DUBAI: In celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8, Facebook has highlighted the various ways that women are making an impact in their communities, recognizing 20 different female-led Facebook groups that have used the social media platform to empower other women. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @arabnews.lifestyle Among the top 20 groups, which were handpicked by the online platform, are two online communities that are spearheaded by Egyptian women. Zeinab El-Ashry is the founder of “Confessions of a Married Woman,” which is an online space where Egyptian women can feel comfortable to discuss often-taboo subjects such as marital issues and share sexual health advice with each other. “Because of our culture, people don’t share their deepest secrets with anyone in person,” she shared of her decision to take the conversation online. “The group became a large support and therapy group, where people can speak about their fears, or vent their frustrations,” she said. Today “Confessions of a Married Woman” has accumulated more than 53,000 members in two years — members flock to the page to share funny and heart-wrenching personal stories as well as seek advice from other members. Additionally, the group also provides live video Q&As and offers free full day workshops with gynecologists, sexual health advisors and marriage counsellors among its experts to help those who may otherwise not have access to these resources. “We know that we help women,” El-Ashry said. “People tell me that it’s saved their lives.” Also featured among Facebook’s top 20 women-focused online communities is Rania Atef’s “I Make This!” The closed group is an online marketplace of sorts that enables female entrepreneurs to advertise their own products in exchange for inviting their own network to like the page, thereby increasing the market audience. Boasting over 150,000 approved members, the online community provides a platform for makeup artists, photographers, interior designers, jewelers and more to drum up business while discovering products and services from other female creatives and makers. In addition to the 20 Facebook groups highlighted by Facebook, the online platform also recognized a number of other women using Facebook Groups, Pages and Fundraisers to make a positive impact in their communities, including Dubai-based Egyptian athlete Manal Rostom. When she’s not striding her way up 8,848 meters or crossing finish lines the world over, Rostom can be found empowering Muslim women through her social media initiative “Surviving Hijab.” The pharmacist-turned-marathoner, who decided to wear the hijab nearly two decades ago, started the Facebook group back in 2014 as a platform for hijab-wearing females to come together to offer support, motivation and advice to their fellow veiled women. Today, the award-winning group boasts more than 700,000 members from all around the world. “Seeing the discrimination that veiled women were facing bothered me and the only way to handle it was to start a community where we can discuss it on a private platform,” shared Rostom with Arab News. “It’s essentially a private space for women to come and share stories and personal difficulties and hardships, and we try to make it as private as possible. We’re trying to bend the rules a little bit,” she added.