SAVING THE WORLD'S WOMEN: SPECIAL EDITION
An important issue of The New York Times Magazine this Sunday, August 23, addresses the challenges facing women all over the world -- and the need for policies that truly value women's lives. You'll want to read this magazine for yourself. Here are some highlights:
The Women's Crusade cover story by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn:
"In The 19th Century, the paramount moral challenge was slavery. In the 20th century, it was totalitarianism. In this century, it is the brutality inflicted on so many women and girls around the globe: sex trafficking, acid attacks, bride burnings and mass rape....
"In many poor countries, the greatest unexploited resource isn't oil fields or veins of gold; it is the women and girls who aren't educated and never become a major presence in the formal economy."
A New Gender Agenda interview with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:
"I happen to believe that the transformation of women's roles is the last great impediment to universal progress - that we have made progress on many other aspects of human nature that used to be discriminatory bars to people's full participation. But in too many places and too many ways, the oppression of women stands as a stark reminder of how difficult it is to realize people's full human potential...
"We've moved from an understanding of how to deal with global AIDS to recognizing it's now a woman's disease, because women are the most vulnerable and often have no power to protect themselves. ...But women die every minute from poor maternal health care. You know, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria - those are all, unfortunately, equal-opportunity killers. Maternal health is a women's issue; it's a family issue; it's a child issue."
HILLARY'S TRIP TO AFRICA: PUTTING IDEALS INTO ACTION
Hillary returned from her 11-day trip to Africa last week, days filled with official events and televised town halls and interviews, meetings with government executives and legislators, with women entrepreneurs and educators; with HIV/AIDS patients and health care providers in South Africa; with students and young leaders everywhere.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where rape and violence against women are so widespread, Hillary announced a $17 million plan to fight sexual violence, including programs to train doctors, supply rape victims with video cameras to document violence; and train Congolese police officers, especially women, to crack down on rape.
Read Hillary's roundtable on rape and violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo here.
See a video diary of Hillary's trip here.
AND TRANSFORMING AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY
"Amid all the distractions, what is Clinton actually doing? Only overseeing what may be the most profound changes in U.S. foreign policy in two decades ...The secretary has quietly begun rethinking the very nature of diplomacy and translating that vision into a revitalized State Department, one that approaches U.S. allies and rivals in ways that challenge long-held traditions"
David Rothkopf, Washington Post, August 23, 2009
One more for your summer reading: Rothkopf, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, discusses how Hillary is transforming the State Department with her emphasis on building coalitions, and working with allies. Read it for yourself here.
YOUR TURN: SPEAK UP FOR HEALTH CARE (AGAIN!)
Congress will return to session on September 8th, and health care leads the agenda. You know the issues: our current health care system costs too much, and leaves too many people out. Too many people can't get the insurance they need; or learn after they get sick that their health insurance won't help. Too many families go to the emergency room for health care, or wait in line for hours for free care -- or don't get care at all!
We need reform that ensures everyone has access to quality affordable health care: health care reform with a public option to help keep costs in line, care that includes women's health - the kind of health care program that Americans voted for in the last campaign.
But now the news is dominated by shrill, angry voices, complete with scare tactics and false charges ("death panels" anyone?) Will these be the only voices that Congress hears? That's up to us!
Have you spoken up for health care yet? If you have already spoken or written to your Senators and representatives, will you contact them again?
The Last Word: "It seems like this bill is allowing people more control over their lives, and your reading of it is hyperbolic and dangerous."
Jon Stewart explains health care reform to self-proclaimed health expert Betsy McCaughey, who has been attacking non-existent provisions of the bill.
The Women's Crusade cover story by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn:
"In The 19th Century, the paramount moral challenge was slavery. In the 20th century, it was totalitarianism. In this century, it is the brutality inflicted on so many women and girls around the globe: sex trafficking, acid attacks, bride burnings and mass rape....
"In many poor countries, the greatest unexploited resource isn't oil fields or veins of gold; it is the women and girls who aren't educated and never become a major presence in the formal economy."
A New Gender Agenda interview with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:
"I happen to believe that the transformation of women's roles is the last great impediment to universal progress - that we have made progress on many other aspects of human nature that used to be discriminatory bars to people's full participation. But in too many places and too many ways, the oppression of women stands as a stark reminder of how difficult it is to realize people's full human potential...
"We've moved from an understanding of how to deal with global AIDS to recognizing it's now a woman's disease, because women are the most vulnerable and often have no power to protect themselves. ...But women die every minute from poor maternal health care. You know, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria - those are all, unfortunately, equal-opportunity killers. Maternal health is a women's issue; it's a family issue; it's a child issue."
HILLARY'S TRIP TO AFRICA: PUTTING IDEALS INTO ACTION
Hillary returned from her 11-day trip to Africa last week, days filled with official events and televised town halls and interviews, meetings with government executives and legislators, with women entrepreneurs and educators; with HIV/AIDS patients and health care providers in South Africa; with students and young leaders everywhere.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where rape and violence against women are so widespread, Hillary announced a $17 million plan to fight sexual violence, including programs to train doctors, supply rape victims with video cameras to document violence; and train Congolese police officers, especially women, to crack down on rape.
Read Hillary's roundtable on rape and violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo here.
See a video diary of Hillary's trip here.
AND TRANSFORMING AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY
"Amid all the distractions, what is Clinton actually doing? Only overseeing what may be the most profound changes in U.S. foreign policy in two decades ...The secretary has quietly begun rethinking the very nature of diplomacy and translating that vision into a revitalized State Department, one that approaches U.S. allies and rivals in ways that challenge long-held traditions"
David Rothkopf, Washington Post, August 23, 2009
One more for your summer reading: Rothkopf, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, discusses how Hillary is transforming the State Department with her emphasis on building coalitions, and working with allies. Read it for yourself here.
YOUR TURN: SPEAK UP FOR HEALTH CARE (AGAIN!)
Congress will return to session on September 8th, and health care leads the agenda. You know the issues: our current health care system costs too much, and leaves too many people out. Too many people can't get the insurance they need; or learn after they get sick that their health insurance won't help. Too many families go to the emergency room for health care, or wait in line for hours for free care -- or don't get care at all!
We need reform that ensures everyone has access to quality affordable health care: health care reform with a public option to help keep costs in line, care that includes women's health - the kind of health care program that Americans voted for in the last campaign.
But now the news is dominated by shrill, angry voices, complete with scare tactics and false charges ("death panels" anyone?) Will these be the only voices that Congress hears? That's up to us!
Have you spoken up for health care yet? If you have already spoken or written to your Senators and representatives, will you contact them again?
The Last Word: "It seems like this bill is allowing people more control over their lives, and your reading of it is hyperbolic and dangerous."
Jon Stewart explains health care reform to self-proclaimed health expert Betsy McCaughey, who has been attacking non-existent provisions of the bill.
Add a Comment
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Comment by anna shane on September 13, 2009 at 6:41pm -
There has been progress of a kind. There was a time not long ago when women forced into prostitution weren't called sex slaves. From the educational and classifying points of view there has been progress.
But, from the protecting real women view, sadly little has changed. As long as men hold political power and refuse or fail to understand the misery inflicted on women and girls by 'powerful' men, there won't be protection from that quarter. Even in our own country girls are exploited, and we at least have the laws on our books. Male attitudes toward sexual servitude may follow their own dreams and fantasies, over the unwholesome and terrifying reality of female powerless life.
When grown men are legally able to marry little girls, such as the recent report from Afghanistan, the message given is clear, girls are property, to be disposed of however the powerful males choose.
That's why I agree with Hillary, we need to empower women in their own homes and communities, with education, health care and earning potential. There can be no justice without empowering women to stand up for each other.
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Comment by Equality on September 13, 2009 at 4:03pm - Most mainstream media controls the information - the news that's out there and what gets broadcasted, very controlled. The acknowledgement of diamond mines, trafficking young girls/women, slaughtering of animals and even people (long list...) is abundant. Apparently broadcasting those activities hurt the demand and anyone profiting from those activities. So instead of exposing those participating in civil recklessness and abusive behavior in society - and instead of finding alternative civil means to produce revenues, healthy environments, and employment - people need to be more exposed to the source and process of everything on the market. That would be real and informative news. Control the news, control the people. Since more than half the world's population is female, there will always be an effort to control that half as well. Many feel 'they don't believe in politics', but the attempt can always be made to understand what affects our societies by the rules that are established by those in office. Try to understand who and what you are voting for and what you can do to initiate the fact women ARE - AND have been historically responsible to the success of the world around us as well.
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Comment by Katalin Koroknai on August 25, 2009 at 4:28pm - The sad thing is that slavery, abuse of women are all business driven. Just think of trading diamonds. Merchants buy diamonds at a very low price by using slave workforce and then they sell it at a very high price in the developed world. So I think the first thing to do should be killing the demand for these luxuries .
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