The project
Uplifting stories about courageous young women.
How free are girls today? Rebel Girls tells critical, uplifting stories about the taboos of our time — from the madness online and self-diagnosis to the confusion surrounding biology and the oppression of women in society and religion.
This is a home for women and girls who believe in biology and stand up for women's rights. Like the book, the Rebel Girls website is packed with critical stories about the taboos of our age.
We demand fair sport for girls, and the safety and pleasure of single-sex spaces for girls and women — in schools and shops, in sports clubs and gyms, wherever they are needed. Public space should be safe for you, too. Sexual violence and leering must end: boys and men have to stop their harassment.
We love girls and women, and we want you to be strong and financially independent so that you can take on the world. Find joy in your life, live healthily, make a plan for your future and pursue it.
A note to our young friends
You are fine just as you are.
A word in particular to our young friends who are gender non-conforming and wonder whether they might be lesbian, bisexual or transgender. If you are a lesbian, know that there are plenty of wonderful girls like you out there. Step away from the screen, go out into the real world and find them.
If you think you might be a man — believe us: in all likelihood you are not. Nobody is born in the wrong body. It may take time to meet the right woman, but once you find other proud lesbians you will be able to work out the puzzle for yourself and lead a happy life.
For girls under cultural pressure
You are not alone.
To the many girls and young women from migrant backgrounds who suffer under religious or cultural constraints — being forced to wear the hijab, for instance — and who are even at risk for wanting to live a free life: be patient. Draw up your own plan for the future.
Set realistic goals, and seek help from women and organisations you trust. There are already many young women out there, waiting for you to join them.
Buy the English edition
Discover many new stories in Rebel Girls — Uplifting stories about courageous young women (Spinifex, 400 pages). Defiant Afghan girls who slip into an illegal English class. Chinese and Taiwanese young women on the hardcore misogyny of Confucian societies.
Read more about the bookContinue in the project
More from Rebel Girls
Sybilla Claus
Anthropologist, journalist and author. Author of Gender Rebels (2024) and the upcoming Rebel Girls (Spinifex, 2026).
Published by Uitgeverij 't Haantje · © Sybilla Claus