‘Tis the season when my email is filled with requests from non-profits for end-of-year donations. So I thought I would write a bit about some causes that help women and girls. I will always be thankful for Barack Obama’s small donations fundraising. For the first time, I felt that a donation of $3 or $5 might actually mean something. However little I had, I could still give something, and it made a huge difference in how I felt about myself. I’ve received help from this community before, and have given a few dollars to others in need when I was able. I’ve given to political campaigns and disaster relief. This month I gave to KIND and the ACLU. So here are some ways to give that can help women and girls here and around the world.
For the education of girls around the world
Educating girls is one of the most effective means to economic growth in developing countries. But in too many places, girls face barriers that can seem insurmountable. In some places, it can be as simple as lack of sanitary products during menstruation. In other cases the barriers are cultural as where girls are forced into marriage as children, or when religious fanatics take over governments and ban girls’ education. Or it can be because of war and displacement.
Lawrence O’Donnell has joined with MSNBC and UNICEF to create the KIND fund, which provides scholarships for girls in Malawi to attend high school, and has a factory in Malawi make school desks and deliver them to schools across the country. You can learn more about this and donate here:
www.msnbc.com/…
UNICEF also has programs to provide sanitary supplies in schools, as does Planned Parenthood International.
www.unicefusa.org/…
www.ippf.org/…
Similar programs exist in schools in this country as well. I’ve heard of similar programs to this Tennessee program starting in New York City and other cities as well. For giving, consider donating sanitary products to local shelters or even your local food bank, if it sometimes includes non-food items.
www.tennessean.com/…
And of course there is the Malala Fund, which works towards Malala Yousefzai’s goal of having every girl in the world in school.
www.malala.org
Other Women’s Causes
Here are some other organizations that fight for women’s rights:
Planned Parenthood
NARAL
National Women’s Law Center
ACLU
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
And if I haven’t hit your issue, here is a list from America’s Best Charities of organizations for women, children, and families.
www.best-charities.org/…
Samantha Bee used her show to focus on immigration and what’s happening on the border. She is raising money to help — another fund called KIND.
Now for the news, with thanks to Sandra LLAP, thurayya, Besame, noweasels, karij
News of the Week
Each day Cyntoia Brown is locked up, is a day that Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam has failed to take action. Governor Bill Haslam needs to feel the pressure. The Governor's office is already receiving thousands of calls each day. You can write to him here:
act.colorofchange.org/…
"Democrats target New Mexico's criminal abortion law": https://www.lcsun-news.com/...
"New Mexico would repeal its anti-abortion law — one of just nine of its kind in the country — under legislation Democratic lawmakers plan to pursue in the 2019 session.
"UN: Women migrants in Libya often face gang rape, abuse": https://www.washingtonpost.com/...
"The 'overwhelming majority' of women and older girls who passed through Libya as migrants reported being gang-raped by traffickers or having witnessed others taken away to be sexually abused, the United Nations said Thursday in a report based on hundreds of interviews."
"5 Judges Whose Sexual Assault Rulings Land Them in The Hall Of Shame": https://www.care2.com/...
This article also has links to petitions against 3 of these 5 judges (& as for the remaining 2- one has already been removed from the bench as a result of a recall vote, and the other of these 2 is... Brett Kavanaugh).
Good news!
El Salvador court frees woman on trial after bearing rapist's baby
Imelda Cortez, 20, faced an attempted murder charge under draconian abortion laws after being raped by her stepfather
www.theguardian.com/...
A rape victim who was charged with attempted murder in El Salvador after giving birth to her abuser’s baby has been found not guilty and freed from jail.
Imelda Cortez, 20, has been in custody since April 2017 after giving birth in a latrine to a baby girl fathered by her abusive stepfather.
https://twitter.com/...
Black women face higher rates of domestic violence than do women of all other races, except Native women.
They are 4x more likely than their white peers to be murdered.
2x as likely to be killed by a spouse.
7x more likely to be slain while pregnant
"Black women politicians and journalists are 84% more likely to be mentioned in abusive or 'problematic' tweets than white women in the same profession."
www.motherjones.com/...
Nevada is officially the first state in US history with a majority-female legislature. On Tuesday, two women were appointed to open seats in the state’s Assembly, bringing the total number of women in the statehouse to 32—just enough to claim a majority in the 63-seat Legislature.
Get Well Soon Ruth Bader Ginsburg. We Need You.