"I like to tell intimate stories in conflict areas, so the subjects of my stories are usually at risk in some way. They trust me and I think they open up so much easier because I am a woman. I don't think my work would have happened as quickly if I were a man. But recently I was on an assignment for an NGO in a very remote area of Northern Congo. There were some nomadic people in the area, very interesting and especially photogenic but they were in an area especially hard to get to. Because I am a woman, the NGO would not provide transportation b/c they said if the LRA attacked the region they would rape me. But there had been no LRA presence in that region because there are no elephants there and the LRA mostly attack while looking for elephants and ivory. I have experience in the Congo and I knew what the potential risks were and was willing to take them but the NGO would not budge and it was too expensive for me to hire private transportation to get there on my own. However when a male colleague showed up who had less experience in the region they offered him the opportunity to go up to the region with the nomadic people. The thing is, if the LRA caught men, they could be killed. The male photographer was allowed the choice to take the risk or not, but I wasn't. This is one of the reasons why there is so little work coming from women in these areas. It's not that we can't endure the hardships. It's that our opportunities are blocked..." Diana Zeyneb Alhindawi is a photojournalist who uses photography to explore the human condition across a variety of political and cultural contexts."
Donna Hylton
"If I weren't a woman I wouldn't have been raped as many times as I have. I would have been a handsome man instead of pretty woman who was objectified and abused." - Donna Hylton served 27 years in prison and now is a community health advocate and founder of From Life To Life LLC.
Monica
"When I was 7 and 8 years old and living in the Dominican Republic, I was sexually and psychologically abused by a family friend. I didn't tell anyone about it until I was an adult when I confided in a Nun at my church. She helped me and counseled me and eventually I did tell my mother. Now I can talk about the abuse without crying but I still feel an empty space inside of me. I have two children and I am very protective of them, especially my 18 year old daughter." Monica works as a Custodian.