Patronus: Tiger

Fav quote: – We never bend, we are like Artemis when we die standing – An Amzigh proverb
– Life is very hard, the only people who really live are those who are harder than life itself. Nawal Saadawi , Pioneer of Arab Feminist Movement

Maha is an indigenous rights defender with special focus on AMAZIGHS rights. She is a part of the executive board of the Regional Coalition of Women Human Rights Defenders in the Middle East and North Africa region. She is also a member with front line defender since 2014 and continues with her activism relentlessly despite having faced social media threats from fundamentalist groups before. Maha is a feminist writer who has written extensively on gender based violence and women’s rights, especially minorities and marginalised groups. She has worked for two years with African Union Campaign to End Child Marriage in Africa and is a member in FEMNET. Maha also identifies as an activist fighting for LGBTQ rights in NAME (North Africa and Middle East) region and is currently doing her masters in history. Maha is multilingual and is fluent in Tamazight (North African indigenous language), Arabic, French, English and Chinese Mandarin. She tweets as @Mehajouini.

At FRIDA, Maha helps us with Arabic and French translations and any support she can provide with our comms work for the NAME region.