Russian President Vladimir Putin may continue to wage war in Ukraine, and the ayatollahs in Iran may be putting their regime critics to death — but amid such strife, this year, women waged their own war against these oppressors.
In Iran, women led the uprising against the mullahs after the death of Jina Mahsa Amini on September 16. Images of Iranian women cutting their hair and removing their hijabs awed people around the world. Their revolt for women's rights grew into a nationwide movement against the regime in Tehran, with millions now demanding their freedom and an end to clerical rule.
In Brazil, it was the female electorate in particular that ensured that misogynist and violence-mongering President Jair Bolsonaro was voted out of office in October. The man who called COVID-19 a "little flu" and regretted that during the military dictatorship critics were "tortured and not killed" must leave the presidential palace on January 1. With campaigns such as "#EleNao" ("not him"), Brazilian women helped former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who had already governed the country from 2003 to 2011, to a narrow electoral victory.
In the Palestinian territories, the face of resistance to military violence is also female. Following the death of American-Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on May 11, 2022, her niece Lina Abu Akleh is leading a campaign to hold those responsible accountable. Because of her successful campaign work, Time magazine named her one of the most important young leaders in 2022.
Abu Akleh was killed while covering a raid by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in the occupied West Bank. According to an official statement on the Israeli military's final investigation into the case, there is a "high possibility" that the reporter from the Arabic-language broadcaster Al Jazeera "was accidentally hit by IDF gunfire that was fired toward suspects identified as armed Palestinian gunmen."
Documenting war crimes
In Ukraine, courageous women are also fighting Russian bombs and war crimes alongside President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk, founder of The Center for Civil Liberties, wants to bring atrocities in Ukraine, Syria, Mali and Georgia to an international criminal court.
The human rights organization, founded by the lawyer in 2007, was the first to document war crimes committed by the Russian army in Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk. It was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 for its work.
Then there is the admirable work of pediatrician Irina Kondratova, who became widely known when former football star David Beckham gave her control of his Instagram account. Through her eyes, millions saw how the staff at a perinatal center in Kharkiv risked their lives to care for pregnant women as well as newborns and their mothers in a hospital basement amid Russian bombardment.
At the EU level, Ursula von der Leyen has stubbornly coordinated numerous sanctions packages against Russia's politicians, army and banks. Despite their divergent interests, the European Commission president has succeeded in rallying the member states to support Ukraine in its fight against Putin's invasion.
Images of hope
The list could go on. All of these women have succeeded in ensuring that amid so much turmoil, images of hope will still characterize this year. Like the photo of Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi competing without a headscarf for the first time at a major competition in Seoul in 2022. It was seen around the world, as were the images and videos shared by millions on social media of women worldwide cutting their hair in solidarity with the movement in Iran.
And then there were the photos of babies being born in a cellar as Ukraine was under bombardment, bringing their parents a moment of joy in the midst of war.
Without this concentrated force of resistance, this will to live and desire for freedom, 2022 would have been a sad, even devastating year. Women have stood up to warmongers, torturers, dictators and soldiers. They have ensured that hope for a better life is stronger than despair over war, violence and death.
This article originally appeared in German.