Over the past 11 years, a Women on Waves ship has visited Ireland, Poland, Portugal and Spain, sparking protests in each country from pro-life groups. Rebecca Gomperts, founder of the non-profit orginasation, and her team are sailing to a Muslim country for the first time, to raise awareness about women’s health, and specifically the drug misoprostol.
Do you know what self-immolation is? It’s the rather rare practice of setting oneself on fire to show how strongly you feel about something. Go figure. In the Middle East and North Africa though, it’s become more commonplace ever since a Tunisian vegetable seller did it to protest police harrassment, evoking an uprising at the end of 2010.