Mothers empowering their voices for activism

Abstract

The Empowering Mother Voices Workshop—shared with mothers from around the world between 2004 and 2014—uses vocal exercises and applied theatre as a tool for mothers to gain skills and confidence for using their voices publicly to speak out. Through both quantitative and qualitative research, a deeper understanding of the barriers and solutions to speaking publicly experienced by some mothers emerges. Findings support that success results from positioning mothers as the authors and experts of their own lives and by supporting them in rehearsing new realities—negotiating the costs and benefits of new public use of their voices together in community.