Fundamental - Season 1

Ending childhood early, and forced marriage in Pakistan: How are community leaders addressing the root causes of the issue? One day, 13-year-old Zarmina came home from school and received surprising news: her wedding to a 28-year-old man was scheduled for the very next day. Once she was married, Zarmina was expected to do all the household chores. Her husband beat her violently, and the slightest mistake meant being starved for a week or more. In the Fundamental Pakistan Episode, "Rights Not Roses," we hear directly from Zarmina, her family, and a network of community activists fighting to end the scourge of early and forced marriage in Pakistan, where 21% of girls are married before the age of 18. These include Rukhshana Naz, a human rights attorney and long-time gender rights leader who is fighting in Pakistan's courts to extricate girls like Zarmina from early and forced marriages, and whose passionate advocate for ending child marriage is formed by her family's own experiences with the issue.

Nearly all studies show that comprehensive sexuality education decreases the risk of unintended pregnancy, HIV and other STIs, and sexual violence. Yet across Kenya and in many places around the world, community resistance and biases, political opposition, and lack of funding prevent young people from accessing their right to sexual and reproductive health information. The result is that more than 390,000 10-19 year olds become pregnant in Kenya annually, according to the most recent UNFPA data.

Today, young Kenyan women and girls are taking their futures into their own hands. In "Girls at the Heart of It," audiences follow two young women from Akili Dada, a women-led grassroots organization focused on empowering girls and young women ages 13-22 to become leaders in Kenya, including through sexual and reproductive health advocacy. Through high school- and university-level programs, teenage girls and young women at Akili Dada are building skills to raise awareness about sexual and reproductive health and rights in their communities, and challenging norms and perceptions to help their peers take better control of their bodies and their futures. Alongside their stories, audiences meet Purity Kagwiria, Akili Dada's Executive Director, whose own personal experiences have led her to a lifelong commitment to support women and girls in her community.

Brazilian law permits abortion only in cases of rape and danger to the woman's life. Sexual and reproductive health and rights are severely limited, and there are deep racial prejudices against Black Brazilians. Civil society is also under threat, and activists in Brazil remain on high alert after the murder of prominent Black Brazilian activist Marielle Franco in March 2018.

In "Defenders of Justice," we meet Lucia Xavier, who is part of a movement of powerful women activists who are reframing reproductive rights as an issue of women's rights and racial justice, as she and others work to address security threats against activists fighting for reproductive rights. We also meet Daniele Duarte, an Afro-Brazilian lesbian activist who participates in protests and marches against the rise of the extremist president Jair Bolsonaro. Lucia, Daniele, and others are part of a vibrant and intersectional feminist movement in Brazil, mobilizing what some are calling a "Feminist Spring" in Brazil as the Supreme Court considers decriminalizing abortion.

While officially a secular nation, church and state are far from separate in Georgia, where homophobia is common. The Christian Orthodox Church holds great power including among government officials, resulting in homophobic and transphobic violence and discrimination throughout the country, hate crimes and murders, and state-ordered threats against LGBTQI+ individuals and activists.

At the same time, the feminist and LGBTQI+ movements in Georgia are growing stronger and more organized. In "Living Out Loud," we meet Eka Aghdgomelashvili, a Georgian feminist activist and trailblazer who led successful efforts to pass anti-discrimination laws in this former Soviet state. We also meet a young artist, Eka Tkemeladze, and fellow community activists who are mobilizing in the tense days leading up to the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) rally.

In an increasingly polarized and racially segregated United States, white supremacy and patriarchy are thriving. Conservative and liberal leaders alike refuse to address the outsized impact of institutional and systemic violence on people of color, women, and queer and gender non-conforming people.

"Rising Power" brings us to Madison, Wisconsin, where we meet community organizers Kabzuag and M, co-directors of Freedom, Inc. What began as a sexual assault support group has grown into an organization at the forefront of battles over education reform, police brutality, land access and ownership, women's safety and security, and mental health. Driven by their own intimate experiences of violence and poverty, M and Kabzuag have carved out a space for multiracial, multilingual, and multigenerational community members to disrupt a broken system, equipping Black, Hmong, and Khmer women, queer, and gender non-conforming folks with the tools they need to confront oppression in all facets of their lives and ultimately build a roadmap toward shared liberation.