January 2012
2 posts
3 tags
Instead of Work, Younger Women Head to School →
“Workers are dropping out of the labor force in droves, and they are mostly women. In fact, many are young women. But they are not dropping out forever; instead, these young women seem to be postponing their working lives to get more education. There are now — for the first time in three decades — more young women in school than in the work force.”
How is this impacting the economy...
December 2011
6 posts
“As Xinran, an authority on population drives, has observed, even urban,...”
– China’s making some money these days—but it’s people are still quite repressed. (via newsweek)
Saudi Women to Vote without Male Approval...But... →
“RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Women in Saudi Arabia will not need a male guardian’s approval to run or vote in municipal elections in 2015, when women will also run for office for the first time, a Saudi official said Wednesday. The change signifies a step forward in easing the kingdom’s restrictions against women, but it falls far short of what some Saudi reformers are calling for. ...
poptech:
North Indian ‘Apni Beti’ Program Strikes a Blow Against Child Marriage
In a cement-walled room at the end of a rutted road in the rural Indian district of Bhiwani, a teenage girl named Lado sits in a shaft of sunlight and talks confidently about her future. “I want to be a math teacher,” says the 17-year-old, her printed green scarf falling on to her lap. “I tell my parents, ‘Do...
Is Women's Equality Misrepresented In The Media?
cwealf:
The question is a tough one, and really, it all depends on where you look and what your media of choice is. Some outlets clearly are better or more objective than others are when it comes to shedding light on the current state of women’s equality. Overall, the media is doing a good job of bringing to the forefront many issues that affect women, such as pay inequality. However, it is...
November 2011
10 posts
Women are the 1%
“Women Own 1% of the World’s Property…Occupy That”
writes Soraya Chemaly in an article on the Huffington Post today. “There must be a good reason for this startling fact. Especially since, according to UN gender reports, women perform 66% of the world’s work, produce 50% of its food and earn a whopping 10% of its income…
…How much poorer do we want...
teachersworldwide:
“The impact of education on demography is widely known and acknowledged. Education for women and girls, in particular, translates into lifetime benefits including higher incomes and lower child and maternal mortality. Not only do they know more about contraception, they are also determined to find a job, strive for independence and with more diversified centres of interest, are...
A primary school becomes a model for increasing... →
teachersworldwide:
[WESTERN EQUATORIA, South Sudan] Access to education is one of the key priorities for the government of the world’s newest nation, South Sudan. Seventy per cent of children aged 6 to 17 have never set foot in a classroom. The completion rate in primary schools is only 21 per cent, one of the lowest in the world.
Baya Primary School in Western Equatoria has become the envy of...
“What’s needed isn’t just birth-control pills or IUDs. It’s also girls’ education...”
– Nicholas D. Kristof in his latest article “The Birth Control Solution“
Progress for Women, but a Long Way to Go
Some key issues brought in an interesting article released recently by the NY Times.
“In a year of some major successes for women — the Nobel Peace Prize, the commanding performances of Angela Merkel and Hillary Rodham Clinton, the end of men-first in the line of succession to the British throne — a new worldwide study concludes that women remain well behind men in two crucial areas:...
Blog for IDEC 2012 Week: Real Education Is… | IDEA →
Some great stories to read about the power of education.
adventuresinlearning:
It’s Blog for IDEC 2012 Week, and each day you’re invited to submit a post on one of the defining values of the conference and what it means to you. Leave a link to your URL in the comments section, and we’ll add it to this post. Check back throughout this week as we update this post with new links. Use the ...
October 2011
14 posts
CT Women's Education and Legal Fund: Women of... →
cwealf:
When I hear the term ‘honor killing,’ it isn’t an association I make with the western world. While it remains an inadequately documented custom in our world, this tradition of family members killing other members in a misguided attempt to restore family honor is a harsh reality to women and girls…
5 tags
A Call to Action: Boys and Men, Join the Fight for...
As The Independent recently reported, children’s charity Plan UK recently released a report called “Because I am a Girl” that draws on new research into the views of thousands of boys and girls aged between 12 and 18, from the UK, India and Africa. It states that “Our families and schools are handing gender inequality, and violence against girls, down through the...
3 tags
Watch“Days after a prominent Yemeni human rights activist became the first Arab woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, dozens of women were injured after gangs attacked during a march in her honor, witnesses in the city of Taiz said Monday. Thousands of women gathered in the southern Yemeni city to celebrate Tawakkol Karman’s honor Sunday. Demonstrators also called on the international...
3 tags
Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Three Women
The Nobel Prize Committee awarded the Peace Prize yesterday to three women, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, peace activist Leymah Gbowee, and human rights activity Tawakkul Karman, in the hopes that these women can “bring an end to the suppression of women that still occurs in many countries, and to realize the great potential for democracy and peace that women can represent.” Just...
Girls are the KEY to security in poor countries
In Kitui, eastern Kenya, of 90 farmers learning to control run-off, walking miles to fetch water, very few are men. In rural ares of Kenya and South Sudan, most smallholder farmers are women.
A Chicago think tank (the Chicago Council on Global Affairs) recently released a report discussing the role of women and adolescent girls called Girls Grow: A Vital Force in Rural Economies (pdf). The...
4 tags
September 2011
1 post
July 2011
3 posts
Come to the Saturday, August 13th Indigo Studio yoga class at 2:30 pm hosted to support Circle of Women.
What is Circle of Women? Circle of Women (circleofwomen.org) is a student-run, non-profit organization founded in 2006 by Harvard undergraduates. We build sustainable schools in partnership with local communities to make the classroom more accessible to young women in developing...
Daughters of the Brothel
In the following excerpted article, Filmmaker Gautam Singh explains how he came to make the film Daughters of the Brothel about Naseema, a woman born into and living in one of India’s most infamous brothels, but now working to educate and free trafficked women. It is beautiful example of how the education of one girl can truly make a world of change.
“India’s handwritten...
Egyptian Women Finding Freedom in Education
Egyptian women are studying up on the referendum, which will hopefully be the peaceful conclusion to their revolution. While the men spend their time laboring in the quarries, women are going to classes to learn the meaning of concepts such as majority rule. These women are in their 20s or younger and they take the class seriously-dressing in their best clothes, to take note of the changes that...
June 2011
1 post
Afghan Women Most Imperiled
Afghanistan, Congo and Pakistan are the three most dangerous countries in the world for women, according to a panel of gender experts assembled by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Afghanistan is at the top of the list of developing countries where women are forced to live perilously. Afghanistan has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, minimal access to basic health care...
May 2011
4 posts
My First Afghan Burqa : Alissa J. Rubin
In this telling piece published recently in the New York Times, Alissa Rubin tells us of the conflicting and suffocating feelings from behind the heavy wave of colorful nylon that millions of women live behind on a daily basis in Afghanistan. Seen as symbol of docility and adherence to society’s rules, the burqa has often been seen as an enigma of the Middle East, often misunderstood and...
Gypsy Brides
In a recent article released in the NY Times tells the story of a phenomenon in Bulgaria that has raised some questions. Known locally as the “Gypsy bride market,” “teenage girls in skimpy outfits” dressed head to toe with gold accessories come together in a field outside town to be sold into marriage, with their proud mothers standing to the side.
How might this...
April 2011
1 post
Circle of Women featured in the Harvard Crimson!
Circle of Women member Meredith Baker, ‘13 recently published an article in The Harvard Crimson about Circle of Women and the work we have been doing! Baker points out how girl’s education has become an important topic of discussion more recently and thus, Circle’s work is increasingly important for these communities abroad.
“This young organization has already done so...
March 2011
2 posts
Circle of Women Co-Sponsoring Model Date Auction
Eleganza Model Date Auction
Thursday, March 31st (8:00pm-11:00pm at 2 Garden Street)
Co-sponsored by Circle of Women with looks by Rent the Runway
Get their early so you don’t miss out on the FASHION SHOW with Rent the Runway dresses kicking off the event!
There will be a SILENT AUCTION featuring a Milly Dress, a Joan Hornig Necklace, and Raffle of a Rent the Runway Stylist.
Happy International Women's Day!
Circle of Women wishes you a very happy centennial International Women’s Day!
On this special anniversary, Nicholas Kristof poses an interesting thought on the challenges for women in leadership, past and present. Read more via the New York Times website here.
Abuse Often Follows Afghan Women to America
“In Afghanistan, a decade after the overthrow of the Taliban and the rise of an influential women’s rights movement, the violent subjugation of women remains broadly accepted. In recent weeks, the Afghan government has sharply criticized the country’s shelters for battered women and moved to take control of them.
But much more quietly, a culture of domestic violence — not only by husbands...
February 2011
7 posts
Afghan Women’s Shelters →
“Afghan women’s shelters are a crucial refuge for women escaping brutal violence — and these shelters are under siege”
The shelters that provide protection and hope for abused Afghan women are being threatened by proposed legal changes. The changes would place these sanctuaries under government control, ‘regulating’ a woman’s admission to such safe havens and ultimately worsening...
This past weekend, the Education show of WBBR, the...
Circle of Women Featured on Bloomberg Radio
We are excited to announce that Elizabeth Brook, 2009-2010 Co-Director and founding member of Circle of Women, was recently invited to speak on the Education show of WBBR, the radio station affiliate of respected financial media agency Bloomberg L.P. The premise of this segment was “People who have used their education and experience to do good things for the world.”
The Education...