What happens when a writer loses her daughter to violence?
She tells the story.
If you have been affected by femicide or gender-based violence, she wants to help you tell your story too.
Meet Jane Houng
Jane Houng, mother of Rebecca “Becky” Dykes, is the founder of Rebecca Dykes Writers, an organization aimed at ending femicide one word at a time.
Since the death of her daughter in December 2017, Jane has dedicated her life to Becky’s humanitarian legacy. She has collaborated with women from all over the world in efforts to support the most vulnerable population on the globe: underserved women and girls who are most at risk from experiencing violence.
Jane founded Becky’s Bathhouse, a wellness centre and shower facility serving refugee women and children residing in Mavrovouni refugee camp on the Greek Island of Lesvos. Over the past three years, Becky’s Bathhouse has served more than 15,000 refugee women and children, from over a dozen countries.
Her current projects are in response to UN Women’s call for making a global collective effort to fight for VAWG, focusing on prevention and collection of data that can improve services for women and girls.
For Jane, the most powerful aspect of carrying on Becky’s legacy is hearing the stories of women who have survived gender-based violence, and connecting with families who have lost loved ones through violence. As a storyteller herself, she knew that the best way to fight violence against women is to tell stories.
Becky herself had posted the words “me too” on her Facebook page, just two months prior to being raped and murdered by her taxi driver in Lebanon. Since Becky can no longer tell her story, or explain her “me too,” Jane will do it for her. And she wants to help others too.
Jane is committed to fighting femicide by using her words, storytelling, and every available resource at her disposal to tell her daughter’s story and help others tell their stories of gender-based violence.
Jane is a graduate of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Writing program and, for over a decade, she has devoted her time to writing educational textbooks and story books for children and young adults. She has published ten books since then and is active in the creative writing community.
Though she is currently based in Hong Kong and has lived in China since 1985, she grew up in the UK and studied at a specialist music school in Manchester, and Cambridge University.
She now divides her time between Hong Kong, the UK, Greece, and anywhere a story needs to be heard or told.
Listen to Jane speak about her experiences as a writer, having lost her daughter, on the #impact podcast.
The Heart Matters Podcast
Jane talks to host Louis Morris about her heart-centered work in memory of her daughter.