I remember tuning into the “Half the Sky” on PBS in 2012. My good friend introduced the book at our monthly book club as a difficult read, but an important one. I always meant to pick it up, but never got around to it. I visited the Half the Sky Movement website, alternately infuriated, inspired, and overwhelmed. Watching the documentary felt like the next step.
The kid’s bedtime interrupted my viewing of the documentary and I remember sitting down at the end of the day, interested, but exhausted. As I 
watched, I experienced those same conflicting feelings trying to occupy a limited space within me. I faced the reality of daily life for girls and women that seemed beyond comprehension. I watched celebrities engage with these girls and selfishly wondered why they didn’t contribute more money when they have so much. The issues facing girls and women internationally began to feel insurmountable:
– Unsafe living conditions.
– Lack of sanitation, drinking water, shelter, and food.
– Death from preventable diseases and a dire need for vaccinations and medical care.
– Forced prostitution, including at unbelievably young ages.
– Lack of basic human rights.
– Female genital mutilation
– Rape and sexual violence.
– Gender based cultural and religious restrictions.
– A need for education and serious repercussions for seeking it.
– Domestic violence, incest, and molestation culturally accepted.
– Child brides.
– Financial insecurity and lack of job opportunities.
– Sexual harassment.
And more.
I’m ashamed to say I didn’t finish the documentary and I still have not checked out the book.
I did take some of those feelings and direct them into a project for women and children in my local communities, starting a Share the Love Cloth Diaper Bank. I knew families were choosing between food and diapers and this felt like something concrete I could do. While this didn’t tackle international issues, it provided an outlet to help others.
This morning, I came across this article from The Guardian posted by a friend. The title linking sanitary conditions to rape sounds extreme, but it’s not. It’s a real issue, a painful one, an unbelievable one, but something I cannot continue to avert my gaze from.
The past week has been filled with #YesAllWomen posts – real, painful, sometimes unbelievable, but something I cannot continue to avert my gaze from.
Women’s issues of food, housing, and health insecurity; of sexual assault, violence and rape; of institutionalized sexism and misogyny are overwhelming. Looking at them as a whole can feel insurmountable. Considering one girl’s risk of violence for simply seeking a private place to defecate makes my neighbor’s lack of heat in the winter seem almost trivial, but both matter and both are real.
The truth is that these issues are insurmountable if tackled alone or if only viewed through a larger lens. But we are not facing these issues alone and we are not required to start from scratch. I refuse to remain silent, complacent, or overwhelmed anymore. Every time we volunteer, speak out, stand up, and contribute meaningfully to tackling even one of these issues – at a local, state, national, or international level – our efforts matter.
I started with one project and I am determined to move forward. I plan to start here and look for ways to contribute meaningfully; from volunteering, to advocacy, to purchasing deliberately. There isn’t one way to help or the right way to help, but there is your way and my way. And they matter; individually and collectively.
How have you been inspired by the Half the Sky Movement or #YesAllWomen?
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