Firefly

Rosie Walters and Stellina Chen

It seems as though everybody is talking about girl activists at the moment, but is anyone actually listening to them? Despite endless media headlines and NGO campaigns celebrating girl activists and all that they can achieve, research shows that most girls still experience huge barriers to achieving the kinds of changes they want to see in their communities and beyond.  These include financial constraints, not being taken seriously by boys and adults, juggling activism alongside homework and housework, and being shut out of political decision-making because of their age.  Meanwhile, adults see girls’ activism as reassuring evidence that the issues girls care most about are already in the process of being solved. In this image, we wanted to convey the idea that while adults hold girl activists up as beacons of hope, or fireflies lighting the way, they are still not removing barriers to their full participation or hearing their calls to stand with them.  Girls are courageous and creative in their activism, but they cannot, and do not want to, change the world all by themselves.

About the academic

Rosie Walters (she/her) is a lecturer in International Relations at Cardiff University’s School of Law and Politics who researches girls’ activism.

Her research explores how girls creatively find ways to be political in their everyday lives, even when they are excluded from formal decision-making forums, and the support they would like from adults to make changes in their communities.

You can read about Rosie’s research (via the Conversation website), her work with Oxfam and about her original research.

About the artist

Stellina Chen is a Taiwanese cartoonist. Her work has been published in Le Monde, Courrier International, France 24, Le Temps, Voxeurop, The News Lens and many others. In her cartoons, she frequently addresses issues such as women’s rights and gender equality. Stellina published a satirical comic book titled 'Dans la cour des grands' in France in 2023.