Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
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| Author |
Sheryl WuDunn Nicholas Kristof |
|---|---|
| Subject | Sex trafficking, maternal mortality, genital mutilation, sexual violence, microfinance, girls' education |
| Published | September 8, 2009 |
| Pages | 294 pp. |
| Awards | Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominee for Current Interest (2009) |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 763098931 |
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide is a nonfiction book by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn published by Knopf in September 2009. The book argues that the oppression of women worldwide is "the paramount moral challenge" of the present era, much as the fight against slavery was in the past. The title comes from the pithy statement of Mao Zedong 妇女能顶半边天 meaning “women hold up half the sky”.
Half the Sky focuses on prostitution, rape, education, maternal mortality, genital mutilation, micro-credit, and solutions in developing countries.
Prostitution is prevalent in developing countries. Kristof and his wife visit brothels to better understand this industry. Many girls are abducted at an early age. They might be sold by their families because they cannot afford raising them or sold to pay off a family debt. At the brothel they will be drugged so that they give into the industry and will work all day long. This often leads to STDs and HIV. Some programs will come into the brothel undercover to provide condoms but the sexual workers are not allowed to use them unless the customer allows it. Young girls are widely looked for by customers, they will pay extra to sleep with a virgin. Some people believe that sleeping with a virgin will clean them of and STDs they may have and infect the worker. The prostitutes become to entangled in the industry that even when they are able to leave the brothel they tend to come back because they internalize that the brothel is where they belong. Some women are financially indebted to their pimps making their stay longer. During their time they also experience physical and sexual violence.
Most rapists are people the survivor knows, sometimes even family members. The survivors story is usually hidden from the community and when it does arise, the survivor is usually not believed. The female will also bring "shame" to the family and this sometimes leads to her killing in order to preserve the family honor. A rape can also lead to the female having to marry her rapist.
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