The Trials of Spring

In 2011, popular uprisings swept through North Africa and the Middle East, and women were on the front lines. Yet they were largely absent from coverage of the Arab Spring. The Trials of Spring was created as a multi-media initiative to spotlight the central role played by women during these tumultuous events through a feature-length documentary, six short films, and articles by award-winning journalists.

We created a campaign to elevate women’s voices as advocates for peace, human rights, and freedom in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Highlights of our impact campaign include:

STRENGTHENED THE LOCAL CAPACITY OF ORGANIZATIONS LED BY WOMEN

We brought the films to international stakeholders as well as women from the MENA region leading their communities. One special event with the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom at The Hague brought together over 1,000 international activists and featured a screening and panel discussion with women leaders who shared organizing advice with their peers in the audience.

CHALLENGED RACIST AND SEXIST STEREOTYPES OF ARAB WOMEN

We developed a lesson plan around the short films for the New York Times Learning Network to help students better understand the Arab Spring, particularly concerning Arab women. The lesson was presented at the National Council for Social Studies Conference to 3,000+ educators and published in Al-Masdar, the premier online source for Arabic language teaching materials.

CATALYZED DISCUSSIONS CONNECTING WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND THE SUCCESS OF SOCIAL CHANGE

We brought the stories of Arab women’s rights activists to 250 international classrooms and communities, including government and military settings. As a result, the Eisenhower School’s National Security and Resource Strategy program at the National Defense University expanded its curriculum to include a course on Women, Peace and Security — the first-ever for the university.