By Gordon Osen
Naila Abdallah’s parents forced her
into an arranged marriage when
she graduated from high school,
leaving her a young mother at the
age of 21, but she persevered and
lived to fight another day.
Despite the fact that forced early marriage has devastated many lives, Naila eventually left the marriage and founded Sisters For Justice, a feminist civil society organization, to fight for the rights of young girls and women, promote the prevention of unplanned pregnancies, and generally protect human rights.
A 2020 Defenders Coalition award acknowledging her activism only served to fuel her flames, as gasoline is to fire.
“I have a fantastic comeback story that can serve as an inspiration to many. I believed that nothing good could ever happen to me when I was forced into marriage in Mombasa only after completing form four. Defenders Coalition recognised the injustice I endured as the impetus for my activism and gave me the Human Rights Defender of the Year award.”
With only one child, the fierce mother is always alert, quick to react to any information about injustice in her community, and willing to lend a hand however she can.
While Martin Luther King Jr. stated that the moral arc is long but tends to bend toward justice, Abdallah thinks that force maintained by constant vigilance is necessary to bend the arc on its own. “Justice does not just happen.
It comes down to those who consciously put up a fight for it. That is the reason I am constantly vigilant and helping those who are too weak to fight injustice on their own,” the 34-year-old stated in an interview with the Star.
When the Star called her for this interview, for a whole day, she was not available as she had responded to a distress call from a minor who had been allegedly trafficked from Turkana to Mombasa.
The response was only to end at 10pm on the day. The minor girl, according to Abdallah, had been moved from Turkana by a guardian who had promised to send her to school.
Instead, she was made to perform household chores in the midst of a purportedly ongoing assault. “We took quick action after receiving a tip today to make sure the girl is in safe custody.”
The Mombasa-based activist should be contacted if there are any allegations of sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, sexual violence, extremist rings, or overreactions by the police.
“A lot is going on in my neighbourhood. There is a lot of crime, and police frequently use violence against young people’s groups. “I always want to keep an eye on these cases and record them so that we can work with law enforcement to end crime as well as hold officers responsible when they overstep the line and use needless brutality,” the man stated. “I occasionally receive calls in the middle of the night from women who are sobbing and saying their husband beat them and caused a miscarriage. “I help others and activate my network,” he remarked.
And after years of receiving complaints from vulnerable women about a variety of issues, including domestic abuse and the inability to support their children, Abdallah said that her organization began launching programmes that teach them skills like running roadside eateries and creating liquid soap in order to empower them. The group is known as Sister for Justice.
She makes use of the platform to search for collaborations with other groups, such as Haki Africa, to promote causes that enhance their local communities.
Together, we have taken down Mombasa’s sex trafficking networks, drug dens, and community awareness campaigns about violent extremism, crime, climate change, and other issues.
“I enjoy and feel fulfilled doing it, even though it is a difficult journey,” she said.
The Defenders Coalition named
her the Human Rights Defender
of the Year after recognising her
enthusiasm and dedication to her
significant work during the 2020
Covid-19 pandemic.