Lauren Berg
11/10/11
WGS 410
Reading Response
Introduction – Ch. 8
Despite my
lack of knowledge on the subjects, I have always felt a large amount of
compassion for women and girls that have been raped, molested, and those who
are prostitutes. The book Half the Sky:
Turing Oppression into Opportunity for Women started to educate me on the
subject of sexual mistreatment and has opened my eyes to a whole different realm
of oppression.
The authors of Half the Sky estimate that globally there are 3 million females sex
slaves; women and girls whom live under the most miserable conditions, who are
the property of their pimp, and who must regularly endure rape, violence and
humiliation. There are many activists and organizations trying to help the
situation, but sex slavery is still worse than it ever has been. The injustices
that go along with prostitution, sexual slavery, as well as many other problems
that women have to face are in need of much advocacy and support.
The book has opened my eyes to many
problems that I have never thought about very much, such as the importance
maternal healthcare. Women in many parts of the world
receive far too little maternal healthcare. Often there are not any birth
complications and maternal healthcare is not needed, but much too often it is
needed but not accessed. There is an especially high prevalence of maternal
complications with young pregnant girls, many of whom are pregnant because of
rape. A significant reason for women seeking maternal healthcare is the lack of
access that they have to it; as there is often not a maternal care provider in
their location, they can not afford it, or for some reason their culture or
family finds it unsuitable for them to get that care. Without maternal
healthcare many have to face serious health consequences, which often ruin the
live of the mother, child, or both. Maternal healthcare, like many other
injustices that women and girls face, need more political representation.
The
solutions to end the oppression of women are even more complex than the
problems themselves. The book discusses many attempts to help women in
different ways, some of which were successful and some of which were not. Some
of the stories that the book told of advocates made me feel frustrated because
I know that there is so much more to be done; so many lives to be made better
and so many lives to be saved. On the other hand I found some of the stories to
be very inspiring. While I read of the great things that these activists are
doing, it made me feel inspired to help these women as well. The stories
illustrate that just one person with agency can really make a difference and
save lives, and I hope to one day really make a difference myself.
