Archive for category: Women and Female Empowerment

information and Stories about woman and female empowerment.

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Women in Developing Countries: The Impacts of International Trade

women in developing countriesInternational trade is arguably the most significant economic development of the last century. Its growth has been roughly exponential due to technological advancements and specialization, and exports today are more than 40 times the amount they were in 1913. Although this growth contributes to higher wealth and more stable economic systems for many countries, it simultaneously can exasperate already-existing inequalities, particularly those concerning women. International trade has contributed to the creation of new workforces containing more women. However, the employment opportunities in developing countries are typically low-paying positions with little prospects for skill development. Women in developing countries are limited to such positions due to social and cultural dynamics, policies and other country-specific contexts.

Employment of Women in Developing Countries

Women in developing countries oftent act as a cheap source of labor for firms. In manufacturing, women are mainly employed in jobs involving the production of goods, rather than higher-paying jobs involving management positions. If an economy is predominantly agricultural, women are often subsistence farmers or members of family businesses. In these situations, many women in developing countries do not get paid for their work. In service-based economies, women occupy low-skill positions such as street vendors. However, increasing the pay women receive for these jobs and successfully closing the gender gap could add about $28 trillion to global GDP.

The tendency of women to work in low-skilled jobs results from ingrained social norms designed to limit women’s economic mobility. Societies that expect women to assume the full responsibility of childcare often give them few opportunities to receive education or reduce the burden of their domestic labor. Consequently, these women are less likely to have the same access men do to land, credit and labor markets.

Little Access to Opportunities

Women in developing countries often also experience disproportionate rates of unemployment or remain in low-paying positions because they are unable to learn more about job opportunities in other locations. Robert Jensen, a former professor from the University of Texas at Austin, examined this phenomenon. He concluded that women living in rural areas in India who were contacted by recruitment campaigns providing information about job opportunities in urban areas ultimately participated more in the labor force. As a result, they experienced increased mobility.

Current Trade and Employment Policies

In 2016, the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development released a report stating that gender-blind trading policies exacerbate the inequalities women experience in developing countries. These gender-blind trading policies do not create equal opportunities. Instead, they allow men in the workforce to further benefit from existing economic advantages they enjoy.

However, the U.N. proposed two new global development frameworks to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment through trade. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development focuses on combating gender issues. It links economic, social and environmental factors to address power structures and social dynamics that contribute to gender inequality. The Addis Ababa Agenda on Financing for Development requests equal gender inclusion into the formulation and implementation of financial, economic, environmental and social policies. It also aims to ensure women’s equal rights through access to economic activities that would combat gender-based violence and discrimination.

Together, these development plans are a holistic, firm course of action in the fight against women’s economic inequality. The U.S. Council on Foreign Relations recently reported on the progress nations have made in adopting plans, allocating funds and formulating policies. It found higher numbers of trade agreements with gender-related provisions in the last three decades. Although the global economic impact of COVID-19 may disrupt this progress, comprehensive plans and agendas will ensure that the pursuit of gender equality in trade continues.

– Isabel Serrano
Photo: Unsplash

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5 Facts About Femicide in Bolivia

Femicide in Bolivia
Bolivia is a South American country with a population of more than 11 million people. Due in part to the prevalence of “machismo culture” that views women as property, violence against women is commonplace throughout the country. Femicide in Bolivia is a prevalent concern.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), femicide is the “intentional murder of women because they are women.” Men most commonly perpetrate violence against women, especially male relatives and partners, and this treatment typically follows both repeated physical and verbal abuse. Intimate femicide, when the perpetrator is a partner or relative of the victim, is the most common form. Estimates show that it causes over one-third of annual female murders around the world. These five facts about femicide in Bolivia show the extent of gender-based violence and how the government combats the problem.

5 Facts About Femicide in Bolivia

  1. Bolivia has the highest rate of femicide in South America. In 2018, the country had “two femicides for every 100,000 women.” The first six months of 2019 alone saw more than 60 reported murders of women, or one femicide every two days. The prevalence of femicide relates to overall high levels of abuse and domestic violence against women. In 2016, an estimated 70% of women had been victims of violence by their partners.
  2. There is a high degree of impunity for femicide. In 2016, a mere 4.7% of cases of violence against women made it to court and, of those, less than 5% were sentenced or closed. 206 cases of femicide reported over 23 months starting in 2013. However, in only eight did the court sentence the murderer for the crime.
  3. Women have mobilized against femicide by organizing marches in protest. One such march took place in La Paz in August 2019. Hundreds of Bolivians, including president Evo Morales, joined forces to call out the country’s patterns of violence against women.
  4. Bolivia implemented Law 348 to attempt to combat femicide. This 2013 measure is also called the Comprehensive Law to Guarantee Women a Life Free From Violence. It considers femicide a severe form of violence. The law imposes a minimum sentence of 30 years in prison for anyone convicted. Part of Law 348’s plan to eliminate femicide is a mandate for all levels of government to design and enforce policies specifically addressing gender-based violence. The law also demands that the victims and their families deserve justice.
  5. President Morales has made eliminating femicide a priority for the national government. In 2019, he proposed declaring femicide a crime against humanity and partnering with police and prosecutors to ensure the crime is taken seriously. The Morales administration created a cabinet comprised of multiple ministries to focus on crimes against women and children to curb gender-based violence. Additionally, Morales proposed a tax on fuel to help fund changes within the school system that would provide a learning environment with less gender bias and training teachers on recognizing the signs of violence.

While violence against women is common in the country, the government is taking the problem seriously. They are making many attempts to eliminate gendered violence. Many of the laws passed have proven difficult to enforce. However, Bolivia continues to combat femicide and societal norms that lead to such high rates of violence against women.

– Sydney Leiter
Photo: Pixabay

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How Mercy Corps is Supporting Girls’ Education

Mercy Corps Supporting Girls' Education
Amid COVID-19, rural communities continue to face economic, health and safety concerns. From misinformation to improper sanitation, pastoral communities require immediate assistance to not only survive, but thrive. Mercy Corps, a humanitarian organization, has stepped in to support these communities’ most vulnerable members. In recent months, the NGO has shifted its priorities; now, Mercy Corps is supporting girls’ education more than ever.

The Mission of Mercy Corps

In addition to reducing poverty and oppression through sustainable community building, Mercy Corps recently established a Resilience Fund to combat COVID-19’s effects. Mercy Corps explained that its funding will “provide emergency supplies, food and clean water” to developing countries like Colombia, Yemen and Nepal. However, donations go beyond monetary support as the organization targets public health concerns and stimulates economic recovery through education.

To protect pastoral communities, Mercy Corps supplies counseling stations, hand-washing training and sanitary facilities for nursing mothers and children. It also provides food when local markets close and funnel donations directly to at-risk families. To stimulate economic growth, Mercy Corps’ supports farmers, small businesses and girls’ education.

A New Focus: Girls’ Education

Recently, Mercy Corps made girls’ education its top priority as it “produces exceptional gains in areas of health, infant mortality and economic well-being of families.” However, the consequences of the pandemic forced many rural communities to relegate girls’ education to a lower priority. When countries like Kenya closed their borders, cities also shut down their schools. In turn, young women returned to their families and household chores.

Mercy Corps projects that the pandemic will significantly affect learning within rural communities. UNICEF organizations like Voices of Youth understand that education can delay young women’s marriages: each year a woman remains a school, she receives greater opportunities for personal growth and employment. However, Mercy Corps, and perhaps even Voices of Youth, fear that COVID-19 will increase the number of high school dropouts and consequently increase the rate of child marriages.

In the face of economic uncertainty, Mercy Corps supports girls’ education and aims to prevent its disappearance from public consciousness. Small donations and public outreach will counteract the pandemic’s effects and return young girls to safe, supportive environments that nourish their learning potential. The Resilience Fund will also maintain the Mercy Corps’ STEM program, which helps women in Nepal and Yemen complete their education through invaluable tutoring programs.

Cooperating with Communities to Increase Impact

Mercy Corps values girls’ education as a resource for development and hints at its potential social effects. However, UNICEF believes local communities must provide women access to quality education in three concrete ways:

  1. Low-Cost Education at Convenient Times. UNICEF argues that women’s education should be free or cost relatively little. School hours should be flexible so girls can maintain commitments to their families, complete their chores and finish their assignments. If families worry about the loss of income, schools should compensate community members by providing young girls with scholarships or stipends.
  2. Female Teachers and Schools Close to Home. Girls’ safety remains an everyday concern for most parents. Schools with women teachers can eliminate this stress and ensure that girls succeed without external pressures. Schools within walking distance of home also ensure the safety of young girls by reducing exposure to dangerous areas.
  3. Empowering Curricula. Because girls’ education has the potential to “enhance women’s self-esteem,” their course curricula should “avoid reproducing gender stereotyping.” Building a woman’s skills and self-confidence transforms her into a better worker, citizen and parent—all invaluable outcomes that extend far beyond graduation.

If rural communities consider UNICEF’s recommendations and remain open-minded to the benefits of girls’ education, the Mercy Corps Resilience Fund will serve a greater purpose. The Resilience Fund will stimulate economic development and encouraging proper hygiene. It will also counter COVID-19’s effects and ensure that girls’ education becomes a worldwide priority. Mercy Corps is supporting girls’ education to provide hope for economic viability in the next generation of women.

– Kyler Juarez
Photo: PickPik

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Fighting Period Poverty in Tanzania

Period Poverty in TanzaniaMenstruation is a natural and essential part of human life. For women facing period poverty in Tanzania, lack of access to menstrual management products and sanitation facilities can result in lost opportunities for work or education.

Periods and Poverty

Over 50% of the Tanzanian population does not have access to improved sanitation and clean drinking water is often limited. Without access to menstrual hygiene products, information and adequate sanitation services, women and girls are at risk for poor physical or reproductive health. Lack of proper sanitation contributes to lower girls’ attendance in school and limits opportunities and potential for women in Tanzania.

Fighting Period Stigma

Ending the taboo around menstruation is an important step toward ending period poverty. There is a lot of misinformation about periods and Tanzanian women are made to feel ashamed about themselves and their bodies. Due to period stigma, girls are often ridiculed when their periods catch them off guard.

Education on menstrual and reproductive health is one of the most empowering tools to combat period poverty in Tanzania. Many organizations have made it their mission to end gender-based discrimination and destigmatize female hygiene. For example, the Maji Safi Group aims to teach young girls to embrace their bodies and help them reach their fullest potential as academics and as mothers. The organization’s comprehensive approach includes community outreach, after school programs, employing Tanzanian women as community health educators and providing learning materials.

Affordable Products

Managing menstruation is expensive and disposable sanitary products are a luxury that vulnerable women in Tanzania cannot afford. In recent years, world leaders have committed to creating change in the country by investing in the menstrual hygiene product industry. For instance, the World Bank partnered with an entrepreneurial enterprise called WomenChoice, which manufactures and distributes affordable menstrual hygiene products. WomenChoice further empowers women from low-resource backgrounds by offering vendor, sales agent and volunteer positions. The micro-enterprise serves as a model for other organizations seeking to keep girls in school and end period poverty in Tanzania.

Impact of COVID-19

The closing of schools in Tanzania due to the COVID-19 pandemic may compound the challenges of period poverty throughout the country. Worldwide disruptions limit access to essential sanitary products in the country as well as information about sexual and reproductive health. However, UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, has made the fight against period poverty an essential part of their pandemic response efforts by maintaining open access to its centers, information and services in the country during COVID-19.

Continuing the Fight Against Period Poverty

The government of Tanzania has partnered with UNICEF and pledged to dramatically increase access to sanitation over the next five years. This step will not only help keep girls in school but also help them reach their fullest potential and escape period poverty. While there is still much more work to be done, ongoing efforts by the government, international partners, communities and organizations help make a brighter future possible for Tanzanian girls and women.

– Rachel Moloney
Photo: Flickr

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Female Empowerment through UN Partnership

female empowerment through U.N.
When Gaby Aghion founded the French fashion brand Chloé in 1952, she desired to give young women control of their destinies. While Aghion attached destiny to elegant clothing, Chloé’s recent partnership with UNICEF will expand her company’s mission. Chloé seeks to mobilize young women beyond the runway by endorsing UNICEF’s #GirlsForward campaign. All this, to increase female empowerment through U.N. partnership.

What is #GirlsForward?

The #GirlsForward campaign will optimize educational opportunities for 6.5 million girls. Chloé’s partnership with UNICEF will equip young women “with [the] digital and technology skills, entrepreneurial capacity, spirit and confidence” they need to succeed in the workforce. In March, UNICEF began implementing the #GirlsForward program in Bolivia, Jordan, Morocco, Senegal and Tajikistan.

Both UNICEF and Chloé recognize global gender disparities and will attempt to correct them through quality education. UNICEF claims that “one in three girls are not enrolled in secondary school” as “girls aged 10–14 tend to spend 50% of their time doing chores.” Their families do not prioritize their education but confine them to domestic spaces.

As girls mature and grow, they remain outside the educational system and do not receive equal employment opportunities. If they dare venture into the workforce, Chloé contends that women remain segregated from networks and capital, receiving only 77% of what men earn. Chloé’s efforts to remedy this disparity center in female empowerment through U.N. partnership (specifically, with UNICEF) — and seeking to amend these systemic barriers by making girls’ education a worldwide priority.

Voices of Youth Pushes for Girls’ Education

Chloé hints that “supporting girls education could help us all;” however, the organization Voices of Youth specifically outlines the potential benefits. Like Chloé and UNICEF, Voices of Youth believes girls’ education is a lifeline to their development. An affiliate of UNICEF, Voices of Youth argues that supporting girls’ education will:

  1. Decrease Both Infant and Maternal Mortality Rates: Educated women often seek proper medical care throughout their pregnancies and give birth to healthy babies.
  2. Decrease the Prevalence of Domestic Violence and Child Marriages: Voices of Youth claims, “On average, for every year a girl stays in school past fifth grade, her marriage is delayed a year.” Education enables women to marry later, giving them time to mature as they learn to care for themselves and their families.
  3. Improve Socioeconomic Growth: Educated women can escape poverty and live healthier, more productive lives. In turn, they can raise the standard of living for their families and communities. Patty Alleman, UNICEF’s Senior Gender and Development Advisor adds that girls’ education boosts economic growth by offering women resources to enhance or start businesses.

A Promising Future for All

The #GirlsForward campaign understands these benefits and yearns to educate every adolescent girl in the developing world. As Voices of Youth suggested, education will ultimately improve the lives of young girls and their communities. Chloé’s initiative to support young girls in the developing world pushes forward the agenda of female empowerment, through U.N. partnership. With UNICEF as a partner, Chloé’s mission stretches beyond fashion and will help transform young women into successful entrepreneurs, scientists and coders.

The three-year partnership began on International Women’s Day during the Paris Fashion Week — a fitting time for Chloé to expand its mission statement. Although its goals might be shifting from clothing to education, Chloé will hold fast to the teachings of its founder, helping young women around the world gain control of their destinies.

– Kyler Juarez
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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Empowering Women in India Through Sewing

Empowering Women in India Through SewingOver the last decade, empowering women in poor communities has become a focal point in India. That is because about 50.7 million people live in extreme poverty in India, yet, as of 2019, only 20.7% of women in India are part of the labor force. Moreover, the country has recently seen a drop in its GDP from 6.1% to 5% and is attempting to recover from its uncertain economy. As a result, one solution that many nonprofit organizations and the government have recognized is investing in the population that is living under the poverty line. Specifically, many groups are empowering women in India through sewing.

Today, being able to sew can be an acclaimed vocational skill. Over the past decade or so, embroidery has become an empowering tool for women in India, and a traditional craft. With this understanding, nonprofits have implemented many initiatives in India to empower women and help their families out of poverty.

Sewing the Seeds & Samugam Trust

Sewing the Seeds is a nonprofit organization that partnered with the NGO Samugam Trust to begin a women’s sewing initiative. The plan supports women in impoverished communities by creating economic stability using creativity and the traditional craft of stitching. Bruno Savio and Gayle created Sewing the Seeds to use sewing to empower women in India living in poverty.

Savio’s father opened the Samugam Trust in 1991 to support the educational training of the underprivileged, the rehabilitation of leprosy patients and those who are physically challenged. Bruno Savio has continued his father’s legacy as director of Samugam and partner of Sewing the Seeds. Gayle backpacked across India about 40 years ago. During her journey, she saw an opportunity to empower women in the country through vocational training.

Savio and Gayle recognized that more than 50% of women in India are illiterate, and only 29% of women in India are actively employed. Additionally, those who are employed are paid 46% less than men holding the same positions. Sewing the Seeds and Samugam Trust realize that investing in women is smart economics and essential to reducing poverty. With this in mind, the initiative provides the training, financial assistance, materials and communal space to empower women while preserving local craft traditions.

Samugam Trust has supported the initiative since 2011, with the first collection of products introduced online in 2018. Sewing the Seeds and Samugam Trust have supplied training and machines for 130 women. The importance of this initiative is to empower women in India in a way that is holistic and long term in its support.

Shakti.ism

Shakti.ism also supported empowering women in India through sewing by launching a sustainable livelihood project. The starting goal is to reach out to 10 tribal and disabled Indian women to provide vocational training. To successfully supply these resources Shakti.ism is partnering with Samugam Trust and Sewing the Seeds to empower impoverished women. Recently, they chose 10 women from diverse backgrounds including disabled mothers.

Shakti.ism continuously raises money to cover instruction fees, supplies, daily stipends for trainees and administrative costs such as quality control. Most products are crafted from repurposed saris (a traditional Indian woman’s dress) and are to be sold online. Shakti.ism is empowering women in India as a way to support families living in underprivileged rural areas of India, as well as decrease the wage disparity while increasing the trainees’ self-confidence and skills.

Usha Silai School

Included in the community-based initiative is Usha Silai (sewing) School. This initiative has reportedly set up over 15,000 sewing schools across India with the support of the Digital Empowerment Foundation NGO and Sikana. To further their reach and enhance their programs, Usha and Sikana co-created a video program to train illiterate women. The enhanced program has increased the initiative’s outreach while providing skills to gain a livelihood to women in rural India.

The Digital Empowerment Foundation supplies technological information for rural citizens to use to their advantage. For example, they supply internet-dependent tools that can provide access to training and create socioeconomic equality. Specifically, they provide internet and digital tools in rural community centers that partner with Usha Silai School.

Community-based initiatives that provide sewing empowerment for women in poverty have been essential for the growth of rural India. Sewing has become a highly desired vocational skill and is a powerful tool for those living in poverty. Recognizing the long term impact of vocational training, NGOs provide this solution-based approach across India to bring self-confidence and skills to women.

– Sumeet Waraich
Photo: Flickr

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5 Local Groups Fighting Poverty in Nepal

fighting poverty in nepal
Nepal, a small landlocked country about the size of Iowa, is home to Mount Everest and more than 100 ethnic groups speaking 90 languages. However, Nepal, like many developing countries, is also one of the poorest in the world. Many citizens live on about $2,700 a year, and the majority of the population lives in poverty. Fortunately, many organizations are fighting poverty in Nepal. Here are five local groups fighting poverty in Nepal, their home country.

5 Local Groups Fighting Poverty in Nepal

  1. Aasaman Nepal (ASN): A nongovernmental organization, ASN is a strong advocate for social integration, the eradication of child labor and women’s health in more than 60 municipalities in Nepal. ASN achieves some of these goals through increasing community awareness and stressing the importance of schools through social mobilization. It has already helped more than 80,000 children with their education. ASN has also been able to secure national and international partnerships with U.N. Women, U.K. Aid and Street Child. Securing these partnership allows ASN to provide quality education and protection to children and marginalized groups like women and the disabled.
  2. Nepal Fertility Care Center (NFCC): This organization first started as an NGO to decrease Nepal’s total fertility rate from six to just over two. NFCC is now an internationally credited organization with a focus on providing available, accessible and affordable reproductive healthcare across Nepal. It engages with girls in remote areas in efforts to end child marriage, establishes family planning centers and provides free HPV screenings. Given that these are just a few programs that this organization has undertaken, NFCC is central to fighting poverty in Nepal.
  3. Community Development Forum (CODEF): CODEF is a leading NGO in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector of Nepal. It has completed more than 30 projects in organizing infrastructure for WASH programs critical to the health and safety of the people and the environment. In these projects, CODEF has addressed research, development, implementation and local government accountability across 50 different Village Development Committees (VDCs), districts and surrounding urban areas. This makes it one of many key local organizations fighting poverty in Nepal.
  4. Global Action Nepal (GAN): A social organization, GAN provides comprehensive primary education and health services for all children in Nepal. It has also established more than 10 different programs. GAN accomplishes these goals through cooperation with local school districts in establishing management, support and up-skilling strategies. In total, GAN has helped well more than 10,000 children and women, thus decreasing poverty in Nepal. GAN also supports other important empowerment initiatives. For example, it provides microcredit for women in agriculture-based programs to support gender equality and financial independence.
  5. X-Pose Nepal: This organization works to end all sexual abuse and exploitation of young girls and women. Currently, gender inequality only furthers poverty in Nepal. To combat this, X-Pose Nepal has organized awareness programs in more than 40 schools to educate young women and men about sexual abuse and exploitation. It has also hosted several other training programs, like making reusable sanitary pads for women in remote villages. Its established Charity Shop helps raise money for the cause through painting exhibitions and musical programs done by and for women.

Looking Ahead

These five local groups are only a fraction of organizations working hard to foster progress in Nepal. Nonetheless, setbacks like the 2015 earthquake and internal political strife have hindered growth in recent years. Many critics of foreign aid deem it useless due to corrupt government, insufficient infrastructure and a supposed lack of initiative. However, this criticism fails to account for the impact of deep-seated cultural conflicts, geography and natural disasters on poverty in Nepal. Critics also fail to recognize local organizations making significant changes in smaller communities throughout Nepal. Despite the country’s internal conflicts and fragile geographical location, these five local groups are valiantly fighting poverty in Nepal.

– Mizla Shrestha
Photo: Pikist

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Technology Closing the Gender Gap in Malawi

gender gap in malawiFemale education has been an ongoing challenge for the East African country of Malawi. With 50.7% of the population living below the poverty line, the nation is one of the poorest in the world, and a large percentage of the poor are women. A significant reason why is that girls often fall behind early in their education especially in areas like math and reading and end up dropping out. Also, the average elementary classroom in Malawi has 76 students meaning faculty are frequently overburdened and unable to address the delicate situation many young women find themselves in.  The London based nonprofit organization Onebillion has developed the Onecourse technology that is closing the education gender gap in Malawi.

A Girl’s Challenge

While both boys and girls face high dropout rates in Malawian schools, girls are less likely to return due to factors such as labor demands at home, being discriminated against as the perceived weaker gender, absence of female role models and harassment by male teachers and fellow students. With typical teaching practices concerning math and reading in Malawi early grade schools, boys usually pull ahead of girls in math by second grade while girls pull ahead of boys in reading, but this advantage in reading disappears by sixth grade and girls are behind in both subjects.

The Onecourse Experiment

Onecourse is unique in its approach in that it is an all-digital platform where students are guided by a virtual teacher through a strategically crafted set of activities. Students are given a Onetab tablet loaded with Onecourse apps in their native language. For Malawian students this was Chichewa. One of the biggest challenges for developer Onebillion is to prove in trials that significant learning can happen in the absence of a teacher. “For the Onebillion trial, children were taken out of their huge classes, put in groups of 25 and given tablets loaded with math software; similar-sized groups were given tablets without the math software, to control for the possibility that children might benefit from any instruction given in smaller groups.”

Promising Results

Onebillion’s software has helped Malawian girls make significant advances. Evaluations by the University of Nottingham and the University of Malawi demonstrate that digital intervention can not only educate students but prevent girls from falling behind in their learning. Specifically, eighteen 30 minutes sessions with Onecourse early grade math apps prevent girls from falling behind early in mathematics. Early mathematics intervention may also promote girls more likely going to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics courses in the future.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Onecourse technology is closing the gender gap in Malawian early education. Digital learning platforms like Onebillion’s Onecourse have helped aid undertrained and over burned faculty in many developing countries like Malawi, Uganda and Tanzania and is also being used to help marginalized children in the United States. The Onebillion organization, in a tie with the Kitkit school (a similar digital program developer), was awarded the Global Learning Xprize that promotes organizations that create programs allowing children to educate themselves in reading, writing, and math. This program, and others like it, will be essential in ending the educational gender gap in Malawi.

– Joseph Maria
Photo: Flickr

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Venezuela’s Women Migrants: Victims of Exploitation

Venezuela’s Women Migrants
The pandemic has forced Venezuela’s women migrants to seek out sex work as a means to survive. With nothing to eat or to support their children back in Venezuela, they are charging as little as $2 for sex in foreign countries according to women’s right protector Karina Bravo.

The Situation

Since the beginning of the crisis, Venezuela’s women have had to look for creative ways in which they can still provide food for their children and themselves. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), an estimated 6.5 million will flee the South American country by the end of 2020; 4.5 million have emigrated already. Walking miles and miles away, they gained the name of the Walkers (Los caminantes) as they cross frontiers and reach their destinations. Yet, due to the current coronavirus pandemic, they have received eviction from Colombia (where Venezuelans are half of the workforce), Ecuador and Peru.

Now, they are on the streets, with no source of income or food to provide for themselves and their families. As a result, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the only option for many of Venezuela’s women was to either go back to their homeland before the borders closed–a country which unemployment, economic crisis, social crisis, food shortages, electricity and water shortages and a surge in crime and violence have obliterated–or become sex workers in a foreign country.

Women who are refugees are the most vulnerable to “labour and sexual exploitation, trafficking and violence.” Moreover, this is the truth for Venezuela’s women migrants, who have been emigrating from their country looking for a better quality of life for themselves and their families.

Prior to the Pandemic

Before the pandemic, Venezuela’s women migrants were already struggling, charging around $9 for sex in the hopes of sending money to their families back in Venezuela and sustaining themselves. However, because of the pandemic, they have had to charge as little as $2. Karina Bravo, a former sex worker in Ecuador and now a women’s right protector through the Latin American Network of Sex Workers, explained in an interview with The Guardian that the current conditions have led to Venezuela’s women migrants being unable to sustain themselves or send money to their families back home. On top of that, they are also facing trouble with available health services and experiencing emotional distress. These women also more frequently become victims of gender-based violence, including rape and stabbings.

Mothers are not the only ones to become sex workers; “girls as young as twelve” are part of the same fate, working for $1 an hour, according to Jana Lopez, a volunteer who is helping migrant families in Cucuta, the Colombian city bordering with Venezuela.

Even young Venezuelan women who applied for jobs in Trinidad and Tobago in the hopes of finding a better opportunity frequently become sex workers. This is a situation that is currently happening in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, and many other countries in which Venezuela’s women migrants have emigrated.

Solutions

Indeed, there has been an increase in trafficking and sexual exploitation all over Latin America since the beginning of the pandemic, and it has become much harder for sex workers to find the help they need.

Yet, groups such as the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) are still working to provide medical and preventive care, and mental health counseling services to sex workers in La Guajira, Colombia, most of whom are Venezuelans. All the organization’s services are free and it provides STDS tests, treatment, contraception, prenatal care, vaccinations and nutrition support. Since 2018, it has been providing immigrants with essential lifecare services which they cannot always access in their own countries.

Church organizations and networks are also operating near frontiers in order to help vulnerable immigrants and refugees who frequently become prey to trafficking and prostitution. However, an extreme urgency to expand more services to immigrants and refugees during the pandemic still exists so that they do not fall into the chains of sexual exploitation.

– Alannys D Milano
Photo: Flickr

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4 Brilliant Women Improving Global Health

Women improving global healthBreaking down barriers preserved by societies for centuries, these inspiring scientists and doctors are among the many women improving global health. As they make the world a better place, these four revolutionary women are inspiring females of every generation to do the same.

Hawa Abdi, MD

Human rights activist and one of Somalia’s first female gynecologists, Dr. Hawa Abdi was committed to providing free health care to her community and fighting for the rights of women and children. Fearlessly helping others and persevering despite countless dangers, she helped thousands of people seek refuge in her lifetime.

Her mission started as a child when she watched her mother grow ill and pass away during childbirth. Feeling helpless, she was determined to prevent others from feeling the pain she felt as a child. Abdi began working as a physician and caring for people in a one-room clinic she founded on her family’s land.

Abdi created a haven for thousands of Somalis who were fleeing from fighting and famine during the Somali Civil War. As problems grew, so did her tenacity and force. Soon, the one-room clinic turned into a 400-bed hospital. Studying law, education and agriculture, Abdi fought against poverty and inequality in her community. She set up farming to secure food for Somalis, fished to feed children and fought for justice and equal rights.

She lived through wars, was taken hostage and witnessed up to 50 people die a day. As a winner of the BET Social Humanitarian Award and a Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, she is celebrated for her work as one of many women improving global health. Her legacy lives on through the Hawa Abdi Foundation and her two daughters, who are also physicians.

Godliver Businge

A strong and influential woman from Uganda, Godliver Businge was the only female in her civil engineering program and graduated at the top of her class. A childhood with struggles like hauling water daily, having to miss class and experiencing inequality as a girl motivated Businge to make a difference in her community and empower women.

Determined to eliminate polluted water and reduce the hours women spent collecting it, Businge co-founded the Uganda Women’s Water Initiative with Comfort Jarja. As head technology trainer, she taught over 300 women in Gomba, Uganda to construct rainwater harvesting tanks and Biosand filters. Thanks to these filters, fewer children suffer from diseases normally found in contaminated water like hepatitis A and typhoid. With healthier kids, Gomba’s school absenteeism rate has dropped by nearly two-thirds.

Businge also works in hygiene technology, building specialized toilets, promoting WASH programs and developing hydro-electric schemes to generate electricity. She is devoted to inspiring women to be independent and resourceful while shattering gender stereotypes. In addition to training women and girls to build sanitary toilets for their communities, she encourages females to pursue education and engineering professions and become women improving global health.

Hayat Sindi, PhD

Dr. Hayat Sindi of Saudi Arabia recognized the staggering amount of people dying around the globe without tools to detect, monitor and treat medical conditions. Sindi became the first woman from the Persian Gulf to receive a doctorate in biotechnology and now works to solve this problem.

As the co-founder of Diagnostics For All, Sindi helps create and deliver low-cost diagnostic tools to developing communities. These tools include a Magnetic Acoustic Resonance Sensor (MARS) and a device that can detect breast cancer. Because the devices don’t require electricity or even a trained doctor, the most isolated and impoverished communities can utilize Sindi’s life-saving inventions.

As a key figure in the science community, Sindi serves as senior advisor to the Islamic Development Bank’s president of science, technology and innovation. She has won many awards, including the Makkah Al-Mukarama Prize for Scientific Innovation, and was chosen as an Emerging Explorer by the National Geographic Society. Through her work, Sindi aims to empower women to pursue education and science careers and join her as women improving global health.

Segenet Kelemu, PhD

In an Ethiopian village where girls were married off young, Dr. Segenet Kelemu chose education instead and became the first female from her village to get a college degree, despite coming from a humble farming family. Kelemu made it her mission in life to improve agriculture in Africa and better the lives of others.

Kelemu is now a molecular plant pathologist and scientific leader. Her analysis uncovered how plants survive common threats like changes in climate, drought and pests. This trailblazing research led to new applications of biotechnology, helping farmers yield more crops and secure ecosystems. In doing so, Kelemu’s work improved food security and helped break the cycle of poverty, making her one of many women improving global health.

Dr. Kelemu holds many accolades, including the Woman of the Decade in Natural and Sustainable Ecosystems Award from the Women Economic Forum and the L’Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science. She is also recognized as one of the Heroes in the Field by Bill Gates for using her talents to fight hunger, disease and poverty.

Working for a Better Tomorrow

Despite many challenges and social constructs, these women made new things possible for the benefit of their communities. Although they come from different regions, their missions are similar: to empower women to educate themselves, enhance the community and help others at all costs. These brilliant women improving global health are also fighting global poverty in turn.

– Tara Hudson
Photo: Unsplash