International Women’s Day

by Sarika Arya

Girls especially, take heart. As Madeline Albright once said, “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.”

March 8, 2010 marked 100 years of International Women’s Day, a national holiday in countries like China, Bulgaria, Vietnam, and Russia. According to the official organization, the day is marked by “celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.” Reflections on the future of women truly characterize the day, as different experts cast their predictions on the progress of women’s rights and new ways to revitalize the movement.

To see long-term improvements in the status of women give her this: an education. Give a woman a book and you give her: literacy, ideas, inspiration, mental and emotional strength, employment, and self- sufficiency. Give a woman a book and you give her: values, discipline, and authority. A woman then passes these things on to her family, especially her children. She turns her sons into respectful men who believe in the success of women after seeing their own beloved mothers benefit from good education. These men become better husbands and fathers. They raise motivated daughters- and sons. Children who live the benefits of gender equality, and rightfully question when it is not given to others. A women’s rights culture develops; a positive cycle becomes implemented. So, through her children, a woman can indirectly (and directly) impact a village, a community, a country, and the world. Invest in a women’s education, and you invest in a brighter world future.

In commemoration of International Women’s Day, click below to read about 5 women (who you have probably never heard of) helping other women, and consequently, helping everyone.

ONE: EVE ENSLER

Dear Emotional Creature: I believe in you. I believe in your authenticity, your uniqueness, your intensity, your wildness.  I love the way you dye your hair purple, or hike up your short skirt, or blare your music while you lip-synch every single memorized lyrics.  I love your restlessness and your hunger.  You possess the energy that, if unleashed, could transform, inspire and heal the world.  – Eve Ensler

Eve Ensler is an American voice for universal girl power, and most famous for writing The Vagina Monologues, a collection of women monologues aimed at highlighting and dissuading violence – especially sexual violence – against women.  Inspired by women’s reactions to the Obie Award winning play, Ensler created V-Day, an international movement, that has raised over $60 million dollars and funded over 5,000 women’s rights programs, women safe houses, and shelters in places from South Dakota to Kenya to Iraq.  Ensler traveled to Afghanistan while it was still under rule of the Taliban to further her work for the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan.

TWO: JESTINA MUKOKO

Jestina arrives at court during her detention.

Where I come from [fighting for what you believe in] is not easy. It means putting your life at risk. You have to believe there will be a realization in the future that what you are fighting for will be recognized and respected. Do not compromise what you believe in for anything. – Jestina Mukoko

Jestina Mukoko is a journalist and the director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, a human rights group monitoring abuses committed by President Robert Mugabe’s government.  The group’s members have been regularly abducted by the government’s ruthless secret police.  Jestina Mukoko recorded 20,143 incidents between January and September 2008 including: 202 murders/ 463 abductions/ 41 rapes/ 411 cases of torture/ 3,942 assaults. 907 cases of malicious damage to property/ 444 cases of unlawful detention/ 10,795 cases of harassment and intimidation.  Then, Jestina herself was abducted at gunpoint from her home at 5 o’ clock in the morning on December 3^rd, 2008.  Mukoko was interrogated about her human rights campaigning, and then tortured.  She was later charged with participating in anti-government projects and plotting to overthrow the government.  In prison her health severely deteriorated, but – in a blow to Mugabe’s authoritarianism – she was released in March 2009 on bail, and this week flew to the White House to receive the honor of US Women of Courage Award 2010.  Despite her imprisonment, she is determined to continue leading the fight for human rights in Zimbabwe.

THREE: COLONEL SHAFIQA QURAISHI

No one will give your rights to you as a gift, you have to take them.  Who says women cannot do anything? We can do anything we want. – Colonel Shafiqa Quraishi

Colonel Shafiqa Quraishi began her career as a police colonel in Afghanistan, but this was disrupted when the Taliban came to power.  Even today, it seems improbable that you would describe someone as an “Afghan police woman” – not even Colonel Quarishi, who is no longer in the police force and instead is now serving as the Director of Gender, Human, and Child Rights in the Afghan Ministry of Interior.  She has also spearheaded and leads the Afghan National Gender Recruitment Strategy, bringing women into the workforce- especially to reach her goal of 5,000 women in the national police force; it currently has 994.  She also works hard to bring benefits like childcare, healthcare, maternity care, security, and skills training to Afghan women.

FOUR: DR. LEE AE-RAN

She has done so much… to empower North Korean women refugees and to advance women’s’ issues in South Korea. – US Ambassador to South Korea, Kathleen Stephens

At age 11, Dr. Lee Ae-Ran was sent, with her parents, to a labor camp in North Korea after her family inadvertently provoked the regime in place.  In the camps she faced abuse and starvation, and later defected to South Korea with her 4 month- old son – leaving her husband and other family members behind.  Despite these past horrors, she has found herself to remain extremely busy and committed to fulfilling North Korean humanitarian needs.  In South Korea, Dr. Lee Ae- Ran has become the first defector to run for the Republic of Korea’s National Assembly, the first female defector to earn a Ph.D.  But there’s more.  She initiated a program to provide financial aid to student refugees and to help them learn English – a prerequisite to attend South Korean universities.  She also helps refugees gain financial stability by connecting them with people who can help them with bank loans.  She leads bible studies with the North Korean Youth Christian Meeting, which provides emotional support to North Koreans and teaches Christian fellowship.  And also – last January, she founded the Hana Defector Women’s Organization, specifically designed to help women.  Among its other projects, it provides both job and human rights training.  Oh and one more thing!  This year, in an innovative step, she opened the North Korea Traditional Culinary and Cultural Institute for North Korean women to hone their culinary, and importantly, their entrepreneurial skills.

FIVE: LYDIA CACHO RIBEIRO

To expose the criminals who destroy the lives of women and children is not enough; it is imperative to challenge the powers that be in order to stop impunity and corruption in Mexico. We do not ask for revenge, but rather for accountability for the criminals and the politicians that manipulate the justice system for money, thus sacrificing human rights and human lives. – Lydia Cacho Ribeiro

I believe the role of journalism is to be a lantern, allowing society to exercise its right to know and understand; I believe human rights are non-negotiable. As long as I live, I will continue to write and writing will keep me alive. – Lydia Cacho Ribeiro

Lydia Cacho Ribeiro has beauty, brains, and bravery.  A journalist from Mexico, this human rights activist worked to expose prostitution and sexual abuse of minors occurring in Cancun.  In her own life, she was raped at a bus stop in an effort to scare her from pursuing human rights work – instead, she founded and directs the Refuge Center for Abused Women of Cancun and is president of the Center for Women’s Assistance.  She later wrote a book, Demons of Eden, which named and shamed prominent politicians and businessmen in child pornography and sex scandals.  She also pursued the unsolved murders in Ciudad Juarez, where women where chronically murdered and their abused, raped, and mutilated corpses are discarded as offal in the desert and urban outskirts of the city.   Under orders from such influential people like Mario Marin, the governor of the state of Puebla, police illegally arrested Lydia.  She was moved from state to state, and routinely abused.  Finally, she was released on bail and became the first woman in Mexico to file a federal suit against a governor, district attorney, and a judge for corruption and attempted rape in prison.  Although her life is under threat and she has to travel with armed guards, Lydia continues to be a voice for some of Mexico’s hitherto silenced.