The Beadmaker's Refuge for Women

[katty]

more:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-03-08/rebecca-lolosoli-the-beadmakers-refuge-for-women/?cid=hp:mainpromo7

Fed up with a rape epidemic and forced marriages, Rebecca Lolosoli created a village just for women in Kenya. Eliza Griswold on the artisan and activist whose work has reached the fashion world. Plus, 150 women who shake the world.

When Rebecca Lolosoli won her right to a divorce this past December, 300 women gathered to celebrate. They roasted a goat in her village, Umoja, which the women founded 21 years ago for women only. No men are allowed to live here.

"Our village has turned into a shelter," Lolosoli says. Women and girls fleeing forced marriages, or ostracized for being raped, or trying to save themselves from female genital mutilation, come to Umoja in Kenya for safety. Sons are welcome—as long as they are willing to follow the village's rules and do not try to dominate the women.

The women formed the village in order to protect one another.

[Demeter]

1. The Gate to Women's Country Is Now Open to Them