Watch Women Are Not the Problem, They Are the Solution on PBS. See more from Independent Lens.
The linked problems of sex trafficking and forced prostitution, gender-based violence, and maternal mortality ““ which needlessly claim one woman every 90 seconds ““ present to us the single most vital opportunity of our time: the opportunity to make a change. All over the world women are seizing this opportunity. [PBS]
THE BOOK was a phenomenon and now the authors of “Half the Sky,” Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, are premiering their documentary based on their writings this week, Monday and Tuesday, on PBS.
I hope everyone takes the opportunity to watch this program. Women have always been the solution. Having worked in the developing world I saw just how women could solve problems. Once a woman is able to control her fertility and make choices for herself things change. Once a country educates its women things change, most often for the better. Only when we accept women as full and equal partners in society will the problems that plague us be resolved. This is my honest opinion and I have seen it work on a smaller scale where ever I have worked.
Studies have shown for several years that a developing nation can’t stabilize without women as part of the mix. What’s very encouraging is the new philanthropic model that’s stepping in where government’s can no longer afford it. Gates, CGI and others are moving in, with Hillary Rodham Clinton joining CGI in the not too distant future broadening what CGI can do globally for women. The “global gag rule,” when Republicans are in power, no longer means forced birth for women around the world. Now if the world can stop the forced abortion of girls in China and elsewhere, the world… Read more »
There was some really great news out of Niger. Their infant mortality rate has dropped from 30/100 to 14/100 (still a bit high). The government of Niger has made a concerted effort to provide good maternal/child health to its mothers and children and it seems to be working. I think Gates and CGI have made an extremely huge impact on the lives of women. As to China stopping the forced abortions, that will happen soon enough when there aren’t enough girls to marry their sons. Forced abortion was one of the reasons I was never allowed to work in China.