“If there were no women, I don’t think the revolution would have happened”, Stephanie Sotiry told me. The 34-year-old teacher and artist was easy to spot on the frontlines of recent, daily protests in Beirut, the Lebanese capital, amidst the historic wave of demonstrations across the country.
Sotiry joined the protests with her tambourine from day one, making music, singing and dancing with other young activists and artists. Although the atmosphere was often light, the demonstrations have been far from trivial. On 29 October, they forced the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
I met Sotiry in early November, in the second week of the demonstrations that are still ongoing. Hundreds of thousands of people across the country have protested against the sectarian political system and entrenched economic crisis, and called for the ruling elite to step down.
