Feminism Is For Everyone

Mar 7, 2008,7:07 PM

International Women's Day

Tomorrow, March 8th, is the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day!

The Women's Media Center (www.womensmediacenter.com) has some really cool articles about women around the world. "Please Listen to the Women of Iraq" is written by Zainab Salbi, founder and CEO of the Women for Women International. She is from Iraq and talks about what Iraqi women are feeling about the war. Her article highlights that women are often innocent bystanders that are caught up in a war they have no part in. Here's one story from her article:

"When Saba, an 18-year-old daughter of a Women for Women International-Iraq staff member, was shot on the way to school in December 2007, it cost the family about $800 just to get her the blood and the basic medicine she needed while at an Iraqi hospital for one day. The young woman stayed in the hospital for about 24 hours wrapped in a blood-soaked blanket. She remains paralyzed from the neck down today. When Saba narrates the story, her eyes are filled with tears. “I am left paralyzed for what? I have nothing to do with politics. I have nothing to do with anything. I was simply trying to finish my studies and to live my life.” Saba’s nights are now filled with nightmares. And Saba’s cries echo those of so many women in Iraq, 2 million of whom are estimated to be widows and mothers to about 6 million orphans in the country—this out of a population of 27 million."

(http://www.womensmediacenter.com/ex/030608.html)

In 2 weeks we will be having a FIFE meeting w/ MELC (Middle Eastern Leadership Coalition) to talk about the status of women in the Middle East.

-Cristina