Monday, August 2, 2010

Half the Sky; Wholly Inspirational

This book is a must read for the 21st century.  I hope it has the impact of a Silent Spring or Uncle Tom's Cabin, i.e. to start a movement to end the horrors that women face in most of the world--sex trafficking, death of infant girls, death in childbirth, fistulas, rape, physical abuse by husbands, fathers and brothers as a matter of right.

The book inspired me to take action.  I am sponsoring a woman through Women for Women International and am looking at another organization that works against sex trafficking, which enslaves more women annually than Africans were enslaved during the mid 19th century.  The book is difficult to read at times because the stories and the statistics are so brutal but Kristof and WuDunn give us hope by showing that good outcomes are possible.  They recommend a number of ways to take action, which seems inevitable in the face of such horror for so many women.

No comments: