Advocacy Does Not Always Happen on the Front Lines
There is a version of advocacy that is easy to recognize. It is loud. It is public. It happens on stages, in campaigns, in policy rooms, in protests, and across social media. It calls things out directly, demands attention, and pushes for change in ways people can easily see.
That kind of advocacy matters. But it is not the only kind.
At Cameras For Girls, we advocate for gender equality in African media spaces. We advocate for young women to have access to the tools, training, mentorship, and paid opportunities they need to build sustainable careers in photography, journalism, and communications.
We also advocate for something more specific: for young women to be paid fairly, to recognize when an opportunity is actually exploitation, and to work in media spaces without being sexually harassed, dismissed, or made to feel that silence is the price of entry.
But we do not always advocate in the loudest or most public way. We do it through the work, because in many of the spaces where we work, being on the front lines can cost more than it gains.
Sheilla Clara, a Trainer with Cameras For Girls, instructing a student during the 4-day workshop, Uganda March 2025.
Why Our Advocacy Looks Different
As an organization working across Africa, we have to be honest about our role. We are not from every community we enter, and we are not the ones who will carry the full weight of every public statement after it is made.
The young women we work with still have to live in their communities, attend school, work with local institutions, apply for jobs, and navigate family and cultural expectations long after a campaign has ended. So before we speak, we have to ask ourselves not only what we want to say, but who may carry the consequences after we say it.
Will our words protect the young women we serve, or expose them? Will speaking loudly help the work move forward, or make the path harder for the very people we are trying to support?
For us, advocacy cannot be about looking courageous from the outside. It has to be about building change in a way that is responsible, practical, and lasting. That does not mean we stay silent. It means we are strategic with our advocacy.
Advocacy Is Built Into the Program
At Cameras For Girls, advocacy is not separate from the program. It is built into the way we work.
When we place a camera in a young woman’s hands, that is advocacy. Not because the camera is a symbol, but because access matters. Without equipment, she cannot practice, build a portfolio, take on assignments, or begin to see herself as part of the media industry.
When we teach photography, ethical storytelling, and business skills, that is advocacy. We are not only helping her take better images. We are helping her understand how to tell stories with dignity, how to position herself professionally, how to price her work, and how to recognize that exposure is not payment.
When we connect students with NGOs or businesses for fieldwork, that is advocacy. Real experience gives her a portfolio, a network, and proof that she can do the work. It also shifts how organizations see young African women in media, not as beneficiaries of a program, but as photographers, storytellers, and professionals.
When we mentor her beyond the training, that is advocacy. Entering a male-dominated space alone is difficult. She needs someone to ask questions to, someone who will tell her what to watch for, and someone who will remind her that the challenges she faces are not a reflection of her ability.
This is how we advocate: not always through public confrontation, but by building the structure she needs to move forward.
Teaching Young Women to Advocate for Themselves
One of the most important parts of our work is helping young women understand their value.
Many of our students are entering photography, journalism, and communications spaces where women are still expected to prove themselves over and over again. They may be offered unpaid work and told it is good exposure. They may be asked to lower their rates because they are young, female, or new to the industry. They may be placed in situations where professional opportunities become unsafe or inappropriate. Worse, because the camera is free to them, people automatically think they should be working for free.
Sexual harassment is not a side issue in these spaces. It is one of the reasons young women are pushed out before they have had the chance to build their careers.
So we talk about it directly. We talk about what is acceptable and what is not, how to set boundaries, how to ask questions before accepting a job, and how to identify red flags. We help her distinguish between an opportunity that helps her grow and one that takes advantage of her labour, time, or silence.
We are not teaching young women to simply enter media spaces. We are helping them understand how to move through those spaces with skill, awareness, and confidence.
We want her to know that being grateful for an opportunity does not mean accepting disrespect. Being new does not mean working for free. Harassment is not part of paying her dues. She has the right to be paid, respected, and safe.
What We Stand to Lose
This is the part people do not always see.
When organizations are encouraged to be louder, bolder, and more public, there is often very little conversation about what could be lost. We could lose trust in the communities we want to work with. We could lose access to the very spaces where change is happening slowly. We could put pressure on partners who are also working within complex systems. Most importantly, we could make things harder for the young women we are here to support.
That does not mean we avoid difficult conversations. We have them all the time. We talk about gender inequality, sexual harassment, unpaid work, poverty, cultural expectations, and the barriers young women face in male-dominated media spaces. But we choose how and where those conversations happen.
Sometimes, the most responsible thing is not to be the loudest voice in the room. Sometimes it is to create the conditions for a young woman to build her own voice, her own income, her own credibility, and her own future.
This Is the Advocacy We Choose
We stand for gender equality in African media. We stand for young women being paid fairly, working safely, and being respected as photographers, journalists, communicators, and storytellers.
But we also understand that advocacy has to serve the people at the centre of the work. It cannot be performative. It cannot be about saying the right thing publicly while leaving young women to deal with the consequences privately.
So we advocate in the way that makes the most sense for our mission. We train, mentor, listen, create access, build career pathways, teach ethical storytelling, and help young women understand their rights, their value, and their voice.
There may be times when we speak more publicly. There may be times when we need to name things clearly. But we will always weigh that against the reality of who may be affected, who may be exposed, and whether speaking loudly helps or harms the work.
At Cameras For Girls, our advocacy is not about being seen on the front lines. It is about what changes because of the work: a young woman earning from her skills, saying no to exploitation, telling stories with dignity, and taking up space in African media.
That is our advocacy. And it matters.