Souad Nawfal (also Suad Nofal) is a

Syrian Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indig ...

Muslim schoolteacher and activist who became known for her protests against Bashar al-Assad and the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria. She received the

Homo Homini Award The Homo Homini Award (Latin: "A human to another human") is given annually by the Czech human rights organization People in Need to "an individual in recognition of a dedication to the promotion of human rights, democracy and non-violent solutio ...

, a

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

award, in 2014. She studied education and earned a degree in 2006. She participated in the uprising against the regime of Bashar Al-Assad in March 2011 or March 2012, the latter date shortly after the death of Ali Babinsky, who was the first to be killed by the regime in the eastern provinces. When ISIS kidnapped one of her friends, Jesuit priest Father Paolo Dall'Oglio, who had been in Syria since the 1970s and had recently been working to get those kidnapped by ISIS released, Nawfal went to ISIS headquarters in Raqqa, beginning a practice of daily protest. Other sources state that her protest began as a more general anti-ISIS protest, or because she wanted to wear pants. She made and held signs she had written specifically to shame the organization, including statements such as “Our revolution was begun by honorable people and is being stolen by thieves!” and “Muslims spilling the blood of Muslims are sinners!” She disagrees with the Islamic teachings of ISIS, and uses her own identity as a Muslim woman to challenge them in these specifically Islamic terms. Her protests also supported Christians in Syria. She has been harassed, beaten, and shot at while protesting. While protesting, she often wore outfits that included

trousers Trousers (British English), slacks, or pants are an item of clothing worn from the waist to anywhere between the knees and the ankles, covering both legs separately (rather than with cloth extending across both legs as in robes, skirts, and ...

and hijab, while ISIS mandated

niqāb A niqāb or niqaab (; ar, نِقاب ', " aceveil"), also called a ruband, ( fa, روبند) is a garment, usually black, that covers the face, worn by some Muslim women as a part of an interpretation of '' hijab'' (i.e. "modest dress"). Mu ...

for women. She also made a series of videos, though it was illegal for citizens to film or take photographs on the streets. One of her most famous videos is titled "The Woman in Pants." Nawfal also worked in relief efforts, including selling

handicrafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

to raise money for displaced persons. She started the Jana Foundation, a small

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

, to support women and families with income and food after and during the ISIS occupation of Raqqa. She was protesting on September 25, 2013, when she was again shot at and sentenced to death on the orders of the emir. She escaped from Raqqa to Urfa, Turkey in October or December 2013. She later was able to emigrate to Europe. In 2014, Nawfal received the

from the Czech nongovernmental organization People in Need for her efforts in fighting for human rights. She received the award during the 2015 One World documentary film festival in Prague. In her acceptance speech, she stressed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad holds responsibility for the terrorism throughout Syria.

References

{{Footer Homo Homini Award laureates, state=expanded Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Syrian women activists Syrian women People from Raqqa Governorate People of the Syrian civil war Syrian schoolteachers