GLOBAL WOMEN’S ISSUES WOMEN in the WORLD TODAY Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action FOURTH WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN

“If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights once and for all. Let us not forget that among those rights are the right to speak freely — and the right to be heard.” — Hillary Rodham Clinton, September 1995 at the United Nations’ Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing •

This book is based on the 12 critical areas of concern identified at the Beijing Conference: 1 The persistent and increasing burden of poverty on women 2 Inequalities and inadequacies in and unequal access to education and training 3 Inequalities and inadequacies in and unequal access to health care and related services 4 Violence against women 5 The effects of armed or other kinds of conflict on women, including those living under foreign occupation 6 Inequality in economic structures and policies, in all forms of productive activities and in access to resources 7 Inequality between men and women in the sharing of power and decision- making at all levels 8 Insufficient mechanisms at all levels to promote the advancement of women 9 Lack of respect for and inadequate promotion and protection of the human rights of women 10 Stereotyping of women and inequality in women’s access to and participation in all communication systems, especially in the media 11 Gender inequalities in the management of natural resources and in the safeguarding of the environment 12 Persistent discrimination against and violation of the rights of the girl child

Source: Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, Fourth Conference on Women, 15 September, 1995 http://www.unesco.org/education/information/nfsunesco/pdf/BEIJIN_E.PDF GLOBAL WOMEN’S ISSUES WOMEN in the WORLD TODAY

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE BUREAU OF INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION PROGRAMS

PUBLISHED 2012 GLOBAL WOMEN’S ISSUES WOMEN in the WORLD TODAY TABLE OF CONTENTS •

PREFACE Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton ...... 4 OVERVIEW Solutions to Global Challenges Require Women’s Participation ...... 6 Interview with Ambassador Melanne Verveer

WOMEN AND POVERTY ...... 10 1 OVERVIEW by Geeta Rao Gupta ...... 12 PROFILE Roshaneh Zafar: Social Entrepreneur Empowers Women ...... 16 by Shufqat Munir PROJECT Fighting Poverty One Coffee Bean at a Time by Ritu Sharma ...... 20

EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF WOMEN ...... 24 2 OVERVIEW by Lori Ashford ...... 26 PROFILE Rita Conceição: Bahia Street by Margaret Willson ...... 30 PROJECT Educating Women About Technology by Renee Ho ...... 34

WOMEN AND HEALTH ...... 38 3 OVERVIEW by Lori Ashford ...... 40 PROFILE Salwa Al Najjab: Palestinian Health Care Activist by Naela Khalil ...... 44 PROJECT mothers2mothers: Help for HIV-Positive Women by Maya Kulycky ...... 48

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ...... 52 4 OVERVIEW by Robin N. Haarr ...... 54 PROFILE Chouchou Namegabe: A Fierce Voice Against Sexual Violence ...... 58 by Solange Lusiku PROJECT Gender Equality and Combating Domestic Violence by Qin Liwen ...... 62

WOMEN AND ARMED CONFLICT ...... 66 5 OVERVIEW by Dyan Mazurana ...... 68 PROFILE Zainab Salbi: Helping Women Recover from War by Joanna L. Krotz ...... 72 PROJECT Female Peacekeepers: Smashing Stereotypes by Bonnie Allen ...... 76 WOMEN AND THE ECONOMY ...... 80 6 OVERVIEW by Susanne Jalbert ...... 82 PROFILE Lubna Olayan: Saudi Businesswoman Strengthens Communities ...... 86 by Scott Bortot PROJECT Women’s Work: Paying It Forward by Joanna L. Krotz ...... 90

WOMEN IN POWER AND DECISIONMAKING ...... 94 7 OVERVIEW by Lori Ashford ...... 96 PROFILE Michelle Bachelet: Physician, Military Strategist, Head of State ...... 100 by Karen Calabria PROJECT Council of Women World Leaders by Laura Liswood ...... 104

INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN ...... 108 8 OVERVIEW by Mona Lena Krook ...... 110 PROFILE Katerina Levchenko: Working Within the System ...... 114 by Yevhen Hlibovytsky and Oksana Forostyna PROJECT Women’s Caucus Boosts Uruguayan Democracy by Eric Green ...... 118

HUMAN RIGHTS OF WOMEN ...... 122 9 OVERVIEW by Robin N. Haarr ...... 124 PROFILE Sina Vann: Ex-Child Slave Helps Others Escape the Darkness by Eric Green .... 128 PROJECT Making Cities Safe For Women by Maria Jain and Kim Sugenie ...... 132

WOMEN AND THE MEDIA ...... 136 10 OVERVIEW by Carolyn M. Byerly ...... 138 PROFILE Ann S. Moore: Leveraging the Value of Women by Joanna L. Krotz ...... 142 PROJECT Women’s Edition by Deborah Mesce ...... 146

WOMEN AND THE ENVIRONMENT ...... 150 11 OVERVIEW by Cate Owren ...... 152 PROFILE Aleksandra Koroleva: A Passion for Environmental Protection ...... 156 by Alexey Milovanov PROJECT Barefoot Solar Engineers by Anuradha Saxena ...... 160

THE GIRL CHILD ...... 164 12 OVERVIEW by Robin N. Haarr ...... 166 PROFILE Bogaletch Gebre: Trading New Traditions for Old by Julia Rosenbaum ...... 170 PROJECT Changing Hearts and Minds: Averting Child Marriage in Yemen ...... 174 by Dalia Al-Eryani and Laurel Lundstrom

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 178 PREFACE

n September 1995, I joined representatives opportunities, amazing things happen. The from 189 countries for the United Nations’ benefits don’t stop with an individual woman. IFourth World Conference on Women in They spread to entire communities and countries. Beijing. That event still stands out as one of Simply helping girls stay in school longer, for the great honors and highlights of my life. example, has a powerful effect. Birth rates drop. That 1995 historic gathering brought together So does the number of young children who die. people of all backgrounds and beliefs to voice HIV infections, domestic violence and female our support for women’s rights and put women’s cutting all decline. And, in nations divided by issues at the forefront of the global agenda. violent conflict, the chances for lasting peace go Together, we outlined a Plan of Action to improve up when women are part of the solution. Women the condition of women and girls worldwide. play important roles as peacekeepers, as they In the years since Beijing, advocates, activists and governments around the world have used that plan to advance opportunity and progress for women. The good news is that we have accomplished a great deal. More girls are enrolled in school, more women hold political office, and more laws exist to protect vulnerable populations. Unfortunately, we have a long way yet to go. Sometimes by custom, sometimes by law, millions of women worldwide are still denied their rights. They are excluded from public life in their societies, subjected to violence or barred from getting an education, taking a job or driving a car. This is morally wrong. It offends our basic sense of justice and fairness. But it is unacceptable for another reason too — because it keeps countries from making U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton meets real progress in creating jobs, sparking economic Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in growth and giving all their people an opportunity Rangoon, Burma, in 2011. Suu Kyi, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (1991), spent nearly 20 years under house to create a better future. No country can advance arrest. Released in 2010, she has engaged with the when half its population is left behind. ruling military junta on reforms. She and members of But when women are empowered to her National League for Democracy won parliamentary exercise their human rights and afforded equal seats in 2012 by-elections. PREFACE 5 did in Northern Ireland and Liberia. In short, Women in the World Today shows how far women around the world sustain families, build we have come since 1995. Each chapter reflects communities and knit the social fabric together. one of the 12 points in the action plan we At the State Department, we believe elevating developed in Beijing. It also explores what we the status of women and girls in their societies need to do now, so that all countries can fully is not only the right thing to do, it is also the benefit from the wisdom, compassion and energy smart thing to do. Women and girls are often a women bring to every aspect of society. community’s greatest untapped resource, which I hope the stories you read here inspire you makes investing in them a powerful and effective to take action in your community and help move way to promote international development and us closer to that goal. It could be as simple as our diplomatic agenda. sharing stories of the women in this book and in We’re working to address the issues that your own life with others. You could volunteer impede women’s progress and putting critical with a women’s organization in your hometown tools into women’s hands. For example, a or start your own project. Above all, you can cellphone can transform a woman’s life by giving make sure the girls in your life grow up feeling her a way to safely deposit her savings or receive safe, valued and powerful. payments through mobile banking, or by helping In Beijing, we envisioned a world where her connect to markets outside her village. Yet women and men have equal access to many women lack access to cellphones and the opportunities — a world where women’s voices benefits they offer, so we launched the mWomen would be recognized and respected. We are partnership to reduce the gender gap in mobile still pursuing that vision, with more energy and technology. And the Global Alliance for Clean enthusiasm than ever. Together, we can realize a Cookstoves is providing a standard for safe, future where women’s rights are unquestionably, efficient, nonpolluting stoves to women. Clean unshakably and permanently recognized as full cookstoves will improve the health of women and and equal human rights. their families, the quality of the air they breathe, as well as their economic conditions. Every time I travel, I meet extraordinary women who are driving change in their communities, often in the face of overwhelming obstacles. Women like Nasim Baji in Pakistan, who only needed a $10 microfinance loan to start Hillary Rodham Clinton a jewelry-making business that today employs 30 Secretary of State women in her community. Or women like Sina Vann, a Cambodian who escaped sex slavery to Hillary Rodham Clinton was sworn in as the 67th become a freedom fighter for thousands of girls secretary of state of the United States on January 21, — some as young as four — who are held and sold 2009. Secretary Clinton joined the State Department against their will. I visited the rescue center that after nearly four decades in public service as Sina runs in 2010, and I was deeply touched by the an advocate, attorney, first lady and senator. courage and resilience I saw in those little girls. This book tells Nasim’s and Sina’s stories, and those of other women leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, educators and politicians leading change in their communities. OVERVIEW Solutions to Global Challenges Require Women’s Participation Interview with Ambassador Melanne Verveer

n April 2009, Melanne Verveer was ap­ pointed ambassador-at-large for global Iwomen’s issues by President Obama to pro­ mote women’s empowerment in U.S. foreign policy. She shares her passion for achieving the political, economic and social empowerment of women in this interview.

Q: You are the first ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues. Why are these issues so important to address now?

Ambassador Verveer: There is recognition today that we cannot possibly solve our global challenges, whether they concern the environment, governance, economic policy or security, unless women are full participants. We have to move “women’s issues” from the margins to the mainstream and recognize that the issues are not only about women’s roles, but are about the kind of world we want to create. To the extent that women participate, succeed and help make a difference, everyone benefits — men and women, Melanne Verveer is the first ambassador-at-large boys and girls. for the U.S. State Department’s Office of Global Women’s Issues.

Q: Why is women’s participation so vital to the well-being of all societies? For example, the World Economic Forum puts out an annual report called the Gender Gap MV: There is a mountain of data that correlates Report. It measures the progress of men and investments in women to poverty reduction — women in terms of economic participation and even to decreases in corruption — which I think opportunity, educational attainment, political we need to take very seriously. Similarly, there are participation, health and survival. Where men studies on the consequences of gender inequality. and women are closer to equal achievement in all of those areas, those countries are far better off. OVERVIEW 7

Where that gap is wider, it’s a different story. This her potential family’s future — her economic has been repeated in study after study. We have to possibilities, her health and her children’s pay attention to the hard data, and what the data education. More women are being elected to tell us is this is the smart thing to do, to invest in parliaments, but the numbers are still below what women and provide them with opportunities to they should be, given that women make up half fully participate in their societies. the population of the world and it is important to have their experiences and talents involved in Q: In 1995 the landmark U.N. Fourth World policymaking. Conference on Women was held in Beijing. Economically, women are participating in What did it accomplish, and is it still relevant? more significant ways. Microcredit, for example, has had a transformative impact, lifting up the MV: It brought together 189 countries to really poorest of the poor and creating livelihoods so look at the progress of women and specifically people can sustain themselves and their families. to adopt a Platform for Action. That Platform Laws have been passed dealing with violence for Action focused on a number of critical areas, against women, family law reform and other including women’s access to education, health intractable issues. Now such laws must be better care, economic and political participation; implemented and enforced. There is a definite women’s ability to be free from violence; to have record of progress. Governments, civil society and legal rights; the girl child; the role of women those who have charted this path toward a better in conflict societies; and the role of women in future can take justifiable pride in that, but we peace and security. It was a major, ambitious have to keep at it to reach our goals. blueprint that the United States and 188 other countries signed on to, making commitments to Q: What are the most important emerging go back to our own countries to chart progress global women’s issues? for women and girls. That was significant then, and it continues to be extremely significant today. MV: We still have an agenda to complete. We Fifteen years later, the Platform for Action is still have to be more creative. One of the challenges the blueprint against which many of our countries, is to bring new tools to the table, tools that NGOs and others measure the advancement of do a better job enhancing economic progress. women. There has been a lot of progress, but there Microcredit is one of the great financial tools, still are challenges. Laws have been passed. They but we need broader financial inclusion: haven’t always been implemented, but much has savings and other ways that poor people can changed for the better. be insured against cataclysms of one kind or another. Financial tools can bring creative Q: Where has the most progress been made, and solutions, as can technology. I personally think where does the world still have work to do? that mobile technology has the potential to be as transformative as microcredit has been. MV: Girls’ education is in a much better place Cellphones are more accessible to the poor. than it was when the Beijing Platform was Cellphone applications are being developed to adopted, but we are not where we need to be. help improve health care. The cellphone is being While more and more girls are in primary school, used for banking, teaching literacy, safeguarding we don’t have anywhere near the numbers with women from violence and creating economic access to secondary education. Investing in a girl opportunities. determines what her future will be like — and 8 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

Melanne Verveer with PepsiCo Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Indra Nooyi.

There was and is an environmental One important example concerns cookstoves. component of the Beijing Agenda, but climate The black carbon emitted from dirty cookstoves change itself was not specified. It is something — on which millions of poor people cook — is that we have come to understand better in the detrimental to the health of millions of people. time that’s elapsed since 1995. Here again we see The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is the role that women have to play, particularly in creating a market for low-emissions cookstoves, regions most severely affected by climate change to help reduce the damaging health and and vulnerable to natural disasters such as environmental impacts of black carbon. It’s an drought or floods. We need to engage women as economic empowerment issue because selling and agents for adaptation and mitigation. maintaining cookstoves is a new green industry, especially for women. Cooking is not the major contributor to climate change, but low-emissions cookstoves can address one aspect of it. OVERVIEW 9

Q: What role must men play in ensuring challenges, how we created coalitions, and why women’s empowerment and advancement we set prevention, prosecution and protection as around the world? lynchpins in the violence against women law and in the trafficking law (Victims of Trafficking and MV: Men have a central, critical, important Violence Protection Act of 2000). role to play. Women’s progress has never come I often talk about the women who, in 1848, through women’s efforts alone. We cannot traveled to that first equal rights convention in possibly solve some of the most serious challenges Seneca Falls, New York. And I often think of that women confront — the inequality of women the diary of a young girl who looked back on the around the globe, the scourge of violence against course that she chose to take, which was to get them — unless men are involved in solutions. in a stagecoach, leave her home and to make that The way boys are raised, the image of what a trip. She did it because in the United States at man should be and how that’s presented, are the time, women could not vote. She could not opportunities to develop good habits in the keep her meager earnings — if she had meager next generation. We know the critical role that earnings. She could not access formal education; religious leaders — who are mostly men — can she could not get a divorce if she found herself play. We need political will and enlightened in a terrible marriage. She knew life needed to male leaders at the highest levels of government, be better and she went off on that journey to the multilateral institutions and companies to equal rights convention not knowing, as she said, become full participants in the advancement of if anybody else would be on that road. Well, we women’s empowerment. know what progress our country has made. We are still on that road. Women everywhere are Q: The United States does not have a perfect on that journey and we need each other. And record on women’s issues. Our Congress has a — just as importantly — we need good men to lower percentage of female elected officials than join us as they, too, traveled to the Equal Rights some foreign parliaments and has not ratified Convention. We may be in different places on the the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of journey. The United States has come a long way All Forms of Discrimination against Women from 1848, when that young woman decided to (CEDAW). Domestic violence and human make the trip to Seneca Falls, but we still have a trafficking are issues in the United States. Is the ways to go. All over the world, women who face United States in a position to lead the world on difficult situations need to chart progress. So women’s empowerment? we’re not perfect, but we work at these issues and in many ways we have succeeded and can help MV: We have a lot of work to do at home, as others address similar challenges. every other country does. In no country in the world are men and women equal. But I think the fact that we address many of our problems or are working at addressing them does certainly resonate internationally. We’ve created legislation to combat violence against women, which was first adopted in the 1990s. Our trafficking law wasn’t passed until 2000, but we worked at it and it is a model for the world. It may help other countries to see the path we took to address the

CHAPTER 1 • WOMEN AND POVERTY

Women constitute a majority of the poor and are often poorest of the poor. A woman hugs her granddaughter in their shack near Castelli, Chaco, Argentina. OVERVIEW WOMEN AND POVERTY By Geeta Rao Gupta

omen constitute a ma­ jority of the poor and are Woften the poorest of the poor. The societal disad­ vantage and inequality they face because they are women shapes their experience of poverty differently from that of men, increases their vulnerability, and makes it more challenging for them to climb out of poverty. In other words, poverty is a gendered experience — addressing it requires a gender analysis of norms and values, the division of assets, work and responsibility, and the dynamics of power and control between women and men in poor households. In most societies, gender norms de­ fine women’s role as largely relegated to the home, as mother and caretaker, and men’s role as responsible for productive activities outside the home. These norms influence institutional policies and laws that define women’s and men’s access to productive resources such as education, Pakistani women employment, land and credit. There is gender inequality and differences in are paid about overwhelming evidence from around the women’s and men’s roles greatly influ­ US$2 for every world to show that girls and women are ence the causes, experiences and conse­ 1,000 bricks more disadvantaged than boys and men quences of women’s poverty. Policies they make at in their access to these valued productive and programs to alleviate poverty must, this brick kiln in Multan, Pakistan. resources. There is also ample evidence therefore, take account of gender inequal­ to show that the responsibilities of wom­ ity and gender differences to effectively en and the challenges they face within address the needs and constraints of both poor households and communities are poor women and men. different from those of men. Persistent WOMEN AND POVERTY: OVERVIEW 13

Women in Women’s Experience of Poverty often sacrifice their own health and nu­ Gadabeji, Niger, trition, or the education of their daugh­ cope with a food Girls and women in poor households bear ters, by recruiting them to take care of crisis created a disproportionate share of the work and siblings or share in other household tasks. by drought. Worldwide, responsibility of feeding and caring for This is just one piece of a pattern of gen­ women are family members through unpaid house­ dered discrimination in the allocation of driven further hold work. In poor rural households, for resources in poor households. Evidence into poverty by example, women’s work is dominated by shows that the gender gaps in nutrition, inflated food activities such as firewood, water and education and health are greater in poor­ prices. fodder collection, care of livestock and er households. This lack of investment in subsistence agriculture. The drudgery the human capital of girls perpetuates a of women’s work and its time-intensive vicious, intergenerational cycle of poverty demands contribute to women’s “time and disadvantage that is partly respon­ poverty” and greatly limit poor women’s sible for the intractable nature of poverty. choice of other, more productive income- earning opportunities. Faced with difficult time-allocation choices, women in poor households will 14 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

Why Focus on Women in Poverty?

A focus on poor women as distinct from men in efforts to reduce poverty is justi­ fied because women’s paid and unpaid work is crucial for the survival of poor households. Women are economic actors: They produce and process food for the family; they are the primary caretakers of chil­ dren, the elderly and the sick; and their income and labor are directed toward children’s education, health and well­ being. In fact, there is incontrovertible evidence from a number of studies con­ ducted during the 1980s that mothers typically spend their income on food and health care for children, which is in sharp A child “rag contrast to men, who spend a higher services. Such an approach widens the picker” collects proportion of their income for personal gender-based productivity gap, negatively refuse for needs. A study conducted in Brazil, for affects women’s economic status, and recycling at a example, found that the positive effect does little to reduce poverty. Addressing garbage dump in on the probability that a child will sur­ these gender biases and inequalities Hyderabad, India. vive in urban Brazil is almost 20 times by intentionally investing in women as greater when the household income is economic agents, and doing so within controlled by a woman rather than by a a framework of rights that ensures that man (Quisumbing et al., 1995). women’s access to and control over Yet women face significant con­ productive resources is a part of their straints in maximizing their productiv­ entitlement as citizens, is an effective and ity. They often do not have equal access to efficient poverty reduction strategy. productive inputs or to markets for their goods. They own only 15 percent of the Ways to Reduce Women’s Poverty land worldwide, work longer hours than men and earn lower wages. They are over­ Over the years there have been many represented among workers in the infor­ efforts to reduce women’s poverty. In­ mal labor market, in jobs that are season­ vestments to increase agricultural pro­ al, more precarious and not protected by ductivity, improve livestock management labor standards. and provide livelihood opportunities are Despite this, policies and programs key ways to address the needs of poor that are based on notions of a typical rural women. Another, more popular household as consisting of a male and effective intervention that currently bread-winner and dependent women reaches millions of women worldwide is and children often target men for the microfinance — small loans and other provision of productive resources and financial services for poor women who WOMEN AND POVERTY: OVERVIEW 15

A girl helps have no access to the formal banking sys­ a woman Geeta Rao Gupta is a senior fellow at tem. Microfinance programs have suc­ prepare food in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Guatemala. ceeded in increasing the incomes of poor Global Development Program and an households and protecting them against internationally recognized expert on complete destitution. gender and development issues, including Yet another strategy to improve the women’s health, economic empowerment, poverty alleviation and gender equality. economic status of poor women has been Prior to joining the foundation, Rao Gupta to increase women’s access to and control was president of the International Center of land. Women who own or control land for Research on Women (ICRW). She can use the land to produce food or gen­ also serves on the Steering Committee erate income, or as collateral for credit. of aids2031, an international initiative These strategies are promising and of­ commissioned by UNAIDS, USAID’s Advisory Committee for Voluntary Foreign fer potential for meeting the international Aid and the boards of the Moriah Fund, community’s commitment to gender the Nike Foundation, the MAC AIDS Fund equality as demonstrated most recently and the Rural Development Institute. through the inclusion of Goal 3 in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). All that remains now is for that commit­ ment to be transformed into action. PROFILE Roshaneh Zafar Social Entrepreneur Empowers Women By Shafqat Munir

A young Pakistani woman turns social entrepreneur, establishes Kashf Foundation, and through microfinancing enables impoverished Pakistani women to improve their lives. WOMEN AND POVERTY: PROFILE 17

“ ou feel really great Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh. MIX the World Bank. She has the when you enable poor Market (www.MIXMarket.org), passion of a women’s rights Yfamilies to transform, a microfinance information data activist. An early endeavor was change their mindset and analysis service, reports co-founding Bedari, a women’s and bring up their children with that in 2009 Kashf Microfinance crisis intervention center in Is­ a concept of financial manage­ Bank had 14,192 active borrow­ lamabad. The daughter of a re­ ment at the grass-roots level. ers, a gross loan portfolio of U.S. nowned jurist and constitution­ This can ensure a decent living $5 million, with deposits of $3.8 al expert, S.M. Zafar, Roshaneh for them,” says Pakistani entre­ million by 42,073 depositors. The Zafar started from a one-room preneur Roshaneh Zafar. average balance per borrower is office next to her father’s law Since 1996, Zafar’s small $350. This grass-roots bank, like offices 15 years ago. She sees so­ microfinance initiative at Kashf the foundation, is called “Kashf” cial entrepreneurship as her life­ Foundation, the first of its kind in — “miracle” or “revelation” in time mission. Pakistan, has changed the lives of Urdu — to evoke the process of “I am proud of building more than a million people in 26 self-discovery. an institution. I am passionate districts in Pakistan by extend­ Zafar, who attended Yale about transforming the lives of ing small credits worth a total of University and the Wharton families, bringing them out of U.S. $202 million currently, ac­ School of Business at the Uni­ poverty,” she says. She believes cording to the Kashf Foundation versity of Pennsylvania, has the that economic well-being leads website (www.kashf.org). Zafar required financial knowledge to policies that favor women’s successfully runs a fully char­ and skills. She was a special­ development, and without giving tered bank, the Kashf Microfi­ ist on women in development economic opportunities to wom­ nance Bank, with 31 branches in and community for the U.N. en, social development and em­ three provinces, Punjab, Khyber Development Programme and powerment are hardly possible.

Roshaneh Zafar, center, meets with some of her microcredit clients in Pakistan. 18 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

Both men and women must give them ownership in water economic stability. Her meet­ work together to increase fam­ and sanitation and other infra­ ing with Yunus prompted her ily incomes and contribute to structure projects, we cannot visit to Bangladesh, to learn development of the community ensure implementation and suc­ from the Grameen Bank experi­ and the country: Only then can cess in these projects, as women ence. Zafar studied the methods Pakistani society become gender- are the ones who take care of with Yunus for two years, and sensitive, she says. water-fetching for rural families visited other successful projects “Economic empowerment of and those on the periphery of in Nepal and India. In Pakistan women working through fami­ urban centers.” she also benefited from the ex­ lies can guarantee a change in It was a turning point in periences of Abbottabad-based lives and livelihoods of the Zafar’s career when she heard Sungi Development Founda­ poor. Microfinancing women-led a 70-year-old woman in Kalat, tion, founded by the late Omar families is a sustainable way to Balochistan, saying the villagers Asghar Khan, and the Baloch­ ensure women’s development,” knew that clean drinking water istan Rural Support Programme. Zafar says. is healthy for their families but She was inspired by the late The realities of the poverty- they needed money to buy it. Za­ Pakistani community develop­ ridden and resource-constrained far decided to help them get that ment pioneer Akhter Hameed women in villages in remote money and build better lives. She Khan and Shoaib Sultan Khan, a parts of Pakistan, and a will to met Nobel Laureate Muham­ founder of the Aga Khan Rural help change their fate, prompted mad Yunus, the microfinance Support Programme. Zafar to quit her World Bank pioneer and founder of Ban­ “After having varied experi­ job in 1995 and enter social en­ gladesh’s Grameen Bank, and ences, I set up Kashf Foundation trepreneurship: “While working expressed her desire to start a and I hired 1,800 young staff with the World Bank, I realized microfinance scheme to help the from local communities because that until we involve women and Pakistani poor gain sustainable I believed that enabling the young to earn their livelihoods is important, as they dominate the unemployed population of Pakistan,” Zafar recalls. Her success received recognition early when, in 1997, she was awarded a fellowship from the U.S.-based Ashoka Foundation, which supports innovative so­ cial entrepreneurs. Kashf operates primarily in Pakistan’s suburbs: 70 percent of its work is on the urban pe­ riphery and 30 percent in rural areas. Most microfinance cred­ its go to small traders: a cob­ bler’s shop, a small-scale jewelry Zafar and her mentor, Nobel Peace Prize winner and Grameen Bank business, a tea stall or restau­ founder Muhammad Yunus, attend a microcredit conference. rant. Families get loans to fund WOMEN AND POVERTY: PROFILE 1919

Apart from Kashf, Zafar is a founding member of the Paki­ stan Microfinance Network and is a member of the U.N. Adviso­ ry Group on Inclusive Financial Services. In 2007, she was named a Skoll Foundation social entre­ preneur, and has been the recipi­ ent of a number of prestigious international awards, including Pakistan’s highest civilian hon­ or, the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz. Kashf Foundation was ranked 34 out of the top 50 microfinance in­ stitutions by Forbes magazine in 2007, and was honored in 2009 with the OneWoman Initiative Kashf Foundation members call for social justice and financial parity for Award by the U.S. State Depart­ women on International Women’s Day, 2011. ment. More recently Roshaneh Zafar was a delegate to the U.S. a business of their choice and but it is meant to change mind­ Presidential Summit on Entre­ for which they have skills. sets of communities to enhance preneurship held in Washington Zafar’s clients have succeed­ their ability to earn their liveli­ in April 2010 and is the recipient ed in a variety of ways. Zafar re­ hood and live with dignity. With of the Vital Voices 2010 Global lates the story of 42-year-old Na­ families [working] together, mi­ Leadership Award for Economic sim Baji with pride. Nasim Baji crofinance-led trading produced Empowerment. runs a costume jewelry business sustainable dividends,” says Za­ with microfinancing provided by far. She explains that Kashf has Kashf. She borrowed Rs. 1,000 expanded from working only (U.S. $10) 12 years ago to start with women to working with Shafqat Munir is a journalist, her own bead jewelry enterprise, families. To increase access to researcher and communications specialist in Pakistan. He is the after weaving beads as a daily capital, Zafar founded the Kashf founder editor of Infochange News wage worker for a jewelry firm. Microfinance Bank. Zafar says and Features Network (INFN), She later diversified and today that from the original 15 clients www.infochangepakistan.net, a owns two molding machines to who were lent a total of $1,500 in leading Pakistani development manufacture metal jewelry. She 1996, Kashf has provided loans and investigative news agency. employs 30 women workers. Her of $225 million to more than husband works for her now. Her one million families. Kashf was jewelry is sold in several cities. among the first such institutions Nasim Baji inspires other wom­ to offer insurance for clients, at en to set up small businesses to a minimal premium, to assist in generate income. debt payment when the head of “Microfinance is not all household dies. about giving loans to individuals, PROJECT Honduran Women Fight Poverty One Coffee Bean at a Time

By Ritu Sharma

Honduran Dulce n 1993, Dulce Marlen after the children and relied Contreras founded La Co­ on men for economic support. Marlen Contreras Iordinadora de Mujeres Growing coffee and aloe vera, knew that poverty Campesinas de La Paz, or selling the crops and developing COMUCAP, to raise awareness products to sell not only enabled was the source of about women’s rights in Hondu­ women to earn additional in­ domestic violence ras. A daughter of farmers in the come for their families, but gave rural region of La Paz, Hondu­ them economic independence and other problems ras, Marlen was tired of watch­ and stability. afflicting women in her ing the women of her commu­ The initial reaction from the nity endure widespread alco­ community was hostile. Wom­ community, so she holism and domestic violence. en’s empowerment was seen as a began an organization Along with seven of her friends, threat to families and traditional Marlen began COMUCAP in family values. But as COMU­ to educate women order to educate local women CAP’s programs grew, Marlen about their rights. about their rights, how to stand and her friends started seeing re­ up for themselves and eventually sults that altered family relation­ It soon evolved become economically indepen­ ships: The more money the wom­ into an agricultural dent. Workshops and women’s en made, the more power they shelters were critical to the mis­ were able to assert in the house­ cooperative that has sion, but Marlen soon realized hold. The community began to given its members that to reduce domestic violence view the women of COMUCAP economic stability. for the long term, COMUCAP as economic contributors. More must attack the root problem, and more women now made poverty. decisions jointly with their hus­ Understanding the relation­ bands. The women could more ship between poverty and social effectively resist domestic abuse. ills, COMUCAP changed its ap­ Economic stability and equality proach. In addition to the con­ within family structures dra­ sciousness-raising workshops, matically decreased household the organization started training violence and improved quality of women to grow and sell organic life within COMUCAP families. coffee and aloe plants. Tradition­ All of these women’s children at­ ally, the women of La Paz looked tend school. WOMEN AND POVERTY: PROJECT 21

COMUCAP founder Dulce Marlen Contreras sits in the cooperative’ s coffee storeroom. Coffee and aloe vera are COMUCAP ’s main products. 22 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

Today COMUCAP provides employment and income to more than 225 women in rural Honduras through an expand­ ing array of programs. Most pro­ grams focus on agricultural pro­ duction: cultivation of oranges to make orange wine, aloe vera plants for a variety of products, organic coffee, organic fertiliz­ ers. COMUCAP programs offer technical advice in organic agri­ culture and support agricultural lending programs. Literacy po­ litical advocacy, grant proposal and fundraising workshops are available to COMUCAP-affili­ ated groups. There is now train­ ing and support for women to start their own businesses. Some women have purchased their own plots of land through loans from COMUCAP. A cooperative agriculture program helps members form groups ranging in size from five to 25 women. They rent or own small pieces of land where they collectively grow coffee and aloe vera plants. The aloe vera plants are used to produce Wala Or­ ganic Aloe products such as shampoo, juices and desserts. In the COMUCAP business model, COMUCAP members sell their produce and other products at a local co-op members grow their own market. Their organic products are entering the international market. crops, refine and prepare them for use and manufacture prod­ products, which makes entry fair trade coffee to Europe each ucts which are distributed in into international markets eas­ year and employing more than local, regional, national and in­ ier and causes less harm to the 100 women. ternational markets. The profits environment. COMUCAP’s cof­ Juana Suazo, a 55-year-old are then evenly divided among fee is USDA organic and Fair mother of six, is a prime example co-op members. A conscious Trade certified. As of November of why COMUCAP works. Af­ decision was made to grow or­ 2009, COMUCAP was export­ ter separating from her abusive ganic crops to make all organic ing more than 10,000 pounds of husband, Juana was suddenly WOMEN AND POVERTY: PROJECT 2323

Besides helping her escape do­ mestic abuse and gain economic stability so her family can thrive, COMUCAP inspired Juana to give back to her community by studying law. She now dedicates her spare time to defending the rights of other women in need. Greater economic opportu­ nity and earning capacity al­ low women to escape violent situations, adequately care for their families and educate their children, thereby strengthening their communities. A woman’s economic independence in­ creases her stature within and outside her household. Commu­ nity-based organizations such as COMUCAP empower women to overcome poverty and regain dignity and peace in their lives — one coffee bean at a time.

Ritu Sharma is co-founder and president of Women Thrive Worldwide, a leading U.S. nonprofit organization that advocates for policies that provide economic assistance and capacity building for women living in poverty.

COMUCAP worker Dolores with an armful of freshly cut aloe vera at a farm in Marcala, Honduras. faced with raising her children own wine-producing business, alone. At first she struggled to which eventually allowed her make ends meet by working to buy a home and five acres of multiple jobs. Then COMUCAP land where she now grows cof­ provided the means for her to fee and vegetables. Today, she create a sustainable future for pays for two daughters to at­ her family. With the organiza­ tend college and supports two tion’s help, Juana started her sons living in the United States.

CHAPTER 2 • WOMEN AND EDUCATION

Few investments have as large a payoff as girls’ education. Educated women are more likely to ensure health care for their families, educate their children and become income earners. The Zarghuna Girls School in Kabul, Afghanistan, depicted here, is supported by the United Nations Children’s’ Fund (UNICEF). OVERVIEW WOMEN AND EDUCATION By Lori S. Ashford

he right to education for all has been an international goal for Tdecades, but since the 1990s, women’s education and empow­ erment have come into sharp focus. Sev­ eral landmark conferences, including the 1994 International Conference on Popu­ lation and Development, held in Cairo, and the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, placed these issues at the center of development efforts. The Millennium Development Goals — agreed to by world leaders at the U.N. Millennium Summit in 2000 — call for universal primary education and for clos­ ing the gender gap in secondary and high­ A woman in er education. These high-level agreements because of overwhelming evidence of the Bangladesh spawned initiatives around the world benefits of educating girls. studies in an to increase girls’ school enrollments. adult literacy Changes since 1990 have been remark­ Why educating girls matters class in a rural able, considering the barriers that had to village. The be overcome in developing countries. Few investments have as large a payoff teacher is from the village and In many traditional societies, girls as girls’ education. Household surveys in trained at a are prevented from attaining their full developing countries have consistently college nearby. potential because of lower priority placed shown that women with more education on educating daughters (who marry and have smaller, healthier and better-educat­ leave the family) and the lower status ed families. The linkages are clear: Edu­ of girls and women in general. Families cated women are more likely to take care may also have concerns about the school of their health, desire fewer children and fees, girls being taught by male teachers educate them well, which, in turn, makes and girls’ safety away from home. Gov­ it more likely their children will survive ernments and communities have begun and thrive into adulthood. to break down these barriers, however, Research by the World Bank and other organizations has shown that WOMEN AND EDUCATION: OVERVIEW 27

Village women in Nepalganj, Nepal, are learning to read Pakistani girls in Peshawar attend a school that was and to set up small businesses. reconvened after their former school was destroyed to deter their attendance.

Corporate support of girls’ education is exemplified by Motorola’s “Introduce a Girl to Engineering” event, part of the company’s initiative to attract U.S. children to science and foster innovation early. Here Motorola engineer Deb Matteo conducts a light and color experiment with two young participants. 28 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY increasing girls’ schooling boosts wom­ Left: A woman en’s wages and leads to faster economic participates in a growth than educating only boys. More­ USAID-supported science education over, when women earn more money, program in they are more likely to invest it in their Tanzania that children and households, enhancing fam­ helps women ily wealth and well-being. Other benefits expand their of women’s education captured in stud­ opportunities ies include lower levels of HIV infection, through science. Below: Despite domestic violence and harmful practices two decades of toward women, such as female genital violent conflict cutting and bride burning. in Somalia, parents continue How girls and women have fared to educate their daughters. These since Beijing girls study at the Al-Emamal- Advances in girls’ education worldwide Nawawi school in have been a success story in develop­ Gardo, northeast ment. According to UNESCO, 96 girls boys in 2008. By 2005, nearly two-thirds Somalia. were enrolled in primary school for every of countries had closed the gap between 100 boys in 2008, up from 84 girls per girls’ and boys’ school enrollments. Girls 100 boys in 1995. The ratio for secondary still lag behind boys in university-level school is close behind, at 95 girls to 100 education worldwide, but the gap is clos­ ing over time. WOMEN AND EDUCATION: OVERVIEW 29

Girls lag farthest behind in the poor­ the training of women teachers. Such tar­ est countries, such as Afghanistan, Chad, geted efforts have translated into higher Central African Republic and Mali, where girls’ school enrollments in countries as overall school enrollments are low. In So­ diverse as Bangladesh, Yemen, Morocco, malia, only half as many girls are enrolled Uganda and Brazil. Political commitment in school as boys: 23 percent of girls com­ is essential for raising the profile of the pared to 42 percent of boys in 2008, ac­ issue and increasing girls’ access to cording to UNESCO. Girls’ schooling schooling. Mexico pioneered a major so­ and literacy lag well behind boys in much cial program — now replicated in impov­ of sub-Saharan Africa and Western and erished communities in the United States Southern Asia, where much work re­ and other countries — that pays families mains to be done. to keep their children, particularly girls, At the other end of the spectrum, in school. in countries with high levels of school Because the gender gap is wider at enrollment, girls often fare better than higher levels of education, it will not be boys. In much of Latin America, Europe, enough for girls to merely sign up for East Asia and in the United States, girls’ school; they need to stay in school. Gov­ enrollments in secondary and higher ernments, educators and communities education have surpassed those of their must address issues such as gender ste­ male peers, demonstrating what girls and reotypes that reinforce women’s lower women can achieve once the barriers to status, poor school quality, and early education have been overcome. marriage and childbearing, which often Still, women account for two-thirds cut short women’s education. Also, the of the world’s illiterate adults, because mismatch between education and the older women are less likely to have at­ skills needed for today’s workforce must tended school than their younger coun­ be corrected. These steps may ensure terparts. They are also much more likely that girls reap the greatest benefits from to be illiterate if they are poor and live in education. Countries that are committed rural areas. Literacy programs and con­ to gender equality will not only see bet­ tinuing education exist, but the efforts are ter report cards in education, they’ll be not systematically reported across coun­ healthier and wealthier as well. tries. In addition, girls and women are disadvantaged when it comes to technical and vocational education, in fields such as science and technology that have long Lori S. Ashford, a freelance consultant, been dominated by men. has written about global population, health and women’s issues for 20 years. Formerly with the Population What can we learn from Reference Bureau (PRB), she authored successful efforts? the widely disseminated PRB “Women of Our World” data sheets and “New Many gains in women’s education can be Population Policies: Advancing Women’s attributed to special interventions such Health and Rights” for the Population Bulletin, among other publications. as the elimination of school fees, schol­ arships, community schools for girls and PROFILE Rita Conceição Bahia Street By Margaret Willson WOMEN AND EDUCATION: PROFILE 31

After growing up orn in one of the vast degree in sociology. Once she shantytowns of Salva­ had a chance to leave the shan­ poor in Brazil, Rita Bdor, Brazil, Rita Con­ tytown where she was born, Conceição saw ceição knew at an early Rita, unlike any other person I age the realities of violence, pov­ ever met there, decided instead education as the path erty and death. She also knew to stay and fight the inequality out of poverty. Her she wanted something different. she knew so well. So in 1996, “My mother had lots of when she invited me to join determination got her children and a hard life. She her in working for equality for to university, and her died young, so I brought up my the people of her communi­ brothers and sisters. I knew I ties, I committed to help in any desire to help other didn’t want that life.” way I could. From this partner­ women led her to With great determination, ship the nonprofit Bahia Street Rita traveled more than an was born. found Bahia Street. hour each way by public bus to Listening to what the people a school where she could learn in her community told her an­ to read and write. She loved the swered their dire need for ex­ arts and took up photography. pression and opened a strong While still a teenager, Rita took avenue for change. Rita initiated courageous photos of protests a quality education program for against the then-ruling Brazilian girls that would allow them to military dictatorship. enter university and change their “I didn’t think of a black or futures. Rita drew on her own gender consciousness,” she says. struggles, using the strengths “People never talked about rac­ that propelled her from a shan­ ism then.” But all around her she tytown to university. She incor­ saw women like herself work­ porated race and gender con­ ing as maids for slave wages, the sciousness into the Bahia Street only job (except prostitution) classes. Seeing that the girls open to them. could not study because they Rita decided she wanted to were half starving, she began go to university, an almost im­ a lunch program, cooking and possible dream for someone buying the food herself until she from the shantytowns. While could find someone to help her. working a full-time job, she tried She knew that most girls from the difficult university entrance these shantytowns get pregnant exam three times and failed. by age 14, so she began teach­ Refusing to give up, she took it ing the girls about reproduction, a fourth time and passed, gain­ sexual violence and self-esteem. ing entrance into the Federal “As I was growing up,” she University of Bahia, the best in says, “the girls in my family were her state. never valued as much as the When I first met Rita in 1991, boys. This still exists in our so­ she had earned her university ciety, but I say to the girls that 32 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY their roots are their reality. I After years of renting or bor­ wheelbarrows and poured it by pass on to them the importance rowing tiny rooms for its classes, hand. Rita roamed the city, look­ of ethics, self-respect and the Bahia Street was finally able to ing for sales; she negotiated with solidarity of women. They see buy a building. The only problem merchants to donate materials in me the difference it makes — was that the building was falling that she then brought back on what choices you make in your down. Rita saw this as no prob­ public bus, since she had no car. life — and also the strength it lem at all. She employed local Slowly, the building took shape. takes. If women are to become men and oversaw its complete When the first floor was mostly equal, these qualities and knowl­ reconstruction. To save money, finished, Rita, her staff and the edge are vital.” the men mixed the cement in girls moved in.

Conceição poses with some of the students at Bahia Street. WOMEN AND EDUCATION: PROFILE 3333

Bahia Street lessons supplement public school education, helping girls to excel in school and become leaders and role models.

The five-story Bahia Street the future. In Bahia Street, we Rita laughs with a smile that, Center is now complete, with are giving girls the chance my in its brightness, knows suffer­ classrooms, kitchen, library, mother never had.” ing, love and strength. “And the computer lab and much more. When people talk with her work continues. That is the way In addition to education and about her remarkable achieve­ for all of us. If we are to make a support programs for the girls, ments, Rita is humble and re­ better world, the work is what Bahia Street now offers classes alistic. “In Bahia Street,” she we do.” for the girls’ caregivers and other says, “I really found my iden­ community members. It has be­ tity. Managing to create Bahia come a haven for the girls and a Street continues to be an amaz­ community gathering place. ing process, and I have learned a “We teach the girls to take consciousness myself through Margaret Willson is co-founder care of others in their lives as this process.” and international director of Bahia Street. She is affiliate assistant well. Women take care of the Recently, Bahia Street grad­ professor in anthropology at children, and in that is the fu­ uate Daza completed university the University of Washington. ture of our society. The work we with a journalism degree. In Her most recent book is do is a form of black resistance. Daza, shantytown residents have Dance Lest We All Fall Down: We are working for the surviv­ a voice they never had before. Breaking Cycles of Poverty in al of the black people in Bahia, And the long-term Bahia Street Brazil and Beyond (University of Washington Press, 2010). showing that as black women, vision of fostering equality we can have equality and shape for shantytown women is be­ coming a reality.

PROJECT Educating Women About Technology By Renee Ho

Mobile technology is stou watches as the was illiterate. Composing or photographer raises reading an SMS text message improving the lives of Ahis camera to capture would have been impossible for illiterate women and the crowded village her. Like most of the women and classroom. She adjusts her nurs­ girls in her village in the region girls in rural Senegal, ing infant and turns her own of Vélingara, Senegal, Astou and educating them camera on him — only hers is a never attended school. House­ mobile phone. For the past few hold responsibilities and the in the process, thanks weeks, Astou has been partici­ cost of schooling prevented her to an organization pating in a community-led mo­ from receiving a formal educa­ bile technology course taught in tion. She married at 16 years of that teaches them to her local language of Wolof. She age — the average age for girls in use mobile phones. and hundreds of other women rural Senegal. and girls throughout rural Sen­ In a country with a 41.9 egal have learned how to make percent literacy rate, Astou is and receive calls, compose and breaking norms and the cyclical send SMS messages and use trap of poverty. In 2008, Tostan, phone functions such as calcula­ an international nongovernmen­ tors, alarms and, yes, sometimes tal development organization, even cameras. started the Community Em­ Astou is a bright 24-year-old powerment Program (CEP) — a mother of four children. She had 30-month human rights-based, seen her husband use a mobile nonformal education program phone, but prior to this class — in her village. More than 80 she had never touched one her­ percent of CEP participants are self. “Before, he would not let me women and girls. They begin the use the phone because he feared program with sessions on hu­ I would waste the credit,” she man rights, democracy, health laughs, “but now he asks me to and hygiene and problem-solv­ teach him and we are saving to ing. Later, they continue with buy another for me.” lessons on literacy, numeracy Two years ago, Astou was and project management. not only unfamiliar with how Once participants have to use a mobile phone, but she achieved basic literacy, however, WOMEN AND EDUCATION: PROJECT 35

The Tostan Jokko community empowerment program teaches women to use mobile phones. 36 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY they often lack a practical means of maintaining it. As a solution, Tostan partnered with UNICEF to launch the Jokko Initiative in 2009 (jokko means “com­ munication” in Wolof). The initiative incorporates mobile technology into CEP as way to reinforce reading and writing skills. The Jokko module teach­ es participants how to use ba­ sic mobile phone functions and SMS texting. It uses interactive visuals and skits that focus on relevant applications and the relative affordability of texting. “I text messages better [than my husband] and that saves us money on expensive calls,” ex­ plains Astou. A village woman practices on a mobile phone and makes notes. Outside of the classroom, students circle around a strange voices and influence in com­ SMS message to a central server, arrangement of sticks. With munity decisionmaking. They where it is then sent out to an a little explanation, the sticks become agents of their own entire community of other us­ come to represent a mango tree. change. Khady continues to ex­ ers. One participant explains, Khady, age 52, walks along the plain how the CEP provided her “It’s when you send multiple “tree branches” and stops at each with basic math and manage­ messages at once — a cheaper fork where signs are placed: Con­ ment skills. With several boys method of communication.” The tacts, Search, Add Contact. This and girls huddled around, she platform is used for community activity teaches participants how demonstrates how the phone’s advocacy campaigns. Women to navigate the phone’s main calculator helps her manage her send, for example, reminders of menu. It is just one example of peanut-selling business. vaccination and school enroll­ what makes Tostan’s educational Mobile phone technology ment dates. model work: adapting lessons to has connected women and girls The Jokko Initiative has cultural contexts and using ap­ to market information and op­ reached 350 villages and con­ propriate local references. portunities, family in the di­ tinues to grow. Tostan has di­ “Before, if I wanted to send aspora and, perhaps most fun­ rectly trained about 23,585 a text message, I had to ask for damentally, to each other. The people, but the high demand for help,” Khady says, “but now I am phones have been critical for knowledge and the eagerness of much more independent. Now community organization and so­ participants to share information people come to me and I’m hap­ cial mobilization. Tostan’s Jokko suggests that thousands more py to teach them.” When mobile Initiative has developed a unique have benefited. phone technology reaches wom­ social networking platform that In the project’s next phase, en and girls, it amplifies their allows participants to send an Tostan will partner with the WOMEN AND EDUCATION: PROJECT 3737

These telecenters will provide electricity for mobile phones, and the income generated by these microenterprises will be reinvested in other community- led development projects. Mobile phone use in Africa is growing twice as fast as in any other region in the world. In Senegal, the number of SIM card purchases nearly doubled from 2007 to 2009, up to 6.9 million. But as Tostan has found, absolute numbers alone do not empower communities. Suc­ cess in low-income countries re­ quires bridging the gender gap. Putting knowledge and technol­ ogy in the hands of women — literally— is critical to achieving lasting development.

Renee Ho is a volunteer at Tostan International in Dakar, Senegal. Her interests include women and the technology divide in lower-income countries. More information is online at http://www.tostan.org.

Women, some of them illiterate, learn to navigate the main menu of a mobile phone through an arrangement of branches on the ground.

Rural Energy Foundation (http:// electricity, so charging phones ruralenergy.nl/), a nonprofit or­ often involves risky and incon­ ganization that helps rural com­ venient trips into the nearest munities gain access to renew­ small town. To alleviate this, To­ able energy. Currently, about 80 stan will pilot community-led, percent of rural Senegal lacks solar-powered charging stations.

CHAPTER 3 • WOMEN AND HEALTH

Healthy women are an asset to their families and society. They remain fit to care for their families, earn income and contribute to their communities. A woman and child in Botswana. OVERVIEW WOMEN AND HEALTH By Lori S. Ashford

omen’s health can be a barometer of a nation’s Wprogress. Countries afflict­ ed by poverty, corruption, war or weak governance often neglect their most vulnerable citizens. Frequently these are women. When women are un­ healthy, their productivity is lowered and their children and families are less secure. This has an economic impact. So invest­ ing in women’s health makes sense from both an economic and a human rights perspective.

Unequal in Health

Women live longer than men, statis­ The Healthy tics show, but they may spend a greater who, in turn, face a higher risk of early Family project proportion of their lives in poor health death and poor health. An added threat trains volunteers for a variety of reasons, attributable less to the health of women and girls exists in to spread to biological differences than to pov­ countries where there is a cultural pref­ important health erty and gender discrimination. Poor erence for sons, such as China and India. messages and families may invest less in their daugh­ Sex-selective abortions and female in­ trains health workers. The ters, giving them less nutrition, health fanticide are responsible for millions of program helps care and education than their sons. “missing girls.” The resulting shortage of keep Sameera Such disadvantages early in life have women relative to men can have alarming Fazilova and long-term consequences for girls’ health social repercussions. An April 2011 re­ her daughter and well-being. For example, adoles­ port in The Economist cited evidence that Mamura cent childbearing, common in countries a skewed sex ratio in India has led to in­ of Termez, Uzbekistan, and communities that condone child creased trafficking of girls, among other healthy. marriage, poses health risks and limits life abuses. Data from U.N. Population Fund prospects for the teen mothers and their studies also support this (UNFPA, 2004). children. If women are undernourished Pregnancy and childbirth take a heavy they risk having low birth-weight babies toll on women’s health in the developing WOMEN AND HEALTH: OVERVIEW 41

Two Afghan world. According to 2010 estimates by in 11 lifetime chance of dying from doctors examine the World Health Organization (WHO), pregnancy-related causes. a patient’s 358,000 women die of preventable causes Millions of women suffer physical x-ray at Rabia related to pregnancy and childbirth ev­ injuries or long-term disabilities, such as Balkhi Women's ery year; 99 percent of these deaths are in incontinence or ruptured organs, result­ Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. developing countries. In contrast, in de­ ing from lack of proper care during preg­ veloped countries where women deliver nancy and childbirth. Many of these dis­ their babies in hospitals and have access abilities go unreported because women to care for pregnancy complications, ma­ in developing countries consider them ternal deaths are extremely rare. normal. The technology and knowledge The vast majority fo the world’s to prevent needless deaths and injuries maternal deaths occur in the two poor­ has long been available, but geography, est regions: sub-Saharan Africa and substandard health systems, gender bias South Asia. In sub-Saharan Africa, where and political inertia all create barriers to high fertility multiplies the dangers that making motherhood safer. mothers face over a lifetime, one in 31 The HIV/AIDS pandemic also threat­ women is likely to die as a consequence ens women’s health in poor countries and of pregnancy or childbirth (WHO, 2010). communities. Where the virus is spread In developed countries, that chance is one through heterosexual contact, women in 4,300. Outside of Africa, Afghanistan are more vulnerable to infection than is the riskiest place on earth to become men for physiological and social reasons, pregnant and bear children, with a one such as women’s economic dependence 42 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

Women in Quezon City, Philippines, demonstrate in support of legislation that would provide women universal access to reproductive health and maternal care programs.

on men, their lack of power to ask male annually, often among the poorest wom­ partners to practice safer sex and — too en, who are least able to obtain and use often — coerced sex. According to a 2009 the health services they need. UNAIDS report, “An estimated 50 mil­ Estimates from WHO in 2010 re­ lion women in Asia are at risk of becom­ vealed that maternal deaths dropped by ing infected with HIV from their intimate about one-third globally from 1990 to partners ... men who engage in high-risk 2008, thanks to a number of factors such sexual behaviours.” as increased availability of contracep­ tion, prenatal care and skilled assistance Recent Trends Encouraging during childbirth. Countries as diverse as Bolivia, China, Eritrea, Iran, Roma­ The good news is that today women are nia and Vietnam have made remarkable marrying later throughout the develop­ progress. Much more work remains to be ing world. They are delaying first births done, however, for all countries to meet and having fewer children than their the Millennium Development Goal to mothers did. These trends reflect the fact reduce maternal deaths by three-fourths that more girls are staying in school and (compared with 1990 levels) by 2015. more women and couples are practicing family planning. But there still is a large More to be Done unmet need for family planning: Ac­ cording to a 2009 report from the Gutt­ Where countries have prioritized wom­ macher Institute, more than 200 million en’s health in national policy, great prog­ women worldwide who want to avoid ress has been made. Women should be pregnancy do not use modern contracep­ encouraged to recognize and speak out tion. This contributes to tens of millions about their health care needs, so poli­ of unplanned births and unsafe abortions cymakers may learn and take action. WOMEN AND HEALTH: OVERVIEW 43

Partnerships between local groups and international organizations provide health care and counseling for pregnant women and new mothers in Madagascar.

Concern about women’s issues, including more attention to girls, adolescents and health care, prompted President Obama marginalized women who suffer from to appoint Melanne Verveer the first am- poverty and powerlessness and chang­ bassador-at-large for women’s issues, to ing the attitudes and practices that harm help address such problems. Secretary of women’s health. Also, men should be State Hillary Rodham Clinton has made partners in promoting women’s health, global women’s issues a high priority of in ensuring that sex and childbearing are the U.S. State Department. In 2009 Presi­ safe and healthy and in rearing the next dent Obama designated $63 million — to generation of young leaders — both girls be spent over six years — for the Global and boys. Health Initiative, a partnership among U.S. agencies to boost health care in the developing world, particularly for women and children. HIV/AIDS treatment proj­ Lori S. Ashford, a freelance consultant, ects such as mothers2mothers, which is has written about global population, health and women’s issues for 20 highlighted in this chapter, are funded by years. Formerly with the Population the U. S. Agency for International Devel­ Reference Bureau (PRB), she authored opment and the U.S. President’s Emer­ the widely disseminated PRB “Women gency Plan for AIDS Relief. of Our World” data sheets and “New Improving women’s health starts by Population Policies: Advancing Women’s recognizing that women have different Health and Rights” for the Population Bulletin, among other publications. needs from men and unequal access to health care. Focusing a “gender lens” on health services is necessary to reveal and address the inequalities between men’s and women’s care. This means paying PROFILE Salwa Al-Najjab Palestinian Health Care Activist By Naela Khalil

Overcoming gender bias in male- dominated hospitals wasn’t easy for Salwa Al-Najjab, but her success has inspired other Arab women. Her Juzoor Foundation brings medicine to poor and underserved communities. WOMEN AND HEALTH: PROFILE 45

alwa Al-Najjab was the check-ups and treatment. She Al-Najjab’s optimism is in­ best female math stu­ volunteered her time under the fectious. She maintains her Sdent in her class, and most difficult and complex con­ smile despite the challenges her passion for math­ ditions. She was creating change she has faced in her life. Dur­ ematics would have led her to on the ground. ing her early school years, she study at the College of Engineer­ Today, after more than attended eight different schools ing, but for her Russian math 30 years of work in hospitals in Ramallah, Hebron and Jor­ teacher’s advice to study medi­ and clinics in different parts of dan. Her father worked first at cine: “With your intelligence the Palestinian Territories, Al- the Jordanian Ministry of Edu­ and your strong personality, you Najjab heads the Juzoor (Roots) cation, then at UNESCO, so her will be of more benefit to the Foundation for Health and So­ family moved frequently. This women of Palestine as a doctor cial Development, based in Jeru­ meant she and her three siblings than as an engineer,” the teacher salem. She continues to enthu­ often changed schools, making said. Salwa Al-Najjab followed siastically pursue her dream, al­ it difficult to maintain long-term her teacher’s advice, and today though now, she says, it is more friendships. However, it was al­ she is changing medical care in difficult “to influence health ways easy for her to maintain the Palestinian Territories. care policy decisionmakers to her academic excellence. The hospital environment improve and develop the level Al-Najjab traveled to Rus­ stirred Al-Najjab’s curiosity of health care services provided sia to attend Moscow Univer­ and her love of knowledge. She to women, and to bridge the sity in 1971. After one year of hadn’t realized that her medi­ gap between service providers Russian language study, she en­ cal career also would show her and recipients.” rolled at Kuban Medical School that many women lived in very different circumstances from her own. Al-Najjab admits: “The hospital and the medical pro­ fession opened my eyes wide to conditions which I hadn’t real­ ized were as bad and as diffi­ cult as they were.” Her lifelong professional and personal battle to support women’s rights and to help provide better health care for women started when she began practicing medicine in 1979 at Al-Maqasid Hospital in Jerusalem. She expanded her efforts to create better conditions for women in the mid-1980s. Car­ rying her physician’s bag and in­ strument case, Al-Najjab visited Palestinian villages and refugee Palestinian women wait for treatment for their babies at the United camps to give women medical Nations Relief and Works Agency clinic in Gaza City. 46 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY in Krasdnada. Dealing with her fellow students was more dif­ ficult than learning a new lan­ guage or other demanding sub­ jects. Some Arab students looked at her disapprovingly; others un­ derestimated her ability to suc­ ceed because she was a woman. She persevered in her studies, defying those who doubted her, and became a model of academ­ ic success. She became a mentor to Palestinian women studying abroad. Her first job at Al-Maqasid Hospital presented her with ma­ jor challenges. She was the only female resident doctor, and she began working in the obstetrics and gynecology section. It was difficult for the male doctors to accept a female colleague and A nurse in a West Bank community clinic examines patients. The clinic is professional competitor. The part of USAID’s Health Flagship Project to improve community health care. hardest thing for Al-Najjab was that the female nurses did not Al-Najjab says: “I refused to colleagues at the hospital aston­ accept her either, because they accept their masculine [-biased] ished me.” were accustomed to dealing with division of labor, and I stuck to Al-Najjab also learned about male doctors. They believed that my position: ‘I will participate the unequal status of women. a male doctor was more compe­ in surgical operations, and I will She says, “I felt that I was get­ tent and professional than his perform circumcisions on boys.’ ting to know my society for the female counterpart. The atmo­ This didn’t please them, and they first time. I would feel distraught sphere at the hospital reflected nicknamed me ‘the rooster.’” when I delivered the baby of a this masculine bias in the way Al-Najjab says that the first girl who was no older than 15, or they divided the work: Al-Najjab time she experienced discrimi­ when I heard women affirming would do routine examinations nation against women was at the to me, unprompted, that men of female patients at the hospi­ hospital: “I grew up in a family had a monopoly over decisions tal clinic, while the male doctors that offered the same opportu­ regarding who their daughters would perform surgical opera­ nities to both sexes. Even my would marry, whether or not to tions and circumcisions. They grandfather, back in the 1960s, use contraceptives or how many did not expect that this quiet, allowed my aunts to study in children they would have.” Al- beautiful young woman would Britain, to work outside of the Najjab adds, “Women don’t have resist this arrangement, nor house and to spend the night the right to defend their own that the section head would sup­ away from home. Therefore, the right to an education … It’s a port her. attitude that I faced from my cycle that must be broken.” WOMEN AND HEALTH: PROFILE 4747

Al-Najjab’s family valued fans. They met people in far- Women and women’s rights are knowledge. Her father defied flung places who suffered from the most prominent victims,” convention by sending her to a severe lack of health care com­ she says. study in Russia. Although her pounded by the complex po­ Besides leading the Juzoor mother hadn’t completed her litical conditions resulting from Foundation, which seeks to in­ studies, she encouraged her four the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. fluence health care policies, Al- children, girls and boys alike, to Al-Najjab says, “I treated wom­ Najjab heads the Middle East continue their education. All of en who had no bathrooms in and North Africa Health Policy them graduated from college. their homes and others living in Forum, where she continues “Unlike other mothers, mine homes unfit for human habita­ to strive for change. She was never talked to me about mar­ tion. I came into contact with a nominated by the U.S. Consul­ riage. Instead, she would always bitter reality that overturned all ate General in Jerusalem for the talk to me about the importance of my convictions regarding the U.S. Department of State’s 2010 of education for a woman’s life,” concept of health: I realized that International Women of Cour­ Al-Najjab recalls. it wasn’t only a question of phys­ age award. After seven years at Al- ical well-being, but that health is With a husband and three Maqasid Hospital, during which also related to economic, social children, in addition to her med­ time she helped establish several and psychological conditions, ical practice and activism, Dr. high-quality clinics in Jerusalem and to the environment.” Salwa Al-Najjab has a full life. and its suburbs, Al-Najjab left She has fought many battles Her prescription for success is the hospital to work in the field. and continues to do so. Her con­ this: “We cannot but be optimis­ “I discovered that only a small victions and her decisions are tic about life.” number of people go to hospi­ sometimes contrary to social tals, either due to poverty or ig­ traditions that limit women’s norance,” she says. “If I wanted rights. Al-Najjab is an activist to provide health care to women, who gets things done. She co- Naela Khalil is a Palestinian I had to go to them, wherever founded the Women’s Social journalist. She won the 2008 Samir Kassir Award they were.” and Legal Guidance Center in for freedom of the press. In 1985, Al-Najjab and a Ramallah. The center shelters group of health professionals be­ women who are victims of vio­ gan visiting villages and refugee lence, offers them legal assis­ camps to provide health care. tance, refers their cases to the People’s reactions were positive, police and refers them to a safe but some doctors criticized her house for their protection. for damaging doctors’ “prestige” “I used to believe that as by going to the patients rather the years went by, change for than insisting that people come the better would take place. But to the doctor. what I am noticing today is the By breaking this rule of opposite. In this social environ­ prestige, Al-Najjab and her col­ ment of political frustration and leagues found conditions that poverty, fundamentalist move­ they did not encounter in well- ments have strengthened and organized clinics equipped with are actively working to move winter heating and summer society backwards at every level. PROJECT Mothers2mothers: Help for HIV-Positive Women By Maya Kulycky

HIV/AIDS is the eresa Njeri, a single she disclosed her status to her mother in Kiambu, a husband, who also tested HIV- scourge of Africa, Tnorthern suburb of Ke­ positive. Like others who were but in Kenya, the nya’s capital, Nairobi, afraid of the stigma associated has a dream. She wants to build with HIV, the couple hid their nongovernmental a home for herself and her six­ status. They separated shortly organization year-old son. Recently, Teresa after the birth of their son, who bought a plot of land. When she is HIV-negative. mothers2mothers looks out over it she pictures the A few months later, Teresa enables HIV-positive house she plans to build, with was hospitalized and told she three bedrooms, a “big kitchen” had AIDS. When her father women and their and a yard where her son can discovered her status from the families to live full lives play. Teresa is confident and hospital staff, he told her fam­ optimistic. But planning for a ily, who isolated her and took despite the disease. bright future, and having the her son away to live in the fam­ means to make it a reality, is a ily’s village. “So I was left alone, big change for her. Ten years ago all alone in the world,” Teresa Teresa was convinced that she remembers. and her son were going to die. Teresa fled, sought treat­ In 2001, Teresa was diag­ ment and volunteered to speak nosed as HIV-positive when to others with AIDS. But she she was five months pregnant. says she still “didn’t have any fo­ “The first thing that came to my cus in life. I didn’t have any hope. mind was death,” says Teresa. I didn’t know what to do.” Then “All of my hopes were shattered.” Teresa found mothers2mothers, The nurse at the clinic told thanks to nurses in the hospital Teresa she could protect her where she volunteered. They told baby from HIV, but the nurse her that mothers2mothers was “wasn’t convincing, she was seeking to hire women train­ not very sure.” Regardless, Te­ ed in PMTCT. Teresa applied resa joined a prevention of and became a mothers2mothers mother-to-child transmission mentor mother. (PMTCT) program. Meanwhile, WOMEN AND HEALTH: PROJECT 49

Mathakane Metsing carries her daughter at their home in Khatleng, Lesotho. She was helped by — and now works for — mothers2mothers as a peer educator. 50 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

Ntsiuoa Ralefifi, center, at a mothers2mothers support group at Mafeteng hospital in Lesotho. When she learned she was HIV positive, she enrolled in the transmission prevention program.

International Partnerships partners — trains and employs Mothers2-mothers operates 680 HIV-positive mothers to be sites in nine sub-Saharan Afri­ Mothers2mothers — funded “mentor mothers” to provide can countries, reaching about by USAID, PEPFAR (U.S. Presi­ counseling, education and sup­ 85,000 new pregnant women dent’s Emergency Plan for AIDS port to newly diagnosed HIV- and new mothers a month. Relief) and the CDC (U.S. Cen­ positive pregnant women and The African continent is ters for Disease Control), the new mothers. It is an innovative, struggling under the burden of Elton John AIDS Foundation, sustainable model of care at the HIV/AIDS. Of the 33 million Johnson & Johnson and oth­ forefront of prevention of moth­ people carrying HIV worldwide, er corporate and foundation er-to-child HIV transmission. 22 million live in sub-Saharan WOMEN AND HEALTH: PROJECT 5151

Africa. Ninety percent of HIV- 71 percent of those who attend­ am here at the [hospital] gate.’” infected babies are born in ed once. Adhering to the ARV The woman tested HIV-positive. the region and 75 percent of regime is critical to decreasing “I told her, ‘Don’t worry, because the world’s HIV-positive preg­ mother-to-child transmission you are going to live a very long nant women live in 12 African of HIV. Furthermore, 97 percent time.’ I disclosed my status to countries, according to studies of frequently-attending mother­ her.” Teresa convinced her to done by AVERT (www.avert.org), s2mothers clients get CD4 tests, adhere to PMTCT treatment the UNAIDS Regional Support which determine the number and deliver in the hospital. The Team for Eastern and South­ of T-helper cells with which woman gave birth to an HIV- ern Africa (http://www.unaid­ the body combats infections. A negative child. “I feel like a star,” srstesa.org/unaids-priority/2­ CD4 test shows how advanced Teresa laughs. preventing-mothers-dying-and­ an HIV infection is and is a first Mothers2mothers is work­ babies-becoming-infected-h) step toward receiving the life­ ing to expand its reach to women and the World Health Organi­ saving highly active antiretrovi­ in more countries and in coun­ zation Universal Access Report ral treatment (HAART). tries where it currently oper­ 2010. Meanwhile, the region Women are empowered ates. The impact is clear and the is desperately short of doctors by the support they receive method is simple — a woman and nurses. in mothers2mothers programs. talking to another woman can Mothers2mothers fills a gap They become peer educators help prevent mother-to-child by enlisting HIV-positive moth­ who are role models in their transmission of HIV. ers to counsel pregnant women communities, while earning a about how testing and treatment salary and gaining valuable work can ensure their babies are born experience. healthy and that, if necessary, Teresa credits mothers2mothers Maya Kulycky is the global they can get medication. Men­ with giving her a sense of communications manager at mothers2mothers. She also tor mothers work beside doc­ purpose. Her mothers2mothers lectures in political journalism at tors and nurses in health care colleagues encouraged her to University of Cape Town, South facilities, helping patients un­ pursue her college degree. She is Africa. She previously reported for derstand, accept and adhere to studying community health and ABC News and CNBC. A graduate the interventions that are pre­ development. “I feel like God of Johns Hopkins University, scribed. They are paid members created me … to talk to these she received a master’s degree from the University of London, of the medical team. women, and help them, em­ Goldsmith’s College, and a law power them, encourage them,” degree from Yale Law School. Empowering Women, she says. Protecting Children Teresa points to her success in helping a pregnant woman The results are clear. In Lesotho, from the traditional African reli­ data collected by mothers2mothers gion of Wakorino, whose adher­ show that 92 percent of preg­ ents often eschew professional nant women who attended the medical care. “I saw her when I organization’s instruction ses­ was coming to work,” she says. sions three or more times took She gave the woman her tele­ antiretroviral (ARV) medication phone number, and “the follow­ during pregnancy, compared to ing day she called me and said, ‘I

CHAPTER 4 • VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Violence against women is a serious and common problem worldwide. Women and children, trafficked for sex and slave labor, are particularly vulnerable in conflict zones. This woman was among hundreds raped when rebels attacked a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo. OVERVIEW VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN By Robin N. Haarr

iolence against women is a serious human rights violation Vand a public health problem of global proportions. The Declaration on the Elimination of Vio­ lence against Women, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993, defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that re­ sults in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffer­ ing to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.”

A Serious and Common Problem

International research, conducted over the past two decades by the World Health Organization and others, reveals that violence against women is a much more women. Rates tend to be higher in soci­ An activist in Dhaka, serious and common problem than previ­ eties in which women are socially regu­ Bangladesh, ously suspected. It is estimated that one lated or secluded in the home, excluded participates in out of three women worldwide has been from participation in the economic labor a candlelight raped, beaten or abused. While violence market and restricted from owning and vigil for the against women occurs in all cultures inheriting property. It is more prevalent elimination of and societies, its frequency varies across where there are restrictive divorce laws, violence against women. countries. Societies that stress the im­ a lack of victim support services and no portance of traditional patriarchal prac­ legislation that effectively protects female tices which reinforce unequal power rela­ victims and punishes offenders. Violence tions between men and women and keep against women is a consequence of gen­ women in a subordinate position tend der inequality, and it prevents women to have higher rates of violence against from fully advancing in society. VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: OVERVIEW: OVERVIEW 55

Women holding Two of the most common and univer­ of women consider it an inevitable part of portraits of sal forms of violence against women are life and marriage. Many battered women victims protest intimate partner violence and sexual vio­ suffer in silence because they fear retribu­ violence against lence. Intimate partner violence by a cur­ tion and negative repercussions and stig­ women in Milan, rent or former male partner or spouse is a matization for speaking out. Italy. serious, but preventable form of violence Sexual violence includes harassment, that affects millions of women worldwide. assault and rape. It is a common misper­ The violence can be emotional, economic, ception that women are at greater risk of psychological or physical, including sexu­ sexual violence from strangers; in reality, al abuse and murder. In countries where women are most likely to experience sex­ reliable, large-scale studies have been ual violence from men they are intimate conducted, between 10 percent and 71 with or know. During times of war and percent of women report they have been armed conflict, rape and sexual violence physically or sexually abused, or both, perpetrated upon women are systemati­ by an intimate partner (WHO). Intimate cally used as a tactic of war by militaries partner violence is so deeply embedded in and enemy groups to further their politi­ many cultures and societies that millions cal objectives. 56 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

Cultural Factors and Domestic Violence

In many parts of the world, violence against women and girls is based upon cultural and historical practices. In some parts of the world, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, female genital mu­ tilation is a common form of violence against women. There are also forms of violence against women and girls related to marriage — child marriage, forced ar­ ranged marriages, bride kidnappings, and dowry-related deaths and violence. Child marriage and forced marriages are com­ mon in Africa, South and Central Asia, and the Middle East. South Asia report­ edly has some of the highest rates of child marriages in the world. In South Asia, young women are murdered or driven to suicide as a result of continuous harass­ ment and torture by husbands and in- laws trying to extort more dowry from the bride and her family. In other parts of the world, such as Central Asia, the Caucasus region and parts of Africa, women are at risk of bride kidnappings or marriage by capture, in which a man abducts the woman he wishes to marry. Honor kill­ ings — the killing of females by male rela­ tives to restore family honor — are deeply rooted in some cultures where women are Young girls considered the property of male relatives Finally, trafficking of women and girls married off as and are responsible for upholding family for sexual exploitation, marriage, domes­ children, a custom honor. This is the case particularly in the tic servitude and labor is another form in some parts of Middle East, South Asia and Africa. Hon­ of violence against women. Women are Africa and Asia, or killings have even occurred in immi­ deceived and coerced by traffickers who are vulnerable to grant communities in Europe and North promise jobs and the opportunity for a abuse. These girls, both 12 years old, America. A woman can be killed for talk­ better life. Parents sell their daughters were married in ing to a male who is not a relative, consen­ for small sums of money or promises of 2011 in Madhya sual sexual relations outside of marriage, remittances for the child’s labor. Traffick­ Pradesh, India, being raped, refusing to marry the man of ers often target poor and vulnerable com­ although Indian her family’s choice, disrespecting her hus­ munities, but young women seeking to law prohibits child band or seeking a divorce. study or work abroad can also be at risk. marriage. VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: OVERVIEW 57

In Tucson, Arizona, a woman recounts her experiences of domestic abuse. Social programs and shelters aid U.S. women escaping domestic violence, which is often a factor in homelessness.

Trafficking is a modern-day form of slav­ but it requires the political will of govern­ ery that affects millions of women and ments, collaboration with international girls worldwide. and civil society organizations and legal and civil action in all sectors of society. Concerted Efforts Needed

Every year millions of women require medical attention as a result of violence. Robin Haarr is a professor of criminal Victims suffer disfigurement, disability justice at Eastern Kentucky University whose research focuses on violence and death. Physical and mental health against women and children and human problems often continue long after the trafficking, nationally and internationally. violence ends. Some women commit sui­ She does research and policy work for the cide to escape the violence in their lives. United Nations and U.S. embassies, and Across the globe, women are address­ has received several awards for her work, ing violence in different ways, including including induction into the Wall of Fame at Michigan State University’s School of awareness-raising campaigns, crisis cen­ Criminal Justice and the CoraMae Richey ters and shelters for female victims, vic­ Mann “Inconvenient Woman of the Year” tim support services (medical care, coun­ Award from the American Society of seling and legal services) and demanding Criminology, Division on Women and Crime. enhanced criminal justice responses and laws that effectively protect female vic­ tims of violence and punish offenders. Violence against women is preventable, PROFILE Chouchou Namegabe A Fierce Voice Against Sexual Violence By Solange Lusiku VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: PROFILE 59

Journalist, radio orn on March 30, women — who are victims of 1978, Namegabe took the conflict. broadcast producer Bup the fight for wom­ and co-founder of the en’s rights early. Her “Listening Clubs” Break secondary school education and the Silence South Kivu Women’s experience in community ra­ Media Association, dio spurred her interest in the Namegabe works with other struggle that now defines her. women throughout the DRC to which she currently Namegabe began her broadcast­ set up “listening clubs” where heads, activist ing career in 1997 as a trainee abused women may share their at Radio Maendeleo, a popular stories. Convincing women who Chouchou Namegabe local radio station. She contin­ have been raped and tortured is fiercely dedicated ued to volunteer, and eventually to break their silence and speak became a permanent staff mem­ about their horrific experiences to fighting violence ber. As violence intensified in has been a major achievement for against women. She the Democratic Republic of the Namegabe and AFEM. Residents Congo (DRC), she focused her of Bukavu and all eight territo­ focuses on eradicating reporting on women, health and ries of South Kivu Province can sexual violence human rights, and on exposing hear firsthand the tragic stories used as a weapon government corruption. AFEM of these women on local radio, (Association des Femmes des thanks to her efforts. Talking of war, a practice Médias de Sud Kivu) was found­ about sexual abuse and murder that has afflicted the ed in 2003, and she became its is no longer forbidden, but has president in 2005. She has used become a weapon against this eastern part of the the association and her role devastating scourge in the east­ Democratic Republic as a broadcaster as effective ern DRC. Namegabe recognized vehicles to disseminate the voic­ that rape was so prevalent in the of the Congo for more es of women — especially rural region that the stories must be than a decade.

Namegabe and Ridelphine Katabesha lead the AFEM journalists at a parade marking International Women’s Day 2010. AFEM trains women journalists and advocates free speech. 60 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

Women’s rights activist Chouchou Namegabe testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2009 about rape and other forms of violence against women in conflict zones. She stands on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. told to bring about change. She tragedy with their friends and hosted by AFEM members. Un­ promoted this idea on the radio family. They gradually are mov­ der Chouchou Namegabe’s lead­ and among her female journal­ ing past their trauma through ership, AFEM developed con­ ist coworkers. A practical wom­ speaking out: tacts with women everywhere an, she backed her words with “I was raped, and my geni­ they went in South Kivu. The action. In 2007, despite odds tals were mutilated.” results are encouraging. Slowly against success, Namegabe orga­ “They came with these hor­ but surely, women are becom­ nized a campaign in Bukavu she rible beards. They ordered me ing more comfortable talking called “Break the Silence: Media to lie down on the ground. They about violent sexual abuse and Against Sexual Violence.” This took off my clothes and raped me the taboos related to openly dis­ campaign was universally well- in front of my husband and chil­ cussing sex are disappearing as a received among peace-loving dren. There were seven of them, result of AFEM’s work in South women, who value the physical eight. After that I don’t remem­ Kivu to raise awareness about integrity of human beings. ber because I was unconscious.” the problem. Women have dared Although they live in tur­ to challenge not only rape, but bulent areas that suffer spo­ Ending Abuse and Rape as other abusive and discrimina­ radic incursions by rebels and Weapons of War tory practices. other armed militia, many ru­ Namegabe and her AFEM ral women have regained their The people of South Kivu heard colleagues have expanded their self-confidence and have over­ such statements during differ­ campaign to reach international come the shame of sharing their ent on-site radio broadcasts audiences. They have attended VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: PROFILE 6161 hearings at the International families and villages.” Her voice to ensure that these brutalities Criminal Court at The Hague, choked with tears, she contin­ are recognized in the DRC as where they have convinced oth­ ued: “We have interviewed over crimes against humanity, and er journalists to join their fight 400 women in South Kivu, and the perpetrators prosecuted. She to save women in South Kivu their stories are terrifying. In has called for impunity on rape from rape and torture as a weap­ fact, the word rape fails to tru­ and sexual violence to end, for on of war. ly describe what is happening, governments and corporations Namegabe also appeared because it is not only rape that to “end the profitability of blood before the U.S. Senate to testify occurs, but atrocities also ac­ minerals” and mandate that about the atrocities committed company the rapes.” A mother Congolese minerals are “conflict against Congolese women. She was taken with her five children free.” She also helps rehabilitate told the Senate Foreign Relations to the forest, Namegabe said, the victims of violence. “Eco­ Committee in May 2009, “Rape “As each day passed the rebels nomic recovery is part of the and sexual violence [are] used killed one of her children and total recovery of the women and as a weapon and tactic of war forced her to eat her child’s flesh. their communities,” she told the to destroy the community. The She begged to be killed but they U.S. senators. rapes are targeted and inten­ refused and said ‘No, we can’t The visible results that this tional, and are meant to remove give you a good death.’” In other fighter for justice facilitated the people from their mineral- cases women’s genitals were set earned her international recog­ rich land through fear, shame, on fire “not to kill them but to let nition, including the prestigious violence, and the intentional them suffer.” Vital Voices Global Leadership spread of HIV throughout entire Chouchou Namegabe wants award and the Knight Interna­ tional Journalism award from the International Center for Journalists in Washington, D.C. Namegabe continues to raise awareness about the plight of Congolese women and encour­ ages female victims of sexual violence to break their silence, because there is power in truth.

Solange Lusiku, a journalist in the Democratic Republic of Congo, edits the only newspaper in Bukavu, South Kivu. She worked more than a decade in broadcasting, is married and the mother of five children.

Ridelphine Katabesha Aganze, longtime activist for women’s rights, teaches a class on the voting process. She is a reporter, editor and producer for AFEM. PROJECT Gender Equality and Combating Domestic Violence

By Qin Liwen

In China, a nongov­ heng Guohua, a 51-year­ Women’s Federation couldn’t do old survivor of domes­ anything to help; no one took ernment organization Ztic violence, speaks in the organization seriously. called the Anti- a cheerful voice that Shaken by the death of her belies the two decades of abuse father and determined to do Domestic Violence she is describing. In one 1998 something, in 1999 Zheng ran Network has worked incident, Zheng was so severely away from her village home to beaten by her husband that her Shijiazhuang, the provincial to end domestic spleen was ruptured and had to capital. Finally, she found help. violence for 10 years be removed. She says her father, A letter issued by the Women’s devastated by her mistreatment, Federation of Hebei Province through education, died from a brain hemorrhage. “I spurred the local police into social support knelt at my father’s grave, crying action. Her then-husband was and laughing. I told him, ‘Dad, arrested and sentenced to four and advocacy I promise you, I will [have] re­ years in jail. for legislation that venge!’” says Zheng. “I think I Zheng was lucky. She was was [awakened] by my father’s supported by an organization protects women. death. And I realized that this that is part of a strong anti- bad guy (her ex-husband) must domestic violence movement be punished. I can’t let him harm in China, headed by the Anti- people anymore!” Domestic Violence Network of An often bruised and ter­ China Law Association (ADVN). rified Zheng sought help from In 2001, a new clause of the family members, neighbors, vil­ Marriage Law made domestic vi­ lage cadres, county police and olence illegal. The ADVN played the county Women’s Federation. an important role in the adop­ People in her village repeatedly tion of that clause. Today, Zheng warned her husband and once is remarried, farming on a piece beat him up, but that didn’t stop of rented land in her village. his abuse. Police ignored her be­ Inspired by the international cause “meddling with domestic gender equality movement and affairs” was not their duty — and the 1995 World Conference on was even considered inappro­ Women in Beijing, a group of priate. The poorly-funded local Chinese women activists set up VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: PROJECT 63

the ADVN in June 2000. The ADVN is dedicated to achiev­ ing gender equality in China. It was the first — and remains the largest — anti-domestic violence organization in China, and it is responsible for significant progress in legislation, investiga­ tion and prosecution of crimes, social support and public aware­ ness. “Ten years ago nobody would even think that beating up wives is a crime. Now many people know about it,” says ADVN co-founder, Li Hongtao, who is director of the Library of China Women’s University. “And more and more police, judges and procurators (pros­ ecutors and investigators) are learning that they should take actions against it.” The ADVN now boasts 118 individual members and 75 group members such as women’s Above: ADVN helped federations, research institutes Zheng Guohua when and nongovernmental organiza­ she left her abusive tions (NGOs). Every three years husband. Here she poses with her the ADVN identifies a number mother and niece. of projects and selects the most Left: Chen Mingxia suitable organizational mem­ is co-founder of the bers to conduct the work. Each China Anti-Domestic project is strictly monitored Violence Network and evaluated. Most concern Law Association (ADVN) which helps education and advocacy about women escape domestic violence. abusive relationships. A co-founder and chief co­ ordinator of the early ADVN project management commit­ tee, Chen Mingxia, explains its success. “From the very begin­ ning we chose to associate with the China Law Society, an NGO within the [political] system. 64 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

Members of the ADVN Beijing team include: (standing, left to right) Dong Yige, Wu Yuling, Dong Peiling, Liu Xiaojuan, Hou Zhiming (seated), Chen Mingxia, Li Hongtao and Zhang Xiao.

First because we thought leg­ of persuading male officials to representatives across the net­ islation is fundamental for the accept their ideas. “But we also work, no matter how much anti-domestic violence move­ keep the independent identity debate surrounds issues. This ment. Second, the China Law and operation as an NGO, so that keeps ADVN members active Association has ready access to the prospects and goals of ADVN and committed to implement­ the essential, relevant govern­ can be reached relatively smooth­ ing plans. ment branches like legislative, ly step by step,” says Chen. “I am happy to work here, juridical and public security of­ The other strategic advan­ because people in this orga­ fices and is trusted by them.” In tage of the ADVN is its open and nization are all so kind and China, NGOs are strictly regu­ democratic structure. It is open idealistic. Everyone believes in lated by the government’s civil to any individual or organization what they are doing,” says Dong affairs office and are often mis­ that wants to contribute to the Yige, a young graduate from trusted by officials if they are not shared goal of stopping domes­ Chicago University who has connected with government. So tic abuse of women. Strategic worked for ADVN for a year. NGOs such as ADVN use cre­ goals are set and big decisions “The democratic atmosphere is ative, non-confrontational ways are made democratically among invigorating.” VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: PROJECT 6565

Born in August 1940, Chen Association. Many ADVN co- Hunan Province,” says Chen. Mingxia thinks her generation founders were scholars, govern­ “But these are not enough. We was well educated in gender ment officials, teachers — elite should urge the government to equality by the Communist gov­ women of Chen’s generation or take up the responsibility of an­ ernment founded in 1949. Chen one generation later. ti-domestic violence.” became a researcher at the In­ ADVN activists still see Meanwhile, the ADVN’s stitute for Legal Research of the much work ahead. “We have long-time sponsors, Ford Foun­ China Academy of Social Sci­ all these extremely successful dation (United States), the Swed­ ences, specializing in marriage cases in different regions: com­ ish International Development laws and women’s rights, and munity actions against domestic Agency (SIDA), Oxfam Novib she was the former Deputy Di­ violence in You’anmen, Beijing; (Netherlands) and the Human rector of the Marriage Law As­ or the training program for Rights Center of the University sociation within the China Law public security bureau chiefs in of Oslo (Norway), are changing their sponsorship levels. That means ADVN must learn how to raise funds for its projects — and it is doing so. “Legislation takes time, and it takes even longer to implement a new law under completely dif­ ferent situations across China. Changing ideas is a gradual pro­ cess. Too many gaps [need] to be filled. We knew it from the beginning, and we’re patient. We will march forward,” Chen promises.

Qin Liwen is the Director of News Center, Modern Media Group, China. She has worked for several major print and online publications in Singapore and China since 2000 and is the author of several books, including News Is Cruel (2003) and The Adventure of Ideas (2004).

The China office of the international organization Stop Domestic Violence distributes posters that provide contacts and information for abused women.

CHAPTER 5 • WOMEN, GIRLS AND ARMED CONFLICT

Armed conflict disrupts families and has significant negative consequences for women. Although they are victims of war, they may also be agents of peace. Displaced Sudanese women, driven from their villages by Janjaweed militia, shelter at the Abu Shouk refugee camp in Darfur, Sudan. OVERVIEW WOMEN, GIRLS AND ARMED CONFLICT By Dyan Mazurana

omen and girls experi­ ence armed conflict much Wthe same way men and boys do. They are killed, injured, disabled and tortured. They are targeted with weapons and suffer social and economic dislocation. They suffer the psychosocial impact as loved ones die or they witness violence against their families and neighbors. They suffer the effects of violence before, during and af­ ter flight from a combat zone. They are at heightened risk of diseases, including sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV/AIDS. They are affected by the re­ source depletion resulting from armed conflict. They join, or are forced to join, armed forces or insurgency movements. They care for the wounded, sick, despair­ ing and displaced, and may be among the most outspoken advocates for peace.

Significant and Lasting Harm

There is a growing body of evidence (ICRC Sporadic fighting 2001, UNIFEM 2002) that the long-term abortion, torture, trafficking, sexual slav­ between Thai impact of armed conflict on women and ery and the intentional spread of STDs, and Cambodian girls may be exacerbated by their social including HIV/AIDS, are weapons of troops on vulnerability. The harm done to women warfare integral to many of today’s con­ Thailand’s northeast border and girls during and after armed conflict flicts. Women are victims of genocide drove these is significant, and often exposes them to and enslaved for labor. Women and girls women and further harm and violence. Gender-based are often viewed as culture bearers and children to a and sexual violence such as rape, forced reproducers of “the enemy” and thus be­ refugee camp in marriage, forced impregnation, forced come prime targets. Women are exploited Surin province. WOMEN, GIRLS AND ARMED CONFLICT: OVERVIEW 69

Somalian women because of their maternal responsibilities Women as Agents of gather with their and attachments, which heighten their War and Peace children at the vulnerability to abuse. Dadaab refugee Armed conflicts also have indirect Women and girls are not merely vic­ camp in Eastern Kenya. negative consequences that affect agricul­ tims of armed conflict. They are active ture, livelihoods, infrastructure, public agents. They make choices, possess criti­ health and welfare provision, gravely dis­ cal perspectives on their situations and rupting the social order. Research shows organize collectively in response to those that these repercussions affect women situations. Women and girls can perpe­ more adversely than men. As noted by trate violence and can support violence Plümper and Neumayer (2006), while perpetrated by others. They become ac­ women typically live longer than men tive members of conflict because they in peacetime, armed conflict decreases are committed to the political, religious the gap between female and male life ex­ or economic goals of those involved in pectancy. Heavily ethnicized conflicts or violence. This can mean, and has meant, wars within “failed states” are significant­ taking up arms in liberation struggles, re­ ly more damaging to women’s health and sistance to occupation or participation in life expectancy than other civil wars. struggles against inequality on race, eth­ nic, religious or class/caste lines. Women and girls are also often ac­ tive in peace processes before, during and 70 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY after conflicts. Many women know the participation. Too often, women and importance of peace processes and join a girls actively involved in rebuilding local variety of grass-roots peace-building ef­ economies and civil society are pushed forts aimed at rebuilding the econom­ into the background when formal peace ic, political, social and cultural fabric processes begin. of their societies. In 1991, as the war in the Balkans was gaining momentum, Post-Conflict Gains in Gender Bosnian Muslim Women in Black launched an antiwar women grieve Relations among coffins campaign in the Balkans. In Fiji, as the of victims of the tensions between Indo-Fijians and indig­ Finally, women and girls may gain from 1995 Srebrenica enous peoples were getting worse, leading the changed gender relations that result massacre. The to the coup d’état that occurred in 2000, from armed conflict. They sometimes remains were women from both ethnic groups created acquire new status, skills and power that unearthed the Blue Ribbon Campaign peace move­ result from taking on new responsibilities in 2010. The massacre ment (Anderlini, 2007). when male heads of household are absent shattered lives However, formalized processes of or deceased. These changes in women’s of widows and peace, including negotiations, accords roles can challenge existing social norms. families of the and reconstruction plans, frequently Women’s participation in household de­ 8,000 killed by exclude women’s and girls’ meaningful cisionmaking, civil society and the local Bosnian Serb troops in 1995. WOMEN, GIRLS AND ARMED CONFLICT: OVERVIEW 71

in pre-conflict situations as shaped by Anti-Indian ethnicity, class, caste and age often set violence in the stage for women’s and girls’ experi­ Fiji displaced ences and options during and after armed thousands in 2000, such as conflict. this woman and The international community is in­ girl in a refugee creasingly aware of and responsive to the camp near impact of armed conflict on women and Lautoka, Fiji. girls (as shown, for instance, by the unan­ imous adoption in October 2001 of Unit­ ed Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, which included the special needs of women and girls during repatriation and resettlement, rehabilitation, reintegration and post-conflict reconstruction) and the importance of their participation in peace processes and the post-conflict period. Of paramount importance in any strategy to promote and attain women’s and girls’ rights during and after conflict is a con­ text-specific, grounded understanding of how the conflict has affected different groups of women and their families.

Dyan Mazurana is a research director economy and their ownership of land and associate professor at the Feinstein International Center, Tufts University, or goods may be altered, sometimes — where she lectures on women’s and although not always — to their benefit. children’s human rights, war-affected civilian The specific experience of women populations, armed opposition groups, and girls in armed conflicts greatly de­ armed conflict and peacekeeping at the pends upon their status in societies Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. before armed conflict breaks out. Where Author of four books, numerous articles and reports, she consults for governments, cultures of violence and discrimina­ human rights and child protection tion against women and girls exist prior organizations and U.N. agencies to improve to conflict, these abuses are likely to be efforts to assist youth and women affected exacerbated during conflict. Similarly, if by armed conflict. She has worked in South women are not allowed to be part of de­ Asia, the Balkans and sub-Saharan Africa. cisionmaking before conflict, it is usually extremely difficult for them to become involved in decisions during the con­ flict itself or the peace process and post- conflict period. Thus, gender relations PROFILE Zainab Salbi Helping Women Recover from War By Joanna L. Krotz

Zainab Salbi saw firsthand women suffering in war- torn Bosnia. She responded by founding Women for Women International, which has brought hope to thousands of women in conflict zones around the world. WOMEN, GIRLS AND ARMED CONFLICT: PROFILE 73

harismatic and forth­ serving more than 250,000 of school and family outings, right, Zainab Salbi women worldwide. Known as a with lessons in piano and bal­ Cinstantly grabs your fierce and effective champion, let. In her best-selling memoir, attention. And that’s Salbi travels constantly, work­ Between Two Worlds, published even before you see her resume ing with local groups to secure in 2005, Salbi describes sunlit or hear her compelling personal women’s safety and economic days of driving around in the story. prosperity in some of the world’s family car alongside her mother, At age 41, she is recognized most devastated regions, includ­ shopping, running errands, pay­ around the world as the founder ing the Democratic Republic of ing social calls: “As we drove … and chief executive officer of the Congo, Rwanda, Sudan and along the boulevards lined with Women for Women Internation­ Afghanistan. Yet little in Zainab palm trees heavy with dates … I al, a nongovernmental organiza­ Salbi’s fairytale childhood could took in my city through the pas- tion that helps women survivors have foretold such a calling. senger-side window — old Bagh­ of war to rebuild their lives. Growing up in the privi­ dad with its dark arcaded souk Over its 17-year history, Wom­ leged precincts of Baghdad, [market] where men hammered en for Women has distributed she was the cherished daugh­ out copper and politics, and the nearly $80 million in direct aid, ter of an elite Iraqi family. Her new Baghdad with its cafes and microcredit loans and programs early years were an idyllic blur Al-Mansour boutiques.” Most

Zainab Salbi meets with women in Rwanda. 74 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

Women for Women founder and CEO Zainab Salbi, far left, and Afghan-American actress Azita Ghanizada, far right, lead a peace march across the Brooklyn Bridge, organized in collaboration with Google, on the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, March 8, 2011 in New York. everything Salbi learned in her teenage years, the family felt the United States, particularly after early years, she writes, came effects of Saddam’s regime, both the September 11, 2001, terror­ through her adored mother. his patronage and his oppressive ist attacks, that intimacy with Life changed when she heel. She recalls halcyon week­ Saddam would haunt her. “I kept turned 11, although it would be ends at Saddam’s compound, it a secret and told no one,” she years before she could pinpoint calling him “Amo” or “Uncle,” says. “I was afraid if I told people the shift. Saddam Hussein as­ playing with his kids around the I knew Saddam, my face would sumed power and soon anointed pool and, as she was constant­ be erased and all anyone would Salbi’s father, a commercial avia­ ly cautioned, willfully ignor­ see in me was Saddam.” tor, as the ruler’s personal pilot. ing the fear and violence rising Increasingly, through Salbi’s around her. Later, living in the WOMEN, GIRLS AND ARMED CONFLICT: PROFILE 7575

When Salbi was 19, her pro­ In 1993, Salbi was living Salbi asked Nabito whether she gressive mother suddenly an­ in Washington, remarried to wanted her story kept quiet. In­ nounced that she’d arranged a a Palestinian student named stead, says Salbi, “she said, ‘If I marriage for Salbi to a much old­ Amjad Atallah, when she read could tell my story to the whole er Iraqi banker living in America. a news story about the Bosnian world, I would, so other women “It was very painful,” says Salbi. war and rape camps where some would not have to go through “My mother had always told me 20,000 women were raped. The what I’ve gone through. So you not to depend on any man. She couple decided to travel to Bos­ go and tell my story.’” was passionate, adamant about nia to help. Nabito’s courage — and her it. Then all of a sudden I was Salbi and Atallah returned resilient conviction — pushed being whisked away from home. to Washington determined to Salbi into breaking her own si­ I had no idea what she was talk­ find a group that would provide lence. Owning her past also has ing about.” Twenty years on, you aid for Bosnian rape victims. But changed the way Zainab Salbi still hear the hurt, the loss and none existed. So, still on a stu­ works. “Before, I’d be the hu­ indignation in Salbi’s voice. dent budget, the couple founded manitarian worker with connec­ Dutifully, Salbi went off to be a their own organization, Women tions and aid interviewing other bride in Chicago. for Women, and began to help women. Now, I am their equal. And she landed in a night­ the women in the Balkans. I’m not there to save anyone. I mare. “The man who was my hus­ By 2004, Salbi, now divorced, actually am one of the women band turned out to be abusive,” had expanded Women for I’m trying to help.” she says. When Salbi proved un­ Women to its international mis­ bowed, he raped her. She walked sion. Appearances on the Oprah out after three months. “I had Winfrey Show, which draws mil­ $7 in my pocket, some designer lions of viewers, boosted both Joanna L. Krotz is a multimedia clothes on my back and about her profile and the organization journalist and speaker whose work has appeared in the New $20 a week from family funds to as donations climbed. In the York Times, Worth, Money and survive,” she says. 15 years since arriving in the Town & Country and on MSN It was 1990 and Saddam United States, Salbi became a and Entrepreneurship.org. She had just invaded Kuwait. After prominent humanitarian and an is the author of The Guide to Operation Desert Storm was award-winning women’s rights Intelligent Giving and founder of launched, there was no going advocate, honored by President the Women’s Giving Institute, an organization that educates donors home to Iraq for Salbi. Bill Clinton for her work in Bos­ about strategic philanthropy. Over time, she built a life in nia. What hadn’t changed were the United States. It was years her secrets about Saddam and before she saw her family again. her first marriage. And years after that, when her On a trip to the eastern mother was ill and dying, that Congo that year, Salbi was inter­ Salbi finally found the voice to viewing a woman named Nabi­ ask why she’d been sent away. to, then age 52. Rebels had raped Saddam had his eye on you, her Nabito and her three daughters. mother told her. The only escape “There were so many she said route from becoming Saddam’s she couldn’t tell how many were plaything was an arranged mar­ around and how many had raped riage on another continent. her,” says Salbi, remembering. PROJECT Liberia: Female Peacekeepers Smash Stereotypes

By Bonnie Allen

Since its ground­ ive days after an elabo­ conflict resolution make up the rate marriage ceremo­ FFPU at any one time. They are breaking deployment Fny in southern India, supported by about two dozen in 2007, India has 28-year-old Rewti Ar­ men who serve as drivers, cooks junan traded her red silk sari for and logistical coordinators. sent four all-female a blue camouflage police uni­ The FFPU is primed for police units to Liberia, form and flew to the West Afri­ rapid response to any violence can country of Liberia. that might erupt in this country each serving a The young bride is serving in of 3.8 million, which still lacks one-year rotation. one of the world’s few all-female a strong army or armed police police units deployed to a United force. Their success in the Nations peacekeeping mission. Two bloody civil wars, be­ postwar country has “In India, we are quite tra­ tween 1989 and 1996, and again ditional with these things. My from 1999 to 2006, killed about inspired other nations husband, he was against it,” ad­ 250,000 Liberians, displaced to defy tradition mits Arjunan, who had never be­ hundreds of thousands more, fore traveled outside India. The traumatized women with ram­ and deploy more trained police officer gave her pant sexual violence, destroyed female troops in U.N. future husband an ultimatum. infrastructure such as schools, “I told him, ‘If you permit hospitals and roads, and cor­ peacekeeping roles. me to go on this mission, I will rupted the justice system. marry you.’” Eight years after the war Now, Arjunan’s life is any­ ended, almost 9,500 U.N. peace- thing but traditional. She is keepers help maintain the frag­ helping to change the face of ile peace. international policing in a post- “The greatest deed is to pro­ conflict country. tect humanity. I got this chance, Since its groundbreaking de­ and I thought, ‘I want to live ployment in 2007, India has sent this,’” says Arjunan. four Female Formed Police Units The Female Formed Police (FFPU) to Liberia, each serv­ Unit is a symbol of progress for ing a one-year rotation. More U.N. Security Council Resolu­ than 100 female police officers tion 1325 on women, peace and trained in crowd control and security, which stipulates that WOMEN, GIRLS AND ARMED CONFLICT: PROJECT 77

A member of the United Nations first all-female peacekeeping force stands guard with fellow officers after arriving at the Monrovia, Liberia, airport. 78 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

An all-female United Nations peacekeeping unit from India arrives in Monrovia, Liberia. peacekeeping missions support guarding the president’s office, the criminals use weapons,” says women’s participation in post- and, by night, they patrol crime- LNP Commander Gus Hallie. conflict peace building. ridden areas of the capital, “So, with our FFPU counterparts The United Nations’ ulti­ Monrovia. on our side, with arms, we feel mate goal is gender parity in the As the rain trickles down on we can battle with criminals.” civilian, military and police sec­ the dark streets of Monrovia’s As they patrol, the U.N. po­ tors, but, globally, women make Congo Town, Arjunan sits in the lice observer and the LNP offi­ up just 8.2 percent of roughly back seat of a U.N. police vehicle cer joke that “Indian women are 13,000 U.N. police and only two with her hair tucked inside a blue tough.” Arjunan smiles, pleased, percent of military police. beret and a pistol strapped to her but she explains why she is a India has scored high marks waist. Beside her, 25-year-old good peacekeeper. for pioneering an all-female po­ Pratiksha Parab holds an AK-47 “Women are not aggres­ lice unit, serving alongside oth­ rifle and peers out the window. sive. We come in a polite way. er female officers from Nigeria Their job is to protect Li­ This presence can maintain the and elsewhere, in a country that beria National Police (LNP) of­ peace. We are loving by nature.” boasts Africa’s first female head ficers, who are not armed, as There are many stereotypes of state, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. they patrol to deter armed rob­ attached to female peacekeep­ By day, the Indian police beries and rape. “Most of the ers: more nurturing, more com­ officers stand in the hot sun violent crimes are at night, and municative, less intimidating. WOMEN, GIRLS AND ARMED CONFLICT: PROJECT 7979

The label that makes Contingent Doucet says the U.N.’s fe­ India’s all-female unit has Commander Usher Kiran cringe, male police, known as “blue inspired Bangladesh and Nigeria though, is “soft.” helmettes,” have inspired Libe­ to create their own, while coun­ “I don’t think there is a dif­ rian women to join the national tries such as Rwanda and Ghana ference between female and police force. In 2007, only six also are ramping up their female male,” says Kiran, a 22-year po­ percent of Liberia’s police were troop contributions to U.N. mis­ lice veteran, as she sits under a women. Today, that proportion sions. Back at the Indian head­ poster of Mahatma Gandhi. has risen to 15 percent, with quarters in Monrovia, Arjunan “If you are putting on the roughly 600 female officers. talks to her new husband over same uniform, you are doing the The Indian women also the Internet, using a webcam, same duty, you are having the sponsor an orphanage, teach for at least an hour every day. same authority as the males.” self-defense and computer class­ Although she’s a little homesick, “Where we found a differ­ es to local women, and — de­ Arjunan says she is proud to ence [between male and female spite limited English — reach follow in the footsteps of other peacekeepers] is in their percep­ out to survivors of sexual abuse. courageous women in India’s tions of their role,” explains the “I can be scared to talk to history. U.N.’s gender adviser in Liberia, a man,” whispers a 16-year-old “Many freedom fighters Carole Doucet. “The women see rape victim, who cannot be iden­ were ladies ... fighting for justice. themselves as more broadly in­ tified, at a safe home for girls in Fighting for good things.” volved in the community.” Monrovia. “A woman is better. She is like an auntie or mother.”

Bonnie Allan is a freelance journalist working in Liberia, West Africa. She worked as a journalist in Canada for more than a decade and holds a master’s degree in international human rights law from the University of Oxford.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton greets a U.N. peacekeeper in Monrovia. Clinton has strongly supported Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in promoting democracy and development. In 2010 USAID invested more than $11 million in programs for women’s empowerment.

CHAPTER 6 • WOMEN AND THE ECONOMY

A small loan allowed this woman to go into business selling spices in a Tbilisi neighborhood market. OVERVIEW WOMEN AND THE ECONOMY By Susanne E. Jalbert

n 1995, activists from 189 countries pondered gender equity at the Unit­ Ied Nations Fourth World Confer­ ence on Women in Beijing and the parallel nongovernmental organization conference in Huairou. They developed a plan to ensure a more equitable future for women with passion, foresight and inten­ sive focus. Today we scrutinize how far we have progressed toward gender par­ ity since the 12-point Platform for Action was introduced in Beijing. And we ask what can be done now to more efficiently promote women’s economic potential and equalize their opportunities with those of men. There has been progress, but not enough. More equitable economic engage­ ment for women remains elusive. Women perform two-thirds of the world’s work, especially in agriculture, for 10 percent of the income (InterAction, 2009); own A designer at only 1 percent of the assets (www.online­ Women’s Earnings Still the Leather and womeninpolitics.org); and constitute 70 Lag Behind Men’s Shoe Research percent of the world’s poor (International Institute in Labor Organization). “Whether women Women’s earnings linger below men’s Hanoi, Vietnam, works to improve are working in industrialized nations or worldwide. In Middle Eastern and North Vietnamese developing countries, in rural or urban African countries, women’s wages are shoemakers’ settings, most women still carry the triple around 30 percent of men’s; 40 percent in product lines burden of raising children, performing Latin America and South Asia; 50 percent and competitive household chores and earning an income in sub-Saharan Africa; and 60-70 percent edge. for their family,” was the finding of the in East Asia and developed countries. In 2010 Soroptimist International white pa­ 2009, 134 countries were evaluated on five per “Women at Work.” economic performance indicators which WOMEN AND THE ECONOMY: OVERVIEW 83

Women show that the Middle East has the widest Formulation of appropriate gender- embroider gender gap in economic opportunity (The neutral policy acts as a framework to traditional cloth Global Gender Gap Report 2009). support balanced, effective and good with gold thread Evidence from developed countries governance. It functions as a catalyst for for sale on the substantiates the possibility for fair eco­ healthy economic growth and cogent Uzbekistan market. nomic expectations. According to Build­ interaction of societies’ three sectors: ing Gender Balanced Business, in the public, private and business. Most women United States, women make 80 percent of have no equitable access to assets, credit, consumer goods purchasing decisions; in capital or property rights (International Canada, women start 70 percent of new Center for Research on Women). There­ small businesses; in the UK, women will fore, effective gender-neutral policies own 60 percent of all personal wealth by are needed. 2025; worldwide today there are more In Chisinau, Moldova, founder and female millionaires between the age of director of the International Center for 18 and 44 than male. But current data Advancement of Women in Business gathered by the United Nations from de­ Tatiana Batushkina has many policy con­ veloping, transitioning and conflict-torn cerns. They include creating an environ­ economies indicate that women are still ment where women can interact with one marginalized. They are either absent or another, know their full rights in society, poorly represented in economic decisions share ecological concerns, solve economic and policymaking. obstacles and eliminate public resistance 84 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY to women in business. In Jeddah, Sau­ di Arabia, founder and director of the Women’s Committee for Legal Change Bayan Mahmoud Zahran’s Number 1 policy concern is to answer the question, “How can one enhance economic literacy and legal awareness to reach an apex of justice?” As a business owner in Ukraine, Elena Baryshnikova focuses on loosening the reign of restrictive commercial regu­ lations. She is founder and director of Lex-Service Audit in Sevastopol, Ukraine, and Business Education Alliance (www. bea.com.ua) in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Progress in Closing Gender Gap

There are hopeful signs. Out of the 115 countries covered in the 2009 World Eco­ nomic Forum’s report, since 2006 more than two-thirds have posted gains in overall gender gap index scores, indicat­ ing that the world, in general, has made progress toward lessening inequities (The Global Gender Gap Report 2009). Female participation in the private sector in large and small, formal and in­ formal enterprises is a crucial economic driver for societies — anywhere in the world. “What should economic self-suf­ Entrepreneur ficiency look like?” pondered Nino Eliz­ com/index.htm), wondered, “Could we, Rissikatou barashvili, president of the Georgian As­ as women, break more barriers? How Otekpola sociation of Women in Business in Tbilisi, can we better promote security, women’s poses in her Georgia, during an interview. Economic rights as human rights, gender equity, jewelry shop in security can beneficially touch every facet political participation and economic en­ Cotonou, Benin. Microcredit of a woman’s life and can manifest in a gagement?” One specific step is to bridge helped her start myriad of ways, including positive impact the gender gap with women’s economic a small business. on the health, education and vitality of empowerment and education by promot­ families, freedom to consume and pro­ ing inclusion of women in economic ac­ duce and the ability to more fully contrib­ tivities in elementary school. Other solu­ ute to civic and political transformation. tions are these: laws must be reformed, In Kurdistan Suzan Aref, director land allocation practices changed, access of the Women’s Empowerment Organi­ to justice enhanced and market entry zation (www.womenempowerment-iraq. obstructions eradicated. The economic WOMEN AND THE ECONOMY: OVERVIEW 85

Women sort benefits of scaling back barriers to wom­ heard to transform and improve current chilies in a field en’s engagement in the workforce are sub­ economic conditions. To promote prog­ near Ahmedabad, stantial; as observed in the Global Gender ress, public, private and business sectors India. Worldwide, Gap Report, between 2006 and 2009, of worldwide must unite in actionable poli­ millions of women work in 115 countries surveyed, 98 (85 percent) cy agendas to ensure an equitable future. agriculture. improved performance. When women acquire access to and control over eco­ nomic resources, they increase produc­ tivity and their incomes. Their ability to Susanne E. Jalbert is a leading feed, clothe and educate their families economic activist and the architect of the Iraqi Small Business Development thereby increases. Centers program. She champions Women’s economic questions are women’s business association capacity wide-ranging, and the list of policy hur­ building worldwide. She publishes dles to be resolved is long. If we truly de­ and speaks frequently on the role and sire to live in equitable societies, we must impact of business associations, women act in this moment. At this moment, entrepreneurs, anti-trafficking campaigns and entrepreneurial expansion programs. policy is top priority. Whether policy is decided publicly or in some secluded gov­ ernment chamber, the point is that policy is essential to determining the direction of our world. Women’s voices must be PROFILE Lubna Olayan Saudi Businesswoman Strengthens Communities By Scott Bortot WOMEN AND THE ECONOMY: PROFILE 87

As head of the ubna Olayan is known Suliman Olayan, was a powerful in Saudi Arabia and business leader who founded the Olayan Financing Laround the world for Olayan Group in 1947. Early in Company, Lubna her business acumen. her career at the Olayan Group, The chief executive of the Olay­ she worked closely with her Olayan oversees the an Financing Company, Olayan father. Even though they had a operations of dozens oversees the workings of more warm relationship, at work it than three dozen companies was all business. Olayan and of international firms. with operations both inside her father made a deal that at But what many and outside the kingdom. But the office they were no longer Olayan, selected by Time maga­ father and daughter but boss people don’t know zine in 2005 as one of its top and employee. is that the Cornell 100 most influential people, has University graduate is a side to her that goes beyond Education a Key to business. When she is not run­ Success dedicated to building ning companies, she empowers communities by working with Olayan, who holds a bachelor’s her society by working and supporting nongovernmen­ degree in agriculture from Cor­ with grassroots tal organizations. nell University and a master’s organizations through­ “Grass-roots organizations degree in business administra­ can touch on social issues, taboo tion from Indiana University, out the Arab world. issues, in ways that are impossi­ understands the value of educa­ ble for businesses to do,” Olayan tion. In turn, educational institu­ said. “That’s their role and they tions have honored her. Cornell don’t have the same stakes as named the 1977 graduate as its businesses have. They also have 2010 “Entrepreneur of the Year.” time and energy to focus on key David Skorton, president of Cor­ issues which businesses can only nell University, said Olayan has address marginally.” “aspired to leadership roles in Since 2002, Olayan has been the business world, and she has a member of the board of trust­ received enormous recognition ees of the Arab Thought Foun­ for her business skills.” dation, which honors “[Arab] Delivering a speech at Cor­ pioneers, supporting the innova­ nell to accept the honor, Olayan tors and sponsoring the talented recalled the role played by the from among the Arab nations.” university in forming her char­ But her community work doesn’t acter. “It is important to encour­ stop there. In 2006, she joined age our people to come up with the board of directors for Alfa­ ideas, and to allow people to nar, an organization that sup­ make mistakes,” she said, add­ ports grass-roots organizations ing that she learned this lesson in the Arab world. at Cornell. “I very much enjoyed Lubna Olayan was born in the diversity of the student body.” Saudi Arabia in 1955. Her father, 88 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

Olayan is active in develop­ ing Saudi education. As an ad­ visory member of the board of Effat University, an educational institution for women in Saudi Arabia, she especially under­ stands the meaning of educa­ tion to women in her country. “Education is the single most important driver in improv­ ing society, in Saudi Arabia but also anywhere in the world,” Olayan said.

Bringing More Women to the Workplace

A member of the board of di­ rectors of INSEAD, an interna­ tional, multicampus graduate business school, Olayan has a lot to say about the advancement of Saudi women in business. For starters, men and women work­ ing together is a recipe for suc­ cess. “You need two hands to clap,” Olayan said. “It is a natural progression and a natural fit of the building of a society.” At a certain level, the seg­ regation of some business prac­ tices empowered Saudi women. “Initially, yes, female-only ser­ vices opened the door to women for greater participation in the Women employees help to put women buyers at ease at a car showroom economic life of the country,” in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Olayan said. “Going forward though, one can hope that seg­ Action for Recruitment and graduates, the goal is to prepare regation will not continue.” Development (ONWARD) in them for executive leadership To raise the number of fe­ 2004. The program accepts re­ positions in the future. male professionals, who current­ cruits and trains them in skills The end of workplace seg­ ly make up only six percent of the that can be used in a range of regation may not be too far Saudi workforce, she established professions. While most of the off, judging from recent moves the Olayan National Women’s recruits are fresh university by the Saudi government. WOMEN AND THE ECONOMY: PROFILE 8989

Olayan said a government de­ Saudis be alert that there is com­ measure your progression. You cree greatly improved the situ­ petition,” Olayan said. “There is better have all the ingredients ation for Saudi women seeking an alternative if you don’t come required and know all of the in­ access to employment oppor­ in on time.” gredients to achieve your plan,” tunities. The move opened up Despite the government de­ she said. “You should measure most of the job market to wom­ cree, workplace challenges still it regularly in case you get side­ en beyond the traditional sectors remain for Saudi women. “The tracked. Bring yourself back … of health care and education. implementation has been quite and get focused.” “One of the major keys to a wom­ slow as there are still large orga­ Keeping on her career an’s business success in Saudi nizations that have not opened course, from the time she joined Arabia is ensuring that she gets their doors to Saudi women yet,” Morgan Guaranty in New York the equal opportunity to con­ Olayan said. in 1983 until today, is a hallmark tribute and participate in the of Olayan’s success. “When you country’s economic develop­ Keep the Goal in Sight are passionate about something, ment,” Olayan said. you have to make it a success and When women began work­ Olayan, a member of the Inter­ be proud of the success that you ing in the offices of Olayan’s national Business Council of the have achieved with it,” she said. companies, she remembers a World Economic Forum, said Through it all, what makes change took place. “I think it Saudi men and women interest­ Olayan most happy is much did make it a little different. We ed in opening a business in Sau­ closer to her heart. “The bottom were all men until women came di Arabia — or anywhere else — line, although I’m proud of many over and for one, in my opin­ should first do their homework. things, I am most proud of my ion, it made a lot of the younger “You have to have a goal and you three daughters above anything.”

Scott Bortot is a staff writer for the International Information Programs bureau of the State Department.

Cottage industries provide income for women in and outside the home. This woman shows her basket weaving expertise at a travel and tourism fair in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. PROJECT Women’s Work: Paying It Forward

By Joanna L. Krotz

A one-to-one “ t’s easy to get things done That clear-eyed passion for with women,” says Ilham spearheading social and eco­ mentoring program IZhiri, sipping a latte and nomic change and the desire to set up by Fortune's nibbling a muffin early one expand her own skills motivated morning at a bustling Starbucks Zhiri to apply to the unique pro­ Most Powerful café in New York City. “Women gram that returned her to the Women Summit connect right away and they United States. Years before, she seem to have this instinct to help had studied at American Uni­ and the U.S. State each other. You feel that every­ versity in Washington. Now, Department connects where you go,” she says, waving Zhiri was in New York for the a hand to embrace the world. finale of the Fortune/U.S. State America’s top “In the States, you feel it. Back Department Global Women’s businesswomen with home, you feel it. You even feel it Mentoring Partnership. Each on a diplomatic level.” year, this public/private pro­ young women leaders Zhiri knows a thing or two gram selects 30 to 35 up-and­ around the world to about how women accomplish coming women professionals things. For the past 15 years, from around the world, pairing strengthen careers she’s been running a family them with 50 senior American and communities. printing and publishing com­ women from business, academia pany in her hometown of Rabat, and government. Morocco, while devoting time to support younger women in Public-Private Partnership business across the Middle East. Networks Empower “In the beginning, as a freshly New Leaders graduated MBA, it was very hard for me,” says Zhiri, explain­ The month-long program cre­ ing why she reaches out to other atively leverages the resources women. “At home, because of and expertise of an unusual the cultural context, a woman three-part alliance: an elite ros­ has to put in double effort and ter of American women from energy to prove herself — to companies such as Avon, Wal- other women as well as to men. Mart, American Express and But once you do, that’s it. Recog­ ExxonMobil who participate nition is there.” in Fortune magazine’s annual WOMEN AND THE ECONOMY: PROJECT 91

Above: Global Mentoring Partnership participants (left to right) Jin Yan, Aicholpon Jourbekova, Josephine Kairaba, Ilham Zhiri, Amany Eid, Rosin McCarthy and Lara Ayoub gather in front of the White House during their visit to Washington, D.C. Left: Josephine Kairaba (Rwanda), Anna Grishchenkova (Russia) and Hussan-Bano Burki (Pakistan) interact with Ambassador Melanne Verveer at the Global Mentoring Partnership meeting. 92 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

Most Powerful Women Sum­ mit, chaired by Editor-at-Large Pattie Sellers; the international nongovernmental organization Vital Voices, whose mission is to empower emerging women leaders worldwide; and the U.S. State Department Bureau of Ed­ ucational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). The idea was born in 2006 during a meeting between Sell­ ers and then-Assistant Secre­ tary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Dina Powell in Washington. The Fortune/U.S. State Department Global Wom­ en’s Mentoring Partnership was Egyptian mentee Amany Eid is business development manager for Cairo- based financial website www.mubasher.Info and a freelance writer. She soon launched. It debuted as also mentors younger people, teaching them job search and resume a three-phase program for 17 writing skills. women. They received orienta­ tion in Washington, individual emotionally and practically. Just of English,” says Miner. “But the mentorship around the United as importantly, says Nelson, “par­ women must also be emerging States and evaluation in New ticipants know that top women leaders who participate to take York. It was an immediate suc­ in Fortune 500 companies don’t their skills, career or business to cess. Today the program boasts need to take time and effort the next level. These women are nearly 150 graduates from about for mentoring, but they do. The destined for success.” Pattie Sell­ 50 countries. Powell, now head younger women see the ripple ers invites high-level American of corporate engagement at effect of doing well and also businesswomen to volunteer. Goldman Sachs and director of doing good. They understand Their companies cover one par­ its sister initiative, 10,000 Wom­ the investment being made in ticipant’s travel and expenses, en, remains a key sponsor. them and their responsibility to about $8,000 each. Working “The Mentoring Partnership give back.” with a Fortune team, Sellers then offers women a transformative Now in its fifth year, the customizes each match. model of leadership,” explains program is well established. “We “We learn from each other,” Alyse Nelson, president and cable our embassies and region­ says Susan Whiting, a four-time CEO of Vital Voices, which is al bureaus, which identify and mentor and vice chair of the awarded ECA grants — about nominate local women for the Nielsen Company, the global $190,000 in 2010 — to manage program,” says ECA managing marketing and media informa­ on-the-ground logistics. Typi­ director of cultural programs tion firm. “For me, it’s especially cally, the women are first-gener­ Chris Miner, who oversees valuable to see the U.S. through ation professionals who lack role thousands of State Department their eyes.” Paired with Ilham models at home. So the firsthand exchange programs. “Obviously, Zhiri this year, Whiting has coaching is an enormous boost, they must have a good command noticed a pattern among the WOMEN AND THE ECONOMY: PROJECT 9393 mentees. “Younger women on phrase I learned here — about tools. “In Pakistan, I’m already their way to success often feel ‘repotting’ yourself,” says Zhiri. known as a good leader and my they have to put some parts of “You need to grow your personal skills are pretty much there.” themselves aside, and I don’t life in order to grow your busi­ Teamed with Ernst & think that’s necessarily a good ness. I learned that I don’t have Young’s Beth A. Brooke, Burki thing in the long term,” she says. to be so tough on myself.” said, “Here, I saw mentors who “To succeed, you need to be true The final, fast-paced week in went beyond professional du­ to yourself.” New York was a high-octane mix ties to build networks and pay of media training sessions, en­ it forward.” The revelation, for Destined for Success trepreneurship workshops, panel Burki, was seeing how Brooke discussions and networking used her contacts to approach Reviewing her experience at events, hosted by industry leaders. unfamiliar sources and facili­ Nielsen, Zhiri says she’s return­ “I applied to the program tate policy. “Within the first few ing to Morocco with two objec­ because I wanted to see how I days at E&Y, I recognized that tives. “First, I’ve learned … that I measure up compared to lead­ I’d been missing the idea of us­ can leverage business opportuni­ ers in the U.S.,” says Hussan-Ba­ ing networks as assets and how ties in the North Africa region.” no Burki, a senior manager for I need to be less bashful about The second goal, managing a USAID in Islamabad. asking for help. Beth connected clear work/life balance, sur­ She works to facilitate trade to so many institutions and peo­ prised her. “There’s a wonderful and develop online marketing ple relevant to things I’ve done. The practical power of that was a great lesson.” All in all, Burki adds, “I learned what’s impor­ tant to rise up professionally.”

Joanna L. Krotz is a multimedia journalist and speaker whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Worth, Money, and Town & Country and on MSN and Entrepreneurship.org. She is the author of The Guide to Intelligent Giving and founder of the Women’s Giving Institute, an organization that educates donors about strategic philanthropy.

Ugandan entrepreneur Rehmah Kasule started Century Marketing in 1998. She consults on strategic planning, branding and entrepreneur development, mentoring women to achieve her goal: Empowering Ugandan women and making them economically independent. She writes for leading daily newspaper New Vision, is a motivational speaker and is currently consultant for the National Export Strategy (NES) a government initiative that supports women in exports. Here Kasule participates in the international Vital Voices-sponsored Global Mentoring Walk.

CHAPTER 7 • WOMEN IN POWER AND DECISION­ MAKING

Women make significant contributions to civil society, yet around the world their representation in government is limited. Here a Kuwaiti woman flashes the victory sign in Kuwait City after their parliament, in May 2005, passed a historic law that allows women to participate actively in politics. OVERVIEW WOMEN IN POWER AND DECISIONMAKING

By Lori S. Ashford

round the world, women’s lack of representation in govern­ Ament, especially in high-level executive and legislative bod­ ies, limits their influence over governance and public policies. Arguably, women’s participation in decisionmaking is essen­ tial for ensuring their equality and rights. Where women have participated actively in public policy, they have been able to raise the visibility of women’s issues and work toward ending gender discrimina­ tion. But women have made slow progress in the political arena, even while making impressive gains in other areas such as education, employment and health.

Women’s Political Participation: Facts and Figures

Women’s representation in legislative bodies has increased in most parts of the in the House of Representatives in 2010, Activist Rola Dashti, left, and world, but it is still at a low level. In 1990, slightly lower than the world average of Kuwait’s first the United Nations called for women to 19 percent of lawmakers in the lower woman cabinet hold a “critical mass” of 30 percent of houses worldwide. (Women in National minister Dr. parliamentary seats — a level believed to Parliaments: http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/ Masouma Al be sufficient to bring about change in na­ world.htm) Mubarak celebrate tional politics. Twenty years later, only 26 These global figures conceal large with supporters after passage of countries out of 186 reached or exceeded regional disparities: Women make up 42 a bill in Kuwait’s the 30 percent mark of women’s repre­ percent of parliament in Scandinavian parliament that sentation in the single or lower house of nations but just 12 percent of Arab as­ gives women the parliament, according to the Internation­ semblies. A few African countries top the right to vote and al Parliamentary Union. In the United list: In Rwanda and South Africa, women run for public States, women held 16.8 percent of seats hold 56 percent and 45 percent of seats, office. WOMEN IN POWER AND DECISIONMAKING: OVERVIEW 97

Above: Residents of Kigali, Rwanda, march in support of women’s rights. Rwanda is noteworthy for its high proportion of women in public office. Left: Two powerful voices for women are Nigerian democracy and civil rights activist Hafsat Abiola, left, and former Irish president Mary Robinson, here respectively. In Sweden, women occupy heads of government were women. Glob­ at a women’s 45 percent of parliamentary seats. ally, women hold only 16 percent of min­ leadership summit in Cape Progress in women’s representation isterial posts. Finland stands out in this Town, South in the executive branches of government category, with 63 percent of Cabinet-level Africa. is even slower. In 2010, just 11 of 192 posts held by women. 98 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

Why Women Lack Political Power

The low proportion of women in political decisionmaking positions reflects men’s historical advantages in electoral systems and long-standing inequalities between men and women in society. At home, school, the workplace and elsewhere, girls and women typically have fewer oppor­ tunities than their male counterparts to acquire policy and leadership skills. The political arena may be least amenable to increased diversity and gender equality because it is often informal and subject to the rules of the “old-boy network.” Democracy on its own does not create a path for women to become leaders. In fact, two of the oldest democracies, the United States and France, have low percentages of women in elected office. In most societies, women have limited access to the conventional avenues of power such as political parties, business organizations and labor unions. Lacking connections and clout, they find it harder to raise money for political campaigns. Thus, women often enter public life through alternative routes such as chari­ A young woman ties and women’s organizations. legislative and executive positions must votes in Riga, be more transparent. Latvia. Overcoming the Odds Rwanda and South Africa saw historic jumps in the proportion of women in par­ Many of the political inroads women liament after their national constitutions have made are due to gender quotas de­ were rewritten with quotas in place for signed to seat more women in legislative women’s representation. In other coun­ bodies, from national parliaments to local tries, such as Kyrgyzstan in 2007, 30-per­ village councils. About 50 countries have cent quotas have been adopted as part of established such quotas — the Nordic election reform. In Kuwait in 2005, the countries were the earliest to put these in all-male parliament granted women full place — and 30 to 40 more have voluntary political rights — a small but significant quotas, according to the International step in the Arab world. Many other coun­ Parliamentary Union. In addition to quo­ tries have reserved seats for women on lo­ tas, women need to be trained to run for cal village councils and governing bodies. and hold office. Recruitment systems for In India in recent years, some states have WOMEN IN POWER AND DECISIONMAKING: OVERVIEW 99

Women in rural increased the quota for women in these gender equality, but until that is achieved El Quiché, bodies from 30 percent to 50 percent. and quotas are no longer necessary, wom­ Guatemala, en must continue to participate actively display their and fight for their share of representation. inked fingers, The Power of Measurement proof they voted. Monitoring women’s participation in po­ litical life is critical even if the metrics used are imperfect. Women’s share of Lori S. Ashford, a freelance consultant, seats in national parliaments is a reliable has written about global population, health and women’s issues for 20 years. Formerly measure because these bodies are rela­ with the Population Reference Bureau, tively stable over time and the headcount she authored the widely disseminated is easily compared among countries. Women of Our World data sheets and Granted, the percentage of seats or offices the Population Bulletin “New Population held by women reveals nothing about how Policies: Advancing Women’s Health and fully they participate or how much pow­ Rights,” among other publications. er they wield. Nevertheless, establishing benchmarks for women’s progress draws attention to the issue and to ensuring that affirmative action is working. These mea­ sures wouldn’t be necessary if there was PROFILE Michelle Bachelet Physician, Military Strategist, Head of State By Karen Calabria WOMEN IN POWER AND DECISIONMAKING: PROFILE 101

Courage, commitment elf-professed agnos­ And, at just 59 years of age, tic. Divorced mother Bachelet is nowhere near fin­ and circumstance Sof three. Amateur folk­ ished. Recently appointed as the propelled this singer. That’s hardly a first head of the new United Na­ recipe for political success in a tions agency U.N. Women, she physician turned country as devoutly religious and continues to build her legacy — politician into socially conservative as Chile. this time as one of the world’s But the South American na­ most prominent activists for becoming the first tion’s first democratically elected gender equality. woman president female president, Dr. Michelle “In my family, I learned that Bachelet, has never shied away all people should be equal in op­ of Chile. Now she from contradictions. If any­ portunities, and that justice was works for international thing, she has created her legacy essential, dignity was essential. from them. So it is in my DNA to believe gender equality. “We’ve opened the windows in peoples’ rights and to believe and doors to let ordinary people we are all different and that in, to encourage them to par­ it is great because that makes ticipate,” Bachelet told The New this world more interesting,” York Times, reflecting on the she said in an interview with fractured aspects of her past that Barbara Crossette that appeared coalesced to win her the Chilean in The Nation. presidency. Those ideals experienced She’s a political prisoner their first — and most trying — turned public servant who, as a test during the 1973 ouster of government minister and Chile’s then-President Salvador Allende president, worked to establish a by military strongman Pinochet. stable democracy during the Her father, an Air Force general transition from the brutal mili­ with a prominent position in Al­ tary dictatorship of General lende’s government, was taken Augusto Pinochet. into military custody for trea­ She’s a physician — an epi­ son. He was tortured, and subse­ demiologist and pediatrician — quently died from a heart attack with a facility for healing equal as a result. to, if not surpassed by, her adept­ Bachelet didn’t let this de­ ness as a military strategist. She ter her own political participa­ studied military strategy at the tion. Instead, she stepped up her National Academy for Strategic commitment as a member of and Policy Studies in Chile and at the Socialist Youth Movement. the Inter-American Defense Col­ But her activities were curtailed lege in Washington. In her first when both she and her mother attempt to gain the highest polit­ were detained at torture centers ical office, she emerged from the by the Pinochet regime before race as president, the first woman they fled the country for Austra­ elected president of Chile. lia in 1975. 102 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

President Bachelet speaks with a family affected by the 2010 earthquake and tsunami in Constitución, Chile.

In spite of what she endured “Because I was a victim of the civilian world. They spoke in her early years of political hate, I’ve consecrated my life to different languages. I wanted to engagement, Bachelet made a turning hate into understand­ help with that. I could be a bridge concerted effort to address in­ ing, tolerance and, why not say between those two worlds,” she equities in Chilean society. As it — love,” she said in her victory told The Guardian of the gradu­ minister of health, which she speech after the 2006 presiden­ ate studies she undertook in became in 2000, under Presi­ tial election. military science that led to her dent Ricardo Lagos, she im­ Although she began her eventual appointment as Chile’s proved access to public health career as a physician, quickly first female defense minister care. In 2002 she was the first moving up the ladder to become in 2002. woman in Latin America to be health minister, she couldn’t Despite all her successes, appointed defense minister. shake the lasting influence of her Bachelet’s been no stranger to During her tenure she promot­ father’s military background. criticism. She’s been roundly ed reconciliation between the “I noticed that one of the criticized for her administra­ military and civilian society, barriers to full democracy was tion’s education policy, the reforming and modernizing the the [lack] of understanding be­ failure of an ambitious public Chilean military. tween the military world and transportation plan and a series WOMEN IN POWER AND DECISIONMAKING: PROFILE 101033 of endless labor disputes. But her United Nations Secretary-Gen­ the difficulties she faces in her approval rating is the highest of eral Ban Ki-moon appointed her new role. “In many regions of any president in Chile’s history, as the first head of the organi­ the world, women have a very topping off at 84 percent when zation’s newly created agency, difficult situation. They don’t she left office in March 2010. U.N. Women. have the same opportunities Yet no amount of success Shortly after her appoint­ as men regarding the most es­ seems to diminish her deter­ ment, U.N. Radio aired an in­ sential human rights; women mination to press forward with terview in which Bachelet did are discriminated [against], their the next task. In July 2010, not hesitate to outline some of rights are violated. There are still some places where women are mutilated. And so I am con­ vinced that we need to work very hard to improve their condition, and I know it’s … very challeng­ ing work.” And despite the legacy she’s already created for herself as one of the world’s female heads of state, Bachelet remains as com­ mitted to her vision of a better future as the youthful idealist that stood up to the same op­ pressive regime that had killed her father. As she told The New York Times, “What I am mostly inter­ ested in, what I remain commit­ ted to, is less dwelling on the past than creating a better future.”

Karen Calabria is a freelance writer based in New York City.

A supporter of President Michelle Bachelet holds a newspaper that proclaims “Thank you President” on her last day in office, March 11, 2010. She maintained a high popularity rating to the end of her tenure. PROJECT Council of Women World Leaders

By Laura Liswood

At the Aspen Institute, rickle-down may be a people derive their ideas of the controversial theory in way the world works.” the Council of Women Tany debate about the The council was conceived World Leaders is a economy, but it can as one way to move that goal be a powerful approach when along. Established in 1997, it is forum where women the goal is to promote gender not just another venue for high- who serve or have equality. profile officials to pose on a That’s the high-minded end public stage. These aren’t the served as world game for the Council of Women women’s networking groups leaders confer to World Leaders, a top-down jug­ of the ’80s and ’90s, but power gernaut of female government gatherings with all the preroga­ develop strategies leaders that is using its influ­ tives that come with holding for gender equality. ence to increase opportunities high office. This network of elite for women across the globe. Its women aims to leverage its in­ mission: to mobilize the highest- fluence, change attitudes and level women leaders globally for eliminate hurdles to women’s collective action on issues of progress. For example, through critical importance to women. its Ministerial Initiative, the “Studies have shown that by council provides a vehicle for a the time children start school, collective female voice on nettle­ they already have a deeply im­ some global issues, shaping the bued sense of what it means to agendas for multilateral poli­ be male and female in their so­ cymaking gatherings to focus ciety,” says Kim Campbell, Can­ squarely on gender aspects. ada’s first female prime minister, The Ministerial Initiative on in a recent Newsweek article. “If the Environment was created these views support traditional to address the critical need to gender roles, education will be foster sustainable development hard-pressed to supplant them policies. The council noted in with something more conducive 2009 that women have primary to gender equality. If we want to responsibility for raising chil­ open up opportunities for wom­ dren and for securing sufficient en in public life, we have to ad­ resources for their families’ dress the landscape from which nutrition and health. So logic WOMEN IN POWER AND DECISIONMAKING: PROJECT 105

Left: Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was instrumental in founding the Ministerial Initiative of the Council of Women World Leaders. Below: Women leaders pose to mark the Council of World Women Leaders' first summit in May 1998, at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Seated from left: Violeta B. de Chamorro, former president, Nicaragua; Vigdís Finnbógadottir, former president, Iceland; Laura Liswood, executive director. Standing from left: Tansu Çiller, former prime minister, Turkey; Hanna Suchocka, former prime minister, Poland; Kazimiera Prunskiene,˙ former prime minister, Lithuania; the late Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister, Pakistan; Dame Eugenia Charles, former prime minster, Dominica; and Kim Campbell, former prime minister, Canada. 106 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY dictates that women’s involve­ global leaders and internation­ positions than on women’s, talk ment in environmental issues ally acclaimed experts from more about women’s physi­ should increase. Given the va­ various disciplines, who discuss cal appearance than men’s and riety of their daily interactions and debate specific policy issues cover the male candidates’ cam­ with the environment, women and suggest future actions for paigns twice as much. are the most keenly affected by change — with emphasis on the In 1996, Vigdís Finnboga­ its degradation. Yet women are gender dimension of the topic. dóttir, Iceland’s first democrati­ severely underrepresented at de­ Security, environmental and so­ cally elected female head of cisionmaking tables on develop­ cial matters are all seen through state, who served from 1980 to ment and the environment. a gendered lens. 1996, collaborated with this au­ Madeleine Albright, the first A winter 2010 panel, for ex­ thor to convene women heads female U.S. secretary of state, ample, featured two notable po­ of government. The Council of was founding chair of the Min­ litical scientists, Erika Falk of the Women World Leaders was cre­ isterial Initiative and an Aspen Annenberg School of Commu­ ated in 1997. Finnbogadóttir was Institute trustee. To honor her nication and Elisabeth Gidengil the first chairperson. Housed contributions, a series of round- of McGill University. They dis­ at the Harvard Kennedy School table discussions bears her name. cussed their recent findings of Government until 2004, the The council’s Madeleine K. on female political candidates, council is now a policy pro­ Albright Women’s Voices at the which show it is still typically a gram of the Aspen Institute, a Aspen Institute Series hosts slippery climb to the top. Washington-based international They found that report- nonprofit organization that fos - ers fofocus substantially ters enlnlighhtteened leaaddeershshiip and mmoreore on menmen’’s pololicy ooppeenn--minddeedd diiaallooggue.ue.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was elected to a second term in 2011. Her strong background in finance led her to various government and nongovernment positions, including finance minister, before she became president. WOMEN IN POWER AND DECISIONMAKING: PROJECT 101077

schools of public health and en­ vironmental studies are placed in relevant ministries of council members and in international organizations. The council is a unique space for dialogue on the role of women at the highest levels of decisionmaking and for the promotion of women’s issues and women in government. It offers a network of resources for high-level women leaders and facilitates a forum for a diverse group of seasoned policymakers to recommend viable solutions to inequities that afflict women German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left) and Finnish President Tarja today. The council’s diversity of Halonen talk at the Berlin Chancellery. perspective reflects the multifac­ eted challenges faced by women Tarja Halonen, the president through exchanges at ministe­ in various parts of the world. of Finland since 2000, currently rial meetings on global issues serves as chair. Mary Robin­ such as health, education, envi­ son, former president of Ireland ronment, finance, economy and (1990-1997) and Campbell, for­ development. Laura Liswood is secretary- mer prime minister of Canada The council also fosters general of the Council of Women World Leaders, which (1993), also have held the posi­ emerging leaders through its she co-founded with Vigdís tion. Democratically elected graduate fellowship programs, Finnbogadóttir, former president women presidents and prime which place promising graduate of Iceland, to provide a global ministers are eligible to join the students in the offices of council network for such women to 45-member council by invita­ members, international organi­ share their unique experiences tion. Today it includes former zations and ministerial offices and learn from each other in a cooperative environment. She President Michelle Bachelet of around the globe. Through the is a senior adviser for the global Chile, President Ellen John­ three branches of the program, investment bank Goldman Sachs. son Sirleaf of Liberia, Chancel­ Gender and Public Policy, En­ lor Angela Merkel of Germany vironmental Policy and Public and former Prime Minister Health Policy, fellows are pro­ Helen Clark of New Zealand, vided with an opportunity to among others. observe firsthand the ways in In 1998, the council expand­ which leadership is manifested ed to include women Cabinet at the highest levels. To date, members. The Ministerial Initia­ more than 160 fellows have tive advances democracy, gender served in 52 offices worldwide. equality and good governance Students from top-tier graduate

CHAPTER 8 • INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN

The International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde is among the dynamic women who lead the way for women in traditionally male-dominated institutions. Government and nongovernment agencies can promote the achievement of mainstream gender equality. OVERVIEW INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN

By Mona Lena Krook

ational institutions for the advancement of women have Nbeen established in nearly ev­ ery country around the world. They include offices, commissions, agen­ cies and ministries on the status of wom­ en. The first offices of this nature were endorsed early in the 20th century by the League of Nations and the International Alliance of Women, which was formed during the women’s suffrage movement. One early example is the Women’s Bu­ reau in the United States, created in 1920 as part of the Department of Labor to promote the welfare of female workers by formulating standards and policies to im­ prove their working conditions, efficiency Luxembourg’s and opportunities for employment. How­ gender equality. The oldest regional Viviane Reding ever, most government agencies were es­ agency of this type is the Inter-American became a tablished following the United Nations Commission of Women, a specialized member of First World Conference on Women in unit of the Organization of American the European 1975. The initial mandate of these offices States, which was established in 1928 as Parliament in 1999, later a was to increase women’s participation in a forum for generating policy to advance member of education, politics and the economy. Ex­ women’s civil and political rights in the the European amples of these offices worldwide include Western Hemisphere. More recent is the Commission the National Women’s Service in Chile, European Institute for Gender Equality, and currently the Government Equalities Office in the established in 2006 to assist European is European United Kingdom, the Commission on Union institutions and member states Commission vice president Gender Equality in South Africa and the in promoting gender equality through for justice, Ministry of Women, Family and Com­ public policy. fundamental munity Development in Malaysia. In the U.N. system, four different rights and In addition to government institu­ offices deal with issues of gender equal­ citizenship. tions, several regional and international ity: the Division for the Advancement of organizations set up agencies to promote Women (DAW), U.N. Development Fund INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN: OVERVIEW 111

Iraqi women for Women (UNIFEM), International not only a basic human right, but also deputies Research and Training Institute for the spurs economic growth. converse at Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) a session of and the Office of the Special Adviser on Equal Rights to Gender parliament Gender Issues and the Advancement of in Baghdad. Mainstreaming Women’s Women (OSAGI). They exist alongside presence in the Commission on the Status of Women The shared concern of these offices, both government (CSW), created by the U.N. Economic national and international, is to further can help and Social Council in 1946, whose an­ gender equality and women’s empower­ empower women nual meetings define and elaborate on ment. Approaches for achieving these generally. U.N. policy on women and gender. In goals, however, have evolved over time. 2010, the U.N. General Assembly voted Initially, most “mechanisms for advance­ unanimously to create the U.N. Entity for ment” focused on enacting and enforc­ Gender Equality and the Empowerment ing policies that ensured equal treatment of Women (U.N. Women) to merge the of men and women, seeking to gain for efforts of DAW, UNIFEM, INSTRAW women the same rights already enjoyed and OSAGI to accelerate progress to­ by men. This strategy was later criticized ward the achievement of women’s human for simply assimilating females to a male rights in all areas. This step was justified standard that may not be appropriate for on the grounds that gender equality is women and girls. A second approach then 112 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY emerged that recognized that distinct reflected in the mission of the White policies for women and men may be re­ House Council for Women and Girls, quired to achieve gender parity. created by U.S. President Obama in 2009 Dissatisfaction with this strategy led expressly to ensure that each government to a third approach, known as “gender agency “takes into account the needs mainstreaming,” popularized around the of women and girls in the policies they globe through the Beijing Platform for draft, the programs they create, the legis­ Action. The mainstreaming approach lation they support.” involves evaluating every prospective Youth clubs policy: (1) with a gendered lens, that is, Only the Beginning can help young assessing a policy’s different implications women gain for women and men; (2) with the goal of The widespread presence of women’s pol­ skills. Rabeeta promoting equality between women and icy mechanisms belies important varia­ Chaudhary is men. This differs from prior strategies tions in the strength and status of these president of her village youth club in seeking to apply a gender perspective agencies, whose resources are often vul­ in Sutaiya, Nepal, across all policy areas, including those nerable to changes in government and do­ which organizes where a gender dimension is not read­ nor funding priorities. These offices may projects and ily apparent. Gender mainstreaming is diverge greatly in terms of their budgets helps mediate disputes. INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN: OVERVIEW 113

United Nations and staff, the length of their mandate, and resources to truly advance gender agencies their closeness to the executive, the back­ equality and women’s empowerment. The advance women grounds of their agency heads, and their articles in this chapter consider ways in by employing policy priorities. In some countries, for which some women are working through them in many capacities. This example, agencies have ministerial rank, institutions to give women more voice woman in Hera, while in others they are housed in the of­ through legislation and government and East Timor, was fice of the president or under the auspices nongovernment advocacy. a United Nations of another ministry, such as justice or so­ peacekeeper cial development. Few such mechanisms during that have the power to negotiate their own country’s transition to budgets, and many have only a handful Mona Lena Krook is assistant professor independence in of staff members. In addition, their exis­ of political science and women, gender and sexuality studies at Washington 2000. tence and status may depend closely upon University in St. Louis. She is the author the will of the president or prime minister, of Quotas for Women in Politics (2009) who may fundamentally reorganize their and co-editor of Women, Gender, mandate, for example, by adding a focus and Politics: A Reader (2010). on family and children or by combining the unit with other offices focused on race, disability and sexual orientation. An ongoing concern is whether these agen­ cies are endowed with sufficient power PROFILE Kateryna Levchenko Challenging Patriarchal Politics By Yevhen Hlibovytsky and Oksana Forostyna

Kateryna Levchenko became a feminist early in her career as an academic and has spent her life challenging traditional patriarchal stereotypes of women from within government and through nongovernmental organizations. INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN: PROFILE 115

krainian human rights on Elimination of Discrimina­ the middle and junior positions advocate Kateryna tion Against Women, but en­ in public administration and so ULevchenko looks much forcement can be inconsistent. few are on top.” too inspired for a The government may or may Levchenko had her first real person who just lost a lawsuit. not support women’s advance­ experience of gender discrimina­ “We’re done here. Now it is time ment, but women can succeed tion at the age of 26, as a young, to appeal to international com­ in Ukraine’s businesses, gov­ successful university lecturer munity!” Levchenko sued Ukrai­ ernment agencies, science and and mother-to-be. She was preg­ nian Prime Minister Mykola academia. Yet few women par­ nant for the first time and was Azarov over his March 2010 ticipate in power politics. Wom­ obliged to register in a state clin­ statement that “conducting re­ en make up only seven percent ic. After waiting for three hours forms is not women’s business,” of the Ukrainian Parliament — at the clinic, she tried to change which he made when asked why 34 out of 441 members of parlia­ her appointment time to accom­ there are no female ministers in ment as of February 2010 — and modate her teaching schedule, his Cabinet. All of the judicial none hold significant positions but the doctor yelled at her: institutions where Levchenko in the current government. Kat­ “What lectures? No one cares, filed a case against him found eryna Levchenko thinks the lady, you’re pregnant here, not that Azarov was free to express reason for this is the nature a professor!” Two decades later his views, and did not fault him of power in Ukraine, which is she recalls, “Then I understood for the discriminatory nature of rough-and-tumble and requires how discrimination works,” add­ his words. Levchenko wants to often ruthless toughness: “That’s ing that a man would not have challenge this acceptance of a why there are a lot of women in received such treatment. disparaging patriarchal attitude. It is so common that during the 2009 election campaign Viktor Yanukovych, soon to be elected president of Ukraine, publicly stated that his rival, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymosh­ enko, would do better in the kitchen. Levchenko does not take such words lightly, and has devoted her career to safeguard­ ing human and women’s rights. Despite ingrained tradition­ al attitudes about women’s place, Ukraine does offer women op­ portunities for achievement. According to the WomanStats Da­ Former Ukrainian prime minister and opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko tabase (http://www.womanstats. has confronted challenges and political controversy. She was a chief org), Ukraine is among those figure in the 2004 “Orange Revolution” protests against fraudulent countries where the laws are elections. Convicted of “abuse of power” in 2011 after the new consistent with the recommen­ government filed criminal cases against her, she is serving a seven-year prison sentence. Her trial and conviction are widely seen as politically dations of the U.N. Convention motivated, prompting calls for her release. 116 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

Levchenko’s path to femi­ with modern Western philoso­ Ukraine. Very soon Levchenko nism and human rights is typi­ phy [after decades of intellectual would use this successful expe­ cal for the first generation of isolation], and people were very rience in her work with state in­ Ukrainian feminists, who be­ open-minded.” Like many of stitutions and nongovernmental came public persons in the mid­ her peers in the academic com­ organizations (NGOs). She be­ 1990s. She describes her family munity, Levchenko turned to gan working for NGOs, first in as “democratic, egalitarian.” Her feminism after reading works Kharkiv, then in the Ukrainian parents were both academics by Michel Foucault, Roland capital, Kyiv, coordinating pro­ in Kharkiv, which is one of the Barthes, Julia Kristeva and Bet­ grams for prevention of human major scientific and educational ty Friedan. Levchenko explains trafficking. centers of Ukraine and the for­ this post-Soviet trend as natural: In 2004 Levchenko was in­ mer Soviet Union. She says she “Self-identification is a rather vited to become adviser on hu­ never faced gender problems in complicated process. That’s why man rights and gender issues to her early years in the depart­ academic circles were the first the interior minister of Ukraine. ment of philosophy and scien­ to embrace feminist and human It was a challenging time, both tific communism at the Kharkiv rights ideas.” She launched the inside and outside the ministry. Institute of Railway Engineering. course “Introduction to Gender Her new government colleagues Levchenko recalls: “Those were Theory” in 1996, one of the first hardly understood the concept the times we became familiar academic courses of this sort in of gender and were skeptical

An activist from the Ukrainian women’s organization FEMEN in Kyiv protests the all-male government formed in 2010. The posters read “Give a portfolio!” INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN: PROFILE 111177 about human rights, while many prisons. “Levchenko was the NGO that helps primarily activists were surprised at her policymaker and the messenger female victims of trafficking and decision to be a part of law en­ of human rights activists inside domestic violence in Central forcement. In the fall of 2004 an the ministry. She knew what the and Eastern Europe. Levchenko aroused civil society took to the grass-roots organizations knew, says that people from all social streets to confront the Ukraini­ and made sure that the agenda of groups ask La Strada for help. an government. The protest last­ civil society soon became part of Calls come mostly from women, ed two months and became the the minister’s agenda,” he recalls. but men also request assistance. “Orange Revolution,” so named Hataliak also gives her credit She expects La Strada’s work to for the color adopted by the po­ for launching the human rights increase as people become bet­ litical opposition. Levchenko monitoring system in police de­ ter informed about trafficking in had to navigate between inter­ partments. Mobile groups for persons and as Ukraine’s social national organizations and the preventing human rights abuses services continue to improve. ministry, which was accused of were deployed. Public councils Kateryna Levchenko’s law­ persecuting political opponents. on human rights were estab­ suit over Ukrainian Prime Levchenko says the real lished in every region. Legislation Minister Mykola Azarov’s dis­ work began in spring 2005 when to protect human rights was ad­ paragement of women was one Yuriy Lutsenko, who was known opted. In 2008 a special depart­ more strategy in her campaign for coordinating street protests ment to monitor human rights to bring women into the con­ before the revolution, took the in law enforcement agencies was versation, equal in status with position of interior minister. created. Levchenko is proud that men. She continues her efforts Levchenko says she held the first human rights activists made up to reform law enforcement and meeting with police patrolwom­ 40 percent of the ministry staff. human rights abuses in what­ en, top-level ministry investiga­ The rest were retired policemen ever way she can, through in­ tors and other female ministry who knew the system and sup­ stitutions within and outside of staff. “Few knew that we had ported human rights reforms. the government. about 17 percent women in 2005, However, good intentions to and 19 percent in 2009. Some of reform the police always depend them administrated organized on the political situation in the crime divisions and even served country. As the governments Yevhen Hlibovytsky is managing in ‘Cobra’ [a special Ukrainian changed, policies changed. partner of pro.mova, a strategic communications consultancy police unit],” Levchenko says. Levchenko served in the Inte­ based in Kyiv, Ukraine. Formerly Human rights activist Taras rior Ministry twice: from Sep­ a journalist, he was one of Hataliak was in prison when tember 2004 to May 2006, and the leaders of the journalist Levchenko began her work at from January 2008 to April 2010. resistance movement against the Interior Ministry. Released The department to monitor hu­ censorship in Ukraine. just few weeks before the Or­ man rights was dissolved by the Oksana Forostyna is an ange Revolution, Hataliak began Yanukovych government. The investigative journalist based in Lviv, Ukraine. She is known working with Levchenko. Taras former members of the team for her stories on corruption, Hataliak was the assistant in­ continue to work on human gender issues and human terior minister in Lviv region rights issues through NGOs rights in Ukraine, Poland, (Western Ukraine) where he such as La Strada — Ukraine, the Czech Republic and tracked abuses of human rights which Levchenko heads. other transition countries. in police departments and La Strada is a multinational PROJECT Women’s Caucus Boosts Uruguayan Democracy

By Eric Green

Female legislators in t remains a work in prog­ recognized as an official body of ress, but increased par­ the Uruguayan legislature. The Uruguay set aside Iticipation by Uruguayan caucus, Dalmás said, represents party differences women in their country’s “the will” of women members of political life is expanding de­ parliament (MPs) “to come to­ to promote gender mocracy in the South American gether to try to agree on certain equality in parliament nation. Reflecting that progress, matters” that they believe should female legislators in Uruguay’s be considered in the legislature. and in society. The two houses of parliament united bipartisan Uruguayan across political party lines by Gaining Recognition in forming a Bicameral Women’s Parliament Through Unity Women’s Caucus is Caucus that promotes gender making a difference for equality and a stronger feminine One of the caucus’ first actions voice in public policy decisions. in 2000 was to create the Spe­ women in that country, The caucus was created in 2000 cial Commission on Gender and but legislators agree through the initiative of three Equity. The commission’s presi­ lawmakers in the Uruguayan dent, Uruguayan Representative that more must be parliament who belonged to dif­ Daniela Payssé, said at an April done to ensure ferent political parties. 2011 forum at the Organization Uruguayan senator and cau­ of American States in Wash­ gender parity. cus member Susana Dalmás said ington that female legislators in in an interview that even if they Uruguay formed their caucus might differ on certain national because of a critical need to give issues, the group has reached women’s issues a higher profile consensus on legislation pivotal in parliament. to women’s well-being, such as Payssé said at the forum prohibiting sexual harassment in on “Women’s Leadership for a the workplace and giving women Citizens’ Democracy” that Uru­ access to a retirement pension. guayan women legislators face The caucus’ biggest obsta­ the challenge of balancing their cle, said Dalmás, is that it has desire to address gender equality “no place in parliament institu­ with the need to confront issues tionally.” This means, she said, not specifically related to wom­ that the caucus is not formally en’s advancement. INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN: PROJECT 119

Another caucus member, Many men, said Xavier, Uruguayan Women Show Senator Monica Xavier, said do not “need to be convinced” Strength in Numbers in an interview with a United about promoting gender equal­ Nations-backed website called ity and electing women law­ The numbers show that women “iKNOW Politics” that the cau­ makers. “They understand very have slowly gained better po­ cus emphasizes “the things that clearly that we women don’t litical representation in Uruguay unite us.” Xavier said “when want involvement for the sake since the mid-1980s, when no citizens see that we can rise of involvement, but because de­ female lawmakers were in the above ideological differences mocracies are stronger when country’s legislature, formally … and work on other issues women” are included in the known as the General Assem­ on which we agree, then we political process. bly. For its 2010-2015 term, 19 have strength.” female MPs are in the 130-seat

Daniela Payssé is president of the Special Commission for Gender and Equity, Uruguay. 120 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

Above: Participants enjoy a parade marking International Women’s Day in Montevideo, Uruguay. Left: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton meets with Uruguayan women legislators in Montevideo, Uruguay in 2010. INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN: PROJECT 121211 parliament, which is composed foreign policy. In March 2011, included Sandra Day O’Connor, of the Chamber of Senators and a State Department interna­ the first female U.S. Supreme the Chamber of Deputies. The tional exchange program called Court justice (now retired), who Geneva, Switzerland-based Inter- “Women’s Leadership: The Next is a leader in promoting global Parliamentary Union, the inter­ Hundred Years” brought Adri­ women’s issues. national organization of parlia­ ana Lourdes Abraham Pérez Also speaking was U.S. Am­ ments, ranked Uruguay 73rd of from Uruguay and other women bassador to Uruguay David Nel­ 141 countries (as of March 31, leaders from 92 countries to the son, who said the United States 2011) in the percentage of wom­ United States. is “committed to the empower­ en in national legislatures. Abraham Pérez, director of ment of women not just because In an interview with iKNOW a nonprofit association in Uru­ it is the right thing to do, but Politics, former Uruguayan rep­ guay called the Center for the also because it is the smart thing resentative Carmen Beramendi Promotion of Human Dignity to do. And when women make cited more positive develop­ (known by the Spanish acronym progress, countries make prog­ ments for Uruguay’s women. At CEPRODIH) that helps disad­ ress. Everywhere, but especially the start of former Uruguayan vantaged women, children and here in Uruguay, you are making President Tabaré Vásquez’s ad­ elders, said in an email exchange a difference and changing the ministration in 2005, she said, that in the last 20 years, female world for the better.” four out of 13 of his govern­ participation in Uruguayan po­ ment’s ministers were women, litical life has undergone a “posi­ which was “unprecedented” in tive evolution, although much that he placed women ministers more needs to be done.” Eric Green is a freelance writer in “positions that were usually Abraham Pérez said one of based in Washington. He has covered international issues for not given to us.” Those positions the most significant political the U.S. State Department and included women heading the events in her country was the the United States Information defense and interior ministries, 2010 election of Ana Olivera as Agency, and has been a Senate the Ministry of Social Develop­ the first female mayor of Uru­ press aide and a newspaper ment and the Ministry of Public guay’s capital of Montevideo. reporter for the Washington Health. Other women had been elected Post and other newspapers. “This had a double effect,” mayor across the country, but said Beramendi, who served in not, until then, in the capital. parliament from 1990 to 1995. Abraham Pérez said Uruguayan “First, we women had a much women still face numerous so­ greater presence in the public cial and economic injustices, sphere. Second, holding these such as gaining access to credit kinds of offices largely helped and increasing domestic vio­ prove that women can effectively lence, which she pointed out was hold these positions in society.” also a problem in many other countries besides Uruguay. Efforts of Uruguayan The U.S. Embassy in Mon­ Women Leaders Lauded tevideo hosted more than 15 women leaders of Uruguay to The United States has made ad­ honor International Women’s vancing women a pillar of its Day in March 2011. Speakers

CHAPTER 9 • HUMAN RIGHTS OF WOMEN

Some countries still fail to accord human rights to women. Afghan women are among those to whom nongovernmental organizations offer assistance because of widespread abuse. OVERVIEW HUMAN RIGHTS OF WOMEN By Robin N. Haarr

uman rights and funda­ mental freedoms should be Hbirthrights, but across the globe some countries fail to accord human rights to women. More­ over, women are often victims of human rights abuses. Women’s human rights are abused when they cannot participate in decisions that affect their lives and are de­ nied political participation and fair repre­ sentation, when they are prevented from going to school or receiving health care, when they face discrimination in employ­ ment, when they are denied equal rights to own land and property, when they suf­ fer from violence within their homes and when they are subjected to harmful tradi­ tional practices such as genital mutilation and honor killings. Recognition of women’s rights began in some countries as they evolved from feudal into more representative forms of government. In the United States, aware­ ness of women’s rights came with the ide­ als of the American Revolution. Strong and According to intelligent women such as Abigail Adams, access to education for girls, writing to human rights wife of the second U.S. president, John her husband, who then represented the organizations, Adams, demanded fair and equal treat­ new American republic in Paris: “I regret Afghan women ment, and warned presciently, “If particu­ the trifling narrow contracted educa­ are often lar care and attention is not paid to the tion of the females of my own country.” subjected to ladies, we are determined to foment a re­ Women’s suffrage movements began in violence and institutionalized bellion, and will not hold ourselves bound the United States and Great Britain in the discrimination. by any laws in which we have no voice or mid-19th century and in a few European representation.” She also advocated equal countries in the early 20th century. HUMAN RIGHTS OF WOMEN: OVERVIEW 125

Thousands of Women’s human rights only emerged An International Women’s women, such as a global movement during the Unit­ Bill of Rights as these in ed Nations Decade for Women (1976­ Hyderabad, 1985), when women from many differ­ The Convention on the Elimination of All Pakistan, held ent geographic, cultural, religious, racial Forms of Discrimination Against Women nationwide rallies to demand and class backgrounds came together (CEDAW), a key international agreement equal rights and organized to improve the status of on women’s human rights, was adopted and an end to women. It was during this decade that by the United Nations General Assembly discriminatory the United Nations sponsored several in 1979. CEDAW is often described as an laws on women’s conferences — Mexico City in international bill of rights for women. Its International 1975, Copenhagen in 1980 and Nairobi in preamble and 30 articles aim to elimi­ Women’s Day. 1985 — to evaluate the status of women nate gender discrimination and promote and to formulate strategies for women’s gender equality. The convention defines advancement. discrimination against women as “any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex” that impedes wom­ en’s “human rights and fundamental 126 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

A mural near freedoms in the political, economic, so­ appropriate legislation and other mea­ Ciudad Juárez, cial, cultural, civil or any other field.” It sures that prohibit discrimination against Mexico, sets an agenda for national action to end women; and to establish legal protections commemorates such discrimination, requiring all parties of their rights on an equal basis with men. hundreds of women who to the convention to take “all appropriate Women’s human rights apply to were murdered measures, including legislation, to ensure both the “public” and “private” spheres and left in the the full development and advancement of women’s lives. For many governments, desert near that of women” and guarantee their funda­ however, addressing women’s rights in city. mental freedoms “on a basis of equality the “private” sphere is challenging be­ with men.” cause the private sphere is often thought As of 2009, 186 United Nations to be beyond the purview of the state, member states had ratified CEDAW. The exempt from governmental scrutiny and Obama administration strongly supports intervention (UNIFEM [now UN Wom­ this treaty and is committed to U.S. rati­ en], About the Convention). As a result, fication. State parties to CEDAW agree to in many countries, discrimination and incorporate principles of gender equal­ violence against women and girls that ity into their national constitutions or occur in the family and under the guise other appropriate legislation; to adopt of religious and cultural traditions and HUMAN RIGHTS OF WOMEN: OVERVIEW 127 practices continue to remain hidden in CEDAW and the Beijing Declara­ the private sphere, where perpetrators of tion and Platform for Action signaled the such human rights abuses typically enjoy successful mainstreaming of women’s impunity for their actions. rights as human rights. Although the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Women’s Rights as Human Rights Action are not legally binding, they do carry ethical and political weight and can Since the 1980s, women around the world be used to pursue local, regional and na­ have come together in networks and tional efforts to address women’s human coalitions to raise awareness about prob­ rights. CEDAW is a treaty that is binding lems of discrimination, inequality and on its parties. violence. They have used a human rights The principles and practices related to framework to fight for women’s rights in women’s human rights are continuously the family, social, economic and politi­ evolving. The large body of international cal arenas. An important outcome of the covenants, agreements and commitments 1995 Beijing Fourth World Conference on to women’s human rights developed over Women was the Beijing Declaration and the past several decades provides women Platform for Action. These documents with an alternative vision and vocabulary embody the international community’s to confront violations to their human commitment to advance and empow­ rights. Such guidelines are important er women and remove obstacles in the tools for political activism and a frame­ public and private spheres that have his­ work for developing concrete strategies torically limited women’s full participa­ for change. tion. The Platform for Action sets forth three strategic objectives related to the human rights of women: to promote and protect women’s human rights through Robin N. Haarr is a professor of criminal the full implementation of all human justice at Eastern Kentucky University whose research focuses on violence rights instruments (especially CEDAW), against women and children and human to ensure equality and nondiscrimina­ trafficking, nationally and internationally. tion under the law and in practice, and to She does research and policy work for achieve legal literacy. Governments bear the United Nations and U.S. embassies, the main responsibility, but persons, or­ and has received several awards for her ganizations and enterprises are impor­ work, including induction into the Wall of Fame at Michigan State University’s School tant in taking concrete actions to improve of Criminal Justice, and the CoraMae women’s lives. Richey Mann “Inconvenient Woman of the Then-U.S. first lady Hillary Clinton Year” Award from the American Society of famously declared at the 1995 Beijing Criminology, Division on Women and Crime. conference that “human rights are wom­ en’s rights,” adding, “Women must enjoy the right to participate fully in the social and political lives of their countries if we want freedom and democracy to thrive and endure.” PROFILE Ex-Child “Slave” Sina Vann Helps Others Escape the Darkness By Eric Green HUMAN RIGHTS OF WOMEN: PROFILE 129

Sina Vann, a child sex t would be understandable tell them you’re not alone, there if Sina Vann tried to forget are many other victims and sur­ slave for two years Iher real-life nightmare: be­ vivors who are living in rehabili­ in Cambodia, now ing enslaved as a 13-year­ tation centers and that there are old and forced into prostitution people who care and are always uses her traumatic for two years in Cambodia. Girls thinking about you. We offer past to save other in Vann’s former predicament, them warmth and love.” trapped as sex slaves, never As she speaks in a phone young women and know the difference between interview from Cambodia, the girls entrapped in the night and day. They are impris­ English language Vann has been oned in underground cages until learning comes across softly same situation. Vann brought into a room where they but in determined and confident leads the Voices for are forced to have sex with one tones. She describes how her customer after another. life has turned around since she Change program Though her childhood in­ was ensnared for two years as a for a Cambodian nocence was stolen from her, sex slave. Vann, now 25, returns often to Vann was rescued during a foundation that offers the scene of the crime to save 1998 raid organized by anti-sex compassion, empathy other girls dehumanized by the slavery activist Somaly Mam. and a chance for sex trade industry. The girls can Mam is also a sex slave survi­ be as young as 4 years old. vor who documented her ex­ rehabilitation into “When I go to the brothels, perience in an autobiography, society for those I always say things to the girls The Road to Lost Innocence. to motivate them,” says Vann. “I The nongovernmental founda­ victimized by share my personal background tion she created in 1996, called sexual predators. of how I lived in a brothel too. I AFESIP Cambodia (Acting for

Sina Vann was held captive and tortured in this now abandoned dungeon. 130 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

Women in Distressing Situa­ tions), has rescued more than 6,000 young women and girls since its founding. It runs large shelters in Southeast Asia for the girls’ rehabilitation and return to normal lives. Vann now leads Somaly Mam’s “Voices for Change” pro­ gram, where she speaks out for sex slaves unable to speak for themselves. “We work directly with the victims to build warm relationships and listen to their experiences,” she says. At the brothels, Vann edu­ cates young women about the dangers of contracting HIV/ AIDS and other sexually trans­ mitted diseases when they are forced to have unprotected sex with clients. Many women are unaware they can die from HIV/ AIDS, Vann says, “so I tell them the importance of the clients us­ ing condoms.” Vann finds it difficult to explain how she overcame the trauma of being trapped in the prostitution industry. But it’s easier for her to say where her motivation to help others comes from: “Somaly Mam and the AF­ ESIP staff did so much to change me while I lived at the [organi­ zation’s] rehabilitation center. And I get much motivation from the young residents who live there. These girls are so lovely— their smiling faces make me feel Top: Somaly Mam, former Cambodian sex slave and founder of a rescue strong to be able to help them.” organization, works at a dressmaker’s shop that employs rescued girls. Somaly Mam says she has Above: Young women pose in a hair-styling salon. Training in such seen a remarkable positive income-generating skills as sewing and hair styling are part of rescued transformation in Vann since girls’ rehabilitation. HUMAN RIGHTS OF WOMEN: PROFILE 131311

Mam helped police authorities dangerous groundwork of docu­ completely controls another per­ rescue the Vietnamese native, menting abuses and preparing son, using violence to maintain then 14, from the brothels. “Sina complaints for police investi­ that control, exploits them eco­ has changed completely since gative and legal teams to issue nomically, pays them nothing the first time I met her at the re­ arrest warrants to brothel op­ and they cannot walk away.” habilitation center,” says Mam. erators. She recalls a frighten­ Vann says young sex slaves “She was so broken. She didn’t ing and “rewarding” experience include those “trafficked by their speak to me and was destruc­ of rescuing a sex slave victim own families for money,” while tive, trying to break everything who was only 4 years old that the traffickers are “thinking of in the center. I put my hand in involved a violent confrontation their own profits and not the hers and didn’t say a word, but with brothel owners to free the happiness of others.” let her know I understood what child from a cage. Though she suffered an un­ she was feeling.” Vann won the 2009 Fred­ speakable childhood horror, Now the mentee motivates erick Douglass $10,000 prize, Vann has not allowed it to de­ the mentor. “Sina is so strong which is awarded by the Wash­ stroy her. “I am very happy be­ and brave. I admire her. She in­ ington-based nongovernmental cause the world is concerned” spires me every day. She gives organization Free the Slaves. It about fighting the sex slave in­ her heart to all the other” vic­ is presented to those who have dustry. Former sex slaves, she tims at the center, Mam says. survived a form of slavery and says, are being “given a chance She adds that the former vic­ help others find purpose in their to return to society with honor tims learn how to become inde­ lives. The award, named for a and dignity.” pendent: “The girls go to school U.S. statesman who escaped and do homework” and gain job from bondage in 1838 to be­ skills that include how to sew come a leader in the movement and style hair. “For me, I enjoy to abolish slavery, emphasizes Eric Green is a freelance writer seeing the girls be happy again. that many survivors of modern- based in Washington. He has covered international issues for They’re like my family.” day slavery go on to help others the U.S. State Department and Mam’s foundation saidVann’s to freedom. the United States Information story is instructive in the global Vann says the award is im­ Agency and has been a Senate fight against sex slavery — for portant “for all the victims and press aide and a newspaper people unaware that sex slavery survivors” of sex slavery who live reporter for the Washington is happening, for those who want around the world. She uses the Post and other newspapers. to end it, for women still trapped award to explain that “we are in brothels and for “the survi­ strong to fight” the sex preda­ vors who are emerging from the tors, she says. darkness and need inspiration to Free the Slaves maintains rebuild their lives.” that “widespread impoverishment Vann says she has learned of people and their resulting the laws on human traffick­ vulnerability and government ing and has become familiar corruption” that does not pro­ with basic counseling and psy­ tect women from the “violence chology as part of her train­ of enslavement” drive 21st­ ing with AFESIP. She also does century slavery. The group says the grueling and sometimes slavery occurs “when one person PROJECT Making Cities Safe for Women

By Maria Jain and Suhgenie Kim

Women and girls are omen in Cities In­ In 2009, the Montreal-based ternational (WICI) nonprofit organization Women the keys to building Wis a groundbreak­ in Cities International launched safer cities. So say ing program that the Gender Inclusive Cities Pro- promotes women’s safety in four gramme (GICP), an innovative members of a unique of the world’s major cities. Re­ program designed to engage organization that sponding to the challenges of women and girls in creating urbanization, the organization safer cities. The program is im­ gives women tools to works with women and girls to plemented by partner organiza­ protect themselves fulfill their rights to the city, de­ tions in four cities: Jagori in New fined as the right to live, move Delhi, India; the International and function effectively around and work. Centre and Network for Infor­ in urban environments. “A girl is waiting for the bus, mation on Crime — Tanzania, but it arrives full and doesn’t in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; even stop. A man invites her for CISCSA (Centro de Intercambio a coffee and she says no. He tells y Servicios Cono Sur Argentina) her that it doesn’t matter; she — the Women and Habitat Net­ has to go with him anyway. The work in Rosario, Argentina; and girl threatens to call the police the Information Centre of the but the man drags her away and Independent Women’s Forum in rapes her.” This is the safety con­ Petrozavodsk, Russia. The pro­ cern expressed by a 13-year-old gram targets circumstances that girl from Rosario, Argentina. make women and girls vulnera­ Across the world’s cities, ble to urban violence and engag­ women and girls too often feel es local communities in making unsafe. Targeted simply be­ public spaces safer. cause they are women, they are GICP is supported by the exposed to daily harassment United Nations Trust Fund to and sexual violence in public End Violence Against Women, spaces. But a growing network a leading global grant-maker ex­ of organizations has success­ clusively dedicated to address­ fully brought safety for women ing violence against women in urban environments around and girls. With a strong track the world. record of nurturing innovation HUMAN RIGHTS OF WOMEN: PROJECT 133

Above: Cleaning up water sources and improving sanitation in areas such as this slum in New Delhi, India, make cities safer. Left: Women and girls conduct a “safety audit” walk to identify dangerous areas in their Rosario, Argentina, neighborhood. 134 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

and catalyzing change, the U.N. Trust Fund provides the project with vital leverage to make a sig­ nificant contribution to women’s rights in cities. “In all the cities, women face fear. They are fearful of sexual harassment, of sexual assault. Across the cities, women say they try to avoid getting out at night. The moment it becomes dark, the city becomes a more hostile place for women. Wom­ en say using public transport is a problem,” states Dr. Kalpana Viswanath, project coordinator. “This clearly indicates that wom­ Top: Women identified the lack of pavement as severely restricting their en are not equal citizens of the mobility and adding to their fear of violence in this area of New Delhi. city, they are not able to equally Above: Young women in Petrozavodsk, Russia, take notes about an unsafe area in their community. access what the city can offer.” HUMAN RIGHTS OF WOMEN: PROJECT 131355

In the words of one woman from the community, “I feel confident when I walk the streets. I know for sure that I have right to walk without feeling afraid and I ap­ preciate myself more and can talk about issues on our safety in public meetings.” In New Delhi, the Indian lead of GICP was invited by the city’s Municipal Corporation to provide inputs into a road rede­ sign project. This is the first time that women’s safety concerns are The director of WICI’s partner organization in Tanzania asks a woman included in urban planning in about her daily life in Dar es Salaam. the country. The secretary of community WICI and its partners en­ on positive changes in public security for Santa Fe Province in gage women and girls in partici­ perception of gender norms and Rosario has committed to en­ patory research activities such behaviors among individuals, hancing women’s inclusion in as street surveys, neighborhood families and communities. urban space development in the safety audits and group discus­ Halfway through the three- target locality of the city. For the sions to gather their knowledge year project, WICI has already girl at the bus stop, such com­ on key safety concerns in their made significant progress. In mitment promises to create a communities. Poor street light­ Petrozavodsk, Russia, a land­ city where she can wait without ing, broken pavements and lack mark agreement with local po­ fear in a well-illuminated area of signage, along with the pres­ lice chiefs will develop data on among male passengers who re­ ence of drug dealers and youth crimes based on information spect her right to move around gangs, are some of the main rea­ from women and girls. The cre­ the city. sons women feel afraid outside ation of such quantitative data their homes. Using the critical is unprecedented in Russia and input from women and girls, makes women’s safety concerns WICI and its partners develop visible to policymakers. Maria Jain and Suhgenie Kim intervention plans and engage Local officials in a low-in­ are program analysts at the United Nations Trust Fund to End with governments and other or­ come community in Dar es Sa­ Violence Against Women in New ganizations to build more gen­ laam have begun a community York. They work closely with the der-inclusive urban spaces. policing intervention. Neighbor­ fund’s grantees, who develop While reforming physi­ hood watch groups monitor the and implement approaches that cal infrastructure is central to area and work with the police to protect women’s rights worldwide. gender-equitable urban devel­ address security concerns. As a opment, transforming attitudes result, residents report improved toward women in society is safety in public areas. Muggings equally important. A foundation have decreased from a minimum for a truly safe city for all depends of 10 per day to three per week.

CHAPTER 10 • WOMEN AND THE MEDIA

Long excluded from serious news reportage, women today have risen to the top in media organizations worldwide. Young Navajo Indian filmmaker Camille Manybeads Tso draws inspiration from her ancestor, a warrior named Yellow Woman. OVERVIEW WOMEN AND THE MEDIA By Carolyn M. Byerly

omen brought a gendered analysis of the mass media Wto the global stage in the 1970s when a multipart critique was first presented at the 1976 Mexico City conference, which opened the U.N. Decade for Women. Much of the substance of that critique remains relevant today. But women’s fight for equal repre­ sentation in the media began much earlier.

History of Exclusion and Stereotypes

Women’s exclusion from the serious news of the day was raised as early as the 18th century by women suffragists and Left to right: women’s rights activists in Europe and continue into the early days of modern Adela Navarro North America. The early suffrage lead­ feminism (Epstein, 1978). Bello (Mexico), ers needed the attention of the news me­ Not only were women’s issues and Parisa Hafezi dia to carry their ideas and activities to leaders excluded from the media, but (Iran), Chiranuch wider publics, but male-run newspapers bias against women was practiced in re­ Premchaiporn (Thailand) and magazines largely ignored the wom­ porting women’s issues and leaders. Such and Kate Adie en activists. The news outlets that did treatment inspired women in many coun­ (U.K.) — with cover women frequently trivialized their tries to establish their own magazines, Liza Gross, goals. Women who departed from the newspapers and book publishing houses IWMF Executive social norms of passivity and deference during the late 19th and early 20th cen­ Director — to male authority, and the traditional turies. The post-Civil War Woodhull & received the International roles of wife and mother, risked being Claflin’s Weekly had as its aim to make Women’s Media characterized as inappropriate, insane or Victoria Woodhull the first woman presi­ Foundation misfits. If they demanded equality with dent, while the Lily had a broad women’s Courage in men, the media depicted them either as rights agenda, and the Una championed Journalism curiosities or as loud, militant and ag­ the rights of immigrant and poor wom­ Award in October gressive. Such characterizations would en. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan 2011. WOMEN AND THE MEDIA: OVERVIEW 139

Photojournalist Dickey Chapelle covered World War II, documenting such bloody battles as Iwo Jima and Okinawa. She was killed in Vietnam in 1965, the first American woman to be killed covering a war. Chapelle was among a handful of pioneering female war correspondents such as Martha Gellhorn, Margaret Bourke-White, Janet Flanner and Marguerite Higgins.

B. Anthony’s short-lived but important movements, as countries broke from co­ newspaper the Revolution addressed a lonial powers. The legacy of that activ­ spectrum of issues related to women’s ism carried over into women’s media like discrimination, including low wages of Ms. magazine, founded by U.S. feminists in working women and the right to vote. the early 1970s; Manushi, an Indian femi­ nist journal founded in the mid-1970s; A New Era of Women’s Rights and Isis International Bulletin, published first in Rome, then later in Manila. By the late 20th century, women across the Some feminist leaders were motivat­ globe focused on enacting political and ed by the enduring problems of exclusion legal reforms to extend women’s equal­ and misogynistic representation in main­ ity and access to social institutions and to stream media to establish their own pub­ ensure protection of their rights. It was a lishing houses, today numbering many new era for women’s rights. Many women dozens (see www.wifp.org/DWM/pub­ became politicized during independence lishers.html). Women’s organizations like 140 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY the South African group Gender Links Underrepresentation in news produc­ have assumed dual missions of establish­ tion arose through the U.N. Decade for ing their own journals, like Gender and Women (1976-1985), with leaders push­ Media Diversity Journal, as well as under­ ing the United Nations to fund women’s taking training for journalists in order to news and feature services in the 1970s address persistent patriarchal messages and 1980s to increase global news flow in news, advertising, films and television from progressive women’s perspectives. programs (Gender Links, www.gender­ They also gained funding for research on links.org.za/page/publications). women and media and generated their Radio journalist Firtia Mataniah Another modern media concern was own research. Two examples are the hosts her women’s lack of access to media profes­ Brussels-based International Federation program on sions. Women were severely underrepre­ of Journalists and the World Association women and sented in newsrooms, television and radio of Christian Communicators (WACC). management stations, film production and ownership The latter of these is among advocacy for Jakarta, of media outlets. More women on the groups that sponsor research aimed at Indonesia, radio station KBR68H. inside, it was argued, would help resolve enabling strategy-building for women’s The station was many of women’s other problems with equality in the media. WACC’s (Canada) launched by the media. Women such as Ann S. Moore periodic study Who Makes the News? fo­ post-Suharto (Time Inc.), profiled in this chapter, ac­ cuses on women’s representation in news activists as knowledge the importance of women in worldwide, while the International Wom­ a voice of their media operations. en’s Media Foundation (United States) democracy in 1999. WOMEN AND THE MEDIA: OVERVIEW 141

Ukrainian reporter Lesya conducts research on women’s status in Carolyn M. Byerly is a professor in the Alexeyenko news organizations. IWMF also recog­ Department of Journalism, School of nizes women journalists for courage in holds a copy of Communications, Howard University, her newspaper, reporting with an annual “Courage in in Washington, D.C. She researches Vilne Slovo. Journalism” award. communications policy related to women She received Such groups offer workshops to teach and minority ownership, media and gender, journalism race, sexuality and nationality. She is the training through media professionals how to include gen­ Women and Media: Global co-editor of a USAID der angles in news. Women have made Perspectives (Blackwell, 2004), co-author of program. slower progress in communications gov­ Women and Media: A Critical Introduction ernance and policymaking, at national (Blackwell, 2006) and principal investigator and international levels, so these remain for the study Global Report on the Status important areas for critique and action. of Women in News Media, a 59-nation study sponsored by the International Programs such as USAID-funded Wom­ Women’s Media Foundation (2011). en’s Edition have given women strong foundations for journalism careers. PROFILE Ann Moore Leveraging the Value of Women By Joanna L. Krotz WOMEN AND THE MEDIA: PROFILE 143

Women who he impressive thing Then again, Moore could about Ann S. Moore, draw on deep experience in set­ have achieved Twho ran Time Inc. ting goals and tackling the chal­ top management from 2002 to 2010, lenges. A keen observer and an is not her global profile as the unabashed fan of Time Inc.’s positions in media first woman to head the legend­ unique role in the media land­ corporations are few. ary company that boasts 115 scape — the company has in­ international magazine titles fluence that streams from Main Ann S. Moore rose to and some 137 million monthly Street to Wall Street and from the top of one of the readers. It’s not even her down- Pennsylvania Avenue to Hol­ to-earth, straight-talking style, lywood and Vine — Moore en­ world’s most influential the friendships with influential joyed a career at the company news organizations, policymakers and A-list celebri­ that spanned 32 years. “I know ties or her habitual appearance every inch of this business,” she Time Inc., through on every Most Powerful Wom­ declares, not particularly brag­ perseverance, a an list ever devised. Rather, the ging, but merely stating the facts. impressive thing, as you listen At a meeting just before willingness to take to Moore review her rise to the her departure is officially an­ calculated risks and a top, is the out-and-out glee with nounced, Moore is comfortably canny perception of which she did the job. settled into a plump armchair in the spacious, thickly carpeted the future of media. Revamping Time Inc. for executive suite on the 34th floor the Digital Age of Rockefeller Center’s landmark Time-Life Building. The sweep­ It was far from easy. As chair ing views of midtown Manhat­ and CEO, Moore arguably led tan highlight her success. Moore, Time Inc. through its great­ at 60, looks back with pride and est trials and transformations gusto. Clearly, she has thrived on — and emerged victorious. She the risks as much as the wins. “I successfully steered the largest work with really smart people magazine publisher in the Unit­ and we produce really amazing ed States out of its fierce attach­ products,” she says. “It’s easy to ment to print and straight into stay working somewhere for 32 the digital age. She streamlined years when you’re not bored.” its multilayered, old-boy central­ Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, ized structure into more nimble the oldest of five kids, Moore brand clusters, making manag­ spent her formative years on a ers diverse and more account­ series of military bases. “My fa­ able. “We were facing a crisis,” ther was in the Air Force until she acknowledges today. “It was I was in about sixth grade,” she not easy to completely transform says. “I moved all the time when an industry and drag everybody, I was young and I have nothing kicking and screaming, into the but fabulous memories of every 21st century.” move.” She credits her dad, who 144 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

Ann S. Moore was appointed chairwoman and chief executive of Time Inc. in 2002, becoming its first female executive. was a pilot, with shaping her at­ Drawn to Sports and of reading Sports Illustrated into titudes toward work. “I always Publishing my career.” knew I could do the job of CEO, Through the 1980s, after but it wasn’t my lifelong ambi­ After high school in McLean, starting at Sports Illustrated, tion,” Moore explains. “My fa­ Virginia, Moore went on to Moore put in stints at Fortune, ther retired from the military Vanderbilt University in Nash­ Money and Discover, moving up and went on to a whole second ville, Tennessee, and then earned with every jump. By the early career in aviation. So I had a an MBA from Harvard Business ’90s, back at Sports Illustrated as model growing up that said, School in 1978. While her class­ associate publisher, she began to ‘Hey, you don’t have to just do mates headed for Wall Street, make her mark on the compa­ one thing. And you don’t nec­ Moore wasn’t interested — “I ny. Fittingly, Moore earned her essarily have to aspire to being always wondered exactly what claim to fame by tutoring Time the CEO to be successful.’” That they do there,” she says, jokingly. Inc. about the value of women. outlook served her well as she Instead, Moore went to Time “I changed the equation climbed the ladder. “I always Inc. “I was a big sports fan and at the company because I’m had a lot of confidence,” she says. that’s why I joined the compa­ the one who began diversify­ “You have to not fear failure.” ny,” she says. “I turned my hobby ing into women’s and children’s WOMEN AND THE MEDIA: PROFILE 141455 magazines,” says Moore. She is, today, the nation’s largest- shadow her dramatic footsteps? launched Sports Illustrated circulation fashion and beauty True to form, Moore speaks Kids in 1989. “It was the first magazine — “ahead of Vogue,” forthrightly: “I think it’s all about kid magazine and we hadn’t says Moore. InStyle is Time self-assessment. Who are you? launched anything successful Inc.’s third-most-profitable title What are you good at? What do since 1974.” At the time, she (Sports Illustrated is second). you like to do? Then use that to says, “we thought you couldn’t Real Simple came next, in 2000. find a match. Turn your hobby make money targeting women, “We had a little piece of research into your occupation. You have so even when I moved to Peo­ that I couldn’t get out of my to take responsibility for your ple in 1991, we thought it was a mind,” says Moore, which said career. I also say to young wom­ dual-audience magazine.” that the average American wom­ en, learn how to fill out your an spends 55 minutes a day just dance card. I’m the chairman People and InStyle: Women looking for things. “Time is the of Time Inc. because I filled out as an Important Market single most precious commodity my dance card better than any­ to American consumers, espe­ one else. I’m the chairman be­ Moore was working with then- cially for a woman,” she says. “So cause I’ve been here for 32 years editor Lanny Jones. The pair that was the whole idea behind and I’ve launched more maga­ transformed People into a news- Real Simple. We would get you zines than [Time Inc. founder] magazine for women, first mov­ organized and you would have Henry Luce. That’s why I’m in ing from black and white to an extra hour a day.” Luce’s office.” color pages. Next, they changed Moore smiles, leaning back “And I was very patient.” delivery from Monday to Friday. in her comfortable chair, and “News is like bread. The fresh­ confides her secret to launch­ er it is, the more exciting it is.” ing successful magazines. “It Moore also inaugurated People was such a simple concept, but Joanna L. Krotz is a multimedia special issues, such as its now- it solved a problem. That’s where journalist and speaker whose work has appeared in the New famous “Sexiest Man Alive,” you find holes in the market­ York Times, Worth, Money and “Best Dressed, Worst Dressed” place, and that’s what Time Inc. Town & Country and on MSN and others. “It was a license to was particularly good at. We in­ and Entrepreneurship.org. She steal,” she laughs, looking back. vented most of the categories we is the author of The Guide to “Once you determined this is publish in.” Intelligent Giving and founder of really a woman’s magazine, you What’s in store for Moore as the Women’s Giving Institute, an organization that educates donors could see what you needed to do she moves on? She’s not saying. about strategic philanthropy. with People to unleash its poten­ With her 26-year-old son, Bren­ tial.” Nowadays, as it has been dan, enrolled at Harvard Busi­ for years, People is the compa­ ness School and her husband, ny’s most profitable title and, as Donovan Moore, continuing Moore likes to point out, People. work as a private wealth man­ com leads in online entertain­ ager at Bessemer Trust, her ho­ ment news, with 13 million rizon looks wide open, especially unique visitors monthly. considering her dad’s second-act The rest remains Moore’s role model. groundbreaking history. She And what advice would she launched InStyle in 1991, which give young women who’d like to PROJECT Women’s Edition

By Deborah Mesce

Funding for women’s round the table sat it after several years in the pro­ 12 women journal­ gram, “Now I think globally and news and feature Aists from Africa, write locally.” services opened the Latin America, Asia Women’s Edition, funded by and Eastern Europe, discuss­ the U.S. Agency for International door to journalism ing the status of women in their Development, takes a long-term careers for many cultures. The Africans said view of working with journalists. women in their countries have Since 1994 when the program women worldwide many babies, often too many to began, 62 journalists have par­ in recent decades. care for adequately. Reporters ticipated. There was little turn­ from India, the Philippines and over in the early years, but later a The Women’s Edition Peru said families were some­ two-year participation limit was program shows how what smaller in their countries. set. During their tenure in the Then the Romanian journalist program, the journalists attend women may fruitfully surprised them all: “You know, weeklong seminars twice a year collaborate to gain in my country the government in locations around the world. pays women to have children,” Seminars focus on health and global perspectives on she said, explaining Romania’s development issues. Each jour­ women’s issues, and strategy to reverse its population nalist takes away new data and decline. research on specific topics, the bring that knowledge This conversation took place insights of experts and memo­ to their writing. at Women’s Edition, a program rable experiences from field that brings together small groups visits that illuminate the issues. of veteran women journalists Following each seminar, each from influential media houses journalist prepares a special sup­ across the developing world to plement, a series of articles or a examine and report on a range of broadcast program for her me­ issues related to women’s health dia house on the seminar topic and development. They gain in the context of her country. a global perspective on these The Population Reference issues by learning how coun­ Bureau (PRB), a nongovernmen­ tries both similar and different tal organization in Washington from theirs handle the same is­ that runs the project, solicits ap­ sues. As a Nepali reporter put plications from women editors, WOMEN AND THE MEDIA: PROJECT 147

Above: Women’s Edition journalists attend a session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Left: In India, two Women’s Edition journalists photograph a village potter. 148 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY reporters and producers every two years. Journalists hear about this from national and interna­ tional journalism associations, schools and websites. As many as 200 candidates apply. PRB invites around 12 to participate. PRB looks for seasoned journal­ ists who demonstrate a strong interest in women’s health and development issues and who have editorial influence in their newsrooms. To maintain geo­ graphic diversity, usually just one journalist is selected from a country. Women’s Edition grew from an earlier PRB project, Global Edition, which brought together senior editors from the devel­ oping world to focus and write on population and the environ­ ment. Similarly, Women’s Edi­ tion’s mission is to strengthen and increase reporting on wom­ en’s health and development and, in doing so, stimulate discussion on these issues among the public and policymakers in developing countries. In organizing the semi­ nars, PRB seeks input from the journalists in selecting a topic and then links the topic with a Top: Women’s Edition reporters meet with then-ambassador of Ecuador relevant venue. For example, a Yvonne A-Baki (right) at the Embassy of Ecuador, Washington, D.C. seminar on trafficking was held Above: Three Women’s Edition journalists accompany an activist doing in New Delhi, where the jour­ HIV/AIDS outreach in a Johannesburg, South Africa, market as part of a nalists visited a brothel in the project to stop violence against women. city’s largest red-light district and talked to Nepali sex workers which has one of the world’s in conjunction with internation­ there who had been trafficked highest rates of rape but also al conferences and other events, years before. For a seminar on vi­ some of the most innovative pro- such as the biennial AIDS con- olence against women, Women’s grams to deal with the problem. ferences and special U.N. ses- Edition met in South Africa, Some seminars have been held sions. Other seminar themes WOMEN AND THE MEDIA: PROJECT 141499

an Indian journalist that she persuaded a physician friend to open such a center in Mumbai. Women’s Edition has a last­ ing impact on the journalists themselves. They become the experts in their newsrooms on women’s issues. They gain con­ fidence in their knowledge and abilities, which helps them to lobby for coverage of women’s issues. They receive job promo­ tions and gain more influence over what issues are considered newsworthy. “Gone are the days when health and women’s issues were a once-a-week affair,” said Ropa Mapimhidze of Zimbabwe, who was assistant editor at the Herald when she participated in Women’s Edition. She is now features editor at Newsday, a new independent newspaper.

Deborah Mesce is program director for international media Reporters pose after a presentation at the London School of Hygiene and training at the Population Tropical Medicine. Reference Bureau and has been coordinator of Women’s Edition have included links between ministry officials, parliamentar­ since 2001. Before joining PRB, gender and the environment, ians and NGO leaders who want she worked for more than 20 women’s empowerment and more information. A Malawian years as a reporter and editor women’s reproductive health. journalist wrote about an in­ for the Associated Press in the Connecticut state bureau and on Sometimes a journalist’s novative rape crisis center her the national staff in Washington. report prompts action. Af­ Women’s Edition group visited ter a magazine cover story on in Johannesburg. She received the health and social problems a call from the Malawian presi­ child brides face in India, the dent’s daughter, who wanted to Tamil Nadu state government become involved in local efforts launched awareness campaigns to replicate it. Sometimes jour­ in villages where child mar­ nalists take action on their own: riage is common. More often, A seminar visit to a rape crisis the journalists receive calls from center in New York so inspired

CHAPTER 11 • WOMEN AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Because of women’s relationship with the environment, they can be critical agents of environmental conservation, sustainable development and adaptation to climate change. In Darfur, Sudan, women carry firewood to the Abbu Shouk refugee camp. OVERVIEW WOMEN AND THE ENVIRONMENT By Cate Owren

“ he world’s women are the key to sustainable development, peace Tand security,” U.N. Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon told par­ ticipants at the Earth Institute’s State of the Planet meeting at Columbia Uni­ versity, in New York City, in March 2010. Because women are the chief resource managers for their families in many parts of the world, their engagement in reme­ dies for and adaptation to climate change is essential. Across the regions and cultures of the world, women play critical roles in rela­ tion to their natural environment. Often deeply dependent on available natural re­ sources for food, fuel and shelter, women can be particularly vulnerable to envi­ ronmental changes or threats. Because Locally built women’s workload is often centered on securing sources of fuel, food and fodder, energy-efficient managing natural resources, biodiversity and managing land — be it forest, wet­ cookstoves help and ecosystems, their experiences and lands or agricultural terrain. As women women manage perspectives are essential to sustainable are primary caregivers to children, the resources development policymaking and actions elderly and the sick, whole communi­ sustainably and at every level, for a healthy planet for gen­ ties rely on them. Their traditional and preserve Virunga Park forests in erations to come. generational knowledge of biodiversity, the Democratic for example, supplies communities with Republic of Resource Managers medicines, nutritional balance and crop Congo. USAID rotation methods. When drought, erratic partners with Women in the developing world are pre­ rainfall or severe storms affect access to WWF to support dominantly responsible for management these basic resources, women’s lives — such ventures. and conservation of resources for their and their families’ lives — can be intensely families. Women spend vast amounts affected. In fact, studies have shown that of time collecting and storing water, natural disasters disproportionately hit WOMEN AND THE ENVIRONMENT: OVERVIEW 153

Women women, lowering female life expectancy International Agreements conservationists rates and killing more women than men, include especially where levels of gender equality International agreements have made cru­ professionals are low. cial links between women and the envi­ and volunteers. Women constitute just over half ronment; the challenge is to take action. This volunteer exercises a baby the world’s population, but women are The Convention on the Elimination of All cougar at the responsible for feeding much of it — Forms of Discrimination Against Women Machia Park especially in rural regions of develop­ (1979), an international “bill of rights” for in Villa Tunari, ing countries. Women produce between women, addresses a host of environmen­ Bolivia. The park 60 and 80 percent of food in developing tal issues. Likewise, the Beijing Platform shelters abused countries — and yet they officially own for Action, an outcome of the Fourth animals thanks to Inti Wara only 2 percent of land worldwide, accord­ World Conference on Women (1995), in­ Yassi, a Bolivian ing to the Food and Agriculture Organi­ cludes an entire chapter on women and NGO. zation. Historical inheritance laws and the environment. It foreshadowed the customs often prohibit or limit women’s different impacts global warming would direct control over land; even when wom­ have on women and men, which are now en are able to own and lease land, they evident across the globe. may not be able to secure loans or insur­ Major sustainable development trea­ ance to keep their resources safe. The lack ties, also, have acknowledged the spe­ of equitable land rights remains a major cific need for women’s participation and obstacle to women’s empowerment and for a mainstreamed gender perspective. poverty alleviation. The 1992 United Nations Earth Summit 154 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

Left: A woman in Tsetan, Tibetan Autonomous Region, China, uses a home­ made solar cooker to boil water. Below: Environmental activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai plants a tree in Uhuru Park, Nairobi, Kenya, in 1999. Mathai founded the Green Belt conservation movement in 1977 and fought for women’s rights. She died in 2011.

(UNCED) produced two key conventions — on biological diversity and on combat­ ing desertification — that have served as guides for implementation of environ­ mental actions from a gender perspective. The overall UNCED document, Agenda 21, included a specific chapter on gen­ der, which highlighted the important role women play in industrialized countries as sustainable consumers. Indeed, the links between women and environment are not solely concentrated in the global South (i.e., developing countries). Studies have shown that women in the North (i.e., de­ veloped countries) have a smaller carbon footprint than men, making the major­ ity of “green” decisions at the household level and for travel according to a 2007 Swedish government report. These international agreements in­ dicate that, worldwide, women must be equal participants in all decisions related WOMEN AND THE ENVIRONMENT: OVERVIEW 155

A woman learns to their environment. Demonstrating comprehensively integrated into policy to be a “barefoot great capacity as leaders, experts, educa­ and implementation efforts at every stage engineer” tors and innovators, women and women’s for the well-being of future generations. at Barefoot movements have made great strides in College, Tilonia, in Rajasthan, preserving and protecting the resources India. After around them. Women took the lead in the six months of grass-roots Chipko Movement of India in Cate Owren is executive director of the training, women the 1970s, where activists stopped the Women’s Environment and Development return to their Organization (WEDO), a women’s global felling of trees by physically surround­ villages where advocacy organization working to empower ing — literally hugging — the trees. They they install and women as decisionmakers to achieve maintain solar- also protected water sources from cor­ economic and social justice. Founded powered lighting porate control. Similarly, the Green Belt specifically to influence the 1992 Earth systems. Movement, the conservation and forestry Summit (UNCED), WEDO strives to integrate movement which originated in Kenya gender perspectives and women’s direct participation internationally. Most recently, on Earth Day in 1977, is another famous WEDO’s advocacy efforts contributed to effort initiated by women. Women around securing the first-ever gender text in the the world continue the fight against cli­ U.N. negotiations on climate change. mate change, making sustainable con­ sumption choices, and improving access to, control over and conservation of re­ sources. Their voices must continue to be PROFILE Aleksandra Koroleva A Passion for Environmental Protection By Alexey Milovanov WOMEN AND THE ENVIRONMENT: PROFILE 157

Russian environmental nvironmental activist dendrologist Galina Kucheneva. Aleksandra Koroleva “She had some kind of tremen­ activist Aleksandra Ehas devoted much of dous inner drive, she didn’t just Koroleva’s efforts her life to protecting study trees as a botanist but the pristine environment in the sought to preserve them for the to preserve the Kaliningrad region in the Rus­ future,” Koroleva recalls. “I, of environment and sian Federation, on the Baltic course, inherited only a tiny bit Sea. The unique and complex of her confidence, but I have that protect people from habitats there include wetlands, drive, too, and it won’t let me environmental pollution forests, rivers and marshes. It is take things lying down.” home to diverse ecosystems and Russian society was in a are tireless, and her migratory birds. She has worked very turbulent state in the early unorthodox approach within and outside of the gov­ 1990s. The disappearance of ernment not only to preserve the authoritarian Communist is often successful. precious natural resources but regime and the sudden ability to protect citizens from danger­ to freely express opinions gave ous environmental pollution. rise to many new movements Koroleva was a member of a and organizations. One of them newly formed state environmen­ was the group Ecodefense! [Eko­ tal protection committee after zashchita! in Russian]. It was the Soviet Union fell apart. She founded by young people deter­ says that at the time it seemed mined to effectively address en­ the committee could signifi­ vironmental issues by following cantly help to responsibly con­ the Western environmental ac­ serve the environment. Prior to tivist model. They chose as their this, Koroleva worked at a uni­ slogan the high-flown but honest versity, a school and a regional “No compromise in defense of history museum where she dealt Mother Earth!” A meeting with with environmental issues. In Ecodefense! activist Vladimir her new position her task was to Slivyak led Koroleva to make a raise public awareness, primar­ 180-degree turn, leave govern­ ily through the mass media. The ment service and begin a new work was not going badly; she stage in life. Koroleva recalls, had even created the first radio “He said, ‘Let’s do something program in the Kaliningrad re­ and not wait until the govern­ gion devoted wholly to environ­ ment permits us to write an mental problems. The program article and conduct an environ­ aired for several years. But soon mental study.’ He showed you the legacy of the Soviet years, the can simply do what you think is bureaucracy, stalled her efforts. necessary and important.” Because of her upbring­ The list of “necessary and ing she couldn’t bring herself important” items is so long that to accept defeat. She is like her it could occupy a dozen full-scale mother, renowned botanist and organizations. Yet Ecodefense! 158 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY functioned admirably during its of the city hall and stood around factory, young people strolled first 15 years, without any legal it with votive candles. When downtown wearing the masks status. Among other endeav­ analyses carried out at the initia­ of mutants in order to draw at­ ors, it agitated against pollution tive of the environmentalists re­ tention to possible consequenc­ of the region’s water resources vealed the presence of dioxins in es. Koroleva describes another by harmful substances such as the waste water of the local paper effort she led: “We brought to dioxins. It also opposed impor­ tation of foreign nuclear waste materials into the country. It protected the nature reserves of the Curonian Spit, a long, narrow sandbar that stretches across the Curonian Lagoon between the Kaliningrad region and Lithu­ ania, from dangerous oil-extrac­ tion projects on the Baltic shelf. Ecodefense! fought to preserve trees in downtown Kaliningrad. And, of course, it promoted en­ vironmental education with all available means. The top prior­ ity was always to make people aware of environmental issues and how to solve the problems. Ecodefense! held press confer­ ences and issued reports and press releases in years when this was a novelty in Russia, even for businesses. Ecodefense! success­ fully used the media to convey an independent environmental message. “Even now, when our work is not as intensive, journal­ ists call me almost every day,” says Koroleva. Ecodefense! used dramatic methods to attract media atten­ tion, so journalists would write about “those ecofreaks” and the public would read about them. When trees were cut down in the city of Kaliningrad, activists Aleksandra Koroleva works with other activists at the Curonian Spit, under Koroleva’s leadership car­ Kaliningrad Region, Russian Federation. ried a log in a coffin to the doors WOMEN AND THE ENVIRONMENT: PROFILE 151599 the district government build­ Under Aleksandra Koroleva’s She transformed conservation of ing a huge mock-up of a nuclear leadership the first environmen­ the national park into a genuine power plant, with a pipe emit­ tal referendum in Kaliningrad mass movement. ting acrid orange smoke. And we was held on the construction History has a way of repeat­ handcuffed ourselves to the en­ of an oil terminal in the port of ing itself. Twenty years later trance of that building, dressed Svetly. Her books helped stop Koroleva joined a government in the costumes of oil-spattered dangerous projects and prevent agency again, as deputy director pigs, in order to show the danger tree clearing, and gave people of the Curonian Spit National of the Lukoil Company’s plans confidence in their power to de­ Park. Although she recently re­ to extract petroleum 22 kilo­ fend their right to clean air and signed to protest new policies meters from the reserves on the water. She encouraged them — the same inner drive causing Curonian Spit. Oh, those were to change what they do not her to reject the bureaucratic ap­ good times, and I sometimes re­ agree with and control the of­ proach — Koroleva plans to con­ gret that Ecodefense! and I have ten harmful activity of officials tinue her environmental work gone our separate ways.” — new ideas to citizens of the with Ecodefense! “I’m ready Such outré behavior was former Soviet Union. Koroleva again to go back to my roots,” shocking and aroused suspi­ also educated officials by par­ she says. cions which still persist among ticipating in numerous public Koroleva’s numerous detractors. councils, drafting new laws and Many times Aleksandra Koroleva criticizing officials who closed and her colleagues were accused their eyes to environmental Alexey Milovanov worked with of being in the pay of business crimes. “In the end, the authori­ Aleksandra Koroleva as a press officer and campaigner for the competitors of the people they ties acknowledged the existence Ecodefense! environmental fought against or foreign intelli­ and importance of the third group for five years. He has gence services, from the CIA to sector [nongovernmental orga­ been a freelance journalist Mossad. Koroleva routinely had nizations], whether it was us or and photographer since 2005 to counter false media reports. someone else,” says Koroleva. and is currently chief editor at Teaching is as necessary as “We were striving precisely for the local online news agency www.NewKaliningrad.Ru. breathing to Koroleva, but her that acknowledgment, and it was dynamism often frightens peo­ a victory. The doors we opened ple unprepared for her zeal. For are now accessible for many oth­ 10 years Ecodefense! conducted er activists.” a project to observe nature in Koroleva urges everyone — the Baltic region in which chil­ children, teachers, officials, ac­ dren participated. Thousands tivists — not only to think but of schoolchildren learned about to do something concrete. For the Baltic ecosystem in theory several years she organized and in practice through this pro­ the “Environmental Landing gram. They cleared refuse from Force on the Curonian Spit” to the coast, took eco-tours and strengthen dunes and clear away networked with their peers from refuse in the national park, re­ other countries in international cruiting not only students and nature camps. activists, but high-ranking offi­ cials, politicians and diplomats. PROJECT Barefoot Solar Engineers

By Anu Saxena

A revolution is arefoot College was their resources and technol­ founded in 1972 in ogy are unique features of the happening in Barefoot BTilonia, Rajasthan, Barefoot program. The trainees College in rural India, by social activ­ all hail from remote communi­ ist and educator Bunker Roy. Its ties that have never known con­ Rajasthan, India. It is purpose is to find simple, sus­ ventional electricity and where a quiet revolution that tainable solutions to basic qual­ literacy rates are low, especially ity of life problems in rural com­ for women and girls. They are brings solar energy munities: clean water, renewable selected by community con­ and clean technology energy, education and health sensus and, upon their return, care. Stable livelihoods and are paid by the community to to the poorest women’s empowerment are also install, maintain and repair the rural communities, among Barefoot College’s goals. solar units at a percentage of the Solar energy is an important monthly energy costs that would changing the face of “barefoot solution,” and wom­ otherwise have been spent on rural development. en — especially grandmothers the alternatives — fuels, candles — are preferred candidates for and batteries. At the forefront of solar engineer training. As Bun­ Since 2005, 250 of these vil­ this revolution are ker Roy puts it, “We have trained lage women from 29 countries men, and found that they took have brought solar electrifica­ semiliterate or illiterate their training and knowledge to tion to around 10,000 houses, rural women from go work in the cities. [Women] in regions as diverse as the hot Asia, Africa and Latin feel responsible for their village.” desert plains of Rajasthan and Rural grandmothers have a lon­ rural hamlets tucked in the America, many of ger history in the community cold, mountainous, windswept them grandmothers, and have less incentive to mi­ plateaus of Ladakh, in India; grate. This keeps the knowledge Timbuktu, Mali, in Africa; and who are trained and technology in the commu­ Soloja, Bolivia, high in the An­ to work as skilled nity. Their expertise is shared des. Most poor rural house­ with others, ensuring project holds that Barefoot College solar engineers. sustainability. has helped in Africa and Latin Treating the community America use approximately 1.5­ members as partners and let­ 2 gallons of kerosene per month ting them manage and own for their lighting and cooking WOMEN AND THE ENVIRONMENT: PROJECT 161

Rural grandmothers are being trained as solar engineers at a Barefoot College workshop session. 162 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY needs, according to the Barefoot College experience with rural households. It is estimated that this consumption emits an esti­ mated 14.74-19.65 kilograms of CO (Richard J. Komp, 2002). Switching to solar power has re­ duced environmental pollution and forest degradation in these communities by decreasing their use of firewood, diesel and ker­ osene. Using solar power has lowered rural families’ lighting costs and reduced the levels of indoor pollutants and the fire hazards of kerosene use. The study conditions for schoolchil­ dren are improved and women can engage in income-generating activities, such as handicrafts, after sundown. The extraordinary results achieved by Barefoot College be­ gan with its six-month, hands- on solar engineering training program. The guiding principle of the college, that solutions to rural problems lie within the community, is nowhere more evident than at a solar engineer­ ing training classroom, where 30 participants, from various coun­ tries, sit side by side on benches, Sita Bai, a solar cooker mechanic, stands beside one of the devices she is working with concentration to trained to assemble and repair. connect wires on a circuit board, assemble a solar lantern or draw welcome the visitor to this Bare­ 2.5-square-meter parabolic so­ what they have just created in a foot united nations of women, lar cookers glisten in the sun­ small notebook. Since there is no collaborating to bring light and light. The cookers are attended one common language among hope to their communities. by Shahnaz and Sita, two Bare­ the trainees or instructors, the The same enthusiasm and en­ foot solar engineers (BSEs). They women learn to identify parts by trepreneurial activities pervade went through the basic solar color and use hand gestures lib­ the Barefoot College campus. A program before specializing in erally. Waves, smiles and greet­ short distance from the class­ the fabrication of cookers — a ings in a variety of languages room, two impressive-looking task traditionally associated WOMEN AND THE ENVIRONMENT: PROJECT 161633 with men, as it involves metal they were limited to socially improved status in their com­ work and welding. As they ex­ prescribed tasks, to their roles munities because of their valu­ plain some of the intricacies of as educators, skillful mechanics able contribution. Referring to constructing and calibrating the and wage-earners is a powerful their local BSE, a male village cooker, their pride in their work narrative of change. elder in Bolivia says admiringly, is evident. They now train other As women’s participation “She is better at this than I am … women to make the cookers. Sita in environmental management and I am a car mechanic!” has even found a way to reach a has increased, they have become By enrolling women and broader audience by composing more visible. Women now have a their communities as partners, a song with her colleagues on the voice in local politics. Examples Barefoot College has increased benefits of using solar cookers, are the Solar Warriors of Bhutan community awareness of sus­ which they sing for community and the BSEs of Ethiopia, who tainable practices while sup­ education programs. The story petitioned their governments porting traditional knowledge. of their personal journey from to start local BSE women’s as­ Workshops on how to dispose conservative families, where sociations. Women enjoy an of plastic responsibly, use solar cookers, improve management of water resources, including rain water harvesting, and other good practices that are kinder to the environment enhance the quality of rural life.

Anu Saxena has been involved with international development programs in marginalized communities, with a focus on gender issues, for more than 20 years. She earned her doctorate in social anthropology from Boston University and did her fieldwork in Colombia. She is currently the Latin America adviser to the Barefoot College (India) Solar Engineering program.

These Mauritanian women install solar panels in their village after training at Barefoot College in India, where they learned to be solar engineers. They receive income for their work.

CHAPTER 12 • RIGHTS OF THE GIRL CHILD

Girl children are denied their human rights in many countries. This girl in a Bangalore, India, slum may face not only economic hardship but discrimination and exploitation because of her sex. OVERVIEW THE GIRL CHILD By Robin N. Haarr

n many cultures and societies, the girl child is denied her human Irights and sometimes her basic needs. She is at increased risk of sexual abuse and exploitation and other harmful practices that negatively affect her survival, development and ability to achieve to her fullest potential. Because girls are particularly vulnerable, they require additional protections. The girl child is one of the 12 critical areas in the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, which recommends elimination of all forms of discrimination and abuse of girls and protection of their rights. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989, sets forth the basic human rights of children, usu­ ally those under 18 years of age. These rights include nondiscrimination; the right to survival and development of po­ tential; protection from harmful influ­ ences, abuses and exploitation; and full A Sudanese participation in family, cultural and so- Cultural Influences on Treatment schoolgirl stands cial life. The convention also spells out of Girl Children outside her some human rights violations that are classroom at the unique to the girl child, including dis- Discrimination and harmful practices Greida refugee camp near Nyala, crimination based upon sex, prenatal sex against the girl child vary depending upon Darfur. selection, female genital mutilation and cultural context. For instance, intentional early marriage. abortion of female fetuses and female in­ fanticide are common practices in East and South Asian countries where sons are strongly preferred. India and China have THE GIRL CHILD: OVERVIEW 167 a significant sex-ratio imbalance in their of nutrition, health care, education, fam- Turkish authorities populations as a result of these practices, ily care and protection. Girls are often discourage according to the United Nations Popula- fed less, particularly when there are di- the traditional tion Fund (UNFPA, 2005). In India such minished food resources. A diet low in practice of child practices are reinforced by the perception marriage in rural that daughters are an economic burden towns such as on the family. They do not significantly Acarlar, where this young contribute to the family income and large woman walks dowries may be expected by in-laws when with a baby. the girl marries. In China, sex selectiv- ity and abandonment of infant girls have increased dramatically since the enact- ment of the one-child policy in 1989. Prenatal sex selection is more common where modern medical technology is readily accessible and open to misuse. According to the UNFPA 2004 report, sex-selective abortion and female infanticide have resulted in at least 60 million “missing” girls in Asia. The short- age of females in some Asian countries has led to other problems, such as increased trafficking in women for marriage and sex work. Despite govern- ment programs and efforts to end such prac- tices with education, financial incentives and threat of punishment, sex-selective abortion and female infanticide continue. The status of girls is significantly less than that of boys in some countries. This makes girls more vulnerable to discrimination and neglect. Available indicators reveal that girls are discriminated against from the earliest stages of life in the areas 168 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

Primary school calories, protein and nutrients negatively and skills needed for employment, em­ students at affects girls’ growth and development. powerment and advancement in status al-Yasmin Less likely to receive basic health care, often are withheld because of customary school for girls they are at increased risk of childhood attitudes about educating boys over girls. in Baghdad, mortality. Girls are more likely to be used as child Iraq, open boxes of educational Girls are more likely to be denied labor inside and outside of the home. Yet supplies provided education. In 2007, an estimated 101 mil­ there are many benefits of investing in by UNICEF to lion children worldwide — the majority girls’ education. Healthier families, lower children in war of whom were girls — did not attend pri­ fertility rates, improved economic perfor­ zones. mary schools (UNICEF, 2010). Africa, the mance and poverty reduction are among Middle East and South Asia have the larg­ them. Educating girls in a supportive, est gender gaps in education. Girls from gender-sensitive environment is critical poor and rural households are especially to achieving gender equality. likely to be denied education. Knowledge THE GIRL CHILD: OVERVIEW 169

The United Nations Population Fund Gezzimma–Tope, spearheaded by Dr. estimates that 100 million to 140 million Bogaletch Gebre in Ethiopia to stop geni­ girls and women have undergone genital tal mutilation. Or the Marriage Without mutilation and at least 3 million girls are Risk Network in Yemen, which links sev­ at risk of the practice every year. Most eral NGOs that educate communities and cases occur in regions of Africa, the Mid­ advocate to curb child marriage. dle East and Asia. In Egypt, it is estimated Besides eliminating abuse and dis­ that 75 percent of girls between 15 and 17 crimination, the Beijing Platform for Ac­ years of age have undergone genital mu­ tion recommends enhanced development tilation, a practice which has immediate and training to improve girl's status and and long-term negative consequences on eliminate their economic exploitation. girls and women’s health and well-being, Awareness of girls’ needs and poten­ and complications can be fatal. Some tial should be improved in society and countries in Africa, Europe and North among the girls themselves so they may America have banned genital mutilation; participate fully in social, economic and nevertheless, the practice continues. political life. Progress has been made, but Child marriage is another human much remains to be done to protect girls’ rights violation that occurs in Africa, rights and assure them a future in which South and Central Asia and the Middle they may benefit themselves and their East. The highest rates are in South Asia communities. and sub-Saharan Africa, where girls are married as early as 7 years of age, but of­ ten before 15 or 18 years of age. According to UNICEF statistics, in Bangladesh, the Robin Haarr is a professor of criminal Central African Republic, Chad, Guinea, justice at Eastern Kentucky University whose research focuses on violence Mali and Niger more than 60 percent of against women and children and human women married before 18 years of age. In trafficking, nationally and internationally. India, 47 percent of women married be­ She does research and policy work for the fore 18 years of age. In Yemen, more than United Nations and U.S. embassies and 25 percent of girls marry before 15 years has received several awards for her work, of age. Child marriage is a form of sexual including induction into the Wall of Fame at Michigan State University’s School of abuse that separates girls from family and Criminal Justice and the Coramae Richey friends, isolates them socially, restricts Mann “Inconvenient Woman of the Year” education and leaves them vulnerable Award from the American Society of to violence from husbands and in-laws. Criminology, Division on Women and Crime. Child brides face health risks and even death related to premature forced sex — often with a significantly older husband — and early pregnancies. They are also at increased risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. However, grass-roots movements can implement change successfully. An example is the Kembatti Mentti PROFILE Bogaletch Gebre Trading New Traditions for Old By Julia Rosenbaum THE GIRL CHILD: PROFILE 171

Fueled by a dream, “ o mother, no family “when one wrongs the other, would intentionally it hurts oneself more than the Dr. Bogaletch Gebre Nharm their child,” ex­ one who was wronged.” Like all worked hard with plains Dr. Bogaletch young women of her day, Boge Gebre, founder of the Kembatti looked forward to her circumci­ dedication to obtain Mentti Gezzimma–Tope (KMG), sion ceremony, when, she said, an education. She which means “women of Kem­ “People would start seeing me batta working together,” a wom­ differently; looking at me in a became a physician. en’s self-help center in southern new and better light.” Ever since, she has Ethiopia. Gebre is a champion of Growing up in a family of 14, women’s development. She has she and her younger sister Fikirte worked to empower also worked hard to end female were inseparable. They were the women in her native genital mutilation, a traditional first girls in their village to have practice in Africa. higher education. Boge attended Ethiopia, replacing Boge, as she is called, comes Hebrew University in Jerusalem harmful practices with from a farming family in Kem­ on a full scholarship. Later the batta, southern Ethiopia. Her sisters went to the United States. healthy ones — one father protected the weak, wid­ Boge was a Fulbright Scholar at village at a time. owed and orphaned in their the University of Massachusetts, community, giving to those where she studied epidemiology whose harvest was not enough. and public health. News of the She describes her mother as 1984-87 famine in their home­ a wise, generous and loving land prompted the sisters to help. woman who believed people do Fikirte focused on improving ac­ wrong out of ignorance, “be­ cess to clean water for her village. cause,” their mother told them, She started a business brewing

Bogaletch Gebre speaks to villagers in a remote area of Ethiopia’s southern Kembatta Tembaro zone to raise awareness about the danger of female genital mutilation. 172 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY up tasty sauces and donated part uncertain about how to realize marry without genital mutila­ of the profits to her water proj­ their vision to break the cycle of tion. They appealed to the local ect. Boge tackled education and violence against women and pro­ priest, who was already sensi­ livelihood for young women by vide development opportunities. tized through KMG outreach. founding Parents International Boge started with a base­ He agreed to support them. At Ethiopia–Development through line survey about women’s con­ their wedding the bride wore a Education. She rallied U.S. sup­ ditions: health and HIV/AIDS; placard declaring that she was porters to end a “book famine” men’s and women’s education; not circumcised, and the groom as pervasive as the food famine. economic opportunities for wore a sign stating his happiness She ran fundraising marathons women; and female genital mu­ to marry “an uncircumcised, which sent more than 300,000 tilation. The results were pre­ whole girl.” Similar marriages books on science, medicine and sented in a community forum followed, in which couples pub­ law to Ethiopia. where the discussion lit a spark. licly rejected female genital mu­ Boge’s own awakening about “Women started speaking out tilation. Support groups were genital mutilation grew from the … crying. … Everyone knew the formed; there was peer outreach rage and horror over what was pain and risk of cutting, but per­ education. “They’ve become our done to her as a young woman, petuated the practice because foot soldiers, a social force in what was done to all the girls of they thought it was God-given their communities,” says Boge. her village. “I understood that and was essential if a woman was “Girls rally together, singing the purpose of female genital to be considered marriageable.” songs and wearing signs, ‘We excision was to excise my mind, Momentum was building. In are your daughters! Do not harm excise my ability to live my life June 2002, 78 young schoolgirls us.’” A new event introduced in with all my senses intact,” she marched with placards that read: 2004, “Whole Body, Healthy Life said. “I was never meant to be “I refuse to be circumcised, learn — Freedom from Female Geni­ educated, to think for myself, from me.” Two young sweet­ tal Excision,” which aims to re­ because I am a woman born in hearts boldly defied tradition, to place harmful mutilation rituals a small village in Ethiopia. It’s a system that looks at a woman as an object of servitude. She starts serving her family at the age of 6 — before she even knows who she is. When she marries she is literally sold to the highest bid­ der. From one servitude to an­ other, we are exploited.” Boge returned home in 1997 with $5,000 and a vision. With her sister she founded KMG in 1999. The self-help center now includes a skills training center, library, heritage house, a health care center and a guest house and hosts a women’s discus­ An Ethiopian couple celebrates their wedding wearing signs declaring their opposition to female genital mutilation. sion group. At first they were THE GIRL CHILD: PROFILE 171733

turmoil, environmental degra­ dation and loss of the traditional income base all reinforce atti­ tudes which victimize women and perpetuate violence against women.” The success of Bogaletch Gebre has meant broader influ­ ence of the KMG model in other regions and countries and in policymaking. “We don’t need miracles,” she says. “We need commitment to action, cre­ ativity and hard work. And, of course, we need to support each other, as people who share this Fuga (potters) are marginalized social outcasts who are denied basic one world.” rights in Ethiopia. KMG helps these artisans by educating them about human rights and through advocacy on their behalf. Here a village of “My dream for African potters assembles to discuss community issues. women? That the world realizes that women’s suppression is no with life celebrations, has been sustainable change. We just need good for business, for the econo­ very well attended. The day is to give them the space.” my, nor for human development. recognized as a freedom day, a Community representatives We must end gender apartheid,” new tradition that is celebrated — students and teachers, boys, she says. every year. girls, literate and illiterate, Today, female genital mu­ women and men, midwives, re­ tilation has been largely elimi­ ligious leaders, and elders — all nated in KMG’s outreach area meet regularly to discuss con­ Julia Rosenbaum is senior of 1.5 million people. A 2008 cerns, build relationships, share program officer, Health, Population and Nutrition Group, for the UNICEF study documents the learning and reach consensus. Washington-based Academy for transformation after a decade Boge says, “Solutions lie within.” Educational Development. She of intervention in which female KMG facilitates and encourages provides technical input and circumcision has dramatically discussion. “Once they make management to global maternal decreased to less than 3 percent. their commitments, they abide and child health programs. She This has been accomplished by by them.” has worked in Ethiopia for the past six years through USAID’s law and through education of It is a holistic approach, Hygiene Improvement Project communities about the harm of Boge says, that recognizes “the on community-led approaches the practice. indivisibility of social, cultural, for hygiene and sanitation Boge says that support economic and political dynam­ improvement and related HIV from KMG has helped com­ ics that affect societies and care and support programs. munities “to trust and unleash women in particular … link­ their collective wisdom, thereby ing ecology, economy and so­ recognizing their own capac­ ciety.” She adds, “In Kembatta, ity to effect measurable and as in other rural regions, social PROJECT Changing Hearts and Minds: Averting Child Marriage in Yemen

By Dalia Al-Eryani and Laurel Lundstrom

Child marriage is he speaks from the unmarried and in school until heart, like a typical they are at least 18. The YWU is one of the biggest S8-year-old. “I want to reaching out to Arwa’s grandfa­ threats to young girls be a doctor,” says Arwa ther, hoping he will allow her to (not her real name), revealing a live out her dreams. The YWU in Yemen. It often gap in her smile from a missing has helped avert the marriages prevents them from baby tooth. But her future is not of 79 children in 2009-2010, her own. through an initiative called the getting an education “I want to work with all sick “Safe Age of Marriage” Project. and following their people,” she quietly insists. “I The YWU works with the don’t want to get married at all. Extending Service Delivery Proj­ dreams. It can be I want to stay with my mother.” ect, which focuses on reproduc­ devastating physically, Despite her dreams, Arwa al­ tive health and family planning, ready understands that the de­ and the Basic Health Services psychologically, sires of her grandfather will Project to transform the opin­ economically and more likely dictate her future. ions of religious leaders, com­ And her grandfather has munity leaders and families to socially. Local different plans. He has already value girls’ education over early organizations work betrothed Arwa to her cousin. marriage. It’s not an easy task. Like most child brides, she will The YWU faces resistance from to improve the not continue with her educa­ community members who think prospects of girls by tion. She will be taken from her the organization is “meddling ensuring that they mother, forced out of school and with local norms and traditions,” required to abandon any aspira­ says Wafa Ali. Poverty and con­ remain unmarried tions of a medical career. servative views about the role of and in school. “The greatest problem fac­ women are also problems. ing Yemeni women today is Coordinators from the YWU child marriages,” says Wafa Ah­ oversee a team of 40 volunteer mad Ali of the Yemeni Women’s community educators — 20 men Union (YWU), one of several lo­ and 20 women — concentrated cal nongovernmental organiza­ in Amran governorate’s Al Sawd tions (NGOs) trying to change and Al Soodah districts, where the prospects of young girls like 59 percent of families marry off Arwa by ensuring they remain their daughters before the age THE GIRL CHILD: PROJECT 175

Yemeni schoolgirls in Sana’a carry signs denouncing child marriage, a practice still common in Yemen. 176 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY of 18. The governorate’s capital be appropriate for Islamic com­ mother’s reaction: “My daughter city, Amran, an ancient trading munities, and encourage girls isn’t cursed after all!” center, is located about 50 kilo­ not to get pregnant for the first By delaying marriage, the meters north of Yemen’s capital, time until they are at least 18. project aims to slow maternal, Sana’a. Only 1 percent of women Safia, one of YWU’s com­ newborn and infant deaths and in Amran governorate have at­ munity educators, frequently associated conditions such as tended school, according to a hears about the consequences of obstetric fistula, childhood de­ baseline assessment conducted child marriage and early preg­ formities, mental illness, de­ by the Safe Age of Marriage nancy. “My 16-year-old daughter pression and domestic violence. Project. is cursed,” says a woman at one Other organizations around the The volunteers raise aware­ of Safia’s sessions. She adds that country with similar goals in­ ness about the social and health each time the girl has tried to clude the Marriage Without consequences of child marriage bring a new life into the world, Risks Network, a group of five through lively discussions, film she has failed. “The babies al­ local NGOs funded by the screenings, plays, writing com­ ways die,” she says. “But my Middle East Partnership Ini­ petitions, poetry readings, de­ 20-year-old daughter, she is not tiative. Each NGO approaches bates and literacy classes. One of cursed. She has healthy babies.” child marriage from a different their main lessons is about the Safia advised the woman that be­ angle: some focus on grass-roots healthy timing and spacing of cause her daughter had married awareness campaigns, classroom pregnancy. The messages about early, she and her babies were at workshops or media cam­ family planning are tailored to an increased risk of death. The paigns; others conduct studies

Girls at school in Yemen’s Amran Governorate learn about the negative consequences of child marriage. THE GIRL CHILD: PROJECT 171777

has decreased in both districts. In Al Soodah, the community is trying to pass a local law dictat­ ing a “safe age of marriage.” The intervention is now be­ ing spread to two neighboring districts, with plans to expand it nationally in the future. Ali says that the YWU will spread the intervention to seven to eight more governor- ates. “Part of the strategic plan for the YWU is to do advocacy with local authorities and deci­ Cooperation of men in the community is essential. Here Sheikh Yahya sionmakers and ask them to take Ahmed Abdulrahman Al-Naggar engages other Yemeni religious leaders measures to guarantee girls get and men as he sensitizes them to the importance of reproductive health and family planning. married at a safe age,” he says. to determine the prevalence and fully developed are particularly effects of early marriage on girls at risk for fistula. Community and their families; and others educators explain such risks to Dalia Al-Eryani is the project advocate for change by engag­ impress upon the girls and their coordinator of the Safe Age of Marriage Project in Yemen, which ing decisionmakers such as families the importance of mar­ educates communities on the parliamentarians and religious riage at a safe age. risks of early marriage. A Fulbright leaders. The network outreach By attending a similar ses­ Fellow, she works with Yemen’s allows the groups to connect sion, Ali, another community Basic Health Services Project. with other like-minded organi­ member, changed from being an Laurel Lundstrom served as the zations throughout Yemen, from advocate for child marriage into communications officer for the international organizations to a strong advocate for delaying Extending Service Delivery Project, USAID’s flagship reproductive community groups to Islamic marriage. In fact, when he met a health and family planning foundations, that work to elimi­ father whose daughter, at age 13, project. She has written for the nate child marriage. By sharing was about to be married, he ar­ United Nations, Global Health successful approaches, mem­ gued so passionately to stop the magazine and the World Health bers of the network enhance marriage that he convinced the Organization, and co-produced a its effectiveness. father to break off the engage­ short documentary on maternal and newborn health in Yemen. “Fistula!” shouts a young girl ment — and he paid the father in response to a question about back part of the dowry already the health risks of early marriage. sacrificed to the groom-to-be. The girl, who wears a white scarf, There was no wedding, and the speaks confidently to the audi­ daughter is back in school. ence, describing how this injury, The Safe Age of Marriage caused by complications during Project has reached nearly childbirth, can ruin a woman’s 41,000 people, and child mar­ life. Girls whose bodies are not riage for girls between 10 and 17 BIBLIOGRAPHY ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Books, publications, journals, and websites on Global Women’s Issues

POVERTY UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic, 2010 Kashf Foundation Based on the latest data from 182 countries, this global The Kashf Foundation provides microfinance reference book provides comprehensive analysis on the loans to women in Pakistan. AIDS epidemic and response. www.kashf.org http://www.unaids.org/globalreport/global_ Quisumbing, Agnes R., et al. “Are Women Over- report.htm Represented Among the Poor? An Analysis of Poverty UNAIDS Strategy Goals by 2015 in Ten Developing Countries.” Journal of Development UNAIDS website which focuses on prevention of Economics, Vol. 66, No. 1 (August 2001): pp. 225-269. mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Women Thrive Worldwide http://www.unaids.org/en/strategygoalsby2015/ Women Thrive Worldwide is a nonprofit organization verticaltransmissionandmaternalmortality/ which advocates for policies that foster economic U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, opportunity for women living in poverty. PEPFAR www.womenthrive.org PEPFAR is a U.S. government initiative to help EDUCATION save lives of HIV/AIDS sufferers worldwide. Bahia Street, Equality Through Education www.pepfar.gov Bahia Street is a nonprofit organization that works to break WHO World Health Statistics, 2011 cycles of poverty and violence through quality education http://www.who.int/whosis/whostat/2011/en/ for impoverished girls and young index.html women in Salvador, Brazil. http://www.bahiastreet.org/ World Health Organization. Towards Universal Access: Scaling up Priority HIV/AIDS Interventions in the The Millenium Development Goals Report 2011 Health Sector. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/11_ Organization, 2010. MDG%20Report_EN.pdf http://www.who.int/hiv/pub/2010progressreport/en/ Tostan Jokko Initiative VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN Tostan is a nongovernmental organization whose mission Baker, Nancy V., et al. “Family Killing Fields: Honor is to empower African communities through sustainable Rationales in the Murder of Women.” Violence Against development and positive social transformation based on Women, Vol. 5, No. 2 (February 1999): pp. 164-184. respect for human rights. Tostan provides education to adults and adolescents who have not had access to formal Garcia-Moreno, Claudia, et al. WHO Multi-Country Study schooling. on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence Against Women. http://www.tostan.org/web/page/824/sectionid/ Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 2005. 547/pagelevel/2/interior.asp Heise, Lori, et al. “Ending Violence Against Women.” HEALTH Population Reports, Series L, No. 11. Baltimore, MD: John AVERT Hopkins University School of Public Health, 1999. AVERT is a U.K.-based international HIV and AIDS charity Krug, Etienne, et al. World Report on Violence and Health. that works to prevent HIV and AIDS worldwide Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 2002. through education, treatment and care. http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/ www.avert.org violence/world_report/en/ mothers2mothers mothers2mothers is an nongovernmental organization that helps to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. www.m2m.org BIBLIOGRAPHY 179

South Kivu Women’s Media Association (AFEM) women leaders from all over the world with members of A blog from the South Kivu Women’s Media Association Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Leaders. (AFEM-SK), Congo, a nonprofit organization http://exchanges.state.gov/citizens/professionals/ campaigning for women’s rights. fortunepartnership.html www.englishafemsk.blogspot.com The Global Gender Gap Report 2010, World Tjaden, Patricia, et al. Full Report of the Prevalence, Economic Forum Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women. https://members.weforum.org/en/Communities/ Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice and the Women%20Leaders%20and%20Gender%20Parity/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000. GenderGapNetwork/index.htm United Nations General Assembly. Declaration on the International Labour Organization (ILO) Gender Elimination of Violence Against Women (Resolution document Equality Between Men and Women A/REX/48/104). New York, NY: United Nations, 1993. The International Labour Organization promotes equality between all women and men in the Watts, Charlotte, et al. “Violence Against Women: Global world of work. Scope and Magnitude.” The Lancet, Vol. 359, No. 9313 http://www.ilo.org/public/english/gender.htm (April 6, 2002): pp. 1232-1237. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/ onlinewomeninpolitics.org article/PIIS0140-6736(02)08221-1/abstract onlinewomeninpolitics.org explores creative ways in ARMED CONFLICT organizing a network of Asia-Pacific women involved in politics, governance, decisionmaking and Cockburn, Cynthia, “The Continuum of Violence: A transformative leadership. Gender Perspective on War and Peace.” Sites of Violence: www.onlinewomeninpolitics.org Gender and Conflict Zones. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2004. POWER & DECISIONMAKING Soroptimist International White Paper, United Nations Peacekeeping/Women in Women at Work, 2010 Peacekeeping http://www.soroptimist.org/whitepapers/ The U.N. has increasingly given women roles in WhitePaperDocs/WPWomenatWork.pdf peacekeeping forces. www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/issues/ Vital Voices, Mentoring womeninpk.shtml Vital Voices Global Partnership is a nongovernmental organization that identifies, trains, and empowers Women for Women International emerging women leaders and social Women for Women International gives hope to women entrepreneurs around the globe. survivors of war and conflict and helps them move toward http://www.vitalvoices.org/node/124 economic self-sufficiency with programs of direct aid, rights education, job skills training, and small Women in National Parliaments business development. The International Parliamentary Union tracks the www.womenforwomen.org number of women in parliaments. ECONOMY http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/world.htm The 100 Most Powerful Women, 2010. Forbes. Women’s Leadership: The Next 100 Years http://www.forbes.com/wealth/power-women Women’s Leadership: The Next Hundred Years is an initiative of the International Visitor Leadership Program of the Bureau Council of Women World Leaders, Aspen Institute of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State. The Council is a network of former women presidents, It celebrates the historic accomplishments of women and prime ministers and cabinet ministers. provides opportunities for the participants to network http://www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/women­ with their U.S. counterparts and each other. world-leaders http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/Womens­ Fortune/U.S. State Department Global Mentoring Leadership-Next-100-Years Partnership The Fortune/U.S. State Department Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership connects talented, emerging 180 WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY

HUMAN RIGHTS Women’s Publishers/Women’s Institute for Bunch, Charlotte and Samantha Frost. “Women’s Freedom of the Press Human Rights: An Introduction.” Routledge International Women’s publishers are listed here. Encyclopedia of Women: Global Women’s Issues and http://www.wifp.org/DWM/publishers.html Knowledge. Newark, NJ: Routledge Press. ENVIRONMENT http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/globalcenter/whr.html Barefoot College The Convention on the Elimination of all The Barefoot College is a nongovernmental organization Forms of Discrimination Against Women that provides services and solutions to problems in rural (CEDAW) communities, with the objective of making http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/ communities self-sufficient. http://www.barefootcollege.org/ UNIFEM. About the Convention This website offers a detailed explanation Food and Agriculture Organization of the United of CEDAW. Nations (FAO) http://www.unifem.org/cedaw30/about_cedaw/ This is the home page for the FAO. MEDIA www.fao.org Bradley, Patricia. Women and the Press: The Struggle for Johnsson-Latham, Gerd. A Study on Gender Equality Equality. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2005. as a Prerequisite for Sustainable Development. Stockholm, Sweden: Ministry of the Environment, Epstein, Cynthia. “The Women’s Movement and the Sweden, 2007. Women’s Pages.” Hearth & Home: Images of Women in the http://www.genderandenvironment.org/ Mass Media (pp. 216-221). New York: Oxford University Press, archangel2/documentos/447.pdf 1978. Neumayer, Eric and Plümper, Thomas. “The Gendered Gender Links Nature of Natural Disasters: The Impact of Catastrophic This South African organization works for gender equality Events on the Gender Gap in Life Expectancy, 1981-2002.” in three core program areas: the media, London, England: London School of Economics, 2007. governance, and gender justice. http://www.gdnonline.org/resources/SSRN_ http://www.genderlinks.org.za/page/publications Neumayer_Plumper_GenderedNature_ International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) NaturalDisasters.pdf The IWMF offers news and training designed to THE GIRL CHILD strengthen the role of women in the news UNICEF. Basic Education and Gender Equality media worldwide. http://www.unicef.org/girlseducation/index_ www.iwmf.org access.html Who Makes the News? Global Media Monitoring UNICEF. Child Protection from Violence, Exploitation Project and Abuse Who Makes the News? is the largest and longest longitudinal http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_ study on gender in the world’s news media. earlymarriage.html http://www.whomakesthenews.org/gmmp­ 2009-2010.html UNICEF. The State of the World’s Children Report Women’s Edition – Population Reference Bureau http://www.unicef.org/publications/index.html Senior-level women editors, reporters, and producers from influential media organizations in developing countries GENERAL examine and report on pressing issues affecting women’s Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action health and status. (1995) http://www.prb.org/About/InternationalPrograms/ http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/ Projects-Programs/InternationalMedia/ pdf/BDPfA%20E.pdf WomensEdition.aspx U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, U.S. Department of State — 1995 Office of Global Women’s Issues The home page of the landmark conference includes The following are the home and Facebook many resources. pages of the Office of Global Women's Issues: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/ http://www.facebook.com/dos.sgwi fwcwn.html http://www.state.gov/s/gwi/ U.N. Population Fund: State of the World’s USAID: Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment Population, 2010 USAID promotes gender equality and women's http://www.unfpa.org/swp/ empowerment worldwide. U.N. Women http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/cross-cutting_ U.N. Women is the United Nations Entity for Gender programs/wid/ Equality and the Empowerment of Women. http://www.unwomen.org/

CREDITS: All photographs are credited © AP Images with exception Partnership, Photograph by Elliot Woods. 93: Courtesy of of the following: Vital Voices Global Partnership, Photograph by Aaron Kisner. 99: USAID/Maureen Taft-Morales. 102: Claudio Santana/ Page 6: U.S. Department of State. 15: The World Bank/Curt AFP/Getty Images. 103: Simon Uribe/AFP/Getty Images. Carnemark. 16: Courtesy of Roshaneh Zafar. 17-19: Courtesy 112: USAID/Nepal, James Ellis. 113: UN Photo/Eskinder of Kashf Foundation. 21: © Gilvan Barreto/Oxfam. 22-23: Debebe. 114: OSCE/Oleksandr Vodyannikov. 119: OAS/Juan Photographs by Lacey Kohlmoos. 24-25: UN Photo/Eskinder Manuel Herrera. 128: © Somaly Mam Foundation. Debebe. 26: The World Bank/Shehzad Noorani. 27: USAID/ 129: Courtesy of Free The Slaves. 130: EyesWideOpen/Getty Ben Barber (top left), PRNewsFoto/Motorola, Inc., Aynsley Images (top), Courtesy of Free The Slaves (bottom). 133 Floyd (bottom). 28: USAID/Zahur Ramji (top). 30-33: Courtesy (bottom) -135: Courtesy of UNIFEM. 138: Courtesy of IWMF, of Bahia Street. 35-37: Courtesy of Tostan Jokko. 38-39: The Photograph by Vince Bucci. 140: Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty World Bank/Curt Carnemark. 40: USAID/Project HOPE. Images. 141: USAID/Ben Barber. 144: Fred R. Conrad/The New 43: USAID/ADRA, Salohi/Jules Bosco. 44: U.S. Department York Times/Redux. 147-149: Courtesy of Women’s Edition. of State. 46: USAID/Tanya Habjouga. 49-50: Gideon Mendel/ 152: USAID/Alain Mukeba. 155: Courtesy of Barefoot College. Corbis for UNICEF. 52-53: Michael Kamber/The New York 156-158: Photographs by Alexey Milovanov. 161-162: Courtesy Times/Redux. 57: © AP Images/Arizona Daily Star, James of Anu Saxena. 163: Courtesy of Barefoot College. 170: Rui M. Gregg. 58: Courtesy of Vital Voices Global Partnership. Leal/Getty Images. 171-173: Courtesy of KMG Ethiopia. 176­ 59: Courtesy of AFEM South Kivu. 60: Courtesy of Vital 177: Courtesy of Dalia Al-Eryani. Voices Global Partnership, Photograph by Chris Wright. 61: Courtesy of AFEM South Kivu. 63-65: Courtesy of ADVN, Photographs by Wang Tao. 72: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images. 73: Courtesy of Women for Women International. Coordinator: Dawn L. McCall 77: Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images. 78: UN Photo/Eric Executive Editor: Nicholas S. Namba Kanalstein. 80-81: The World Bank/Yuri Mechitov. 82: USAID/ Director of Publications: Michael Jay Friedman Richard Nyberg. 83: The World Bank/Anvar Ilyasov. 84: USAID/ Editorial Director: Mary Chunko Jacqueline Ahouansou. 86: Courtesy of Lubna Olayan. Managing Editors: Lea Terhune and Megan Wong 91: Courtesy of Vital Voices Global Partnership, Photograph Design Director: Min-Chih Yao by Sharon Farmer (both). 92: Courtesy of Vital Voices Global Photo Research: Ann Monroe Jacobs “However different we may appear, there is far more that unites us than divides us. We share a common future, and we are here to find common ground so that we may help bring new dignity and respect to women and girls all over the world.”

Hillary Rodham Clinton 4th U.N. World Conference on Women Beijing, China, September 1995

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE BUREAU OF INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION PROGRAMS GLOBAL WOMEN’SGLOBAL ISSUE

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WOMEN IN THE WORLD TODAY