On July 12, Ritu Sharma, co-founder and president of Women Thrive Worldwide, spoke on the Diane Rehm Show (NPR) about violence against women in light of the killing of an Afghani woman accused of adultery. Joined by other experts on gender-based violence (GBV), Ritu discussed violence that results from cultural understandings of morality and sexuality. Essentially, people in power manipulate moral codes and place the blame on women, who are powerless to defend themselves.
In response to these kinds of issues, Ritu insisted that more resources and government support be directed towards programs that respond to violence against women and that combat the sources of the problem.
“A very good friend, Marlene Contreras, in Honduras, was very tired of the violence in her community… Instead of taking violence head on, she decided to organize the women to start growing coffee, so they bought some land. They started growing coffee. They have now become incredibly successful. They export 10,000 pounds of fair trade coffee a year. And the violence stopped,” Ritu stated, illustrating that small investments can make a big difference.
These women have liberated themselves from a cycle of violence, but in some areas of the world, the structures of power are even more oppressive. Thanks to your support, women and girls around the world who face violence will get the help they need to fight for their right to lead safe, prosperous lives.
If you would like to do more, share our brand new project page with your family and friends. Violence against women and girls will only continue, unless we do something to stop it.
On July 10, 2012, DuPont launched its new Global Food Security Index, an online interactive tool to examine food availability, affordability, quality and safety in 105 countries around the world. The Index will measure the impact of investments and will promote collaboration between world leaders and civil society organizations to address one of the most pressing issues of our time—feeding a growing world population.
Ritu Sharma, co-founder and president of Women Thrive Worldwide, spoke at the event, alongside other food security and international development experts like Howard Buffett, farmer and founder of the Howard Buffett Foundation, Dr. Rajiv Shah, administrator of USAID, and Dr. Patrick Westhoff, director at Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute. As the only female guest speaker, Ritu ensured that women and girls, who make up the majority of small-scale farmers, were not forgotten in this important discussion. For instance, Ritu asserted that agricultural technologies must be easy for women to adopt in order to truly reduce food insecurity.
It is because of supporters like you that the voices of women and girls are not ignored. Thank you! If you are inspired to do more to help women and girls feed the world, you can:
Ritu Sharma, Co-Founder and President of Women Thrive Worldwide, was featured recently as ABC's Working Woman. Please view the video link here: http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/06/ritu-sharma-combating-global-abuse-against-women-76553.html
In the clip, you hear a bit about her experiences of living on less than $2 a day in places like Burkina Faso and Guatemala, and how Women Thrive is trying to change the world to make it better for all people, particularly women and girls.
“It's about really seeing the dignity and honor in every person, male or female, black or white, rich or poor, that all people deserve our respect,” Ritu said.
Please watch, share, and let us know what you think by commenting on this report!
Best,
Mei Powers
Manager, Organizational Advancement
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