May 6

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
By Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

This book opens with the Chinese proverb, "Women hold up half the sky."

NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and his wife Sheryl WuDunn have interviewed hundreds of girls and women in the course of their work as journalists and report on stunning gender discrimination including selling women as sex slaves (Cambodia, etc), threatening rape as a tool to control women (Ethiopia, South Africa, etc), disfiguring or killing wives (with acid or kerosene) in order to justify taking a 2nd wife (Pakistan) and killing (or letting die) newborn baby girls (China, Pakistan, India), among other horrible crimes.  But this book is not just about these criminal injustices, but also about ways women have been working together to make a better life for themselves, their children and other women.

Sunitha Krishnan, for example, was a young Indian college graduate, focused on literacy, working to organize poor people in a village when a gang of men opposed her efforts and raped her.  Finding herself the object of discrimination, she decided to focus instead on helping other women stuck in the sex trafficking trade.  Based in Hyderabad, she started rescuing women and girls from brothels, confronted pimps and brothel owners, eventually getting over 1500 (as of the writing of this book in 2009) former prostitutes into rehab and job training programs to help them start new careers.

In Pakistan Mukhtar Mai's little brother Shakur was falsely accused of having sexual relations with a girl (he had actually been raped by male members of a higher-status clan).  As punishment to Shakur's family, Mukhtar was sentenced to be gang-raped by the tribal council.  Instead of committing suicide after this outrageous attack (the usual way for a woman to 'cleanse' her family of shame), Mukhtar got the support of the local imam, reported the crime to the police and, surprisingly, the attackers were arrested and Mukhtar was awarded the equivalent of over $8K in compensation.  Instead of using the money for herself, she opened a school for women.

These are just two of many examples (and both of these women were continuing to face recrimination from men who resented women having rights), but the authors cite many others.  While it is disturbing to read of the mistreatment of women at the hands of evil men, it is encouraging to see that there are a few who have turned their humiliation and rage into something revolutionary.  It is a thoughtfully written account that should motivate all of us to pray and consider what we can do to help women suffering around the globe, and the authors do cite examples of ways Americans can reach out.