"Women Hold Up Half The Sky."//

"Women Hold Up Half The Sky."

Chinese Proverb

I want to begin this article by saying, I am not one to hum on ‘women’s issues’ in the sense of anger towards men, or even create a picture that women are victims through and through and men are not. The truth is women, as well as men lay victim to slavery of all kinds across the globe. My love and support of organizations like IJM (International Justice Mission) that bring rescue to men, women, and children caught in the midst of unjust circumstances across the globe proves my deep belief that all people deserve justice.

With that being said, I do want to take the time to highlight various women’s issues faced around the world. I feel a responsibility at times upon hearing stories and acquiring information concerning those whom have been victimized, and in this case it happens to be women. In some sense there certainly is a prevalent oppression of women globally; oppression by men as well as other women oppressing one another.

By this time I am sure upon reading this you are aware of the viral video that spread across the internet concerning the rape of a female in Steubenville, Ohio (if you haven’t, a quick Google search will be sure to fill you in.) Upon watching that video, and contrasting with the stories I had been learning about women’s issues in other countries, it made me realize that America, our glorious United States of America; the land of the free and the home of the brave, was not immune to such victimization. Yes, even in America I realized that girls and women are treated at times like objects, instead of with respect and human dignity. I don’t want to dissect this issue or even claim I understand why in the year 2013 this is happening in my country, but I do want to point out that the United States is a country looked upon throughout the world. If we ourselves have teenage girls being raped by multiple teenage boys at a party upon being drunk, with other females and males observing without interference; do we really have the right to point our fingers at other countries?

“Have we lost all sense of human equality even in this great country of freedom?”

I don't want to point fingers, but I do want to look at some facts throughout this article.Coming face to face with the issues women face around the world; issues we never discuss  at our kitchen tables in our quaint suburban neighborhoods, but are still very much alive and well in numerous other ‘homes’ across the globe. Issues like female mutilation, honor killings, maternal mortality, AIDS/HIV, and fistulas, among the ever so popular issue of sex trafficking.

I want to take a moment to delve into each of these issues, with statistics as well as real life stories.

First, let’s look at trafficking—an issue which has become quite popular in recent times, which is a very good thing indeed. My only fear is that we are wasting our resources on the after effects, and not dealing with the source of such atrocities as well. We must be able to create real life solutions to our real world problems in order to really create change around the world. A life rescued is extremely important, valuable, and extraordinary; but we must realize that when one life is saved, another life is put right into the vacant spot unless we stop the cycle. I love organizations like IJM that aren’t merely dealing with the after effects of trafficking, but bringing perpetrators to justice as well. I could continue on this particular topic for days, so I will leave you with that for now and continue on.

A quick look at some statistics show us that more people are enslaved on our planet today than in the times of the trans-atlantic slave trade. “The U.S. State Department has estimated that between 600,000 and 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year, 80 percent of them women and girls, mostly for sexual exploitation.” (Half The Sky)

How about this statistic about rape; “21 percent of Ghanaian women reported in one survey that their sexual initiation was by rape; 17 percent of Nigerian women said that they had endured rape or attempted rape by the age of 19; and 21 percent of South African women reported that they had been raped by the age of 15.” (Half The Sky)

“The U.N. Population Fund has estimated that there are 5,000 honor killings a year, almost all in the Muslim world (Pakistan’s government uncovered 1,261 honor killings in 2003 alone).” (Half The Sky) President Obama recently passed a bill making it illegal to leave America to go to other countries to have female mutilation performed. This is a wonderful step in eliminating a major oppressive practice for women worldwide.

A fistula hospital in West Africa “estimates 30,000 to 130,000 new cases of fistula develop each year in Africa alone?” (Half the Sky) A fistula reportedly costs around $300 to repair and about 90% of them are repairable; a very interesting fact indeed.

Half the Sky also estimates that the “lifetime risk of maternal death is 1,000 times higher in a poor country than in the West.” Why with all of the technological advancements in society today, as well as the luxury us Westerners have come to know; why does a women have to risk death merely to give birth to a child? It’s outlandish and ridiculous with all the resources provided to us.

These are all statistics that have left me in shock, as well as made me realize the need to give women across the globe an opportunity to education, as well as the economic ability to thrive on their own. Study after study, and experiment after experiment have shown that little things like providing the money for a girl to stay in school can cause an extremely different outcome than if that money is not provided. How many Americans could offer up $13 a month to see a girl in school? I can put my bet on the fact most Americans would be MORE than able to do that. Or, how about the fact that a simple thing like iodine can affect a child’s IQ drastically when deprived of it in the mother’s womb? A simple thing like iodine, we take for granted in the West; but that is not readily available in other countries around the world.

I want to close this article with sharing two stories I read in the book Half the Sky that will forever stay on my mind and in my heart, and that I pray dearly effect your life as well; two real stories, about two real incidents that involved two real females.

In the Congo where rape has become a means of war and inducing fear in others; “frequently the Congolese militias rape women with sticks or knives or bayonets, or else they fire their guns into the women’s vaginas. In one instance, soldiers raped a three year old girl and then fired their guns into her. When surgeons saw her, there was no tissue left to repair. The little girl’s grief-stricken father then committed suicide.” (Half the Sky)

Another story is about a 17 year old girl from the Congo named, Dina, who when returning to town from working in a bean field was surrounded by militia members. These men proceeded to force her to the ground with guns and knives in hand, and said to her, “if you cry out we will kill you.” She kept silent as each man raped her one by one. This tragic, horrific incident ended with one of the men shoving a stick inside of her. The stick ended up causing a fistula, and Dina laid paralyzed in bed while urine and feces trickled through her vagina and down her legs. (Half the Sky)

I don’t know about you but those stories will forever stay with me as an example of the inhumane injustice women face every day across the globe.

I didn’t write this article to convince you fellow Americans that we have all the answers, and that we need to go run and solve the world’s issues. Surely, the incident in Steubenville shows that America is in dire need of a lesson in human rights just as much as any other country in the world. There is a fact I cannot ignore though; and that is the fact that most women face daily challenges and injustices I will never face in my lifetime simply because of the grand lottery of life; I was born in America. I have been given access to resources from the time of birth that most women might never have. I feel I owe my fellow females around the world the privilege of accessing those resources as well. I have had the opportunity of an amazing education, followed by college and advanced learning. Why should a woman from the Congo, Afghanistan, or Uganda (to name a few) not be given that same opportunity? Why can’t I sacrifice $30 of my money to support a woman through Women for Women International? That basically comes down to my weekly Starbucks habit if we were looking at the facts. There is so much I have been given simply by birth that I can extend my hand and give to women in other countries, so that they too have the opportunity to get an education, start their own business, give birth without dying, and walk because of a repaired fistula.

In closing this article I want to say first, that we don’t have all the answers. One thing America must work on is getting off of our high horse of having the best solutions, because sometimes, well, most times the best solutions are in the people, the women amidst the problems. I would propose we give them the opportunity to create their own solutions, and we give them the resources to see those solutions come to pass. We must be willing to work alongside of the people of different countries, and not simply try to come in and control them with our ideas. Time after time life has shown that working with the people yields far better results than controlling them, when to be quite frank we don’t even know the full extent of their trials due to the fact we merely haven’t had to experience them ourselves. Secondly, I would encourage anyone reading this to get involved in the countless organizations that are truly making inroads with these issues by working alongside women in these countries. Organizations like International Justice Mission, Women for Women International, CAMFED, and the Worldwide Fistula Fund. There are so many more I simply don’t have the space to mention, but if you go online to charitynavigator.org you can browse through all the incredible organizations. Find one you can partner with, and start changing lives. Thirdly, if you get the opportunity travel to these countries, and experience them yourselves. I truly believe this is the number one way to relate and know the struggles these women face daily. There is nothing like sitting down with a woman and listening to her personal life story—never deny yourself the opportunity to do that. It will do more for you than a vacation in Hawaii ever could. Lastly, go pick up the book Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn; get informed and join the movement to make a difference in the world.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and please don’t close your eyes to the oppression and injustices women face even here in America; in our high school hallways. In the words of Ghandi, we must be the change we wish to see. We cannot allow incidences like the one in Steubenville to become “normal” everyday events.

“It is impossible to realize our goals while discriminating against half the human race. As study after study has taught us, there is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women.” 

Kofi Annan, Then UN Secretary General, 2006

(Here is the link to an incredible TED talk by Sheryld WuDunn, author of Half the Sky; http://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_wudunn_our_century_s_greatest_injustice.html)

www.halftheskymoevement.org

Peace. Love. Joy.