♀️ International Women's Day ♀️
7 Sadly Disturbing Truths
About Women's Bodies
HOW YOU CAN HELP
The Huffington Post | By Eleanor Goldberg Updated: 03/08/2013
On International Women’s Day, we have a number of
groundbreaking accomplishments to celebrate. This year alone, women in
the U.S. won the right to serve on the front lines in combat and President Obama inched closer to pushing for equal pay for men and women.
Global health for women has also seen some major boons, too. The number of mothers who die during childbirth has been reduced by almost 50 percent and HIV drug prices have fallen by more than 99 percent since 2000.
But we’re not done fighting yet.
Women across the globe still face horrifying abuse and health risks,
including sexual exploitation and genital mutilation, devastating
injustices that are in our power to eliminate in this lifetime.
Read through the seven disturbingly sad truths women face and find
out how you can get involved in improving the lives of women across the
world.
Female Genital Mutilation
FACT: In Africa alone, 101 million girls have undergone female genital mutilation,
a cultural practice that’s meant to keep girls chaste, but subjects
them to intense torture in the process. With no anesthetic, a girl’s genitals are carved out
(including her clitoris and labia) and what remains is stitched
together, allowing a small enough aperture for urination and
menstruation, which can lead to serious health consequences, New York
Times' Nicholas Kristof reports.
What you can do: While the practice has been
recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights, activists
say that through education and raising awareness, we can work to
ultimately change the culture to end the practice.
Find out more here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kate-grant/how-to-end-fgm-clue-its-n_b_2631731.html
Maternal Health
FACT: Every year, life-threatening complications from pregnancy and childbirth claim the lives of nearly 300,000 women, according to the Gates Foundation. While the number of mothers who died in childbirth has been reduced by nearly 50 percent, it is within our reach to reduce that figure to zero.
What you can do: Low-cost medical interventions with
local healthcare providers are critical to protecting and saving the
lives of expectant mothers. Learn more about how the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation’s Maternal, Neonatal &
Child Health is advocating
for mothers and how you can get involved here.
Fistula
FACT: Fistula –- a hole that develops between a woman’s
vagina and bladder or rectum –- is one of the most devastating birth
injuries and it affects between 30,000 to 50,000 women a year
simply because they can’t afford proper medical care. The condition
leads to such severe incontinence that the woman’s body leaks urine and
feces, and oftentimes, the smell becomes so unbearable that her husband will force her out of the home to fend for herself.
What you can do: Support the Fistula Foundation,
which raises awareness for the condition and funding for repair,
prevention, and educational programs worldwide to help eliminate
fistula. Get involved here.
Rape
FACT: One in three women on the planet will be raped, beaten or assaulted in her lifetime, that’s a total of 1 billion women subjected to devastating violence.
What you can do: Join 1 Billion Rising, a global
movement that came together on Valentine’s Day to demand an end to
violence against women, and continues to fight for women’s right to live
in a world where their safety is never at stake.
Get involved here: http://onebillionrising.org/pages/take-action
Human Trafficking
FACT: An estimated 2.5 million people across the globe are trafficked,
according to the UN. Of those victims, 43 percent are used for sexual
exploitation, of whom 98 percent are women and girls. Globally, there
are more slaves than ever before in history.
What you can do: A number of organizations are
fighting to finally put an end to human slavery once and for all.
Find
out how you can get involved here
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/11/human-trafficking-awareness-day_n_2455950.html
Child Brides
FACT: Child marriage has been outlawed in most countries, but enforcement is so poor that more than 60 million girls under the age of 18 are married
(many to men twice their age or older), according to CARE. This forced
institution subjects girls to health risks and deprives them of the
opportunity to pursue an education and personal development.
What you can do:A number of organizations are working to put an end to this inhumane practice.
Find out how you can get involved
Infant Mortality
FACT: Every day, more than 19,000 children die from preventable causes, according to UNICEF.
What you can do: When mothers across the globe have
access to clean drinking water, nutritious food and necessary
immunizations, we will be able to bring the infant mortality rate down
to zero.
Find out how you can join UNICEF to fight to save children
around the world here: http://www.unicefusa.org/work/
~~~*~~~
CORRECTION: This post originally
reported one in three women would be raped in her lifetime. It has been
corrected to say "raped, beaten or assaulted."
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