Listen. Do you want to know a secret?

Do you promise not to tell?

In my day, a long time ago, we didn't have ultrasound scans during pregnancy unless there was a very good reason.  There was never any question of knowing in advance whether or not you were going to be having a boy or a girl.  When I first heard of people being told before the birth, I felt it was a shame, somehow lessen excitement, but over the years I've become used to the idea.  The surprise, the excitement, just comes a little earlier.

At the moment in our family, the next generation is busily trying to make sure the bloodline doesn't come to an abrupt halt.  To my surprise, the revelation of the baby's sex is something of an issue.  One couple knows they are expecting a boy, but the grandparents don't want to know.  A second couple don't want to know themselves.  Another set of new parents found out as soon a they possibly could, and the fourth were told that it wasn't the hospital policy to say.

If I were a young mother now, I think I'd want to know as soon as it was certain.  I can't imagine why grandparents would want it to be a surprise if everyone else knew. 

Sadly  though, I can imagine and well understand why a hospital might have a policy of not telling, when you hear reports such as the BBC's entitled "Britain's unwanted girls".  Nevertheless, I'm surprised.  Is it usual for different hospitals to have different policies?  I would have thought they would all have to toe the party line, but it seems not.

International Women's Day: a story from Peru

Photo from Grameen

The only way Alejandrina Flores could manage to feed her six children was to do without herself.  She had lost her job because illness meant she had too many days off work, and then her husband left her.

She attempted to set up a business for herself, making dolls, characters from Peruvian culture, but couldn't earn enough to put food on the table.  Then she heard about a micro-finance organisation, Pro Mujer, which not only gave small loans but coaching for starting or expanding a business.  She joined up, received the training and drafted a business plan.  She was given a loan to buy the materials she needed.

Now her earnings have almost tripled she can support her family.  One day she hopes to have her own store.

Women are outstanding poverty-fighters in the world of micro-finance.  When a woman receives a small loan to start a business, she is more likely to invest the business profits to better her children’s nutrition, health, and education.

Stop Poverty Now

Education and empowerment

Photo by Mohammed Amin Jibril/IRIN

It was heartening, I thought, to read during this week leading up to International Women's Day about Fathiya Hassan in Somaliland, who has distinguished herself in a man's world. She is the first female car-washer in the capital, Hargeisa, and has been for the last two years. Then I read a little further and realised that it isn't good news, not at all.

She is only 12 years old, so she started when she was 10. Where has her childhood gone? Most of her clients are women, which she likes, because the men are inclined to pay her less, or threaten to beat her rather than pay at all. The boy car-washers don't think she should be there at all.

But she has to work, she has to help support her family of 11 in Abaye settlement of the capital, because her parents can't manage to provide for them all. She would far rather be going to school rather than making this particular mark in her male dominated world.

Where do you start to try to improve things? She has the freedom to work alongside boys and that is something. But she doesn't have the freedom to go to school. Will she then fall into the same cycle, so often heard, of early marriage, early babies and many of them? Because young uneducated girls' don't have a good knowledge or understanding of contraception and they haven't the confidence to negotiate. Their children are less likely to do well at school or to continue their education beyond the minimum, and daughters in particular are likely to drop out.

The focus must be to empower girls, so that they can make their own decisions, and create their own futures. And how do you empower girls? Education, education, education.

A powerful voice

Labor migration has been a historical fact of life throughout West Africa. While trade routes have long been a part of the regional economy, patterns of labor migration were established during the colonial period, which is still evident today. Mali is the third poorest nation in the world, according to the Human Development Index. As a result, it is common for people to migrate from Mali to other countries, such as Côte d’Ivorie, or from rural Mali to urban centers, such as the capital of Bamako.

Education in Mali is supposedly compulsory and free up to age 12. Still, classrooms are overcrowded, and many times led by untrained teachers who use sub-standard curriculums. In addition, students are left with the responsibility to purchase uniforms and supplies. When taking into account rates of enrollment, attendance and completion, the education system of Mali is ranked exceptionally low, especially among girls.

For most Malian parents, it is more economically beneficial to the family if their children work, rather than attend school. In 2002, nearly half of children ages 10 to 14 were part of the Mali work force. They often migrate to find work. Usually, the migration begins as a voluntary act to earn income for the family and/or to accumulate a dowry; often these children end up in an involuntary life of exploitation and servitude.

Many children who make their way to the capital city of Bamako end up becoming one of the city’s "street kids." The average age of these children is 15, and they have no form of adult supervision. While the literacy rate in Mali is altogether very low, the female literacy rate is much lower than that of males. So girls are less able to handle life on the city streets and are more susceptible to being forced into domestic servitude. In Africa, 85 percent of child domestic workers are girls.

Domestic servants are discriminated against, often contracted unwillingly to employers, and are worked long hours for little to no pay. Lack of governmental oversight subjects domestic servants and girls working on the street to unchecked sexual harassment and abuse. There are a number of laws to curb the exploitation of child labor and the trafficking of children, but enforcement is virtually non-existent. Unless, there are significant measures to enforce those laws, the same heartbreaking story will play over and over for domestic servants and other "street kids."

Jacqueline Dembele Goita, also known as Madame Urbain, is one of the lucky ones. Born in Mali, during an era when it was almost unheard of for girls to go to school in the impoverished country, Madame Urbain’s father sent her to school. Today, she uses her education to help hundreds of girls and young women, who flock to the capital city of Bamako every year in search of a better life.

From CARE

Tough women

Photo from Flickr/khym54. Creative Commons licence.

Like tens of thousands of other grandmothers in Malawi, this "Go Go" is taking care of her grandchildren because their parents have died of AIDS.

Photo from Flickr/khym54. Creative Commons licence.

This is Harriet -- one of millions of Go Go's in Sub-Saharan Africa. Harriet is a grandmother in her early 70s. She is taking care of 16 children who have no parents. Only one of Harriet's own children is still alive. The rest have died.

14% of the population in Malawi has HIV/Aids. There are 84,000 more orphans every year. Very often these children, roughly half of them, are taken in by grandmothers, sometimes leaving these older women with several children from different families to support.

Like Harriet above, most are of an age when they might be enjoying a more peaceful and restful life. Instead they are struggling first with the grief of having lost their sons or daughters, then to raise young grandchildren, often HIV positive, on a meagre income and with little or no support. They are unsung heroes.

Look again at those women above. How many of us could raise, or have raised, our own children in those circumstances? And yet these women are taking on their HIV positive grandchildren and at times other children as well.

There are so many courageous and tough women in the world, often struggling quietly in difficult circumstances. Not all of them perform spectacular feats which catch the eye or the attention of the press, but they are every bit as deserving of our recognition and, more to the point, our help.

I dare you

From the Girl Effect and the Nike Foundation

I dare you to rethink what it means to look at a girl and see

not a burden,
not an object,
but the answer.

Addis

Another video from Girl Effect and the Nike Foundation.

Addis, a beautiful 18 year old from Ethiopia, was married at the age of 11 to a man from her village. He wouldn't let her continue at school.

She is no longer married so she's returned to school, along with her son.

Kidan

Kidan, 13, would like to go to school, her dream would be to become a doctor.

She can't go to school, she is engaged to be married. In exchange for cattle.

My instinct has been to favour smaller charities, such as the one I mentioned some days ago, Friends of Tafo. They do admirable work, with much more immediate effect than some of the larger charities. But they can't even begin to address a problem such as child marriage.

There has to be a place for much larger charities who lobby on such issues. There will be no immediate result, and any money donated won't be going directly to the benefit of someone in the developing world. Because of that they may not appear to be efficient, but someone has to take up the cause, and address questions such as child marriage.

The Nike Foundation, which produced the video above through girleffect.org, is dedicated to investing in adolescent girls as a force for change. It funds new approaches and makes girls a priority for institutions. It works to get girls on the international agenda. And they aren't even asking you to buy anything.

The subject of what we as individuals can possibly do to help has been, and is being, considered by my friend Yummy Biscuits [and I can't tell how difficult it is to admit I know anyone called Yummy Biscuits], and has led to some interesting discussion.

Gender gaps

Photo by Flickr user CraigOppy. Creative Commons licence.

An article published for International Women's Day discussed the ten worst and best countries for women, using the United Nations Human Development Reports as sources.

One of the huge number of different indices is the gap between female and male literacy.

• Mali - 49% (52%)
• Benin - 49% (56%)
• Yemen - 47% (65%)
• Mozambique - 46% (61%)
• Ethiopia - 46% (62%)
• Guinea - 42% (57%)
• Niger - 35% (44%)
• Chad - 31% (42%)

These figures give the adult female literacy rate compared to male, with the youth rate in brackets. Although they are improving, there is a very long way to go.

The literacy rate is of course tied to potential for earning. The article then went on to compare, rather selectively, the income gap between female and male as a percentage, the following all being countries where women on average earn less than half as much as men.

• Benin 48 %
• Bangladesh 46 %
• Sierra Leone 45 %
• Equatorial Guinea 43 %
• Togo 43 %
• Eritrea 39 %
• Cape Verde 36%
• Yemen 30%

Looking at some of the rest of the countries in the UN report is even more interesting:

• Kenya 83%
• Mozambique 81%
• Sweden 81%
• Malawi 73%
• Norway 77%
• Mali 68%
• UK 66%
• United States 63%
• Italy 47%

I found that really startling but I suppose if you are near or below the poverty line, earning a greater percentage of men's earnings doesn't really amount to much. In other words it's probably easier to give equal pay in a country where pay is minimal.

La Meute: sexism in advertising

La Meute have published their awards for advertising which appeared during 2007. As in previous years, the Prix Femino is awarded to the advertisements seen in France that promote the most positive images of women, while the Prix Macho is the opposite. The site is in French.

As Blogger is allowing only one picture to be uploaded at a time, I will show the three that I particularly like.

The first prize went to this one of a man with a tattoo saying "Not my mother, not my sister" with the caption "Prostitution: neither for mine, nor others". La Meute praises it for approaching prostitution from the angle of the man who pays. It marks the first national campaign in France.

Third prize went to this, with the caption "You sponsored her as a child, now it is she who gives the lessons." La Meute likes the promotion of the independence of women and the assoication of women with a scientific discipline.

This recruitment advertisement for a scientific and technical company is liked because it shows a normal woman in a professional environment, and who appears competent and pleasant.

Dolce et Gabbana is kept out of the Prix Macho because for years it has produced images which could be described almost pornographic.

The first prize went to Volkswagen for a series of three ads showing girls of the "ravissante idiote" type (does that mean bimbo?). In one she is choosing a car which is goes perfectly with her new shoes. I can't find an illustration.

Another, intended to promote technology in the département of Yvelines (which dismays me because I used to live there) shows a girl in a sleeveless top with the slogan "I [heart] techno". It doesn't show much else other than her chest, and the connection with technology escapes me.

I have to presume that some of it is an attempt to shock, such as the Ryan Air one recently which had to be withdrawn because of the sexualised portrayal of a schoolgirl. Really, why can't some of these very creative brains put them to more constructive use. I have come across some excellent advertising for good causes which I am keeping for a future post. So it can be done.

Pedalling clean water

A team in California have come up with an idea that may help the 20% of the world's population that don't have ready access to fresh water. The idea has been developed in response to a competition, innovate or die, whose sponsors include Google.

At the moment it is still very much a work in progress, though a protoype, the Aquaduct, has been built.

Before I realised it was a protoype, I had some reservations about the video. Some of these questions are known to the team, such as whether it will be easy to maintain locally, and how affordable it will be because of course it's the poorest who have the most need of such a system.

I do have two further issues: I hope they aren't under the illusion that the tricycle will be used over a lovely smooth and well maintained road like the one in the video; and I really wish they hadn't perpetuated the stereotype that it is woman's work to fetch water to the extent that they do. It is true that it is mainly women who do fetch water in Africa, but we don't have to assume that it always will be so.

Source IRIN

Child marriage

"It should be noted that children's games are not merely games. One should regard them as their most serious activities. "
~~Michel Eyquem de Montaigne

And yet so many children miss large parts of their childhood as a result of child marriages, child labour, child soldiers, child trafficking, and child abuse which covers all of these plus sexual abuse.

Photo Kamila Hyat/IRIN

The girl pictured above is 13 years old. Her daughter 8 months old.

There are several reasons for early/premature marriage, which happens primarily but not exclusively in sub-Saharan Africa, and parts of Asia:

• Poverty: a girl can be considered a financial burden to the family and so the sooner she is married off the better. Alternatively where a dowry is expected, a younger girl would not be expected to have as large a dowry as an adult.
• Social ties: a girl can be offered to reinforce ties between families, or to settle a feud (so-called compensation marriages).
• Social status: girls and women are defined solely as wives and mothers.
• Control over sexuality: girls are married to protect their sexual purity and to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy - protecting the family honour.
• Fear of HIV: some men in African countries seek young virgin wives to ensure they are HIV free.

There are many reasons why this is a violation of fundamental rights, apart from the very important one of losing their childhood. Girls in particular suffer greatly from the consequences.

• For both boys and girls, early marriage stops their education and reduces their chances to develop personally.
• Girls become pregnant and give birth before their bodies are sufficiently mature. This can lead to complications or death.
• They rarely have any knowledge of birth control or issues such as sexually transmitted diseases/HIV.
• Girls are often married to much older men which leads to a power imbalance, frequently resulting in violence towards the young wife.

Some stories of child marriage can be seen in the photo essay from the ICRW, Too Young to Wed.

A good overview on the subject can be found on the Forward website.

The missing girls

Photo by David Swanson: IRIN

An account from the BBC about Britain's unwanted girls made me remember I intended to write this post. The BBC story tells of a woman who travelled to India when she was pregnant with her fourth child, having already had three daughters. She found a gynaecologist who agreed to abort the foetus because it turned out to be a girl. This was in spite of the fact that in India it is illegal to have a scan to find out the sex of a foetus, and sex selective abortion has been illegal since the 1980s. According to the woman, she is far from alone. You can listen to a broadcast on the subject from the BBC's Asian Network Service, I think for the next week. There is another report from the BBC about the Oxford study which has revealed an estimated 1,500 girls missing from the UK from 1990 to 2005.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has a number of reports on the issue.

They suggest that the easing of family planning rules in China is easing the pressure on having sons, and there are fewer abortions. The reasons for the imbalance are complex but fundamentally stem from a patrilinear family structure and a traditional culture. The greatest imbalance is in rural areas. A pdf summary for China.

In VietNam there is a strong son preference for similar reasons to China. At the moment the rations are not severely skewed but the country is thought to be in the same position as China was 10 years ago. The availability of technology makes pre-natal sex selection possible. A pdf summary for Vietnam.

In India, by contrast, the highest prevalence of sex selection is in urban areas but it is nevertheless caused by the same patriarchal desire for a son. It is particularly prevalent in north west India. A pdf summary for India.

In Nepal sex selection is not currently a major issue but the proximity of north west India has made information about and access to sex selection services easy to obtain. A pdf summary for Nepal.

In Pakistan there is a similar problem but it is less well documented. As an IRIN report states though, it goes beyond pre-natal sex selection. Girls are often neglected, less well-fed and less likely to receive medical attention. Many more girls than boys will die before the age of five.

There is a list of sex ratios by age group by country from the CIA.

Malaria and pregnancy

This arrived in the post from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) today

I learned (at the least) two new things.

One is merely a piece of trivia: while reading a short article in French I came across the word paludisme. I looked it up to find that it means malaria. The anti-malarial tablets I had to take as a child were called Paludrine, which I had never really thought about before, assuming it was a name conjured up when it was first manufactured.

Clearly if I took it as a child, it was made a fair while ago, but when I looked it up, I found this on the ICI site:

The first really effective synthetic treatment against malaria – 'Paludrine' – was developed by ICI scientists in research that was hastened by anticipated wartime needs in the Mediterranean and Asia Pacific, when supplies of the natural quinine treatment for malaria were expected to be cut off to Britain. ‘Paludrine’ was to prove the most effective anti-malarial available for more than four decades.

The less trivial thing I learnt today was that pregnant women, because their immune systems are weaker at the end of pregnancy, are particularly vulnerable to ith malaria and the risk of severe anaemia which it may cause. And there is also great risk for the baby: there is a greater risk of spontaneous abortion, of perinatal mortality, premature birth and low birth weight.

MSF take care of both treatment and prevention. They provide preventative treatment to pregnant women and give them impregnated mosquito nets for themselves and their babies.

I don't believe there can be anyone who hasn't heard of MSF. I have admired their work for years, and continue to do so. Some of the stories in the brochure are horrifying.

Some thoughts on older women

I'm feeling weary today, so taking the easy way out, I'm passing on a piece that janeway emailed me earlier today. It was supposedly written by Andy Rooney, but as janeway pointed out to me, it is actually based on an earlier piece by Frank Kaiser.

As I grow in age, I value women over 40 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why:

A woman over 40 will never wake you in the middle of the night and ask, "What are you thinking?" She doesn't care what you think.

If a woman over 40 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do, and it's usually more interesting.

Women over 40 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you if they think they can get away with it.

Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated.

Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 40.

Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 40 is far sexier than her younger counterpart.

Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off you are a jerk if you are acting like one. You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her!

Yes, we praise women over 40 for a multitude of reasons.

Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart,well-coiffed, hot woman over 40, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year old waitress.

Ladies, I apologize. For all those men who say, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?", here's an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage. Why? Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausage!

Although I can see why the original was "improved", in some ways I prefer Frank Kaiser's piece, not least because it doesn't have the magic cutting off of youth at 40. From my perspective 40 is not old.

Apparently it is doing the rounds in emails, so please, if you haven't seen it before, don't send it to all your colleagues. Take it from me, your IT manager wouldn't be happy.

Papillon

Anyone going through Papillon’s blog will see from the comments that her story has resonated with many people who have had different experiences. One person, Little Ms Dalu, a Sudanese student in America, has written a very compelling post on this subject and how she has identified with a lot of what Papillon has been through: "her writings speak to me and give me some comfort and I feel less alone".

That particular article was primarily about “Body and Soul” but another one I know many women relate to is “The Great Femininity Mystery”. I know I do. I spent miserable times when I was young thinking I wasn't up to the standard I saw as a requirement of femininity, primarily long-STRAIGHT-blonde-hair. I know, it seems ridiculous now and I have come to realise that femininity comes from within and not from external props.

Anyway, I’d like to join with Ms Dalu in thanking Papillon for her articulate and honest writing.

One laptop per child?

The One Laptop Per Child foundation, OLPC, aims to provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment and express themselves.

They have done a superb job in producing a low cost, rugged, computer which can use alternative power sources - car battery, solar, foot-pedal or wind-up. Interestingly Intel produced a comparable laptop, the Classmate PC, with a similar aim of it being affordable for all, but they are now working in collaboration with OLPC. The Classmate can't use alternative power sources. Reading some of the reviews it seems that the OLPC is better aimed at younger children, and the Classmate at 12-16 year olds. Originally the idea was to use open-source software but there has recently been further controversy about Microsoft becoming involved.

The Classmate costs around $200 and the OLPC around $175, though they are hoping to reduce the costs when in full production. Apparently the sales have not been what might have been hoped.

Laudable as the idea to reduce the gap between the developing and developed world might be, have they considered just how many people in the world are struggling to live on less that $1 per day? That the most disadvantaged will fall still further behind?

If you can barely afford to eat, you are unlikely to go to school. If you don't go to school, you are unlikely to have a use for a laptop, no matter who buys it. And who is least likely to go to school in the developing world? In India there are 8 million fewer girls enrolled in primary education than there should be, in Africa 9 million. Even if they start primary education, girls are less likely than boys to complete it. Once again it will be girls who are most disadvantaged.

Maman

Via Des infos sur les femmes en France et dans le monde, Médecins Sans Frontières have produced a short, rather brutal video which is to be shown in cinemas.

How many times in our lives have we called out for 'maman', 'mummy', 'mom'? These days, across the world, mothers are calling us for help. You will be able to understand the video whether or not you speak French.

It is especially poignant for me at the moment.

Dove campaign

Talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does.

I first came across the French version of this and discovered that although the videos are the same, the Campaign for Real Beauty sites are slightly different for each country.

My first thought is to feel it's sorely needed here where every pharmacy (and there are almost as many as there are hairdressers) bombards you with window displays containing a multitude of different means to lose weight - most of which seem to me to border on quackery.

My second thought was that you have to convince the parents first. If the pharmacies are stocking these products, there must be a demand for them.

And my third thought was to wonder about pharmacy distribution around the world. I don't know what it's like in other countries but when we were recently in Amsterdam we had trouble finding a chemist, as it probably would be in the UK if you didn't know what to look for. .

In France you have them on almost every street corner and as they always display a large green cross, you can't miss them.

A somewhat rambling post - I feel rambly today it seems (tired really, after a couple of late nights talking to friends).

National Girl Child Day, Bangladesh

Since 2000, 30 September has been National Girl Child Day in Bangladesh. It is one day in the Child's Rights Week, with action organised at both national and local levels.

Nationally there are rallies and marches, but locally an effort is made to ensure rural communities, the vast majority of the population, are involved by Hunger Project volunteers leading celebrations in every area.

Dr. Badiul Alam Majumdar is President, The Girl Child Advocacy Forum, has written what I think is an excellent article on the consequences of gender discrimination in The Daily Star, much of which concerns girls and women all over the world.

The main points he makes cover:

• The "missing girls" caused by foeticide and infanticide causing population imbalance primarily in India and China.
• During childhood, 20% of girls in developing nations do not finish primary education and only 43% attend secondary schools.
• Adolescence brings on many other problems such as child marriage and premature parenthood leading to greater death rates for mother and baby; sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking.
• In some countries the rate of HIV/Aids is up to 6 times higher for women, partly for physiological reasons but also because of lack of education, knowledge of risk factors and protection, and not having the right to say "no".
• Motherhood - 99% of maternal deaths occur in developing countries.
• During old age women often suffer double discrimination. Although they tend to live longer than men, in many countries they have little control over family resources and no inheritance rights so may face poverty at a vulnerable age.

It really is well worth reading the article in full.