Ilitha Labantu official launched its anthology of stories of women and girls entitled “Our Stories, Our Voices, Discovering Ourselves”, on Friday, 2 February 2024, at the Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation. The anthology brings together a collective of personal narratives, short stories and poetry from women and girls from all walks of life. As an organisation that has been addressing the scourge of violence against women and girls for 35 years, we are committed to giving a voice to the untold stories of women and girls, as well as rewriting and correcting history through a gendered perspective. Through the creation of positive narratives about African women, we can help inspire generations of women and girls throughout South Africa, the African continent and the globe.
The book is the first edition of Ilitha Labantu’s Isisele Senyathi Women’s Hub on African Women’s History which aims at giving voice to the untold stories of ordinary women, leaders, visionaries and change makers who have helped shape the world we live in. Through the Isisele Senyathi Women’s Hub for African Women’s History the organization aims to rewrite and correct the distorted narratives of history through a gendered lense. The book launch is a follow up of a series of events that were held in 2022 and 2023 including the first and second Isisele Senyathi conferences as well as the Women’s Writing Retreat which included 21 women which was held in May 2023 whose stories ultimately contributed to this first edition of the anthology. The launch forms part of a series of planned activities in commemoration of this year’s 35th anniversary of Ilitha Labantu.
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