Democracy needs women: Feminist leadership in times of shrinking enabling environments for civil society

Feminists are not only participating in democracy, but they are also sustaining it

Originally published on Global Voices

Women advocate for equal participation and inclusion in Tanzanian society at Dar es Salaam’s Mchikichini market. Image from UN Women’s Flickr. License CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

By Clarisse Sih and Bibbi Abruzzini

At a time when democratic backsliding is no longer an abstract warning but a lived reality across continents, feminist leaders are quietly — and often at personal risk — holding the line.