Half the Sky; Turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide

Description

From two of our most fiercely moral voices, a passionate call to arms against our era’s most pervasive human rights violation: the oppression of women and girls in the developing world.With Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn as our guides, we undertake an odyssey through Africa and Asia to meet the extraordinary women struggling there, among them a Cambodian teenager sold into sex slavery and an Ethiopian woman who suffered devastating injuries in childbirth. Drawing on the breadth of their combined reporting experience, Kristof and WuDunn depict our world with anger, sadness, clarity, and, ultimately, hope.They show how a little help can transform the lives of women and girls abroad. That Cambodian girl eventually escaped from her brothel and, with assistance from an aid group, built a thriving retail business that supports her family. The Ethiopian woman had her injuries repaired and in time became a surgeon. A Zimbabwean mother of five, counseled to return to school, earned her doctorate and became an expert on AIDS.Through these stories, Kristof and WuDunn help us see that the key to economic progress lies in unleashing women’s potential. They make clear how so many people have helped to do just that, and how we can each do our part. Throughout much of the world, the greatest unexploited economic resource is the female half of the population. Countries such as China have prospered precisely because they emancipated women and brought them into the formal economy. Unleashing that process globally is not only the right thing to do; it’s also the best strategy for fighting poverty.Deeply felt, pragmatic, and inspirational, Half the Sky is essential reading for every global citizen. Title Page Dedication Contents Introduction - The Girl Effect Chapter One - Emancipating Twenty-First-Century Slaves Fighting Slavery from Seattle Chapter Two - Prohibition and Prostitution Rescuing Girls Is the Easy Part Chapter Three - Learning to Speak Up The New Abolitionists Chapter Four - Rule by Rape Mukhtar’s School Chapter Five - The Shame of “Honor” “Study Abroad”—in the Congo Chapter Six - Maternal Mortality—One Woman a Minute A Doctor Who Treats Countries, Not Patients Chapter Seven - Why Do Women Die in Childbirth? Edna’s Hospital Chapter Eight - Family Planning and the “God Gulf” Jane Roberts and Her 34 Million Friends Chapter Nine - Is Islam Misogynistic? The Afghan Insurgent Chapter Ten - Investing in Education Ann and Angeline Chapter Eleven - The Financial Revolution A CARE Package for Goretti Chapter Twelve - The Axis of Equality Tears over Time Magazine Chapter Thirteen - Grassroots vs. Treetops Girls Helping Girls Chapter Fourteen - What You Can Do Four Steps You Can Take in the Next Ten Minutes Appendix Acknowledgments Notes A Note About the Authors Copyright