There’s no doubt that Australian activist, author, mechanical engineer and 2015 Queensland Young Australian of the Year Yasmin Abdel-Magied is a woman of conviction. And because of that, she has been recognised with an award acknowledging those furthering the rights of free speech.
Human rights group Liberty Victoria announced that Abdel-Magied is the recipient of the for being a role model to young women, Muslims and migrants. In a , Liberty Victoria stated, “Yassmin's courageous activism on topics of race, equality and unconscious bias have brought her to the forefront of public debate in Australia and abroad.” She had been recognised alongside actor and LGBTIQ+ activist Magda Szubanski and journalist Behrouz Boochani, who is currently being held at a detention centre on Manus Island.
It was surely a validating moment for Abdel Magied, who announced in July last year she was taking part in the Australian rite of passage of moving to London, following the barrage of social media criticism and threats following a Facebook post she made on Anzac Day in 2017.
This award isn’t about me, really. It’s about acknowledging that speaking in the face of injustice is often difficult
At the time of her move to the UK, Abdel-Magied penned a piece for detailing the impact the backlash had on her wellbeing. “Given I am the post publicly hated Muslim in Australia, people have been asking how I am,” she wrote. “What do I say? Than life has been great and I can’t wait to start my new adventure in London? That I’ve been overwhelmed by messages of support? Or do I tell them that it’s been thoroughly rubbish?”
She detailed the humiliation of having “almost 90,000 twisted words written about me in the three months since Anzac Day, words that are largely laced with hate.” At the peak of last year’s media storm, Abdel-Magied received death threats and was forced to move house and change her phone number.
In what was perhaps a nod to her critics, Abdel-Magied has posted a screenshot of a tweet from newspaper The Australian announcing this latest award. Alongside the image, she wrote, “This award isn’t about me, really. It’s about acknowledging that speaking in the face of injustice is often difficult – even if, or especially if, one is unprepared for it.”
In the post, she shared how the incident rattled her. “When things kicked off last year, I balked. I didn’t want to be seen as someone who was upsetting folk, or deeply and truly challenging the status quo,” she wrote. “Part of my journey into consciousness – of awakening to the world around me, so to speak – has been around realising in many ways, my full existence was inherently challenging to folk, was in of itself upsetting the status quo.”
Almost one year on from last year’s Anzac Day controversy, Abdel-Magied is “leaning in to that power”. She dedicated her award to those alongside her, and those “learning to speak. We all need to be in this – and our fights might not all look the same, but they are sure linked.”
