Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

“Still in poor countries gender discrimination is often lethal in a way that it usually is not in America. In India, for example, mothers are less likely to take their daughters to be vaccinated than their sons—that alone accounts for one fifth of India’s missing females—while studies have found that, on average, girls are brought to the hospital only when they are sicker than boys taken to the hospital. All told, girls in India from one to five years of age are 50 percent more likely to die than boys from the same age. The best estimate is that a little Indian girl dies from discrimination every four minutes.”

India is a highly patriarchal society (although it has made some progress toward gender equality since the publishing of this book). Families typically prefer boys to girls, so greater care goes to boys. Data supports this point. Girls die at higher rates in India because their families don’t take them to the doctor when they’re sick or get them vaccinated. One of the strengths of Kristof and WuDunn’s book is its use of statistics to emphasize how oppression impacts women and girls—and society as a whole. This passage contains one such data point: A girl in India dies every four minutes as a result of discrimination. This shocking statistic underscores how deep gender biases deny millions of girls and women even the most basic opportunity: to live.

“As the journal Foreign Affairs observed: ‘Whatever the exact number it is, it seems almost certain that the modern global slave trade is larger in absolute terms than the Atlantic slave trade in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was.”

To illustrate the impact of human trafficking, Kristof and WuDunn compare it to the Atlantic Slave Trade. They note that approximately 80,000 enslaved people were shipped from Africa to the New World at the peak of the slave trade in the 1780s. While this horrifying number doesn’t fully convey the horrific and long-lasting consequences of slavery, the US State Department estimates that human trafficking affects millions of women and girls around the world each year. As in the slave trade, few laws force brothel owners to properly care for the women and girls. Despite the many women and children whom human trafficking affects, governments, aid agencies, and nonprofits are only just starting to tackle the problem—which has worsened in the last few decades.

“‘The debate is being carried on in a theoretical framework at universities,’ Ruchira Gupta of Apne Aap said, rolling her eyes, as she sat in her old family home in Bihar after a day in the red-light district. ‘Very few of those theorists come to the grassroots and see what is going on. The whole debate about what we should call the problem is irrelevant. What is relevant is that children are being enslaved.’”

Kristof and WuDunn lament how difficult it is for democrats and republicans in the US to pass legislation on human trafficking and the commercial sexual exploitation of children because they spend so much time arguing over the definition of sex worker. The authors—alongside workers, including Ruchira Gupta—find these arguments irrelevant. If more politicians saw what was really happening, the authors and Gupta alike think they’d realize the ridiculousness of their arguments. The reality is that children are being sexually exploited for profit in frightening numbers, and something should be done to stop this.

“But we think of Neth and remember a Hawaiian parable taught to us by Naka Nathaniel, the former Times videographer, himself a Hawaiian:

A man goes out on the beach and sees that it is covered with starfish that have washed up in the tide. A little boy is walking along, picking them up and throwing them back into the water. ‘What are you doing, son?’ the man asks. ‘You see how many starfish there are? You’ll never make a difference.’ The boy paused thoughtfully, and picked up another starfish and threw it into the ocean. ‘It sure made a difference to that one,’ he said.”

The authors end Chapter 2 with this powerful parable. Human trafficking might seem as impossible to tackle as trying to put all the starfish the tide washed up on shore back where they belong. The authors recognize that completely eliminating human trafficking is unlikely, but this doesn’t mean that people should stop trying to help women and girls. Like helping the starfish, educating and empowering women and girls can change their lives as well as those of others in their families and communities. Helping even one makes a difference.

“‘The police were very class conscious,’ Usha noted. ‘So if you were lighter-skinned, then they thought you were higher class and they might help. But they would swoop down on anyone darker-skinned or unshaven. Often, people went to the police to complain, and then the police arrested them,’ Usha said. One woman went to the police to report that she had been gang-raped by Akka Yadav and his thugs; the police responded by gang-raping her themselves.”

Throughout the book, Kristof and WuDunn reiterate how structural oppression of women and girls permeates all aspects of society. One poignant example is the role that police play in maintaining gender inequality. In many examples that the authors cite, police are complicit in human trafficking and the commercial sexual exploitation of underage girls. Police are often clients of brothels—or accept bribes from brothel owners to ignore the atrocities occurring there. In addition, women who complain against brothel owners often receive horrible treatment from police, as the example in this passage illustrates. Nevertheless, the authors believe that with better training, police can be part of the solution. Police crackdowns can help decrease brothels’ profits, which can result in their permanent shutdown.

“Sunitha’s first employee was Akbar, a former pimp who had developed a conscience. He worked valiantly to help girls who were imprisoned in the red-light district. But the brothel owner retaliated by stabbing Akbar to death.”

Trying to change societal norms, including improving the conditions for women and girls, is often dangerous work. This passage cites an example: One of Sunitha’s employees, Akbar, was murdered for trying to help rescue women and girls from brothels. Many of the women whose stories the authors share in the book face threats of rape and murder. However, these threats often don’t deter them. These women activists firmly believe that ending oppression of women and girls is worth sacrificing their lives. Kristof and WuDunn emphasize the importance of aid agencies, non-government agencies (NGOs), government agencies, and citizens in providing resources to the women doing the groundwork. The authors hope that with such help these women activists will have the resources to keep their mission alive and continue saving women and girls from the horrific effects of oppression.

“When critics complained that it was a medieval punishment, Ehlers responded tersely: ‘A medieval device for a medieval deed.’”

The authors open Chapter 4 by describing Rapex, a female condom invented by Sonette Ehlers, a retired blood technician from South Africa. The condom was lined with rows of plastic barbs on its inner surface. Men who tried to rape women would be impaled on the barbs and have to seek emergency care to remove them. As this passage illustrates, critics considered Rapex a “‘medieval punishment.’” This attitude underscores the tendency for people to adhere to oppressive social customs. Although rape is a horrific abuse, many parts of the world tolerate it because of their social customs. In fact, many people think that women should be responsible for their own safety rather than relying on such a tool (despite the fact that rape isn’t the woman’s fault). Again and again, society blames the women rather than the perpetrators.

“The police belatedly gathered evidence, including the broken door to Woinshet’s home and her torn and bloody clothing. They also collected statements from witnesses, who included a great many people in the village. But the judges to whom the case was presented thought that prosecution of Aberew was a mistake. At a court hearing, the judge told Woinshet: ‘He wants to marry you. Why are you refusing?’”

This passage illustrates the oppressive and misogynistic culture that many women (and men) face. Woinshet defied Ethiopian cultural norms by taking her rapist to court. The judges considered her rape acceptable since Aberew (her rapist) wanted to marry her. This example shows how attitudes are embedded in culture. The judges, who should have protected Woinshet’s rights, saw nothing wrong with her rape since Aberew was following rural Ethiopian tradition. Instead, they found Woinshet in the wrong since she broke with this tradition, first by reporting the rape as a crime and then by trying to prosecute her rapist. The authors and Woinshet both believe that only education can change culture.

“‘When I treat rape victims, I tell the girls not to go to the police,’ Dr. Syed added. ‘Because if a girl goes to the police, the police will rape her.’”

A common theme throughout the book is how authorities display indifference to women who are uneducated and poor. One group to which the authors repeatedly draw attention is the police. In many parts of the Global South, police officers are complicit in the oppression of women and girls, as the passage above highlights. Here, Dr. Syed, a prominent gynecologist in Karachi, Pakistan who routinely treats young girls from the slums after rapes, tells the authors that he counsels the girls and their families against going to police because he knows that, ironically, the police often abuse them.

“In Darfur, after interviewing several women who told of having been raped when leaving their camps to get firewood, we asked the obvious question: ‘If women are raped when they get firewood, then why don’t they stay in the camp? Why don’t the men collect firewood?’ ‘When men leave the camp, they’re shot dead,’ one of the women explained patiently. ‘When women leave, they’re only raped.’”

As this story illustrates, men are often victims of war and are targeted and killed. Women, in contrast, become weapons of war. Enemy soldiers use the rape of women, which often leads to disfigurement or prolonged sexual torture, as a means to terrorize the women’s community. A former UN force commander stated that in modern-day conflicts, rape was more dangerous to women than to soldiers.

“It costs about $300 to repair a fistula, and about 90 percent of them are repairable. But the vast majority of women who suffer fistulas are impoverished peasants who are never taken to a doctor and never receive medical assistance.”

In the Global South, fistulas are a relatively common result of pregnancy complications because few women can afford a midwife and therefore try to do their birth on their own. While repairing a fistula isn’t expensive (and most are repairable), many women in under-resourced countries don’t get the care they need. For these women, many of whom are teens, their lives are over. Their husbands and families leave them because of the odor their waste emits, and their community ostracizes them, forcing them to live in huts at the edge of the village. These women eventually starve to death or die of infection.

“‘Even the women who live in town, right next to the hospital, they have their babies at home,’ he said. Overall, he estimated, only about 5 percent of local women deliver in the hospital. Supplies are almost nonexistent, he complained, and in the history of the hospital nobody had ever given a voluntary blood donation. Dr. Pipi came across as bitter—angry at the women, and also at himself for being stuck in a remote provincial backwater. He was utterly unsympathetic to their needs.”

The authors use Dr. Pipi to illustrate one reason that women die in childbirth: the lack of rural healthcare. While Dr. Pipi might have been unsympathetic to the plight of rural women, he was hugely overburdened. His country didn’t have enough doctors to post a second one at his hospital. In addition, he constantly lacked supplies, and dangerous conditions plagued him, his nurses, and his patients. The harsh working conditions prompt many doctors and nurses to leave rural hospitals in Africa and either go to the cities or emigrate to other countries.

“Another challenge in planning the hospital was that potential supporters like the UN and private aid groups are not very active in a break-away country like Somaliland that no one recognizes and doesn’t officially exist.”

The story of Edna’s hospital illustrates the resilience of women living in the most marginalized places and their desire to fight against gender discrimination. Edna wanted to build a hospital in her home country. However, she encountered numerous logistical considerations, including the fact that most other countries and aid agencies don’t recognize Somaliland as an independent country. Therefore, agencies such as the UN (where Edna had worked) were initially unwilling to provide financial support to her. Edna was undeterred, however, and raised the funds to complete the hospital with help from Americans. Her hospital serves some of the world’s most marginalized women, helping prevent maternal mortality and end female circumcision.

“Whatever one thinks of abortion, it’s tragic that up to 40 percent of all pregnancies globally are unplanned or unwanted—and that almost half of those result in induced abortions.”

In Chapter 8, Kristof and WuDunn illustrate how religious viewpoints in the US shape family planning in other countries. While both secular and religious individuals want to help improve living conditions for women and girls, they starkly disagree on how to do so. Much of this disagreement stems from differing perspectives on abortion, contraception, and condom usage. Unfortunately, religious versus secular perspectives have permeated American politics and its foreign policy. Many conservatives, often with the backing of conservative Christians, cut funding for aid organizations that educate women on abortions and condom usage. This has profoundly negative impacts on women and girls in the Global South and increases unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions, which is the opposite of what it’s meant to do. To truly help improve maternal health around the globe, Kristof and WuDunn believe, conservatives and liberals must bridge the God Gulf. Failure to do so will continue to result in preventable maternal deaths.

“‘No one can say I can’t give a dollar,’ Jane noted. ‘We’re even getting donations from college students and high school students.’”

Jane and her 34 Million Friends campaign for the UNFPA exemplifies how aid can meaningfully impact maternal health in the Global South. This campaign targeted money where it was needed: the UNFPA, which had just lost 34 million dollars in US funding because of political debates over abortion. Jane, alongside other American aid agencies and American women, rallied the public into donating at least one dollar, an amount that almost all Americans can donate. One lesson from Half the Sky is that grassroots efforts (like Jane’s campaign) alongside treetop organizations (i.e., UNFPA) often have the biggest impact on curbing the oppression of women and girls.

“Countries that repress woman also tend to be backward economically, adding to the frustrations that nurture terrorism.”

The authors caution against characterizing Islam, and other religions, as misogynistic. Instead, they argue that such a culture, especially one with an overpopulation of young men (which they call a youth bulge), can lead to greater repression of women and higher rates of crime or violence. They suggest that youth bulge is especially problematic in conservative Muslim countries because women are more passive, which amplifies men’s impact. Because men, especially those from lower socioeconomic families, have little hope of finding partners, they turn to war and terrorism out of desperation and frustration. Lack of family planning hurts both men and women in Muslim countries.

“‘Education is the key issue for overcoming poverty, for overcoming war,’ Sakena says. ‘If people are educated, then women will not be abused or tortured. They will also stand up and say, My child should not be married so young.’”

The power of education is a recurring theme in the book. Sakena Yacoobi, who runs an aid organization in Afghanistan, firmly believes in education, noting that if more international aid agencies gave money for education rather than weapons, it would be transformational for her country. Sakena risks her life trying to create educational opportunities for Afghan women and girls.

“The challenges are manifest: Of the 115 million children who have dropped out of elementary school, 57 percent are girls. In South and West Asia, two thirds of the children who are out of school are girls.”

Chapter 10 focuses on how to keep girls in school and improve learning. This statistic shows the magnitude of the issue. While it might seem daunting and impossible to improve girls’ education around the world, the authors show that with the right types of cost-effective programs, such as deworming students and helping girls manage menstruation, it’s entirely possible and a moral imperative for the girl themselves, their families, their communities, and society.

“A study in Ecuador suggests that iodine deficiency typically shaves ten to fifteen points off a child’s IQ. Worldwide, iodine deficiency alone reduces humanity’s collective IQ by more than 1 billion points.”

One might assume that the only way to improve education is to build more schools in the Global South. However, the authors show that this is one of the least cost-effective ways. Far better means exist, including (surprisingly) providing children with iodized salt. Iodine is necessary for brain growth. Reducing iodine deficiency can literally improve a child’s IQ. This measure would be inexpensive. The authors cite one estimate of $19 million, a negligible sum of money in the aid world. (Consider that the US committed nearly 10 times that amount—$18.2 billion—to send Ukraine to help its war efforts).

“In South Africa, one study examined the impact on child nutrition when the state pension system was extended to blacks after the collapse of apartheid. Suddenly many grandparents received a significant cash infusion (topping out at $3 per day, or twice the local median income). When the pensions went to grandfathers who cared for children, the extra cash had no impact on the children’s height or weight. But when the pension went to a grandmother, there was a major impact. In particular, the granddaughters grew significantly in both height and weight, and such girls became taller and heavier than girls raised by grandfathers.”

A key point in this chapter is that economically empowering women changes not only their own lives but those of people in their families. Several studies show that women spend more on the family than men (who often spend large portions of their income on nonessential items like cigarettes and alcohol). By prioritizing family, women improve their children’s health and education. Empowering women, therefore, is clearly one way to address poverty.

“CARE pays out less than $100 per woman over the three-year life of the project (after that, Goretti graduates, and the project begins in a new area). That means it costs a donor sixty-five cents a week to help Goretti. It improves her life for her, but is also means that Burundi now has another person contributing to GNP. Likewise, Goretti’s children now have money for pens and notebooks to further their education, as well as a model of what a women can become.”

In Chapter 11, the authors underscore that microfinance programs do more for women than simply provide them with loans. Many of these programs offer classes on family planning, literacy, and similar subjects. In addition, they help empower women. Before joining a microfinance program, many women are timid and refuse to speak up, largely because of cultural contexts. However, these programs show women that they can stand up for themselves while still being feminine. Goretti’s story exemplifies the multigenerational impacts these programs have on families. CARE helped not only Goretti’s economic standing but that of her children, and this cycle has the potential to continue.

“Murvelene’s sponsorship gave new hope to Claudine and her children. Of Murvelene’s $27 monthly payment, $12 goes to training programs and other support efforts, and $15 is given directly to Claudine. The managers coach women to save—partly to build a habit of microsavings, and partly to have a cushion when they graduate from the program in a year’s time—and so Claudine saves $5 each month and spends $10. Some of the $10 goes to paying her children’s school fees and buying food, but Claudine devotes some to buying a large bag of charcoal, used for cooking. She sells it bit by bit at a retail markup to other poor families.”

This passage describes a sponsorship program run by Women for Women International. It gives Americans the opportunity to support a woman in an under-resourced country. Here, Murvelene Clark, a 41-year-old Black American, chose to support Claudine Mukakairsa, a 27-year-old woman in Rwanda who survived the country’s genocide. The authors consider Women for Women International an especially effective aid organization because it works directly with women in the Global South. Claudine’s story shows how empowering women can change their life trajectory and improve a country’s poverty levels and gender inequality.

“As we were driving through the Somaliland capital of Hargeisa, she pointed suddenly to a banner across the road that denounced cutting. ‘So the UN comes and puts up banners in the capital,’ she said. ‘What does that do? It doesn’t make a bit of difference. The women can’t even read the signs.’”

In Chapter 13, the authors drive home the point that efforts to end gender inequality can’t be dictated from foreigners living thousands of miles away. The most successful projects involve local ownership. In this passage, Edna Adan, who fiercely opposes FGM, explains this concept to the authors. Edna notes how UN projects on FGM don’t really work, because they don’t reach ordinary women. As one example, the UN posts billboards around the capital, but many women are illiterate. The top-down approach to fighting FGM is why campaigns failed for decades.