Word Up!

Poet Najwa Zebian is no stranger to public backlash. From fighting against sexual harassment to being threatened by legal action, she’s had to rise from the ashes of humiliation – drawing from an arsenal of experiences that help her stand up, speak out and comfort others who have struggled too

- Ann Marie Mcqueen

Even among all of the women who have stood up and spoken out as part of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movement, Najwa Zebian’s address to a crowd of 700 people on International Women’s Day in London, Ontario, Canada must have taken a particular kind of courage.

The others were also under threat of legal action by the men they accused of harassment, sexual abuse, exploitation of power, and other offenses, and all risked their reputations and careers – sometimes their personal safety – in being named.

However Najwa had actually been threatened with legal action – a potential slander and defamation lawsuit – launched in support of the man she accused of sexual harassment on the job.

Keeping a commitment to speak her truth, the high school Arabic and leadership teacher, who was born in Lebanon and moved to Canada with her family in her teens, did not stay silent – even with lawyers for the man she named on Facebook just before Christmas having said they would be in the crowd, listening to her every word.

“It is my shame that kept me quiet,” she told the London Abused Women's Centre's International Women’s Day Breakfast and Auction. “I stayed quiet until my silence broke me. All I asked for is an apology.”