Women Deliver: Young Women Climate Warriors Speak
womennewsnetwork.net - (WNN) Copenhagen, Denmark, EUROPE: Seven years have gone by since then, but Majandra Rodrigues Acha of Lima still cannot forget the day she saw the true face of a woman’s vulnerability. It was June 2009 and television channels across Peru were broadcasting the news of a riot that erupted between the country’s indigenous people and the police. In the riot, known as the “Devil’s Curve Battle’ 32 indigenous environmental activists had died defending their land rights.
A particular image on TV screen haunts her even today: “It was an old woman, pointing at the dead people on the street and trying to express her sorrows. But since she spoke no Spanish, nobody seemed to understand her. There was such an air of helplessness around her!” she recalls.
The battle at the Devil’s Curve was a direct conflict between the state police force and a large group of indigenous people who were protesting a government policy that made it easy to grab local’s land for large corporate. Although the protest was peaceful, it turned violent when the police began to crackdown on the protesters. Soon, shots were fired, 32 indigenous people and injuring over a hundred. Nine policemen were also killed in the riot.
Why Hollywood Doesn't Tell More Stories for—and About—Girls
Another thing these films have in common is that they came out decades ago. Today’s audiences rarely see movies like The Secret Garden and Matilda—live-action works for and about younger girls that celebrate the ambition and resourcefulness of their protagonists. For studios, big-budget sequels and reboots and remakes dominate the day. Kids’ movies as a whole are usually animated and/or feature protagonists who are a bit older (or four-legged). Combine that with other systemic problems like outdated ideas about gender and marketing, as well as a dearth of female writers and directors, and the result is a cinematic landscape for girls that’s in some ways less rich today than it was 20 years ago.
Though modern films with boy protagonists are also increasingly animated (Big Hero 6, Sanjay’s Super Team), there are still a few live-action options with young heroes who use ingenuity and courage to solve problems (Pan, The Jungle Book). But within the broader context of storytelling, toys, and costumes for children, boys have traditionally been permitted to fill a wide range of exciting roles (pirates, superheroes, ninjas, astronauts). Girls, meanwhile, tend to be slotted into a narrower range of character types (princesses chief among them), making it that much more valuable when films present alternatives young female viewers can relate to. The problem is even worse for young girls of color, who historically haven’t seen many images of themselves on screen, animated or otherwise (though films like the upcoming Moana seem to offer some hope that might change for the better).
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HRH Sheikha Sheikha Al-Thani: Children Can Change the World
Sheikha Sheikha Al-Thani is a princess. She believes everyone has something to smile about, all the time, and some people just need a reminder. She believes in the power of all people. This could all seem naive, except Sheikha has been there—is almost always there, constantly, on the ground helping people across the world, from her very earliest memories—and she has plans for the future. She thinks the youth will lead the way, and sees it as her mission to help them.
Sheikha is only 16, but has dedicated her life to humanitarian work since she was 4 years old. Her charity, Sheikha Al-Thani for Underprivileged Children (SATUC), was founded when she was just 13, and works with some of the most disadvantaged children in the world.
Sheikha is a member of the Qatari royal family, and is also of Egyptian heritage. She has a triple nationality—American, Egyptian and Qatari—and through growing up between Egypt, the United Kingdom and United States, she was exposed to and got to know a wide variety of cultures and challenges people face every day. She currently studies in London.
As she got to know many different cultures and people, Sheikha was shocked by all the unnecessary suffering in the world. She felt driven to help the most vulnerable members of society and to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
One Life at a Time
She has spent most of her life traveling to some of the most impoverished countries in the world to offer her support and to raise awareness of humanitarian projects. Sheikha's method is a simple one: Get to know people. Asked in a recent interview for a story that moved her, she recounted meeting a poor, widowed mother of four, who was at a loss ever since her oldest son lost his sight and was unable to work. It turned out a local healer had put oil in the young man's eyes. Sheikha took him to a nearby hospital, and after medical attention his sight was restored. It's a small story, she says, but that's the point: Everyone's small stories add up to a world full of lives that matter. Listen. Help. Take children to hospitals. Protect women and girls who have been raped. Travel. Listen some more. Reach out; help; share the luxuries you enjoy in your own life.
“In the end we're all human beings; we're all born the same; we all live and breathe the same; we shouldn't differentiate ourselves by race, by gender, by nationalities ... we should just break the boundaries; we should become united,” she says. She noticed, at a young age, that divisions and lack of empathy caused suffering worldwide.
As she continued to travel, Sheikha soon realized there were many children around the world who faced tremendous difficulty: Children living on the street, struggling with hunger or broken families. Sheikha looked around at the comfort and support she enjoyed in her own life, and decided she wanted to bring those same qualities to children around the world; which led to the founding of her charity.
“I became aware at a very young age that there are a lot of underprivileged children that do not enjoy some of the basic necessities in life,” she said at a SATUC press conference March 25, 2015.
Giving the most to those with the least
SATUC has already supported several grassroots efforts in countries including the Philippines, Sudan, Egypt and the United Kingdom.
From August 29 to September 3, 2015, SATUC hosted a six-a-side association football tournament—the first of its kind—in Cairo, with teams built from disadvantaged children ages 14 to 15 from around the world.
The nature of disadvantaged childhoods varies from country to country. The children who will participate may have been orphaned, suffered a childhood mired in poverty or simply have come from a broken family. At the tournament, none of this will matter for several days. SATUC will give the children a chance to be defined not by the adversities they've faced, but buy what they are capable of achieving.
The tournament is an opportunity for the talented chosen children to leave behind whatever challenges they have had to overcome to show their true potential. In addition, Sheikha says, it is a chance for the world to see the children in a different light: not as victims or sufferers, but as remarkable young people who have an extraordinary amount to give.
SATUC plans to continue the tournament biennially, growing larger in the future.
Teams from the Philippines, Morocco, Egypt, Colombia, the United Kingdom, Honduras, Jordan, Algeria and Syria are confirmed. A team of eight boys will be sponsored by a partner charity or organization in each country.
For now, the teams in the tournament are composed of all boys; Sheikha said most players worldwide are boys and choosing all-boy teams made quickly organizing the first tournament and cementing partnerships for the future possible.
“In 2017 there will be girls and boys; that's a definite,” she says.
The main goal, she says, is to give kids and their families a chance. Tragedy happens worldwide and daily, but to ignore it is simply inexcusable. If you can do something, Sheikha feels, you must.
“(We want) to give the chance to children who don't have another chance at getting a good education and making a name for themselves, so that they can get themselves out of poverty,” she says. Youth, she feels, should be our priority: They have the power to change the world for generations to come.
She’s certainly a good role model. Along with partners in nine countries, Sheikha is doing just that.
Mallika Chopra on Living with Intent: 6 Steps to Living a Healthier, More Joyful and Purposeful Life
Mallika Chopra may be the daughter of famous self-help guru Deepak Chopra, but she's the first to admit she doesn't have all the answers. That's why she decided to look for them, and to apply the answers she found to living her life with intent. It's an approach that has grown into an app, website and community built around helping others find purpose, joy, health and more--all while balancing the many responsibilities and priorities everyday life can throw our way.In her latest book; Living with Intent: My Somewhat Messy Journey to Purpose, Peace, and Joy (also check out 100 Promises to My Baby and 100 Questions from My Child), Chopra delivers common-sense wisdom about gratitude, self-compassion, appreciating the moment, honest reflection and much more as she candidly invites readers to join her on her personal journey. Chopra shared with Women Investing in Women Digital the six steps she advises to live with intent. We encourage you to visit her website to learn more about living with intent.
Living with Intent: 6 Steps to Living a Healthier, More Joyful & Purposeful Life
About two years ago, I approached my father (Deepak Chopra) with a confession. I told him I was generally exhausted, over caffeinated and my sugar addiction was out of control. I realized I was overscheduled trying to balance my role as a wife, mom, and entrepreneur with intent.com, my start-up social media company. I felt bloated and had a lot of body pain. I hadn’t been meditating or exercising much, and at night I was having trouble sleeping. My father looked shell shocked, and it took a few moments for him to transition from concerned father to Deepak Chopra, the person that thousands go to for health advice.
Yes, even a Chopra can find herself out of balance, unhealthy, and wondering if my daily actions have any meaning or purpose. In the weeks before I confessed to my father, I had set the intent to make changes to feel better, more energetic and happier in my days. I decided to recommit to meditation (which I had learned when I was nine) and to rediscover the many lessons that my parents had taught us. But, this was just the beginning of the journey, and thus, I turned to my father for help.
As we sat together, my father and I brainstormed an exercise that would help me think about the areas in my life that needed attention. We came up with the following Balance Wheel – thinking about whether I was struggling, surviving or thriving in each area.
The exercise helped me break down the areas I needed to focus on, ask myself what I wanted, and set the intents to make change.
So began my journey to live with more intent – the experience I share in my book (newly released on paperback), Living with Intent: My Somewhat Messy Journey to Purpose, Peace and Joy.
I did some thought-provoking activities, from going on a health retreat to visiting Amma, the hugging guru, and to find more meaning and purpose, I spent time with my grandparents in India, paid attention to my eating and internal dialogue in a way I have never done before, and discovered unexpected joy in my role as a soccer mom. I also interviewed brilliant thinkers like Eckhart Tolle, Marianne Williamson, Arianna Huffington, Dr. Andrew Weil, Dr. Dan Siegel, and Caryl Stern, the President of the US Fund for UNICEF. In the book I share some of the laughter, frustration and lessons I learned along the way.
I also developed a road map to live with INTENT.
- INCUBATE: Quiet your mind to tap into your deepest intentions; see where this leads.
- NOTICE: Become mindful of your thoughts and actions and pay attention to what they tell you about what gives you meaning and a sense of purpose – and look for signs that can point you towards your truth.
- TRUST: Have confidence in your inner knowing – and in the messages the universe sends you – and allow that knowledge to guide you forward.
- EXPRESS: Write down your intentions; say them out loud or share them with others to fully embrace them and help you move ahead in your journey.
- NURTURE: Be gentle with yourself as you try to find your way. Intention isn’t always a straightforward path, just like life, and giving yourself opportunities to try – and fail – is often part of, and even crucial to, the process.
- TAKE ACTION: Once you’ve identified an intent, or even multiple ones, don’t sit and wait for it to magically manifest; instead take the practical steps that can make each become a reality. It may be easiest to choose one intent first and set short-term goals to help you get started.
In my book, I share my personal stories, research, practical tips and exercises for each of these six steps. A little more than a year since it’s first release, I am happy to announce that Living with Intent is now available on paperback! I am also excited to share resources like this one about the INTENT roadmap through the Chopra Well! I had the privilege of interviewing some of my favorite examples of people who live their lives with intent, like Gabby Bernstein and Gretchen Rubin. Check out the first video here:
Mallika Chopra is a mom, media entrepreneur, public speaker and published author. Her most recent book, Living With Intent: My Somewhat Messy Journey to Purpose, Peace and Joy, was published in April 2015.
She is also the founder of Intent.com, a website and app focused on personal, social and global wellness. Her intent is to harness the power of social media to connect people from around the world to improve their own lives, their communities and the planet.
Noorjahan Akbar: What the future holds for Afghan women
aljazeera.com - Afghanistan's women have made significant gains in recent years, with more girls attending school and more women working outside the home.
But fear still overshadows the lives of many.
A resurgent Taliban recently provoked outrage by publicly executing two women, but as this 101 East documentary shows, the greatest threat many women face comes from loved ones at home.
Activist Noorjahan Akbar talks about the challenges in overcoming conservative attitudes in the face of rising "anti-woman propaganda".
Al Jazeera: How would you describe the current state of women's rights in Afghanistan?
Noorjahan Akbar: Like the current state of the country, the current state of Afghan women is tumultuous and unstable. While - since the US-led intervention - Afghan women have made a considerable amount of progress, with [today's] increased insecurity, economic inequality, and radicalism, we are afraid that our accomplishments will be threatened, and the few civil rights and individual freedoms we have will be taken away from us.
Since 2009, the number of Afghan women working has increased, but a large number of female activists and journalists have left the country due to fear of violence.
When I talk about the threat of violence, I don't just mean the Taliban - even though they are largely responsible for targeting and killing female teachers, police officers, journalists, and activists.
On a daily basis, Afghan women face harassment in public spaces. In fact, nine out of 10 women say they have faced harassment at some point on the way to work or school, and out of those, 14 percent say they stopped going to school because of it. Eighty-seven percent of Afghan women have faced verbal, sexual or physical violence at home.
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This Documentary Proves Great Things Happen When Women Make Films
- In 2014, Erin Bagwell quit her corporate job and set out to follow her dream of making a feature-length film. Armed with the inspiration she got from running her blog,
, and a drive to change the world, the Buffalo native launched a Kickstarter campaign that changed her life. In 30 days, Bagwell had over $100,000 to fund her first movie, a documentary titled “
A woman named Komal Minhas discovered Bagwell’s crowdfunding campaign online and, after shedding a few tears while watching the film’s trailer, she knew she had to get involved.
“I had made a bit of money with my company at that point and I wanted to drain my account so that I could put it all into ‘Dream, Girl,’” she told The Huffington Post. At the time, Minhas was running a multi-disciplinary media consultancy company,KoMedia, in Ottawa, Canada. “We got on that Skype call and we haven’t looked back since.”
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Sexual Violence Is Not Inevitable — The White House
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in news coverage and activism regarding sexual assault, and more importantly, sexual assault prevention. What was once considered an unspeakable and shameful thing to discuss, even behind closed doors, has now become a mass movement across the nation, with campaigns like It’s On Us at the forefront.
It’s On Us aims to fundamentally change the way college campuses think about sexual assault. This past year, I had the privilege of being a part of the campaign’s inaugural Student Advisory Committee — a group of students at various college and high school campuses across the country, all dedicated to ending sexual assault. In this rape culture in which we live, especially prevalent on college campuses, people are so prone to disregard stories of sexual violence as fictitious — but stop and think for a second about what incentive anyone would have to speak out and identify as a survivor. It’s not glamorous to have people pity you and doubt you; to have people trivialize and stigmatize your lived reality. Trust me, I know.
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This 15-year-old Syrian is creating a revolution in a refugee camp, the Malala way - HerStory
It's an issue that desperately needs attention: According to a UNICEF report, more than 700 million women worldwide were married before turning 18
Read the rest of Hoshan's story at the link. You can also watch her speak about why the issue is so important to her in a video by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
her.yourstory.com - Syria born Omaima Hoshan was 11-years-old when the war in Syria forced her to flee to Jordan with her family. The Hoshans left Damascus in 2012 and sought refuge at the Zaatari refugee camp — one of the largest in the world. Her main concern when she arrived at Zaatari was to resume her education and make new friends in the camp.
In a report by The Huffington Post, in the classroom, she discovered a troubling trend. “When I got to sixth grade, I started hearing about girls as young as 12 or 13 getting married. They would come to the school to say goodbye,” the now 15- year-old, told visitors from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a United Nations refugee agency, in April. “I remember thinking that they were making a big mistake,” she added.
When one of her closest friends, Basma (whose real name has been changed), told her that she was to be married at the age of 14, Omaima’s outrage reached new heights, and propelled her into action. Osmaima vowed that she wouldn’t let herself suffer the same fate — and she would try everything in her power to stop more child marriages from taking place in the camp.
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Fight for equality risks exacerbating violence against women - campaigners
COPENHAGEN, May 19 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Women's battle for equality is bringing benefits in health, finance and political participation but there could be an ugly side-effect - rising levels of violence against them.
Campaigners at Women Deliver, the world's largest conference on women's health and rights in a decade, said many men saw women's increasing empowerment as a threat to their masculinity.
"It's something we observe in many parts of the world," said Babatunde Osotimehin, head of the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA).
"We need to work with men to make them feel less threatened about their wives."
He cited Bangladesh as an example of a country where there were signs of increased gender based violence as women improved their status, became more educated and entered paid work.
Osotimehin also described visiting a project in Mexico which was helping women expand their coffee businesses.
The increased profits had helped them send their children to school, but their success was fuelling resentment among their husbands.
This Teen Is Using Modeling to Change the Lives of Refugees
McCall wrote an article for Teen Vogue discussing her work helping vulnerable people--both displaced persons and refugees--as well as how many people are faced with such a challenge worldwide. As she works as a human rights activist and encourages others to do the same, she says the biggest effect on her has been the personal time spent with refugees.
Click through to read the rest of McCall's article, and visit RefugeeOne and the Girl Up to learn more about the organizations she mentions.
teenvogue.com - What is the one item you would grab if your house went up in flames? Would it be your dog? A sentimental photograph? Your favorite T-shirt? Or would you fear so greatly for your life that you would just run? These may seem like hypothetical questions, but if you’re one of the more than 60 million people who have fled their homes due to war, natural disasters, or persecution, you may have already answered them.
Refugees and internally displaced persons are among the most vulnerable in the world. Whether they have crossed international borders (and are considered refugees) or have been forced to relocate within their homeland (and are considered displaced), they may have witnessed or experienced torture, rape, mass murder, and the destruction of their homes. The Syrian refugee crisis that has dominated headlines and political discourse is one example of how millions of individuals can be forced to flee for their lives due to an ongoing armed struggle. But ordinary citizens in places like the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan have been ravaged as well in the wake of varying conflicts verging on genocide.
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One in three women worldwide are held back by malnutrition. A Canadian investment aims to change that
“In many of these cases, when you are talking about vitamin and mineral deficiencies, you don’t see the problems unless they are extreme,” said De-Regil, chief technical advisor and director of research and evaluation at the Ottawa-based Micronutrient Initiative, which improves the nutrition of the poor in more than 70 countries.
For example, anemia, a condition caused by iron deficiency, often escapes notice, but it makes many girls in developing countries so tired that they do badly in school or skip it altogether.
During Women Deliver, the world’s largest women’s rights conference in Copenhagen last week, the Canadian government announced that it would tackle this problem by giving $75 million to the Micronutrient Initiative to launch the Right Start Initiative. The project aims to improve the nutrition of 100 million women and adolescent girls within five years with a focus on anemia. Canadian funds account for half the money it needs.
How This Former NFL Player Became A Feminist Activist
When you hear "former pro football player," LGBT and feminist activist isn't necessarily what comes to mind. But that's exactly who Wade Davis is -- an openly-gay, former NFL player, who is fighting homophobia and sexism, one conversation at a time. "Often, we as men don't hold other men accountable," Davis told The Huffington Post. "I think it's on men to do the work to talk to other men, to meet them where they're at on this journey and then hopefully make the language [of feminism] accessible." As the Executive Director of You Can Play (an organization that promotes equality for LGBT athletes) and a HeForShe ambassador, Davis is using his privilege as a male athlete to speak out against misogyny and the damaging impact of traditional masculinity.
I realized the root of homophobia was sexism. If I didn't join women in fighting to end sexism, the patriarchy and misogyny -- we would never ever end homophobia.
In 2000, Davis signed to the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent. He was cut after training camp and sent to play in the NFL's European league where he started as left cornerback for two years. After a few short stints in training camps for the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins, Davis retired in 2003 due to a leg injury. For his entire professional football career, Davis was in the closet. It wasn't until 2012 that he publicly came out and became an outspoken activist for LGBT issues and women's rights. "I really started to connect the fact that even though I was fighting to end homophobia, I realized the root of homophobia was sexism," Davis told HuffPost. "If I didn't join women in fighting to end sexism, the patriarchy and misogyny -- we would never ever end homophobia." Davis wants everyone -- but especially men -- to understand that sexism is not simply a women's issue. "Right now feminism, gender equality, closing the wage gap -- all of these things are thought to be a woman's job," he said. "We need do turn to men and say, 'This is our job. We're all in this together.'" HuffPost spoke to Davis about sexism, homophobia and what he's doing to fight both. What inspired you to become a feminist activist? I think I've been a feminist for a long time and just didn't know it. I remember when I was 7 years old, I used to go to a Southern Baptist church and there were no women in the pulpit. I remember asking my mom, "Why are there no women up there?" And she was like "Boy, shut up!" I think I've been very curious about the way the world works, but I think something that's been even more recent is I've been reading a lot of feminist books since probably 2010. I really started to connect the fact that even though I was fighting to end homophobia, I realized the root of homophobia was sexism. If I didn't join women in fighting to end sexism, the patriarchy and misogyny -- we would never ever end homophobia. The more reading I do, the more I realize that I actually think the root of all our evil is the hatred of women. I try to push people, male or female, to start just re-imagining how the world would look different if we thought of God as a woman. How different would our world be? Just by reading a lot of feminist books, whether it's by bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Gloria Steinem and even books like Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, which has some problematic stuff in it, but I don't walk in the shoes of a woman. So to be able to look at the world [from these women's perspectives] has really helped shape the way that I think about our world and how women -- if they were actually free -- it'd be so much different.
How Climate Change Is Fueling Violence Against Women
"I was in Santa Maria Xalapan of Guatemala when a group of women said young girls were being kidnapped and raped because there was a water crisis. It was a revelation," said the executive director of the Fondo Centroamericano de Mujeres, a women's fund based in Central America.
In the indigenous Xinca society of Xalapan, men often kidnap and rape young girls before marrying them, Lopez said, and for about a decade, the local women's group had been campaigning to end this trend.
But in the last two years, groundwater was becoming scarce, because of weather changes and increased mining in the region. As women and girls had to walk further to fetch water, the number of kidnappings and rapes more than doubled over that period, local women said.
"The group of young women came to us and said that they were going to campaign for women's and girls' access to water, because that was the main reason behind the rise in rapes and kidnapping. So we provided them a grant of $15,000 that was usually reserved for climate projects," said Lopez, who spoke at this week's Women Deliver conference in Copenhagen, which for the first time had a strong focus on climate change issues this year.
See Inside the New Book Teaching Girls They Can Change the World
Magazine About Muslim Women Aims to Highlight Diversity
These are just some of the articles that launched a new digital magazine, sister-hood (sister-hood.com), which is aimed at spotlighting the diverse voices of Muslim women.
Founded by Deeyah Khan, an Emmy-award winning filmmaker and activist, the magazine went live on Monday after several months of work.
Al Jazeera spoke with Khan about the perception of Muslim women in the media and the aspirations of sister-hood.
Al Jazeera: Why did you launch sister-hood?
Deeyah Khan: I wanted to challenge the public impression of women from Muslim heritage as victims, or as potential radicals, or mothers of extremists. I also wanted to make a broader categorisation of what it means to be of Muslim heritage, to reflect the true diversity.
sister-hood is for all women and girls of Muslim heritage, regardless of age, ethnicity or sexuality. Devout Muslims, cultural Muslims, former Muslims and agnostics are all welcome to contribute and participate; all sects and denominations are welcome. Whatever their differences, they can speak to their common experiences of growing up in Muslim families and communities, of experiencing what it is to be considered Muslim in the world today.
Happy families? Male acceptance of equality in the home could define the future
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, however. And there are some clear clues we can draw on to guess how family life might change in Europe over the years.
From the early 1970s, marriage and childbearing began to be postponed and cohabitation and non-marital childbearing started to increase. The trend is clear in the chart below.
Demographers Dirk Van de Kaa and Ron Lesthaeghe interpreted these changes as the consequence of changing values, increased self-fulfillment and individualism. They suggested that all European countries would experience a “second demographic transition”. Marriage, sex and parenthood would be separated, and we would see a convergence to sustained low fertility and a new set of family forms: non-marital fertility, lone parenthood, cohabiting couple families.
Teen Vogue Hires First Black Editor-in-Chief, Elaine Welteroth
This is not the first time Welteroth has made headlines, having also served as Teen Vogue's first African-American beauty director since 2012. Only the second Black editor-in-chief at large in the history of Condé Nast, Welteroth's experience traces back to Glamour magazine from 2011 to 2012, where she advanced from Beauty writer to Senior Beauty Editor, and her role as the Beauty and Style editor of Ebony magazine from 2008 to 2011.
As the youngest person to hold her new title at age 29, Welteroth is joined by two other editors - an unprecedented move for the magazine. The magazine's Digital Editorial Director, Phillip Picardi will also lead with Welteroth in addition to the Creative Director Marie Suter.
Child Marriage is in the U.S. and We Are Fighting It State-by-State
You probably don’t think of it happening in the United States. I certainly didn’t until I read an op-ed by Fraidy Reiss last October in The New York Times. I was shocked and appalled to read it happens right here in my backyard, the New York metropolitan area. The majority of children wed are minor girls.
Nearly all 50 states, including New York, set 18 as the minimum age to wed, but every state permits exceptions to the laws.
Children, defined by United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child as those under age 18, may wed with parental consent or with judicial approval. The lines between what one person deems parental consent and another views as coercion, however, are often blurred.
The laws don’t require further inquiry of a child to determine if she or he is being pressured into marriage. Reiss knows of at least one case where a girl sobbed openly at the clerk’s office while her parents signed her marriage license application. The clerk did not question the girl and indeed had no legal authority to intervene.
Exclusive: Queen Rania Reveals What the Syrian Refugee Crisis Really Looks Like in Jordan
No, this isn't the shores of Lesbos, the Greek island that has received the lion's share of attention when it comes to the Syrian refugee crisis. This is what's happening in Jordan right now, with minimal fanfare from the international media.
"It's getting worse," International Rescue Committee doctor Mohammed Sharadqah, 27, said in an interview in Irbid, a city located in the country's northern region, just kilometers from the Syrian border. "The refugees who remain in Jordan, five years later, are trapped in war. They are suffering."
Jordan, a key U.S. ally and a country that has long-enjoyed relative stability in the turbulent Arab world, may not receive the same visibility as countries in Western Europe. But faced with a severe economic downturn and escalating security concerns under the weight of an estimated 1.3 million Syrian refugees who have resettled in the country since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the country is teetering on the brink.
How women travel differently
Women are sick of staying at home. At least, that is what figures suggest. Ten years ago, for every 100 women who headed overseas on a trip, 117 men also jetted off. These days, that number is down to 110. Numbers only tell part of the story, however. The skew towards male travellers – reflecting that more men than women travel for business – disguises the fact that when it comes to holidays, it is often women calling the shots.
Women are estimated to make more than 80 per cent of the decisions when it comes to household purchases, and travel is no different, with women typically doing much of the planning and booking. "Definitely more women than men do the organising," says Claudia Rossi Hudson of Mary Rossi Travel.
As a result, travel trends tend to reflect women's interests. Booming areas such as culinary holidays, voluntourism and cultural tourism are all driven by female demand. Even in traditionally male areas such as adventure holidays, women are shaking things up.