Tackling Gender Backlash During Crises

Connecting Citizens to Science

In this opening episode of the mini-series, we explore how moments of crisis—from economic collapse to political instability—create fertile ground for anti-feminist backlash. We hear how patriarchal power is mobilised across contexts and how resisting it requires collective action that cuts across sectors, including health. Co-host Ishrat Jahan is joined by Lebanese researcher and activist Nay El Rahi and Kenyan programme officer Alfred Makabira, who share personal reflections and strategies for countering gender backlash in their own work.

In this episode:

Ishrat Jahan - Research Fellow at the Centre for Gender and Sexual and Reproductive Health at BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Ishrat’s research focuses on the intersection of gender, health, and environmental issues. Ishrat is involved in national and international projects exploring the impact of climate change on women’s health, adaptive practices in marginalised communities, and Global South-led curricula in higher education.

Nay El Rahi – Researcher, Lebanese American University, Arab Institute for Women (AiW)

Nay is an intersectional feminist writer, researcher, and political activist with over a decade of experience in journalism, research, and programming. Based at the Arab Institute for Women at the Lebanese American University, Nay’s work focuses on anti-feminist backlash, gender-based violence, and kinship in Lebanon. She co-founded HarassTracker, a pioneering tool for reporting sexual harassment in Lebanon, and was named one of the BBC’s 100 Women in 2016.

Alfred Makabira - Programme Officer, Advocates for Social Change-Kenya (ADSOCK).

Alfred is a human rights advocate working as part of the Countering Backlash: Reclaiming Justice project, developing and implementing practical strategies to help individuals and communities identify, resist, and challenge patriarchal backlash both online and in their local contexts.

Useful links:

• CREA - Feminist Human Rights - Our Voices Our Futures
• Countering Backlash - Reclaiming Gender Justice

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The podcast cuts across disciplines, including health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare (antenatal and postnatal care), mental health and wellbeing, vector-borne diseases, climate change and co-production approaches.

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