Archive for category: Women and Female Empowerment

information and Stories about woman and female empowerment.

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10 Shocking Statistics on Gender-based Violence

In the words of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki moon, “Violence against women continues to persist as one of the most heinous, systematic and prevalent human rights abuses in the world. It is a threat to all women, and an obstacle to all our efforts for development, peace, and gender equality in all societies.”

In fact, violence kills more women between the ages of 15 and 44 than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war combined.

The recent 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, kicked off November 25 on the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, served to confront this global pandemic. Here are ten of countless statistics that illustrate the importance of such, and continued, efforts.

1. In the 24 developing countries studied in a recent survey, a combined total of only 7% of survivors of gender-based violence, including physical and sexual acts, formally reported their attacks to police, medical or social services.

2. In India, less than 1% of survivors reported gender-based violence to formal sources. The highest rate of reporting uncovered in the survey was in Colombia where 26% of women formally reported the violence they faced. This still means that three out of four Colombian women never report the violence they’ve faced.

3. In the same 24 developing countries, the surveyors explored whether women told their friends, family members or neighbors about their attacks and found that the rates of this “informal reporting” ranged from 15% in Honduras to 60% in Ukraine. Thus, in most of the countries, the majority of women told no one of their attacks.

4. In Papua New Guinea, 59.1% of men admit to forcing an unwilling intimate partner into having sex. Forty percent of men admit to having raped a stranger.

5. According to the UN, there were 15,654 cases of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2012. However, the country is noted to chronically underreport gender-based violence figures. A study published by the American Journal of Public Health found that more than 1,100 women were raped every day in 2006 and that more than 400,000 women and girls between the ages of 15 and 49 were raped within a 12-month time frame.

6. A third of all survivors of sexual violence in the DRC are between the ages of 12 and 17. Reports from the UN indicate that 82% of all survivors had not finished primary school.

7. A study by Johns Hopkins that surveyed women across 25 African countries found that a high proportion of women believed that wife-beating was justified in at least one of five different hypothetical scenarios. The percentage of women who adhered to this view ranged from 18 in Swaziland to 87 in Guinea.

8. A South African women is killed by an intimate partner every 6 hours.

9. An estimated 100 to 140 million girls and women throughout the world have experienced female genital mutilation. More than three million African girls face the risk of the practice every year.

10. Eighty percent of the estimated 800,000 people trafficked annually are women and girls. Seventy-nine percent of them are trafficked for sexual exploitation.

– Kelley Calkins

Sources: End Violence Against Women, UNFP, Al Jazeera, UN News Center, NCBI, Say No to Violence, Women Under Seige
Photo: Gabriela USA

Serbia’s Domestic Violence Epidemic

World map
The traumatized collective consciousness of the Serbian people is understandable given the war and strife the country has experienced in recent decades. These events coupled with pervasive poverty and patriarchal cultural norms have created a disturbing trend of domestic violence. A recent article by the Associated Press highlights that 54% of Serbian women have faced domestic violence in their lifetime. This statistic is extremely shocking compared to the 30-40% of women worldwide who have faced abuse and 25% in the United States.

The AP provides two harrowing accounts of violence. One account focuses on Mica, a woman who set her husband on fire after enduring years of abuse. The husband died of his injuries several days later in the hospital. The other describes a Serbian veteran who killed 13 relatives and wounded his wife in a mass shooting spree. The husband’s violent tendencies, typified by his habitual beatings of his wife, were never reported to authorities.

One of the major reasons that violence has perpetuated within Serbian society is the presence of deeply rooted patriarchal social norms. The image of the strong Serbian man and the submissive woman is a generally held view as opposed to an egalitarian relationship found in more liberal societies. This deeply held belief coupled with severe economic misery only compounds the problem. When frustration is pervasive, violence tends to follow.

There is also a severe lapse of authority with regards to Serbian officials preventing instances of abuse and prosecuting those responsible. Although the Serbian government has recognized the problem by enacting targeted legislation, the recent economic crisis has drained budget resources to the point that adequately funding these legal mechanisms is troublesome.

Furthermore, local authorities have shown a complete lack of interest in seriously prosecuting offenders to the fullest extent of the law. Most cases are resolved with warnings to the perpetrators. Shockingly, UNDP has discovered that the vast majority of cases involving domestic abuse resulted in the prosecutor failing to even interview the victim and the perpetrator 79.5% of the time. And 66.7% of the time criminal charges were dismissed, citing lack of evidence. It seems as though tolerance for this type of violence is rooted not only within individuals but within the public institutions charged with punishing perpetrators.

UNDP has created a project to help solve the crisis of domestic violence. The Integrated Response to Violence against Women in Serbia is attempting to change these deeply held beliefs within the country by creating preventative programs such as youth education on gender equality and gender based violence, programs aimed at reaching out to perpetrators, and campaigns focused on raising public awareness and altering stereotypes.

The Associated Press points out that perhaps awareness for this problem is gaining traction among authorities in Serbia. For instance, in the case of Mica, the judge issued her a minimum sentence of five years in jail for the murder of her husband. The judge even seemed to show sympathy for all the years of abuse she endured.

– Zack Lindberg

Sources: UNDP

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Ending Violence Against Women with Cartoons

Star Wars
Human rights group Breakthrough launched a surprising new campaign tackling violence against women.   Advertisements featuring an animated scenario have been playing on TV sets across the U.S.  The short scene depicts men stopping other men from acting inappropriately towards women.   In one bit, a man stops another man from slapping a female vendor’s bottom as she walks by them.  The tag “#BeThatGuy.  Stop violence against women in its tracks” flashes across the screen. The ads were first tested at Miami Speedway last month, where they were extremely well received.

The videos are based off the idea that men are a part of the problem, but also a part of the solution.  The core idea is that men can use their male privilege to speak up for women where women may be unable to have a voice.

Breakthrough plans on running more ads both online and on TV that discourage gender-based violence.  Breakthrough organizer Ishita Srivastava says she believes in “meeting people where they are,” including at sporting events with high institutionalized gender bias.

The campaign is called “Ring the Bell,” and calls on men to hold each other accountable.  Breakthrough calls violence and discrimination against women and girls “unacceptable.”  The organization has centers in India and the U.S.  that specialize in using media, pop culture, art and community mobilization to encourage people to “live up to their full potential.”

Breakthrough has also launched campaigns against early marriage and sex-selective termination, and in favor of immigration rights, racial justice and HIV/AIDS prevention.

– Stephanie Lamm

Sources: Breakthrough, WITNESS Blog, Aljazeera

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Africa’s Philanthropic Billionaires

When it comes to international aid programs, everyone has heard of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as Warren Buffett’s astronomical donation track record, with last year’s donations reaching $1.87 billion. However, outside of the American audience, African billionaires are also stepping up and contributing to causes they care about. Here is a list of African philanthropic billionaires that lead programs in their own countries.

The wealthiest African, Aliko Dangote, worth an estimated $20.2 billion, donates millions of his wealth to education, health and social causes. Last year Dangote took part in the first ever Forbes 400 Summit on Philanthropy, where he discussed the benefits of donating, listing Gates and Buffett as inspirations.

Nathan Kirsh, a South African native, earned his $3.6 billion wealth by monopolizing the small goods market in New York City. According to Forbes, his philanthropic efforts focus on Swaziland, where he supplied approximately 10,000 people with starter capital for small businesses. Kirsh states that 70 percent of his recipients are women with a 70 percent success rate for his program overall. He also hopes to make Swazi schools the first in Africa to boast guaranteed computer literacy for all graduates.

Folorunsho Alakija hails from Lagos, Nigeria and is Africa’s richest woman thanks to her very profitable ownership of an oil block in the 1990’s. Since then, Alakija has expanded her $7.3 billion enterprise to real estate around the world, notably $200 million worth in the United Kingdom alone. With her money, Alakija founded the Rose of Sharon Foundation in 2008 which aids orphans and widows in her native country of Nigeria.

Mohamed Mansour has an estimated $2.3 billion fortune from his investment company the Mansour Group, which owns Egypt’s largest grocery store Metro and Egypt’s McDonald’s franchises, among other businesses. Mansour founded the Lead Foundation, a nonprofit that has provided over 1.3 million loans to small business endeavors and under-privileged women in Egypt. Mansour also chairs the Mansour Foundation for Development, which strives to eliminate illiteracy, poverty, and disease in order to expedite the development of Egyptian society.

– Emily Bajet

Sources: Daily Mail, Forbes, Rose of Sharon Foundation, Mansour Foundation For Development

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Leading Women in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi

1. Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak

Also given the honorable title of “Mother of the Nation,” Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak is known as a “champion of women’s rights,” who has played a pioneering and leading role for women both locally and internationally.  She is the third wife of the late founder and first president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan.

Sheikha Fatima started her work in the 1970s by launching a nation-wide campaign against illiteracy, with a particular emphasis on the need to educate girls, and establishing the first women’s society in the country, the Abu Dhabi Women Development Association.  Since then, she has worked tirelessly by establishing over thirty associations, chairing tens of organizations, launching scores of initiatives and campaigns, and hosting and patronizing countless conferences and forums.  She is currently the Supreme Chairperson of the Family Development Foundation, Chairperson of the UAE Women’s General Union, and Chairwoman of the Supreme Council for Motherhood & Childhood.

In recognition of her work on women’s issues, she was granted the Marie Curie Medal by UNESCO.  She has also been awarded for her humanitarian and refugee work, for which she has been presented with a shield written in gold from the UN High Commission for Refugees, as well presented with the Global Humanitarian Personality Award, from the World Heart Group, for her efforts to help the sick.

 

 2. Sheikha Fatema Bint Mohammed Bin Zayed

Following in her grandmother’s footsteps, Sheikha Fatema put her compassion into practice as a young university student.  She is the daughter of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi (and the granddaughter of Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak).

In June 2010, while studying in university, she found herself deeply moved by the poverty still afflicting Afghanistan.  She decided to take action and partnered with a local Afghan firm, Tanweer Investments, to create the Fatima bint Mohammed Initiative (FBMI).  The organization is dedicated to addressing the 42% poverty rate in the country “by providing resources, compassion and the opportunity for impoverished women to free themselves from economic hardship and take a leading role in Afghanistan’s future.”

FBMI is unique because it embraced skills Afghan women already possessed, carpet weaving and spinning, and provided them with further vocational training and the resources they needed to become key industry players.  Indigenous wool is used in order to enhance the value of the product and guarantee 100% Afghan origin.  In addition to employing 3,000 low income Afghans (70% of whom are women), FBMI also offers the families healthcare and education services.

Since its inception, over 10,000 carpets have been produced and sold worldwide, providing sustainable economic development for more than 18,000 individuals.  FBMI has received numerous awards in recognition of its achievements, including the DOMOTEX Middle East Special Recognition Award and Sustainable Interior Design Initiative of the Year in 2011.

 – Rifk Ebeid
Sources: FBMI, The National, Arab Youth Awards, Alowaisnet

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Adolescent Girls, Bearing the Brunt of the Burden


“I am 17 years old. In the relief camp, when I was sleeping in the night, I was raped. I did not know what had happened to me. I do not know the face of the man. I had heavy bleeding…now I see some disturbances in my body and when my mother took me to the hospital, I was told I am pregnant”.

This is what a young girl from Tamul Nadu in India experienced after a tsunami devastated her hometown. Like her, millions of other girls in developing countries are the hardest hit by disasters in comparison with other segments of the population. Not only do women receive non-preferential treatment during emergency rescues, but they are also at a greater risk of sexual exploitation, child marriage, and being deprived of an education.

According to a report released by Plan International, a child rights NGO, girls fare far worse during disasters than the rest of the population. Given their gender, age, and humanitarian status, girls and women experience a triple disadvantage during crises since pre-existing inequalities and vulnerabilities are exacerbated.

In this way, a 14-year-old girl in a slum will experience a flood or an earthquake differently from a 14-year-old boy in the same situation. Such is the case of a son and a daughter who were swept away by a tidal surge in a cyclone that hit Bangladesh in 1991. The father of these children is cited as saying that he could not hold on to both and had to release his daughter because “his son had to carry on the family line.”

In other cases, adolescent girls and women are driven to sell sex because they have no alternative to feed themselves and their children. “I don’t work. I don’t have parents to help. So, for around a dollar, you have sex just for that…it’s not good to do prostitution, but what can you do?” said Gheslaine, who lives in a camp in Croix-de-Bouquets in Haiti.

Disasters also lead to an increase in child marriages. Research in Somaliland, Bangladesh and Niger found that child marriage is often used as a community response to crises in which girls are sold for income and food. In Niger, girls are taken out of school, wed and impregnated at the age of 13. Many of them suffer from fistula (a rupture between the birth canal and bladder caused by prolonged obstructed labor) and die.

One of the least prioritized issues during disasters is facilitating education for girls. Although most families would rather continue education for boys rather than girls, girls who receive an education are more likely to be healthy, marry later in life, and survive into adulthood. In fact, it is one of the most important determinants of practically all desired outcomes related to the Millennium Development Goals, from poverty reduction, to reduced infant mortality rates, and to enhanced democratization.

Despite the evidence that confirms that the empowerment of women has a transformative power in all types of societies, this study reveals that the rights to protection, education, and participation are still not granted to most women and girls, especially during crises.

– Nayomi Chibani
Feature Writer

Sources: IRIN, Plan International
Photo: UNHCR

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UN Women and the Fight for Equality

UN Women is an organization that was created in July 2010 by the United Nations General Assembly. The organization’s full name is the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women; its mission is to promote gender equality throughout the world and champion women from all walks of life.

Many women in the world face discrimination in the workplace, and receive fewer opportunities when it comes to career and educational advancement. UN Women sees this kind of gender discrimination happening all over the world, and makes it a part of its agenda to ensure that women have basic and equal human rights. Women are often denied access to health care, and even worse, they lack the political voice to change such conditions because of their stark under-representation in governmental decision making.

One of the major issues on the UN Women’s agenda is the end to violence against women. In a 2013 global review, published by the World Health Organization, it was reported that 35 percent of women in the world have experienced some kind of violence from an intimate partner. UN Women also focuses on the different aspects that are associated with violence against women: sex trafficking, child brides, rape, and sexual harassment in the work or education place.

Partnering with government agencies is an effective way that UN Women is able to take action against the various forms of discrimination against women. UN Women channels its efforts on implementing laws that will help protect women against threats like violence. It also advocates for policies that will open up more economic opportunities for women.

The wage gap between men and women is something that UN Women takes very seriously and seeks to bring to a close by implementing policies that argue for fairness in the workplace. A large part of the organization’s mission to empower women comes from its dedication to spread awareness in response to the AIDS epidemic. Women make up 54 percent of all people living in the world with HIV. UN Women has made it a job to spread awareness on the factors connected to the spread of HIV/AIDS. With the help of its partners, and resources UN Women has been able to broadcast the voice of women living with AIDS and it takes steps to help prevent the spread of the disease.

UN Women is gaining momentum and acquiring more support. Actress, Nicole Kidman, showed her support for the organization during an acceptance speech at the Variety Magazine Power of Women Awards event. Kidman encouraged her audience to see the desperate need for women’s equality in the world.

– Chante Owens

Sources: UN Women, Daily Mail

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Yehu Microfinance

Founded in 1998 under the name Yehu Enterprises Support Services (YESS), Yehu has always had a strong focus on low income rural entrepreneurs and women of Kenya. The company’s dedication to providing the aforementioned population with specially targeted products and services allows their customers to improve their economic position.

The most significant trait that sets Yehu apart is their commitment to responsiveness. The company receives feedback from their clients using surveys, focus groups, complaint resolutions, and market research. From these endeavors, employees are able to draw conclusions regarding what their customers want. Yehu believes that “access to responsive and sustainable financial services helps accelerate their clients’ ability to move up the economic ladder and improve their lives.”

The aforementioned dedication to customer satisfaction is clearly portrayed in their products and services. One of the products Yehu offers is known as the Maji ni Uhai (which means “water is life). The Maji ni Uhai allows the customer to choose from water tanks, water connectors, and fresh water wells. It involves “durable water tanks (both underground and storage tanks), piping, water harvesting infrastructure, water pans, and plumbing works.” This product is meant to provide clients with an uninterrupted sustainable supply of clean water for domestic and commercial use.

Among its other services, Yehu offers the following: Business Loans, Elimu Loans (school fees), Mabati Loans (home improvements and clean water harvesting), Emergency Loans (covers finances in case of an emergency or death), Poultry Loans, Meat Goat Loans, Sikukuu Loans (religious unemployment, covers costs of housing and food), and Top Up Loans (an additional amount given to clients with existing business loans to mitigate unforeseen business challenges). In all of these situations, Yehu values flexibility and responsiveness to customer needs.

According to the World Health Organization, there are only two registered medical professionals for every 1,000 patients in Kenya. A recent economic survey showed that only 19 public health officials and 18 doctors are available per 100,000 Kenyans. Those who have health insurance have the option to receive better care at a private health facility and have a much better chance of survival. However, few Kenyans can afford insurance for their families, much less themselves.

Thankfully, Yehu noticed this devastating problem and stepped up to the plate with the introduction of a brand new loan–the Afya Imara (“strong health”) loan. Boasting no HIV/AIDS exclusion, this loan allows Yehu members to purchase a combined in-patient and out-patient family insurance policy for $140 per year. To ensure the loan’s accessibility to the rural population, the company has offered them as low as 2 percent below market rate.

Another unique facet of Yehu’s business is how their credit officers operate. Eighty percent of clients live in the remote coastal villages of Kenya. Credit officers travel on foot or on motorbike in order to meet with clients weekly or bi-weekly. This distance would often be deemed a huge problem in regards to loan disbursement, but Yehu quickly figured out a solution.

All disbursements and deposits are made through “a network of local banks and post office outlets.” This prevents distance from becoming an issue and strongly displays Yehu’s commitment to accessibility and responsiveness.

– Samantha Davis

Sources: KIVA, Yehu
Photo: Joseph Hill

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How Basket Weaving Has Helped Rwanda Recover

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Since its devastating 1994 genocide, Rwanda has been in a state of recovery. Nearly 20 years ago, Hutus killed approximately 800,000 Tutsis over the course of 100 days. In addition to numerous social, political and economic changes, the mass murders shifted the country’s gender ratio drastically, leaving women to outnumber men 70 to 30 percent. As a result, Rwandan women have taken center stage in the country’s recovery – by weaving baskets.

The practice of basket weaving has been a part of Rwandan culture for centuries. Women weaved baskets to help carry and contain food, to decorate ceremonies and to transport goods. Following the genocide, however, basket weaving took on a new meaning.

In the past two decades, basket weaving has become a way for Rwandan women to come together, pushing past the “Hutu-Tutsi” barrier that had once divided them. Working next to women whose husbands had been killed and women whose husbands had committed the killings, women all over Rwanda have chosen peace over hatred.

But healing isn’t the only positive effect of basket weaving. Rwandan women have also gained economic independence and improved their local communities by selling their baskets in Western markets.

For example, Gahaya Links started off as a small company with only 27 basket weavers. Today, it is a business with more than 4,500 artisans that is continuing to help impoverished areas of Rwanda. The company has done so well that their products are being sold by stores across the U.S., including big department stores like Macy’s.

While Gahaya Links is the foremost basket weaving company, a number of other basket weaving businesses have been started. The profits of these companies go toward providing Rwandan families with food and medicine.

It’s been 19 years since the genocide and the country is still recovering. But sometimes recovery can begin with something as small as a handcrafted basket.

– Chante Owens

Sources: Beauty of Rwanda, CBS, CNN
Photo: World Designs

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5 Great Female Writers on Giving Back

Anne_Frank_Giving_Back
This author’s previous post illuminated philanthropic quotes from five of the greatest male writers of our times. Here, we introduce to you five great female writers and what they have to say about giving back:

So many gods, so many creeds,
So many paths that wind and wind,
While just the art of being kind,
Is all this sad world needs

—Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Wilcox was an American poet whose style was simple, but the meanings therein were often profound. Some of her great works include Poems of Passion, A Woman of the World, and Poems of Peace.

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.

—Maya Angelou, As a writer, poet, and a significant member of the Civil Rights Activists during the 1960s, Angelou is perhaps most known for her autobiographies, including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Other famous works include Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Die, The Heart of a Woman, and Letter to My Daughter.

As we work to create light for others, we naturally light our own way.

―Mary Anne Radmacher. Radmacher is a writer and artist, and teaches writing seminars. She is best known for Lean Forward into Your Life, and Live Boldly.

No one has ever become poor by giving.

—Anne Frank. While hiding with her family from the Nazis during World War II with another family in Amsterdam, she kept a diary which was discovered after her death in a Nazi concentration camp. Her diary, The Diary of a Young Girl, is well known across the world as the heartbreaking memoir of a young girl’s transition into adolescence and an attempt at understanding an adulthood she’d never reach.

Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike.

—J.K. Rowling, a writer with a rags-to-riches story, is not one who needs to be convinced of the importance of giving back. After making it to the list of richest people in the world in 2011, Rowling managed to donate so much money that she failed to make it to the list in 2012. Along with her multi-faceted fantasy Harry Potter novels, JKR is known for The Casual Vacancy, and The Cuckoo’s Calling, which was written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

– Aalekhya Malladi

Sources: GoodReads, Poetry Foundation, Telegraph
Photo: HTML Giant