"women hold up half the sky"-chinese proverb

There are so many women being oppressed all over the world and so much goes on that we don't hear or know about. Little girls at the age of 12, as old as my little sister, are viewed as women in much of the world and often marry by the age of 14. That's the age of 6th graders! I didn't know anything when I was 12! That's normally the beginning of the long process of trying to find out who you are, which is supposed to happen before getting married and having kids. Not only are young girls forced to get marry, so many are sold into sex trafficking and prostitution, where they're abused in all possible ways and stripped of their sense of self-worth, their freedoms, independence and any sort of meaning in life. The book "Half The Sky" opened my eyes to all the horrors going on towards women all over the world that are going so unnoticed. Even just studying in my women's studies class about the different waves of feminism in the U.S. and all the things women have fighting for and are still fighting for in order to become on equal terms with men, has made me realize that the issue of women oppression has existed for way too long all over the world and still needs so much more attention.

I love "The Girl Effect" video clips on YouTube because they outline the importance of educating women, which will bring about women empowerment. Going to school and getting an education, will make it so that 14 year old girls won't be forced to get married and instead have some control over her life and grow and mature until she's ready to get married. But, there has to be a means by which they can afford to go to school. African Promise Foundation is great because they support women, moms, in order for them to have enough money to put their children in school, including their daughters.