Gender-Based Violence
Sex Trafficking and
Intergenerational Prostitution
Maternal Mortality
LE SSON
PLAN S
Economic Empowerment
Education
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for
Women Worldwide: Complete Educator Guide
Pbs.org/independentlens/half-the-sky
Table of Contents
Welcome Letter 01
How to Use This Guide 02
About the Filmmakers 03
About the Curriculum Writer 04
About the Documentary 05
Lesson Plan Summaries 08
Film Module Summaries 09
L E S S O N P L A N S :
Maternal Mortality and The Global Health Divide 10
Education For All 40
Gender-Based Violence: Challenging Impunity 58
Breaking the Chains of Modern Slavery:
Sex Trafficking and Intergenerational Prostitution 79
Women’s Economic Empowerment 105
Purchasing the Full-Length Film 124
Purchasing the Book 124
Credits 125
Independent Television Service (ITVS)
651 Brannan Street, Ste. 410 San Francisco, CA 94107
P: 415.356.8383 | F: 415.356.8391
Community Classroom
classroom@itvs.org
itvs.org/Educators
01
Welcome to Community Classroom!
The Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide resource
you have before you combines short film modules from the PBS documentary series with
standards-aligned lesson plans. It will give you everything you need to help older teens and
young adults better understand why we believe the oppression of women and girls worldwide is the greatest moral challenge of our time.
Through the stories of women acting as agents of change — from Vietnam to Somalia, India
to Kenya — students will discover the work being done (and still left to be done) to reduce
maternal mortality, gender-based violence, and sex trafficking. They will learn how economic
empowerment and education can break the cycle of poverty. These lesson plans also
encourage young men to see how helping women and girls helps an entire community, and
to take on an active role in making this happen.
We hope you will join the thousands of teachers who have already tapped the growing
Women and Girls Lead resource collection offered by ITVS’s Community Classroom program. We hope this will help male and female students alike develop into engaged citizens,
and we look forward to hearing stories of successes in your classrooms.
Best of luck and thank you.
Sincerely yours,
Nicholas Kristof
Sheryl WuDunn
02
How to Use This Guide
This Educator Guide may be used to support viewing of the documentary film series
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. The five
lesson plans contained in this guide are paired with specially edited ten-minute educational film modules adapted from the broadcast version of the film. The discussion
questions and activities are designed to engage mature students in discussions about
social change and social justice, gender equity, civic engagement, organizing strategies, and the contributions of men and women to all of these issues. The activities can
encourage students to learn and understand international struggles and take an active
role in addressing local concerns.
Grade Levels:
9-12, College
Subject Areas:
Social Studies, Women’s Studies, Global Studies, Civics, Media Studies, English
Language Arts, Education Studies, Economics, Government, Political Science, Peace
Studies, Sociology, World History, Human Geography, Primary Resources
See individual lesson plans for additional subject areas.
Lesson Plans:
The activities target students at the upper high school level, but can be scaffolded to
accommodate the college classroom, as well as informal classrooms: after-school programs, clubs and youth training programs. All content aligns with national standards.
Each of the activities is designed to last one traditional class period (50-60 minutes total,
plus assignments), but include a variety of extensions that can deepen the learning as
time permits. All activities aim to incorporate educational content and themes that can be
integrated into your existing curriculum.
Film Modules:
With this Educator Guide, you can build a unit around the entire documentary and/or one
or more of the Community Classroom film modules. The module lengths are noted, averaging ten minutes each.
Stream the Film Modules Online:
Community Classroom film modules are available in streaming video format at
itvs.org/educators.
Get the Film Modules on DVD:
Educators may order free DVDs of Community Classroom film modules and activities at
itvs.org/educators. DVD quantities are limited.
COMMUNITY CLASSROOM strongly encourages educators to use this resource as a
complement to watching the full-length version of Half the Sky Turning Oppression into
Opportunity for Women Worldwide. Purchase information is included towards the end of
this guide (see Table of Contents).
03
About the Filmmakers
Maro Chermayeff
Executive Producer and Director
Maro Chermayeff is an award-winning filmmaker, producer, director, author and former
television executive at A&E/AETN. She is Founder and Chair of the MFA program in
Social Documentary at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and partner in the
production company Show of Force. Some of her extensive credits include: 6x series
Circus (PBS, 2010), Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present (HBO, 2012), Mann v. Ford
(HBO, 2011), Parasomnia (France 2, 2010), the Emmy Award-winning 10x series Carrier
(PBS/Nat Geo International, 2008), the 6x series Frontier House (PBS, 2002), American
Masters: Julliard (PBS, 2003), The Kindness of Strangers (HBO, 1999), Role Reversal
(A&E 2002), Trauma, Life in the ER (TLC, 2001), and over 15 specials for Charlie Rose.
Represented by CAA, Chermayeff is a principal of Show of Force, the production entity
for the Half the Sky Movement. She is an Executive Producer of Half the Sky Movement’s
Facebook Game and 3x Mobile Games with Games for Change.
Mikaela Beardsley
Executive Producer and NGO Videos Director
Working in close collaboration with the authors, Mikaela Beardsley originated the Half the
Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide project after producing
the Emmy-nominated Reporter, a film with Nicholas D. Kristof. She has worked in film and
television production since 1993, and has made films with Alex Gibney, Martin Scorsese
and Wim Wenders. Beardsley began her television career at WGBH in Boston, and
holds a B.A. in comparative literature from Princeton University.
Jamie Gordon
Executive Producer
Jamie Gordon co-founded Fugitive Films in 2005. Her company produced Coach starring
Hugh Dancy and the comedy Wedding Daze starring Jason Biggs. Among other projects,
she is developing Grlzradio, a TV project about girls’ empowerment. Previously, Gordon
was the Head of Development for GreeneStreet Films, working on In the Bedroom, and
worked as a story editor for producer Wendy Finerman where she worked on Forrest
Gump. Gordon has produced independent features including swimfan, Pinero, Chicago
Cab and Certain Guys. She graduated with a B.A. in history from Princeton University.
Jeff Dupre
Executive Producer
Jeff Dupre has been producing and directing documentary films for over 15 years. Together
with Show of Force partner Maro Chermayeff, Dupre is director, creator and executive
producer of Circus, a six-part documentary series that premiered on PBS. He conceived
and is producer and co-director of Marina Abramovi: The Artist is Present. He is a producer of Carrier and Michael Kantor’s Broadway: The American Musical. Dupre’s directorial debut, Out of the Past, won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 1998
Sundance Film Festival, among other awards.
04
About the Curriculum Writer
Allison Milewski
Allison Milewski is an educator and curriculum designer with over ten years’ experience
in arts and media education. She has developed art integration programs, professional
development workshops, and arts and media curricula for organizations such as ITVS,
Tribeca Film Institute, the Brooklyn Historical Society, and Urban Arts Partnership and
managed arts-based enrichment programs for over 20 New York City public schools.
Allison’s professional experience also includes over 15 years of program management
and administration with domestic and international NGOs such as PCI-Media Impact,
the Center for Reproductive Rights, Goods for Good, and the Union Square Awards
for Grassroots Activism. Allison is the Founder of PhotoForward, which she launched in
2004 to empower young artists to tell their own stories through photography, visual arts,
and creative writing and engage with their communities as citizen artists.
05
About the Documentary
In 2006, Pulitzer Prize winning-journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl
WuDunn published a ground-breaking book about the oppression of
women and girls worldwide.
That book was Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women
Worldwide — an instant bestseller that immediately catalyzed an already burgeoning
movement to eradicate gender inequality. The landmark PBS documentary series aims to
amplify the central message of the book — that women are not the problem, but the solution — and to bolster the broad and growing movement for change. With the story of the
book and its impact as a launch pad, the film zeroes in on the lives of women and girls in
some of the countries around the world where gender inequality is at its most extreme,
and explores the very real ways in which their oppression can be turned to opportunity.
Featuring six celebrated American actresses and the commentary of the world’s leading advocates for gender equality, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity
for Women Worldwide is a passionate call-to-arms — urging us to not only bear witness
to the plight of the world’s women, but to help to decisively transform their oppression
into opportunity.
Episode One
In Episode One we follow Nicholas Kristof and three American actresses to developing
countries where gender-discrimination is at it’s most extreme. We explore the shocking
extent of gender-based violence in Sierra Leone with Eva Mendes, the global crisis of sex
trafficking as experienced by women and girls in Cambodia with Meg Ryan, and the need
for and power of educating girls in Vietnam with Gabrielle Union, where she visits an
innovative education program that is transforming, not only the lives of the country’s poorest and most vulnerable girls, but also the futures of their families and their communities.
Featuring commentary from Sheryl WuDunn and interviews with some of the world’s leading advocates for gender equality — including Hillary Clinton, Michelle Bachelet, and Gloria
Steinem — Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide:
Episode One offers a nuanced and moving account of this century’s most pressing problems, and an uplifting, actionable blueprint for change
Gender-Based Violence
Our first stop is Sierra Leone, a country recovering from years of colonial oppression
and a terrible civil war and which is still suffering from rampant gender-based violence.
Guided by Amie Kandeh, the passionate and dedicated coordinator of the International
Rescue Committee’s Women’s Protection and Empowerment Program, Nicholas Kristof
and actress Eva Mendes come face-to-face with the enormous challenges women and
girls face in a country where rape is practically the norm — challenges embodied by
Fulamatu, a buoyant 14-year-old who hopes one day to become a bank manager. When
we meet Fulumatu she was raped repeatedly by a family friend and local church pastor
who is close enough to be officially considered her uncle. She had risked the shame
of telling her parents and the ridicule of her community to break her silence and press
charges against the perpetrator. The outcome is a sobering object lesson in the insidious
effects of gender-based violence, and the urgent need to end impunity for the violators.
06
About the Documentary
Sex Trafficking
As interviews with Sheryl WuDunn and some of the world’s leading advocates for gender equality explain, in many parts of the
world cultural attitudes and traditions are used to justify the low
status of girls, rendering them vulnerable to all manner of exploitation and abuse. This is nowhere more evident than in Cambodia,
where the pernicious global problem of sex trafficking is perhaps
at its worst. Actress Meg Ryan joins Nicholas in Phnom Penh
as he catches up with Somaly Mam, one of the women profiled
in the book Half the Sky — a woman who was herself a child sex
slave and who now has dedicated her life to rescuing and rehabilitating others. As Somaly’s story merges and mingles with those
of the girls in her charge, the horrors of sex trafficking are writ
large — so too is the awesome resilience of the human spirit and
the vast, untapped potential that resides in each and every one of
the young women and children that Somaly’s programs support.
Girl’s Education
That potential, WuDunn and our luminary advocates tell us,
is the key to bettering our world: tap into those girls and they
will change the future. The clarity of that equation, the elegant
cause-and-effect of it, animates Episode One’s final sequence,
in Vietnam, where former Microsoft executive John Wood’s organization Room to Read is transforming the lives of the country’s
poorest and most vulnerable girls. Hosted by Bich Thi Vu, Director
of Room to Read’s Girl’s Education Program, Nicholas and
actress Gabrielle Union get to know a few of the program’s stars
and encounter firsthand the incredible obstacles which stand
between them and their bright futures. Still, these girls are almost
miraculously undaunted — and fiercely determined to change both
their circumstances and those of their families. The ripple effect
of their education even now is making itself felt — and there is no
doubt that with a little bit of help, a little encouragement and support, these girls and the tens of millions of others like them in the
developing world will be a powerful army for change.
Combining vivid, visceral on-the-ground stories with the commentary of a vast and impressive roster of experts, advocates,
and agents of change, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into
Opportunity for Women Worldwide: Episode One takes us deep
into the lives of girls in the developing world and makes us witness to their seemingly impossible struggles — at once challenging
and inspiring us to be a part of the vital, urgent project to empower them once and for all.
Episode Two
Episode Two continues our journey to the hot-spots of gender
oppression around the world, and highlights the courageous work
of some of the extraordinary women and men who are taking a
stand in the face of incredible odds. This episode focuses out
attention on the role of women in their families and their communities — examining the fundamental obstacles that hinder their potential, and charting the ripple effect that results when that potential
is harnessed
Veteran journalist and Half the Sky co-author Nicholas Kristof
is once again accompanied by a three celebrated of American
actresses who offer fresh and personal perspective on the issues
in each country. Kristof travels to Somaliland with Diana Lane to
examine maternal mortality and female genital mutilation; to India
with America Ferrera to explore intergenerational prostitution; and,
with Olivia Wilde, to Kenya, where the transformative power of
women’s economic empowerment is changing women’s lives and
is laying the groundwork for the next generation. In the process,
the program considers the central role of women in the health
and stability of their families and communities, and establishes
their critical role in the global efforts to eradicate poverty and
achieve peace. Featuring on-camera commentary from Sheryl
WuDunn and some of the world’s most respected and outspoken
advocates for gender equality — including Melanne Verveer, Zainab
Salbi, and Desmond Tutu — Half the Sky: Turning Oppression
into Opportunity for Women Worldwide: Episode Two underscores
the fundamental obstacles to women’s progress and prosperity, and
celebrates their boundless capacity to better our world.
Maternal Mortality
The episode begins in Somaliland — an unrecognized country, populated mainly by nomads, where the average woman today has
a one-in-twelve chance of dying in childbirth. Joined by actress
Diane Lane, Nicholas reconnects with Edna Adan, founder of the
Edna Adan Maternity Hospital in Hargeisa. A spry 70-something
woman often and rightly described as a “force of nature,” Edna is
almost single-handedly revolutionizing the experience of childbirth
in her country — providing medical care to women who would otherwise have none, training midwives, and fighting tirelessly against
female genital mutilation — a traditional practice, still common in
much of Africa (and elsewhere), which severely compromises a
woman’s ability to deliver a child. In Somaliland, the challenges
women face in the developing world are starkly apparent: poverty
and tradition conspire to undermine a woman’s health, directly
threatening her life, and having a lasting impact on her children’s
survival and ability to thrive.
07
About the Documentary
Intergenerational Prostitution
As Sheryl WuDunn and our cast of gender equality advocates
argues, tradition is, in many ways, the greater evil. In too many
places in the world, tradition still is used to marginalize women,
to keep them down and in their place. This vicious cycle repeats
itself generation after generation, damaging and ending lives and
undermining the ability of thousands of women improve their
quality of life and live their full potential. The key — as Nicholas
and actress America Ferrera discover in India — is intervention by
someone from the inside, someone in fact, very like Urmi Basu.
A social worker and an educated, middle-class Bengali, Urmi
has dedicated her life to stopping the cycle of intergenerational
prostitution in India, where 90 percent of girls born to sex workers
follow in their mother’s footsteps. What she is up against is neatly
illustrated by one of the young girls in her care, Monisha, who is
on the brink of being wrenched out of school and likely sold to a
brothel by her own family — a family that belongs to a sub-caste of
sex workers. What keeps Urmi going is girls like Sushmita — and
more to the point, women like Sushmita’s mother, Shoma, who
has lived the utter brutality and desolation of prostitution every
day of her life and desperately wants a different fate for her
daughter. Shoma’s hope for her child is the seed of real and lasting change.
Economic Empowerment
When women have equal control over their finances and the
financial decision-making on the personal, community, and
national level, everyone benefits. Sheryl WuDunn and the many
contributors who lent their voices and considerable expertise to
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women
Worldwide all stress that putting money in the hands of a poor
woman changes everything. On their visit to Kenya, Nicholas and
actress Olivia Wilde witness the impact of the economic empowerment of women first-hand. In this episode’s final segment, they
explore the impact and challenges of microfinance and the ways
ii iis transforming the lives of women and those around them. We
begin with Jane Ngoiri, a former sex worker-turned-dressmaker
who is now able to send her four children to school, where they
are each at the top of their class, and end with Rebecca Lollosoli,
a Samburu woman who built a safe haven for women on the slender thread of a jewelry-making business. Nicholas and Olivia see
for themselves the dramatic and tangible transformation that can
be set in motion by a woman with a little bit of money of her own
and a system of support to help her make the best use of her
financial and personal resources. Replicate the experiment several
million times, and the world will be an entirely different place.
The episode — and the series — ends with an urgent call to action,
an invitation to the viewer to take up the central moral challenge
of our time, and to join a movement that will tap the immense
potential represented by women to create a more peaceful and
more prosperous world for us all.
08
Lesson Plan Summaries
Maternal Mortality and The Global Health Divide
Maternal mortality has been identified as a global crisis and the
greatest health inequity of the Twenty-first century. Ninety-nine
percent of deaths occur in developing countries with more than
half in sub-Saharan Africa and almost one-third in South Asia, but
even within industrialized countries there is a disparity between
maternal mortality rates for women in different communities. A
high maternal death rate indicates not only that a country’s healthcare system is inadequate, but also that the fundamental rights to
life and health for women are being violated.
Through the lens of the maternal mortality crisis in Somaliland,
students will examine the social, economic, and cultural factors
that contribute to the differences in healthcare — both between
and within countries, including the United States — and the importance of maternal health in their own communities.
Gender-Based Violence: Challenging Impunity
Violence against women and girls is a global crisis that impacts
most communities regardless of race, class, country, religion, or
economic status, but it often goes unreported and perpetrators
are rarely brought to justice. Factors such as fear of retribution,
shame, stigma, lack of economic resources, inadequate social
services, and ineffective legal systems impede women and girls’
ability to access the legal and social supports they need. As a
result, survivors of violence are left vulnerable to further abuse
from the systems and institutions that are meant to protect them,
and the perpetrators are often left unpunished and free to continue perpetrating violence.
Students will follow the journey of Fulamatu, a fourteen-year old
rape survivor in Sierra Leone, as she bravely takes a stand and
attempts to bring her perpetrator to justice. Through her story,
students will examine the culture of impunity that enables genderbased violence to flourish, and the impact this issue has on our
own communities. Students will also be challenged to consider
the factors that contribute to violence against women and girls,
and how they can contribute to local and international efforts to
eradicate it.
Education For All
Access to education is recognized as a basic human right and a
significant factor in breaking the cycle of poverty and improving
quality of life for children, communities, and countries. Despite this,
millions of girls and women around the world are disproportionately
denied the opportunity to attend school and pursue education and
training outside the home.
Students will meet Nhi and Phung, two students in the Room to
Read program in Vietnam, and learn about their struggles and
successes as they doggedly pursue their education against all
the odds. The activities in the lesson will also engage students in
a conversation about the value and meaning of education in their
own lives and the impact of the gender imbalance in education on
the lives of individual girls around the world and our communities
at home.
Breaking The Chains Of Modern Slavery:
Sex Trafficking and Intergenerational Prostitution
Modern-day slavery is relatively unknown, in part, because it
does not fit our historic image of slavery, but trafficking of human
beings is tied with arms dealing as the second largest criminal
industry in the world. Contemporary human slavery can take many
forms, including forced labor, debt bondage, child marriage, and
commercial sexual slavery, and women and children constitute
the vast majority of the estimated two million people sold into sex
slavery around the world every year.
This lesson will examine the global trafficking crisis through the
lens of sexual slavery in Cambodia and intergenerational prostitution in India. Through this lesson students will learn that there are
more people living in slavery today then at any time in history and
consider the causes and consequences for women and children
who are disproportionately victimized by the global commercial
sex trade.
Women’s Economic Empowerment
Women and girls play a vital role in the economic prosperity of
their families, communities, and countries, yet in every part of the
world, women often work longer hours than men, are paid less
for their work, are at a higher risk of unemployment, and are far
more likely to live in poverty. A growing body of research shows
that enhancing women’s and girl’s economic opportunities plays
a critical role in poverty reduction and helps to reduce genderbased discrimination and violence while improving women and
girls’ access to education and civic participation and raising the
quality of life for future generations.
This lesson will demonstrate how the economic empowerment of
women in Kenya and Liberia has improved the lives of the individual
women and their families and communities for generations to come.
Through the activities, students will explore what life is like for
millions of people around the world and in the United States who
are struggling to live on two dollars a day, and what choices and
sacrifices they would have to make in the same situation. They will
also consider how and why women and girls around the world are
disproportionately affected by extreme poverty and will examine the
ripple effects of women’s economic empowerment on individuals,
families, communities, and societies.
09
Film Module Summaries
Maternal Mortality in Somaliland (9:45)
The module begins in Somaliland — an unrecognized country,
populated mainly by nomads, where the average woman today
has a one-in-twelve chance of dying in childbirth. Joined by
actress Diane Lane, Nicholas reconnects with Edna Adan,
founder of the Edna Adan Maternity Hospital in Hargeisa. Edna
is almost single-handedly revolutionizing the experience of
childbirth in her country — providing medical care to women who
would otherwise have none, and training a new generation of
midwives. In Somaliland, the challenges women face in the
developing world are starkly apparent: poverty and tradition
conspire to undermine a woman’s health, directly threatening her
life, and having a lasting impact on her children’s survival and
ability to thrive.
Gender-Based Violence in Sierra Leone (9:45)
The module takes students to Sierra Leone, a country recovering from years of colonial oppression and a terrible civil war
and which is still suffering from rampant gender-based violence.
Guided by Amie Kandeh, the passionate and dedicated coordinator of the International Rescue Committee’s Women’s Protection
and Empowerment Program, Nicholas Kristof and actress Eva
Mendes come face-to-face with the enormous challenges
women and girls face in a country where rape is practically the
norm — challenges embodied by Fulamatu, a buoyant 14-year-old.
When we meet Fulumatu she was raped repeatedly by a family
friend and local church pastor who is close enough to be officially
considered her uncle. She had risked the shame of telling her
parents and the ridicule of her community to break her silence
and press charges against the perpetrator. The outcome is a
sobering object lesson in the insidious effects of gender-based
violence, and the urgent need to end impunity for the violators.
Education in Vietnam (10:38)
This module takes place in Vietnam, where former Microsoft
executive John Wood’s organization Room to Read is transforming the lives of the country’s poorest and most vulnerable
girls. Hosted by Bich Thi Vu, Director of Room to Read’s Girl’s
Education Program, Nicholas and actress Gabrielle Union get
to know two of the program’s stars and encounter firsthand the
incredible obstacles which stand between them and their bright
futures. Still, these girls are almost miraculously undaunted — and
fiercely determined to change both their circumstances and those
of their families. The ripple effect of their education even now is
making itself felt — and there is no doubt that with a little bit of
help, a little encouragement and support, these girls and the tens
of millions of others like them in the developing world will be a
powerful army for change.
Intergenerational Prostitution in India (10:44)
This module takes place in the slums of Kolkata, India, where
Nicholas Kristoff travels with actress America Ferrera to meet
Urmi Basu and to witness the work of her organization, New
Light Foundation. A social worker and an educated, middle-class
Bengali, Urmi has dedicated her life to stopping the cycle of intergenerational prostitution in India, where 90 percent of girls born
to sex workers follow in their mother’s footsteps. What keeps
Urmi going is girls like Sushmita — and more to the point, women
like Sushmita’s mother, Shoma, who has lived the utter brutality
and desolation of prostitution every day of her life and desperately
wants a different fate for her daughter. Shoma’s hope for her child
is the seed of real and lasting change.
Sex Trafficking in Cambodia (10:11)
This module takes place in Cambodia, where the pernicious
global problem of sex trafficking is perhaps at its worst. Actress
Meg Ryan joins Nicholas Kristof in Phnom Penh as he catches up
with Somaly Mam — a woman who was herself a child sex slave
and who now has dedicated her life to rescuing and rehabilitating
others. As Somaly’s story merges and mingles with those of the
girls in her charge, the horrors of sex trafficking are writ large — so
too is the awesome resilience of the human spirit and the vast,
untapped potential that resides in each and every one of the
young women and children that Somaly’s programs support.
Women’s Economic Empowerment in Kenya (10:41)
This module takes students along for a visit to Kenya, Nicholas
Kristof and actress Olivia Wilde witness the impact of the economic
empowerment of women first-hand. They explore the impact and
challenges of microfinance and the ways it is transforming the lives
of women and those around them. We meet Jane Ngoiri, a former
sex worker-turned-dressmaker who is now able to send her four
children to school. Nicholas and Olivia see for themselves the
dramatic and tangible transformation that can be set in motion
by a woman with a little bit of money of her own and a system
of support to help her make the best use of her financial and
personal resources.
010
HALF TH E S KY
Maternal Mortality and The Global Health Divide
OVE RVI EW
“The reason for the gap is not
that we don’t know how to
save lives of women in poor
countries. It’s simply that poor,
uneducated women in Africa
and Asia have never been
a priority either in their own
countries or to donor nations.”
Nicholas Kristof
Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into
Opportunity For Women Worldwide
Audience:
High School (11–12 grades), Community
College, Youth Development Organizations
Time:
One 90-minute period or two 50-minute
periods plus assignments
Subject Areas:
Women’s Studies, Social Studies, Global
Studies, Media Studies, Health, English
Language Arts
Purpose of the Lesson
Maternal mortality has been identified as a
global crisis and the greatest health inequity
of the 21st century. Ninety-nine percent of
deaths occur in developing countries, with
more than half in sub-Saharan Africa and
almost one-third in South Asia. Underlying
the medical causes of maternal death is
a complex web of social, political, and
economic forces that undermines women’s
access to essential maternal healthcare
and reproductive health information. A high
maternal death rate indicates not only a
country’s inadequate healthcare system,
but also a violation of women’s fundamental
rights to life and health.
Even within industrialized countries a
disparity exists between maternal mortality
rates for women in different communities.
The health divide is especially apparent in
the United States, where African-American
women are almost four times more likely
to die during or soon after childbirth than
Caucasian women. As a result, the United
States’ average maternal mortality rate is
relatively high at 1 in 4,100, making it more
dangerous to give birth in the U.S. than in
40 other countries.
011
HALF TH E S KY
Maternal Mortality and The Global Health Divide
OVE RVI EW
Objectives:
Note for Teachers about the Maternal
Mortality Lesson and Contents:
This lesson and the accompanying film
module from Half The Sky: Turning
Oppression Into Opportunity For Women
Worldwide directly and honestly address
the challenging issue of maternal mortality,
but the discussions and topics might be
unsuitable for some audiences. Teachers
should prepare for the lesson by thoroughly
reading all the materials and watching the
complete film module to determine if the
topic and lesson are appropriate for their
class. Teachers should also brief students
in advance on the content and identify
students who might be personally or
adversely affected by it. Prior to launching
the lesson, these students should receive
appropriate support or the option of
declining to participate. To prepare students
and their families for this lesson, instruct
students to complete HTS Student Handout
A: Why Does Maternal Health Matter to
Me? with their parents and/or guardians.
For additional information about the
documentary Half The Sky: Turning
Oppression Into Opportunity For
Women Worldwide and the global crisis
of maternal health, please download the
free Maternal Mortality Discussion Guide on
the ITVS Women and Girls Lead website
(www.womenandgirlslead.org), visit the
official transmedia project website
(www.halftheskymovement.org), and
read Half The Sky: Turning Oppression
Into Opportunity For Women Worldwide
by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.
Students Will
• Think about how maternal health affects
their lives and learn why maternal health is
a universal issue.
• Examine the global maternal health divide
and understand the social, economic, and
cultural factors that contribute to the
differences in healthcare both between and
within countries, including the United States.
• Consider maternal health’s impact on men
as well as women and the ripple effects of
maternal health on families and communities.
• Consider how gender-based discrimination
undermines maternal health and contributes
to maternal mortality.
• Identify Somaliland on a map and understand
the nation’s social and political context.
• Examine the maternal mortality crisis
through the lens of three case studies and
work as a team to develop an action plan
that could help women in similar situations
by addressing the primary barriers to care.
• Demonstrate their understanding of the
issue by working in groups to research
the status of maternal healthcare in their
community and develop an outreach and/
or education campaign to raise awareness
and advance the cause of maternal health.
Resources:
• Film module: Maternal Mortality in
Somaliland (9:45)
• Half the Sky:Turning Oppression into
Opportunity Worldwide: Film Series trailer
(5:48) itvs.org/films/half-the-sky
• LCD projector or DVD player
• Maternal Mortality Teacher Handouts:
--Maternal Mortality Discussion Guide
(Download discussion guide PDFs from
the ITVS Women and Girls Lead website:
itvs.org/films/half-the-sky)
• Maternal Mortality Student Handouts:
--Maternal Health Glossary
--Student Handout A: Why Does Maternal
Health Matter to Me?
--Student Handout B: The Health Divide
Q&A Cards and Worksheet
--Student Handout C: Somaliland
in Context
--Student Handout D: Film Module
Screening Guide
--Student Handout E: Maternal Mortality
Fact Sheet
--Student Handout F: Maternal Mortality
Case Study
--Student Handout G: Case Study
Action Plan
• Wall map of the world with country
names: www.amaps.com/mapstoprint/
WORLDDOWNLOAD.htm
• Small green, yellow, and red Post-It Notes
• Whiteboard/blackboard and dry-erase
markers/chalk
• Pens and writing paper
• Computers with Internet access
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Prescreening Activity 1
Class Time: 10–15 minutes (if time permits, we recommend that you also watch the 5:48
minute film series trailer available here: itvs.org/films/half-the-sky)
You will need: Student Handout A: Why Does Maternal Health Matter to Me?, pens,
whiteboard/blackboard, dry-erase markers/chalk
NOTE TO TEACHERS:
Some students’ birth stories may involve
trauma or may be unknown and/or
inaccessible. Be sure to take this into
consideration throughout this activity
and have them focus their responses
on Question #1 from the worksheet,
if needed. They may also use this
opportunity to journal or write privately
about their birth story or how their
experience of that story has shaped their
understanding of maternity.
Goal: In preparation for the Maternal Mortality Lesson students will consider how the issue
of maternal health has affected their own lives and discuss how this topic impacts everyone.
Distribute one copy of the Student Handout A: Why Does Maternal Health Matter to Me?
and instruct students to complete the worksheet as a take-home assignment.
When students have completed Student Handout A, ask them to discuss their responses
with a partner or as a small group using the following prompts as a guide.
--What are the similarities and differences in your stories?
--Which of the following supports and resources did the moms in each story have available
to help them? Doctor, midwife or birth attendant, local hospital, medicine, transportation,
health Insurance, family and friends?
--How might the mother’s birth experience have been different if these supports and
resources were unavailable to them?
• Have each group share the results of their discussion with the class and record the responses.
• Variation: If time is limited, teachers can introduce the issue of maternal health by using
the questions on the handout as a guide for a brief class discussion, then move directly to
Prescreening Activity 2.
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Prescreening Activity 2:
The Health Divide
Class Time: 25–30 minutes
You will need: Student Handout B: The Health Divide Q&A Cards or Worksheet),
Student Handout C: Somaliland in Context, whiteboard/blackboard, dry-erase markers/
chalk, small Post-It Notes in red, yellow, and green, and a wall map of the world with
country names (free printable maps are available here: www.amaps.com/mapstoprint/
WORLDDOWNLOAD.htm)
Goal: The greatest health divide in the world today is the global disparity in maternal
healthcare, which has resulted in the extremely high maternal mortality rates in developing
countries — especially in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. In preparation for viewing the
Maternal Mortality in Somaliland film module, students will examine the maternal health
divide and discuss the possible social, cultural, and economic causes, and consequences
of this crisis.
PART 1:
• Cut out and randomly distribute Teacher Handout B v1: The Health Divide Q&A Cards
to each student in the class. Half the cards contain questions, and the other half contain
answers to those questions.
• Give students three to five minutes to circulate and identify the person who had the
question or answer that relates to their fact.
• Variation: If time is limited, the Health Divide Q&A also exists as a worksheet so that
students may work with a partner or group to match the answers with each question.
Distribute Teacher Handout B v2: The Health Divide Q&A Worksheet and keep a printout
of Teacher Handout A: The Health Divide Q&A Cards to reference the correct answers.
• Each pair should verify that the country and fact match and then share their information,
followed by a class discussion using the prompts below. Once they have shared their fact,
have them find their country on the map and place a small Post-It Note square to indicate
the quality of maternal health (green=very good, yellow=needs improvement, red=maternal
health crisis).
--What expectations did you have about the countries or facts you were given?
--Did you have any assumptions about the maternal health status in different parts of the
world? Were your assumptions correct?
--What patterns, if any, do you notice emerging from these facts? (Example: similarities or
differences in regions, the relationship between health benefits and maternal mortality
rates, indicators of maternal health challenges, etc.)
--What surprised you most?
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Prescreening Activity 2:
The Health Divide (cont.)
PART 2:
Share the following information with your class:
Maternal mortality is a global crisis. At least one woman dies from complications related to
pregnancy or childbirth every minute, and 99 percent of these deaths occur in developing
countries, with more than half in sub-Saharan Africa and almost one-third in South Asia.
For a woman in a developing country, giving birth can be one of the biggest threats to her
life. In poor countries, pregnancy and childbirth are among the leading causes of death
while in industrialized countries, maternal deaths are far less common. In Nigeria 1-in-18
women die from pregnancy-related causes and in Somaliland the situation is even more
dangerous, with 1 woman in 12 dying during or soon after childbirth. In comparison, the
mortality rate in Japan is 1 in 16,666, and in Italy, a remarkably low 1 in 20,000.
Even within industrialized countries disparity exists between maternal mortality rates for
women in different communities. The health divide is especially apparent in the United
States, where African-American women are almost four times more likely to die during
or soon after childbirth than Caucasian women. As a result, The United States’ average
maternal mortality rate is relatively high at 1 in 4,100, making it more dangerous to give
birth in the U.S. than in over 40 other countries.
• Follow with a discussion using the questions below as a guide and record the results.
This can be a class discussion or students can break into pairs or small groups. (This is
a diagnostic discussion and brainstorming session, and the students’ feedback will be
revisited after the screening.)
--What factors do you think contribute to the disparity in women’s health care in different
areas of the world and within different communities? (Discuss possible social, cultural,
political, and economic factors)
--What impact do you think the lack of access to care has on individual women, their
families, and their communities?
--Have you seen any news coverage on this issue? If so, what was it? If not, why do you
think the maternal mortality crisis has not been a media priority?
--Is access to healthcare a right or a privilege? What does the maternal mortality crisis tell
us about the status of women in the world?
--Finally, share the following quote with your students and have them discuss what they
think Mahmoud Fathalla meant by his statement:
“Women are not dying because of diseases we cannot treat. ...They are dying because
societies have yet to make the decision that their lives are worth saving.” – Mahmoud Fathalla, former President of the International Federation of Gynecology
and Obstetrics
PART 3
• In preparation for viewing the film module, ask students to locate Somaliland on a wall map.
• Provide the class with Student Handout C: Somaliland in Context. Have them read the fact
sheet, and discuss briefly with a partner, or have a volunteer(s) read the fact sheet aloud
and discuss as a class.
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Viewing the Module
Class Time: 10–15 minutes
You will need: pens and writing paper, LCD projector or DVD player, Maternal Mortality
in Somaliland film module (9:45), Student Handout D: Film Module Screening Guide,
Maternal Mortality Glossary
• Distribute Student Handout D: Film Module Screening Guide and instruct students to take
notes during the screening using the worksheet as a guide. Students may also need a copy
of the Maternal Mortality Glossary for reference while viewing the video.
• Variation: To save paper, project or write questions from Student Handout D: Film Module
Screening Guide on the board and review briefly before viewing the film module.
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Post-Screening Activity:
Maternal Mortality Case Studies
Class Time: 45–50 minutes
You will need: Student Handout E: Maternal Mortality Fact Sheet, Student Handout F:
Maternal Mortality Case Study, Student Handout G: Case Study Action Plan, pens/pencils,
whiteboard/blackboard, dry-erase markers/chalk
Goal: Students will discuss the film module and consider how their understanding of
maternal mortality has evolved over the course of the lesson. They will then work in groups
to examine the maternal mortality crisis through the lens of three case studies and develop
an action plan to improve maternal health for women in that community. Finally, they will
demonstrate their understanding of the issue by working in groups to research the status of
maternal healthcare in their community and develop an outreach and/or education campaign
to raise awareness and advance the cause of maternal health.
Part 1: Discussion Questions (5–10 minutes):
Begin by discussing Maternal Mortality in Somaliland film module and ask volunteers
to share their notes and quotes from the screening guide. Use some or all the following
questions to guide the class discussion:
--Maternal health and maternal mortality are global issues. Why did the filmmakers choose to
focus on the situation in Somaliland?
--What are the dangers that pregnant women face in Somaliland?
--What did Edna Adan and Nicholas Kristof describe as the barriers to care?
--Edna said the pregnant woman died of a treatable condition. Why did she die? What was
the name of the condition? What other factors contributed to her death?
--Edna said she is waging a war. What does she mean by this? With whom or what do you
think she is at war?
--What strategies is Edna’s hospital using to address the problem? What have been some
of the outcomes?
--Why do you think Edna has focused her attention on training 1,000 midwives rather than
trying to establish more hospitals around the country? What do you think the benefits and
challenges of each approach would be?
--Edna is from Somaliland. How important is that fact to the success of her project? In what
ways (if any) would the impact of the hospital in the community have been different if an
international organization or a foreign individual established it?
--When reporting on the maternal mortality crisis, Nicholas Kristof has said: “The reason for
the gap [in maternal healthcare] is not that we don’t know how to save lives of women
in poor countries. It’s simply that poor, uneducated women in Africa and Asia have never
been a priority either in their own countries or to donor nations.” What do you think he
means by this? Do you agree with this statement? Based on what you saw in the film,
why do you think poverty and lack of education make women more vulnerable to illness or
death during pregnancy and labor?
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Post-Screening Activity:
Maternal Mortality Case Studies (cont.)
--When discussing the maternal mortality crisis, the former UN Deputy General Asha-Rose
Migiro asked the question: “Would the world stand by if it were men who were dying just
for completing their reproductive functions?” What are your thoughts? What role do you
think gender-based discrimination plays in the global maternal health crisis?
--The United States spends more on healthcare than any other country, but as mentioned
earlier, its record on maternal health and mortality pales compared to many other nations.
Why do you think that is? Do you think there are any parallels between the challenges
women face in Somaliland and the United States? Why or why not?
--When Edna talked about the history of the hospital, she said, “the world built this hospital.”
What did she mean by this? Do wealthy countries have a responsibility to help poorer
countries improve their maternal health care? Why or why not? What more could or should
the United States do to improve maternal health worldwide?
--Do you think quality maternal healthcare is a right or a privilege? Explain. Do you think it is
a human right?
Part 2: Fact Sheet and Review (10 minutes):
• Distribute the Student Handout E: Maternal Mortality Fact Sheet
• Ask students to work in pairs to review the fact sheet and consider how its information and
the film compare to the results of the prescreening brainstorming activity. The class will
discuss briefly and record observations, questions, and notes on the board.
Part 3: Maternal Health Case Studies (30 minutes):
• Explain to students that they will examine the maternal mortality crisis through the lens of one
of three case studies. They will work with their group to identify the primary barriers to care
for each case and to develop an action plan that could help women in a similar situation.
• Divide the class into groups of three to five students and give each group one of the three
case study handouts to review from Student Handout F: Maternal Mortality Case Study.
• Have each student group review its case study and complete the Student Handout G:
Case Study Action Plan worksheet by identifying the challenges that each woman and her
family faced, discussing the barriers to care and developing an action plan that could help
women in a similar situation.
• When the handouts are completed, each group will present their action plan to the class
and receive feedback.
• Variation: Each group receives the same case study, and after preparing their plans of
action, the groups will share and compare their results.
• The activity should conclude with a discussion of what they have discovered through the
lesson and the film module viewing. Have students to revisit the question: “Why does
maternal mortality matter to me?” and discuss if and how the film and activities have
affected their attitudes and perceptions.
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Assignments
1. Journal Entry or Essay:
Have your students respond to the following questions as a journal
entry or essay:
If the women in your community faced the same healthcare
challenges as described in the film module and case studies, what
impact do you think it would have on the community as a whole?
• How would you improve the situation in your community?
• Who would you work with?
2. Community Action:
Have students work in groups to research the quality and availability
of healthcare for women in their community and the impact
such access (or lack of access) has on families and the broader
population. Students should then select an area of care in need of
improvement and develop an outreach and/or education campaign
to raise awareness and contribute to advancing the cause of
maternal health.
• Groups should identify each of the following for their issue:
• What role would women and girls play in bringing about change?
--What is the challenge?
• What role should men and boys in the community play?
--What are the barriers to care?
• What outcomes would you hope to achieve?
--What social, political, economic, and cultural factors are
contributing to the issue?
--What strategies have been tried and what has been most
successful?
--How would you improve the situation?
• When developing their campaigns, groups should identify their
target audiences. For example, how would you frame your outreach
campaign to boys and men in the community?
• Students should connect directly with existing community
organizations and maternal health advocates, and identify where
improvements, resources, outreach, and volunteers are needed.
• Groups can also reach out to local elected officials to better
understand if and how maternal health is being addressed. The
following website can help students identify and contact their local
officials: www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
• If time and resources are available, the groups can work together
to organize a community event such as a walk, a block party, or a
school assembly to help raise awareness of the needs of women in
their area, attract volunteers, and connect underserved women with
services and organizations that can offer support.
• Each group should document the process of researching and
developing their Community Action Campaign using photography,
digital video, audio recording, and through project journals.
• Upon completion of their assignment, each group should present
a Multi-Media Project Report. Students can explore the following
free online tools to create dynamic and interactive multi-media
presentations:
Prezi.com
Ahead.com
Helloslide.com
Zentation.com
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Extensions
1. Global Village: Maternal Health PSA
Have students work in groups to further examine the global
maternal health divide and develop a Public Service Announcement
(PSA) to raise awareness about the issue. Using the techniques
and style of Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity
For Women Worldwide as a guide, each group should illustrate
the global issue through the lens of one community or country’s
struggle with maternal health and mortality.
• When researching their topic, groups should identify the challenges,
barriers to care, contributing factors, and strategies that have had a
positive impact.
• Students can use the following websites for instruction and for
samples of Public Service Announcements (PSAs):
The Ad Council:
www.adcouncil.org/Our-Work/Current-Work
MediaSmarts:
www.mediasmarts.ca
Using Public Service Announcements in the Classroom:
www.kathyschrock.net/psa
• The PSAs can be developed by sourcing fair-use video and
photographs from the Internet along with interviews and researchbased voiceovers. Free online digital video and audio production
resources can be found at these sites:
Zentation.com
Combine videos, slides, and audio into presentations
Voicethread.com
Video, audio, and slide editing program
Vcasmo.com
Easy to use multimedia presentation tool
peterdrewvo.com/html/tips_for_writing_for_voiceover.html
Voiceover Script writing
2. Cultural Practices and Women’s Health:
Female Genital Mutilation
Note to teachers: Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into
Opportunity For Women Worldwide: Maternal Mortality takes
a candid look at the practice of female genital mutilation and its
impact on the individual women and girls affected. This topic may
be unsuitable for some audiences, and students and their parents/
guardians (where appropriate) should receive advance notice and
preparation regarding lessons and materials. Please view and read all
resources before sharing with your students.
Female genital mutilation (also known as female circumcision or
genital cutting) directly affects women and girls’ reproductive
and maternal health, and can have grave consequences during
childbirth. Female genital mutilation (FMG) involves the removal of
part or all of the external genitalia, and in its most severe form, the
procedure entails removal of all genitalia and stitches to leave a
small opening for urination, intercourse, and menstruation.
It is primarily practiced in African countries on the pretext of cultural
and religious tradition or hygiene, and an estimated 135 million girls
and women living today have undergone FGM with consequences
ranging from infection (including HIV), to sterility. Others have
died. Another two million girls are at risk each year. In the United
States, where the practice is illegal, thousands of women and girls
survive FGM each year. FGM practitioners, often referred to as
“cutters,” are predominantly women. As Edna describes in the film,
it is often the adult women in the family and community (mothers,
grandmothers, community matriarchs) who instigate and facilitate
the cutting of girls.
• Screen the complete Maternal Mortality segment from the
documentary Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity
For Women Worldwide and have students research the issue of
FGM and its relationship to social, cultural, religious, and traditional
attitudes towards women and their perceived status in the home
and community.
• Because FGM is a highly controversial topic, bound up in tradition,
religious beliefs, and cultural identity, there has been a weak
response from the international community. In the film, Sheryl
WuDunn says: “When there is a practice that is so offensive, it is
OK to say ‘this is wrong’.” Have students discuss Sheryl’s comment
and whether or not they agree. If they do agree, what responsibility
or role do we have to address this issue?
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Extensions
• Although performing FGM is illegal in the United States, it affects
thousands of American girls each year. Ask students if they
think parents have the right to raise their children in their cultural
traditions even when they conflict with the law. Have students
read the 2010 New York Times article Group Backs Ritual ‘Nick’
as Female Circumcision Option by Pam Belluck (www.nytimes.
com/2010/05/07/health/policy/07cuts.html) What impact
do they think the ceremonial “nick” suggested by the American
Academy of Pediatrics would have on the curtailing or increasing
the practice of FGM? Is this an acceptable alternative? Why or
why not?
• Have students consider the role women play in imposing the
practice on the next generation, using the film and particularly
Edna’s story of her own circumcision as foundations for discussion.
What factors motivate women to participate in perpetuating FGM?
What are the barriers to eliminating the practice entirely? How can
programs like the midwife training at Edna’s hospital contribute to
curtailing the practice?
• Using their research and discussions as support, have students
create a series of dialogues between the women and men whose
lives are bound up with the practice of FGM. Each character
should lay out the basis of their argument, and examples could
include: a mother and daughter debating whether the daughter
should get cut; a midwife from Edna’s hospital trying to persuade
a cutter to discontinue her practice; a mother who does not want
to cut her daughter making her argument to her husband or her
own mother, etc.
• Students can develop their dialogues in groups or individually, and
the dialogues could be performed for the class and/or recorded
and edited into a video or audio presentation.
• The following websites provide additional information and resources
on FGM:
World Health Organization:
www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en
Womenshealth.gov:
www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/
fact-sheet/female-genital-cutting.cfm
Advocates for Youth:
www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/521?task=view
Guttmacher Institute:
www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/2313097.html
WHO Student Mid-Wife Manual on Female Genital Mutilation:
www.who.int/gender/other_health/Studentsmanual.pdf
3. Family Planning, Maternal Health, and the
Birth Control Debate
Family planning has been internationally recognized as a key
factor in reducing maternal mortality, improving mother and child
health and helping to break the cycle of poverty. Research shows
that if women have only the number of pregnancies they want, at
the intervals they want, maternal mortality would drop by about
one-third. Yet a national and international debates continue to
rage about which forms of family planning are acceptable, to
what degree women’s reproductive options should be supported
by government programs and employer-based insurance, and if
contraception itself is ethical.
• Ask students if they are familiar with the current national debate
regarding birth control. What do they know about the debate?
What are the main points of those who oppose healthcare coverage
for birth control? What are the main points of those supporting it?
• Use the following lesson plan developed by the New York Times’
The Learning Network to guide students through researching and
examining the debate: learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/07/
about-birth-control-clearing-up-misconceptions-aboutcontraception
• Following their research, have students engage in a formal debate
about the issue. Education World offers a selection of debate
resources that provide guidelines and rules for classroom debates:
www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson304b.shtml
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Extensions
4. Too Young to Wed: The Secret World of Child Brides
Child marriage contributes greatly to adolescent maternal mortality
rates. Throughout the world, more than 51 million girls below the
age of 18 are currently married, and over the next decade, an
estimated 100 million more girls will become child brides despite
laws and international agreements that forbid the practice. Studies
show that adolescents ages 15 through 19 are twice as likely to
die during pregnancy or childbirth as those over age 20, and girls
under age 15 are five times more likely to die. Child brides also
face higher risk for sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS.
In Pakistan, child marriage is the major cause of the high maternal
mortality ratio of 1 death in 362.
Over an eight-year period, journalist Stephanie Sinclair investigated
the issue of child marriage in India, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nepal, and
Ethiopia. Have students view her multimedia presentation featured
in the Pulitzer Center, Too Young to Wed, produced in association
with National Geographic, that synthesizes her body of work into
a call to action. Have them examine the roots of and contributing
factors that lead to child marriage and the consequences that
young girls face who are married too soon, including physical and
emotional health, education, ability to care and provide for her
children, and the connection of this practice to the cycle of poverty.
Too Young To Wed - Project Overview:
pulitzercenter.org/projects/child-brides-child-marriage-tooyoung-to-wed
Too Young to Wed - Multimedia:
pulitzercenter.org/articles/child-marriage-brides-too-young-towed-afghanistan-ethiopia-india-yemen
Child Brides, Pulitzer Center Reports:
pulitzercenter.org/node/9674/all
5. Millennium Development Goals: Empowering Women
Empowers the World
In September 2000, the United Nations signed the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) with the aim of halving the number
of people living in poverty, reducing maternal and child mortality,
fighting disease, and improving social and economic conditions
in the world's poorest countries by 2015. Have your class screen
the complete series of Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into
Opportunity For Women Worldwide and examine the connection
between the issues addressed in the documentary and the MDG
campaign’s focus on women. Have them consider how and why
improving rights and resources for women and girls is considered
key to eradicating global poverty.
• Divide the class into eight groups, assign each an MDG, and
instruct the groups develop a “We Are the Goal” presentation,
which should include the following:
--A summary of the MDG and the campaign’s strategies for
improving social and economic conditions for women
--Information on the public perception and understanding of the
MDGs. (Students can investigate the public’s knowledge and
understanding of the MDG campaign by recording “person-onthe-street” interviews and include the footage in the presentation.)
--Examples of specific programs that have been implemented and
their impact to date
--How the campaign relates to issues in the students’ own
communities
--An action plan for the group and their school community to
contribute to the MDG campaign
• The presentations should be multi-media, and can include photo
essays, video footage, audio clips, animations, and infographics
using the following websites as resources:
Animoto:
animoto.com
Capzles:
www.capzles.com
Prezi:
prezi.com
Infographic tools:
www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/05/eight-free-tools-forteachers-to-make.html
• Information and resources for research on the MDGs can be found at:
United Nations Millennium Development Goals:
www.un.org/millenniumgoals
End Poverty 2015:
www.endpoverty2015.org
MDG Get Involved:
www.un.org/en/mdg/summit2010/getinvolved.shtml
UN Women:
www.unifem.org/gender_issues/millennium_development_
goals/
MDG Monitor:
www.mdgmonitor.org
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Additional Resources
BOOKS
WEBSITES
N. Kristof, S. WuDunn, Half the Sky:
Turning Oppression into Opportunity for
Women Worldwide, New York : Alfred A.
Knopf, 2009
The official website for the Half The Sky:
Turning Oppression Into Opportunity
for Women Worldwide film, book and
movement.
www.halftheskymovement.org
F I LM S
Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into
Opportunity For Women Worldwide:
Filmed in 10 countries, the documentary
follows Nicholas Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn,
and celebrity activists America Ferrera,
Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan,
Gabrielle Union, and Olivia Wilde on a
journey to tell the stories of inspiring,
courageous individuals. Across the globe,
oppression is being confronted, and real
meaningful solutions are being fashioned
through health care, education, and
economic empowerment for women and
girls. The linked problems of sex trafficking
and forced prostitution, gender-based
violence, and maternal mortality — which
needlessly claims one woman every 90
seconds — present to us the single most
vital opportunity of our time: the opportunity
to make a change. All over the world,
women are seizing this opportunity. Visit the
website at: www.halftheskymovement.org
ITVS Women and Girls Lead Film
Collection: Women and Girls Lead offers
a collection of films by prominent
independent filmmakers. These films focus
on women who are working to transform their
lives, their communities, and the world. Visit
the website to learn more about the films
and explore our diverse catalogue of educator
resources, lesson plans, and film modules.
See www.womenandgirlslead.org for
more details.
Edna Adan University Hospital: Located
in Somaliland, the Edna Adan Hospital
provides maternity and general medical
services and works to train fully qualified
healthcare professionals and midwives to
work throughout the country.
www.ednahospital.org
Every Mother Counts: an advocacy
and mobilization campaign to increase
education and support for maternal
mortality reduction globally.
www.everymothercounts.org
CARE International: An organization
fighting poverty and injustice in more than
70 countries around the world and helping
65 million people each year to find routes
out of poverty.
www.careinternational.org
White Ribbon Alliance: An international
coalition to ensure that pregnancy and
childbirth are safe for all women and
newborns in every country around the world.
www.whiteribbonalliance.org
The Centre for Development and
Population Activities (CEDPA): An
organization that works through local
partnerships to give women tools
to improve their lives, families, and
communities. CEDPA’s programs increase
educational opportunities for girls, ensure
access to lifesaving reproductive health
and HIV/AIDS information and services,
and strengthen good governance and
women’s leadership in their nations.
www.cedpa.org
Partnership for Maternal, Newborn Child
Health: A partnership to support the global
health community to work successfully
towards achieving Millennium Development
Goals 4 and 5.
www.who.int/pmnch/en/
Save the Children: An organization that
works to save and improve children’s lives
in more than 50 countries worldwide.
www.savethechildren.org
023
HALF TH E S KY
Maternal Mortality and The Global Health Divide
Standards
Common Core State Standards
for English Language Arts
& Literacy in History/Social
Studies, Science, and Technical
Subjects
Writing Standards 6–12
3. (9–10, 11–12) Write narratives to
develop real or imagined experiences or
events using effective technique, wellchosen details, and well-structured event
sequences.
4. (9–10, 11–12) Produce clear and
coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate
to task, purpose, and audience. (Gradespecific expectations for writing types are
defined in standards 1–3 above.)
6. (9–10, 11–12) Use technology,
including the Internet, to produce, publish,
and update individual or shared writing
products, taking advantage of technology’s
capacity to link to other information and to
display information flexibly and dynamically.
Speaking and Listening Standards
1. (9–10, 11–12) Initiate and participate
effectively in a range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners on [grade
9-12] topics, text, and issues, building on
others’ ideas and expressing their own
clearly and persuasively.
4. (11–12) Present information, findings,
and supporting evidence, conveying a clear
and distinct perspective, such that listeners
can follow the line of reasoning, alternative
or opposing perspectives are addressed,
and the organization, development,
substance, and style are appropriate to
purpose, audience, and a range of formal
and informal tasks.
5. (9–10, 11–12) Make strategic use
of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical,
audio, visual, and interactive elements) in
presentations to enhance understanding of
findings, reasoning, and evidence and to
add interest.
Writing Standards for Literacy in History/
Social Studies, Science, and Technical
Subjects 6–12
1. (9–10, 11–12) Write arguments focused
on discipline-specific content.
4. (9–10, 11–12) Produce clear and
coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience.
7. (9–10, 11–12) Conduct short as well
as more sustained research projects
to answer a question (including a selfgenerated question) or solve a problem;
narrow or broaden the inquiry when
appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on
the subject, demonstrating understanding
of the subject under investigation.
4. I N DI V I DUAL DEV E LO P M E N T
AN D I DE NT I T Y
Personal identity is shaped by family,
peers, culture, and institutional influences.
Through this theme, students examine
the factors that influence an individual’s
personal identity, development, and actions.
5. I N DI V I DUALS , G RO U P S, A N D
I N S I T I T U T I ON S
Institutions such as families and civic,
educational, governmental, and religious
organizations exert a major influence on
people’s lives. This theme allows students
to understand how institutions are formed,
maintained, and changed, and to examine
their influence.
10. CI V I C I DEALS AN D P R ACTICE S
An understanding of civic ideals and
practices is critical to full participation
in society and an essential component
of education for citizenship. This theme
enables students to learn about the
rights and responsibilities of citizens
of a democracy, and to appreciate the
importance of active citizenship.
9. (9–10, 11–12) Draw evidence from
informational texts to support analysis,
reflection, and research.
National Standards for Arts
Education Grades 9–12
National Curriculum Standards
for Social Studies
VA1: Understanding and applying media,
techniques, and processes
1. C U LT U R E
Through the study of culture and cultural
diversity, learners understand how human
beings create, learn, share, and adapt to
culture, and appreciate the role of culture in
shaping their lives and society, as well the
lives and societies of others.
VA5: Reflecting upon and assessing the
characteristics and merits of their work and
the work of others
VA6: Making connections between visual
arts and other disciplines
H A L F T H E S K Y : M AT E R N A L M O R TA L I T Y
Glossary
Maternal Health
Fertility rate
Obstructed labor
The number of children that the average woman will have in her
lifetime. This can differ significantly between continents and countries.
An important cause of maternal death in women, predominantly in
the developing world. Due to poor nutrition women’s bodies have
not developed properly and they have small pelvises, which makes
giving birth difficult. Obstructed labor also causes significant life
threatening complications in the short-term (notably infection) and
long-term (notably obstetric fistulas).
Fistula
A hole between an internal organ and the outside of the body
that should not exist. Obstetric fistula develops when the blood
supply to the reproductive organs is cut off during prolonged and
obstructed labor. It is estimated that there are up to 100,000 new
fistula cases each year and over two million women living with
obstetric fistula.
Female Genital Mutilation
Female genital mutilation (also known as female circumcision or
genital cutting) is the removal of part or all of the external female
genitalia, and in its most severe form, a woman or girl has all of
her genitalia removed and then stitched together, leaving a small
opening for urination, intercourse, and menstruation. This practice
has a direct effect on women and girls’ reproductive and maternal
health and can have grave consequences during childbirth.
Pre-eclampsia and Eclampsia
A dangerous combination of high blood pressure, fluid retention,
and high levels of protein in the urine of women after their 20th
week of pregnancy. If not treated, pre-eclampsia can worsen into
eclampsia, a potentially fatal condition that results in seizures and
coma. Pre-eclampsia puts unborn children and their mothers at
great risk.
Prenatal and Postnatal
Prenatal is the period of pregnancy after conception and before the
baby is born. Postnatal (also known as postpartum) is the period of
about six weeks following the birth of a baby.
Maternal death/mortality
Reproductive health
The death of a woman during or shortly after a pregnancy, or within
42 days of the termination of a pregnancy. Death could be from any
cause related to the pregnancy but not from accidental or incidental
causes. The major direct causes of maternal illness and death include
hemorrhage, infection, high blood pressure, and obstructed labor.
The health and well being associated with sex, conception,
pregnancy, and childbirth for both men and women at all fertile
stages of life. Sepsis (septicemia): A condition in which the body is
fighting a severe infection that has spread via the bloodstream. If a
person becomes “septic,” they will likely be in a state of low blood
pressure or “shock.” This condition can develop either as a result of
the body’s own defense system, or from toxic substances made by
the infecting agent (such as a bacteria, virus, or fungus).
Maternal health
The health of women during pregnancy, childbirth and immediately
after the birth of a baby (also known as the postpartum period).
Maternal mortality rate
The number of maternal deaths due to childbearing per 100,000
live births.
Modern contraception
A variety of products and procedures that are used to
prevent pregnancy.
Sepsis (septicemia)
A condition in which the body is fighting a severe infection that has
spread via the bloodstream. If a person becomes "septic," they will
likely be in a state of low blood pressure or "shock." This condition
can develop either as a result of the body's own defense system,
or from toxic substances made by the infecting agent (such as a
bacteria, virus, or fungus).
Adapted from Marie Stopes International (MSI) Make Women Matter campaign
H A L F T H E S K Y : M AT E R N A L M O R TA L I T Y
Student Handout A:
Why Does Maternal Health Matter to Me? (page 1)
Name: Date: Class: In preparation for viewing the film module Half the Sky: Maternal Mortality, please complete the
following handout:
1. Do you know anyone in your own life who has had a baby? If so, who was it and what is her relationship to you? What was that experience like for you?
Based on your experience, how did the pregnancy and birth affect the woman and her family?
What was the experience like for the men in her life? (The baby’s father, brothers, uncles, grandfathers, etc.)
Was the experience for the men in her life different than for the women in her life?
H A L F T H E S K Y : M AT E R N A L M O R TA L I T Y
Student Handout A:
Why Does Maternal Health Matter to Me? (page 2)
2. What is the story of your birth? Briefly describe below:
(If possible, ask family and friends who were part of your birth story to share their experience of your birth with you.)
3. Share your answers with a partner or your group and discuss the following:
A. What are the similarities and differences in your stories?
B. Which of the following supports and resources did the moms in each story have available to help them?
• Doctor
• Midwife or birth attendant
• Local hospital
• Medicine
• Transportation
• Health Insurance
• Family and friends
C. How might the mother’s birth experience have been different if these supports and resources weren’t available to them?
H A L F T H E S K Y : M AT E R N A L M O R TA L I T Y
Student Handout B v1:
The Health Divide Question & Answer Cards (page 1)
Teacher Instructions: Make two copies of question and answer card document. Cut out and distribute
the “Country” and “Fact” cards from one copy and use the second copy as reference.
AF G HAN I STAN
Has the second highest maternal death rate in the world. Less than 15 percent of deliveries are attended by trained health workers, and many women bleed to death before
they can receive permission from their husband or mother-in-law to get medical help.
U N ITE D STATE S
Deaths from pregnancy and childbirth have doubled in the past 20 years despite the
fact that this superpower spends the most money on healthcare. Approximately 1
woman in every 4,100 dies in childbirth.
N I G E R IA
Women have a 1 in 18 chance of dying in childbirth. Maternal health continues to decline
while the rest of the world improves, despite being one of Africa’s biggest oil exporters.
CANADA
Maternal mortality rates have declined from approximately 1 maternal death per 200 live
births in the early 1920s to less than 1 per 12,820 in 2010. Among the lowest maternal
mortality rates in the world and three times lower than its neighbor the U.S.
FRAN CE
Women have a 1 in 16,667 chance of dying in childbirth. Mothers enjoy a range of
maternity benefits, ranging from generous paid time off to extended time in the hospital.
CH I NA
In 1980, 1 woman would die for approximately every 580 women who gave birth, but by
2008, that rate had dropped to 1 in approximately every 2,170. This improvement has
not kept pace with the rapid economic expansion in this large Asian country.
I N D IA
This is the world’s largest democracy, but in this highly populated country, women have a
1 in 185 chance of dying in childbirth — one of the worst rates in the world.
ITALY
In 2010, the country was rated the safest place to have a baby, with just five maternal
deaths per 100,000 births (1 in 20,000). Maternal healthcare is free and families do not
have to pay for prenatal visits for the hospital birth. Moms also benefit from 22 weeks of
paid leave from work.
D E M OCRATI C R E PU B LI C
OF CON G O
Every hour, four women die of complications due to pregnancy and labor, and for every
woman who dies, 20 to 30 have serious complications in this conflict-ridden African
country. The maternal mortality rate is 1 in 90.
H A L F T H E S K Y : M AT E R N A L M O R TA L I T Y
Student Handout B v1 (page 1):
The Health Divide Question & Answer Cards (page 2)
Teacher Instructions: Make two copies of question and answer card document. Cut out and distribute
the “Country” and “Fact” cards from one copy and use the second copy as reference.
PAK I STAN
1 woman dies for every 384 who give birth. Malnutrition affects 34 percent of pregnant
women and 45 percent of women suffer from iron deficiencies that result in stillbirths,
birth defects, and infant deaths. Ongoing wars in the region and strict religious cultural
traditions also impact women’s maternal health.
M E X I CO
1 in 1,176 women dies in childbirth, a ratio that is almost five times higher than its
super-power neighbor. Women in poorer states of the country face even greater risks
in pregnancy — the maternal mortality ratio in the least developed region of the country
almost double the national average.
JAPAN
Women can choose their hospital, two prenatal checkups are provided free of charge,
and there are free childbirth classes available to all. The maternal mortality rate is a low 1
in 16,666.
G E R MANY
Pregnant mothers are not expected to work during the last six weeks of their pregnancy.
Moms benefit from four months maternity leave, and employers are required to provide
for at least three months of pay. The maternal mortality rate is 1 in 11,100.
B RA Z I L
The average infant mortality rates have reduced substantially, decreasing by 5.5 percent
a year in the 1980s and 1990s, and by 4.4 percent a year since 2000. But the rate is
still high at 1 in 1,724 due to the unequal distribution of wealth in this booming South
American country.
I N D ON E S IA
One of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world at 1 death in every 438 births.
Eighty percent of maternal mortality cases happen in primary services units, indicating
that the challenge for this island nation is the quality of care rather than accessibility.
SWE D E N
Couples in this country enjoy 13 months paid leave, and most of that time is available to
be split between the two parents, so families can decide which parent would be better
at home. The maternal mortality rate in here is 1 in 20,000.
AU STRALIA
For most women, maternity care through Medicare is nearly free, with some only responsible for small co-pay amounts for doctor visits and no charge at all for hospital care.
100 percent of moms have at least one pre-natal visit, and 100 percent have a skilled
attendant at birth. The maternal mortality rate is 1 in 12,500.
H A L F T H E S K Y : M AT E R N A L M O R TA L I T Y
Student Handout B v2:
The Health Divide Question & Answer Worksheet (page 1)
Name: Date: Class: Instructions: Review the following country names and facts and identify which fact is connected to
which country. Write the correct fact number in front of each country name.
A
____
A F G H A N I S TA N
____
U N I T E D S TAT E S
____
N IG E R IA
1.
For most women, maternity care through Medicare is nearly free, with some
responsible only for small co-pay amounts for doctor visits and no charge at all for
hospital care. All moms have at least one prenatal visit, and 100 percent have a skilled
attendant at birth. The maternal mortality rate is 1 in 12,500.
2.
One of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world at 1 death in every 438
births. Eighty percent of maternal mortality cases happen in primary services units,
indicating that the challenge for this is the quality of care rather than accessibility.
3.
Couples in this country enjoy 13 months’ paid leave, and most of that time is
available to be split between the two parents, so families can decide which parent
would be better at home. The maternal mortality rate here is 1 in 20,000.
4.
In 1980, one woman would die for approximately every 580 women who gave
birth, but by 2008, that rate had dropped to 1 in approximately every 2,170. This
improvement has not kept pace with the rapid economic expansion in this large Asian
country.
____
CA N A D A
____
FRANCE
5.
____
CH I NA
6.
____
I N D IA
7.
I TA LY
8.
____
B
Women have a 1 in 16,667 chance of dying in childbirth. Mothers enjoy a range
of maternity benefits, ranging from generous paid time off to extended time in
the hospital.
Maternal mortality rates have declined from approximately 1 maternal death per 200
live births in the early 1920s to less than 1 per 12,820 in 2010. Among the lowest
maternal mortality rates in the world and three times lower than its neighbor the U.S.
Has the second highest maternal death rate in the world. Less than 15 percent of
deliveries are attended by trained health workers, and many women bleed to death
before they can receive permission from their husband or mother-in-law to get medical help.
Deaths from pregnancy and childbirth have doubled in the past 20 years
despite the fact that this super-power spends the most money on healthcare.
Approximately 1 woman in every 4,100 dies in childbirth.
H A L F T H E S K Y : M AT E R N A L M O R TA L I T Y
Student Handout B v2:
The Health Divide Question & Answer Worksheet (page 2)
B
A
D E M O C R AT I C
R E PU B LIC OF CONGO
____
____
____
PA K I S TA N
M EXICO
____
J A PA N
____
G E R MANY
____
B RAZ I L
____
I N DON E S IA
____
____
SWE D E N
AU S T R A L I A
9.
Women have a 1 in 18 chance of dying in childbirth. Maternal health continues to
decline while the rest of the world improves, despite being one of Africa’s biggest
oil exporters
10.
Women can choose their hospital, two prenatal checkups are provided free
of charge, and there are free childbirth classes available to all. The maternal
mortality rate is a low 1 in 16,666.
11.
Pregnant mothers are not expected to work during the last six weeks
of their pregnancy. Moms benefit from four months maternity leave, and
employers are required to provide for at least three months of pay. The maternal
mortality rate is 1 in 11,100.
12.
The average infant mortality rates have reduced substantially, decreasing by
5.5 percent a year in the 1980s and 1990s, and by 4.4 percent a year since
2000. But the rate is still high at 1 in 1,724 due to the unequal distribution of wealth in
this booming South American country.
13.
This is the world’s largest democracy, but women have a 1 in 185 chance of
dying in childbirth in this highly populated country — one of the worst rates in
the world.
14.
In 2010, the country was rated the safest place to have a baby, with just five
maternal deaths per 100,000 births (1 in 20,000). Maternal health care is free,
and families do not have to pay for prenatal visits for the hospital birth. Moms also benefit
from 22 weeks of paid leave from work.
15.
Every hour four women die of complications due to pregnancy and labor,
and for every woman who dies, 20 to 30 have serious complications in this
conflict-ridden African country. The maternal mortality rate is 1 in 90.
16.
One woman dies for every 384 who give birth. Malnutrition affects 34 percent
of pregnant women, and 45 percent of women suffer from iron deficiencies
that result in stillbirths, birth defects, and infant deaths. Ongoing wars in the region and
strict religious cultural traditions also impact women’s maternal health.
17.
One in 1,176 women dies in childbirth, a ratio that is almost five times higher
than its super-power neighbor. Women in poorer states of the country face
even greater risks in pregnancy — the maternal mortality ratio in the least developed region
of the country almost double the national average.
H A L F T H E S K Y : M AT E R N A L M O R TA L I T Y
Student Handout C:
Somaliland in Context
It is dangerous to be a pregnant woman in Somaliland.
Somaliland is a semi-desert territory in East Africa on the coast of the Gulf of Aden. It
declared independence from Somalia after the overthrow of Somali military dictator, Siad
Barre, in 1991. Since then, the territory has lobbied hard to win support for its claim to be
a sovereign state, but had still not received official international recognition. Despite this,
Somaliland has a working political system, government institutions, a police force, and its
own currency, but it suffers from widespread poverty and unemployment.
The health of the people of Somaliland is among the worst in Africa, with one of
the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the world. Childbirth brings with it
serious risks, including lack of access to trained health professionals and high rates of
malnutrition, all of which increase the chances of complications before and during labor.
Because it is not an officially recognized independent state, international aid donors have
found it difficult to provide much-needed support and resources, such as maternal health
services and funds for training and supplies.
While rates of maternal mortality are among the highest in the world, they have begun to
decline. In 1997, 16 women would die for every 1,000 live births, but by 2006 that rate
had gone down to approximately 10 per 1,000 births. This improvement is due in part to
the work of Edna Adan Ismail, Somaliland’s first certified nurse-midwife, and the training
hospital she founded in the country’s capital, Hargeisa.
H A L F T H E S K Y : M AT E R N A L M O R TA L I T Y
Student Handout D:
Film Module Screening Guide
Name: Date: Class: Take notes while watching the film module Half the Sky: Maternal Mortality using the following list of
questions as a guide:
• What challenges are pregnant women in Somaliland facing?
• What are some of the causes of death for pregnant women?
• What services does the Edna Adan Hospital provide?
• Write down two or three quotes from the film that stand out most for you and/or illustrate why maternal health is an important
issue for everyone.
• Write down two or three quotes from the film that stand out most for you.
H A L F T H E S K Y : M AT E R N A L M O R TA L I T Y
Student Handout E:
Maternal Mortality Fact Sheet (page 1)
What are the causes of maternal death? Women die as a result of medical complications that happen during
and following pregnancy, often because the medical care and resources needed are too far away, unavailable, inadequate, or unaffordable. Below is a list of the major complications that account for 80 percent of all
maternal deaths all of which are treatable if resources and skilled healthcare workers are available:
• Hemorrhaging: Severe bleeding, mostly occurring after childbirth
• Infection: Most commonly occurring after and as a result of childbirth
• Pre-eclampsia and Eclampsia: A set of symptoms including high
blood pressure that occurs during pregnancy and can lead to
seizures and coma during labor.
• Gender-Based Discrimination: Maternal mortality rates are also an
effective measure of women’s place in society. In countries where
women are devalued they lack access to education, economic
opportunities, social supports, and leadership and decision-making
opportunities that contribute to higher maternal mortality rates.
• Obstructed labor: Difficult labor, which may be caused by an
obstruction or constriction of the birth passage
• Indirect causes: Approximately 20 percent of maternal deaths
result from diseases or physical traumas unrelated to pregnancy
that are aggravated by pregnancy, such as anemia, malaria,
hepatitis, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and physical and sexual abuse.
Why do women die?
• Poverty: Being poor limits a woman’s access to information and
healthcare. Factors such as malnutrition, disease, lack of clean
water, and inadequate medical care make pregnancy and childbirth
a dangerous experience for women living in extreme poverty.
• Limited Access to Affordable, Quality Healthcare: Many women
cannot use health services during pregnancy and childbirth
because their families simply cannot afford the costs. And if they
live in a poor community, the available healthcare may be poor as
well. Key factors that continue to contribute to the large number of
women dying include: too few or untrained health workers, a lack
of equipment and supplies, unavailable transportation, insufficient
funds, and a lack extended services including family planning and
postnatal care.
• Limited Access to Family Planning: Having large numbers of
children with short recovery periods between pregnancies is
detrimental to women’s health. If women had only the number of
pregnancies they wanted, at the intervals they wanted, maternal
mortality would drop by about one-third.
• Limited Access to Education: When women are better educated
they have a better chance of surviving childbirth. Educated women
are also more likely to have wage-earning jobs that give them
greater decision-making roles in a family’s finances and enable
them to save money and afford health-care when it is most needed.
According to the World Bank, for every 1,000 girls who get an
additional year of education, two fewer women will die in childbirth.
Understanding the medical causes of maternal mortality only gives
us part of the story. Maternal death is the result of a complex web
of social, political, and economic forces that undermines women’s
• Cultural Practices: In some cultures, seeking medical help is
access to essential maternal healthcare. A high maternal death rate
seen as a sign of weakness and pregnant women in the poorest
indicates that the fundamental rights to life and health for women are
countries are often tended to by family or traditional birthing
being violated. Contributing factors to maternal mortality include:
assistants who may have little or no medical training and who may
• Poverty
use traditional practices that could complicate pregnancies and
• Gender-based discrimination
worsen a mother’s condition.
• Limited access to affordable, quality healthcare
• Adolescent Maternity: Child marriage contributes greatly to
• Limited access to family planning
• Limited access to education
• Cultural practices
• Adolescent Maternity
adolescent maternal mortality rates. Currently, an estimated 51
million girls under the age of 18 are married, and over the next
decade, it is estimated that another 100 million girls will become
child brides. Studies show that adolescents age 15 through 19 are
twice as likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth as those over
age 20, and girls under age 15 are five times more likely to die.
H A L F T H E S K Y : M AT E R N A L M O R TA L I T Y
Student Handout E:
Maternal Mortality Fact Sheet (page 2)
Too Far to Walk:
The Delay Model
What’s Needed to Improve
Maternal Health?
When a life-threatening pregnancy-related emergency occurs,
getting help fast is incredibly important. The following model
outlines the three primary delays women face when trying to access
emergency care:
Improving maternal health for women around the world requires
coordinated efforts by international and local institutions to raise
public awareness, address gender-based discrimination, increase
political will, and commit resources to prevent and respond to the
causes of maternal mortality. Here are some strategies that have
been most effective:
• Delay One: Recognizing Danger Signs and Deciding to Seek
Care: Poor families in communities with limited information and
resources tend to delay decision-making or make inappropriate
choices when complications arise.
• Delay Two: Reaching Appropriate Care: This delay is worse for
poor rural women and their families who tend to face higher and
less predictable costs of emergency transportation because of long
distances and limited public transit and services.
• Delay Three: Receiving Care at Health Facilities: The final delay
is influenced by economic status, discrimination based on gender
or ethnic prejudice, and availability of providers. Poor families often
have to borrow money to pay up front when complications arise.
Frequently, households do not have ready access to sufficient
cash in time, and often, credit is withheld for needed supplies,
medications, and services.
• Improving the availability of quality medical services:
• Better-trained health care providers (doctors and nurses)
who understand and are sympathetic to the challenges their
patients face
• Training for traditional healthcare providers and midwives so
they can provide support and care before and after the birth and
are better able to address emergencies when they arise
• Mobile clinics that can reach remote areas and provide
ongoing access to services
• Emergency transportation services or a community-based
emergency transportation network to get women to the nearest
facility as quickly as possible in the event of complications
• Improved communication systems so families in remote areas
can contact providers in an emergency
• Improving maternal nutrition during and after pregnancy: This
improves maternal health and improves the health of new-born babies
• Providing secondary education for girls: This has been shown to
significantly increase the likelihood that mothers will have healthier
pregnancies, and improves the survival rate of newly born babies.
• Education and Outreach Programs: Providing training, education,
and outreach to the entire community empowers women, girls, men,
and boys with the tools they need to make informed decisions about
their health and the health of their family members.
H A L F T H E S K Y : M AT E R N A L M O R TA L I T Y
Student Handout F:
Case Study #1, Prudence, Cameroon
Prudence had been living with her family in a village 75 miles away from the hospital in Yokadouma,
Cameroon, and she had received no prenatal care. She went into labor at full term, assisted by a
traditional birth attendant who had no training. But Prudence had obstructed labor, and the baby couldn’t
come out. After three days, the birth attendant sat on Prudence’s stomach and jumped up and down.
That ruptured Prudence’s uterus. The family paid a man with a motorcycle to take Prudence to the hospital.
The hospital’s doctor, Pascal Pipi, realized that she needed an emergency cesarean. But he wanted
$100 for the surgery, and Prudence’s husband and parents said they could raise only $20. Dr. Pipi was
sure that the family was lying and could pay more. Perhaps he was right because one of Prudence’s
cousins had a cell phone. If she had been a man, the family probably would have sold enough possessions
to raise $100.
Journalist Nicholas Kristof had come upon the clinic by accident
and dropped in to inquire about maternal health in the area. When
he stumbled upon Prudence in the hospital bed, she had been lying
there untreated for about three days, according to her family. The
fetus died shortly after she arrived at the hospital, and now it was
decaying and slowly poisoning Prudence.
“If they had intervened right away, my baby would still be alive,” Alain
Awona, Prudence’s 28-year-old husband said angrily as he hovered
beside his wife. A teacher at a public school, he was educated
enough to be indignant and assertive at the mistreatment of his wife.
“Save my wife!” he pleaded. “My baby is dead. Save my wife!”
Dr. Pipi and his staff were furious at Alain’s protests and embarrassed
at having a woman die in front of visitors. He told the Kristof that
without intervention, Prudence had only hours to live, and that he
could operate on her if he had the remaining $80. So Kristof and his
traveling companions gave the doctor the remaining money.
Prudence didn’t seem fully aware of what was going on, but her
mother had tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. The family had
been sure that Prudence was going to die, and now it suddenly
seemed that her life could be saved. Alain insisted that we stick
around to see the surgery through. “If you go,” he warned bluntly,
“Prudence will die.”
The nurses said that everything was ready for Prudence’s surgery,
but the hours dragged and nothing happened. At 10 p.m., Kristof
and the family found out that the doctor had left and would be back
in the morning. They were shocked and furious and considered
going to find him but the Cameroonian interpreter that was traveling
with Kristof tugged the group aside. “Look, I’m sure we can find
out where Dr. Pipi lives if we ask around,” he said. “But if we go to
his house and try to drag him back here to do the surgery he’ll be
incredibly angry. Maybe he’ll do the surgery, but you don’t know
what he’ll do with the scalpel. It wouldn’t be good for Prudence.
The only hope is to wait for morning, and see if she is still alive.”
The next morning, Dr. Pipi finally operated, but by then at least
three days had elapsed since Prudence had arrived at the hospital
and her abdomen was severely infected. He had to remove 20
centimeters of her small intestines, and he had none of the powerful
antibiotics that were necessary to fight the infection.
The hours passed. Prudence remained unconscious, and gradually
everybody realized that it wasn’t just the anesthesia; she was in
a coma. She began fighting for breath, in huge terrifying rattles.
Finally, the family members decided that they would take her home
to the village to die. They hired a car to take them back to the
village, and they drove back, somber and bitter. Three days after the
surgery, Prudence died
This story was excerpted and adapted from Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into
Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Knopf 2009.
www.halftheskymovement.org
H A L F T H E S K Y : M AT E R N A L M O R TA L I T Y
Student Handout F:
Case Study #2, Antonia, Peru
Antonia had just turned 40. She was the anchor of her family. She’d farmed a small parcel of land and
tended livestock with her husband Lorenzo since they were married as teenagers. She gave birth to
seven children, ranging in age from two to 18. During her eighth pregnancy when Antonia went into labor
three weeks early, Lorenzo wanted to go to the hospital to get a doctor. Antonia knew it would take him
at least two hours to reach the hospital and return with help and was afraid of being alone during the
delivery. So, Lorenzo remained at home and waited.
Antonia gave birth to a baby boy, Adolfo, around 6 p.m., but the joy
was soon replaced by anguish. Lorenzo, who had assisted Antonia
in all her previous births, realized that something had gone wrong.
Antonia was bleeding heavily. Lorenzo knew she needed help right
away. After glancing one last time around his one room adobe
home, taking in his wife and his other children shuffling near their
mother’s bed, silent and scared, he left to get help.
There are no phones or two-way radios in their tiny village high in
the mountains of Peru’s remote Puno region. The nearest health
post was a couple miles away traveling on very bad roads. Lorenzo
knew from making prenatal visits with his wife there that the one
health worker wasn’t equipped or trained to handle this type of
emergency. Also, it was Good Friday and he knew that the health
post was likely closed since it was a holiday.
Lorenzo borrowed an old motorcycle and puttered slowly down the
steep, muddied road to the hospital almost an hour away in normal
conditions. The drenching rains made the roads nearly impassible
and his transportation broke down half way there. After an hour of
pleading with people in a nearby village for help, Lorenzo managed
to borrow a bicycle on which he made the rest of the journey to the
hospital. When he reached the hospital, the doctor on call was not
there and the ambulance was in disrepair. After another 30-minute
delay, Lorenzo found the doctor and hired a pick-up truck, and they
were on their way. Unfortunately, the truck got stuck in the mud as it
approached the house and Lorenzo and the doctor had to walk the
remaining distance.
By the time Lorenzo and the doctor finally arrived on foot just after
10 p.m., it was too late. About an hour before, in her mother’s arms
and surrounded by her children (including the baby boy she had
just given birth to), Antonia died.
The doctor said Antonia died because the placenta, which helps
nourish the baby in the womb, had blocked her cervix. She
hemorrhaged, which led to cardiac arrest. Antonia’s condition was
considered serious, but treatable.
In discussions with Lorenzo in the months following Antonia’s
death, he recounted his schedule: He got up by 4 in the morning to
make breakfast. By 8 a.m. the children left for school and he tended
to the livestock. At around 4 p.m. he came back from dealing with
the livestock to cook dinner. Then he bathed the children and put
them to bed, and he went to sleep about 9 p.m. He was extremely
tired, but recognized that this is the schedule Antonia had kept
every day when she was alive.
The children suffered without their mother. They only went to school
sporadically and the younger girls, ages 5 and 9, stopped eating
and were depressed. The oldest son, who had planned to go to the
city for school, dropped out to work in the hazardous gold mines
in order to send money back to his family. The second oldest son
was also forced to drop out of school to help his father around
the house and take care of his siblings. Lorenzo had to sell all the
livestock and possessions to pay for baby formula. Having spent all
his money on the baby, Lorenzo’s other children clearly had become
malnourished and they had no money for school supplies.
This case study was excerpted and adapted from the Care report
“The Impact of Maternal Health in Peru”
www.care.org/campaigns/mothersmatter/downloads/Peru-Case-Study.pdf
H A L F T H E S K Y : M AT E R N A L M O R TA L I T Y
Student Handout F:
Case Study #3, Mastbegeen, Afghanistan
Sangima watched helplessly as her sister-in-law, Mastbegeen, died trying to give birth to her seventh
child. She tells Mastbegeen’s story to and interviewer from Integrated Regional Information Networks,
(IRIN) part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
Sangima: As you see, we live in this very remote mountain village
in Wakhan District [Badakhshan Province], which is very far from
all facilities, including a clinic. Mastbegeen [her sister-in-law] was
eight months pregnant when she started feeling pain. I told my
brother [Mastbegeen’s husband] to find a birth attendant. He took
the donkey and left the house. After an hour he came back with the
old woman.
Interviewer: Was the woman a professional health worker?
Sangima: She was not from the clinic, but yes she was professional
as she has been working as a midwife for years. She has a lot of
experience, she is an old woman. There’s no clinic near us and these
old women are the only people who help pregnant women.
Interviewer: What I mean is, did she have any formal
midwifery training?
Sangima: I don’t think so, because she is very old and illiterate
as well. She helped Mastbegeen give birth to the child. After the
birth, Mastbegeen started bleeding. I asked the old woman what
was happening and she said: “Don’t worry, most women bleed for
some time after giving birth.” Somehow I trusted the old woman, but
then I thought to myself, when I gave birth to my own child I was
not bleeding like Mastbegeen. I mentioned this to my brother and
we thought we should take her to a clinic. But it was 11pm and the
nearest clinic in Khandod [district capital] was six hours’ walk away.
We didn’t have any choice but to wait.
At midnight, she stopped crying. I bent over her face and shouted
Mastbegeen! Mastbegeen! But she didn’t reply. I saw her chest
was moving so I knew she was alive. I left the room to call my
brother, who was helping the old woman to wash the newborn
baby girl. We went back in and found she was dying. We shook
her and kept calling out to her, but she didn’t reply and we saw
her passing away. It was a very sad scene; I hope no one else on
earth has to witness such a calamity in their family. We didn’t know
what happened to the baby, but she also died just an hour after
her mother.
Now Mastbegeen’s six children are in a very bad state. Sometimes I
come to cook for them or wash them, but still they are not as clean
as other children. My brother cooks, but he can’t cook as well as a
woman. He is also poor and can’t provide them with good clothing
and food. This is the reality not only in our village, but also in many
remote villages in the Wakhan corridor in Badakhshan, where we
have little or no access to health care
This case study was excerpted and adapted from VEIL OF TEARS: Afghans’ Stories of
Loss in Childbirth Integrated Regional Information Networks, (IRIN) 2009 as part of the
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
www.irinnews.org/pdf/veil_of_tears.pdf
H A L F T H E S K Y : M AT E R N A L M O R TA L I T Y
Student Handout G:
Case Study Worksheet (page 1)
Case Study: Date: List of the names of all the students in the group: Why did she die? Understanding the Causes of Maternal Mortality
1. What was the name of the woman in your case study and what was her cause of death?
2. Was the condition she suffered from treatable?
3. If so, what were the factors that contributed to her death?
Briefly describe what role if any each of the following played:
• Poverty
• Gender-based discrimination
• Limited access to quality healthcare
• Limited access to family planning
• Limited access to education
• Cultural practices
4. Using the Delay Model as a reference, describe the delays that the mother and her family faced
when attempting to access care:
H A L F T H E S K Y : M AT E R N A L M O R TA L I T Y
Student Handout G:
Case Study Worksheet (page 2)
Action Plan: How Can Women’s Lives Be Saved?
Edna Adan came back to Somaliland to apply her skills, resources, and training to improving the lives of women in her country. Imagine that
your group came from the same community as the woman in your case study and you have the opportunity to return to help improve the
maternal health of the women who live there. What would your plan of action be?
Using the Maternal Health Fact Sheet as a resource, work with your group to develop a comprehensive strategy that includes the following:
1. What outreach and resource strategies would you put into place for each of the following?
• Improving the availability of quality medical services:
• Improving maternal nutrition during and after pregnancy:
• Providing education opportunities for girls:
• Providing Outreach Programs:
2. How would you include the community in your plan of action?
What role will boys and men play in improving maternal health?
3. What challenges do you expect to face?
4. What outcome do you hope to achieve?
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OVE RVI EW
Audience
High School (9-12 grade), Community
College, Youth Development Organizations
Time
90 minutes or two 50 minutes class
periods + Assignments
Subject Areas
Women’s Studies, Social Studies, Global
Studies, Media Studies, English Language
Arts , Education Studies
“When you educate a girl, there
is a ripple effect that goes
beyond what you would get
from a normal investment…
When you educate a girl, you
educate a village.”
Sheryl WuDunn
Half the Sky
Purpose of the Lesson
Access to education is recognized as a
basic human right as well as significant
factor in breaking the cycle of poverty
and improving quality of life for children,
communities, and countries. Despite this,
millions of girls and women around the
world are disproportionately denied the
opportunity to attend school and pursue
education and training outside the home.
Objectives:
Through this lesson students will:
• Explore the value of education in their
own lives
• Consider the ripple effect for families,
communities, and nations where girls are
disproportionately denied the right to go
to school
• Identify the location of Vietnam on a map
and understand the social and political
context that has shaped the education
opportunities for Vietnamese girls.
Resources:
• Film Module: Education in Vietnam (10:38)
• Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into
Opportunity for Women Worldwide Film
Series Trailer (5:48): itvs.org/films/halfthe-sky
• LCD projector or DVD player
• Teacher Handouts
--Educating Girls and Women Discussion
Guide (Download Half the Sky: Turning
Oppression into Opportunity for Women
Worldwide discussion guide PDFs from
the ITVS Women and Girls Lead website:
www.womenandgirlslead.org)
• Student Handouts
--Student Handout A: Life Map
--Student Handout B: The Education
Ripple Effect
--Student Handout C: Vietnam In Context
--Student Handout D: Film Module
Screening Guide
--Student Handout E: Education for All
--Student Handout F: Notes from the Field
• Understand the Millennium Development
Goals’ strategy to cut poverty in half by
2015 and examine the progress and
the status of Goal 2 Universal Primary
Education in relationship to the global
gender disparity.
• Whiteboard/blackboard and markers/chalk
• Create an Education Genealogy that
explores the impact of education in their
own families and communities and traces
the path and influence of education through
the generations.
• Wall map of the world with country names:
www.amaps.com/mapstoprint/
WORLDDOWNLOAD.htm
• Pens and writing paper
• Computers with Internet access
• Kraft Paper
• Washable Markers
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Prescreening Activity
Time: 30 minutes
You will need: Student Handout A: Life Map, Student Handout B: Ripple Effect, Student
Handout C: Vietnam In Context, white board/black board, dry-erase markers/chalk, kraft
paper, washable markers, and a wall map of the world with country names (free printable
maps are available here: www.amaps.com/mapstoprint/WORLDDOWNLOAD.htm)
Goal: Students will begin to explore the value of education by considering how their lives
and their futures would be different if they were denied the opportunity to attend school.
They will then examine the global gender divide in education and the possible ripple effect
for families, communities, and nations where girls are disproportionately denied the right to
go to school.
PART 1
• Begin the lesson with a class discussion using the following questions for prompts.
Students can be divided into pairs (Think-Pair-Share) and each group can discuss their
responses to the scenarios among themselves before sharing with the rest of the class.
Students can also work individually and do a “quick writing” response before sharing with
the class.
--A. Ask the class the following question: Imagine you went home tonight and your family
told you that no one expects you to go to school anymore (Or you don’t have to go to
school anymore). How would that make you feel? Would you choose to continue to come
to school? Encourage students to respond honestly. Discuss student reactions and ask
them to go into more depth about the reasons why their responses were either positive or
negative.
--B. Now, imagine you are a 14-year-old student in a country where everyone has to pay to
go to school. If you were that student, how would you feel if you went home tonight and
your family told you that you couldn’t go to school anymore because it is too expensive?
What would you do? Would you be willing to go to work to help pay for school? Discuss
student reactions and compare them to their reactions from the first question.
--C. Imagine you are still that 14-year-old student and you went home tonight and your family
told you that your sibling(s) would continue to go to school, but you couldn’t go to school
anymore. They tell you that it’s too expensive to send all of their children, and they think
it’s more important for your other sibling(s) to be educated. Besides, they need your help
doing chores and taking care of the other children in the house. How would you respond
to that? What would you do?
• Based on the discussion, have the class work in pairs and consider what impact scenario
C would have on the life of their hypothetical 14 year-old student. Using Student Handout
A: Life Map briefly brainstorm some possible consequences that a student might face as a
result of being denied access to an education.
• Ask groups to discuss their responses with their partner(s) then share their results with
the class.
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Prescreening Activity
PART 2
• Introduce the following information:
Access to education is recognized as a basic human right as well as significant factor
in breaking the cycle of poverty and improving quality of life for children, communities,
and countries. Despite this, millions of girls and women around the world are denied the
opportunity to attend school and pursue education and training outside the home.
Of the approximately 75 million children who are currently not in school, the majority are
girls. Worldwide, for every 100 boys out of school, there are approximately 122 girls who
are unable to attend school. In developing countries and countries with strict cultural and
religious codes regarding gender roles, this gap is much wider: for every 100 boys out of
school in Yemen, there are 270 girls who are not in school, in Iraq it is 316 girls, and in
India it is 426 girls to every 100 boys.
• Distribute Student Handout B: The Education Ripple Effect and ask students to return to
their groups. Using the handout as a guide, ask each group to share their responses to
the statement above and discuss the possible ripple effects that result from the disparity in
education opportunities for girls.
• Have each group share their results and discuss as a class.
• Give each group a large piece of Kraft paper to post on the wall and ask them to record the
ripple effects from their discussion.
• Have the students walk around the room and read eachother’s responses and leave
feedback or comments using Post-It Notes. (Be sure to establish guidelines on how to give
constructive and appropriate feedback.)
• Complete the activity by brainstorming some possible strategies that might help to eliminate
the barriers to education that their 14-year-old student faces. Record the results on the
board to revisit later.
• Ask the students to keep this activity in mind as they watch the film and tell them that they
will return to their responses throughout the lesson.
PART 3
• In preparation for viewing the film module, ask a volunteer to locate Vietnam on a wall map.
• Provide students with the one-page fact sheet, Student Handout C: Vietnam In Context.
Have them read the fact sheet and discuss briefly with a partner.
• Variation: This handout can be provided in advance of the lesson for students to review as
homework.
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Viewing the Module
Class time: 10-15 minutes
Note: We recommend that if time permits you begin this section by watching the film series
trailer (5:48): itvs.org/films/half-the-sky
You will need: pens and writing paper, LCD projector or DVD player, HTS: Education in
Vietnam film module (10:38), Student Handout D: Film Module Screening Guide, pens/
pencils
• Distribute Student Handout D: Film Module Screening Guide and instruct students to take
notes during the screening using the worksheet as a guide.
• Variation: The questions from Student Handout D can be projected or written on the board
and reviewed briefly before viewing the film module to save paper.
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Post-Screening Activity
Time: 25 minutes
You will need: Student Handout E: Education for All, Student Handout F: Notes from the
Field, white board/black board, dry-erase markers/chalk, pens/pencils, writing paper.
Goal: Students will be introduced to the Millennium Development Goals strategy to cut
poverty in half by 2015 and examine the progress of Goal #2: Equal Access to Education.
Working in groups, they will imagine that they are student ambassadors for the Millennium
Development committee who are collaborating with the Nhi and Phung from the film to
identify strategies to improve education in their communities in Vietnam as well as the
student’s communities in the United States.
Part 1: Discussion Questions (5-10 minutes):
• What did you think of the film? Was there anything that surprised you?
• How do you feel about each student’s story?
• What are some of the similarities between the stories that you saw?
What are some of the differences?
• What role does gender play in their access to education? In what way?
• Bich Vu Thi — Room to Read Girls Education Program Officer — talks about her own struggles
achieving access to education in a poor family where girls were not valued. She says, “One
boy is one child, but 10 girls are not equivalent to one child.” What do you think she meant
by that? How do you think this attitude influences girls’ opportunities?
• What are some things that are being done to support girls in going to school?
• John Wood, the Founder of Room to Read, has stated that “it is a moral failure” that millions
of girls woke up this morning and didn’t go to school? Do you agree? Why or why not?
• How does his statement connect with Phung’s father’s belief that by sacrificing a small
amount today, he is giving his children a path out of poverty?
• Do you think we are facing similar challenges in our own country? Could you provide
some examples?
• Are there groups of young people in this country who are forced to make similar choices
between supporting their families or focusing on their own education and future?
• Nicholas Kristof says in the film, “We often have the idea that providing education is about
building a school, providing teachers, school books, and it’s so much more complicated
then that in an environment of poverty.” What challenges and complications is he referring
to? How do the parents in the film address these barriers and how do their actions shape
their daughter’s futures?
• What does it take to construct a system that supports the education of girls? Are there
models in other countries?
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Post-Screening Activity:
Part 2: Millennium Development Goals and Education for All
• Briefly introduce the Millennium Development Goals and Goal 2: Universal Primary
Education (MGD2) using the summary paragraph:
In 2000, the United Nations brought together the Heads of State from 189 countries to
discuss how to cut global poverty in half by 2015 and ensure fundamental human rights
for all. The strategy they developed consists of eight goals, and includes a commitment to
achieving primary education for all children. Millennium Development Goal 2: Universal
Primary Education (MGD2) seeks to ensure that children everywhere — boys and girls
alike — will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling by 2015 and that girls
would have the same opportunities and access to education as boys by 2005. This target
was set because countries around the world recognize that providing education is the key
to reducing poverty and improving the health and wellbeing of families and communities.
Unfortunately the goal for equal access to education by 2005 was not reached, but
progress is being made.
• Divide the class into groups of 3–4 students and provide each with Student Handout E:
Education for All and Student Handout F: Notes from the Field.
• Explain that each group will review the fact sheet and imagine they are student
ambassadors working with the Millennium Development Committee. Their assignment is
to work in collaboration with a student from the film to identify ways that they can improve
education for girls in Vietnam. In return, they will imagine what insights their Vietnamese
partners can provide regarding the importance of education in their lives and how we can
improve the quality and commitment to education in our communities in the USA. Students
should refer to their notes from the film and the class discussion as well as Student
Handout E: Education for All for guidance.
• Students can present their completed work to the class as notes from the field or they can
develop a script and perform the interviews and dialogue.
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Assignments
Select one or more of the following assignments to complete
the lesson:
1) Why does education matter? How would you advertise
Education for All? Students will develop a public service or
advertising campaign to promote the idea of universal education.
Students should incorporate the resources from the lesson
including facts, case studies, and strategies in their campaign
materials. When researching their topic, students think about their
audience and how they can galvanize collective support from
a broad-range of people (male, female, adults, youth, different
economic and cultural backgrounds, etc.) Students can work
individually or in a group and their projects should consist of a
presentation and informational material.
• Students’ PSA or advertisement can be created as a video using the
resources below. If video resources are unavailable, the PSA can be
presented live during class or an assembly or community event.
The Ad Council:
www.adcouncil.org/Our-Work/Current-Work
MediaSmarts:
www.mediasmarts.ca
Using Public Service Announcements in the Classroom:
www.kathyschrock.net/psa
• Social media is a powerful force for change and should be
incorporated into their campaign. An example of a successful
social media campaign can be found here: jflopsu.tumblr.com/
post/10561740209/abolishcancer-twitterview
• Students can develop brochures with infographics to highlight their
message and research using the following examples and tools:
UNESCO: Education Counts Brochure:
unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001902/190214e.pdf
Krum’s 10 Tips for Designing Infographics:
digitalnewsgathering.wordpress.com/2010/04/24/10-tips-fordesigning-infographics
Teaching with Infographics:
learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/teaching-withinfographics-places-to-start
2) Education Genealogy. Have students explore the impact
that education has had in their own families and communities by
creating an Education Genealogy that traces the path and influence
of education through the generations. (Variation: If time is limited,
ask students to select one subject to focus their research on.)
• Have students interview members of their family (or community,
if family members are not accessible) from several generations
using the prompts below as well as their own questions. They
can take notes or record the interviews on video or audio
equipment if available.
--What role did education play in your life?
--What challenges if any did you face? Were there any barriers to
going to school?
--How did your parents/guardians view your education? Was it a
priority?
--Was the education experience different for boys and girls when
you were in school?
--What strategies did your parents/guardians employ to help open
doors and break barriers to success?
--What is your best and worst memory related to your education?
--How was your experience with education different from the
generation before you?
--What does education mean in your life now?
--How do you see education for the next generation?
• Students should combine interviews and oral history with research
on the development of the education system throughout their family
(or community’s) history and consider how their ancestors’ access
or lack of access to education has shaped their own opportunities.
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Assignments (cont.)
• Free online oral history tool-kits and digital video and audio
production resources can be found at these sites:
Guide to Oral History:
dohistory.org/on_your_own/toolkit/oralHistory.html
Story Corps for Educators:
storycorps.org/education
www.Zentation.com
Combine videos, slides, and audio into presentations
www.Voicethread.com
Video, audio, and slide editing program
www.Vcasmo.com
Easy to use multimedia presentation tool.
Voiceover Script writing:
www.peterdrewvo.com/html/tips_for_writing_for_voiceover.html
3) Journaling about Education: Have students develop a short
narrative or fictional story using the experience of the hypothetical
student from the Pre-Screening Activity as a jumping-off point.
Complete the narrative by having them imagine what their life would
be like 10 years from now using two scenarios: if they were unable
to overcome the obstacles to their education and if they were able
to successfully access an education.
--If, like our 14-year old student, you were denied access to
education at the age of 14, what would you have done?
--What do you think your life would be like now?
--What goals do you have for your future and how would they be
affected if you could not pursue your education?
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Extensions
1) FUTURESTATES. What would you sacrifice for a good
education? The film Crossover, by Tina Mabry, imagines a future
where schools are segregated by economic status and a struggling
mother must decide whether to sell her own organs to give her
children a better education. Screen the film for students and
consider current obstacles to education in the US and around
the world. What message was the filmmaker sending about the
education in the United States and the need for education reform?
Should education continue to be compulsory and free? Have
students research the current debate and speculate about the
future of education in America.
3) The Girl Effect. Have youth mobilize their community and
harness the power of The Girl Effect. The Girl Effect is a collective
movement created by the Nike Foundation, the NoVo Foundation,
the United Nations Foundation, and the Coalition for Adolescent
Girls that is driven by thousands of grassroots and communitybased campaigns around the world aimed at empowering girls
and improving life for their families and communities. The Girl
Effect Toolkit has a range of resources, tips, multi-media tools, and
step-by-step guides for creating your own campaign, organizing
community events, and starting local clubs to galvanize support for
girls education and empowerment.
Crossover:
futurestates.tv/episodes/crossover
The Girl Effect:
www.girleffect.org
FUTURESTATES Website:
futurestates.tv
The Girl Effect Tool Kit:
www.girleffect.org/uploads/documents/5/Girl_Effect_Tool_Kit.pdf
Educator Resources:
futurestates.tv/about/for_educators
4) Are Schools Killing Creativity? Have students view Ken
Robinson’s TED Talk entitled, “Are Schools Killing Creativity” and
the RSA Animation “New Paradigms in Education” and discuss
what education — specifically school-based education — means in this
rapidly changing world. Have students research the development
of education in the United States from the industrial model through
No Child Left Behind and consider how schools have changed
(or failed to change) to address each generations needs. Have
students consider: What will the world look like when today’s
kinder-gardeners graduate from high school? How can schools
prepare students for a future that we have trouble imagining?
2) Legislating Equal Access. Title IX, Education Amendments
of 1972, (also called Title IX) was enacted in 1972 and has
been credited with raising the opportunity of girls and women in
educational environments. While it is best known for paving the way
for female student athletes, Title IX also ensures an equal education
for pregnant and parenting students and for those seeking STEM
(science, technology, engineering, and math) careers. Through
this lesson plan from TeachingTolerance.org, students will become
familiar with the principles of Title IX and evaluate its impact on their
own learning environment: become familiar with the principles of
Title IX and evaluate its impact on their own learning environment:
www.tolerance.org/activity/legislating-equal-access
Have students work in groups to design a model of education for
the 21st century that combines the traditional “3 Rs” of education
(reading, writing, and arithmetic) with the new “4 Cs”: communication,
collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. Resources:
TED:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY
RSA:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U
Partnership for 21st Century Skills:
www.p21.org
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Education for All
Extensions (cont.)
5) Millennium Development Goals: Empowering Women
Empowers the World
In September 2000, the United Nations signed the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) with the aim of halving the number
of people living in poverty, reducing maternal and child mortality,
fighting disease, and improving social and economic conditions
in the world's poorest countries by 2015. Have your class screen
the complete series of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into
Opportunity for Women Worldwide and examine the connection
between the issues addressed in the documentary the MDG
campaign’s focus on women. Have them consider how and why
improving rights and resources for women and girls is considered
key to eradicating global poverty.
• Divide the class into eight groups, assign each an MDG, and
instruct the groups develop a “We Are the Goal” presentation,
which should include the following:
--A summary of the MDG and the campaign’s strategies for
improving social and economic conditions for women
--Information on the public perception and understanding of the
MDGs. (Students can investigate the public’s knowledge and
understanding of the MDG campaign by recording “person-onthe-street” interviews and include the footage in the presentation.)
--Examples of specific programs that have been implemented and
their impact to date
--How the campaign relates to issues in the students’ own
communities
--A plan of action for the group and their school community to
contribute to the MDG campaign
• The presentations should be multi-media and can include photo
essays, video footage, audio clips, animations, and infographics
using the following websites as resources:
Animoto:
animoto.com
Capzles:
www.capzles.com
Prezi:
prezi.com
Infographic tools:
www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/05/eight-free-tools-forteachers-to-make.html
• Information and resources for research on the MDGs can be found at:
United Nations Millennium Development Goals:
www.un.org/millenniumgoals
End Poverty 2015:
www.endpoverty2015.org
MDG Get Involved:
www.un.org/en/mdg/summit2010/getinvolved.shtml
UN Women:
www.unifem.org/gender_issues/millennium_development_
goals
MDG Monitor:
www.mdgmonitor.org
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Education for All
Additional Resources
BOOKS
WEBSITES
N. Kristof, S. WuDunn, Half the Sky:
Turning Oppression into Opportunity for
Women Worldwide, New York : Alfred A.
Knopf, 2009
This is the official website for the Half
the Sky: Turning Oppression into
Opportunity for Women Worldwide film,
book, and movement.
www.halftheskymovement.org
The Campaign for Female Education
(Camfed) – fights poverty and HIV/AIDS in
Africa by educating girls and empowering
women to become leaders of change.
us.camfed.org
Room to Read – founded by John Wood,
this organization partners with communities
across Asia and Africa to improve
educational opportunities for children by
focusing on the two areas where programs
can have the most impact: literacy and
gender equality in education.
www.roomtoread.org
Girls, Inc. – inspires all girls to be strong,
smart, and bold through life-changing
programs and experiences that help
girls navigate gender, economic, and
social barriers.
www.girlsinc.org
F I LM S
Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into
Opportunity For Women Worldwide:
Filmed in 10 countries, the documentary
follows Nicholas Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn,
and celebrity activists America Ferrera,
Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan,
Gabrielle Union, and Olivia Wilde on a
journey to tell the stories of inspiring,
courageous individuals. Across the globe,
oppression is being confronted, and real
meaningful solutions are being fashioned
through health care, education, and
economic empowerment for women and
girls. The linked problems of sex trafficking
and forced prostitution, gender-based
violence, and maternal mortality — which
needlessly claims one woman every 90
seconds — present to us the single most
vital opportunity of our time: the opportunity
to make a change. All over the world,
women are seizing this opportunity. Visit the
website at: www.halftheskymovement.org
ITVS Women and Girls Lead Film
Collection: Women and Girls Lead offers
a collection of films by prominent
independent filmmakers. These films focus
on women who are working to transform their
lives, their communities, and the world. Visit
the website to learn more about the films
and explore our diverse catalogue of educator
resources, lesson plans, and film modules.
See www.womenandgirlslead.org for
more details.
CARE International – fighting poverty and
injustice in more than 70 countries around
the world and helping 65 million people
each year to find routes out of poverty.
www.careinternational.org
The Centre for Development and
Population Activities (CEDPA) – works
through local partnerships to give women
tools to improve their lives, families, and
communities. CEDPA’s programs increase
educational opportunities for girls, ensure
access to lifesaving reproductive health
and HIV/AIDS information and services,
and strengthen good governance and
women’s leadership in their nations.
www.cedpa.org
Girl Scouts of America – Girl Scouts of
the USA has a membership of over 3.2
million girls and adults and empowers
girls by tackling important societal issues,
embracing diversity and reaching out to
every girl, everywhere.
www.girlscouts.org
The Girl Effect – A collective movement
to lift 50 million women and girls out of
poverty by 2030 through the education and
empowerment of girls.
www.girleffect.org
National Coalition on Women and
Girls Education (NCWGE) – A nonprofit
organization of more than 50 groups
dedicated to improving educational
opportunities and advocate for the
development of national education policies
that benefit all women and girls.
www.ncwge.org
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Education for All
Standards
Common Core State Standards
for English Language Arts
& Literacy in History/Social
Studies, Science, and Technical
Subjects
Writing Standards 6–12
3. (9–10, 11–12) Write narratives to
develop real or imagined experiences or
events using effective technique, wellchosen details, and well-structured event
sequences.
4. (9–10, 11–12) Produce clear and
coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate
to task, purpose, and audience. (Gradespecific expectations for writing types are
defined in standards 1–3 above.)
6. (9–10, 11–12) Use technology,
including the Internet, to produce, publish,
and update individual or shared writing
products, taking advantage of technology’s
capacity to link to other information and to
display information flexibly and dynamically.
Speaking and Listening Standards
1. (9–10, 11–12) Initiate and participate
effectively in a range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners on [grade
9–12] topics, text, and issues, building
on others’ ideas and expressing their own
clearly and persuasively.
4. (9–10) Present information, findings,
and supporting evidence clearly, concisely,
and logically, such that listeners can follow
the line of reasoning and the organization,
development, substance, and style are
appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.
4. (11–12) Present information, findings,
and supporting evidence, conveying a clear
and distinct perspective, such that listeners
can follow the line of reasoning, alternative
or opposing perspectives are addressed,
and the organization, development,
substance, and style are appropriate to
purpose, audience, and a range of formal
and informal tasks.
5. (9–10, 11–12) Make strategic use
of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical,
audio, visual, and interactive elements) in
presentations to enhance understanding of
findings, reasoning, and evidence and to
add interest.
Writing Standards for Literacy in History/
Social Studies, Science, and Technical
Subjects 6–12
1. (9–10, 11–12) Write arguments focused
on discipline-specific content.
4. (9–10, 11–12) Produce clear and
coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience.
7. (9–10, 11–12) Conduct short as well
as more sustained research projects
to answer a question (including a selfgenerated question) or solve a problem;
narrow or broaden the inquiry when
appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on
the subject, demonstrating understanding
of the subject under investigation.
9. (9–10, 11–12) Draw evidence from
informational texts to support analysis,
reflection, and research.
National Curriculum Standards
for Social Studies
1. C U LT U R E
Through the study of culture and cultural
diversity, learners understand how human
beings create, learn, share, and adapt to
culture, and appreciate the role of culture in
shaping their lives and society, as well the
lives and societies of others.
4. I N DI V I DUAL DEV E LO P M E N T
AN D I DE NT I T Y
Personal identity is shaped by family,
peers, culture, and institutional influences.
Through this theme, students examine
the factors that influence an individual’s
personal identity, development, and actions.
5. I N DI V I DUALS , G RO U P S, A N D
I N S I T I T U T I ON S
Institutions such as families and civic,
educational, governmental, and religious
organizations exert a major influence on
people’s lives. This theme allows students
to understand how institutions are formed,
maintained, and changed, and to examine
their influence.
10. CI V I C I DEALS AN D P R ACTICE S
An understanding of civic ideals and
practices is critical to full participation
in society and an essential component
of education for citizenship. This theme
enables students to learn about the
rights and responsibilities of citizens
of a democracy, and to appreciate the
importance of active citizenship.
National Standards for Arts
Education Grades 9–12
VA1: Understanding and applying media,
techniques, and processes
VA5: Reflecting upon and assessing the
characteristics and merits of their work and
the work of others
H A L F T H E S K Y : E D U CAT I O N F O R A L L
Student Handout A:
Life Map
Name: Date: Class: Work with your partners to brainstorm some possible consequences that the student in this scenario
might face as a result of being denied access to an education.
You are a 14-year-old student and your family told you
that your sibling(s) would continue to got to school,
but you couldn’t go to school anymore because it’s
too expensive to send all of their children, and they
think it’s more important for your other sibling(s) to be
educated. Besides, they need your help doing chores
and taking care of the other children in the house.
PO
SS
PO
IBL
SS
E SH
O R T-
I B LE
E
TE R M CON S
Q
L O N G -T E R M C O N S E Q
C
UEN
C
UEN
ES
ES
H A L F T H E S K Y : E D U CAT I O N F O R A L L
Student Handout B:
The Education Ripple Effect
Group Names: Class: Read and discuss the following statement and work as a group to answer the discussion questions:
Access to education is recognized as a basic human right as well as a significant factor in breaking the cycle of poverty and improving
quality of life for children, communities, and countries. Despite this, millions of girls and women around the world are denied the opportunity to attend school and pursue education and training outside the home.
Of the approximately 75 million children who are currently not in school, the majority are girls. Worldwide, for every 100 boys out of
school, there are approximately 122 girls who are unable to attend school. In developing countries and countries with strict cultural and
religious codes regarding gender roles, this gap is much wider: for every 100 boys out of school in Yemen, there are 270 girls who are not
in school, in Iraq it is 316 girls, and in India it is 426 girls out of school for every 100 boys out of school.
Discussion Questions:
• How do you feel about this information? Did it surprise you? If so, what surprised
you most?
• Why do you think girls are less likely than boys to have access to education? What factors
might influence girls’ access to education?
• In some communities the majority of girls in a village or town may be uneducated.
What impact do you think this might have on the community?
• In nations where girls are four times less likely to get an education, how do you think the
country might be affected?
H A L F T H E S K Y : E D U CAT I O N F O R A L L
Student Handout C:
Vietnam in Context
Vietnam: Country History
Ancient Vietnam was home to some of the world’s earliest civilizations, with a cultural history
of over twenty thousand years – putting its citizens among the first humans to practice
farming and agriculture.
Vietnam has spent much of its history repelling or being ruled by invaders. For over a
thousand years Vietnam was governed by powers foreign to its region. In the late 19th
century, the country was colonized by France, which ruled Vietnam until 1954, when France
was defeated by communist forces.
The population of Vietnam was politically divided following the overthrow of French rule and
an agreement was made to divide the country into North Vietnam (which was predominantly
Communist) and South Vietnam (which opposed Communist rule), with the plan of
reunifying the country through democratic, countrywide elections. This division eventually
led to the Vietnam War.
After millions of Vietnamese deaths and the American withdrawal from Vietnam in 1973, the
war ended with the fall of Saigon to the Northern armies in 1975. For almost 20 years, a
reunified Vietnam suffered regional conflict and reconstruction and experienced international
isolation and limited economic growth.
Girls’ Education in Vietnam
The Doi Moi (The Renovation)
In the 1980s, Vietnam’s government introduced a series of reforms aimed at improving
the country’s living standards and economy. Since then, the Doi Moi (the renovation), as
it’s called, has made great advances — especially in the areas of private business, foreign
investment, and transforming the country into an industrialized nation. But efforts to improve
education have been met with many challenges, especially in rural areas.
Although Vietnam has made significant progress in achieving universal primary education
and improving girls’ access to schooling, the overall quality of education is poor by
international standards and teachers are in short supply. Children in rural areas are forced
to travel miles alone to reach the nearest school, and family responsibilities often outweigh
students’ hopes for education, with girls in particular dropping out so they can contribute to
the household income.
Flying Ducks
In Vietnam, girls are referred to as “flying ducks,” a saying that has its roots in Chinese
tradition and refers to the belief that a girl’s value is lost to the family after her marriage.
For parents who have limited resources, choosing to invest in their sons’ education over
their daughters’ seems like a better bet, since tradition dictates that boys are responsible
for taking care of parents in their old age, while a girl’s skills and talents will benefit her
husband’s family.
Son preference is deeply rooted in many Asian countries, and daughters may be seen as
a liability, especially where dowries must be paid. In Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into
Opportunity for Women Worldwide, Bich Vu Thi, a program officer for Room to Read’s
Girls’ Education program, talks about her own struggles achieving access to education in
a poor family where girls were not valued. She says, “One boy is one child, but 10 girls are
not equivalent to one child.” In a country like Vietnam, where the average person earns just
one dollar a day, the preference for boys, coupled with other factors­ — such as the need for
daughters to help at home, the cost of schooling, and the long distances students often
have to travel to attend school — puts education out of reach for thousands of girls whose
families are living on the economic margins.
H A L F T H E S K Y : E D U CAT I O N F O R A L L
Student Handout D:
Film Module Screening Guide
Name: Date: Class: Take notes while watching the Education in Vietnam film module, using the following list of questions
as a guide:
• Why is education important to each of the students in the film?
What are their goals?
• What challenges do they face?
• What are their families’ attitudes toward education?
• What are they each doing to overcome the barriers?
• Write down two or three quotes from the film that stand out most for you and illustrate the value and role of education in the lives
of the students featured in the film.
H A L F T H E S K Y : E D U CAT I O N F O R A L L
Student Handout E:
Education for All Fact Sheet
Fast Facts about Girls’ Education
• Of the 781 million illiterate adults in the developing world, twothirds are women.
• U.S. women comprise 48 percent of the U.S. workforce but just 24
percent of science, technology, engineering, and math workers.
Strategies for Success
Below is a list of some of the most successful
strategies that countries and communities are
using to achieve Millennium Development Goal 2:
• Educated women have greater control over their financial
resources and are more likely to invest in their family’s health,
education, and nutrition.
• Reduce or eliminate school fees: Unlike the United States, many
countries do not provide free education. For children in these
countries, school fees are a major barrier to education, especially
for girls. When countries such as Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi,
Tanzania, and Uganda eliminated their school fees, student
enrollment skyrocketed.
• A child born to a woman who can read is 50 percent more likely to
survive past age five. Women with formal education are much more
likely to delay marriage and have fewer and healthier babies.
• Provide merit-based scholarships: Providing scholarships based
on student performance is an effective way of raising test scores
and academic performance.
• Education fosters democracy and women’s political participation.
A study in Bangladesh found that educated women are three times
more likely to take part in political meetings.
• Offer financial incentives to families: One of the most successful
antipoverty initiatives in the world is Oportunidades in Mexico,
which pays parents a monthly stipend if their children attend school
regularly. Oportunidades has raised high school enrollment in some
rural areas by 85 percent and has been especially beneficial for girls.
• An extra year of primary school boosts girls’ eventual wages by
10 to 20 percent and an extra year of secondary school increases
earnings by 15 to 25 percent.
• Girls’ education ranks among the most powerful tools for reducing
vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.
• Address health concerns that impact attendance: Giving girls
access to private bathroom facilities has been an effective strategy
to increase attendance at high schools.
• Improve quality and relevance of curricula: Students need to
have access to information and skills that are not taught at home,
such as computer literacy and financial skills. Parents who have
limited funds are more willing to invest in their daughters’ education
if it will help them succeed in our rapidly changing world.
• Provide mentors and role model programs: Girls benefit from
mentorship that provides them with support and information that
they may not get from their parents or teachers. When girls receive
information that will help them make good decisions about all
aspects of their lives, they are more likely to stay in school and be
successful in future activities, whether that is raising a family, being
a community leader, or having a job.
H A L F T H E S K Y : E D U CAT I O N F O R A L L
Student Handout F:
Notes from the Field
Name: Class: Date: Interview Subject: Imagine you are part of a group of student ambassadors from the Millennium Development Committee.
You have been given the assignment to collaborate with one of the students from the film, with the goal
of improving education in both your communities. Use the steps below to complete your assignment:
Step 1: Your team will “interview” your subject about the challenges
and barriers to education for girls in her community and record her
responses. Imagine what responses your subject would provide to
the following questions, and think of three additional questions that
you would like to ask her:
• What are the three biggest challenges or barriers you have faced in
your ongoing effort to pursue an education?
• If you could snap your fingers and eliminate one barrier or
challenge, what would it be and why?
• Have you faced special challenges because you are a girl? If so,
what have they been?
• Strategy 1:
• Strategy 2:
Step 3: Now it’s your subject’s turn to interview you about
education in the United States and in your community in particular.
Imagine what responses your team would provide to the following
questions, and think of three additional questions that your subject
would ask you: What are the three biggest challenges or barriers
you have faced in your ongoing effort to pursue an education?
• What strategies have you used to overcome these challenges?
Have they worked?
If so, how? If not, why not?
• What does education mean in your family or in your community?
Why is education important to you?
• How has your family responded to your efforts to achieve an
education? How does their response make you feel?
• What are the three biggest challenges or barriers to education that
students in your community face?
• You (and your family) continue to make difficult sacrifices to make
it possible for you to go to school. Why is education so important
to you?
• If you could snap your fingers and eliminate one barrier or challenge
what would it be and why?
• What advice would you give to other girls and boys around
the world who area trying to achieve an education in difficult
circumstances?
• Team Question 1:
• Do girls and boys face different educational challenges? What
impact, if any, does gender have on education in the United States?
• Subject Question 1:
• Subject Question 2:
• Team Question 2:
• Subject Question 3:
• Team Question 3:
Step 2: Use Student Handout E: Education for All Fact Sheet as
a guide to identify two strategies for improving access to education
that would be most effective for your subject and her community.
List the strategies below. Using a separate sheet of paper, briefly
describe how you would collaborate with your subject and her
community to implement each strategy. What outcome do you hope
each will achieve?
Step 4: Based on her own experience, what advice do you think
your subject could share with you about improving education in
your community?
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Gender-Based Violence: Challenging Impunity
OVE RVI EW
“It is really hard to find legal
remedies to rape when you
have cultural attitudes like this
where rape is unfortunate but
forgivable but being raped is
just an unpardonable sin.”
Nicholas Kristof, Half the Sky: Turning
Oppression into Opportunity for Women
Worldwide
Audience
High School (grades 11-12), Community
College, Youth Development Organizations
Time
90 minutes or two 50-minute class periods
+ assignments
Subject Areas
Women’s Studies, Social Studies, Civics,
Global Studies, Media Studies, Health,
English Language Arts
Purpose of the Lesson
Although it is widespread, violence against
women and girls goes widely unreported
due to factors such as fear of retribution,
shame, stigma, lack of economic resources,
inadequate social services, ineffective
legal systems, and concern for children
(including fear for their children's safety
and losing custody and access if they
choose to leave). Few countries provide
appropriate training for the police and
judicial and medical staff who are the first
responders for women and girls during
and after violent events. As a result, victims
of violence are left vulnerable to further
abuse from the systems and institutions
that are meant to protect them, and the
perpetrators are often left unpunished and
free to continue perpetrating violence.
This lesson will examine the global crisis
of gender-based violence, the culture of
impunity that surrounds it, and the impact
it has on our own communities. Through
the activities, students will be challenged
to consider the factors that contribute
to violence against women and girls and
how they can contribute to local and
international efforts to eradicate it.
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Gender-Based Violence: Challenging Impunity
OVE RVI EW
Objectives:
Note for Teachers about the Lesson Plan
Gender-Based Violence: Challenging
Impunity and Its Contents:
This lesson and the accompanying film
module from Half the Sky: Turning
Oppression into Opportunity for Women
Worldwide address the challenging issue of
gender-based violence directly and honestly,
but the discussions and topics might not
be suitable for all audiences. Teachers
should prepare for the lesson by reading all
the materials thoroughly and watching the
complete film module to determine if this
topic and lesson are appropriate for their
class. Teachers should also brief students
on what they will be viewing in advance and
identify students who might be personally
or adversely affected by this material. Prior
to launching the lesson, please contact your
school counselor or social worker to discuss
policies and procedures for addressing
a disclosure of violence or abuse and be
prepared to provide students with support or
the option of not participating in the lesson
where appropriate.
Students will:
• consider the benefits and consequences of
taking a stand against an injustice;
For additional information about the
documentary Half the Sky: Turning
Oppression into Opportunity for Women
Worldwide, please download the free
Gender-Based Violence Discussion
Guide from the ITVS Women and Girls
Lead website (womenandgirlslead.
org), visit the project’s official website
(halftheskymovement.org), and read
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into
Opportunity for Women Worldwide by
Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.
• understand the roles that men and boys
can play in eradicating gender-based
violence in their families and communities.
• learn the definition of the word impunity
and the meaning of the phrase a culture
of impunity, and discuss the contributing
factors that allow a culture of impunity to
develop;
• identify the location of Sierra Leone on a
map and understand the social and political
context that has shaped the culture of
impunity and violence in that country;
• develop a working definition for the term
gender-based violence and consider the
global culture of impunity in relation to
violence against women;
• work in groups to analyze a scenario that
illustrates an example of gender-based
violence and imagine how their subject’s
story would play out in two different
environments;
• examine the root causes and impact of
gender-based violence in their community
and develop a strategy to address it; and
Resources:
• Film module: Gender-Based Violence in
Sierra Leone (10:44)
• Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into
Opportunity for Women Worldwide Film
Series Trailer (5:48): itvs.org/films/halfthe-sky
• LCD projector or DVD player
• Teacher handouts:
--Gender-Based Violence Discussion
Guide (Download Half the Sky: Turning
Oppression into Opportunity for Women
Worldwide discussion guide PDFs from
the Independent Television Service [ITVS]
Women and Girls Lead website:
www.womenandgirlslead.org.)
• Student handouts:
--Gender-Based Violence Glossary
--Student Handout A: Sierra Leone in
Context
--Student Handout B: Film Module
Screening Guide
--Student Handout C: Gwen’s Story
--Student Handout D: Representative
Gwen Moore and the Violence Against
Women ACT (VAWA)
• Pens/pencils and writing paper
• Whiteboard/blackboard and markers/chalk
• Computers with internet access
• Post-it notes
• Kraft paper
• Washable markers
• Wall map of the world with country names:
www.amaps.com/mapstoprint/
WORLDDOWNLOAD.htm
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Gender-Based Violence: Challenging Impunity
LE S SON P LAN P RO CE DU R E S
Prescreening Activity
Time: 30 minutes
You will need: Student Handout A: Sierra Leone in Context, whiteboard/blackboard, dryerase markers/chalk, kraft paper, washable markers, medium-sized Post-it notes, a wall map
of the world with country names (free printable maps are available here: www.amaps.com/
mapstoprint/WORLDDOWNLOAD.htm)
Goal: Students will consider the benefits and consequences of taking a stand against an
injustice, and how these factors might affect their own choices. They will learn the definition
of the word impunity and the meaning of the phrase a culture of impunity and discuss the
contributing factors that allow a culture of impunity to develop. In preparation for viewing
the Gender-Based Violence in Sierra Leone film module, students will identify the location
of Sierra Leone on a map and understand the social and political context for the events
depicted in the film.
Part 1: To Speak Out or not to Speak Out
• Divide the class into groups of three to five students and provide each group with a large
sheet of kraft paper, markers, and Post-it notes.
• Give the students the following instructions:
-- Think of a time when you (or someone you know) successfully spoke out in order to right a
wrong or to protect yourself or someone else.
-- Select a Post-it note (one for each student in the group) and write down all of the words you
can think of to describe how you felt about yourself or the other person who took a stand.
-- Discuss your responses as a group, then share your words with the class.
• Have each group hang their kraft paper on the wall and draw a horizontal line across the
middle and mark points along the line numbered one to five as follows:
|||||
12345
• Tell the students that this graph represents the likelihood that a person would speak out in a
given situation (1=least likely; 5=most likely). In this first scenario, they — or the person they
knew — spoke out, so have the students place all of their Post-its on number five.
• Following the pattern of the first question, ask students in each group to write the letter
corresponding to each of the following scenarios and their responses on a Post-it note and
place the completed Post-it on the area of the graph that indicates how likely they would be
to speak out.
-- Imagine that you spoke out about an injustice but nothing was done and the injustice was
not corrected. Write on your Post-it note all of the words that you can think of to describe
how you might feel. Place your Post-it on the graph in the area that indicates how likely
you would be to speak out again.
--
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Prescreening Activity (cont.)
-- Imagine that you knew before speaking out that your actions would probably not be
successful or that no one would support you. How would you feel about taking action?
Write on your Post-it note all of the words that you can think of to describe how you might
feel. Place your Post-it note on the graph in the area that indicates how likely you would
be to speak out.
-- Imagine that you knew that you would be blamed, bullied, or shunned if you came forward.
-- Imagine that you found out that your family would suffer.
-- Imagine that you knew it was likely that you or the person you were helping would be in
more danger as a result.
• After completing the activity, discuss the results as a class, including the placement of the
Post-its for each question and what can be inferred from the results.
• Record the student feedback for reference later in the lesson.
Part 2: Culture of Impunity
• Introduce the word impunity to the class. Have a student volunteer look up definitions
in two or more sources and share their findings with the class. (Example: When people
are able to commit crimes and/or violate the human rights of others without facing
consequences.)
• Based on these definitions, ask students what is meant by the phrase a culture of impunity.
(Example: The term culture of impunity refers to a situation in which people in a society have
come to believe that they can do whatever they want without having to face any penalties
or punishments and victims of those actions are denied basic rights and/or protections.)
• Variation: Students can use a word map to process their responses:
www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson307/wordmap.pdf.
• Ask the students to identify which, if any, of the examples from the previous activity they
think are indicative of a culture of impunity and why.
• Ask students to share possible examples of impunity that they may have seen in the news,
learned about in class, or experienced in their own lives. Examples could include the following:
-- Prior to the abolition of slavery, many states allowed slaveowners to treat enslaved people
in any way they saw fit. No matter how horrendously owners treated, tortured, or killed
slaves, the law would ignore the actions of the perpetrators and the victims had no legal
rights or protections.
-- Since the digital revolution, there has been a major shift in the way that music is acquired.
As of 2009, only 37 percent of music acquired in the United States was paid for. From
2004 through 2009 alone, approximately 30 billion songs were illegally downloaded.
• Using the students’ examples as a guide, have the class work in pairs (Think-Pair-Share)
and brainstorm a list of factors that might contribute to the creation of a culture of impunity.
• Complete the discussion with the following questions:
-- What impact would a culture like this have on an individual’s ability to feel empowered to
speak out?
-- What role do you think race, poverty, and gender might play in an individual’s ability to
achieve justice?
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Prescreening Activity (cont.)
• Ask the students to keep this activity in mind as they watch the film and tell them that they
will revisit their work later in the lesson.
Part 3: Sierra Leone in Context
• In preparation for viewing the film module, ask a volunteer to locate Sierra Leone on a
wall map.
• Provide students with the one-page fact sheet Student Handout A: Sierra Leone in
Context. Have them read the fact sheet and discuss briefly with a partner.
• Variation: This handout can be provided in advance of the lesson for students to review
as homework.
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Viewing the Module
Class time: 10-15 minutes
Note: We recommend that if time permits you begin this section by watching the film series
trailer (5:48): itvs.org/films/half-the-sky
You will need: Pens/pencils and writing paper, LCD projector or DVD player, the GenderBased Violence in Sierra Leone film module, Student Handout B: Film Module Screening
Guide, Gender-Based Violence Glossary
• Distribute Student Handout B: Film Module Screening Guide and instruct students to take
notes during the screening, using the worksheet as a guide. Students may also need a
copy of the Gender-Based Violence Glossary for reference while viewing the film.
• Variation: The questions from Student Handout B can be projected or written on the board
and reviewed briefly before viewing the film module to save paper.
Time: 45-50 minutes
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Post-Screening Activity
You will need: Student Handout C:
Gwen’s Story, Student Handout D:
Representative Gwen Moore and the
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA),
whiteboard/blackboard, dry-erase markers/
chalk, pens/pencils, writing paper
Part 1: Discussion Questions
• Begin by discussing the Gender-Based Violence in Sierra Leone film module and ask for
volunteers to share their notes and quotes from the screening guide. Use the following
questions to guide the class discussion:
-- What did you think of the film? Was there anything that surprised you?
-- How do you feel about Fulamatu’s story?
Goal: Students will discuss the film module
and create a working definition of genderbased violence. They will work in groups
to analyze a scenario that illustrates an
example of gender-based violence and
imagine how their subject’s story would
play out in two different environments.
Finally, they will consider the status of
gender-based violence in the United States,
how it impacts their own community, and
their role and responsibility in addressing
this issue.
•
-- In addition to the physical violence Fulamatu experienced, what other forms of violence
was she exposed to?
-- What role does Fulamatu’s gender play in her story? Based on what you saw in the film,
do girls and women have equal status with boys and men in Fulamatu’s community?
-- In the film, Amie Kandeh says, “When you look at the root cause of violence against
women, it is about power and control.” What does this statement mean to you? Do you
agree with her?
-- Why did Kandeh work with the International Rescue Committee to establish the Rainbo
Centers? How does her personal experience inform her work? Why do you think she is
able to stand up against an issue that few speak about openly in her community?
Why do you think Kandeh refers to her clients at the Rainbo Center as “survivors” instead
of “victims”?
• Kandeh says that “the IRC (International Rescue Committee) has responded to about ten
thousand sexual assault survivors” since the program began in Sierra Leone and “there’s
not even one percent of those cases that have been convicted.” What are some of the
barriers that get in the way of bringing perpetrators to justice?
-- What did the police do to investigate Fulamatu’s allegations? If you were the police, how
would you have handled the investigation?
-- In what ways does our definition of impunity connect with Fulamatu’s story? How did the
responses of her family, the police, and the community contribute to the culture of impunity?
-- What impact did the culture of impunity in Freetown have on Fulamatu’s choices
and opportunities?
-- How might the outcome of Fulamatu’s story have been different if there was a woman on
the staff of the Family Support Unit? Would that have had an impact?
-- What role should the government play in protecting women against violence? What roles
should the police and justice system play?
-- What parallels, if any, do you see in the treatment of women and girls in Sierra Leone and
the treatment of women and girls in the United States?
-- What impact, if any, do you think factors such as race and economic status have on
violence against women and girls in the United States?
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Post-Screening Activity:
Part 2: Gender-Based Violence
• This lesson plan is titled “Gender-Based Violence: Challenging Impunity.” Ask the students
what they think this term means based on what they saw in the film, and brainstorm a
definition as a class. Have a volunteer look up additional formal definitions for the term and
ask students to further refine the definition as needed.
• Introduce the following information:
-- World-wide, gender-based violence kills and disables as many women between the ages
of 15 and 44 as cancer, traffic accidents, malaria, and war combined.
-- UN Women: Say NO — UNiTE to End Violence against Women
• Ask students: What does this statement mean to you? Have them summarize this
information in their own words and share with a partner. (Variation: Print out multiple copies
of the quote and have students read it quietly, write their responses, then pass it on to
another student. Repeat this process two or three times before discussing their responses
as a class.)
• Share the Gender-Based Violence Glossary with the students and use the following
prompts to guide a discussion or have students make a brief journal entry based on one or
more of the questions:
-- What do you think about this information?
-- How does this information connect with our definition of gender-based violence?
-- How was this information reflected in the film?
-- In what way, if any, do you think violence against men is included in gender-based violence?
Why or why not? (Explain that, although it is far less frequent than violence against women,
gender-based violence has its roots in power and control, and many men and boys have
been the victims of gender-based violence perpetrated by women or a male partner.)
-- In what ways, if any, does this information connect to our discussion of a culture of impunity?
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Post-Screening Activity:
Part 3: Gwen’s Story
• Divide the class into groups of three to four students and provide
each group with Student Handout C: Gwen’s Story.
• Have the groups review Gwen’s story and consider how it would
play out in two different environments: 1) Fulamatu’s community in
Freetown; 2) A community in the United States.
• Using the prompts in Student Handout C: Gwen’s Story as a guide,
each group will write two endings for their subject’s story, one for
each scenario. When complete, the groups will share their stories
with the class, followed by a class discussion.
• Reveal and discuss the origin of Gwen’s story by either using
Student Handout D: Representative Gwen Moore and the Violence
Against Women Act (VAWA) or reading the description below:
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was the first major
U.S. law to help government agencies and victim advocates work
together to fight domestic violence, sexual assault, and other
types of violence. It created new punishments for certain crimes
and started programs to prevent violence and help victims. Since
the law was passed, there has been a 51 percent increase in
reporting of domestic violence by women and a 37 percent
increase in reporting by men. The number of individuals killed by
an intimate partner has decreased by 34 percent for women and
57 percent for men.
Despite this progress there is still work to do. In the United
States today, a woman is abused — usually by her husband or
partner — every 15 seconds, and is raped every 90 seconds and
only about 3 percent of rapists ever serve a day in jail.
“Gwen’s Story” is based on the experience of Congresswoman
Gwen Moore, representative for Wisconsin's Fourth Congressional
• Complete the lesson with a discussion, using the prompts below
District. She is the first African American and second woman
as a guide. (Students can also respond to one or more of these
to be elected to Congress from the state of Wisconsin and has
questions in their class journal.)
served since 2005.
In the mid-1970s, Rep. Moore was attacked and raped by her
friend in his car. She said that he later challenged her story in
court on the grounds that she was dressed provocatively and had
a child out of wedlock. She remembers, “I was literally on trial that
day.” Rep. Moore said that her rapist was found not guilty and she
was fired from her job as a file clerk for not calling in to work the
day after the attack.
Rep. Moore shared her story on the floor of the House of
Representatives in March 2012 in support of renewal of the
Violence Against Women Act. She stressed that the attack
happened almost 20 years before the Violence Against Women
Act had been passed into law in September 1994 and that the
outcome of her story might have been different if current laws
providing stronger protection and support for victims of genderbased violence had been in place.
-- Were you surprised by this information? In what way?
-- What does this suggest about the status of women in the
United States?
-- What role do power and control play in gender-based violence?
-- How does this information connect with what we have learned
about gender-based violence worldwide?
-- In what ways, if any, does this information connect to our
discussion of a culture of impunity?
-- What responsibility do we as individuals have to address genderbased violence in our communities?
-- What role do you think men can play in eradicating violence
against women and girls? What role can women play? How can
we work together to address this issue?
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Assignments
Select one or more of the following assignments to complete
the lesson:
1. What would our Rainbo look like?
Share the following information with the class: Gender-based
violence is a global problem and even our country struggles with
a culture of impunity. In the United States, only about 3 percent of
rapists ever serve a day in jail.
-- Imagine that Amie Kandeh asked you to open a Rainbo Center
in your community to address gender-based violence in the
United States.
-- Who would you work with?
-- What services would you provide?
-- How would you reach out to families, men, youth, and
community leaders?
-- How would you involve law enforcement?
-- What legal support would you provide for the survivors?
-- What challenges would you expect to face?
-- What outcome would you hope to achieve?
3. Say No to Violence!
Have students research the impact of gender-based violence in
their community and the services and supports that are available
to survivors. Working in groups, students should develop a plan
of action to mobilize their community and become part of the
campaign to eradicate violence against women.
• Instruct students to work in groups to create their own multimedia
“Say No to Violence” toolkits, including a Google Map detailing local
programs and organizations in their community and the services
they offer.
• When developing their campaigns, students should consider
how they can galvanize support from a broad range of audiences.
How will they reach out to students, adults, women and girls,
men and boys, etc.? Recommend that students visit the White
Ribbon Campaign and Man Up Campaign for information and
resources on how men and women can work together to end
gender-based violence:
Man Up Campaign:
www.manupcampaign.org
White Ribbon Campaign:
2. A Letter of Solidarity
www.whiteribbon.ca
Instruct students to write a letter of solidarity to Fulamatu describing
• For more ideas, groups can research and connect with the UNiTE
the effect that her story and her choice to speak out has had on
to End Violence against Women campaign, which was launched in
them. What impact has her action had on breaking the silence and
2009 by UN Women to engage people from all walks of life, online,
the global culture of impunity surrounding gender-based violence?
and on the ground to end gender-based violence in all its forms.
(For example, even though her perpetrator was set free, her story
-- UNiTE to End Violence against Women, Say No Campaign:
has reached young men and women around the world.) Next, have
www.saynotoviolence.org
students research current events and news stories related to this
issue and identify an individual or community that has experienced
-- Say NO — UNiTE to End Violence against Women’s
gender-based violence. Have students write a second letter of
“Organizer’s toolkit”:
solidarity to them, sharing what they have learned about the
saynotoviolence.org/about-say-no/organizers-toolkit
importance of breaking the silence through Fulamatu’s story.
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Extensions
1. Is all violence created equal? The Violence Against Women Act
(VAWA) was enacted in 1994 to recognize the pervasive nature of
domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking and
to provide comprehensive, effective, and cost-saving responses
to these crimes. VAWA programs were created to give law
enforcement, prosecutors, and judges the tools they need to hold
offenders accountable and keep communities safe while supporting
victims. But if violence, assault, and stalking are already crimes, is
it necessary to have a specific law that targets violence against
women? Why or why not?
-- Instruct students to research the history and content of the
Violence Against Women Act and how its provisions relate to
existing criminal laws.
-- Ask students to compile data on the impact of the VAWA since it
was enacted.
White Ribbon Campaign:
www.whiteribbon.ca
“Guide to Engaging Men and Boys in Preventing Violence Against
Women & Girls” by the Men’s Nonviolence Project, a project of
the Texas Council on Family Violence:
www.tcfv.org/pdf/mensguide/EngagingMenandBoys.pdf
3. Journalism vs. Activism: Nicholas Kristof actively participates
in Fulamatu’s story, even helping the authorities track down the
accused child-rapist. He considers the journalistic ethics of his
involvement and concludes that he is comfortable with his decision.
• Have students view the entire Gender-Based Violence segment
from Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for
Women Worldwide
• Ask students to consider the following questions: What do you
think about Nicholas Kristof’s decision? Is there a distance that
-- Explain that there is an ongoing debate about how and if the
journalists should maintain in order to remain objective? Is it more
VAWA should continue to be funded, and if it should be expanded
ethical
to simply observe and report or to actively participate?
to include groups such as undocumented immigrants and
• Share The Guardian article and photo essay, The Bystanders with
members of the LGBT community.
your students and discuss what a journalist’s responsibility is when
-- Following their research, have students engage in a formal
reporting a story.
debate about the issue. Education World offers a selection of
debate resources that provide guidelines and rules for classroom
debates: www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/
lesson304b.shtml.
• The Bystanders Article:
www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jul/28/guttedphotographers-who-didnt-help
• The Bystanders Photo-Essay:
2. Why should boys and men care about ending genderwww.guardian.co.uk/media/interactive/2012/jul/28/
based violence? Violence prevention requires a change in the
bystanders-photographers-who-didnt-help
social conditions that make violence normal and acceptable.
• Have students select a photojournalist featured in the story and
Men and boys receive messages about relationships, violence,
consider if they agree or disagree with the journalist’s decision.
and power every day, and they also experience different forms
of oppression: racism, classism, ableism, homophobia, etc. Men
• Ask them to draft a letter from perspective of the journalist to one
also enjoy certain privileges in institutions established by sexism.
of their photograph’s subjects explaining their decision: why they
Generally speaking, men have greater access to resources
feel that it was the correct choice or what they wish they had done
and opportunities and are in a position to influence large social
differently. The completed letters can be presented as a monologue.
structures and institutions. As a result, they can play an important
4. The silent war against women and girls. Violence against
role in preventing violence against women.
women and girls was a hallmark of the brutal civil war in Sierra
-- Instruct students to research the root causes of violence against
Leone but these atrocities are not unique to this conflict. Rape
women and girls and examine the unequal power relations
has long been used as a weapon of war, and violence against
between men and women that lead to gender-based violence.
women during or after armed conflicts has been reported in every
war-zone. Between 250,000 and 500,000 women were raped
-- Have them identify negative consequences of violence against
during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and between 20,000 and
women in the lives of boys and men.
50,000 women were raped during the conflict in Bosnia in the early
-- For additional resources and lesson plans on this topic, refer to
1990s.
In 2009, the United Nations Security Council adopted a
the following websites:
resolution classifying rape as a war tactic and posing grave threat
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Extensions
to international security. The resolution describes sexual violence
as a deliberate weapon that humiliates, dominates, instills fear and
worsens conflict situations by forcibly dispersing or relocating
communities.
• Ask students to consider why violence against women and girls is
especially prevalent in war zones.
• Divide the class into groups of 3-5 students and instruct each
member of the group research a different contemporary conflict
and the role that gender-based violence plays in it. Each student
should identify root causes of the violence, how violence against
women was used as a tool of war, and what the long-term impact
was/is for the communities that were affected.
• Once each member of the group has completed their individual
research, have them compare their results with their partners and
identify areas of commonality.
• Groups can present their collective findings as a multimedia
presentation including their research, photo-essays, video
footage, audio clips, and infographics using the following
websites as resources:
Animoto:
animoto.com
Capzles:
www.capzles.com
Prezi:
prezi.com
Infographic tools from the Educational Technology and Mobile
Learning website:
www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/05/eight-free-tools-forteachers-to-make.html
5. Students Rebuild! Have your students participate in the
global campaign to improve the health, opportunities, and safety
for youth around the world. Students Rebuild is an initiative
of the Bezos Family Foundation that mobilizes young people
worldwide to “connect, learn and take action on critical global
issues.” The program’s goal is “to activate our greatest creative
resource—students—to catalyze powerful change. Working together,
we identify the need, create the challenge, and forge strong
partnerships. Then, we provide the tools and support to ensure our
collective efforts are sustainable—now and into the future.”
Students Rebuild has joined the One Million Bones project in a
global effort to cover the National Mall in Washington D.C. in 2013
with 1,000,000 handmade bones as a visible petition against
humanitarian crises. Students Rebuild is challenging students
worldwide to make bones, as a symbol of solidarity with victims
and survivors of ongoing conflict. Each bone made generates $1
from the Bezos Family Foundation for CARE's work in conflictaffected regions, up to $500,000! CARE is a leading humanitarian
organization fighting global poverty.
Students can speak out against the violence in Sierra Leone,
Burma, Syria or other struggling regions by joining Students
Rebuild and bringing the One Million Bones project to their
community. Students can learn more about CARE’s work in the
DRC here: www.studentsrebuild.org/congo and in Somalia
www.studentsrebuild.org/somalia.
Students can connect directly with fellow students across the
world to learn more about the causes and of the ongoing conflict
and the challenges youth are currently experiencing by joining
Interactive Videoconferences where they will see and speak to the
students of ETN, a CARE supported vocational school in eastern
DRC. Or they can participate in webcasts to connect directly with
students and aid workers in the DRC. Learn more and sign up for
IVCs and webcasts here: studentsrebuild.org/connect-field
6. Further Discussion: Hillary Clinton draws a parallel between the
attitudes toward and treatment of women around the world today
and the experience of African American slaves during the height
of the slave trade explaining that both communities were not seen
as “fully human” they were both “some other kind of being.” Have
students view the entire Gender-Based Violence segment from
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women
Worldwide and discuss the following:
-- What do you think she means by this statement?
-- Do you agree? Why or why not?
-- What similarities do you think she sees in both communities’
experiences?
-- Is this an accurate parallel to draw? Why or why not?
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Additional Resources
BOOKS
WEBSITES
N. Kristof, S. WuDunn, Half the Sky:
Turning Oppression into Opportunity for
Women Worldwide, New York : Alfred A.
Knopf, 2009
This is the official website for the Half
the Sky: Turning Oppression into
Opportunity for Women Worldwide film,
book, and movement.
www.halftheskymovement.org
F I LM S
Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into
Opportunity For Women Worldwide:
Filmed in 10 countries, the documentary
follows Nicholas Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn,
and celebrity activists America Ferrera,
Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan,
Gabrielle Union, and Olivia Wilde on a
journey to tell the stories of inspiring,
courageous individuals. Across the globe,
oppression is being confronted, and real
meaningful solutions are being fashioned
through health care, education, and
economic empowerment for women and
girls. The linked problems of sex trafficking
and forced prostitution, gender-based
violence, and maternal mortality — which
needlessly claims one woman every 90
seconds — present to us the single most
vital opportunity of our time: the opportunity
to make a change. All over the world,
women are seizing this opportunity. Visit the
website at: www.halftheskymovement.org
ITVS Women and Girls Lead Film
Collection: Women and Girls Lead offers
a collection of films by prominent
independent filmmakers. These films focus
on women who are working to transform their
lives, their communities, and the world. Visit
the website to learn more about the films
and explore our diverse catalogue of educator
resources, lesson plans, and film modules.
See www.womenandgirlslead.org for
more details.
ITVS’s Women and Girls Lead is an
innovative public media campaign
designed to celebrate, educate, and
activate women, girls, and their allies
across the globe to address the challenges
of the 21st century.
womenandgirlslead.org
The International Rescue Committee
(IRC) responds to the world’s worst
humanitarian crises and helps people to
survive and rebuild their lives.
www.rescue.org
CARE International is an organization
fighting poverty and injustice in more than
70 countries around the world and helping
65 million people each year to find routes
out of poverty.
www.careinternational.org
The Centre for Development and
Population Activities (CEDPA) works
through local partnerships to give women
tools to improve their lives, families, and
communities. CEDPA’s programs increase
educational opportunities for girls, ensure
access to lifesaving reproductive health
and HIV/AIDS information and services,
and strengthen good governance and
women’s leadership in their nations.
www.cedpa.org
UNiTE to End Violence against Women
was launched in 2009 by UN Women to
engage people from all walks of life to end
gender-based violence in all its forms.
endviolence.un.org
Girls Educational and Mentoring Services
(GEMS) is the only organization in New York
State specifically designed to serve girls
and young women who have experienced
commercial sexual exploitation and domestic
trafficking and their work has put them on
the forefront of the national movement to
end the sexual slavery of women.
www.gems-girls.org
Futures Without Violence works to
prevent and end violence against women
and children around the world.
www.futureswithoutviolence.org
The Rape, Abuse & Incest National
Network (RAINN) is the nation's largest
anti-sexual violence organization and
created and operates the National Sexual
Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE).
www.rainn.org
Man Up Campaign is a global campaign
to activate young women and men to stop
violence against women and girls.
www.manupcampaign.org
Striving To Reduce Youth Violence
Everywhere (STRYVE) is “a national
initiative, led by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), which takes
a public health approach to preventing
youth violence before it starts.”
www.safeyouth.gov
The National Network to End Domestic
Violence (NNEDV), a social change
organization, is dedicated to creating
a social, political, and economic
environment in which violence against
women no longer exists.
www.nnedv.org
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Additional Resources
WEBSITES
The National Organization for Women
(NOW) is the largest organization of
feminist activists in the United States and
works to bring about equality for all women.
www.now.org
Amnesty International is a worldwide
movement of people who campaign
for internationally recognized human
rights for all.
www.amnesty.org
Médecins Sans Frontières is “an
international, independent, medical
humanitarian organisation that delivers
emergency aid to people affected by armed
conflict, epidemics, healthcare exclusion
and natural or man-made disasters.”
www.msf.org Save the Children is an organization that
works to save and improve children’s lives
in more than 50 countries worldwide.
www.savethechildren.org
The United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA) is an international development
agency that promotes the right of every
woman, man, and child to enjoy a life of
health and equal opportunity.
www.unfpa.org/public
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Gender-Based Violence: Challenging Impunity
Standards
Common Core State Standards
for English Language Arts
& Literacy in History/Social
Studies, Science, and Technical
Subjects
Writing Standards 6–12
3. (9-10, 11-12) Write narratives to
develop real or imagined experiences or
events using effective technique, wellchosen details, and well-structured event
sequences.
4. (9-10, 11-12) Produce clear and
coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate
to task, purpose, and audience. (Gradespecific expectations for writing types are
defined in standards 1–3 above.)
6. (9-10, 11-12) Use technology, including
the Internet, to produce, publish, and
update individual or shared writing
products, taking advantage of technology’s
capacity to link to other information and to
display information flexibly and dynamically.
Speaking and Listening Standards
1. (9-10, 11-12) Initiate and participate
effectively in a range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners on
[grade 9-12] topics, text, and issues,
building on others’ ideas and expressing
their own clearly and persuasively.
4. (9-10) Present information, findings, and
supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and
logically, such that listeners can follow
the line of reasoning and the organization,
development, substance, and style are
appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.
4. (11-12) Present information, findings,
and supporting evidence, conveying a clear
and distinct perspective, such that listeners
can follow the line of reasoning, alternative
or opposing perspectives are addressed,
and the organization, development,
substance, and style are appropriate to
purpose, audience, and a range of formal
and informal tasks.
5. (9-10, 11-12) Make strategic use
of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical,
audio, visual, and interactive elements) in
presentations to enhance understanding of
findings, reasoning, and evidence and to
add interest.
Writing Standards for Literacy in History/
Social Studies, Science, and Technical
Subjects 6–12
1. (9-10, 11-12) Write arguments focused
on discipline-specific content.
4. (9-10, 11-12) Produce clear and
coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience.
7. (9-10, 11-12) Conduct short as well
as more sustained research projects
to answer a question (including a selfgenerated question) or solve a problem;
narrow or broaden the inquiry when
appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on
the subject, demonstrating understanding
of the subject under investigation.
9. (9-10, 11-12) Draw evidence from
informational texts to support analysis,
reflection, and research.
National Curriculum Standards
for Social Studies
1. C U LT U R E
Through the study of culture and cultural
diversity, learners understand how human
beings create, learn, share, and adapt to
culture, and appreciate the role of culture
in shaping their lives and society, as well
the lives and societies of others.
4. I N DI V I DUAL DEV E LO P M E N T
AN D I DE NT I T Y
Personal identity is shaped by family,
peers, culture, and institutional influences.
Through this theme, students examine
the factors that influence an individual’s
personal identity, development, and actions.
5. I N DI V I DUALS , G ROU P S, A N D
I N S I T I T U T I ON S
Institutions such as families and civic,
educational, governmental, and religious
organizations exert a major influence on
people’s lives. This theme allows students
to understand how institutions are formed,
maintained, and changed, and to examine
their influence.
10. CI V I C I DEALS AN D P R ACTICE S
An understanding of civic ideals and
practices is critical to full participation
in society and an essential component
of education for citizenship. This theme
enables students to learn about the
rights and responsibilities of citizens
of a democracy, and to appreciate the
importance of active citizenship.
National Standards for Arts
Education Grades 9-12
VA1: Understanding and applying media,
techniques, and processes
VA5: Reflecting upon and assessing the
characteristics and merits of their work and
the work of others
HALF TH E S KY: G E N D E R-BAS E D VI OLE N CE: CHALLE N G I N G I M PU N ITY
Gender-Based Violence Glossary
Defining Violence Against Women and Girls
The Declaration of the Elimination of Violence Against Women, adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly in 1993, defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in,
or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of
such acts, coercion, or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.”
This includes:
Domestic violence
Honor killing
A pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by
one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another
intimate partner. This can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or
psychological actions or threats. It also includes any behaviors that
intimidate, isolate, frighten, threaten, blame, hurt, or wound.
Acts of vengeance, usually death, committed against female
family members who are believed to have brought dishonor on the
family. A woman can be targeted for a variety of reasons, including
refusing to enter into an arranged marriage, being the victim of a
sexual assault, seeking a divorce (even from an abusive husband),
or allegedly committing adultery.
Economic violence
Making or attempting to make an individual financially dependent
by maintaining total control over financial resources, withholding
an individual’s access to money, or forbidding an individual’s
attendance at school or employment.
Emotional abuse and psychological abuse
Human trafficking
A crime against humanity that involves an act of recruiting,
transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving a person through
the use of force, coercion, or other means, for the purpose of
exploiting them.
Undermining an individual’s sense of self-worth or self-esteem
is abusive. This may include constant criticism, name-calling,
damaging a woman’s relationship with her children, causing fear by
intimidation, and threatening physical harm.
Physical abuse
Female genital mutilation/cutting
Sexual abuse and rape
Female genital mutilation (also known as female circumcision or
genital cutting) is the removal of part or all of the external female
genitalia, and in its most severe form, a woman or girl has all of her
genitalia removed and then the wound is stitched together, leaving
a small opening for urination, intercourse, and menstruation. This
practice has a direct effect on women and girls’ reproductive and
maternal health and can have grave consequences during childbirth.
Female genital mutilation is mostly carried out on young girls
between infancy and age 15 and is motivated by a mix of cultural,
religious, and social factors within families and communities.
Coercing or attempting to coerce any sexual contact or behavior
without consent. Sexual abuse includes attacks on sexual parts
of the body, marital rape, forcing sex after physical violence has
occurred, or treating another person in a sexually demeaning manner.
Hitting, slapping, shoving, grabbing, pinching, biting, hair pulling, etc.
are types of physical abuse. This type of abuse also includes denying
medical care or forcing alcohol and/or drug use on the victim.
Sexual harassment and intimidation
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other
verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.
HALF TH E S KY: G E N D E R-BAS E D VI OLE N CE: CHALLE N G I N G I M PU N ITY
Gender-Based Violence Glossary
Power and Control
C OE RCION AN D
TH R EATS:
Making and/or carrying
out threats to do
something to hurt her.
Threatening to leave her,
commit suicide, or report
her to welfare. Making
her drop charges. Making
her do illegal things.
I NTI M I DATION:
Making her afraid by
using looks, actions, and
gestures. Smashing
things. Destroying her
property. Abusing pets.
Displaying weapons.
MALE P R IVI LEG E:
Treating her like a
servant: making all the
big decisions, acting like
the “master of the castle,”
being the one who
decides men’s and
women’s roles.
EC ONOM IC AB US E:
Preventing her from
getting or keeping a job.
Making her ask for
money. Giving her an
allowance. Taking her
money. Not letting her
know about or have
access to family income.
E MOTIONAL AB US E:
POWE R
&
CONTROL
US I NG CH I LDR E N:
ph
ys
Making her feel guilty
about children. Using
children to relay
messages. Using
visitation to harass her.
Threatening to take the
children away.
ic a
l
se
xu
a
Putting her down. Making
her feel bad about
herself. Calling her
names. Making her think
she’s crazy. Playing mind
games. Humiliating her.
Making her feel guilty.
I SOLATION:
Controlling what she
does, who she sees and
talks to, what she reads,
and where she goes.
Limiting her outside
involvement. Using
jealousy to justify actions.
MINIMIZING, DENYING, AN D B LAM I NG:
Making light of the abuse
and not taking her
concerns about it
seriously. Saying the
abuse didn’t happen.
Shifting responsibility for
abusive behavior. Saying
she caused it.
VIOLENCE
a
u
x
l
l
a
c
si
y
h
VIOLENCE
l
p
This chart uses a wheel to show the relationship of physical abuse to other forms of abuse. Each part
shows a way to control or gain power.
se
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Student Handout A:
Sierra Leone in Context
The Republic of Sierra Leone is located on the Atlantic coast
of West Africa and is a country rich with natural resources,
including gold, titanium, and diamonds. Despite its natural wealth,
approximately 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s population lives in
poverty and the country is struggling to recover from a recent,
brutal civil war that cost tens of thousands of lives and has left a
legacy of violence against women and girls.
From Colonization to the Founding of Freetown
From 1495 until the middle of the 20th century, Sierra Leone
endured over 450 years of colonization and oppression, primarily
under British rule, and became a major departure point for
thousands of West Africans who were enslaved during the height
of the transatlantic slave trade.
As the slave trade continued to grow in the Americas, the abolition
movement in Great Britain was also growing. By the time of the
American Revolution, slavery had been outlawed in Great Britain but
was still practiced in many of its colonial outposts. In 1791, Thomas
Peters, who had served in the Black Pioneers (the African American
regiment of the British Army), collaborated with British abolitionists
to establish a free settlement in Sierra Leone for over eleven hundred
former African American slaves. These settlers had escaped from
the American colonies during the Revolutionary War and sought
sanctuary with the British Army. They established the settlement of
Freetown in Sierra Leone, which is now the country’s capital.
Independence and Internal Conflict
During Sierra Leone’s long colonial history, its people mounted
several unsuccessful revolts against British rule. In 1951, the Sierra
Leone People’s Party oversaw the drafting of a new constitution
for an independent Sierra Leone, which began the process of
decolonization. Almost a decade later, constitutional conferences
were held in London to bring an end to British rule, and in 1961,
the country gained independence from the United Kingdom, with
the respected politician and medical doctor Sir Milton Margai as its
first prime minister.
Sierra Leone enjoyed several years of relative stability and progress
following independence, but after the death of Sir Milton Margai,
political rivalries and power struggles began to fracture the newly
established government. Over the next three decades these clashes
continued and resulted in several coups, the rise of an authoritarian
system of one-party rule, and widespread corruption.
Civil War and a Legacy of Violence against Women
Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war stretched from 1991 to 2002 and
was driven by a complex web of forces, including the legacy of
exploitation by colonial forces, rivalries between ethnic groups,
and pressure and influence from other countries who had
political, military, and economic interests in Sierra Leone and its
resources — especially its diamonds.
The Sierra Leone Civil War was known internationally for its horrific
atrocities, but until recently, little attention was devoted to abuses
directed specifically against women. During the conflict, violence
against women was routinely used as a tool of war and women
and girls were sexually and physically abused in extraordinarily
brutal ways, including rape, torture, amputation, forced pregnancy,
trafficking, mutilation, and slavery. Although the war has long since
ended, the mistreatment of women continues.
Sierra Leone emerged from this war in 2002 with the help of a
large United Nations peacekeeping mission. More than seventeen
thousand foreign troops disarmed tens of thousands of rebels
and militia fighters, but several years on, the country still faces the
challenge of reconstruction. Rape, abduction, and sexual slavery
are part of the brutal legacy of the civil war, which left over half
the country’s population displaced and destitute. Over a decade
since conflict ended, many fear that rape is more of a problem in
postconflict Sierra Leone than it was during the war.
Truth and Reconciliation: Breaking the Silence
Following the end of the civil war, a Truth and Reconciliation
Commission (TRC) was established in Sierra Leone to create an
impartial record of the abuses that occurred during the conflict. The
commission’s investigators soon found that gathering information,
specifically about sexual violence, was not easy. In Sierra Leone,
as in many other countries, women and girls are afraid to speak
publicly about rape and other sexual violence. They are shunned
in their own communities when they admit they have been sexually
abused. To help break through such barriers, the UN Development
Fund for Women (now UN Women) intervened with advice, training,
and other support. Based on their findings, the commission urged
reforms in Sierra Leone’s legal, judicial, and police systems to make
it easier for women to report cases of sexual and domestic violence.
Sources:
www.unfpa.org/women/docs/gbv_sierraleone.pdf
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14094194
www.rescue.org/video/stop-violence-against-women-irc-sierra-leone
www.un.org/en/africarenewal/vol18no4/184sierraleone.htm
www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/TestFrame/b8dedfadc369a158c1256b8100
5a84f9?Opendocument
www.irinnews.org/Report/78853/SIERRA-LEONE-Sex-crimes-continue-in-peacetime
www.halftheskymovement.org/pages/amie-kandeh
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Student Handout B:
Film Module Screening Guide
Name: Date: Class: Take notes while watching the Gender-Based Violence in Sierra Leone film module, using the following
list of questions as a guide:
• What happened to Fulamatu?
• What actions did she take?
• What consequences did Fulamatu face for speaking out?
• What consequences did the perpetrator face?
• Write down two or three quotes from the film that stand out most for you and/or illustrate the culture of impunity that
Fulamatu is facing.
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Student Handout C:
Gwen’s Story
Read Gwen’s story and work with your group to complete the activity below:
Gwen was a single mother who had been struggling financially and personally. She had her first child at a young age but was determined
to stay in school and get her education, so she worked part-time and relied on government support to help with her tuition and child care.
One day she was riding in a car with a male friend, on the way to pick up some food. Without warning, her friend turned off the road,
parked behind some buildings, and attacked her. He choked her almost to death and raped her. He later claimed that she deserved it
because of what she was wearing that day and because she had already had a child but was not married.
How do you think Gwen’s story turns out?
Work as a group to create two endings for Gwen’s story based on the following scenarios:
1) Imagine that Gwen lives in Fulamatu’s community in Freetown, Liberia:
• What steps will Gwen take?
• Who will she turn to for support?
• What reactions will she get from her friends, family, and community?
• Will she reach out to her local law enforcement? How do you think they will respond?
• What do you think will happen to the perpetrator?
• What impact do you think this event will have on Gwen and her family?
2) Imagine that Gwen lives in a community in the United States:
• What steps will Gwen take?
• Who will she turn to for support?
• What reactions will she get from her friends, family, and community?
• Will she reach out to her local law enforcement? How do you think they will respond?
• W
ill she have access to family support programs or community programs? What kinds of services will they provide?
What do you think will happen to the perpetrator?
• What impact do you think this event will have on Gwen and her family?
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Student Handout D:
Representative Gwen Moore and the Violence Against Women Act
“Gwen’s Story” is based on the experience of Congresswoman Gwen
Moore, representative for Wisconsin’s Fourth Congressional District.
She is the first African American and second woman to be elected to
Congress from the state of Wisconsin and has served since 2005.
In the mid-1970s, Rep. Moore was attacked and raped by her friend in his car. She said
that her attacker later challenged her story in court on the grounds that she was dressed
provocatively and had a child out of wedlock. She remembers, “I was literally on trial that
day.” Rep. Moore said her rapist was found not guilty and she was fired from her job as a
file clerk for not calling in to work the day after the attack.
Rep. Moore shared her story on the floor of the House of Representatives in March 2012
in support of renewal of the Violence Against Women Act that was first passed into law
in September 1994. She stressed that the attack happened before the Violence Against
Women Act had been passed, and if current laws providing stronger protection and support
for victims of gender-based violence had been in place, the outcome for her might have
been different.
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was the first major law to help government
agencies and victim advocates work together to fight domestic violence, sexual assault,
and other types of violence. It created new punishments for certain crimes and started
programs to prevent violence and help victims. Since the law was passed, there has been a
51 percent increase in reporting of domestic violence by women and a 37 percent increase
in reporting by men. The number of individuals killed by an intimate partner has decreased
by 34 percent for women and 57 percent for men.
Despite this progress, there is still work to do. In the United States today, a woman is
abused — usually by her husband or partner — every 15 seconds, and is raped every 90 seconds.
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“No child, no woman, no human
being should be selling their
bodies for survival.”
Urmi Basu
Founder of New Light
“I want to empower the
survivors to stand up and say
no if they want to say no.”
Somaly Mam
Founder of AFESIP Cambodia
Audience
High School (grades 11–12), Community
College, Youth Development Organizations
Time
Two to three 50-minute class periods +
assignments
Subject Areas
Women’s Studies, Social Studies,
Global Studies, Media Studies, English
Language Arts
Purpose of the Lesson
Modern-day slavery is relatively unknown,
in part because it does not fit our historic
image of slavery. Contemporary human
slavery can take many forms, including
forced labor, child marriage, debt bondage,
and commercial sexual slavery. Modern
slaves can be garment workers, domestic
help, agricultural workers, and prostitutes.
They might work in factories, build roads, or
harvest crops.
Although slavery was officially abolished
worldwide at the 1926 Slavery Convention,
it continues to thrive thanks to the
complicity of some governments and the
ignorance of much of the world. Sexual
exploitation is the most widespread form
of human trafficking, making up 79 percent
of all recorded human trafficking cases.
One in five victims of human trafficking
are children and two-thirds of victims are
women. Gender-based discrimination
and the devaluing of women and girls
are at the root of this exploitation, which
is compounded by religious and cultural
traditions and other social and economic
inequalities. Sexual exploitation and
trafficking exist because it is acceptable for
those in the society with more power — often adult men — to purchase and use
those with less power: women and
children, and among them especially, ethnic
minorities, the poor, and the disabled.
Through this lesson students will learn
that there are more people living in slavery
today than at any time in history and
consider the causes and consequences
for women and children, who are
disproportionately victimized by the
commercial sex trade and who constitute
the vast majority of the estimated two
million people sold into sex slavery around
the world every year.
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Objectives:
Note for Teachers about the Lesson Plan
Breaking the Chains of Modern Slavery:
Sex Trafficking and Intergenerational
Prostitution and Its Contents:
This lesson and the accompanying film
module from Half the Sky: Turning
Oppression into Opportunity for Women
Worldwide address the challenging issues
of sex trafficking and prostitution directly
and honestly, but the discussions and topics
might not be suitable for all audiences.
Teachers should prepare for the lesson
by reading all the materials thoroughly
and watching the complete film module
to determine if this topic and lesson are
appropriate for their class. Teachers should
also brief students on what they will be
viewing in advance and identify students
who might be personally or adversely
affected by this material. Prior to launching
the lesson, please contact your school
counselor or social worker to discuss
policies and procedures for addressing
a disclosure of violence or abuse and be
prepared to provide students with support or
the option of not participating in the lesson
where appropriate.
For additional information about the
documentary Half the Sky: Turning
Oppression into Opportunity for Women
Worldwide and the global crisis of human
trafficking and violence against women
and girls, please download the free
Sex Trafficking and Intergenerational
Prostitution Discussion Guide from
the Women and Girls Lead website
(www.womenandgirlslead.org), visit
the project’s official website (www.
halftheskymovement.org), and read
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into
Opportunity for Women Worldwide by
Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.
Students will:
• understand the status and context of
modern slavery;
• develop a working definition for human
trafficking;
• consider the global impact of the modern
slave trade and the role that gender plays
in human trafficking;
• understand what it means to be an
Upstander, Bystander, Perpetrator, and
Survivor; and
• examine the complex relationships of
individuals who are affected by the sexual
trafficking of women and girls and how
their interactions with that issue and with
each other overlap using the lenses of
Upstanders, Bystanders, Perpetrators,
and Survivors.
Resources:
• Film modules:
Intergenerational Prostitution in India
(10:44)
Sex Trafficking in Cambodia (10:11)
• Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into
Opportunity for Women Worldwide Film
Series Trailer (5:48): itvs.org/films/
half-the-sky
• LCD projector or DVD player
• Teacher handouts:
--Teacher Handout A: Mapping Modern
Slavery
--Sex Trafficking and Intergenerational
Prostitution Discussion Guide (Download
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into
Opportunity for Women Worldwide
discussion guide PDFs from the
Independent Television Service [ITVS]
Women and Girls Lead website:
www.womenandgirlslead.org.)
• Student handouts:
--Student Handout A: What Is Modern
Slavery?
--Student Handout B: Cambodia and India
in Context
--Student Handout C: Film Module
Screening Guides
--Student Handout D: Upstander,
Bystander, Perpetrator, Survivor
--Student Handout E: Responsibility,
Culpability, and Understanding
• Whiteboard/blackboard and markers/chalk
• Pens/pencils and writing paper
• Computers with internet access
• Wall map of the world with country names:
www.amaps.com/mapstoprint/
WORLDDOWNLOAD.htm
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Prescreening Activity
Time: 40 minutes
You will need: Student Handout A: What Is Modern Slavery?; Student Handout B:
Cambodia and India in Context; Teacher Handout A: Mapping Modern Slavery; a wall map
of the world with country names; pens/pencils; writing paper; and map pins, stickers, or
small Post-its
Goal: Students will challenge their preconceptions about slavery and discuss the status and
nature of slavery in the 21st century. Students will develop working definitions for modern
slavery and human trafficking and an understanding of the different forms that trafficking
takes. Students will brainstorm contributing factors and complete the activity by considering
the role that gender plays in human trafficking.
Part 1: What Does Slavery Mean to You?
• Ask the class to consider the following question and give students one minute to quickly
write their responses: What does the term slavery mean to you?
• Ask for volunteers to share and discuss their answers, and use the prompts below to further
explore their responses:
--Do you think slavery still exists? Why or why not?
--What do you imagine modern slavery looks like?
• Record the responses on the board to refer to them later in the activity.
Divide the class into small groups of two to three and distribute Student Handout A: What
Is Modern Slavery? Give the groups seven to ten minutes to read and discuss the summary
of modern slavery using the questions in the handout.
• Ask the pairs to share the results of their discussions with the class and track the groups’
speculations about question #4 (Where in the world do you think modern slavery exists
today?) on a wall map with pins, stickers, or small Post-its.
Distribute two Fast Facts from Teacher Handout A: Mapping Modern Slavery to each
group. Each Fast Fact will contain a brief summary about slavery in a different country of the
world. The groups will discuss their facts and try to identify which country they think each
fact applies to.
• Each group will share their fact and the countries they believe they represent. Once the correct
countries for each fact have been identified, groups will mark their countries on the map.
• The class will review the map and compare their speculations with the reality of the modern
slave trade suggested by their country facts.
• Complete the activity by sharing the following information:
Trafficking affects all regions and the majority of countries in the world. Both men and
women may be victims of trafficking, but the primary victims worldwide are women
and girls, the majority of whom are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
Traffickers primarily target women and girls because they are disproportionately affected
by poverty and discrimination, factors that impede their access to employment, educational
opportunities, and other resources. (www.stopvaw.org)
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Prescreening Activity
Part 2: Cambodia and India in Context
• In preparation for viewing the film modules, ask a volunteer to locate Cambodia and India on
the wall map.
• Provide students with the fact sheet Student Handout B: Cambodia and India in Context.
Have them read the fact sheet and discuss briefly with a partner.
• Variation: This handout can be provided in advance of the lesson for students to review
as homework.
Part 3: Kenya in Context
• In preparation for viewing the film module, ask a volunteer to locate Kenya on the wall map.
• Provide students with the fact sheet Student Handout C: Kenya in Context. Have them
read the fact sheet and discuss briefly with a partner.
• Variation: This handout can be provided in advance of the lesson for students to review
as homework.
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Viewing the Module
Class time: 35 minutes
Note: If time permits, we recommend that
you begin this section by watching the
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into
Opportunity for Women Worldwide Film
Series Trailer (5:48): itvs.org/films/halfthe-sky
You will need: Pens/pencils, writing paper,
LCD projector or DVD player, Student
Handout C: Film Module Screening
Guides, the Breaking the Chains of Modern
Slavery: Cambodia — Sex Trafficking and
Breaking the Chains of Modern Slavery:
India — Intergenerational Prostitution film
modules
Part 1: Intergenerational Prostitution in India
• Screen the Intergenerational Prostitution in India film module, then review the students’
notes and follow with the discussion questions below:
--Based on the stories in the film, what are some factors that contribute to women in the
Kalighat district of Kolkata becoming prostitutes?
--What strategies did the brothel owners use to keep them obedient?
--Why do they remain prostitutes?
--What impact have their experiences had on their expectations for their daughters?
--In the film module, Basu relates a common parental fear: “Maybe someday when my
child is empowered and educated and moves away, he or she is going to abandon me.”
What other factors contribute to the parents’ or community’s reluctance to see the next
generation change their fate? How would you react if someone more privileged than you
were to offer to take your children away to a better life?
--Can you give examples of quotes from the film that stood out the most for you?
Part 2: Sex Trafficking in Cambodia
• Distribute Student Handout C: Film Module • Screen the Sex Trafficking in Cambodia film module, then review the students’ notes and
Screening Guides and instruct students to
discuss briefly:
take notes during the screening using the
--How did Somaly Mam and Somana become prostitutes?
worksheet as a guide. and reviewed briefly
--What strategies did the brothel owners use to keep them obedient?
before viewing the film module to save paper.
--How are they using their experiences to help others?
--Why do you think Mam refers to the young women and children in the AFESIP program as
survivors rather than victims?
--Somana chose her name because it means “forgiveness.” She tells the story of returning
from the brothel and says, “The moment I became a victim, no one would forgive me. They
would say I am a bad girl. If that mentality continues, I couldn’t live with myself. But I am
not angry, I’ll stand taller to help other girls.” What did you think of Somana’s story? What
role do you think forgiveness can play in reintegrating survivors into their communities?
Would you have taken the same path if you were in Somana’s shoes? If you were a
survivor, what name do you think you would choose?
--Mam has said that “the girls and me are the same because we have the same life. I am
them. They are me.” Is it important that Mam is both a Cambodian and a survivor of sex
slavery? Why or why not? How do you think her experience informs her work?
--Can you give examples of quotes from the film that stood out the most for you?
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LE S SON P LAN P RO CE DU R E S
Post-Screening Activity
Time: 50–65 minutes
You will need: Student Handout D: Upstander, Bystander, Perpetrator, Survivor; Student
Handout E: Responsibility, Culpability, and Understanding; pens/pencils; whiteboard/
blackboard; dry-erase markers/chalk
Goal: Students will discuss the film modules and share their notes. They will then consider
what it means to be an Upstander, Bystander, Perpetrator, or Survivor and examine the roles
that subjects from the film play in relationship to each other and to the broader global crisis
of sex trafficking.
Part 1: Postscreening Discussion Questions
• Begin by comparing and discussing the Sex Trafficking in Cambodia and the
Intergenerational Prostitution in India film modules, using the following questions to guide
the class discussion:
--What did you think of the film? Was there anything that surprised you?
--How does each film represent modern slavery?
--What are the similarities and differences between the circumstances for women and girls
in Cambodia and India?
--Do any of the women’s families play a role in their trafficking? Can you give some
examples from the films?
--Based on what we saw in the films and our earlier discussion, why do you think the
families (and the girls themselves) may see prostitution as an option?
--In the film, America Ferrera says, “It’s not just saving them from prostitution, it is saving
them from a world where these women themselves have never been taught to value their
own lives.” What do you think she means by this? Do you agree with this statement?
--How is sexual exploitation connected to the cycle of poverty?
--What role, if any, could access to education and economic empowerment play in
combating this form of gender-based violence?
--Nicholas Kristof says that one of the “global paradoxes is that countries with the most
conservative sexual traditions tend to have the most prostitution.” Why do you think that is?
What value do women have in these societies?
--Somaly Mam talks about the global crisis of sex trafficking and sexual slavery and says,
“Sometimes people want to do too much and they do nothing. Sometimes they feel like, ‘I
can’t help you, I cannot.’” But she then goes on to say, “Everyone can help. Everyone can do
one thing.” Do you agree with this statement? Do you think this issue is connected to your
life in any way? If so, how, and if not, why not? What responsibility, if any, do each of us have
to take action on the issues of sex trafficking and the sexual slavery of women and girls?
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Post-Screening Activity
Part 2: Upstander, Bystander, Perpetrator, Survivor
• In this activity, students will consider what it means to be an
Upstander, Bystander, Perpetrator, or Survivor and examine the
roles that each of the subjects from the film plays in relationship to
the broader crisis of sex trafficking.
• Divide the class into small groups of three students and distribute
Student Handout D: Upstander, Bystander, Perpetrator, Survivor.
• Ask the groups to review the definitions for each term and rewrite
each in their own words using the handout as a guide. Have each
group share its results with another group and refine its own
definitions and understanding of the terms based on the discussion.
• Distribute Student Handout E: Responsibility, Culpability, and
Understanding and have each group identify a collection of three
subjects from one of the films to focus on for the activity.
• Ask each member of the group to select one individual from their
collection of subjects and have each student complete a copy of
Student Handout E with their character in mind. While completing
their handouts, the students should consider the complex relationship
that each subject has to sexual exploitation of women, using the
lenses of Upstander, Bystander, Perpetrator, and Survivor, and how
their interactions with that issue and with each other overlap.
• When the students have completed the handout, have each take
turns sharing their subject’s profile with the other members of
their group. Ask the members of the group to imagine and share
how their own subjects might respond to the others’ responses
and statements.
• Complete the process by instructing each group to discuss
how the subjects who were Bystanders or Perpetrators could
make different choices in order to be Upstanders. Have students
share what they think the benefits and consequences of different
choices might be for him or her and for the other subjects involved.
Students can draw on their own experiences and share the tools
they might use to be an Upstander in this situation.
• If time and resources allow, provide a large sheet of kraft paper to
each group and have them create and illustrate speech bubbles for
their responses to the discussion. Give the class five minutes to
walk around the room and review each group’s work.
• Review the results of the activity and discuss as a class using the
following prompts:
--What surprised you most about this activity?
--Did any of your subjects play more than one role?
--What role do factors such as gender, age, and economic status play
in the options each subject had and the choices available to them?
--In what ways does understanding the subjects’ relationships to
each other help you better understand the circumstances that led
to the violation of these women’s rights?
--How has your understanding of slavery changed since the
beginning of this lesson?
--There is a culture of silence surrounding sex trafficking and
sexual exploitation of women and children. Survivors often
experience social stigma, fear of retribution, and emotional
trauma and are reluctant to share their stories. What are some
of the ways that Somaly Mam’s programs in Cambodia and
New Light in India are breaking those taboos and helping
Survivors become Upstanders and challenging Bystanders and
Perpetrators to reconsider their choices?
--What are the consequences of being an Upstander? What are
some of the consequences for survivors who come forward to
speak on their own behalf?
--Now that we know about this issue, what responsibility do we
have? How can we be Upstanders for the Survivors of sexual
trafficking?
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Assignments
Select one or more of the following assignments to complete
the lesson:
1. The Institution of Sexual Slavery
One of the primary reasons that sex trafficking and sexual slavery
continue to flourish is that there are too few penalties for traffickers,
brothel owners, and the patrons that keep this economy running.
In what ways do governments and social institutions participate
in these issues? How might their collective actions make them
Upstanders, Bystanders, Perpetrators, and/or Victims of the
trafficking industry?
• Groups should supplement their research for each country by
examining their countries’ economies, education systems, social
services, and status of women.
• Ask students to consider how trafficking flourishes in some regions
and not in others.
--What role do equal opportunities for women, a strong civil society,
a robust economy, access to education, lower rates of government
and private sector corruption, the rule of law, and educational
opportunities play in the rate of trafficking?
• Instruct students to work in groups and research and review
domestic and international policies and agreements aimed at
preventing and eradicating trafficking, including the United States’
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, The UN General
Assembly’s Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in
Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United
Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the
•
United Nations’ (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000:
www.state.gov/j/tip/laws/61124.htm
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons,
Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations
Convention against Transnational Organized Crime:
www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4720706c0.html
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml
• Using the U.S. Department of State’s “Trafficking in Persons Report
2012” as a resource (www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2012/index.
htm) have each group identify a country from each of the three tiers
described below and read the country summary.
--Tier 1: Countries whose governments fully comply with the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s (TVPA) minimum standards.
--Tier 2/ Tier 2 Watch List: Countries whose governments do not
fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards, but are making
significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those
standards.
--Tier 3: Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the
minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.
• Instruct each group to compare and contrast the Protection,
Prosecution, and Prevention policies described in each country’s
summary and find areas of overlap and difference.
●
--Why are some countries the suppliers of trafficking victims while
others are the destinations?
--What are the economic forces that are driving the trafficking
industry and how might these forces impact countries’ responses
to the crisis?
--What role do social and religious restrictions on women’s status
play in their vulnerability to trafficking?
Ask students to consider how governments and social institutions
can function as Upstanders, Bystanders, Perpetrators, and/or
Victims of the trafficking industry. What role can individual citizens
play to eradicate an institutional culture that allows trafficking to
flourish in their own country and in other parts of the world?
• Students should report their findings by creating a profile for each
country and developing an infographic that illustrates the factors
that contribute to the country’s success against or struggle with
trafficking. They should also identify at least three actions that
students in their community can take against human trafficking and
sexual slavery and develop fliers, brochures, and a social media site
to spread the word about their campaign.
• Students can use the following websites for additional research,
resources, and information:
Polaris Project: www.polarisproject.org
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime: www.unodc.org/
unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking.html
HumanTrafficking.org: www.humantrafficking.org
Tumblr: www.tumblr.com
Animoto: animoto.com
Capzles: www.capzles.com
Prezi: prezi.com
Infographic tools from the Educational Technology and Mobile
Learning website: www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/05/
eight-free-tools-for-teachers-to-make.html
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Assignments (cont.)
2. Epistolary Poems: An Open Letter To…
Building on the postscreening activity, students will write two
epistolary poems (poems in the form of letters) in the voices of two
characters from the films.
• Ask each student to select an Upstander or Survivor from one
of the films and write an epistolary poem to one of the story’s
Bystanders or Perpetrators. In the poems, have the subjects explain
the impact that the Bystander or Perpetrator had on their lives, why
they made the choices they made, what they hoped to achieve, and
how they feel about their choices.
• Ask students to watch the module again and write down words,
quotes, and actions that speak to the themes of their poems.
Let them know that they can speculate when needed but should
draw from the actual words and actions of the characters as
much as possible.
• Next, have the students write a response epistolary poem from the
Bystander or Perpetrator. In the poems, have the subjects explain
why they made the choices they made, what their motives were,
and how they feel about their choices.
• The following websites provide detailed information about and
resources for developing epistolary poems:
Poets.org:
www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/22718
Epistolary Poetry FAQ:
www.tabayag.com/epistolary-poetry/epistolary-poetry-faq
PBS NewsHour Extra: Poetry
www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/poetry
3. Human Trafficking at Home
Sex trafficking is not just a problem in the developing world.
Approximately 14,500 to 17,500 people are trafficked into the
United States each year. What impact, if any, do you think sex
trafficking and sexual exploitation are having in your community?
What more could or should the United States do to combat sexual
exploitation on the national and international levels?
• Divide the class into groups and instruct each group to research
and examine the impact of human trafficking in their community.
• Have them identify and connect with local and national groups
that are working to help survivors and eradicate trafficking and find
out how they and their peers can contribute to and participate in
those campaigns. Students should examine what impact, if any,
that trafficking is having in their region, what forms trafficking takes
in the United States, which communities are most affected, and
the effect of the growing sex-tourism industry among Americans
traveling to places like Thailand, Cambodia, and the Dominican
Republic.
• Instruct each group to develop an action plan to address the
problem in their community or region.
• Groups should complete their projects by designing websites
and creating social media campaigns that will provide fact sheets,
resources, and information about the issue and how survivors
and volunteers can connect with service providers. The following
websites can be used as resources:
Polaris Project:
www.polarisproject.org
CARE’s “Human Trafficking” section:
www.care.org.uk/advocacy/human-trafficking
UN Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking:
www.ungift.org
Weebly for Education:
education.weebly.com
TodaysMeet — Microblogging for the Classroom:
www.todaysmeet.com
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Extensions
1. Buying in to Slavery
When we think of modern slavery, we often imagine that it is
something very separate from our own lives being perpetrated by
criminals and thugs operating in a world very different from ours. In
reality, we encounter the products of slavery every day in our grocery
stores, shopping malls, restaurants, and the buildings we live and
work in. How do our daily choices contribute to modern slavery?
• Display a range of items (a pair of sneakers, a cotton shirt, a
chocolate bar, a cup of coffee, a photo of a car, a silk scarf, a bowl
of rice, etc.) and ask students what they think the items have in
common. Explain that each of these items is directly or indirectly the
product of modern slavery.
• Ask students to select one item and research its production and
distribution from its source to the stores where we buy it.
• Where possible, students should contact the companies and
individuals involved with the production and conduct interviews
about their relationship to the product.
• Have students document the product’s journey and their research
process with video, photos, interviews, journal writing, and social
media sites such as Pinterest and Tumblr. Their process documents
and research can be compiled into a multimedia presentation.
• Students can also create an interactive map of the story of the
product’s journey and the ripple effect of its production using
Google Maps.
• The following websites can provide resources and information for
the projects:
This interactive website can calculate your individual “slavery
footprint”: slaveryfootprint.org
Stories of modern survivors of slavery:
www.freetheslaves.net/SSLPage.aspx?pid=386
Prezi: www.prezi.com
Weebly for Education: education.weebly.com
TodaysMeet — Microblogging for the Classroom:
www.todaysmeet.com
2. Caste, Class, and Women’s Rights
Urmi Basu describes the cycle of intergenerational prostitution
thus: “Women who are in prostitution have very little ability to make
their daughters aspire to do something different. It’s not that transgenerational prostitution happens because they want to make it
happen. It’s because they have no option, they have no escape.”
• Have students research the caste system in India and how it
intersects with intergenerational prostitution.
• Ask them to examine that system in relationship to the United
States, which is among the least socially mobile of the
industrialized countries.
Once the students have completed their research, have the class
discuss and debate the following questions using the “fishbowl”
teaching strategy, which helps students practice being contributors
and listeners in a discussion: (www.facing.org/resources/
strategies/fishbowl)
--Is there a caste system in the United States?
--What impact, if any, does our lack of social mobility have on
women’s rights?
3. Legalize It
Should prostitution be legalized? There is an international debate
raging around the subject of prostitution and whether women will
be better protected — and more empowered — if it is made legal and
regulated by national and international laws and policies. Some
believe that legalizing prostitution legitimizes the commercialization
of women’s bodies and increases practices such as trafficking,
slavery, and child rape.
--Screen the complete films for both Cambodia: Sex Trafficking and
India: Intergenerational Prostitution and have students consider
what they think the impact that legalizing prostitution would have.
--Ask students to share their feedback and what they know about
the debate. What are the main points of those who oppose
legalized prostitution? What are the main points of those
supporting it?
--Have students work individually or in groups and assign each
student/group one side of the debate to research.
--Following their research, have students engage in a formal debate
about the issue. Education World offers a selection of debate
resources that provide guidelines and rules for classroom debates:
www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson304b.shtml
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Extensions (cont.)
4. The Modern Triangular Trade
Hillary Clinton states in Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into
Opportunity for Women Worldwide that “A lot of the brutality
against girls and women is rooted in deep cultural stereotypes
about the worth of women. And it's not that different from the way
African American slaves were viewed in 18th- or 19th-century
America or Europe. These [people] were not fully human, these
were some other kind of being that under the Bible or under a
convenient social rationale were put on Earth to serve somebody
else.” From the late 16th to early 19th centuries, the transatlantic
slave trade carried slaves, cash crops, and manufactured goods
between West Africa, North America, and the European colonial
powers. The use of African slaves was fundamental to growing
colonial cash crops, which were exported to Europe. European
goods, in turn, were used to purchase African slaves, who were
then brought by sea from Africa to the Americas, a treacherous
journey known as the Middle Passage. Today, women and girls
are trafficked around the world in exchange for money, goods,
weapons, etc. and they are kept in slavery to provide sex and cheap
labor. But today’s trade routes are often more complex and more
difficult to track.
• Have students research the history of the Transatlantic Triangle
Trade in relation to the contemporary slave trade.
• Building on the earlier activity, have students create an interactive
Google Map that tracks both the transatlantic slave trade and the
modern movement of people, goods, and money.
• Have them consider the similarities and differences between our
historical understanding of slavery and its modern manifestation.
--What challenges did abolitionists face during the transatlantic
slave trade and what strategies did they employ?
--How do those challenges compare to the ones faced by the
modern abolition movement?
--Are there strategies from the past that would be effective today?
--In Mississippi in 1850 an agricultural slave cost the equivalent
of fifty thousand to a hundred thousand dollars at today’s prices.
An equivalent slave in India today costs just ninety dollars. If the
average price of a trafficked human is at a historic low, how does
that impact the way that slaveowners treat the people they are
enslaving? For example, what is the incentive for traffickers to
provide adequate conditions and health care when it might be
more “cost effective” to allow their victims to die?
5. Hey Man, Keep it Real and Be Cool
What role do men and boys have in eradicating the sexual
slavery of women and children? How can they collaborate in the
international campaign? Antitrafficking efforts frequently address
only the victims of sex trafficking, ignoring the force that fuels
the trade — male demand for purchased sex. Without demand for
purchased sex, traffickers, pimps, and brothel owners will be driven
out of business. Have students check out the Demi and Ashton
Foundation’s “Real Men Don’t Buy Girls” Campaign and Apne
Aap’s “Cool Men Don’t Buy Sex Campaign” and develop their own
social media campaign using viral video, photography, and social
media to help end sex slavery and the sexual exploitation of women
and girls in their own communities.
• The Demi and Ashton Foundation’s “Real Men Gallery”:
demiandashton.org/realmen
• Apne Aap’s “Cool Men Don’t Buy Sex Campaign”:
apneaap.org/cmdbs/cool-men-dont-buy-sex-campaign
6. Journalism vs. Activism:
In the full length segment on Cambodia in the film Half the Sky:
Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide,
Nicholas Kristof actively participates in Somaly Mam’s brothel raid
story. He considers the journalistic ethics of his involvement and
concludes that he is comfortable with his decision.
• Have students view the entire Sex Trafficking in Cambodia
segment from Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity
for Women Worldwide
• Ask students to consider the following questions: What do you
think about Nicholas Kristof’s decision? Is there a distance that
journalists should maintain in order to remain objective? Is it more
ethical to simply observe and report or to actively participate
• Share The Guardian article and photo essay, The Bystanders
with your students and discuss what a journalist’s responsibility
is when reporting a story. The Bystanders Article: www.guardian.
co.uk/media/2012/jul/28/gutted-photographers-who-didnthelp, The Bystanders Photo-Essay: www.guardian.co.uk/media/
interactive/2012/jul/28/bystanders-photographers-whodidnt-help
• Have students select a photojournalist featured in the story and
consider if they agree or disagree with the journalist’s decision.
• Ask them to draft a letter from perspective of one of the journalists
from the story to one of their photograph’s subjects explaining their
decision: why they feel that it was the correct choice or what they
wish they had done differently.
• The completed letters can be presented as a monologue.
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Additional Resources
BOOKS
WEBSITES
N. Kristof, S. WuDunn, Half the Sky:
Turning Oppression into Opportunity for
Women Worldwide, New York : Alfred A.
Knopf, 2009
This is the official website for the Half
the Sky: Turning Oppression into
Opportunity for Women Worldwide film,
book, and movement.
www.halftheskymovement.org
F I LM S
Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into
Opportunity For Women Worldwide:
Filmed in 10 countries, the documentary
follows Nicholas Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn,
and celebrity activists America Ferrera,
Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan,
Gabrielle Union, and Olivia Wilde on a
journey to tell the stories of inspiring,
courageous individuals. Across the globe,
oppression is being confronted, and real
meaningful solutions are being fashioned
through health care, education, and
economic empowerment for women and
girls. The linked problems of sex trafficking
and forced prostitution, gender-based
violence, and maternal mortality — which
needlessly claims one woman every 90
seconds — present to us the single most
vital opportunity of our time: the opportunity
to make a change. All over the world,
women are seizing this opportunity. Visit the
website at: www.halftheskymovement.org
ITVS Women and Girls Lead Film
Collection: Women and Girls Lead offers
a collection of films by prominent
independent filmmakers. These films focus
on women who are working to transform their
lives, their communities, and the world. Visit
the website to learn more about the films
and explore our diverse catalogue of educator
resources, lesson plans, and film modules.
See www.womenandgirlslead.org for
more details.
ITVS’s Women and Girls Lead is an
innovative public media campaign designed
to celebrate, educate, and activate women,
girls, and their allies across the globe to
address the challenges of the 21st century.
womenandgirlslead.org
AFESIP Cambodia was founded by
Somaly Mam to care for those victimized
by trafficking and sex slavery. The primary
objective of AFESIP's work is to secure
victims' rights by providing holistic care
through a victim-centered approach, with
the long-term goals of successful and
permanent rehabilitation and reintegration.
www.afesip.org
Voices for Change is a project of the
Somaly Mam Foundation “designed to
give survivors an opportunity to help
themselves by helping others, to have
their voices heard in the courts of law and
public perception, and to have influence
and impact on effectuating change. It is our
vision that from those who have struggled
through the pain of slavery will arise a new
generation of leaders who stand for justice
and free will.”
www.somaly.org/survivor-empowerment
Apne Aap organizes “groups of women
and girls who are at the risk of or
are affected by trafficking” into selfempowerment groups and ensures
their access to “three fundamental
rights — education, sustainable & dignified
livelihood, and legal empowerment” as
per their 3L model. They also develop and
participate in nationwide education and
outreach programs to support victims of
sexual exploitation and end trafficking.
www.apneaap.org
New Light provides shelter, educational
opportunities, recreational facilities, health
care, and legal aid for the children, girls,
and women in Kalighat, one of the oldest
red-light districts in the city of Kolkata.
www.newlightindia.org
The International Rescue Committee
(IRC) responds to the world’s worst
humanitarian crises and helps people to
survive and rebuild their lives.
www.rescue.org
CARE International is an organization
fighting poverty and injustice in more than
70 countries around the world and helping
65 million people each year to find routes
out of poverty.
www.careinternational.org
The Centre for Development and
Population Activities (CEDPA) works
through local partnerships to give women
tools to improve their lives, families, and
communities. CEDPA’s programs increase
educational opportunities for girls, ensure
access to lifesaving reproductive health
and HIV/AIDS information and services,
and strengthen good governance and
women’s leadership in their nations.
www.cedpa.org
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Additional Resources (cont.)
WEBSITES
Girls Educational and Mentoring Services
(GEMS) is the only organization in New York
State specifically designed to serve girls
and young women who have experienced
commercial sexual exploitation and domestic
trafficking and their work has put them on
the forefront of the national movement to
end the sexual slavery of women.
www.gems-girls.org
ECPAT International is a global network
of organizations and individuals working
together for the elimination of child
prostitution, child pornography, and the
trafficking of children for sexual purposes.
www.ecpat.net
UNiTE to End Violence against Women
was launched in 2009 by UN Women to
engage people from all walks of life to end
gender-based violence in all its forms.
endviolence.un.org
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Standards
Common Core State Standards
for English Language Arts
& Literacy in History/Social
Studies, Science, and Technical
Subjects
Writing Standards 6–12
3. (9–10, 11–12) Write narratives to
develop real or imagined experiences or
events using effective technique, wellchosen details, and well-structured event
sequences.
4. (9–10, 11–12) Produce clear and
coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate
to task, purpose, and audience. (Gradespecific expectations for writing types are
defined in standards 1–3 above.)
6. (9–10, 11–12) Use technology,
including the Internet, to produce, publish,
and update individual or shared writing
products, taking advantage of technology’s
capacity to link to other information and to
display information flexibly and dynamically.
Speaking and Listening Standards
1. (9–10, 11–12) Initiate and participate
effectively in a range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners on [grade
9-12] topics, text, and issues, building on
others’ ideas and expressing their own
clearly and persuasively.
4. (9–10) Present information, findings,
and supporting evidence clearly, concisely,
and logically, such that listeners can follow
the line of reasoning, and the organization,
development, substance, and style are
appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.
4. (11–12) Present information, findings,
and supporting evidence, conveying a clear
and distinct perspective, such that listeners
can follow the line of reasoning, alternative
or opposing perspectives are addressed,
and the organization, development,
substance, and style are appropriate to
purpose, audience, and a range of formal
and informal tasks.
5. (9–10, 11–12) Make strategic use
of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical,
audio, visual, and interactive elements) in
presentations to enhance understanding of
findings, reasoning, and evidence and to
add interest.
Writing Standards for Literacy in History/
Social Studies, Science, and Technical
Subjects 6–12
1. (9–10, 11–12) Write arguments focused
on discipline-specific content.
4. (9–10, 11–12) Produce clear and
coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience.
7. (9–10, 11–12) Conduct short as well
as more sustained research projects
to answer a question (including a selfgenerated question) or solve a problem;
narrow or broaden the inquiry when
appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on
the subject, demonstrating understanding
of the subject under investigation.
9. (9-10, 11-12) Draw evidence from
informational texts to support analysis,
reflection, and research.
National Curriculum Standards
for Social Studies
1. C U LT U R E
Through the study of culture and cultural
diversity, learners understand how human
beings create, learn, share, and adapt to
culture, and appreciate the role of culture in
shaping their lives and society, as well the
lives and societies of others.
4. I N DI V I DUAL DEV E LO P M E N T
AN D I DE NT I T Y
Personal identity is shaped by family,
peers, culture, and institutional influences.
Through this theme, students examine
the factors that influence an individual’s
personal identity, development, and actions.
5. I N DI V I DUALS , G RO U P S, A N D
I N S I T I T U T I ON S
Institutions such as families and civic,
educational, governmental, and religious
organizations exert a major influence on
people’s lives. This theme allows students
to understand how institutions are formed,
maintained, and changed, and to examine
their influence.
10. CI V I C I DEALS AN D P R ACTICE S
An understanding of civic ideals and
practices is critical to full participation
in society and an essential component
of education for citizenship. This theme
enables students to learn about the
rights and responsibilities of citizens
of a democracy, and to appreciate the
importance of active citizenship.
National Standards for Arts
Education Grades 9–12
VA1: Understanding and applying media,
techniques, and processes
VA5: Reflecting upon and assessing the
characteristics and merits of their work and
the work of others
H A L F T H E S K Y : S E X T R A F F I C K I N G A N D I N T E R G E N E R AT I O N A L P R O S T I T U T I O N
Student Handout A:
What Is Modern Slavery?
Group Names: Class: Read the following summary of modern slavery and discuss your reactions with your group by answering
the questions below:
Modern-day slavery is relatively unknown, in part because it does not fit our historic image of slavery. Contemporary human slavery can
take many forms, including forced labor, child marriage, debt bondage, and commercial sexual slavery. Modern slaves can be garment
workers, domestic help, agricultural workers, and prostitutes. They might work in factories, build roads, or harvest crops.
There are more people living in slavery today than at any other time in history. According to Anti-Slavery International (ASI), the world’s
oldest human-rights organization, there are at least 27 million adults and children, in countries all over the world, who are being forced to
live and work as slaves or in slave-like conditions; the majority of these are women and girls.
The act of forcing an adult or child into slavery for financial or personal profit is known as human trafficking. Human trafficking is a crime
against humanity which involves recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving a person through the use of force, intimidation,
trickery, or other means, for the purpose of exploiting them.
Every country has passed laws against slavery, and by doing so they have promised to end it within their borders. Many countries,
however, fail to enforce antislavery laws. In the United States only a tiny fraction of law enforcement resources are directed at slavery
and trafficking, in spite of the fact that as many people are newly enslaved each year in the United States, according to U.S. government
estimates, as are murdered.
1. How do you feel about this information? Did it surprise you?
If so, what surprised you most?
2. How often do you see stories about modern slavery in the news or depicted in the media?
Why do you think that is?
3. Why do you think the majority of modern slaves are women and girls?
4. Where in the world do you think modern slavery exists today?
H A L F T H E S K Y : S E X T R A F F I C K I N G A N D I N T E R G E N E R AT I O N A L P R O S T I T U T I O N
Student Handout B:
Cambodia in Context
Cambodia continues to be burdened by its long history of violence, and women and
children often pay the highest price. It is one of the poorest countries in the world and
relies heavily on foreign aid. Millions of unexploded land mines and bombs from decades
of war continue to kill and maim civilians, despite an ongoing demining drive. Thousands
are infected with HIV/AIDS and the numbers increase every year, making it among the
worst-affected countries in Asia. International organizations, foreign donors, and foreign
governments have urged the Cambodian government, led by Prime Minister Hun Sen,
to clamp down on Cambodia’s pervasive corruption and address the ever-growing sextrafficking crisis.
Most Cambodians consider themselves to be Khmer descendants of the Angkor Empire.
The Khmer people have lived in the Indochina area in Southeast Asia for at least two
thousand years and the Khmer Kingdom was the most powerful mainland Southeast Asian
state for most of the period from 802 to 1432. At its height, the capital at Angkor was
one of the largest cities in the world.
France colonized Cambodia in the 19th century and ruled the country until Cambodian
forces, led by King Norodom Sihanouk, achieved full independence in 1953. Sihanouk led
Cambodia until 1970, when Marshal Lon Nol forced him out in a coup d’état. Spurred on
by the secret bombing campaign in Cambodia carried out by United States forces during
the Vietnam War, the militant left-wing group the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, defeated
Lon Nol and ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979.
As the new ruler of Cambodia, Pol Pot set about transforming the country into his vision
of an agrarian utopia. The cities were evacuated, factories and schools were closed, and
currency and private property were abolished. Anyone believed to be an intellectual, such
as someone who spoke a foreign language, was immediately killed. Skilled workers were
also killed, in addition to anyone caught in possession of eyeglasses, a wristwatch, or any
other modern technology. Prostitution was completely banned and punishable by death,
resulting in its virtual elimination in the highly authoritarian social system. During this
period, an estimated 2 million Cambodians were killed, approximately 25 percent of the
country’s population.
The Vietnamese army overthrew the Khmer Rouge in 1979, but civil conflict continued in
Cambodia for the next two decades. After the dismantlement of the State of Cambodia in
1992, about twenty thousand male troops and civilian personnel from the United Nations
Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) arrived together with many nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) and business interests from abroad. Ironically, the increase of
foreign humanitarian workers in the country created a larger market for sexual services
in this very poor country and drove the increase in sex trafficking and the exploitation of
women and children, which continues to grow today.
Cambodia Sources:
www.ecpatcambodia.org/index.php?menuid=2&submenuid=17&menuname=ECP
AT%20Cambodia
www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/cambodia.htm
www.cambodia.org/khmer_rouge
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13006539
www.hrw.org/news/2011/06/24/cambodia-khmer-rouge-trial-justice-delayed
H A L F T H E S K Y : S E X T R A F F I C K I N G A N D I N T E R G E N E R AT I O N A L P R O S T I T U T I O N
Student Handout B:
India in Context
In Kolkata, India (formerly Calcutta), there are over ten thousand women and girls who
live and work as prostitutes. Many were trafficked into the country from Nepal and
Bangladesh, while others were born into the commercial sex trade, having been the
children of generations of prostitutes. While not all of these women are forced into sex
work, the reality is that few other options are available.
Around India, there are castes that traditionally engage in familial, intergenerational
prostitution. A caste system is a type of social structure that divides people on the basis
of inherited social status. Within a caste system, people are rigidly expected to marry
and interact with people of the same social class and are relegated to specific types
of occupations and labor. For impoverished girls born into lower-caste families where
prostitution has been practiced for generations, becoming a sex worker is not only seen
as a means of survival but also a family duty.
Starting from around age 13, girls are sold by their parents or family or are married off
and subsequently prostituted by their husbands. Earnings are higher for younger girls
so there is an urgency to marry or sell them before their value diminishes. For many
rural, uneducated parents, it is difficult to imagine how a female child could bring any
value to the family beyond prostitution. And for the girl who has been denied education
and training, it is equally difficult to imagine a brighter future. In this context, the caste
system and cultural traditions provide easy justification for a practice driven by poverty,
economics, and gender-based discrimination.
The heartbreaking reality of India’s intergenerational prostitution is especially apparent in
Kalighat, one of the oldest red-light districts in Kolkata. Here, narrow alleys lined with small
“apartments” form a confusing maze and the buildings lean into the street across crowded
roads. Life is a constant struggle in this society where sex workers are regarded as
nonhumans, and opportunities for these women are limited after working in the business.
India Sources:
site.ruchiragupta.com
www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CF0QFjAF
&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.un.org%2Fga%2Fpresident%2F62%2FThematicDebates
%2Fhumantrafficking%2Fgupta.pdf&ei=B4XrT7X0BKOT0QHenInKBQ&usg=AFQjCNE
bly1TJFCBOwJxKxHpmi4tO8dvNQ
H A L F T H E S K Y : S E X T R A F F I C K I N G A N D I N T E R G E N E R AT I O N A L P R O S T I T U T I O N
Student Handout C:
Film Module Screening Guide: Intergenerational Prostitution in India
Name: Date: Class: Take notes while watching the film module, using the following questions as a guide:
• How did Sushmita’s mother Shoma become a prostitute?
• What are some other factors that cause women to become prostitutes?
• What strategies did the brothel owners use to keep Shoma obedient?
• Why does she remain a prostitute?
• Write down two or three quotes from the film that stand out most for you.
H A L F T H E S K Y : S E X T R A F F I C K I N G A N D I N T E R G E N E R AT I O N A L P R O S T I T U T I O N
Student Handout C:
Film Module Screening Guide: Sex Trafficking in Cambodia
Name: Date: Class: Take notes while watching the film module, using the following questions as a guide:
• How did Somaly Mam and Somana become prostitutes?
• What strategies did the brothel owners use to keep them obedient?
• How did they escape?
• How are they using their experiences to help others?
• Write down two or three quotes from the film that stand out the most for you.
H A L F T H E S K Y : S E X T R A F F I C K I N G A N D I N T E R G E N E R AT I O N A L P R O S T I T U T I O N
Student Handout D:
Upstander, Bystander, Perpetrator, Survivor
Name: Date: Class: Read each of the following definitions and rewrite the definitions in your own words.
Provide an example from history, fiction, or your own life that illustrates each of these roles:
Upstander: An individual who sees an injustice taking place or someone being wronged and takes action. They might intervene directly and
tell the Perpetrator(s) to stop, but Upstanders do not need to put themselves at risk in order to be helpful; they might also respond in other
ways, such as seeking help from authorities, supporting the survivor, working to improve an unjust social system, and lending their time and
voice to campaigns and initiatives that are working to bring about positive change.
In your own words:
Example of an Upstander:
Bystander: An individual who sees an injustice occur but attempts to remain uninvolved in the situation, often by looking on silently or finding
an excuse to walk away. Individuals who witness — but are not directly affected by — the actions of Perpetrators help shape society by their
reactions. Not taking action in the face of an injustice is a choice that can influence the outcome of an event and the culture of a community.
In your own words:
Example of a Bystander:
Perpetrator: Someone who commits crimes, violates the fundamental human rights of an individual or group, or actively participates in
supporting systems or individuals who engage in unjust behavior.
In your own words:
Example of a Perpetrator:
Survivor: An individual who has been subject to an act of wrongdoing, including intimidation, theft, violence, sexual aggression, or any
violation of their fundamental human rights.
In your own words:
Example of a Survivor:
H A L F T H E S K Y : S E X T R A F F I C K I N G A N D I N T E R G E N E R AT I O N A L P R O S T I T U T I O N
Student Handout E:
Responsibility, Culpability, and Understanding (page 1)
Name: Date: Class: Select a collection of three subjects from the films and consider the role each one plays in the sexual
exploitation of women and girls, using the roles of Upstander, Bystander, Perpetrator, and Survivor as
a guide. Each member of your group should select one subject and complete the handout using your
understanding of the subject from the film and the class discussions.
Collection 1
Subject A: Somana
Subject B: Her family
Subject C: Somaly Mam
Collection 2
Subject A: Shoma
Subject B: Her husband
Subject C: Sushmita
COLLECTION #: _______
SUBJECT: _______________________________
1. Which of the following applies to your subject?
UPSTANDER: ___YES or ___NO
Why or why not? Give an example from the film that supports your response:
BYSTANDER: ___YES or ___NO
Why or why not? Give an example from the film that supports your response:
PERPETRATOR: ___YES or ___NO
Why or why not? Give an example from the film that supports your response:
SURVIVOR: ___YES or ___NO
Why or why not? Give an example from the film that supports your response:
H A L F T H E S K Y : S E X T R A F F I C K I N G A N D I N T E R G E N E R AT I O N A L P R O S T I T U T I O N
Student Handout E:
Responsibility, Culpability, and Understanding (page 2)
Name: Date: Class: To Be an Upstander or to not Be an Upstander:
1. Fill in the bubble below with the thought you imagine went
through your subject’s mind when she/he was faced with
the option to be an Upstander.
4. W
hy do you think she/he chose the path she/he is on?
Based on what we learned from the film and what we know
from our activities and handouts, what factors influenced
her/his choice?
5. Imagine you are your subject and you have the chance to
explain your choice to each of the other individuals in your
group’s collection. What do you think you would say?
Subject: ___________________________________
What would you say?
2. What options did your subject have in this situation
(list at least three examples)?
Subject: ___________________________________
3. What role do factors such as gender, age, and economic
status play in the options your subject had and the choices
available to them?
What would you say?
H A L F T H E S K Y : S E X T R A F F I C K I N G A N D I N T E R G E N E R AT I O N A L P R O S T I T U T I O N
Teacher Handout A:
Mapping Modern Slavery (page 1)
Cut out each of the facts below and distribute to the student groups.
A. Forced labor occurs in at least 90 cities across this country
and at any given time, ten thousand or more people are forced
to toil in sweatshops, to clean homes, to labor on farms, or to
work as sex workers. Trafficking occurs for commercial sexual
exploitation in street prostitution, massage parlors, and brothels,
and for labor in domestic service, agriculture, manufacturing,
janitorial services, hotel services, hospitality industries, construction, health and elder care, and strip club dancing. The top
countries of origin for foreign victims in 2010 were Thailand,
India, Mexico, the Philippines, Haiti, Honduras, El Salvador, and
the Dominican Republic.
E. About three hundred thousand of the children of this
Caribbean country are restaveks — children working as domestic
slaves. Thirty percent receive only one meal per day.
B. In this African country, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)
has kidnapped twenty thousand children over the past 20 years
and forced them into service as soldiers or sexual slaves for
the army. Children are also exploited in forced labor within
the country in fishing, agriculture, mining, stone quarrying,
brickmaking, road construction, car washing, scrap collection,
bars and restaurants, and the domestic service sector, and are
exploited in prostitution.
F. Between 1988 and 1998 there were over one hundred
thousand slaves working in the fields, harvesting crops, and
doing domestic labor on 226 agricultural estates in this large
South American country. Sex trafficking of women and girls
occurs in all 26 states and an estimated two hundred and
fifty thousand children have been involved in prostitution. A
large number of women and children are found in sex trafficking abroad, often in European countries, including Spain, Italy,
Portugal, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland,
France, Germany, Norway, and Luxembourg, as well as in the
United States, and as far away as Japan.
C. In Asia, this is the major destination country for trafficked
women, especially women coming from the Philippines and
Thailand. Organized-crime syndicates (the Yakuza) are believed
to play a significant role in trafficking, both directly and indirectly.
Traffickers strictly control the movements of victims, using debt
bondage, threats of violence or deportation, blackmail, and
other coercive psychological methods.
G. An estimated four thousand trafficking victims are in this
European island country at any given time for the purposes
of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor, including
construction, food processing, domestic servitude, and food
service. They come from a broad range of countries, including
Lithuania, Russia, Albania, Ukraine, Malaysia, Thailand, China,
Nigeria, and Ghana.
D. In this African country, women and girls — particularly those
from rural areas or who are internally displaced — are vulnerable
to forced labor as domestic workers in homes throughout the
country; most are believed to be working without contracts or
government-enforced labor protections. Some of these women
and girls are subsequently sexually abused by male occupants
of the household or forced to engage in commercial sex acts.
In 1998 alone, three thousand children from a Christian population of one hundred and fifty thousand were abducted to
work as laborers.
H. This Scandinavian country is a destination for women and girls
subjected to sex trafficking, and for men and women subjected to
conditions of forced labor. Female sex trafficking victims originate
in Russia, the Baltic countries, the Caucasus, Asia, Africa, central
eastern Europe, and the Caribbean; forced labor victims come
primarily from India, China, Thailand, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
Forced labor victims are exploited in the construction industry,
restaurants, agriculture, berry-picking fields, and as cleaners and
domestic servants.
Adapted from the U.S. Department of State’s “Trafficking in Persons Report 2011”
www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/index.htm
H A L F T H E S K Y : S E X T R A F F I C K I N G A N D I N T E R G E N E R AT I O N A L P R O S T I T U T I O N
Teacher Handout A:
Mapping Modern Slavery (page 2)
Cut out each of the facts below and distribute to the student groups.
I. Approximately 85 percent of identified victims of sex trafficking in this major European nation originate in Europe, including
25 percent from within the country. Non-European victims
originate in Nigeria and other parts of Africa, as well as in Asia
and the Western Hemisphere. The majority of identified sextrafficking victims have been exploited in bars, brothels, and
apartments. Victims of forced labor have been identified in
hotels, domestic service, construction sites, meat-processing
plants, and restaurants.
M. Low-skilled workers from Thailand, China, Nepal, the
Philippines, India, Sri Lanka and, to a lesser extent, Romania,
migrate voluntarily and legally to this eastern Mediterranean
country for temporary contract labor in construction, agriculture,
and home health care provision. Some, however, subsequently
face conditions of forced labor through such practices as the
unlawful withholding of passports, restrictions on movement,
inability to change or otherwise choose one’s employer, nonpayment of wages, threats, sexual assault, and physical intimidation.
J. Women and children are found in forced and child prostitution
within this Central American country, as well as in Mexico and
the United States. Men, women, and children are subjected to
forced labor within the country, often in agriculture or domestic
service, and particularly near the Mexican border and in the
highland region. Indigenous people are particularly vulnerable to
labor exploitation.
N. NGOs report that the most common form of trafficking in
this Caribbean country is sex trafficking, which allegedly occurs
in nightclubs, bars, and private homes. The populations most
vulnerable to trafficking include women and children from poor
and single-parent backgrounds. People living in the country’s
poverty-stricken garrison communities, territories ruled by criminal
“dons” that are effectively outside of the government’s control,
are especially at risk.
K. The forced labor of millions of its citizens constitutes the
largest trafficking problem in this highly populated southern
Asian country. Men, women, and children are forced to work
in places such as brick kilns, rice mills, agricultural worksites,
and embroidery factories. A common characteristic of bonded
labor is the use of physical and, in many instances, sexual
violence — including rape — as coercive tools, in addition to
debt, to maintain these victims’ labor. Ninety percent of trafficking in this country is internal, and those from the most
disadvantaged communities, including the lowest castes,
are particularly vulnerable to forced or bonded labor and
sex trafficking. Children are also subjected to forced labor
as factory workers, domestic servants, beggars, agricultural
workers, and, to a lesser extent — in some areas of rural Uttar
Pradesh — as carpet weavers.
O. Traffickers, who gain poor families’ trust through familial,
tribal, or religious ties in this large African country, fraudulently
recruit children through offers to raise and educate them and
women through offers to place them in lucrative employment.
Men, women, and children voluntarily migrate to other eastern
African nations, Europe, and the Middle East — particularly Saudi
Arabia — in search of employment, where they are trafficked into
domestic servitude, massage parlors and brothels, and forced
manual labor, including in the construction industry.
L. Children are trafficked within this country for commercial sexual exploitation – sometimes through forced marriages, in which
their new “husbands” force them into prostitution and involuntary
servitude as beggars or laborers to pay debts, provide income,
or support drug addiction in their families. There are reports of
women and girls being sold for marriage to men in neighboring
Pakistan for the purpose of sexual servitude. Some NGOs report
that religious leaders and immigration officials are involved in the
sale of young girls and boys between 9 and 14 years old to men
in the Gulf states for commercial sexual exploitation. According
to these sources, a young girl or boy could be sold for as little as
five dollars.
P. Men, women, and children from this landlocked Southeast
Asian country are found in conditions of forced labor in
Thailand, Malaysia, and China. Many migrants, particularly
women, pay broker fees to obtain jobs in Thailand — normally
ranging from $70 to $200 — but are subjected to conditions of
sexual servitude and forced labor in Thailand’s commercial sex
trade or in domestic service, garment factories, or agricultural
industries upon their arrival. Ethnic minority populations are particularly vulnerable to trafficking in Thailand, due to their lack of
Thai language skills and unfamiliarity with Thai society.
H A L F T H E S K Y : S E X T R A F F I C K I N G A N D I N T E R G E N E R AT I O N A L P R O S T I T U T I O N
Teacher Handout A:
Mapping Modern Slavery (page 3)
Cut out each of the facts below and distribute to the student groups.
Q. This West African country is a source and destination country for young women and children subjected to forced labor
and sex trafficking. Most trafficking victims originate from within
the country’s borders and are subjected to domestic servitude;
forced begging to support religious instructors; sex trafficking;
or forced labor in street vending, on rubber plantations, and
in diamond mines. Traffickers operate independently and are
commonly family members who may promise poorer relatives a
better life for their children. Children sent to work as domestic
servants for wealthier relatives are vulnerable to forced labor
or – to a lesser extent — commercial sexual exploitation.
T. Many sex-trafficking victims from rural areas of this South
American country are forced into prostitution in urban centers
or wealthy provinces. The border area with Paraguay and
Brazil is a significant area for sex- and labor-trafficking victims.
A significant number of foreign women and children, primarily
from Paraguay, Bolivia, and Peru, are subjected to sex trafficking. Bolivians, Paraguayans, and Peruvians, as well as citizens
from poorer northern provinces of the country, are subjected to
forced labor in sweatshops and on farms.
R. Most trafficking victims in this African country are exploited
within the country, though victims of sex and labor trafficking
have also been identified in South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique,
Tanzania, and parts of Europe. Within the country, children are
subjected to domestic servitude and other forms of forced
labor, including in cattle herding, agricultural labor, and menial
work in small businesses. At local bars and rest houses, owners coerce girls and women, who work at the establishments,
to have sex with customers in exchange for room and board.
Forced labor is often found on tobacco plantations.
U. Men and women from several Pacific Islands, India, China,
South Korea, and the Philippines are recruited to work temporarily on this island continent. After their arrival, some are
subjected by unscrupulous employers and labor agencies to
forced labor in sectors such as agriculture, horticulture, construction, cleaning, hospitality, manufacturing, and domestic
service. They face confiscation of their travel documents,
confinement on the employment site, threats of physical harm,
and debt bondage. Some traffickers attempt to hide their foreign
victims from official notice or prevent victims from receiving
assistance by abusing the legal system in order to create difficulties for victims who contact authorities for help.
S. This North American country is a large source, transit, and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected to
sex trafficking and forced labor. Groups considered most vulnerable to human trafficking include women, children, indigenous
persons, and undocumented migrants. Women, girls, and boys
from poor rural areas are subjected to sexual servitude within
the United States, lured by fraudulent employment opportunities
or deceptive offers of romantic relationships, including marriage.
Trafficking victims are also subjected to conditions of forced
labor in agriculture, domestic service, construction, and street
begging, in both the United States and their home country.
V. In this southern African country, Thai women are subjected
to prostitution in illegal brothels, while eastern European
organized-crime units force some women from Russia, Ukraine,
and Bulgaria into debt-bonded prostitution in exclusive private
men’s clubs. Chinese traffickers bring victims from Lesotho,
Mozambique, and Swaziland to Johannesburg or other cities for
prostitution. Migrant men from China and Taiwan are forced to
work in mobile sweatshop factories. Taxi drivers and criminals at
the border transport Zimbabwean migrants, including children,
into the country and may subject them to sex or labor trafficking
upon arrival.
Adapted from the U.S. Department of State’s “Trafficking in Persons Report 2011”
www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/index.htm
H A L F T H E S K Y : S E X T R A F F I C K I N G A N D I N T E R G E N E R AT I O N A L P R O S T I T U T I O N
Teacher Handout A:
Mapping Modern Slavery (page 4)
Cut out each of the facts below and distribute to the student groups.
W. Media reports indicate that there are between two hundred
thousand and four hundred thousand women engaged in
prostitution in this western European country, with over three
thousand entertainment establishments dedicated to prostitution.
According to media reports and government officials, approximately 90 percent of those engaged in prostitution are victims
of forced prostitution, controlled by organized networks operating
throughout the country.
Y. The Migration Research Center estimates that one million
people in this large northern Asian country are exposed to
“exploitative” labor conditions that are characteristic of trafficking cases, such as withholding of documents, nonpayment for
services, physical abuse, or extremely poor living conditions.
Instances of labor trafficking were reported in the construction,
manufacturing, agriculture, and domestic services industries.
There are also reports of exploitation of children, including child
prostitution in large cities and forced begging.
X. In this North American nation, women and girls, particularly
from aboriginal communities, are found in conditions of commercial sexual exploitation across the country. Foreign women
and children, primarily from Asia and eastern Europe, are subjected to sex trafficking; sex-trafficking victims have come from
China, Hong Kong, Fiji, Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines,
Romania, Ukraine, and Moldova, in addition to other countries
and territories. Law enforcement officials report the involvement
of organized crime in sex trafficking. Most suspected labortrafficking victims are foreign workers who enter the country
legally, but then are subjected to forced labor in agriculture,
sweatshops, and processing plants, or as domestic servants.
Z. Men, women, and children from this Southeast Asian country
migrate to Thailand, Malaysia, and other countries for work, and
many are subjected to sex trafficking or forced to labor in the Thai
fishing and seafood processing industry, on agricultural plantations, in factories, in domestic work, or in begging and street
selling. Within the country, women and children are trafficked
from rural areas to major cities and tourist centers for commercial
sexual exploitation. Children are also subjected to forced labor,
including being forced to beg; scavenge refuse; and work in quarries, as domestic servants, or in the production and processing
of bricks, rubber, salt, and shrimp. According to the International
Labor Organization, there are an estimated twenty-eight thousand
child domestic workers in Phnom Penh alone.
KEY
A. U N ITE D STATE S O F AM E R I CA
B.U GAN DA
C.JAPAN
D.S U DAN
E.HAITI
F. B RA Z I L
G. G R EAT B R ITAI N
H. F I N LAN D
I.G E R MANY
J.G UATE MALA
K.I N D IA
L.I RAN
M.I S RAE L
N.JAMAI CA
O.K E NYA
P.LAO S
Q. LI B E R IA
R.MALAW I
S. M E X I C O
T.AR G E NTI NA
U.AU STRALIA
V. S O UTH AFRICA
W.S PAI N
X.CANADA
Y. R U S S IA
Z.CAM B O D IA
Adapted from the U.S. Department of State’s “Trafficking in Persons Report 2011”
www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/index.htm
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Women’s Economic Empowerment
OVE RVI EW
“If we empower women we
empower society. There is a
direct correlation. We are not
just changing a life, we are
changing a community.”
Roshaneh Zafar
Founder and managing director of the
Kashf Foundation
Audience
High School (grades 11–12), Community
College, Youth Development Organizations
Time
90 minutes or two 50-minute class periods
+ assignments
Subject Areas
Women’s Studies, Social Studies, Global
Studies, Economics, Media Studies,
Financial Literacy, English Language Arts
Purpose of the Lesson
Women and girls play a vital role in the
economic prosperity of their families,
communities, and countries, yet in every
part of the world, women often work longer
hours than men, are paid less for their
work, are at a higher risk of unemployment,
and are far more likely to live in poverty.
A growing body of research shows that
enhancing women and girls’ economic
opportunities plays a critical role in
reducing poverty as well as gender-based
discrimination and violence, improving
women and girls’ access to education and
civic participation, and raising the quality
of life for future generations. When women
are in charge of their financial destinies,
income, and capital — such as land and
livestock — they gain more control over their
own lives and personal security and as a
result have greater access to decisionmaking and leadership roles in their
homes and communities. Women are also
consistently more likely to reinvest profits
back into their families, which — in addition
to improving their own children’s nutrition,
health, and education — contributes to the
economic growth and security of their
communities and countries.
This lesson will consider how and why
women and girls are disproportionately
affected by extreme poverty and will
examine the ripple effects of women’s
economic empowerment on individuals,
families, communities, and societies.
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Objectives:
Note for Teachers about the Lesson Plan
Women’s Economic Empowerment and
Its Contents:
This lesson and the accompanying film
module from Half the Sky: Turning
Oppression into Opportunity for Women
Worldwide illustrate a range of challenges
facing women in a frank and honest manner,
but the discussions and topics might not
be suitable for all audiences. Teachers
should prepare for the lesson by reading all
the materials thoroughly and watching the
complete film module to determine if this
topic and lesson are appropriate for their
class. Teachers should also brief students
on what they will be viewing in advance and
identify students who might be personally
or adversely affected by this material. Prior
to launching the lesson, please contact your
school counselor or social worker to discuss
policies and procedures for addressing
a disclosure of violence or abuse and be
prepared to provide students with support or
the option of not participating in the lesson
where appropriate.
For additional information about the
documentary Half the Sky: Turning
Oppression into Opportunity for
Women Worldwide, please download
the free Women’s Economic
Empowerment Discussion Guide from
the ITVS Women and Girls Lead website
(womenandgirlslead.org), visit the project’s
official website (halftheskymovement.org),
and read Half the Sky: Turning Oppression
into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by
Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.
Students will:
• consider the challenges associated with
living in extreme poverty and develop a
one-week budget for a family of three living
on two dollars a day;
• examine the relationship between gender
and poverty and discuss the possible
factors for and consequences of the
substantial economic disparity between
women and men;
• identify the location of Kenya on a map and
understand the social and political context
of the economic challenges faced by the
women in the film module;
• consider the role that men and boys can
play to improve economic independence
for women and girls and how empowering
women empowers men; and
• understand the beneficial ripple effect
of women’s economic empowerment
on individual women, their families, their
communities, and their countries.
Resources:
• Film module: Women’s Economic
Empowerment in Kenya (10:41)
• Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into
Opportunity for Women Worldwide Film
Series Trailer (5:48): itvs.org/films/
half-the-sky
• LCD projector or DVD player
• Teacher handouts:
--Women’s Economic Empowerment
Discussion Guide (Download Half the
Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity
for Women Worldwide discussion guide
PDFs from the Independent Television
Service [ITVS] Women and Girls Lead
website: www.womenandgirlslead.org.)
• Student handouts:
--Student Handout A: Living on $2 a Day
--Student Handout B: Poverty and Gender
--Student Handout C: Kenya in Context
--Student Handout D: Film Module
Screening Guide
--Student Handout E: Expert Fact Sheets
--Student Handout F: The Ripple Effect
Worksheet
• Pens/pencils and writing paper
• Whiteboard/blackboard and markers/chalk
• Calculators (if available)
• Computers with internet access
• Wall map of the world with country names:
www.amaps.com/mapstoprint/
WORLDDOWNLOAD.htm
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Prescreening Activity
Time: 30 minutes
You will need: Student Handout A: Living on $2 a Day, Student Handout B: Poverty
and Gender, Student Handout C: Kenya in Context, pens/pencils and writing paper, and
calculators, if available
Goal: Students will consider the challenges associated with living in extreme poverty and
develop a one-week budget for a family of three living on two dollars a day.
Part 1: Living on $2 a Day
• Hold up two dollars and ask students the following questions:
--If I told you that you had to feed yourself for a whole day using just two dollars, what
would you spend it on? Discuss as a class and record feedback.
--If I told you that you had to feed your whole family for a day with just two dollars, how
would you spend the money? Discuss as a class and record feedback.
• Share the following information with the class:
More than one-half of the world's people live below the internationally defined poverty line
of less than U.S. $2 a day — including 97 percent of the population in Uganda, 80 percent
in Nicaragua, 66 percent in Pakistan, and 47 percent in China.
• Divide the class into groups of two to three students and distribute Student Handout A:
Living on $2 a Day. Ask them to use the information in the handout to develop a one-week
budget for a family of three living on only two dollars per day. (Note: The costs included in
the worksheet are adapted from Student Voices against Poverty: The Millennium Campaign
Curriculum Project: www.un.org/works/Lesson_Plans/MDGs/MDG_Curriculum_
US.pdf). Have them collaborate with their group to decide which items and expenses they
should spend money on and which they would not be able to afford. (For example: Would
they choose school fees over paying the electric bill? Would they put any money in their
savings account?)
• When they complete their budgets, have them illustrate their results using a pie chart. They
can create the charts using either their worksheets, large sheets of kraft paper and markers,
or an interactive online tool such as the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
Kids’ Zone “Create a Graph” tool: nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/default.aspx?ID
=3037a0d01a0d43a99e136a4ce8a03347.
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Prescreening Activity
• Discuss the groups’ results as a class, using the following discussion prompts:
--What surprised you most while completing this activity?
--What was the biggest challenge your team faced when making the budget?
--What was your biggest expense?
--Were there any “essentials” that you could not afford? What were they? What did you
have to sacrifice?
--Were you able to put any money in your savings account?
--Were you able to pay for your children’s school fees?
--Would you be willing to ask your child to work instead of going to school to help support
the family? How young is too young for a child to go to work if a family is trying to survive
on two dollars per day?
--What do you think would happen if you or someone in your family got sick? What
expenses would you cut to pay for their medical bills?
--How did it make you feel, knowing that you could not provide all of the needed resources
for your family?
Part 2: Global Poverty and Gender
• Introduce the following information:
Seventy percent of the world’s poor are women and girls. Although women play a vital
role in the economic prosperity of their families, communities, and countries, in every part
of the world, women work longer hours than men, are paid less for their work, are at a
higher risk of unemployment, and are far more likely to live in poverty.
• Divide the class into groups of four students and assign each student in each group a number
from one to four (this is commonly known as the “numbered heads together” activity).
• Distribute Student Handout B: Poverty and Gender to each group and have them review the
fact sheet and respond to what they have read by discussing the questions that are provided.
• When the discussion is complete, call out a number from one to four and have the student
from each team who was assigned that number present their group’s results to the class.
(This will help ensure that all of the students are actively involved in the activity.)
Part 3: Kenya in Context
• In preparation for viewing the film module, ask a volunteer to locate Kenya on the wall map.
• Provide students with the fact sheet Student Handout C: Kenya in Context. Have them
read the fact sheet and discuss briefly with a partner.
• Variation: This handout can be provided in advance of the lesson for students to review
as homework.
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Viewing the Module
Class time: 10–15 minutes
Note: We recommend that if time permits you begin this section by watching the film series
trailer (5:48): itvs.org/films/half-the-sky
You will need: Pens/pencils and writing paper, LCD projector or DVD player, the Women’s
Economic Empowerment in Kenya film module (10:41), and Student Handout D: Film
Module Screening Guide
• Distribute Student Handout D: Film Module Screening Guide and instruct students to take
notes during the screening using the worksheet as a guide.
• Variation: The questions from Student Handout D can be projected or written on the board
and reviewed briefly before viewing the film module to save paper.
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Post-Screening Activity
Time: 50 minutes
You will need: Student Handout E: Expert Fact Sheets, Student Handout F: The Ripple
Effect Worksheet, pens/pencils and writing paper, and computers with internet access,
if available
Goal: Students will discuss the film modules and share their notes. Students will work in
groups to research and understand effects of economic empowerment of women on the
individual level, the family level, the community level, and the national level. They will use
their collective research to create a written and/or visual narrative illustrating the ripple effect
of empowering a single woman.
Part 1: Postscreening Discussion Questions
• What did you think of the film? Was there anything that surprised you?
• What were some of the economic challenges that the women faced?
• What were some of the unsuccessful and successful strategies for women’s economic
empowerment that the film highlighted?
• Ingrid Munro says that in order to “get people out of poverty you need to deal with every
aspect of their life.” What does she mean by this? Do you agree with this statement? Why
or why not?
• While walking through the market, the women from Jamii Bora tell Nicholas Kristof and
Olivia Wilde that “the men buy the sodas, the women buy the milk.” Why is this exchange so
significant? What does it reveal about the financial dynamics of Kenyan families?
• What role do men have to play in women’s economic empowerment? How does
empowering women improve quality of life for men?
• When we read about problems in communities, our minds tend to go immediately to aid
programs and aid organizations, but what about business as a solution? What are the
benefits and pitfalls of social entrepreneurship in comparison to traditional aid?
• Many economists and development experts believe that the social-entrepreneurship
model highlighted in the film ignores the bigger social and institutional issues such as
discrimination, corruption, and corporate greed that are the actual roots of extreme poverty
and places too large a burden on the individual. Do you think the entrepreneur approach
is unfair to individual women by making them responsible for overcoming the failings of
their society? What are some other strategies shown in the film that help to improve the
economic security of women and their families?
• All of the strategies that were highlighted in the film show women working with others to
overcome the economic challenges and barriers that they face. What benefit is there in
facing individual economic challenges in collaboration with one’s peers and community? Is
this an approach that could be used in our communities?
• How did the lives of the women change when they became financially independent?
• How can women’s economic independence break the cycle of poverty?
• What role has the issue of women’s economic empowerment played in your life? Were
there different economic expectations for girls and boys in your community or family? Were
you expected to be financially independent when you grew up? How did your experience
compare to that of the women in the film?
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Post-Screening Activity:
Part 2: Women’s Economic Empowerment Jigsaw
• Divide the class into groups of four students each and explain that they will work in groups
to research and understand effects of economic empowerment of women on the individual
level, the family level, the community level, and the national level. They will use their
collective research to create a written and/or visual narrative illustrating the ripple effect of
empowering a single woman.
• Jigsaw Activity: From the following list, assign each student in the group an “Area of
Expertise” about the impact of women’s economic empowerment on various entities:
--An individual woman
--Her family
--Her community
--Her society
• Ask the “experts” from each group to work together to research their topic. Distribute
Student Handout E: Expert Fact Sheet to each group and ask students to supplement their
research with online sources. The following websites can be used as resources:
--The United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) report on women’s economic
empowerment: www.unfpa.org/public/global/pid/382
--The “Women, Poverty & Economics” section of the UN Women website:
www.unifem.org/gender_issues/women_poverty_economics
--The “Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment” section of the USAID website:
www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/gender-equality-and-womens-empowerment
• When the research is complete ask the “experts” to return to their original groups and share
their findings.
• Distribute Student Handout F: The Ripple Effect Worksheet to each group and ask them to
read the brief paragraph describing extreme poverty in the United States.
• Instruct them to imagine that they are working with Jamii Bora and have been assigned to
help improve economic empowerment for women in their local community. Have the groups
complete the worksheet using their research and expertise.
• Finally, have students use what they have learned to develop a brief written and/or visual
narrative illustrating the ripple effect of providing economic empowerment to women in
their community. The following websites provide resources that can be used to create
infographics and visual representations of their research:
--Infographics in Education: infographicsineducation.wikispaces.com
--“Teaching with Infographics: Places to Start”:
learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/teaching-with-infographics-places-to-start
• The groups should display their results and discuss with the class:
--Why is women’s economic empowerment an important issue?
--How does women’s economic empowerment empower men and boys as well? What role
can men play in improving the economic independence of women?
--How can women’s economic independence help break the cycle of poverty?
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Assignments
Select one or more of the following assignments to complete
the lesson:
1. Women’s economic empowerment in our community.
Ask students to work alone or in groups to research services and
organizations that provide support to women and girls in their
communities and consider the impact that gender and factors such
as race, religion, and class play in the economic security of an
individual and of a family.
• Students should use their strategies from the postscreening activity
as a guide and incorporate resources and organizations in the area
that provide support and services.
• They can also contact organizations in their communities that
provide entrepreneurship support for low-income women who want
to start their own businesses.
• If possible, they should interview one of an organization’s clients
to discuss the benefits and challenges of entrepreneurship and
develop a profile of their subject or the organization.
• Students can present their completed projects to their school
community and can also reach out to their local city council to
discuss their project and their findings. The following website
can help you contact your local elected officials: www.usa.gov/
Contact/Elected.shtml.
• Multimedia presentation resources:
--Zentation, where you can combine videos, slides, and audio into
presentations: Zentation.com
--VoiceThread, a video, audio, and slide editing program:
Voicethread.com
--VCASMO, an easy-to-use multimedia presentation tool:
Vcasmo.com
--“Writing Copy for Voiceovers”:
peterdrewvo.com/html/tips_for_writing_for_voiceover.html
2. Journaling Exercise: How would you live on less than
$2 a day?
As we have seen, extreme poverty is not something that only exists in
developing countries; nearly 1.5 million Americans are living on less
than two dollars per day. Ask students to imagine that they are one of
these 1.5 million Americans and have them do a series of short diary
entries using a social media site such as Tumblr describing a week
in their life. Have them consider what life would be like if they had to
survive with extremely limited resources and then write their journal
entries using the following questions as a guide:
• What would your biggest challenges be each day?
• What would you have to sacrifice?
• What would you spend your money on or save up for?
• Would you continue to come to school? If so, how would your
limited resources shape your experience? If not, what would you
use your time for instead?
• What impact would living on two dollars a day have on your
expectations for your future?
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Extensions
1. This Land is My Land (Too)
Studies show when women have secure rights to their land, their
family nutrition and health improve, they may be less likely to be
victims of domestic violence, and their children are more likely to
receive an education and stay in school longer. Despite this, women
around the world are struggling to gain the right to own their own
land. Have students research the importance of land rights in
ensuring women’s economic empowerment.
• Instruct students to work in groups to research the status of land
rights around the world, and identify countries where women
are struggling to own their own land. Have them also identify
countries that have improved women’s access to land rights in the
past 20 years.
• Have each group select one country that lacks adequate land
rights and one country where women’s rights recently improved
and compare the status of women and their quality of life in
each country.
• What impact has owning/not owning land had on women’s lives
and the lives of their families?
• How have women’s lives changed since they began owning their
own land?
• Has the introduction of land rights for women had an impact at the
community or national level?
• Students can use the following websites for research and
information and should complete their projects by creating
multimedia presentations of their research using Prezi (prezi.com).
2. Small Loans, Big Debates
Microfinance was once believed to be a key strategy in poverty
alleviation, but in recent years, questions about its broad
effectiveness beyond individual success stories, along with a
series of scandals — including reported suicides among indebted
borrowers in Andhra Pradesh, India — have overshadowed stories
of small loans helping pull women out of poverty. The debate has
been characterized by extreme claims on both sides, but what is the
bottom line on microfinance?
• Screen the complete segment from the film on Women’s Economic
Empowerment and have students consider why microfinance has
been moderately effective in some countries but not at all in others.
• Ask students to share their feedback and what they think about the
debate about microfinance.
• Have students work individually or in groups and research the issue.
What are the main points of those who support microfinance?
What are the main points of those who are against it?
• Assign each student/group one side of the debate to research in
detail. Following their research, have students engage in a formal
debate about the issue. Education World offers a selection of
debate resources that provide guidelines and rules for classroom
debates: www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/
lesson304b.shtml
• Resources on this topic can be found at the following websites:
Women’s World Banking:
www.swwb.org
Landesa:
www.landesa.org
Grameen Bank:
www.grameen-info.org
International Land Coalition:
www.landcoalition.org
Microfinance Open Book Blog by David Roodman of the
Washington-based Center for Global Development:
blogs.cgdev.org/open_book/2009/02/summary-and-outline.php
The “Women’s Land & Property Rights” section of the
UN Women website:
www.unifem.org/gender_issues/women_poverty_economics/
land_property_rights.php
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Women’s Economic Empowerment
Extensions
3. Millennium Development Goals:
Empowering Women Empowers the World
In September 2000, the United Nations signed the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), with the aim of halving the number
of people living in poverty, reducing maternal and child mortality,
fighting disease, and improving social and economic conditions
in the world's poorest countries by 2015. Have your class screen
the complete series of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into
Opportunity for Women Worldwide and examine the connection
between the issues addressed in the documentary and the
Millennium Campaign’s focus on women. Have them consider how
and why improving rights and resources for women and girls is
considered key to eradicating global poverty.
• Divide the class into eight groups, assign each an MDG, and
instruct the groups to develop a “We Are the Goal” presentation,
which should include the following:
--A summary of the MDG and the campaign’s strategies for
improving social and economic conditions for women
--Information on the public perception and understanding of
the MDGs; students can investigate the public’s knowledge
and understanding of the Millennium Campaign by recording
“person-on-the-street” interviews and including the footage in
the presentation
--Examples of specific programs that have been implemented and
their impact to date
--How the campaign relates to issues in the students’ own
communities
--A plan of action for the group and the school community to
contribute to the Millennium Campaign
• The presentations should be multimedia and can include photoessays, video footage, audio clips, animations, and infographics,
using the following websites as resources:
Animoto:
animoto.com
Capzles:
www.capzles.com
Prezi:
prezi.com
Infographic tools from the Educational Technology and Mobile
Learning website:
www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/05/eight-free-tools-forteachers-to-make.html
• Information and resources for research on the MDGs can be found at:
United Nations Millennium Development Goals:
www.un.org/millenniumgoals
End Poverty 2015:
www.endpoverty2015.org
The “Get Involved” section of the UN MDGs website:
www.un.org/millenniumgoals/getinvolved.shtml
The “Millennium Development Goals” section of the
UN Women website:
www.unifem.org/gender_issues/millennium_development_
goals
MDG Monitor:
www.mdgmonitor.org
4. Kick-Start a Conversation
Women’s World Banking (WWB) is a global network of 39 financial
organizations from 27 countries and the only microfinance network
with an explicit focus on women. Have your students visit the
WWB website to learn how they can host an event at their school
or in their community to kick-start the conversation about women’s
economic empowerment and find out how they can work with
WWB to make a difference. The website provides complete details
for planning events and a multimedia tool kit to help bring the issue
to life for your community.
Women’s World Banking:
www.swwb.org
The “Host Your Own WWB Event” section of the WWB website:
www.swwb.org/content/host-your-own-wwb-event
5. Connect with Communities
Kiva is a grassroots nonprofit organization with a mission to
connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Kiva relies
heavily on its team of committed volunteers and offers a range of
opportunities to get involved, including the Kiva Translation Program
and the Kiva Fellows Program, which has offered over four hundred
individuals an opportunity to put their skills to work in support of
global microfinance. Visit Kiva’s website for more information:
www.kiva.org.
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Additional Resources
BOOKS
WEBSITES
N. Kristof, S. WuDunn, Half the Sky:
Turning Oppression into Opportunity for
Women Worldwide, New York : Alfred A.
Knopf, 2009
This is the official website for the Half
the Sky: Turning Oppression into
Opportunity for Women Worldwide film,
book, and movement.
www.halftheskymovement.org
F I LM S
Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into
Opportunity For Women Worldwide:
Filmed in 10 countries, the documentary
follows Nicholas Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn,
and celebrity activists America Ferrera,
Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan,
Gabrielle Union, and Olivia Wilde on a
journey to tell the stories of inspiring,
courageous individuals. Across the globe,
oppression is being confronted, and real
meaningful solutions are being fashioned
through health care, education, and
economic empowerment for women and
girls. The linked problems of sex trafficking
and forced prostitution, gender-based
violence, and maternal mortality — which
needlessly claims one woman every 90
seconds — present to us the single most
vital opportunity of our time: the opportunity
to make a change. All over the world,
women are seizing this opportunity. Visit the
website at: www.halftheskymovement.org
ITVS Women and Girls Lead Film
Collection: Women and Girls Lead offers
a collection of films by prominent
independent filmmakers. These films focus
on women who are working to transform their
lives, their communities, and the world. Visit
the website to learn more about the films
and explore our diverse catalogue of educator
resources, lesson plans, and film modules.
See www.womenandgirlslead.org for
more details.
ITVS’s Women and Girls Lead is an
innovative public media campaign designed
to celebrate, educate, and activate women,
girls, and their allies across the globe to
address the challenges of the 21st century.
womenandgirlslead.org
Jamii Bora works to strengthen and utilize
all the skills, determination, and hard work
of the people of Kenya to build a better
nation through better families.
www.jamiibora.org
The Umoja Uaso Women’s Group in
Kenya is a refuge for victims of domestic
abuse where women support themselves
and their families through the sale of
traditional crafts and promote human
rights, economic empowerment, and the
preservation of indigenous art.
www.umojawomen.org
Women’s World Banking (WWB) is a
global network of 39 financial organizations
from 27 countries and the only microfinance
network with an explicit focus on women.
www.swwb.org
The Centre for Development and
Population Activities (CEDPA) works
through local partnerships to give women
tools to improve their lives, families, and
communities. CEDPA’s programs increase
educational opportunities for girls, ensure
access to lifesaving reproductive health
and HIV/AIDS information and services,
and strengthen good governance and
women’s leadership in their nations.
www.cedpa.org
Girls Inc. inspires all girls to be strong,
smart, and bold through life-changing
programs and experiences that help girls
navigate gender, economic, and
social barriers.
www.girlsinc.org
The Landesa Center for Women’s Land
Rights recognizes that the lack of secure
land rights is a root cause of global poverty.
Their land law and policy experts help poor
countries develop and implement land laws,
policies, and programs that provide ladders
out of poverty for their citizens and promote
long-term economic growth.
www.landesa.org
Kiva is a grassroots nonprofit organization
with a mission to connect people through
lending to alleviate poverty.
www.kiva.org
The Campaign for Female Education
(Camfed USA) fights poverty and HIV/
AIDS in Africa by educating girls and
empowering women to become leaders
of change.
us.camfed.org/site/
PageServer?pagename=home_index
The Girl Effect is a collective movement
to lift 50 million women and girls out of
poverty by 2030 through the education and
empowerment of girls.
www.girleffect.org
The United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) is mandated by the United
Nations General Assembly to advocate for
the protection of children’s rights, to help
meet children’s basic needs, and to expand
their opportunities to reach their full potential.
www.unicef.org
Women for Women International
“provides women survivors of war, civil
strife and other conflicts with the tools and
resources to move from crisis and poverty
to stability and self-sufficiency, thereby
promoting viable civil societies. We’re
changing the world one woman at a time.”
www.womenforwomen.org
0116
HALF TH E S KY
Women’s Economic Empowerment
Standards
Common Core State Standards
for English Language Arts
& Literacy in History/Social
Studies, Science, and Technical
Subjects
Writing Standards 6–12
3. (9–10, 11–12) Write narratives to
develop real or imagined experiences or
events using effective technique, wellchosen details, and well-structured event
sequences.
4. (9–10, 11–12) Produce clear and
coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate
to task, purpose, and audience. (Gradespecific expectations for writing types are
defined in standards 1–3 above.)
6. (9–10, 11–12) Use technology,
including the Internet, to produce, publish,
and update individual or shared writing
products, taking advantage of technology’s
capacity to link to other information and to
display information flexibly and dynamically.
Speaking and Listening Standards
1. (9–10, 11–12) Initiate and participate
effectively in a range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners on [grade
9–12] topics, text, and issues, building
on others’ ideas and expressing their own
clearly and persuasively.
4. (11–12) Present information, findings,
and supporting evidence, conveying a clear
and distinct perspective, such that listeners
can follow the line of reasoning, alternative
or opposing perspectives are addressed,
and the organization, development,
substance, and style are appropriate to
purpose, audience, and a range of formal
and informal tasks.
5. (9–10, 11–12) Make strategic use
of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical,
audio, visual, and interactive elements) in
presentations to enhance understanding of
findings, reasoning, and evidence and to
add interest.
Writing Standards for Literacy in History/
Social Studies, Science, and Technical
Subjects 6–12
1. (9–10, 11–12) Write arguments focused
on discipline-specific content.
4. (9–10, 11–12) Produce clear and
coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience.
7. (9–10, 11–12) Conduct short as well
as more sustained research projects
to answer a question (including a selfgenerated question) or solve a problem;
narrow or broaden the inquiry when
appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on
the subject, demonstrating understanding
of the subject under investigation.
4. I N DI V I DUAL DEV E LO P M E N T
AN D I DE NT I T Y
Personal identity is shaped by family,
peers, culture, and institutional influences.
Through this theme, students examine
the factors that influence an individual’s
personal identity, development, and actions.
5. I N DI V I DUALS , G RO U P S, A N D
I N S I T I T U T I ON S
Institutions such as families and civic,
educational, governmental, and religious
organizations exert a major influence on
people’s lives. This theme allows students
to understand how institutions are formed,
maintained, and changed, and to examine
their influence.
10. CI V I C I DEALS AN D P R ACTICE S
An understanding of civic ideals and
practices is critical to full participation
in society and an essential component
of education for citizenship. This theme
enables students to learn about the
rights and responsibilities of citizens
of a democracy, and to appreciate the
importance of active citizenship.
9. (9–10, 11–12) Draw evidence from
informational texts to support analysis,
reflection, and research.
National Standards for Arts
Education Grades 9–12
National Curriculum Standards
for Social Studies
VA1: Understanding and applying media,
techniques, and processes
1. C U LT U R E
Through the study of culture and cultural
diversity, learners understand how human
beings create, learn, share, and adapt to
culture, and appreciate the role of culture in
shaping their lives and society, as well the
lives and societies of others.
VA5: Reflecting upon and assessing the
characteristics and merits of their work and
the work of others
H A L F T H E S K Y : WO M E N ’ S E C O N O M I C E M P O W E R M E N T
Student Handout A:
Living On $2 A Day
The Cost of Living in
Liberia on $2 per Day
Budget Worksheet
Imagine that you are part of a family (you, your spouse, and one child)
living on $2 per day in Liberia. Using the Cost of Living Worksheet
for reference, work with your team to fill out the budget chart below.
Exchange Rate:
US $1 = 50 Liberian dollars (LRD)
Living on $2 per day = Living on 3,000
Liberian dollars per month
*all values listed in LRD
1. Housing
Monthly rent $12,250
Cooking gas/ $300/month
Kerosene/Coal
Electricity$14,700/month
Water$7,350/month
2. Transportation
One-way bus ticket to work
3. Meal Planning
Pound of rice
Pound of sugar
Ten tea bags
Pound of grain
Pound of tomatoes
Pound of zucchini
Pound of onions
Bottle of Coca-Cola
Small goat
Small chicken
4. Education Fees
School fees
and materials
Step 2: Revisit your need list and eliminate or add items and expenses to keep your monthly
budget at or below your income. List the amounts for all of the items and expenses that
remain in the Can Afford column.
Step 3: List the cost of all of the items that you need but cannot afford in the Can’t
Have column.
$25
$245
$73.50
$98
$65
$98
$49
$49
$85
$500
$250
$900/month/child
5. Clothing
Work shirt
$245
Work trousers
$245
Shoes$98
6. Cost of Personal Items
Soap
$1.50 for pack of six bars
Shampoo$1.50
Toothpaste$147
Toothbrush$49
Toilet paper
$250 for six rolls
7. Medicine
Antimalaria drugs
Step 1: In the Need column, list the costs in Liberian dollars for each of the items that a
family of three would need during one month. Add up the total costs and compare that
total with your monthly income of $3,000 LRD. Are your total expenses more or less than
your income?
$343
BASICS
NEED
CAN AFFORD
CAN’T HAVE
Rent
Water
Electricity
Cooking fuel
School fees
7 lbs. rice
4 lbs. tomatoes
5 lbs. zucchini
20 bottles Coca-Cola
1 lb. sugar
7 lbs. onions
2 small chickens
Soap (1 bar)
Toothpaste (1/2 tube)
Antimalaria drugs
TOTAL
8. Other Assorted Items
TV$14,700
Adapted from the UN Millennium Campaign’s Student Voices against Poverty:
The Millennium Campaign Curriculum Project
www.un.org/works/Lesson_Plans/MDGs/MDG_Curriculum_US.pdf
H A L F T H E S K Y : WO M E N ’ S E C O N O M I C E M P O W E R M E N T
Student Handout B:
Poverty and Gender
Women play a vital role in the economic prosperity of their families, communities, and countries, yet in
every part of the world, women work longer hours than men, are paid less for their work, are at a higher
risk of unemployment, and are far more likely to live in poverty.
Fast Facts
• Women earn less than 10 percent of the
world’s wages, but do more than two-thirds
of the world’s work.
• Women reinvest 90 percent of their income
into their families while men invest only
30 to 40 percent. In Brazil, when income is
in the hands of the mother, the survival
of a child increases by about 20 percent.
• In the United States, a woman earns
approximately $0.76 for every $1.00 that a
man earns in a similar job.
• Women in sub-Saharan Africa own less
than 2 percent of the land, but produce
more than 90 percent of the food.
• In one out of three households around the
world, women are the sole breadwinners.
• Studies show that when women have
secure rights to their land, their family’s
nutrition and health improve, they are less
likely to be victims of domestic violence,
and their children are more likely to receive
an education and stay in school longer.
• Approximately 70 percent of the world’s
poor are women and girls.
• Economically empowered women tend to
have fewer children.
• Each additional year in school raises a
woman’s earnings by about 15 percent.
Barriers to Women’s Economic Security
$
Financial dependence: Women who are denied the opportunity to earn and
control their own income and participate in important decisions regarding their
personal finances and the economic security of their families are at greater risk
of poverty and domestic violence and are more vulnerable to reproductive and
maternal health challenges.
Limited participation in the workforce: Worldwide, women are more likely
to work in the informal sector (in jobs such as domestic services and child
care), where wages are unregulated and workers lack basic rights and job
security. Women who work in the formal sector are more likely to experience
discrimination and occupy fewer leadership positions than their male
co-workers.
=
Unequal pay: Despite doing the majority of the world’s work, women earn
on average between 10 and 30 percent less than men. According to a 2009
report by the U.S. Census Bureau, women who work full-time, year-round earn
on average 23 percent less than men who work the same job.
Child care: Traditional gender roles limit women’s ability to participate equally
with men at work and also limit men’s responsibility for child care and unpaid
work duties.
Access to land: Women’s ability to own and inherit land is limited or denied
in many countries as a result of social and cultural traditions, legal restrictions,
and the lack of information and education available to women.
• In developing countries, women and girls
are most often responsible for household
and community water management and
travel great distances in search of water,
which limits their time for other activities,
including doing income-generating work.
• South African women collectively walk
the equivalent of a trip to the moon
(384,400 kilometers or 238,855 miles)
and back 16 times a day to supply their
households with water.
Discussion Questions
• How do you feel about this information?
Did it surprise you? If so, what surprised
you most?
• What impact, if any, has economic equality
had on your life, your family, or your
community?
• How often do you see stories about
women’s economic empowerment in the
news or depicted in the media? Why do
you think that is?
• What traditional expectations or
stereotypes about women might help
to reinforce economic inequality?
How often do we see these stereotypes
represented in our media? Why do you
think that is?
H A L F T H E S K Y : WO M E N ’ S E C O N O M I C E M P O W E R M E N T
Student Handout C:
Kenya Past and Present
Kenya is a relatively stable African country with a truly multicultural
population, whose ethnic diversity has produced a vibrant culture.
It is also a country that spent 80 years fighting for freedom from
colonial rule only to face four decades of political corruption that has
undermined its economic and civic development and contributed to
the disempowerment of millions of women.
The colonial period in Kenya was a time of vicious political and cultural oppression
and economic exploitation for the indigenous communities who had lived in that region
for centuries. In 1894, Britain declared protectorate over Kenya, and the new state’s
boundaries were drawn without the consultation of Kenya’s people. This act arbitrarily
brought together over 40 previously independent communities into one territorial entity. The
ongoing civil unrest that Kenya faces finds its roots in the painful legacy of violence and
ethnic tension from the country’s colonial era.
After achieving independence from Britain in 1963, Kenya’s leader, Jomo Kenyatta,
consolidated the political parties under the Kenya African National Union (KANU) party,
and by 1969, banned all other political parties. He was succeeded in 1978 by Daniel arap
Moi, who maintained one-party rule under KANU and remained in power for 24 years. In
the early 1990s, violent unrest and international pressure led to the restoration of multiparty
politics, but it took another decade before opposition candidate Mwai Kibaki ended nearly 40
years of KANU-party rule with his landslide victory in 2002’s general election.
Despite President Kibaki’s pledge to tackle corruption, mismanagement of international aid
has been a continuing issue, with some donors estimating that up to $1 billion was lost
between 2002 and 2005 alone. In addition to high-level corruption and graft, Kenyans also
face crippling daily challenges including high unemployment, widespread crime, reoccurring
droughts, and extreme poverty, with most Kenyans living on less than one dollar a day.
For Kenyan women, poverty and pervasive traditionalism are the two major obstacles
to obtaining equal rights. Although government policy, legislation, and the media favor
women’s rights, the traditional view of women’s low status has proven difficult to overcome.
Violence against women is a serious problem, with many traditional cultures permitting and
even encouraging men to physically discipline their wives. The practice of female genital
mutilation (FGM) is prevalent, with about 50 percent of Kenyan women having suffered
FGM. Rape is also widespread despite legal prohibitions, and there is substantial evidence
that incidences of child rape are growing. Underlying all of these violations of women’s
rights is a deeply entrenched economic discrimination linked to cultural traditions and
customary laws that deny women the right to make decisions about their own resources or
to inherit and own land.
Recent political improvements — including the new constitution adopted in 2010 that
delegates more power to local governments and gives Kenyans a bill of rights — have
inspired cautious optimism for many Kenyans. These changes are especially important
for women, who hope to benefit from policies that seek to end gender discrimination and
support women’s leadership and participation, such as a quota guaranteeing a minimum of
47 women members of Parliament in the National Assembly.
*For more information on Kenya, visit the ITVS website and view the
educational materials for Taking Root, a documentary film that tells the story of
Kenya’s Green Belt Movement and follows Wangari Maathai, the movement’s
founder and the first environmentalist and African woman to win the Nobel Prize:
www.itvs.org/educators/collections/womens-empowerment/lesson-plans/from-roots-to-branches.
H A L F T H E S K Y : WO M E N ’ S E C O N O M I C E M P O W E R M E N T
Student Handout D:
Film Module Screening Guide
Name: Date: Class: Take notes while watching the Women’s Economic Empowerment in Kenya film module, using the
following list of questions as a guide:
• ●What are some of the economic challenges that the women in the film face?
• ●What strategies do the women use to become financially independent?
• What impact does the women’s economic security have on their lives, the lives of their families, and their communities?
• Write down two or three quotes from the film that stand out most for you and illustrate the value and role of economic
empowerment in the lives of the women featured in the film.
H A L F T H E S K Y : WO M E N ’ S E C O N O M I C E M P O W E R M E N T
Student Handout E:
Expert Fact Sheet (Page 1)
Benefits of Women’s
Economic Empowerment
Expand Your
Research
A growing body of research shows that enhancing women and
girls’ economic opportunities plays a critical role in reducing poverty
as well as gender-based discrimination and violence, improving
women and girls’ access to education and civic participation,
and raising the quality of life for future generations. When women
and girls are in charge of their financial destinies, income, and
capital — such as land and livestock — they gain more control over
their own lives and personal security and as a result have greater
access to decision-making and leadership roles in their homes and
communities. Women are also consistently more likely to reinvest
profits back into their families, which — in addition to improving their
own children’s nutrition, health, and education — contributes to the
economic growth and security of their communities and countries.
Work with your expert group and investigate the impact of women’s
economic empowerment using the following websites as resources:
What Is Needed?
Women and girls have an essential role to play in the global
campaign to eradicate poverty, but progress on women’s economic
empowerment continues to be slow and uneven. Limited access
to land and property, housing, credit, technology, and markets has
undermined women’s livelihoods and restricted their ability to benefit
from the economic growth they help to generate. The following
strategies have been identified as critical to ensuring women’s
economic empowerment:
• Promote equal opportunities for women in employment and tackle
gender-based discrimination in all areas of the public sphere.
• Support professional-development programs that target women and
girls and provide leadership training and mentorship.
• Provide resources and enact policies that support women who are
juggling paid work and family responsibilities, and provide support
for men, such as paternity leave, so they can take a greater role in
child care and domestic tasks.
• Increase the number of female entrepreneurs and the size of their
businesses by giving them greater access to financial services such
as microfinancing, training, technical assistance, and networking to
share best practices.
• Improve women’s access to a range of financial services, including
savings, credit, and insurance, as well as to the right to own and
inherit land.
• Increase women’s leadership and participation in economic
decision-making bodies at every level.
• The United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) report on women’s
economic empowerment: www.unfpa.org/public/global/pid/382
• The “Women, Poverty & Economics” section of the
UN Women website:
www.unifem.org/gender_issues/women_poverty_economics
• The “Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment” section of the
USAID website: www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/gender-equalityand-womens-empowerment
H A L F T H E S K Y : WO M E N ’ S E C O N O M I C E M P O W E R M E N T
Student Handout E:
Expert Fact Sheet (Page 2)
Name: Date: Class: Economic Expert Worksheet
Topic of expertise (check one below):
The impact of women’s economic empowerment on:
___ An individual woman
___ Her family
___ Her community
___ Her society
1. Research your topic and list at least five benefits of women’s economic empowerment in your area of expertise.
1
2
3
4
5
+
2. Identify at least three strategies for women’s economic empowerment that have made improvements in your area of expertise.
1
2
3
+
H A L F T H E S K Y : WO M E N ’ S E C O N O M I C E M P O W E R M E N T
Student Handout F:
The Ripple Effect Worksheet
Name: Date: Class: When we think of extreme poverty we often think of communities in developing countries, but more and
more women and their families in the United States are facing financial crisis. According to a 2012 study
by the National Poverty Center, the number of U.S. households living on less than two dollars per person
per day more than doubled between 1996 and 2011, from six hundred and thirty-six thousand to 1.46
million. The number of children in extremely poor households also doubled, from 1.4 million to 2.8 million
Imagine your team is working with Jamii Bora and you have been assigned to help improve economic empowerment for
women in your community. Based on your research, respond to the following questions:
• What strategies would you use?
• What outcomes would you hope to achieve?
• How would empowering women benefit the individual women, their families, their communities, and their society?
• How would men and boys benefit from women’s economic empowerment?
0124
Purchasing the Full-length Film
New Video, a Cinedigm company, is a leading entertainment distributor and the largest
aggregator of independent digital content worldwide. New Video’s Docurama Films is proud
to offer Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide as
part of its roster of acclaimed, award-winning documentaries. Educators may purchase
the full-length film through their website: www.newvideo.com/institutional.
Purchasing the Book
From two of our most fiercely moral voices, a passionate call to arms against our era’s
most pervasive human rights violation: the oppression of women and girls in the developing world. With Pulitzer Prize-winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn as our
guides, we undertake an odyssey through Africa and Asia to meet the extraordinary
women struggling there, among them a Cambodian teenager sold into sex slavery and an
Ethiopian woman who suffered devastating injuries in childbirth. Drawing on the breadth
of their combined reporting experience, Kristof and WuDunn depict our world with anger,
sadness, clarity, and, ultimately, hope.
Through these stories, Kristof and WuDunn help us see that the key to economic progress lies in unleashing women’s potential. They make clear how so many people have
helped to do just that, and how we can each do our part.
Throughout much of the world, the greatest unexploited economic resource is the female
half of the population. Countries such as China have prospered precisely because they
emancipated women and brought them into the formal economy. Unleashing that process
globally is not only the right thing to do; it’s also the best strategy for fighting poverty.
Deeply felt, pragmatic, and inspirational, Half the Sky is essential reading for every
global citizen.
The book may be purchased through amazon.com.
Credits
International Rescue Committee (IRC)
(Gender-Based Violence)
Heidi Chase
WR ITE R
Allison Milewski
I T V S S TA F F
Kiva (Economic Empowerment)
Chelsa Bocci
Erin Viray
Director of Engagement & Education
Duong-Chi Do
Education Manager
Annelise Wunderlich
Polaris Project (Sexual Slavery)
Audrey Roofeh
Engagement & Education Coordinator
Renee Gasch
Room to Read (Education)
Sonia Torres
Women and Girls Lead Campaign Manager
Locsi Ferra
Women’s World Banking (Economic Empowerment)
Mary Ellen Iskenderian
Phoebe Rock
Julie Slama
National Community Engagement Manager
Sara Brissenden-Smith
Engagement & Education Assistant
Nallaly Jimenez
COM M U N ITY CLASS ROOM
Community Classroom is an innovative and free resource for educators, offering
short-form film modules adapted from ITVS’s award-winning documentaries and
standards-based lesson plans for high school and community colleges, NGOS,
and youth organizations. To learn more, visit itvs.org/educators
Media Services Manager
Benita Stills
Designers
Michael Silva
Brittany Truex
ITVS
Independent Television Service (ITVS) funds, presents, and promotes award-winning independently produced documentaries and dramas on public television and
cable, innovative new media projects on the Web, and the Emmy® Award-winning
series Independent Lens on PBS. ITVS receives core funding from the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
Copyeditor
Jocelyn Truitt
S H OW O F F O R C E STA F F
Maro Chermayeff, Executive Producer and Director
Rachel Koteen, Co-Producer
Joshua Bennet, Producer
T E A C H E R A DV I S O R S
David Maduli
Crystal Fresco Gifford
N G O A DV I S O R S
The Centre for Population and Development and Population
Activities (CEDPA) (Maternal Mortality)
Laurette Cucuzza
Eva Cantrell
Rose Amolo
ITVS’s Women and Girls Lead campaign is a strategic public media initiative
to support and sustain a growing international movement to empower women
and girls, their communities, and future generations. To learn more, visit
womenandgirlslead.org
S HOW OF FORCE
Dedicated to creating feature documentaries and television series events of the
highest caliber, Show of Force is known for dynamic, character-driven storytelling that consistently engages, entertains, and inspires. Show of Force is a media
production company represented by CAA (Creative Artists Agency), with 20 years
of combined experience and excellence between partners Maro Chermayeff and
Jeff Dupre. They have produced over 20 hours of television and media content per
year with a staff of excellent young producers and are the recipients of numerous
awards and accolades for their work on both U.S. and international media broadcasts. Show of Force is the production company overseeing the multiple platforms
of the Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
movement. To learn more, visit showofforce.com
Wyncote
Foundation
Independent Television Service (ITVS)
email: classroom@itvs.org
web: itvs.org/educators/collections