A Woman's Stand
To raise awareness for breast cancer in Saudi Arabia and address the issue of low screening rates, H.R.H. Princess Reema Bandar Al-Saud coordinated the campaign A Woman’s Stand in 2010, achieving a Guinness World Record for the largest human awareness ribbon.
At the time, mortality rates for breast cancer in the Kingdom were higher than in nations with equivalent healthcare access.
The reason was clear: lack of awareness and low screening-attendance rates meant that more women were being diagnosed with cancer at an advanced stage. Fear, stigma and cultural barriers all contributed to reduced breast cancer survival rates for women in Saudi Arabia.
It was in response to this that HRH Princess Reema Bandar Al-Saud created A Woman’s Stand as a platform through which discourse could be channeled. In support of Zahra Breast Cancer Association, and with the support of the Ministry of Education, the campaign culminated with achieving a Guinness World Record for the largest human awareness ribbon in Jeddah in 2010.
Guinness World Record achieved
Breast cancer awareness raised
3,952
women attended
Women Taking a Stand
Convening a large, public gathering of women in Saudi Arabia in 2010 was logistically complex. To overcome this, A Woman’s Stand was created, produced and filmed by all-women teams. This film was produced by Jeddah-based film company Egg Dancer
Wellbeing is Interconnected
All audiovisual production was undertaken by Saudi female talent. Some of the photographs are the work of Saudi artist Rania Razak whose portraits and scenes from the Middle East have been published in multiple books and exhibitions.