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Girls Reload, Because I am a Girl 2015.jpg

Because I am a Girl (Girls Reload)

In 2015, the team behind Femme Fierce (the World's Largest All Female Graffiti Street Festival) worked with Women of the World (WOW) and Plan International UK to create a series of murals against forced marriage. Over 150 female street artists took to the graffiti tunnel on Leake Street in Waterloo to support Plan UK’s fight against child and forced marriage. This project was part of Plan International’s worldwide campaign ‘Because I am a Girl’. The walls were painted blue to reflect Plan’s logo and then the female artists let their imagination run wild, painting their interpretations of ‘Because I am a Girl’.Plan International, which works to protect the rights of children, launched this campaign to fight for girls’ rights and gender equality. It is a youth-led, global movement that supports girls to take the lead and influence decisions that matter to them. The charity works on forced and child marriage throughout the world.

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Because I am a Girl (Malala and Plan)

In 2015, the team behind Femme Fierce (the World's Largest All Female Graffiti Street Festival) worked with Women of the World (WOW) and Plan International UK to create a series of murals against forced marriage. Over 150 female street artists took to the graffiti tunnel on Leake Street in Waterloo to support Plan UK’s fight against child and forced marriage. This project was part of Plan International’s worldwide campaign ‘Because I am a Girl’. The walls were painted blue to reflect Plan’s logo and then the female artists let their imagination run wild, painting their interpretations of ‘Because I am a Girl’.Plan International, which works to protect the rights of children, launched this campaign to fight for girls’ rights and gender equality. It is a youth-led, global movement that supports girls to take the lead and influence decisions that matter to them. The charity works on forced and child marriage throughout the world.

Malala 2, Because I am a Girl 2015.jpg

Because I am a Girl (Malala)

In 2015, the team behind Femme Fierce (the World's Largest All Female Graffiti Street Festival) worked with Women of the World (WOW) and Plan International UK to create a series of murals against forced marriage. Over 150 female street artists took to the graffiti tunnel on Leake Street in Waterloo to support Plan UK’s fight against child and forced marriage. This project was part of Plan International’s worldwide campaign ‘Because I am a Girl’. The walls were painted blue to reflect Plan’s logo and then the female artists let their imagination run wild, painting their interpretations of ‘Because I am a Girl’.Plan International, which works to protect the rights of children, launched this campaign to fight for girls’ rights and gender equality. It is a youth-led, global movement that supports girls to take the lead and influence decisions that matter to them. The charity works on forced and child marriage throughout the world.

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Because I am a Girl (portrait)

In 2015, the team behind Femme Fierce (the World's Largest All Female Graffiti Street Festival) worked with Women of the World (WOW) and Plan International UK to create a series of murals against forced marriage. Over 150 female street artists took to the graffiti tunnel on Leake Street in Waterloo to support Plan UK’s fight against child and forced marriage. This project was part of Plan International’s worldwide campaign ‘Because I am a Girl’. The walls were painted blue to reflect Plan’s logo and then the female artists let their imagination run wild, painting their interpretations of ‘Because I am a Girl’.Plan International, which works to protect the rights of children, launched this campaign to fight for girls’ rights and gender equality. It is a youth-led, global movement that supports girls to take the lead and influence decisions that matter to them. The charity works on forced and child marriage throughout the world.

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Because I am a Girl (Rosa Parks)

In 2015, the team behind Femme Fierce (the World's Largest All Female Graffiti Street Festival) worked with Women of the World (WOW) and Plan International UK to create a series of murals against forced marriage. Over 150 female street artists took to the graffiti tunnel on Leake Street in Waterloo to support Plan UK’s fight against child and forced marriage. This project was part of Plan International’s worldwide campaign ‘Because I am a Girl’. The walls were painted blue to reflect Plan’s logo and then the female artists let their imagination run wild, painting their interpretations of ‘Because I am a Girl’.Plan International, which works to protect the rights of children, launched this campaign to fight for girls’ rights and gender equality. It is a youth-led, global movement that supports girls to take the lead and influence decisions that matter to them. The charity works on forced and child marriage throughout the world.

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Bluefields

This mural was shown to UNICEF Ambassador Angie Harmon by a youth leader while she was visiting Bluefields, Nicaragua. The mural was completed by local youth leaders, adolescents and students and highlights the issue of human trafficking.

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Bring Back Our Girls

This mural was created by graffiti artists Danielle Mastrion and Lexi Bella as part of the 2014 Welling Court Mural Project. This project began after members of Welling Court community met at Ad Hoc's Bushwick gallery and invited Ad Hoc Art to come up with a vision to beautify their neughbourhood. With the community's support, the first mural was created in December 2009 by M-City. The rest of the winter was used to plan the launch of the first multi-block mual project that occured in May 2010 with over 40 murals. With a mix of artists and new talents, the Project hosts over 140 murals by artists from around the world and it is one of the best collections of contemporary street culture.This mural supports the Bring Back Our Girls campaign, which is fighting to save the 276 Chibok schoolgirls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram on 14th April 2014. #BringBackOurGirls calls for the Nigerian government to secure the release of the 113 girls who are still missing. To learn more about the campaign, click here.

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Bring Back Our Girls

This mural was created by Zimmer as part of the Bushwick Collective, New York City's most prolific neighbourhood for street art and graffiti. The piece supports the Bring Back Our Girls campaign, which raised awareness of the kidnap of 276 Chibok girls in Nigeria on 14th April 2014. Many of these girls were sexual exploited and forced into marriage.As of 2018, 57 girls managed to escape, 107 were released, and 112 are still missing. The campaign is demanding that the Nigerian government rescue the remaining girls and reunite them with their families.This mural shows Malala Yousafzai holding a sign with 'Bring Back Our Girls'. The Nobel Peace Prize Winner, who campaigns for girls to have access to education, supports the campaign and called for the Nigerian government to do more to save these girls. Unfortunately the mural is no longer at the location as of September 2017.

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Catch the Wave of Hope

This 250 foot mural was completed as part of a fundraising project for the organisation Catch the Wave of Hope. Lynne Barletta, who founded the organisation, believes art is an important way to raise awareness of human trafficking. Each fish, reptile and mammal in the mural was sponsored and raised money for the organisation to set up a local transition home for trafficked children. The wave of the mural represents inspiration to survivors of human trafficking and stresses that they can catch the wave of hope. Barletta founded this organisation after she helped with a project in Singapore where she met a survivor of human trafficking, and decided to set up her own organisation to fight the phenomenon in the US. The organisation trains businesses, schools and other organisations on human trafficking and modern slavery, educating them on the signs of modern slavery and on how to ensure they do not contribute to its persistence.

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Child Labour

This mural in Buenos Aires was part of a series organised by Red Mundial Juvenil Argentina, Vínculos en Red and Art Emprende. Painted in a small square Plaza la Victoria, the murals depict different kinds of violence, abuse and exploitation that children and teenagers suffer. On 19th September 2015 an event was held to unveil the murals, with artistic and recreational workshops about child abuse and the maltreatment of children.This mural highlights how children who live in poorer households and rural areas are more likely to be victims of child labour, where they are open to exploitation and abuse. The image of a girl at a sewing machine emphasises how millions of girls and women are forced to be domestic workers, with little to no pay and no opportunity to leave.

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Child Labour Free Street Art

This mural was completed as part of the Shoreditch Art Wall and supported the launch of the UK branch of the organisation Child Labour Free. It was revealed on the World Day Against Child Labour on 12th June 2016 alongside the sale of limited edition t-shirts with the designs of the mural. The proceeds of this went to the development of the Child Labour Free child care centre, which helps children in red light districts in Kolkata, India. Child Free Labour selected Victoria Villasana and Zabou to complete the mural. Zabou created the portraits of the two children, one of which can be seen above, and Victoria added the threads to the piece. For more images of the mural, please click here.Victoria is from Mexico and she was chosen because child labour is a strong issue in her country. She stated that 'What I like about Child Labor Free is that they work closely with the families to help them get out of poverty, rather than just stopping retailers from buying from these suppliers. This will help children enjoy better lives that are full of play, rather than just work.'

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Child Slavery

After learning about forced child labour and contemporary slavery, 20 students in their Transition Year at Bray College decided to create a mural to raise awareness of this phenomenon. The students were helped by the CSPE & Religion teacher Elaine Brennan and art teacher Clifton Rooney at Presentation College. This mural highlights the different types of slavery, including contract slavery, bondage labour, debt bondage and chattel slavery. On the far right, a hand holds a crumpled contract to symbolise a worker being deceived into slavery through the use of a false employment contract. To the left of this is the silhouette of a hooded figure holding a whip to emphasise the violence and coercion that is inherent in slavery. The mural toured Ireland's schools to teach others about contemporary slavery and raise awareness of this phenomenon. The students also wrote blog posts about their experience in creating this mural, which can be read here.The students also created 'Child Soldiersl', which raises awareness of the use of child soldiers around the world.

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Child Soldiers

This mural was created by students in their Transition Year at Presentation College in Bray and condemns the use of child soldiers. The piece is quite graphic, with the centre featuring an image of a dead child lying on the ground with a large wound on his chest. The words 'our greed', 'brainwashed', 'disposable', 'accountable', 'scars' and 'lonely' cover the mural, and there are reminders of the deadly situation these children are in with the presence of skulls and bones. The students also created 'Child Slavery Mural', which raises awareness of the exploitation of children.

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Dadaab Refugee Settlement

In 2017 the Dadaab Refugee Settlement provided various canvases and walls for artists who were refugees in the settlement to express themselves. At the time, Dadaab housed around 250,000 people and included people who were affected by the 2011 famine in Somalia. The large scale murals are the work of refugee artists who were supported by FilmAid's team of art trainers. FilmAid International conducted a two week, intensive training program with nine young artists from the Settlements. Through these workshops, participants developed their technical skills and their ability to incorporate stories, emotions and messages into their art. The project's goal was to contextualise and raise awareness of female genital mutilation (FGM) and early/forced marriage, as well as calling communities to become active in its eradication.

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Duality of Humanity

This mural of a child soldier was created by Shepard Fairey (Obey Giant), the artist who is famous for creating the iconic Obama HOPE poster. The image draws parallels between the complex emotions around the Vietnam War and the invasion of Iraq. While it does not focus on modern slavery, it includes an element of modern slavery in the form of a child soldier.There was a great amount of controversy surrounding this mural. Michael Claypool, the building's owner, did not review the piece before it was placed onto his wall and he was shocked when it was unveiled. Claypool commented that he felt it was offensive and he hired painters to cover the mural in white paint. Many felt the mural was inappropriate considering it was opposite the John G. Carlisle Elementary School.Shepard Fairey admitted that he did not know that the mural was opposite a school and stated that had he known of the school's presence, he would have altered the piece. However the artist defended his work and commented that he felt it did not encourage violence, but rather did the opposite. The artist created another mural against child soldiers in 2011 as part of the Irvine Contemporary Art Gallery project in Washington D.C.

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Duality of Humanity

This piece was part of a series of murals created by Shepard Fairey (Obey Giant) under the installation project of the Irvine Contemporary Art Gallery, with other artists including EVOL and PISA73 from Berlin, Gaia and Oliver Vernon from Brooklyn.It shows a Cambodian child holding a machine gun over his shoulder, with a flower in his hair highlighting his youth and innocence. The artist created another piece that protested against child soldiers called 'Duality of Humanity' at 4 Pike Street, Cincinnati. This mural was soon destroyed by the building's owner and the above mural no longer exists either.

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Elimination of Violence Against Women

This mural was created by street artist Hyuro as part of a series of pieces that celebrated the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on 25th November 2013. Hyuro is one of many artists who took part in the Memorie Urbane in Italy.This concept began in 2011 when Davide Rossillo, the president of creative tourism, had an idea about bringing contemporary art practices into the open space to create an open-ait museum. Memorie Urban proposes a new way of doing tourism and the team behind it began recognising 25th November in their project with this piece in 2013. This specific mural is in the city of Formia. It shows rows of women holding a banner with hundreds of tally marks, highlighting the number of women who have been subjected to violence, both inside and outside of slavery. The women and the banner wrap around a column on three faces. When these faces are put together (as in the first picture above) they form the continuous line of women and tallies.

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Fighting Until We Find Them (Luchando Hasta Encontrarlas)

The project Luchando Hasta Encontrarlas (Fighting Until We Find Them) was started by a group of mothers of girls from Juarez, Mexico who went missing and are presumed dead. The girls' family members and the police believe that these women were kidnapped and trafficked as prostitutes before being murdered. Since 1993 more than 430 women have disappeared and been murdered in the area. The project raises awareness by creating murals in the region, with public buildings, churches and businesses donating their walls for artists to create these pieces. Their aim is to create 200 murals across Ciudad Juarez to raise awareness of what is happening to young girls and women in this region and demand justice for those who have lost their lives. The local authorities told families that they were putting a stop to the search for their daughters, claiming that they were giving the city a 'bad name'. However these families are determined to campaign for justice. The above murals were created by Maclovio Macias and the artist also took part in a 200 mile march with many mothers who have lost their daughters. In the first piece, the quote reads 'No me Hallo. Estoy Desaparecida', which translates to 'I do not find me, I'm missing'. The rest of the mural contains images of mothers holding posters of their missing daughters, and these depict real families and real missing women. For example, the final image shows Esmeralda Castillo, who disappeared on 19th May 2009. 

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First Brush

The production of this mural was headed by the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, who worked with the city government of Davao, Habitat for Humanity, Philippine Women's College and Davies Paints to bring the piece to life. Around 60 artists came together to create the mural along the walls of the Southern Philippines Medical Centre, which had been designed by students of the PWC.It was created to commemorate the International Day Against Child Trafficking on 12th December 2016. The project involved the wider community to raise awareness of human trafficking and violence against women and children. The theme of the mural was 'Let our children be: Let's end Human Trafficking'.

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Flycatcher 1

This mural was created by James Bullough with the Handle with Care Project, a Dallas-based organisation that is dedicated to fighting slavery through the arts. They argue that graffiti and slavery have something in common - they are both done covertly and are illegal, yet when a wall is defaced it can be painted over, whereas there is no "easy solution" for the slavery survivor.This piece 'Flycatcher 1' is one of four murals of individual birds that are dotted around the city and link back to the main mural of the project 'Release'. Unfortunately the building on which this mural was painted has now been destroyed.