Initiative: #WhereIsMyName
Organization: #WhereIsMyName / ???? ??????
Facebook: #WhereIsMyName
Twitter: #WhereIsMyName
Website: www.rferl.org/
Location: Shahre naw, Afghanistan
#WhereIsMyName was started by Bahar Sohaili, a freelance journalist and women’s rights activist. She campaigned on Facebook by challenging women to reclaim their most basic identity, and to break the deep-rooted taboo that prevents men from mentioning their female relatives’ names in public in accordance with the cultural practices of Afghanistan. Phrases such as ‘Mother of Children’, ‘My Household’, ‘My Weak One’ or sometimes even ‘My Goat’ or ‘My Chicken’ are used to address women by their husbands, fathers and brothers. Women also may be called ‘Milksharer’ or ‘Black-headed’. The go-to word for Afghans to call a woman in public, no matter her status, is ‘Aunt’. However, this social media campaign was started to challenge and change this patriarchal custom.