What Can Stories and Small Acts Teach Us About Building Peace?

• Growing up as a religious minority in Pakistan shaped Jayaa Jaggi’s early understanding of identity, peace, and social divisions.
• Her activism utilises creative platforms, such as theatre, storytelling, and dialogue, to help young women redefine their relationship with faith and community.
• From navigating personal fears to leading public conversations, Jayaa shares how collective courage and empathy lie at the heart of her work.

Before she ever stood in front of a crowd or facilitated a peace workshop, Jayaa Jaggi was a young girl growing up with questions about identity, belonging and justice. Today, she is a human rights activist and peace practitioner from Pakistan, working at the intersection of faith, feminism and freedom of expression. Leading a grassroots collective called She Matters; she creates platforms for women, especially those from minority communities, to engage in socio-political dialogue, reimagine their roles and challenge silence, exploring the nexus of AI and socio-economic change.

Over the years, she has worked with both national and international organisations on human rights, including women’s rights, forced faith conversions, religious freedom, interfaith dialogue, disarmament, civic engagement and youth–adult partnership. Her work spans issues ranging from religious freedom to climate security, but at its heart lies one goal: to make space for voices often left unheard.

Growing Up Amidst Conflict and Questions

At Faith Futures Collective, we believe that behind every activist is a personal story shaped by questions, experiences and quiet resilience. In our conversation with Jayaa Jaggi, these threads came together in deeply personal ways, tracing her journey from childhood experiences in Pakistan to her work in peacebuilding and women’s rights.

Growing up in Pakistan during a period of rising extremism and conflict, Jayaa remembers the unease of everyday life, school closures due to bomb threats, the constant sense of fear that surrounded her as a student, and the weight of living under this tension. “There were moments when our school was asked to stay closed because of direct threats,” she shared.

“That experience of violence, even when it wasn’t happening right in front of you, shaped the way we saw the world.”

Learning to Navigate Identity

Jayaa grew up navigating her identity as a member of a religious minority, something she became increasingly aware of in both subtle and overt ways.

Reflecting on her school years, she recalled the textbooks and discussions that often offered one-sided views of history and reinforced social divides. “I used to sit in those classrooms and wonder how the story was always about Hindus being the oppressors, and Muslims needing a separate state. No one ever spoke about how people coexisted before Partition or the role colonialism played in dividing the subcontinent. But I never had the courage to ask.”

It was when Jayaa moved to a hostel in another city that she began to notice the difference in how her identity shaped people’s perceptions of her. “None of the people over there knew what my identity was or what religion I followed,” she recalled. “I hardly practised any of my religious traditions, and I avoided wearing any symbols, just because I didn’t want anyone to know. Until they found out, people were kind and treated me well, but once they knew, I could feel the difference.

“One particular moment I remember is during Muharram when a Shia Muslim woman wanted to visit an Imambargah, a court of Muslim scholars, but none of the Sunni students accompanied her. I offered to go along.” Small acts like these opened up larger reflections on coexistence and the power of empathy across religious and social boundaries.

Carving Space in the Public Sphere

Jayaa’s journey eventually led her to activism and peacebuilding. Her work with the Aurat March, an annual women’s rights movement held on International Women’s Day, and other platforms brought her face-to-face with both public resistance and the quiet determination of women seeking a voice.

She spoke of the challenges the Aurat March often faces, especially in the capital, Islamabad. “We always gather at the National Press Club,” she explained, “but we’re usually not allowed to march beyond that point. Sometimes there are more police officers than participants.” Even so, she and her team continued to attend, seeing each gathering as an opportunity to claim space for women in the public sphere.

One year, with the event coinciding with Ramadan, the holy month for Muslims, many of the usual activities, such as dance and music, had to be reconsidered. Jayaa and her team responded by organising symbolic funerals for democracy, women’s rights, minority rights and the environment, turning restrictions into an opportunity for creative resistance.

Throughout our conversation, Jayaa returned to the idea that young women are often excluded from peacebuilding conversations, not because of a lack of ability but because of how systems have been designed. “I always say, women should be involved simply because they are human beings. But sometimes, to convince governments or institutions, you have to use arguments they will understand, like telling them that including women will strengthen GDP or bring quicker conflict resolution.”

Her advocacy is not only public but also personal. Jayaa has long reflected on the complexities of religion and how different interpretations can shape both individual lives and entire communities. “Even progressive interpretations often carry limits for women,” she told us, though she is careful to approach conversations with nuance and empathy. “It’s not always easy, but it’s necessary.”

Opening Doors for Participation

Jayaa reflected on how often the young women she meets, especially those from conflict-affected areas or religious minority communities, are already fully aware of the challenges surrounding them. What is usually missing is not understanding, but opportunity.

“They know their decisions are not always valued,” she said. “They’ve already lived through the realities we talk about. It was never about telling them something new; it was about connecting them to the spaces they never had access to.”

When her team works with new communities, Jayaa is mindful of approaching each space with shared understanding rather than instruction. “It’s important to recognise what makes us similar, rather than walking in as an outsider trying to teach. That common ground matters.”

She also acknowledged the complexities of the process. “There are times when even women, shaped by the same systems we’re trying to change, resist these ideas at first. In my experience, the lack of participation isn’t always about a lack of interest. Often it’s simply that no one ever showed them the alternative way,” she added.

Creativity as a Pathway to Expression

Creative expressions, whether through storytelling, poetry, theatre or reflective writing, have been central to her work. These platforms have allowed women to explore and share feelings that might have remained unspoken for years. “In one of our sessions, almost every woman cried while writing. These stories had lived inside them for so long.”

Her work is shaped not only by these spaces but also by small, personal choices. “For a long time, I avoided saying I was a Hindu, even though it was who I am. Now I say it clearly. My risk appetite has increased, especially in spaces where this identity is often left unspoken.”

Listening to her stories, one thing stood out. For Jayaa, peacebuilding is about creating space for questions, for stories and for the voices that are too often missing from the conversation.