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Almost 100 million girls “disappear” each year, killed in the womb or as babies…
… two million girls a year still suffer genital mutilation
… half a million die during pregnancy – the leading killer among 15 to 19-year-olds – every 12 months
… an estimated 7.3 million are living with HIV/Aids compared with 4.5 million young men.
Almost a million girls fall victim to child traffickers each year compared with a quarter that number of boys
…. Of the 1.5 billion people living on less than 50p a day, 70 per cent are female
… 96 million young women aged 15 to 24 (are) unable to read or write – almost double the number for males.
62 million girls are not even receiving primary school education
… an estimated 450 million have stunted growth because of childhood malnutrition.
The article goes on to say that while many of the worst figures apply to developing countries, there is still clear statistical evidence of sexual discrimination in the north, and gives specific examples in the UK.
As I write about this, I’m obviously challenged to think what exactly I’m doing about it. I might be making a very tiny contribution by blogging about the status and perception of women (amongst the other things I’m interested in) and by contributing to Amnesty International who run several campaigns specifically on behalf of women, and by creating a website (sheTIME) which is intended to offer a place for women to exchange experiences, tips and information about the feminine cycle in order to change their perception of this definitive female experience from negative to positive. sheTIME has been held up a little while the two of us who’ve created it clarify our vision for its future, but I do hope that it will eventually be released for public view. But all of this seems so little a contribution from someone who comes from a place of relative comfort, rank and power when compared to the women the statistics above describe. I know there is more I can do, and in the next few months I will look for appropriate channels. My instinct is to go for educational programmes that target women, because education empowers in the long-term, but I know there are so many other urgent issues as well, like stopping the rape in Darfur.
This morning while musing and browsing, I came across this site that has a huge number of stories about successful programmes in India: http://www.empowerpoor.com/programmereport.asp When the enormity of the problem threatens to overwhelm one, it’s good to be inspired by such a long list of creative solutions that have made and are making a difference.
Here’s another good one to consider: http://www.plan-uk.org/becauseiamagirl/trafficking/
Tia Azulay 15May07
Copyright © 2007 Tia Azulay