March 8, 2026: International Women’s Day is traditionally a celebration of women’s social, political, economic and cultural achievements, but it is also a day of reflection. On this occasion, the Zoryan Institute is pleased to announce an upcoming display of its international travelling exhibit, Women and Genocide: From Persecution to Empowerment, in São Paulo, Brazil. This exhibit will spotlight the experiences of women before, during and in the aftermath comparatively through the examples of the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, and the Rwandan Genocide, highlighting their stories of resilience and recovery.

Through this exhibit, we aim to bring attention to the often-overlooked experiences of women in conflict and its aftermath, and acknowledge how they frequently pay the highest price. At the same time, the exhibit will also highlight the immense universal strength of women, as it features stories of resilience and leadership, and demonstrates how women around the world play a leading role in restoring community and family structures, preserving memory, and transmitting language and culture in the aftermath of genocide.

This display of the exhibit is spearheaded by one of the Zoryan Institute’s distinguished alumni of its annual Genocide and Human Rights University Program, Nathália Hovsepian. It will offer a comparative look at how women endured persecution, displacement, sexual violence, and the loss of families and communities. The exhibit was originally developed by the Zoryan Institute in partnership with the Armenian Genocide Museum Institute in Yerevan, Armenia, for the English-speaking world. Nathália has since translated the exhibit into Brazilian Portuguese to bring the display to a new audience. She has this to say about the upcoming exhibit:

“At a time when violence against women and increasing polarization have intensified in armed conflicts around the world, many of which present potentially genocidal dynamics, reflecting on the role of women in contexts of genocide becomes more urgent than ever.

In this sense, the exhibition aims not only to recover silenced histories but also to inspire contemporary societies to engage more actively in the promotion of peace, the defense of human rights, and the construction of a more plural, equitable, and inclusive global society.”

The exhibit will be taking place at the Library Hall of the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Brazil, on April 29, 2026. This exhibit seeks not only to remember the past but also to inspire continued advocacy for women’s rights, dignity, and protection worldwide.

For interest in hosting this exhibit in an institution near you, please visit https://zoryaninstitute.org/women-and-genocide-exhibit/.