Tassafy Hossain is smiling broadly when we meet backstage at the feminist arts festival Women of the World (WOW) in Dhaka in March. She talks with enthusiasm about the packed programme that she co-curated, including theatre performances featuring disabled actors, and talks from leading women’s rights activists in Bangladesh.
Founded in London in 2010, WOW festivals have taken place all over the world, including in Pakistan, Brazil, and the US. This year, the festival came to Bangladesh’s capital city for the first time, in partnership with the British Council.
Hossain is determined to unravel gender stereotypes and build platforms where women can speak about their lives and experiences of everything from sex, relationships and abuse, to modesty and clothing. As a young woman in 2010, she founded her theatre group Bonhishikha (Unlearn Gender).
