I read an interesting article today. You may also find it interesting, and I hope disturbing.
Did you know that …
Seventy percent of the world’s extremely poor are women.
Almost 80 percent of all refugees are women and their kids.
Every year, as many as four million women and children are sold for the sex trade or to work as slaves.
Here’s another bit of information that shakes me: Prior to the 20th century, 90 percent of the casualties of war were soldiers. That soldiers die in war is tragic, but in the last century “collateral damage” has turned tragedy into insanity. Now, worldwide, approximately 90 percent of the casualties of war are civilians and an estimated 75 percent of them are women and children.
And consider this all-too-common scenario in the developing world. An unfaithful husband infects his wife with HIV. The husband runs off and the young mother becomes sick with AIDS. While her sons continue going to school, her daughters stay home to care for her and cook and clean for the family. When the mother dies, her property is taken over by her male relatives, and her children are taken in by some woman — often a grandmother so poor she can’t provide even the necessities for her grandkids.
Many such orphaned girls, uneducated and desperate, become prey for sugar daddies who promise food or education in exchange for sex. Tragically, many of these girls become infected with HIV and the cycle continues. This helps explain another sad statistic: that worldwide, 60 percent of those infected with HIV are women.
I have been shocked to discover how many of the world’s tragedies and injustices disproportionately impact women and girls. Overall, women and girls are the least valued, least fed, least educated, and least protected people group in the world.
I am proud of Sally, my wife, I count her as one the dangerous women in the world, as she passionately works for changes on the issues that discontent her heart.
Read more on dangerous women at http://www.lynnehybels.com/
