Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn are journalists who write for the New York Times. They spent years traveling through Asia and Africa, gathering information to write their award-winning book Half of the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.
The book speaks of the worldwide mistreatment and abuse of girls, taking examples from countries such as Cambodia, China, and Uganda. The two authors relate stories of women across Asia and Africa who have been abused, and make it clear that we have to invest in the support of women.
At his discussion, Mr. Kristof told the story of how he got interested in this cause and the amazing people he met on the journey. There is a Chinese saying that translates to “women hold up half the sky” and Mr. Kristof wanted to spread this message. His message throughout the speech is clear: we need to educate girls.
In the villages of Asia and Africa, girls are forced to drop out of school because they are girls. Parents see a greater long-run-profit in spending their scarce money on their sons; they will be the ones to take care of them in their old age. This is the case for not only education, but also with food, sickness, and health-care. Families are willing to starve their daughters so long as it means their sons’ stomachs are full. It is for these reasons that the world is facing the central moral challenge of female oppression. Girls’ needs and capabilities are being pushed aside for males.
In many cases, girls who don’t receive an education are forced into human trafficking. In Cambodia, girls are taken from their villages at the age of 12 and brought to the cities where they are sold for sex. Many are physically beaten, abused, and scarred during their stay in these brothels. Mr. Kristof shared a story of a girl he met named Lin who was forced into this life. The brothel owner thought she was not attracting enough customers, so she gauged Lin’s eye out. Cases like these are not rare and provide a visual example of how scarring this life is.
Not all of Mr. Kristof’s stories had grim endings like this. His final story was about a girl named Beatrice. She was born and raised in Uganda, and was taken out of school when she was a young girl. Her parents needed her to look after her siblings and help out. Beatrice was upset she had to leave school – she was a great student and loved learning – but knew she had to help her parents. One day their received the gift of a young goat. The money the family got from selling the milk was put towards getting Beatrice back in school. She did phenomenally, scoring higher than any of her peers on national exams. And what do you know? She attended UConn and graduated here with her Bachelor’s.
Mr. Kristof shares these stories to inspire students to get involved. He shared that the best way to get involved is by traveling and going to see for yourself and be inspired. The more you interactively involve yourself in the cause, the more fulfilled you’ll feel.