I have a voice and I will use it!

Growing up in a family believes in gender equality and women empowerment and at the same time living in a patriarchal society and government was very confusing, for me it was not rational that only because you are a woman you can miss the right but you shouldn’t ask for it, you might get hurt or be beaten but you should wait for the others to defense you, you could being through harassment but you can’t scream and you know all that was wrong but it is not your job to say so.

Being beleaguered between the social traditions and the governmental policies and laws, and knowing that both are putting you in specific stereotyping roles and you should follow, otherwise the consequences can be social exclusion or going to jail.

For me working as human rights defender is a way of life rather than a paid job, the details of my daily life in different places of my country are the places where I try to spread the culture of the rights or advocacy for them.

With the passage of time and reading more in this area I started to think about the meaning of “The right to live”.
I found that this right had been mentioned in the universal declaration for human rights, and in the different religions or messages came through different messenger to everywhere in the universe; but before all that it was the pure human nature that keep telling us what is the right and what is the wrong and that was the beginning.

On that environment it wasn’t easy to know what really the “Right to Live” means; is it just the breathing and eating or it could be better if I added the right to work and educate and I can even add more but then I thought: can I name this all this a life if I can’t choose and how I can choose if I can’t express my opinion without being afraid, and to have my own opinion I have to think.

At that point I realized that I am not allowed to think, every thing was already set and the rules are made and we should obey. And that was the turning point in my life, that was the moment I decided and promised myself I will make my own choices, will think, express, discus and will work and keep trying to guarantee the right of life in my beloved country.

Right to live, are all that rights together.