-suggestive comments, the unwelcome remarks, the derogatory words. Also the kissing, hissing, sucking, slurping sounds. All of that. Whistling, vulgar gestures or noises, sexually suggestive

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Apr 21, 2022
4 min

Don’t F*** with Young Feminists

Young feminists. We say they have a voice, that they are engaged, that they are leading in their own right, that they are strong and unrelenting. We assume they are a monolith. We assume we’ve adequately supported them and paved the way for them to take over. We assume we have fought hard for the rights they now enjoy. And, we assume that they will finish the job that we haven’t been able to finish. I wanted to test some of these assumptions. Who are “young feminists” – and h

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Hey man, that’s not funny: Adolescent boys on sexual harassment

Apr 12, 2022
2 min

Hey man, that’s not funny: Adolescent boys on sexual harassment

I talk about violence against women a lot. Like, a LOT. When I do, I refer to it as “male violence against females” to be specific about the forms of violence I focus on, and to be specific about who the survivor is, and to be specific about who the perpetrator is. One in three women and girls will experience some form of violence in their lifetime, I’ve said many times. One in three. So this problem is not unknown, or unusual. It’s infuriatingly common, in fact. The vast maj

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International Women’s Day… I still hate you.

Mar 8, 2022
3 min

International Women’s Day… I still hate you.

I wrote last year that I hate International Women’s Day. It resonated with so many of you that here I am, writing it again. Why?! Because nothing has changed. Oh, wait. Actually some things have changed. Let me tell you how. Things have gotten WORSE. But aren’t we closer to equality, you think?! I would have thought so too. And yet, the world’s gender gap has gotten wider. WIDER. In 2020, we needed 100 years to close the gap. Now we need 136 years. Anyone planning to be aroun

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Feb 22, 2022
3 min

For women in Ukraine, war is fought on all fronts

What’s going on in Ukraine? Long-standing tensions between Russia and Ukraine have escalated in recent weeks, creating a global security crisis that is the most significant of its kind since the Cold War. Russian troops have circled Ukraine on three sides, and it seems that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is imminent. And this will lead to a dangerous confrontation between Russia and Western countries. How did we get here?! Is Russia looking to start a war?! Yes. It seems so. T

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Women of Tigray are calling out – are we listening?!

Feb 8, 2022
2 min

Women of Tigray are calling out – are we listening?!

I’ve never been to Ethiopia. With its rich cultural heritage, unparalleled archeological sites, and delicious food, it has long been on my list of places I’d love to visit. Meanwhile I’ve been in transit through Addis Ababa Bole International Airport 17 times. Clearly, that doesn’t count. Even though I’ve never worked or visited, I’ve still been tagged on a lot of social media advocacy for the Tigray crisis in the last few months. Pay attention! People are telling me. I am pa

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Women’s rights…why do I do it?!

Feb 1, 2022
5 min

Women’s rights…why do I do it?!

What do you do? people ask me. Women’s rights, I say. Why? they ask. Because the world is fundamentally unequal. And women deserve more. . I was 14, an immigrant geek in a liberal all-girls school in Washington, DC. In a class called Comparative Women’s History, we toured the world through stories and images of violence against women. I saw a bound foot, female genitalia after it had been cut, a widow on her husband’s funeral pyre. I never forgot the images. And over 30 years

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Potty politics, or what having no toilet teaches us about women’s rights

Jan 26, 2022
3 min

Potty politics, or what having no toilet teaches us about women’s rights

My bathroom has been dysfunctional for the last four weeks. A crew of contractors, plumbers, and unidentified construction-observers demolished my beloved bathroom in order to repair a leak. And for the last four weeks, I’ve been running to the neighbors for every pee. As a small bladdered person, this makes for a lot of running. This potty hiccup got me thinking about what it means to lack something we take for granted—a toilet. More than that—a safe place to pee. If you’ve

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Jan 18, 2022
2 min

A tsunami for Tonga… and for women

Tonga. Saturday January 16, 2022. An underwater volcano erupted, probably the biggest on record in more than 30 years. The result was tsunamis across the Pacific — a massive natural disaster. The damage has already been significant. At this stage, deaths and injuries remain unclear but the Red Cross estimates up to 80,000 people have been affected. It reminds me — probably all of us — of another tsunami. December 26, 2004. An earthquake in the Indian Ocean created a tsunami t

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Jan 11, 2022
2 min

Women’s Rights Today: One Hundred Years Away

You’ve heard me say before that it’s going to take us 100 years to achieve equality. ONE HUNDRED YEARS. I’m not making that up, that’s a fact. But what does that mean — concretely? And why should we care?! Well, for starters we know that gender equality is not only a human rights principle, but it is actually a prerequisite for peace and sustainable development. In short, it’s necessary and urgent for us to have a chance at a half-decent world — a world we’d actually enjoy li

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Jan 4, 2022
2 min

Here’s what to do for a Feminist 2022…

New year, new you — right?! Sigh. Here we go, making resolutions again. Stuff we probably won’t stick to beyond the third week of January. Are you committed to working out? Drinking less? Being a better (insert your role here)? All those things are great — but they’re all about you. My resolutions fit in two categories: me-goals and us-goals. I’ve got a big list of personal goals to work through this year — big! But my collective goals — my ‘us-goals’ — are just as important.

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