Asal grew up in Iran and moved to Australia as a student. The catalyst for Asal becoming vegan was when she saw fur farm footage on PETA's social media. Asal recalls feeling so upset, angry and helpless, she continued her research and decided going vegan was the only way forward.
Asal became active soon after she went vegan, getting involved in local campaigns, however she didn't feel like she was being effective. Asal met her partner Paul in 2015 and in 2016, they started Anonymous for the Voiceless (AV) in Melbourne.
Soon after they started AV, Asal and Paul moved to Thailand having saved enough money to dedicate their time solely to the development of Anonymous for the Voiceless for 2 years. This became their full time job, refining the concept, setting up chapters, events and the organisation itself. After only seven months, AV went global, with over 20 chapters across the world. Now five years on, there are over 500 chapters in 70 countries.
In this episode, Asal speaks about her personal activism journey, using your passion to get active, the challenges AV has faced and the impacts of COVID on activism.
https://www.instagram.com/asal__av/
https://www.anonymousforthevoiceless.org/
