This footage is from a few weeks ago in front of the UK Parliament building. A group of women shaved their heads in solidarity with Palestinian women. As the protesters observe, many women in Gaza have resorted to shaving their heads due to severe shortages of water for washing or even drinking. This is not the first time a group of women have organized to shave their heads as a form of symbolic protest. A number of women in West Virginia shaved their heads in protest of a surface mining project in West Virginia that was going to do serious damage to the environment. Similarly a wave of Iranian women shaved their heads in protest of the brutal beating that led to the death of Mahsa Amini for violating antiquated rules requiring women to cover their heads in public. Readers of this blog can probably find plenty of examples of similar actions. Although these acts of protest in and of themselves won't affect any policy changes, they do serve as a public reminder that a significant segment of a population is frustrated by government actions or inaction. The plight of the Gazan civilians is mindbogglingly awful, and many Western governments continue to enable an unfolding human rights catastrophe, including famine as civilians remain targets after six months of war. The women who shaved their heads may not end to violence, but it does show that they are willing to stand and be counted, and that matters.
