Warrior Women of Our Time


Cherie Kurarangi Sweeney
NZ has one of the highest rates of death from child abuse in the OECD, mainly because of a culture of silence that protects the killers. When her neighbours six-month old child was murdered in April 2011, Cherie spoke out in a culture of fear and intimidation. Although she's been threatened, branded a 'nark' and her home has been vandalised, she continues to organize community support to shut down the "anti-nark culture" that allows these shameful deaths to continue. Her Facebook page called "STOP Death by Abuse of our Children" can be found here: www.facebook.com/pages/STOP-Death-by-Abuse-of-our-Children/166417770086797



Geena Davis
“Kids need to see entertainment where females are valued as much as males.”  Geena Davis is an award-winning actress, a director, a member of Mensa and a champion for advancement of women. She is known for her movie roles of strong women and in fact, one of the reasons she takes these roles on is because they are not traditionally accepted in western society. She is a keynote speaker at the UN and the founder of The Geena Davis Institute which works towards researching and changing the way females are portrayed in the entertainment sector. She is also the founder of the Womens' Foundation of California which is dedicated to supporting emerging women leaders in California.



Zaha Hadid
Born on October 1950 in Iraq, she is an accomplished architiect and artist. A leader in her field, she has won many international awards and competitions. A strong woman in a mans world, she continues to push at the glass ceiling.










Margaret Moth
She was born Margaret Wilson in Gisborne, New Zealand in 1951. She studied film and photography at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, moving on to become NZ's first news camerawoman. In her twenties she changed her name to Margaret Gipsy Moth "because there were too many Margarets and too many Wilsons."  By 1990, she was working for CNN in the most dangerous war-torn parts of the world including the West Bank, Kuwait and Sarajevo. In July 1992, she became world news herself when she was shot through the face by a sniper in Sarajevo. The bullet shattered her jaw, destroyed her teeth and much of her tongue and despite the odds, she survived and carried on her job as a fearless camerawoman in war zones. Sadly, she passed away in 2010 from colon cancer. When she was asked about death she said, ""You could be a billionaire, and you couldn't pay to do the things we've done. Dying of cancer, I would have liked to think that I would have gone out with a little more flair, but feel like I can die with dignity – that's the main thing."




Mayerley Sanchez of Colombia
By the time she was 13, Mayerley was an activist for childrens rights. She created the Colombian Children's Movement for Peace and launched the The Children's Peace and Rights Mandate which was signed by 2.7 million children. This effectively put pressure on her government and the Colombian guerilla forces to negotiate for peace. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998.






Larissa Vingilis-Jaremko of Canada
At 9 years old she discovered a gaping whole in attitude and education for girls in science so she founded CAGIS, the Canadian Association for girls in Science. CAGIS is a non-profit organisation that helps girls between the ages of 7 and 16 with an interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. She is still working to expand the fields that girls are introduced to.














More stories coming very soon.....please feel free to suggest any women that you think should be featured on this page.

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