May
16
2013
Keys to Survival
Melissa Empower Women, Rescue 0
The women recently rescued in Cleveland aren’t the first victims of kidnapping, abuse, and human trafficking, and they likely won’t be the last. But they can learn from the lessons of survivors of similar crimes like Elizabeth Smarth, Jaycee Dugard, and Shawn Hornbeck, according to CNN: What can [the women from Cleveland] learn from the paths followed by Smart, Dugard, Hornbeck and others that led them from darkness to brighter lives? The resiliency of these survivors is nothing short of remarkable. Smart, now 25, is married. She formed a foundation to battle child abuse and travels the country as aRead more
May
08
2013
Healing for Survivors of Human Trafficking
Melissa Empower Women, Trafficking News & Information 0
There’s great news in Cleveland this week: Three women who’ve been missing for about a decade have been rescued. News sources aren’t saying too much at this point about what the women went through and if they were officially victims of human trafficking. While investigators will be probing for details, it’s important for each of the women to feel a sense of privacy as they heal from the ordeal. Kidnapping survivor, Elizabeth Smart, sheds light on the mentality of shame that can overtake victims of trafficking: Rescued kidnapping victim Elizabeth Smart said Wednesday she understands why some human trafficking victimsRead more
Apr
25
2013
Old Phones Fund Mobile Medical Technology
Melissa Empower Women, Ethical Fashion 1
Got an old cell phone that you’re going to trash? You can donate it through Hope Phones to help doctors and patients in developing countries. Ethical fashion can extend past your clothes and jewelry to also include your phone—and you can help treat and prevent illness around the world, especially in places where healthcare for women and girls is particularly lacking. Find out how you can donate a phone or start a phone collection drive. Here’s more from Hope Phones: We created the Hope Phones campaign in 2009 as an innovative way to fund the global efforts of Medic Mobile,Read more
Apr
11
2013
Empower Women: It’s Fair, Smart, and Transformative
Melissa Empower Women 0
Harvard President Drew Faust delivers her lecture, “Educate Women; Change the World,” at Ewha Womans University in South Korea. Here’s an excerpt; the full text contains many stories of courageous women. Faust’s life, work, and words show that she truly knows what it means to empower women. It is with considerable humility that I raise this subject here, in the Republic of Korea, at Ewha Womans University, standing at the center of perhaps the most rapid and successful embrace of universal education, including female education, that the world has ever seen. The drive for education that animates your country, asRead more
Apr
04
2013
Screening of Girl Rising
Melissa Books & Resources, Empower Women, Events 0
The documentary Girl Rising is about the power of education in the lives of girls around the world. The film examines life stories that show how literacy and education empower women. STF is hosting a screening in Cincinnati through Gathr on Monday, May 13—buy tickets here by April 26. (If you’re not in Cincinnati, find a screening in your area on Gathr.) Here’s more about the film from the website: From Academy Award-nominated director Richard E. Robbins and the award-winning producers of The Documentary Group and Vulcan Productions, strategic partner, Intel Corporation, and distribution partners CNN Films and Gathr,Read more
Mar
29
2013
The Big Change in Trafficking in Sweden
Melissa Empower Women, Rescue, Trafficking News & Information 0
Human rights activist and columnist for The Independent, Joan Smith took a ride with an undercover officer in Sweden to see how Sweden’s laws—criminalizing buying sex rather than selling it—have changed the face of human trafficking there. She shares encouraging news in “Why the Game’s Up for Sweden’s Sex Trade.” I am sitting in the back of an unmarked police car on the small island of Skeppsholmen, to the east of Stockholm’s picturesque old town. Above us is the city’s modern art museum but it’s a dark February night and we’re not here to appreciate culture. “They park up there,”Read more
Mar
07
2013
Human Trafficking on Social Media
Melissa Empower Women, Survivor Stories 0
This article from CNN about how pimps are using social media to target victims for human trafficking highlights several key themes in the fight against human trafficking. • Technology aids traffickers. • Many typical American teens are vulnerable. • The romantic lies that traffickers use to lure girls are powerful. Here’s part of the article: Upper middle-class and college-bound, Nina had her plans derailed in her senior year of high school after her mother was sentenced to two years in prison for financial crimes. Lonely and looking online for male attention, she started messaging back and forth [on Facebook] withRead more
Feb
20
2013
Safe Travel for Women in Delhi
Melissa Empower Women 0
Rather than face harassment and violence when they travel the city, and rather than being confined to their homes for safety, women Delhi have another option—a cab company for women by women, reports the BBC. Safe transportation is a key to empower women. The world of taxi drivers is dominated by men. But there is one small cab company in Delhi, where all the drivers and passengers are female. Women’s safety is a hot topic in India at the moment, so it’s proving a very popular service. “When I’m on the road driving our cab I feel very proud, becauseRead more
Feb
14
2013
Speak Up
Melissa Empower Women, Everyday Abolitionist 0
Yesterday just after 5, I boarded a train toward downtown Boston. There were maybe a dozen people in the car. I sat down. A minute or so later, a young woman in her early 20s ran into the car, her face red from crying. A man about her age followed her. She screamed at him to get a way from her, and he said, “No, I’m going home with you!” She tried to sit separate from him, but he wouldn’t leave her side. Everyone in the car was watching or pretending not to watch. Seconds before the train left, heRead more
Feb
05
2013
Empowering Women Through Basketball
Melissa Empower Women 0
Check out this cool program through a partnership of the U.S. Department of State, the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). What hobbies and interests do you have? How can you use them to empower women and stop human trafficking? The U.S. Department of State, the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) will build on their long-time partnership to elevate efforts worldwide to empower women and girls through sports. Today, Tamika Raymond, Nykesha Sales, and Becky Bonner will travel to Ukraine to engage underserved girls in Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk.Read more