The Albies: CFJ Honors Courageous Justice Defenders at Annual Awards

Memory Banda is a Malawian gender activist who has drawn international attention for her work in opposition to child marriage and her advocacy for girls’ rights to education and empowerment. Banda became an advocate for girls after her younger sister was forced into marriage at 11 years old. At 13, Banda said no to marriage for herself, dreaming of more. Even at a young age, Banda knew what she wanted: an education and to contribute to her community. She began using her voice locally and eventually teamed up with Girls Empowerment Network, a Malawi-based nonprofit that aimed to protect girls from early marriage and dangerous sexual initiation practices. Banda worked with the nonprofit to successfully advocate for the legal marriage age in Malawi to be increased from 15 to 18. In 2019, Banda founded the Foundation for Girls Leadership, which promotes education for girls and teaches them to advocate for their rights. Thus far, she has helped over 500 girls faced with child marriages avoid that fate and stay in school.

Luis Carlos Díaz is a journalist, cyberactivist, and human rights defender who focuses on freedom of expression and state crimes committed in Venezuela. Luis Carlos uses his digital communities and his work with social organizations and media outlets to raise awareness about accountability efforts, including developments related to the ICC investigation into the situation in Venezuela and other avenues of justice for Venezuelan victims. In 2019, Luis Carlos was arbitrarily detained, subjected to forced disappearance, and tortured by security agents after being accused of causing a nationwide blackout. Despite Venezuelan authorities keeping him under judicial process for three years and the torture he endured during his detention, Luis Carlos continues to fight for human rights and justice in Venezuela. His informative and accessible work on international justice processes has earned him respect among Venezuelan civil society both inside and outside the country. Luis Carlos’s work involves publicly denouncing abuses of power, supporting other victims of crimes against humanity, and assisting multiple Venezuelan NGOs, which has led to serious security risks in recent years.

Nadia Murad is a human rights activist, dedicated to advocating for survivors of genocide and sexual violence. In 2014, as part of the Yazidi genocide, ISIS killed more than 300 people in one hour, including her mother, six of her brothers, and other friends and family. ISIS captured Murad from her home in northern Iraq and forced her into sexual slavery. She survived three months in captivity alongside thousands of other Yazidi women and has since fought for sexual violence survivors worldwide. She created Nadia’s Initiative, which is dedicated to helping women and children victimized by genocide, mass atrocities, and human trafficking. Murad’s advocacy focuses on raising awareness of the genocide against the Yazidi people and the systemic use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. In 2018, Murad was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for her work to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.

Women Wage Peace (WWP) is a grassroots peace movement that approaches the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its resolution through a gendered lens, seeking to empower women to build trust across divides. Women of the Sun (WOTS) aims to politically and economically empower Palestinian woman. Since 2022, WWP and WOTS have worked together to advocate for peaceful solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. WOTS and WWP created the “Mothers’ Call” in 2022, addressing “4 Million Mothers” as an estimate of the total number of mothers in Israel and Palestine and calling on Israeli and Palestinian leaders to begin peace talks and negotiations. They held a joint rally for peace just three days before the October 7 Massacre. Since October 7, WWP and WOTS directors have continued working together, often speaking every day. WOTS and WWP were jointly nominated for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize by Free University Amsterdam. WOTS Director Reem Hajajreh and WWP Co-Director Yael Admi were also named 2024 Time Women of the Year.

Dolores Huerta is a prominent American labor leader and civil rights activist, who co-founded the United Farms Workers’ Union (UFW) with César Chávez. Growing up in Stockton, California, Huerta observed her mother’s compassion for workers and community activism from a young age. Before she became an activist herself, Huerta was an elementary school teacher in California, where she witnessed firsthand the poor living conditions and lack of resources that many farmworker children faced. She eventually decided she could do more to help as an organizer, and in 1955, she co-founded the Stockton chapter of the Community Service Organization. In 1962, she and César Chávez founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the UFW. Throughout her time with the UFW, Huerta negotiated contracts, advocated for safer working conditions, and fought for unemployment and healthcare benefits for agricultural workers. Huerta helped organize the 1965 Delano strike of 5,000 grape workers, and overcoming gender and racial bias, she served as the lead negotiator in the workers’ contract that followed. In 1973, Huerta spearheaded another consumer boycott of grapes that led to the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, allowing farm workers to form unions and bargain for better wages and conditions. Huerta was arrested 22 times in nonviolent protests, and in 1988 while participating in a protest against harmful pesticides, she was beaten by the police, resulting in six broken ribs. The San Francisco Police Department was forced to change its policies regarding crowd control and police discipline. In the 1990s, Huerta shifted her focus to women’s rights. She traveled cross-country on behalf of the Feminist Majority’s Feminization of Power: 50/50 by the year 2000 Campaign, which was followed by a significant increase in the number of women representatives at the local, state, and federal levels. Huerta is also credited as the creator of the slogan “Sí, se puede.” In 2012, Huerta was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Now, at 94 years old and a lifetime of advocacy, Huerta continues to fight for the rights of the underrepresented, engaging in campaigns that support equality and defend civil rights.