Through a series of infomercial fail compilations and memes, social media sentiment about 2016 is resoundingly the same : Worst. Year. Ever. In retrospect, it’s hard to argue that claim with a series of unrelenting events that piled up throughout the 365 days. From the deaths of David Bowie and Alan Rickman ( aka, the beloved Severus Snape) to recent acts of terrorism in Aleppo, Syria and throughout Europe. Let’s also not forget about the results of the Presidential Election. Did 2016 get anything right?
As it turns out – yes! From mandated prison time for honor killings to free tuition here are five positive changes that happened around the world in 2016:
Banned Body Shaming in London
Let’s face it – body shaming and negative body image isn’t anyone’s cup of tea. According to the Telegraph UK, London mayor Sadiq Khan has banned all ads from public transportation that encouraged “unhealthy or unrealistic” body images. His decision was in response to a controversial Protein World ad asking women if they were “Beach Body ready”. In the mayor’s own words, “Nobody should feel pressurized, while they travel on the Tube or bus, into unrealistic expectations surrounding their bodies and I want to send a clear message to the advertising industry about this.” The ad itself had already received over 300 complaints to the ADA (Advertising Standards Authority) before Khan’s decision was made, and many voiced their outrage on social media, making one thing very clear: You’re god damn right we’re beach body ready. Exactly as we are.
Initiative to Reduce Food Waste in Italy
Clearly someone hasn’t been showing much amore for that last piece of Pizza. According to a report done by the UN, Europe is the second largest food-waster in the world with an average of 610 pounds of food wasted annualy per person. In order to combat this statistic, Global Citizen reports that Italy passed a bill in 2016 to provide garbage collection tax breaks to businesses that donated leftover food to charities. Through this latest bill, legislators hope to recover one billion tons of excess food in 2017. Not only will this reduce the amount of waste that goes into our landfills, but will simultaneously combat unnecessary hunger in impoverished communities. With the growing success for Italy’s new bill, many are becoming aware of the environmental, economic and moral benefits that reducing food waste offers. Among these benefits comes a very important solution – Hunger isn’t a scarcity problem; it’s a logistics problem.
Free tuition at Stanford
I’m sorry, but last time I checked Bernie Sanders was not the POTUS elect. Did you say FREE tuition to Stanford?! Yes it’s true. In 2016, Stanford University updated their tuition waiver limitation from incomes of $100,000 to $125,000. However, the real win here is that families with incomes less than $65,000 will additionally have their room and board covered as well. Considering that the average family income in the US was $53,657 in 2015, with that amount declining over the past three years, Stanford’s generous financial aid is a trailblazer in its effort to increase economic diversity in higher education. As Karen Cooper, the Associate Dean and Director of Financial Aid at Stanford, puts it, “this expansion of the financial aid program is a demonstration of Stanford’s commitment to access for outstanding students from all backgrounds.” Now excuse me while I attempt to find student discounts on tickets to the west coast.
Making honor killings punishable in Pakistan
On October 6 2016, Pakistan’s parliament voted to strengthen its law banning “honor killings”, an ancient, brutal practice in which women are justifiably killed for supposedly dishonoring their families. The new law institutes a mandatory 25 year sentence for those convicted of honor killings. In the past, families could officially “forgive” the person who committed the murder and the state would release them. The momentum for this law rose from the murder of social media star Qandeel Baloch, whose brother killed her for posting selfies he found objectionable. The crime provoked international outrage and a national debate over honor killings amd acted as a catalyst for the new law to be implemented. What was a trending topic of debate for some, was equally a long-awaited victory for many women’s rights advocates.
Outlawing Child marriage in Zimbabwe
In 2016, a victory for gender equality and anti-poverty efforts was claimed when Zimbabwe’s highest court outlawed marriage for any person under the age of 18. The court made the ruling based on the case of two women that were forced into child marriages. They claimed that early marriage restricted their access to education and sentenced them to a life of poverty. Despite this positive change, Zimbabwe isn’t the only country with a high child marriage rate. Across Africa there are an estimated 14 million under-age girls married each year. Without a change in laws and enforcement, UNICEF projects child marriages to double by 2050. Zimbabwe’s ruling was the first step of many in the right direction.