12 Inspiring Life Stories From Women Around the World

Masih Alinejad is an Iranian journalist who started the My Stealthy Freedom campaign to advocate for women's choice over whether they cover their hair in public. In Iran, it is mandatory for women to wear headscarves known as hijab. My Stealthy Freedom started in 2014 when Masih posted a photo of herself without a head covering and asked other women to share their own moments of “stealthy freedom.” As hundreds of photos poured in from Iran and other parts of the world, Masih created a dedicated Facebook Page to make a unified statement against the compulsory hijab law. Thousands of women risked their lives and reputations by submitting photos of themselves with uncovered hair.

Shoana Solomon is a Liberian-American entrepreneur who started a movement to fight the stigma against West Africans as the Ebola crisis escalated in 2014. When she saw a friend's Facebook post about doing something to combat these negative perceptions, Shoana and three other Liberian women came up with a campaign, #IAmALiberianNotAVirus. Shoana posted a photo of herself holding a sign with the hashtag and encouraged others to do the same.

Mavis Mendonca Smith is one of the cofounders of Win Bangalore Back, a Facebook Group organized in response to the news that a 6-year-old girl was raped at a local Indian private school in July 2014.

Gioia Gottini is the founder of Rete al Femminile, a set of networking groups for women entrepreneurs across Italy. Gioia is passionate about helping women succeed and achieve financial independence.

Mayumi is the founder of All Japan Obachan Party, a group advocating for more women in Japanese government and other gender-equality causes. In addition to giving a voice to Japanese women who are not typically encouraged to share their political opinions, Mayumi continues to be a public advocate for women. This month she will participate in the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations in New York, and she and other AJOP group members plan to organize an international conference to be held next year.

Her Voice is an organization in Nairobi, Kenya, founded by a group of women to fight gender-based violence and support the women who are victims of it. Her Voice responds to many victims of sexual assault and domestic violence who contact them via their Facebook Page or personal profiles. The organization helps them take legal action against their attackers and relocate if necessary. The group visits courtrooms to advocate for justice in cases of gender violence and seeks to promote more positive attitudes toward women by bringing male role models to speak to boys in Nairobi schools.

Sukki Singapora is a burlesque dancer and activist from the Goodman Road area of East Singapore, who became the first woman to legally perform burlesque in Singapore in February 2015. After establishing her Facebook Page, Sukki began to receive messages from women all around the world, praising her stance on self-expression and equality for women. She noticed that many of the messages were from women back home in Singapore, telling her she was an inspiration. Many of them asked for advice about burlesque and performing, so Sukki created a closed Facebook Group for these women called The Singapore Burlesque Society. Through the group, women could talk openly about burlesque, trade tips, and plan workshops in a confidential space. They bonded over how burlesque made them feel — in control over their own bodies and the way they express themselves.

Kalki Subramaniam is a writer, actress, filmmaker, and transgender rights activist in Auroville, Tamil Nadu. She became the first transgender woman to star in a major motion picture in India in 2011. Kalki is a lifeline for other people in the transgender community who often connect with her through Facebook.

Azmat Khan is an American investigative reporter, now working for BuzzFeed News, who sheds light on unheard stories of inequality around the world. Azmat worked in Pakistan for a year before returning to the US to join PBS Frontline and then Al Jazeera America. She can spend months reporting on a single project, often using Facebook to immerse herself in a community. The connections she's able to make help her uncover stories of injustice and bring these issues to the public. In a recent story for Al Jazeera America, she wrote about sexual assault among college students with disabilities, and used Facebook Groups to find sources and learn more about what they've been through.

During her workday, Samantha Cristoforetti circles the Earth every 92 minutes. An Italian flight engineer for International Space Station Expeditions 42 and 43, Samantha lives and works in orbit and shares that experience with people on Facebook. Samantha is the first Italian woman in space but prefers to think about a reality where it’s not incredible to be both a woman and an astronaut. Instead, she wants people to see it as normal so more young women and girls around the world will too.

Carol Rossetti is a 26-year-old from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, who illustrates the real issues faced by women around the world. Carol’s empowering message to “wear what you like to feel comfortable with your own body” was cheered by women on Facebook. She posted another gender-focused drawing the next day, then the next — and the project she calls Women was born.