ANNA BOYIAZIS, USA
ZANZIBAR: ON THE GIRLS’ RIGHT NOT TO DROWN
Tanzania’s semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar is predominantly Muslim. For this reason, the religious authorities of this archipelago off the coast of East Africa never allowed women to swim. Although the rate of drowning on the African continent is the highest in the world, the patriarchal gender norms prevailed even on the beach.

© Anna Boyiazis, USA (Freelance Photographer)
Until a number of brave women started the “Panje” project (“Panje” roughly translates to “big fish”). Since then, the girls of Kijini elementary school on the main island of Unguja are “big fishes” as well, claiming their right to enter the water in a “Burkini” and not drown in the process.
Photographer Anna Boyiazis, born in 1967 in California as the daughter of Greek parents from the Aegean Sea and as a child going under the nickname “psaroukla” (big fish), works as a photojournalist covering mainly women’s rights. She is active in the campaign #womenmatter, has won a number of international awards, teaches at art schools, and publishes books on design and architecture. Asked about the movement of girls and young women on Zanzibar, she stated that it was still fragile, resisted mainly by old men. But luckily, Kazija, Chema, Mwanaidi and Siti are now just swimming away from them.
Curriculum Vitae: Anna Boyiazis (Freelance Photographer)

© Anna Boyiazis