Half The Sky Analysis

Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn is an acclaimed book about the oppression of women and described in detail as the couple traveled to developing countries such as Cambodia, China, Afghanistan, and Congo. Kristof and WuDunn explored the inadequate women’s rights by meeting and interviewing various women around the world. From brothels to hospitals, the couple heard stories about the mistreatment of women that is unheard of in the Western society. At the end of the novel, some solutions are provided that range from the individual level to globally. Today, many organizations exist to try to correct some of these inequalities. Some of the most effective nongovernmental organizations in fighting women’s inequality issues such

In Half the Sky, Kristof and WuDunn met a thirteen-year-old, Dai Manju, from the Dabie Mountains in central China in 1990. Dai’s parents forced her to drop out of school once she hit the sixth grade because they saw no purpose in girls receiving educations because they would eventually spend their days laboring in fields or making clothes anyways. Her parents also could no longer afford the $13 annual fee the elementary school charged. Furthermore, her parents were ill, so because she was the eldest of her siblings, she unwillingly had to withdraw from school to help with housework. However, after the couple published their article about Dai’s predicament, a reader donated $100 and the Morgan Guarantee Trust Company bank donated about $9,900. Dai was able to be the first in her family to graduate elementary school and went so far in her education that she graduated from the equivalent of an accounting school. She became so wealthy that her family soon became one of the wealthiest in the

This project created a union of sex workers, the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC), whose main goals were to encourage the use of condoms and reducing the spread of STDS through prostitution. It is estimated that because of the Sonagachi Project, consistent condom use increased by 25% and only 9.6% of the female sex workers contracted HIV, compared to 50% in cities without unions. Another successful nongovernmental organization fighting sexual violence is the National Women’s Coalition Against Violence and Exploitation (NWCAVE). NWCAVE provides a variety of services and resources, including education programs/outreach, conferences and seminars, and task forces. Recently, the organization launched Operation Runway, a task force that investigates the increasing problem of fake modeling sites. Websites are created that are disguised as counterfeit online modeling sites, but actually result in sexual abuse, such as forced prostitution, rape, trafficking, or murder. Not only does NWCAVE have active task forces employed, but they also heavily focus on prevention and