“I have never understood why some people are lucky enough to be born with the chance that I had, to have this path in life, and why across the world there's a woman just like me, with the same abilities and the same desires, the same work ethic and love for her family, who would most likely make better films and better speeches, only she sits in a refugee camp and she has no voice. She worries about what her children will eat, how to keep them safe, and if they'll ever be allowed to return home. I don't know why this is my life and that's hers. I don't understand that.”
– Angelina Jolie, 2013 Oscar acceptance speech.
I often go back to this quote. As a Kashmiri Muslim woman who has had the privilege to pursue her education, complete her Master’s in Mass Communication, and even make films, I often think about what it means to live a life of opportunities that countless other women across the world might never even get, despite being equally, if not more, talented and deserving.
When I joined Parity Lab seven months ago as a Communications and Programs Associate, this awareness began to seep deeper in unexpected ways. I have grown up realising this privilege but the kind of work I do here has given me the chance to meet and learn from grassroots women leaders in India, some from as remote and challenging regions as Bundelkhand in Uttar Pradesh to women leading the change globally, their lives being shaped by daily struggles that test them at every turn, yet, what shines through is not despair or defeat, but extraordinary stories of resilience, like this one time when a group of fellows in Bundelkhand missed a workshop to relentlessly protest for justice for a Dalit boy who had been killed, showing that their leadership is not limited to workshops but is lived out in acts of courage and solidarity every day.
Instead of being broken by circumstances, they rise. They confront patriarchal norms head-on, refusing to stay silent. They advocate for their communities, create safe spaces for women, and fight for justice even when the odds are stacked against them. Listening to their stories has been nothing short of humbling and awe-inspiring.
Every single time I get the chance to interact with these women leaders, I am reminded of the privileges I often take for granted. While I may spend time worrying about the next project or the next step in my career, they are out there fighting battles for rights and dignities that many of us have the luxury to assume as something that is ‘given’. And yet, their determination is not only for themselves, but for generations to come, for all the daughters, sisters, and communities to live freer, safer lives.
This realization has shaped how I see my role. Privilege, I’ve come to understand, is not something I should carry with guilt, but with responsibility. It is a call to use the opportunities I get, the skills I develop, and my voice to amplify those who have been systematically denied the same. Because the truth is: some women are fighting daily for the very things others receive effortlessly.
At Parity Lab, I have learned that change can definitely not happen in silos. It demands that we come together —across backgrounds, geographies, and levels of privilege to break the chains that hold women back. Through our fellowships and programs at Parity Lab, women leaders from different corners of the world come together to share stories, reflect on patterns of trauma and oppression, and build trauma-informed leadership tools to carry back to their own communities. What strikes me most is how women who may live in different geographies across the world with vastly different contexts often recognize the same underlying struggles — and how solidarity across borders creates connections and a roadmap for collective change.
As I continue on this journey, I hold onto hope. I hope that the world can become a place where no woman’s worth is diminished by where she is born. I hope that the kind of solidarity I’ve witnessed through Parity Lab’s Global Fellowship will only grow stronger.I hope that privilege will increasingly be used to open doors for people rather than close them. Hope that together, we can help build a tomorrow where every woman has not just the right to dream, but the freedom and support to live those dreams.
— by Khushboo Malik, Communications and Programs Associate at Parity Lab
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