A New Initiative for Women’s Dignity

         I recently attended the launching of a new initiative by The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity called HER Dignity Network.  It is designed to be a network of people and organizations that share the same vision of ensuring and restoring dignity to women at every stage of her life…from conception to death.  I found this “lifespan” aspect of the initiative to be particularly interesting and something new that I haven’t heard from other initiatives within global women’s health.  We tend to focus and advocate on certain issues such as gendercide, sex trafficking, unequal access to education, among others but the idea to look at women throughout the whole of their lifespan helps us to take a look beyond the statistics into the whole life of the woman.  Her birth, her childhood, her womanhood, and her old age.

Dr. George at Her Dignity Network Launch

         During the launch, the website –  www.herdignity.net  – was unveiled and a panel focused discussion was led on issues and challenges facing women around the globe and work done by different organizations to eliminate some of these challenges.  Dr. Jameela George, from the Center for Bioethics in India, discussed the traditional patriarchal culture in developing countries.  She gave staggering statistics of the violence done to girls due to that cultural preference…from conception to death.

         At the phase of conception to birth, she discussed female feticide where a baby is aborted simply because she is a female and gendercide where a newborn is killed because the baby is a girl.  These two terrible practices are happening at alarming rates in countries like China, India, and Pakistan.  As the baby matures to childhood, Dr. George discussed the lack of education and overall discrimination against girls to the point of neglecting access to basic needs.  She gave statistics such as: 65% of the world’s children who do not attend school are girls and 1 in 3 women across the world do not have access to a toilet.  She described a circumstance in her own clinic where a family only brought their young boy to be immunized leaving his sister at home. Dr. George refused to immunize just the boy and the family returned the next day with both their son and daughter.

PHOTO by Joni Kabana

         As a young girl blossoms to a woman, she faces even more challenges and violence.  Dr. George discussed the threat of rape and sex trafficking, sharing that 44 million women are missing in India and 50 million women are missing in China.  Unfortunately, the indignity placed on women doesn’t stop at youth but continues on into older age…with women receiving unequal inheritance rights and abuse in widowhood to name a few.  In addition, women are more vulnerable in situations like natural disasters and war.  Dr. George explained that females are less likely to receive medical, hygienic, and psychological aid in a natural disaster.  She also explained the high vulnerability of women and girls surrounding war.  During the Rwandan genocide, rape was “the rule and it’s absence the exception” according to the UN.

         Although these issues are becoming more known, there is still a lack of attention on the plight of these millions of women and girls.  In the U.S., women’s issues too often become political and divide people into different camps – with pro-life vs. pro-choice probably being the most divisive issue. Although I admire those who stand firm for their convictions, too many are deterred from the discussion due to conflicting opinions.  This is one aim of Her Dignity Network.  It is to challenge faith based communities, particularly the Christian community, to become more active in women’s global health. In Michelle Kirtley & Jennifer McVey’s article, Waking Up to Women’s Health Crisis, “We need to reframe our assumptions about global injustice to women. One of which is our American tendency to view abortion through the lens of “rights” rather than human dignity. As a consequence, our political conversation often pits the rights of the unborn against the rights of the mother. In some circles, “global women’s health” feels like code for “increased access to abortion,” and in others, pro-life advocates are branded as “anti-woman.”

         There is much work to be done to bring dignity to the millions of women and girls who find themselves discriminated against, enslaved, and abused.  Kirtley & McVey go on to say, “In the Gospels, we see Jesus, the physical manifestation of the compassion of God, expressing a particular love for women as equal bearers of His image in a culture that did not value them.” Her Dignity Network is challenging those who follow Jesus by taking up the cause of women globally…from conception to the end of her life.

Additional Panelists at Her Dignity Launch:

Debbie Dortzbach, World Relief http://worldrelief.org/recent-stories/world-aids-day-2012

Shannon Senefeld, Catholic Relief http://crs.org/newsroom/expert-biographies/profile-senefeld.cfm

Brenda Royden, Foundation for Social & Cultural Advancement http://www.foundationsca.org

Additional Resources:

On violence against women in war: The Economist - http://www.economist.com/node/17900482

More on the abortion debate: http://www.capitalcommentary.org/abortion/rising-above-rights-based-abortion-debate

A Day to Celebrate Women

Suffrage parade, New York City, May 6, 1912 Library of Congress Ball, Images of American Political History

     Today, March 8th is International Women’s Day. I often wonder where these kinds of holidays or special international days get their origin. After a little digging, I learned that the day came out of many movements around the world to improve women’s rights. In 1910, at a women’s conference in Copenhagen, Demark the idea was conceived and “International Women’s Day” was created.

     Women in the U.S., with leaders like Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony, were not just fighting for women’s suffrage but fighting for women’s economic rights, property rights, parental rights, rights in education and religion, among others. Since then, many things have changed but unfortunately women around the world continue to face unbelievable challenges.

     The countless stories of the ways in which girls and women are dehumanized and disenfranchised around the world are overwhelming. Too many are neglected, abused, and denied opportunities for education, health care, and so on. A day like International Women’s Day is useful in bringing these inequalities and injustices to light along with highlighting how we can do something about it.

     Women Thrive, an organization based in the Washington D.C. area, who advocates for women and girls who are denied equal freedoms and opportunities around the world. Women Thrive partner with local organizations in order to create coalitions impacting women and girls. One such coalition is with Elimu Community Light (ECOLI) in Tanzania. ECOLI’s founder and director, Juhudi N. Mbwambo, took his first trip to Washington recently to talk with Members of Congress and leaders in the Administration and NGO community about the work he is doing in Tanzania. Excerpts from his interview with Women Thrive is below (for the full interview clickhere):

         I want American lawmakers to understand the fulfillment of children’s rights – all beings need nourishing from conception to age 18…. Our goal is to build the foundation of human development from early childhood. It’s the only time to prepare future human beings. A large amount of brain development happens during early childhood. We make sure that we work at the holistic level so that children can prosper from what they gain in early childhood.

         Girls are not given the opportunity to access education like boys are – socially, boys are sent to school more. Also, in the culture and the social way of living, girls have more duties. Girls are also at much higher risk of violence, specifically sexual violence. Girls are not given priority in the community and government.

         I believe women are the center of societal change. The mother’s role is to educate the family and ensure children grow well. It’s important that girls access education because they educate society and the family. No one can boost themselves without boosting women. If we change positively how women help the next generation, we will have a good generation.

         If we don’t invest in early education, we’ll find that goals like the Millennium Development Goals won’t be successful. No one can build a house without a strong foundation. Universal education to make sure children go to primary school won’t work without early education. With a pail of water, if 25% of the water is clean and the rest is dirty, you can’t make the water clean. We know that with early education, children perform much better and dropout rates are reduced because children are engaged in school early on.

     The fact that 65% of the world’s children who do not attend school are girls is disheartening but work like ECOLI is doing to invest in girls at a young age is helping to change the trajectory of a girl’s future and ultimately entire communities. I am thankful for days like International Women’s Day that helps us devote one day of the year to the worth of women and girls.

Learn more about what Women Thrive is doing and the coalitions they are building!

Learn more about ECOLI and how you can help!