[Day 11] Economics & Work
One hundred and sixty one years ago, a group of women and men drafted the Declaration of Sentiments, stating that "The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman..." Their immediate goal of equal voting rights for women in the United States has long since been met, but this statement still rings with a tragic amount of truth.
Three years ago, when rageprufrock first began the project that would grow into 14 valentines, she spoke about how women are praised and worshiped, torn down and degraded. We live in a world where our bodies are revered for the ability to give life and derided for leaving behind the appearance of adolescence, where we can rise to the highest offices of power in some countries and are deprived of basic rights in others.
We are told to be strong, to stand up for ourselves, told that we can do anything, be anything - but only to a point, always to a point.
Around the world, women die from lack of basic medical attention, from infanticide, from starvation beyond their control, from starvation inflicted upon themselves in a twisted attempt to be beautiful. We are beaten, raped, murdered, told in so many horrifying ways that we are lesser that we don't matter.
Forty years ago we declared that Sisterhood is Powerful, and it still is. We must remember that, must continue moving forward.
It's 2009 and we've come so far, but there is still more work to be done. We deserve better, and we can do more. We're strong. The next fourteen days is meant to remind us of that. It's our time to take back our bodies.
V can stand for vagina, like Eve Ensler's groundbreaking monologues. V can stand for violence, under whose auspices all women continue to make a home.
V can also stand for victory.
Economics & Work
Women have always worked. Whether that work has been taking care of children, making food to share with the neighbors, or to sell to local workers, or driving friends and family employment outside the home, women have always been a part of the work force. In the last two centuries, however, women’s work has changed all over the world. In pay, but also in context.
One of the circumstances that has always affected women’s work is the impact of war and conflict. Women in conflict and post-conflict environments have unique needs - they are often either the only or the primary financial supporters of their families, they are more likely to survive then men, and they are more likely to be going into their financially-devastated communities trying to figure out how to support their families. These circumstances worsen what many women all over the world are already aware of. Mainly, that women and their children make up the majority of the world’s global poor.
One of the most effective economic stimulus strategies in developing countries in the last 20 years has been the microloan. These loans, ranging in value from $25US to $2,000US are granted to groups of women for investment in their own businesses. These business, which include community kitchens and restaurants and Village Phones that ensure communication access to war-torn towns, provide improved infrastructure in struggling areas, independence and agency to the women receiving the loans, and financial stability to families and communities. Because the loans are paid back within a short period of time (usually 6 months to a year), they avoid becoming an economic stranglehold on the borrowers and are reinvested with new lenders who were former borrowers, allowing a constant flow of microloans and outreach to continue.
Microloans have received increasing visibility in the last 2 years, since Muhammad Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. All microloan programs - examples include the Grameen Bank in India and the global organization Kiva.org - give substantial support to poor women around the world.
Women for Women International focuses support on women in conflict and post-conflict zones, those most affected by war. Women for Women International works with women on rights awareness, job skills training, microcredit lending, access to capital, and sponsorship. Their program allows those women to build communities of support to change their lives and their communities, to see a world outside of their conflict environments, and to follow their dreams and needs to help them support themselves and their children and to make a positive impact on the world.