Nawal El Saadawi: How Are Women Continuing Her Fight For Justice And Female Empowerment?

Words by Hannah La Ronde, edited by Dalia Al-Dujaili

We may have lost the great writer, feminist and female revolutionary of the Arab world, Nawal El Saadawi, but her vision of justice is immortal amid the tide of brave and progressive women who continue to breathe life into each of her dreams. Though we are living in a time of division and pessimism, women are healing our wounds, sharing their stories and instilling hope with their knowledge, resilience and creativity.

A world powered by deception is “savage and dangerous.” People who fight this system, particularly women, will be labelled “savage and dangerous” as was the heroine Firdaus in Nawal’s most famous novel Woman At Point Zero.

They are the women fighting to remove the invisible shackles of a neo-colonial, capitalist, patriarchal system. When such forward-thinking and powerful influences come together, they have the power to instil a movement in all women, locally and globally, to fight against the violent and oppressive forces that dictate our lives.

Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American woman in US Congress and Ilhan Omar, the first refugee, share the harrowing stories behind America’s unconditional support of Israel, a decision that permits Palestinian genocide, ethnic cleansing and apartheid to flourish. Rashida Tlaib tells us, tearful on the house floor;

“no child, Palestinian or Israeli, whoever they are, should have to worry that death will rain from the sky.”

Both these women face a public and private battle. Their beliefs and cultural identities constantly threaten their lives, but speaking the truth in a place of deception is the only antidote to injustice. Through such acts of courage and service, the dehumanised are rehumanised.

As our collective mentality rapidly shifts to indifference, progressive women-led organisations remind us that compassion and creativity are the human values that change the world.

Athena40, a platform that interviewed Nawal in 2018, (her favourite interview in London) focus on “strengthening the role of women worldwide, and nurturing female leadership, creating opportunities for women to be recognised, access new networks, knowledge and partnerships.”

On this platform you will find a kaleidoscope of ambitious women from across the world who have dedicated their lives to creating safe spaces for women and marginalised communities to be themselves, to have more access to work, healthcare and education.

Women like Sadiqa Basiri Saleem, an Afghan refugee living in Pakistan who, with the work of three other women, transformed an abandoned mosque in Afghanistan into a school for Girls denied the right to an education. She now runs six schools and four literacy centres. Or Turkish writer, Elif Shafak, who believes in the “transformative power of stories to bring people together.” Those deliberately erased from society become centralised characters with hopes and dreams. When taken into the hearts of these characters, our own minds and hearts grow empathy and love, we become intimate and interconnected creatures; our humanness is what holds significance.

Rohit Bhakar, January 2021, Delhi, India.

Scholar and environmental activist Vandana Shiva leaves us with a powerful ultimatum;

“We are either going to have a future where women make the way to lead peace with the earth or we are not going to have a human future at all.”

And with this indisputable truth, she has planted solutions. The Eco-Feminist movement “Navdanya” serve an “Earth Democracy”- treating the earth as one family. Their work in seed saving and sustainable agriculture has protected and given back to the Indian Farmers dominated by Western Corporations such as German company Bayer who “declare nature as dead and women as the second sex.”

With women being the sole caregivers for centuries, movements like Navdanya continue this love and conservation of the earth. Giving back is their sole purpose.

Who restores justice and balance to our world?

Ordinary women, the ones who go unrecognised. The ones we pass on the streets in our everyday lives, performing extraordinary strength and kindness to keep their families and society afloat. The woman who nurtures, protests, waters her garden, cooks from her heart and restores selflessness, kindness and creativity within and outside her home. This woman is a role model to her family and a spiritual guide to a narcissistic-driven society.

The act of us coming together, of blurring the lines between race, religion and class is an act of protest in itself- It is one which women have done and continue to do because we are universally connected in our struggles. There is a powerful thread of global community when truth-telling is our language. Choosing to speak against injustice means we follow the path of compassion and service Nawal describes as Walking Through Fire, the title of her autobiography. Our minds, hearts and eyes begin to open. Our bodies become our own to move through the world how we choose.

When our globe and personal lives become clouded with hopelessness and pessimism we have a responsibility to think of these women, to wonder what new visions they are creating for the world, to be inspired by their resilience and hear Nawal’s words echo through us;

“I will die, and you will die. The important thing is how to live until you die.”

Hannah has written for Galdem and the Huffington Post. Follow her on Twitter @larondee.