Several years ago, my family began sponsoring a young boy through World Vision. Our hope was not only to help the boy but also help our son gain an understanding of others less privileged than himself, and a pen-pal friend to boot.
This past summer, we received a mailing from World Vision encouraging us to sponsor a girl. In poor countries of the world, girls are even more disadvantaged than boys. The mailing included a nice brochure with photos of girls waiting to be sponsored, which our daughter found, to her delight. Needless to say, we are now sponsoring a girl in Indonesia as well as a boy in Albania.
Included also were stories detailing the plight of girls in third-world countries, similar to what can be found in World Vision’s Briefing Paper to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women at its 50th session, dated March 2006 (pdf). I found this document through Suzanne’s Bookshelf, the blog of Suzanne McCarthy and Ruud Vermeij (thanks, Suzanne).
The paper addresses such topics as inequalities in education, violence against women, exploitation, AIDS, harmful practices, access to the workforce, property rights, women’s role in decision-making, and women in leadership. (There's a lot to address!). Because of their lack of social power, incidence of AIDS among women is growing fast. Women are not only harmed but also humiliated by practices such as genital mutilation, early marriage, wife inheritance, and various forms of exploitation.
I know that some balk at certain implications in talk of gender equality, especially in the area of decision-making. And some balk at the notion of encouraging women with children to work outside the home. But in the case of women in poorer countries, indeed sometimes even in our own, issues of equality, empowerment, and women working aren’t about usurping men and feeding selfish female ambition, but about helping to protect women. And to afford them dignity, recognize their intrinsic value, and allow them opportunity to provide basic sustenance and educational opportunities for themselves and their children.
I think it is hard for many who have had opportunities given to them, even the opportunity to seek out or work for other opportunities, to understand what it’s like for those who are not provided for in this way. Many lack such provision even in America. But not everyone who’s underprivileged or in a bad way got there by their own fault, or sometimes even by the fault of others. Things happen. Tough things happen even to innocent people.
Many women balk at the notion that they need to be protected. Not that men don’t ever need protection, even from women. But let’s face it, women are more vulnerable in certain areas than men. It’s those areas in which they are massively exploited throughout the world. Men need to be empowered, too -- empowered to protect and honor women rather than exploit them!
World Vision’s statement supports the notion that attention to women’s issues must occur in tandem with attention to men. As men are educated and helped to be more responsible, they will better care for women, and in turn be better cared for by women. It’s a winning proposition for both.
