LESSON PLANS - ITVS

Table of ContentsWelcome Letter 01How to Use This Guide 02About the Filmmakers 03About the Curriculum Writer 04About the Documentary 05Lesson Plan Summaries 08Film Module Summaries 09LESSON PLANS:Maternal Mortality and The Global Health Divide 10Education For All 40Gender-Based Violence: Challenging Impunity 58Breaking the Chains of Modern Slavery:Sex Trafficking and Intergenerational Prostitution 79Women’s Economic Empowerment 105Purchasing the Full-Length Film 124Purchasing the Book 124Credits 125Independent Television Service (ITVS)651 Brannan Street, Ste. 410 San Francisco, CA 94107P: 415.356.8383 | F: 415.356.8391Community Classroomclassroom@itvs.orgitvs.org/Educators

01Welcome to Community Classroom!The Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide resourceyou have before you combines short film modules from the PBS documentary series withstandards-aligned lesson plans. It will give you everything you need to help older teens andyoung adults better understand why we believe the oppression of women and girls worldwideis the greatest moral challenge of our time.Through the stories of women acting as agents of change — from Vietnam to Somalia, Indiato Kenya — students will discover the work being done (and still left to be done) to reducematernal mortality, gender-based violence, and sex trafficking. They will learn how economicempowerment and education can break the cycle of poverty. These lesson plans alsoencourage young men to see how helping women and girls helps an entire community, andto take on an active role in making this happen.We hope you will join the thousands of teachers who have already tapped the growingWomen and Girls Lead resource collection offered by ITVS’s Community Classroom program.We hope this will help male and female students alike develop into engaged citizens,and we look forward to hearing stories of successes in your classrooms.Best of luck and thank you.Sincerely yours,Nicholas KristofSheryl WuDunn

02How to Use This GuideThis Educator Guide may be used to support viewing of the documentary film seriesHalf the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. The fivelesson plans contained in this guide are paired with specially edited ten-minute educationalfilm modules adapted from the broadcast version of the film. The discussionquestions and activities are designed to engage mature students in discussions aboutsocial change and social justice, gender equity, civic engagement, organizing strategies,and the contributions of men and women to all of these issues. The activities canencourage students to learn and understand international struggles and take an activerole in addressing local concerns.Grade Levels:9-12, CollegeSubject Areas:Social Studies, Women’s Studies, Global Studies, Civics, Media Studies, EnglishLanguage Arts, Education Studies, Economics, Government, Political Science, PeaceStudies, Sociology, World History, Human Geography, Primary ResourcesSee individual lesson plans for additional subject areas.Lesson Plans:The activities target students at the upper high school level, but can be scaffolded toaccommodate the college classroom, as well as informal classrooms: after-school programs,clubs and youth training programs. All content aligns with national standards.Each of the activities is designed to last one traditional class period (50-60 minutes total,plus assignments), but include a variety of extensions that can deepen the learning astime permits. All activities aim to incorporate educational content and themes that can beintegrated into your existing curriculum.Film Modules:With this Educator Guide, you can build a unit around the entire documentary and/or oneor more of the Community Classroom film modules. The module lengths are noted, averagingten minutes each.Stream the Film Modules Online:Community Classroom film modules are available in streaming video format atitvs.org/educators.Get the Film Modules on DVD:Educators may order free DVDs of Community Classroom film modules and activities atitvs.org/educators. DVD quantities are limited.COMMUNITY CLASSROOM strongly encourages educators to use this resource as acomplement to watching the full-length version of Half the Sky Turning Oppression intoOpportunity for Women Worldwide. Purchase information is included towards the end ofthis guide (see Table of Contents).

04About the Curriculum WriterAllison MilewskiAllison Milewski is an educator and curriculum designer with over ten years’ experiencein arts and media education. She has developed art integration programs, professionaldevelopment workshops, and arts and media curricula for organizations such as ITVS,Tribeca Film Institute, the Brooklyn Historical Society, and Urban Arts Partnership andmanaged arts-based enrichment programs for over 20 New York City public schools.Allison’s professional experience also includes over 15 years of program managementand administration with domestic and international NGOs such as PCI-Media Impact,the Center for Reproductive Rights, Goods for Good, and the Union Square Awardsfor Grassroots Activism. Allison is the Founder of PhotoForward, which she launched in2004 to empower young artists to tell their own stories through photography, visual arts,and creative writing and engage with their communities as citizen artists.

05About the DocumentaryIn 2006, Pulitzer Prize winning-journalists Nicholas Kristof and SherylWuDunn published a ground-breaking book about the oppression ofwomen and girls worldwide.That book was Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for WomenWorldwide — an instant bestseller that immediately catalyzed an already burgeoningmovement to eradicate gender inequality. The landmark PBS documentary series aims toamplify the central message of the book — that women are not the problem, but the solution— and to bolster the broad and growing movement for change. With the story of thebook and its impact as a launch pad, the film zeroes in on the lives of women and girls insome of the countries around the world where gender inequality is at its most extreme,and explores the very real ways in which their oppression can be turned to opportunity.Featuring six celebrated American actresses and the commentary of the world’s leadingadvocates for gender equality, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunityfor Women Worldwide is a passionate call-to-arms — urging us to not only bear witnessto the plight of the world’s women, but to help to decisively transform their oppressioninto opportunity.Episode OneIn Episode One we follow Nicholas Kristof and three American actresses to developingcountries where gender-discrimination is at it’s most extreme. We explore the shockingextent of gender-based violence in Sierra Leone with Eva Mendes, the global crisis of sextrafficking as experienced by women and girls in Cambodia with Meg Ryan, and the needfor and power of educating girls in Vietnam with Gabrielle Union, where she visits aninnovative education program that is transforming, not only the lives of the country’s poorestand most vulnerable girls, but also the futures of their families and their communities.Featuring commentary from Sheryl WuDunn and interviews with some of the world’s leadingadvocates for gender equality — including Hillary Clinton, Michelle Bachelet, and GloriaSteinem — Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide:Episode One offers a nuanced and moving account of this century’s most pressing problems,and an uplifting, actionable blueprint for changeGender-Based ViolenceOur first stop is Sierra Leone, a country recovering from years of colonial oppressionand a terrible civil war and which is still suffering from rampant gender-based violence.Guided by Amie Kandeh, the passionate and dedicated coordinator of the InternationalRescue Committee’s Women’s Protection and Empowerment Program, Nicholas Kristofand actress Eva Mendes come face-to-face with the enormous challenges women andgirls face in a country where rape is practically the norm — challenges embodied byFulamatu, a buoyant 14-year-old who hopes one day to become a bank manager. Whenwe meet Fulumatu she was raped repeatedly by a family friend and local church pastorwho is close enough to be officially considered her uncle. She had risked the shameof telling her parents and the ridicule of her community to break her silence and presscharges against the perpetrator. The outcome is a sobering object lesson in the insidiouseffects of gender-based violence, and the urgent need to end impunity for the violators.

06About the DocumentarySex TraffickingAs interviews with Sheryl WuDunn and some of the world’s leadingadvocates for gender equality explain, in many parts of theworld cultural attitudes and traditions are used to justify the lowstatus of girls, rendering them vulnerable to all manner of exploitationand abuse. This is nowhere more evident than in Cambodia,where the pernicious global problem of sex trafficking is perhapsat its worst. Actress Meg Ryan joins Nicholas in Phnom Penhas he catches up with Somaly Mam, one of the women profiledin the book Half the Sky — a woman who was herself a child sexslave and who now has dedicated her life to rescuing and rehabilitatingothers. As Somaly’s story merges and mingles with thoseof the girls in her charge, the horrors of sex trafficking are writlarge — so too is the awesome resilience of the human spirit andthe vast, untapped potential that resides in each and every one ofthe young women and children that Somaly’s programs support.Girl’s EducationThat potential, WuDunn and our luminary advocates tell us,is the key to bettering our world: tap into those girls and theywill change the future. The clarity of that equation, the elegantcause-and-effect of it, animates Episode One’s final sequence,in Vietnam, where former Microsoft executive John Wood’s organizationRoom to Read is transforming the lives of the country’spoorest and most vulnerable girls. Hosted by Bich Thi Vu, Directorof Room to Read’s Girl’s Education Program, Nicholas andactress Gabrielle Union get to know a few of the program’s starsand encounter firsthand the incredible obstacles which standbetween them and their bright futures. Still, these girls are almostmiraculously undaunted — and fiercely determined to change boththeir circumstances and those of their families. The ripple effectof their education even now is making itself felt — and there is nodoubt that with a little bit of help, a little encouragement and support,these girls and the tens of millions of others like them in thedeveloping world will be a powerful army for change.Combining vivid, visceral on-the-ground stories with the commentaryof a vast and impressive roster of experts, advocates,and agents of change, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression intoOpportunity for Women Worldwide: Episode One takes us deepinto the lives of girls in the developing world and makes us witnessto their seemingly impossible struggles — at once challengingand inspiring us to be a part of the vital, urgent project to empowerthem once and for all.Episode TwoEpisode Two continues our journey to the hot-spots of genderoppression around the world, and highlights the courageous workof some of the extraordinary women and men who are taking astand in the face of incredible odds. This episode focuses outattention on the role of women in their families and their communities— examining the fundamental obstacles that hinder their potential,and charting the ripple effect that results when that potentialis harnessedVeteran journalist and Half the Sky co-author Nicholas Kristofis once again accompanied by a three celebrated of Americanactresses who offer fresh and personal perspective on the issuesin each country. Kristof travels to Somaliland with Diana Lane toexamine maternal mortality and female genital mutilation; to Indiawith America Ferrera to explore intergenerational prostitution; and,with Olivia Wilde, to Kenya, where the transformative power ofwomen’s economic empowerment is changing women’s lives andis laying the groundwork for the next generation. In the process,the program considers the central role of women in the healthand stability of their families and communities, and establishestheir critical role in the global efforts to eradicate poverty andachieve peace. Featuring on-camera commentary from SherylWuDunn and some of the world’s most respected and outspokenadvocates for gender equality — including Melanne Verveer, ZainabSalbi, and Desmond Tutu — Half the Sky: Turning Oppressioninto Opportunity for Women Worldwide: Episode Two underscoresthe fundamental obstacles to women’s progress and prosperity, andcelebrates their boundless capacity to better our world.Maternal MortalityThe episode begins in Somaliland — an unrecognized country, populatedmainly by nomads, where the average woman today hasa one-in-twelve chance of dying in childbirth. Joined by actressDiane Lane, Nicholas reconnects with Edna Adan, founder of theEdna Adan Maternity Hospital in Hargeisa. A spry 70-somethingwoman often and rightly described as a “force of nature,” Edna isalmost single-handedly revolutionizing the experience of childbirthin her country — providing medical care to women who would otherwisehave none, training midwives, and fighting tirelessly againstfemale genital mutilation — a traditional practice, still common inmuch of Africa (and elsewhere), which severely compromises awoman’s ability to deliver a child. In Somaliland, the challengeswomen face in the developing world are starkly apparent: povertyand tradition conspire to undermine a woman’s health, directlythreatening her life, and having a lasting impact on her children’ssurvival and ability to thrive.

07About the DocumentaryIntergenerational ProstitutionAs Sheryl WuDunn and our cast of gender equality advocatesargues, tradition is, in many ways, the greater evil. In too manyplaces in the world, tradition still is used to marginalize women,to keep them down and in their place. This vicious cycle repeatsitself generation after generation, damaging and ending lives andundermining the ability of thousands of women improve theirquality of life and live their full potential. The key — as Nicholasand actress America Ferrera discover in India — is intervention bysomeone from the inside, someone in fact, very like Urmi Basu.A social worker and an educated, middle-class Bengali, Urmihas dedicated her life to stopping the cycle of intergenerationalprostitution in India, where 90 percent of girls born to sex workersfollow in their mother’s footsteps. What she is up against is neatlyillustrated by one of the young girls in her care, Monisha, who ison the brink of being wrenched out of school and likely sold to abrothel by her own family — a family that belongs to a sub-caste ofsex workers. What keeps Urmi going is girls like Sushmita — andmore to the point, women like Sushmita’s mother, Shoma, whohas lived the utter brutality and desolation of prostitution everyday of her life and desperately wants a different fate for herdaughter. Shoma’s hope for her child is the seed of real and lastingchange.Economic EmpowermentWhen women have equal control over their finances and thefinancial decision-making on the personal, community, andnational level, everyone benefits. Sheryl WuDunn and the manycontributors who lent their voices and considerable expertise toHalf the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for WomenWorldwide all stress that putting money in the hands of a poorwoman changes everything. On their visit to Kenya, Nicholas andactress Olivia Wilde witness the impact of the economic empowermentof women first-hand. In this episode’s final segment, theyexplore the impact and challenges of microfinance and the waysii iis transforming the lives of women and those around them. Webegin with Jane Ngoiri, a former sex worker-turned-dressmakerwho is now able to send her four children to school, where theyare each at the top of their class, and end with Rebecca Lollosoli,a Samburu woman who built a safe haven for women on the slenderthread of a jewelry-making business. Nicholas and Olivia seefor themselves the dramatic and tangible transformation that canbe set in motion by a woman with a little bit of money of her ownand a system of support to help her make the best use of herfinancial and personal resources. Replicate the experiment severalmillion times, and the world will be an entirely different place.The episode — and the series — ends with an urgent call to action,an invitation to the viewer to take up the central moral challengeof our time, and to join a movement that will tap the immensepotential represented by women to create a more peaceful andmore prosperous world for us all.

08Lesson Plan SummariesMaternal Mortality and The Global Health DivideMaternal mortality has been identified as a global crisis and thegreatest health inequity of the Twenty-first century. Ninety-ninepercent of deaths occur in developing countries with more thanhalf in sub-Saharan Africa and almost one-third in South Asia, buteven within industrialized countries there is a disparity betweenmaternal mortality rates for women in different communities. Ahigh maternal death rate indicates not only that a country’s healthcaresystem is inadequate, but also that the fundamental rights tolife and health for women are being violated.Through the lens of the maternal mortality crisis in Somaliland,students will examine the social, economic, and cultural factorsthat contribute to the differences in healthcare — both betweenand within countries, including the United States — and the importanceof maternal health in their own communities.Gender-Based Violence: Challenging ImpunityViolence against women and girls is a global crisis that impactsmost communities regardless of race, class, country, religion, oreconomic status, but it often goes unreported and perpetratorsare rarely brought to justice. Factors such as fear of retribution,shame, stigma, lack of economic resources, inadequate socialservices, and ineffective legal systems impede women and girls’ability to access the legal and social supports they need. As aresult, survivors of violence are left vulnerable to further abusefrom the systems and institutions that are meant to protect them,and the perpetrators are often left unpunished and free to continueperpetrating violence.Students will follow the journey of Fulamatu, a fourteen-year oldrape survivor in Sierra Leone, as she bravely takes a stand andattempts to bring her perpetrator to justice. Through her story,students will examine the culture of impunity that enables genderbasedviolence to flourish, and the impact this issue has on ourown communities. Students will also be challenged to considerthe factors that contribute to violence against women and girls,and how they can contribute to local and international efforts toeradicate it.Education For AllAccess to education is recognized as a basic human right and asignificant factor in breaking the cycle of poverty and improvingquality of life for children, communities, and countries. Despite this,millions of girls and women around the world are disproportionatelydenied the opportunity to attend school and pursue education andtraining outside the home.Students will meet Nhi and Phung, two students in the Room toRead program in Vietnam, and learn about their struggles andsuccesses as they doggedly pursue their education against allthe odds. The activities in the lesson will also engage students ina conversation about the value and meaning of education in theirown lives and the impact of the gender imbalance in education onthe lives of individual girls around the world and our communitiesat home.Breaking The Chains Of Modern Slavery:Sex Trafficking and Intergenerational ProstitutionModern-day slavery is relatively unknown, in part, because itdoes not fit our historic image of slavery, but trafficking of humanbeings is tied with arms dealing as the second largest criminalindustry in the world. Contemporary human slavery can take manyforms, including forced labor, debt bondage, child marriage, andcommercial sexual slavery, and women and children constitutethe vast majority of the estimated two million people sold into sexslavery around the world every year.This lesson will examine the global trafficking crisis through thelens of sexual slavery in Cambodia and intergenerational prostitutionin India. Through this lesson students will learn that there aremore people living in slavery today then at any time in history andconsider the causes and consequences for women and childrenwho are disproportionately victimized by the global commercialsex trade.Women’s Economic EmpowermentWomen and girls play a vital role in the economic prosperity oftheir families, communities, and countries, yet in every part of theworld, women often work longer hours than men, are paid lessfor their work, are at a higher risk of unemployment, and are farmore likely to live in poverty. A growing body of research showsthat enhancing women’s and girl’s economic opportunities playsa critical role in poverty reduction and helps to reduce genderbaseddiscrimination and violence while improving women andgirls’ access to education and civic participation and raising thequality of life for future generations.This lesson will demonstrate how the economic empowerment ofwomen in Kenya and Liberia has improved the lives of the individualwomen and their families and communities for generations to come.Through the activities, students will explore what life is like formillions of people around the world and in the United States whoare struggling to live on two dollars a day, and what choices andsacrifices they would have to make in the same situation. They willalso consider how and why women and girls around the world aredisproportionately affected by extreme poverty and will examine theripple effects of women’s economic empowerment on individuals,families, communities, and societies.

09Film Module SummariesMaternal Mortality in Somaliland (9:45)The module begins in Somaliland — an unrecognized country,populated mainly by nomads, where the average woman todayhas a one-in-twelve chance of dying in childbirth. Joined byactress Diane Lane, Nicholas reconnects with Edna Adan,founder of the Edna Adan Maternity Hospital in Hargeisa. Ednais almost single-handedly revolutionizing the experience ofchildbirth in her country — providing medical care to women whowould otherwise have none, and training a new generation ofmidwives. In Somaliland, the challenges women face in thedeveloping world are starkly apparent: poverty and traditionconspire to undermine a woman’s health, directly threatening herlife, and having a lasting impact on her children’s survival andability to thrive.Gender-Based Violence in Sierra Leone (9:45)The module takes students to Sierra Leone, a country recoveringfrom years of colonial oppression and a terrible civil warand which is still suffering from rampant gender-based violence.Guided by Amie Kandeh, the passionate and dedicated coordinatorof the International Rescue Committee’s Women’s Protectionand Empowerment Program, Nicholas Kristof and actress EvaMendes come face-to-face with the enormous challengeswomen and girls face in a country where rape is practically thenorm — challenges embodied by Fulamatu, a buoyant 14-year-old.When we meet Fulumatu she was raped repeatedly by a familyfriend and local church pastor who is close enough to be officiallyconsidered her uncle. She had risked the shame of telling herparents and the ridicule of her community to break her silenceand press charges against the perpetrator. The outcome is asobering object lesson in the insidious effects of gender-basedviolence, and the urgent need to end impunity for the violators.Education in Vietnam (10:38)This module takes place in Vietnam, where former Microsoftexecutive John Wood’s organization Room to Read is transformingthe lives of the country’s poorest and most vulnerablegirls. Hosted by Bich Thi Vu, Director of Room to Read’s Girl’sEducation Program, Nicholas and actress Gabrielle Union getto know two of the program’s stars and encounter firsthand theincredible obstacles which stand between them and their brightfutures. Still, these girls are almost miraculously undaunted — andfiercely determined to change both their circumstances and thoseof their families. The ripple effect of their education even now ismaking itself felt — and there is no doubt that with a little bit ofhelp, a little encouragement and support, these girls and the tensof millions of others like them in the developing world will be apowerful army for change.Intergenerational Prostitution in India (10:44)This module takes place in the slums of Kolkata, India, whereNicholas Kristoff travels with actress America Ferrera to meetUrmi Basu and to witness the work of her organization, NewLight Foundation. A social worker and an educated, middle-classBengali, Urmi has dedicated her life to stopping the cycle of intergenerationalprostitution in India, where 90 percent of girls bornto sex workers follow in their mother’s footsteps. What keepsUrmi going is girls like Sushmita — and more to the point, womenlike Sushmita’s mother, Shoma, who has lived the utter brutalityand desolation of prostitution every day of her life and desperatelywants a different fate for her daughter. Shoma’s hope for her childis the seed of real and lasting change.Sex Trafficking in Cambodia (10:11)This module takes place in Cambodia, where the perniciousglobal problem of sex trafficking is perhaps at its worst. ActressMeg Ryan joins Nicholas Kristof in Phnom Penh as he catches upwith Somaly Mam — a woman who was herself a child sex slaveand who now has dedicated her life to rescuing and rehabilitatingothers. As Somaly’s story merges and mingles with those of thegirls in her charge, the horrors of sex trafficking are writ large — sotoo is the awesome resilience of the human spirit and the vast,untapped potential that resides in each and every one of theyoung women and children that Somaly’s programs support.Women’s Economic Empowerment in Kenya (10:41)This module takes students along for a visit to Kenya, NicholasKristof and actress Olivia Wilde witness the impact of the economicempowerment of women first-hand. They explore the impact andchallenges of microfinance and the ways it is transforming the livesof women and those around them. We meet Jane Ngoiri, a formersex worker-turned-dressmaker who is now able to send her fourchildren to school. Nicholas and Olivia see for themselves thedramatic and tangible transformation that can be set in motionby a woman with a little bit of money of her own and a systemof support to help her make the best use of her financial andpersonal resources.

HALF THE SKYMaternal Mortality and The Global Health Divide010“The reason for the gap is notthat we don’t know how tosave lives of women in poorcountries. It’s simply that poor,uneducated women in Africaand Asia have never beena priority either in their owncountries or to donor nations.”Nicholas KristofHalf The Sky: Turning Oppression IntoOpportunity For Women WorldwideOVERVIEWAudience:High School (11–12 grades), CommunityCollege, Youth Development OrganizationsTime:One 90-minute period or two 50-minuteperiods plus assignmentsSubject Areas:Women’s Studies, Social Studies, GlobalStudies, Media Studies, Health, EnglishLanguage ArtsPurpose of the LessonMaternal mortality has been identified as aglobal crisis and the greatest health inequityof the 21st century. Ninety-nine percent ofdeaths occur in developing countries, withmore than half in sub-Saharan Africa andalmost one-third in South Asia. Underlyingthe medical causes of maternal death isa complex web of social, political, andeconomic forces that undermines women’saccess to essential maternal healthcareand reproductive health information. A highmaternal death rate indicates not only acountry’s inadequate healthcare system,but also a violation of women’s fundamentalrights to life and health.Even within industrialized countries adisparity exists between maternal mortalityrates for women in different communities.The health divide is especially apparent inthe United States, where African-Americanwomen are almost four times more likelyto die during or soon after childbirth thanCaucasian women. As a result, the UnitedStates’ average maternal mortality rate isrelatively high at 1 in 4,100, making it moredangerous to give birth in the U.S. than in40 other countries.

011HALF THE SKYMaternal Mortality and The Global Health DivideOVERVIEWNote for Teachers about the MaternalMortality Lesson and Contents:This lesson and the accompanying filmmodule from Half The Sky: TurningOppression Into Opportunity For WomenWorldwide directly and honestly addressthe challenging issue of maternal mortality,but the discussions and topics might beunsuitable for some audiences. Teachersshould prepare for the lesson by thoroughlyreading all the materials and watching thecomplete film module to determine if thetopic and lesson are appropriate for theirclass. Teachers should also brief studentsin advance on the content and identifystudents who might be personally oradversely affected by it. Prior to launchingthe lesson, these students should receiveappropriate support or the option ofdeclining to participate. To prepare studentsand their families for this lesson, instructstudents to complete HTS Student HandoutA: Why Does Maternal Health Matter toMe? with their parents and/or guardians.For additional information about thedocumentary Half The Sky: TurningOppression Into Opportunity ForWomen Worldwide and the global crisisof maternal health, please download thefree Maternal Mortality Discussion Guide onthe ITVS Women and Girls Lead website(www.womenandgirlslead.org), visit theofficial transmedia project website(www.halftheskymovement.org), andread Half The Sky: Turning OppressionInto Opportunity For Women Worldwideby Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.Objectives:Students Will• Think about how maternal health affectstheir lives and learn why maternal health isa universal issue.• Examine the global maternal health divideand understand the social, economic, andcultural factors that contribute to thedifferences in healthcare both between andwithin countries, including the United States.• Consider maternal health’s impact on menas well as women and the ripple effects ofmaternal health on families and communities.• Consider how gender-based discriminationundermines maternal health and contributesto maternal mortality.• Identify Somaliland on a map and understandthe nation’s social and political context.• Examine the maternal mortality crisisthrough the lens of three case studies andwork as a team to develop an action planthat could help women in similar situationsby addressing the primary barriers to care.• Demonstrate their understanding of theissue by working in groups to researchthe status of maternal healthcare in theircommunity and develop an outreach and/or education campaign to raise awarenessand advance the cause of maternal health.Resources:• Film module: Maternal Mortality inSomaliland (9:45)• Half the Sky:Turning Oppression intoOpportunity Worldwide: Film Series trailer(5:48) itvs.org/films/half-the-sky• LCD projector or DVD player• Maternal Mortality Teacher Handouts:--Maternal Mortality Discussion Guide(Download discussion guide PDFs fromthe ITVS Women and Girls Lead website:itvs.org/films/half-the-sky)• Maternal Mortality Student Handouts:--Maternal Health Glossary--Student Handout A: Why Does MaternalHealth Matter to Me?--Student Handout B: The Health DivideQ&A Cards and Worksheet--Student Handout C: Somalilandin Context--Student Handout D: Film ModuleScreening Guide--Student Handout E: Maternal MortalityFact Sheet--Student Handout F: Maternal MortalityCase Study--Student Handout G: Case StudyAction Plan• Wall map of the world with countrynames: www.amaps.com/mapstoprint/WORLDDOWNLOAD.htm• Small green, yellow, and red Post-It Notes• Whiteboard/blackboard and dry-erasemarkers/chalk• Pens and writing paper• Computers with Internet access

012HALF THE SKYMaternal Mortality and The Global Health DivideLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESPrescreening Activity 1Class Time: 10–15 minutes (if time permits, we recommend that you also watch the 5:48minute film series trailer available here: itvs.org/films/half-the-sky)You will need: Student Handout A: Why Does Maternal Health Matter to Me?, pens,whiteboard/blackboard, dry-erase markers/chalkNOTE TO TEACHERS:Some students’ birth stories may involvetrauma or may be unknown and/orinaccessible. Be sure to take this intoconsideration throughout this activityand have them focus their responseson Question #1 from the worksheet,if needed. They may also use thisopportunity to journal or write privatelyabout their birth story or how theirexperience of that story has shaped theirunderstanding of maternity.Goal: In preparation for the Maternal Mortality Lesson students will consider how the issueof maternal health has affected their own lives and discuss how this topic impacts everyone.Distribute one copy of the Student Handout A: Why Does Maternal Health Matter to Me?and instruct students to complete the worksheet as a take-home assignment.When students have completed Student Handout A, ask them to discuss their responseswith a partner or as a small group using the following prompts as a guide.--What are the similarities and differences in your stories?--Which of the following supports and resources did the moms in each story have availableto help them? Doctor, midwife or birth attendant, local hospital, medicine, transportation,health Insurance, family and friends?--How might the mother’s birth experience have been different if these supports andresources were unavailable to them?• Have each group share the results of their discussion with the class and record the responses.• Variation: If time is limited, teachers can introduce the issue of maternal health by usingthe questions on the handout as a guide for a brief class discussion, then move directly toPrescreening Activity 2.

013HALF THE SKYMaternal Mortality and The Global Health DivideLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESPrescreening Activity 2:The Health DivideClass Time: 25–30 minutesYou will need: Student Handout B: The Health Divide Q&A Cards or Worksheet),Student Handout C: Somaliland in Context, whiteboard/blackboard, dry-erase markers/chalk, small Post-It Notes in red, yellow, and green, and a wall map of the world withcountry names (free printable maps are available here: www.amaps.com/mapstoprint/WORLDDOWNLOAD.htm)Goal: The greatest health divide in the world today is the global disparity in maternalhealthcare, which has resulted in the extremely high maternal mortality rates in developingcountries — especially in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. In preparation for viewing theMaternal Mortality in Somaliland film module, students will examine the maternal healthdivide and discuss the possible social, cultural, and economic causes, and consequencesof this crisis.PART 1:• Cut out and randomly distribute Teacher Handout B v1: The Health Divide Q&A Cardsto each student in the class. Half the cards contain questions, and the other half containanswers to those questions.• Give students three to five minutes to circulate and identify the person who had thequestion or answer that relates to their fact.• Variation: If time is limited, the Health Divide Q&A also exists as a worksheet so thatstudents may work with a partner or group to match the answers with each question.Distribute Teacher Handout B v2: The Health Divide Q&A Worksheet and keep a printoutof Teacher Handout A: The Health Divide Q&A Cards to reference the correct answers.• Each pair should verify that the country and fact match and then share their information,followed by a class discussion using the prompts below. Once they have shared their fact,have them find their country on the map and place a small Post-It Note square to indicatethe quality of maternal health (green=very good, yellow=needs improvement, red=maternalhealth crisis).--What expectations did you have about the countries or facts you were given?--Did you have any assumptions about the maternal health status in different parts of theworld? Were your assumptions correct?--What patterns, if any, do you notice emerging from these facts? (Example: similarities ordifferences in regions, the relationship between health benefits and maternal mortalityrates, indicators of maternal health challenges, etc.)--What surprised you most?

014HALF THE SKYMaternal Mortality and The Global Health DivideLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESPrescreening Activity 2:The Health Divide (cont.)PART 2:Share the following information with your class:Maternal mortality is a global crisis. At least one woman dies from complications related topregnancy or childbirth every minute, and 99 percent of these deaths occur in developingcountries, with more than half in sub-Saharan Africa and almost one-third in South Asia.For a woman in a developing country, giving birth can be one of the biggest threats to herlife. In poor countries, pregnancy and childbirth are among the leading causes of deathwhile in industrialized countries, maternal deaths are far less common. In Nigeria 1-in-18women die from pregnancy-related causes and in Somaliland the situation is even moredangerous, with 1 woman in 12 dying during or soon after childbirth. In comparison, themortality rate in Japan is 1 in 16,666, and in Italy, a remarkably low 1 in 20,000.Even within industrialized countries disparity exists between maternal mortality rates forwomen in different communities. The health divide is especially apparent in the UnitedStates, where African-American women are almost four times more likely to die duringor soon after childbirth than Caucasian women. As a result, The United States’ averagematernal mortality rate is relatively high at 1 in 4,100, making it more dangerous to givebirth in the U.S. than in over 40 other countries.• Follow with a discussion using the questions below as a guide and record the results.This can be a class discussion or students can break into pairs or small groups. (This isa diagnostic discussion and brainstorming session, and the students’ feedback will berevisited after the screening.)--What factors do you think contribute to the disparity in women’s health care in differentareas of the world and within different communities? (Discuss possible social, cultural,political, and economic factors)--What impact do you think the lack of access to care has on individual women, theirfamilies, and their communities?--Have you seen any news coverage on this issue? If so, what was it? If not, why do youthink the maternal mortality crisis has not been a media priority?--Is access to healthcare a right or a privilege? What does the maternal mortality crisis tellus about the status of women in the world?--Finally, share the following quote with your students and have them discuss what theythink Mahmoud Fathalla meant by his statement:“Women are not dying because of diseases we cannot treat. ...They are dying becausesocieties have yet to make the decision that their lives are worth saving.”– Mahmoud Fathalla, former President of the International Federation of Gynecologyand ObstetricsPART 3• In preparation for viewing the film module, ask students to locate Somaliland on a wall map.• Provide the class with Student Handout C: Somaliland in Context. Have them read the factsheet, and discuss briefly with a partner, or have a volunteer(s) read the fact sheet aloudand discuss as a class.

HALF THE SKYMaternal Mortality and The Global Health Divide015LESSON PLAN PROCEDURESViewing the ModuleClass Time: 10–15 minutesYou will need: pens and writing paper, LCD projector or DVD player, Maternal Mortalityin Somaliland film module (9:45), Student Handout D: Film Module Screening Guide,Maternal Mortality Glossary• Distribute Student Handout D: Film Module Screening Guide and instruct students to takenotes during the screening using the worksheet as a guide. Students may also need a copyof the Maternal Mortality Glossary for reference while viewing the video.• Variation: To save paper, project or write questions from Student Handout D: Film ModuleScreening Guide on the board and review briefly before viewing the film module.

016HALF THE SKYMaternal Mortality and The Global Health DivideLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESPost-Screening Activity:Maternal Mortality Case StudiesClass Time: 45–50 minutesYou will need: Student Handout E: Maternal Mortality Fact Sheet, Student Handout F:Maternal Mortality Case Study, Student Handout G: Case Study Action Plan, pens/pencils,whiteboard/blackboard, dry-erase markers/chalkGoal: Students will discuss the film module and consider how their understanding ofmaternal mortality has evolved over the course of the lesson. They will then work in groupsto examine the maternal mortality crisis through the lens of three case studies and developan action plan to improve maternal health for women in that community. Finally, they willdemonstrate their understanding of the issue by working in groups to research the status ofmaternal healthcare in their community and develop an outreach and/or education campaignto raise awareness and advance the cause of maternal health.Part 1: Discussion Questions (5–10 minutes):Begin by discussing Maternal Mortality in Somaliland film module and ask volunteersto share their notes and quotes from the screening guide. Use some or all the followingquestions to guide the class discussion:--Maternal health and maternal mortality are global issues. Why did the filmmakers choose tofocus on the situation in Somaliland?--What are the dangers that pregnant women face in Somaliland?--What did Edna Adan and Nicholas Kristof describe as the barriers to care?--Edna said the pregnant woman died of a treatable condition. Why did she die? What wasthe name of the condition? What other factors contributed to her death?--Edna said she is waging a war. What does she mean by this? With whom or what do youthink she is at war?--What strategies is Edna’s hospital using to address the problem? What have been someof the outcomes?--Why do you think Edna has focused her attention on training 1,000 midwives rather thantrying to establish more hospitals around the country? What do you think the benefits andchallenges of each approach would be?--Edna is from Somaliland. How important is that fact to the success of her project? In whatways (if any) would the impact of the hospital in the community have been different if aninternational organization or a foreign individual established it?--When reporting on the maternal mortality crisis, Nicholas Kristof has said: “The reason forthe gap [in maternal healthcare] is not that we don’t know how to save lives of womenin poor countries. It’s simply that poor, uneducated women in Africa and Asia have neverbeen a priority either in their own countries or to donor nations.” What do you think hemeans by this? Do you agree with this statement? Based on what you saw in the film,why do you think poverty and lack of education make women more vulnerable to illness ordeath during pregnancy and labor?

017HALF THE SKYMaternal Mortality and The Global Health DivideLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESPost-Screening Activity:Maternal Mortality Case Studies (cont.)--When discussing the maternal mortality crisis, the former UN Deputy General Asha-RoseMigiro asked the question: “Would the world stand by if it were men who were dying justfor completing their reproductive functions?” What are your thoughts? What role do youthink gender-based discrimination plays in the global maternal health crisis?--The United States spends more on healthcare than any other country, but as mentionedearlier, its record on maternal health and mortality pales compared to many other nations.Why do you think that is? Do you think there are any parallels between the challengeswomen face in Somaliland and the United States? Why or why not?--When Edna talked about the history of the hospital, she said, “the world built this hospital.”What did she mean by this? Do wealthy countries have a responsibility to help poorercountries improve their maternal health care? Why or why not? What more could or shouldthe United States do to improve maternal health worldwide?--Do you think quality maternal healthcare is a right or a privilege? Explain. Do you think it isa human right?Part 2: Fact Sheet and Review (10 minutes):• Distribute the Student Handout E: Maternal Mortality Fact Sheet• Ask students to work in pairs to review the fact sheet and consider how its information andthe film compare to the results of the prescreening brainstorming activity. The class willdiscuss briefly and record observations, questions, and notes on the board.Part 3: Maternal Health Case Studies (30 minutes):• Explain to students that they will examine the maternal mortality crisis through the lens of oneof three case studies. They will work with their group to identify the primary barriers to carefor each case and to develop an action plan that could help women in a similar situation.• Divide the class into groups of three to five students and give each group one of the threecase study handouts to review from Student Handout F: Maternal Mortality Case Study.• Have each student group review its case study and complete the Student Handout G:Case Study Action Plan worksheet by identifying the challenges that each woman and herfamily faced, discussing the barriers to care and developing an action plan that could helpwomen in a similar situation.• When the handouts are completed, each group will present their action plan to the classand receive feedback.• Variation: Each group receives the same case study, and after preparing their plans ofaction, the groups will share and compare their results.• The activity should conclude with a discussion of what they have discovered through thelesson and the film module viewing. Have students to revisit the question: “Why doesmaternal mortality matter to me?” and discuss if and how the film and activities haveaffected their attitudes and perceptions.

018HALF THE SKYMaternal Mortality and The Global Health DivideAssignments1. Journal Entry or Essay:Have your students respond to the following questions as a journalentry or essay:If the women in your community faced the same healthcarechallenges as described in the film module and case studies, whatimpact do you think it would have on the community as a whole?• How would you improve the situation in your community?• Who would you work with?• What role would women and girls play in bringing about change?• What role should men and boys in the community play?• What outcomes would you hope to achieve?2. Community Action:Have students work in groups to research the quality and availabilityof healthcare for women in their community and the impactsuch access (or lack of access) has on families and the broaderpopulation. Students should then select an area of care in need ofimprovement and develop an outreach and/or education campaignto raise awareness and contribute to advancing the cause ofmaternal health.• Groups should identify each of the following for their issue:--What is the challenge?--What are the barriers to care?--What social, political, economic, and cultural factors arecontributing to the issue?--What strategies have been tried and what has been mostsuccessful?--How would you improve the situation?• When developing their campaigns, groups should identify theirtarget audiences. For example, how would you frame your outreachcampaign to boys and men in the community?• Students should connect directly with existing communityorganizations and maternal health advocates, and identify whereimprovements, resources, outreach, and volunteers are needed.• Groups can also reach out to local elected officials to betterunderstand if and how maternal health is being addressed. Thefollowing website can help students identify and contact their localofficials: www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml• If time and resources are available, the groups can work togetherto organize a community event such as a walk, a block party, or aschool assembly to help raise awareness of the needs of women intheir area, attract volunteers, and connect underserved women withservices and organizations that can offer support.• Each group should document the process of researching anddeveloping their Community Action Campaign using photography,digital video, audio recording, and through project journals.• Upon completion of their assignment, each group should presenta Multi-Media Project Report. Students can explore the followingfree online tools to create dynamic and interactive multi-mediapresentations:Prezi.comAhead.comHelloslide.comZentation.com

019HALF THE SKYMaternal Mortality and The Global Health DivideExtensions1. Global Village: Maternal Health PSAHave students work in groups to further examine the globalmaternal health divide and develop a Public Service Announcement(PSA) to raise awareness about the issue. Using the techniquesand style of Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into OpportunityFor Women Worldwide as a guide, each group should illustratethe global issue through the lens of one community or country’sstruggle with maternal health and mortality.• When researching their topic, groups should identify the challenges,barriers to care, contributing factors, and strategies that have had apositive impact.• Students can use the following websites for instruction and forsamples of Public Service Announcements (PSAs):The Ad Council:www.adcouncil.org/Our-Work/Current-WorkMediaSmarts:www.mediasmarts.caUsing Public Service Announcements in the Classroom:www.kathyschrock.net/psa• The PSAs can be developed by sourcing fair-use video andphotographs from the Internet along with interviews and researchbasedvoiceovers. Free online digital video and audio productionresources can be found at these sites:Zentation.comCombine videos, slides, and audio into presentationsVoicethread.comVideo, audio, and slide editing programVcasmo.comEasy to use multimedia presentation toolpeterdrewvo.com/html/tips_for_writing_for_voiceover.htmlVoiceover Script writing2. Cultural Practices and Women’s Health:Female Genital MutilationNote to teachers: Half The Sky: Turning Oppression IntoOpportunity For Women Worldwide: Maternal Mortality takesa candid look at the practice of female genital mutilation and itsimpact on the individual women and girls affected. This topic maybe unsuitable for some audiences, and students and their parents/guardians (where appropriate) should receive advance notice andpreparation regarding lessons and materials. Please view and read allresources before sharing with your students.Female genital mutilation (also known as female circumcision orgenital cutting) directly affects women and girls’ reproductiveand maternal health, and can have grave consequences duringchildbirth. Female genital mutilation (FMG) involves the removal ofpart or all of the external genitalia, and in its most severe form, theprocedure entails removal of all genitalia and stitches to leave asmall opening for urination, intercourse, and menstruation.It is primarily practiced in African countries on the pretext of culturaland religious tradition or hygiene, and an estimated 135 million girlsand women living today have undergone FGM with consequencesranging from infection (including HIV), to sterility. Others havedied. Another two million girls are at risk each year. In the UnitedStates, where the practice is illegal, thousands of women and girlssurvive FGM each year. FGM practitioners, often referred to as“cutters,” are predominantly women. As Edna describes in the film,it is often the adult women in the family and community (mothers,grandmothers, community matriarchs) who instigate and facilitatethe cutting of girls.• Screen the complete Maternal Mortality segment from thedocumentary Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into OpportunityFor Women Worldwide and have students research the issue ofFGM and its relationship to social, cultural, religious, and traditionalattitudes towards women and their perceived status in the homeand community.• Because FGM is a highly controversial topic, bound up in tradition,religious beliefs, and cultural identity, there has been a weakresponse from the international community. In the film, SherylWuDunn says: “When there is a practice that is so offensive, it isOK to say ‘this is wrong’.” Have students discuss Sheryl’s commentand whether or not they agree. If they do agree, what responsibilityor role do we have to address this issue?

020HALF THE SKYMaternal Mortality and The Global Health DivideExtensions• Although performing FGM is illegal in the United States, it affectsthousands of American girls each year. Ask students if theythink parents have the right to raise their children in their culturaltraditions even when they conflict with the law. Have studentsread the 2010 New York Times article Group Backs Ritual ‘Nick’as Female Circumcision Option by Pam Belluck (www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/health/policy/07cuts.html) What impactdo they think the ceremonial “nick” suggested by the AmericanAcademy of Pediatrics would have on the curtailing or increasingthe practice of FGM? Is this an acceptable alternative? Why orwhy not?• Have students consider the role women play in imposing thepractice on the next generation, using the film and particularlyEdna’s story of her own circumcision as foundations for discussion.What factors motivate women to participate in perpetuating FGM?What are the barriers to eliminating the practice entirely? How canprograms like the midwife training at Edna’s hospital contribute tocurtailing the practice?• Using their research and discussions as support, have studentscreate a series of dialogues between the women and men whoselives are bound up with the practice of FGM. Each charactershould lay out the basis of their argument, and examples couldinclude: a mother and daughter debating whether the daughtershould get cut; a midwife from Edna’s hospital trying to persuadea cutter to discontinue her practice; a mother who does not wantto cut her daughter making her argument to her husband or herown mother, etc.• Students can develop their dialogues in groups or individually, andthe dialogues could be performed for the class and/or recordedand edited into a video or audio presentation.• The following websites provide additional information and resourceson FGM:World Health Organization:www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en3. Family Planning, Maternal Health, and theBirth Control DebateFamily planning has been internationally recognized as a keyfactor in reducing maternal mortality, improving mother and childhealth and helping to break the cycle of poverty. Research showsthat if women have only the number of pregnancies they want, atthe intervals they want, maternal mortality would drop by aboutone-third. Yet a national and international debates continue torage about which forms of family planning are acceptable, towhat degree women’s reproductive options should be supportedby government programs and employer-based insurance, and ifcontraception itself is ethical.• Ask students if they are familiar with the current national debateregarding birth control. What do they know about the debate?What are the main points of those who oppose healthcare coveragefor birth control? What are the main points of those supporting it?• Use the following lesson plan developed by the New York Times’The Learning Network to guide students through researching andexamining the debate: learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/07/about-birth-control-clearing-up-misconceptions-aboutcontraception• Following their research, have students engage in a formal debateabout the issue. Education World offers a selection of debateresources that provide guidelines and rules for classroom debates:www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson304b.shtmlWomenshealth.gov:www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/female-genital-cutting.cfmAdvocates for Youth:www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/521?task=viewGuttmacher Institute:www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/2313097.htmlWHO Student Mid-Wife Manual on Female Genital Mutilation:www.who.int/gender/other_health/Studentsmanual.pdf

021HALF THE SKYMaternal Mortality and The Global Health DivideExtensions4. Too Young to Wed: The Secret World of Child BridesChild marriage contributes greatly to adolescent maternal mortalityrates. Throughout the world, more than 51 million girls below theage of 18 are currently married, and over the next decade, anestimated 100 million more girls will become child brides despitelaws and international agreements that forbid the practice. Studiesshow that adolescents ages 15 through 19 are twice as likely todie during pregnancy or childbirth as those over age 20, and girlsunder age 15 are five times more likely to die. Child brides alsoface higher risk for sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS.In Pakistan, child marriage is the major cause of the high maternalmortality ratio of 1 death in 362.Over an eight-year period, journalist Stephanie Sinclair investigatedthe issue of child marriage in India, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nepal, andEthiopia. Have students view her multimedia presentation featuredin the Pulitzer Center, Too Young to Wed, produced in associationwith National Geographic, that synthesizes her body of work intoa call to action. Have them examine the roots of and contributingfactors that lead to child marriage and the consequences thatyoung girls face who are married too soon, including physical andemotional health, education, ability to care and provide for herchildren, and the connection of this practice to the cycle of poverty.Too Young To Wed - Project Overview:pulitzercenter.org/projects/child-brides-child-marriage-tooyoung-to-wedToo Young to Wed - Multimedia:pulitzercenter.org/articles/child-marriage-brides-too-young-towed-afghanistan-ethiopia-india-yemenChild Brides, Pulitzer Center Reports:pulitzercenter.org/node/9674/all5. Millennium Development Goals: Empowering WomenEmpowers the WorldIn September 2000, the United Nations signed the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs) with the aim of halving the numberof people living in poverty, reducing maternal and child mortality,fighting disease, and improving social and economic conditionsin the world's poorest countries by 2015. Have your class screenthe complete series of Half The Sky: Turning Oppression IntoOpportunity For Women Worldwide and examine the connectionbetween the issues addressed in the documentary and the MDGcampaign’s focus on women. Have them consider how and whyimproving rights and resources for women and girls is consideredkey to eradicating global poverty.• Divide the class into eight groups, assign each an MDG, andinstruct the groups develop a “We Are the Goal” presentation,which should include the following:--A summary of the MDG and the campaign’s strategies forimproving social and economic conditions for women--Information on the public perception and understanding of theMDGs. (Students can investigate the public’s knowledge andunderstanding of the MDG campaign by recording “person-onthe-street”interviews and include the footage in the presentation.)--Examples of specific programs that have been implemented andtheir impact to date--How the campaign relates to issues in the students’ owncommunities--An action plan for the group and their school community tocontribute to the MDG campaign• The presentations should be multi-media, and can include photoessays, video footage, audio clips, animations, and infographicsusing the following websites as resources:Animoto:animoto.comCapzles:www.capzles.comPrezi:prezi.comInfographic tools:www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/05/eight-free-tools-forteachers-to-make.html• Information and resources for research on the MDGs can be found at:United Nations Millennium Development Goals:www.un.org/millenniumgoalsEnd Poverty 2015:www.endpoverty2015.orgMDG Get Involved:www.un.org/en/mdg/summit2010/getinvolved.shtmlUN Women:www.unifem.org/gender_issues/millennium_development_goals/MDG Monitor:www.mdgmonitor.org

HALF THE SKYMaternal Mortality and The Global Health Divide022Additional ResourcesBOOKSN. Kristof, S. WuDunn, Half the Sky:Turning Oppression into Opportunity forWomen Worldwide, New York : Alfred A.Knopf, 2009FILMSHalf The Sky: Turning Oppression IntoOpportunity For Women Worldwide:Filmed in 10 countries, the documentaryfollows Nicholas Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn,and celebrity activists America Ferrera,Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan,Gabrielle Union, and Olivia Wilde on ajourney to tell the stories of inspiring,courageous individuals. Across the globe,oppression is being confronted, and realmeaningful solutions are being fashionedthrough health care, education, andeconomic empowerment for women andgirls. The linked problems of sex traffickingand forced prostitution, gender-basedviolence, and maternal mortality — whichneedlessly claims one woman every 90seconds — present to us the single mostvital opportunity of our time: the opportunityto make a change. All over the world,women are seizing this opportunity. Visit thewebsite at: www.halftheskymovement.orgITVS Women and Girls Lead FilmCollection: Women and Girls Lead offersa collection of films by prominentindependent filmmakers. These films focuson women who are working to transform theirlives, their communities, and the world. Visitthe website to learn more about the filmsand explore our diverse catalogue of educatorresources, lesson plans, and film modules.See www.womenandgirlslead.org formore details.WEBSITESThe official website for the Half The Sky:Turning Oppression Into Opportunityfor Women Worldwide film, book andmovement.www.halftheskymovement.orgEdna Adan University Hospital: Locatedin Somaliland, the Edna Adan Hospitalprovides maternity and general medicalservices and works to train fully qualifiedhealthcare professionals and midwives towork throughout the country.www.ednahospital.orgEvery Mother Counts: an advocacyand mobilization campaign to increaseeducation and support for maternalmortality reduction globally.www.everymothercounts.orgCARE International: An organizationfighting poverty and injustice in more than70 countries around the world and helping65 million people each year to find routesout of poverty.www.careinternational.orgWhite Ribbon Alliance: An internationalcoalition to ensure that pregnancy andchildbirth are safe for all women andnewborns in every country around the world.www.whiteribbonalliance.orgThe Centre for Development andPopulation Activities (CEDPA): Anorganization that works through localpartnerships to give women toolsto improve their lives, families, andcommunities. CEDPA’s programs increaseeducational opportunities for girls, ensureaccess to lifesaving reproductive healthand HIV/AIDS information and services,and strengthen good governance andwomen’s leadership in their nations.www.cedpa.orgPartnership for Maternal, Newborn ChildHealth: A partnership to support the globalhealth community to work successfullytowards achieving Millennium DevelopmentGoals 4 and 5.www.who.int/pmnch/en/Save the Children: An organization thatworks to save and improve children’s livesin more than 50 countries worldwide.www.savethechildren.org

HALF THE SKYMaternal Mortality and The Global Health Divide023StandardsCommon Core State Standardsfor English Language Arts& Literacy in History/SocialStudies, Science, and TechnicalSubjectsWriting Standards 6–123. (9–10, 11–12) Write narratives todevelop real or imagined experiences orevents using effective technique, wellchosendetails, and well-structured eventsequences.4. (9–10, 11–12) Produce clear andcoherent writing in which the development,organization, and style are appropriateto task, purpose, and audience. (Gradespecificexpectations for writing types aredefined in standards 1–3 above.)6. (9–10, 11–12) Use technology,including the Internet, to produce, publish,and update individual or shared writingproducts, taking advantage of technology’scapacity to link to other information and todisplay information flexibly and dynamically.Speaking and Listening Standards1. (9–10, 11–12) Initiate and participateeffectively in a range of collaborativediscussions (one-on-one, in groups, andteacher-led) with diverse partners on [grade9-12] topics, text, and issues, building onothers’ ideas and expressing their ownclearly and persuasively.4. (11–12) Present information, findings,and supporting evidence, conveying a clearand distinct perspective, such that listenerscan follow the line of reasoning, alternativeor opposing perspectives are addressed,and the organization, development,substance, and style are appropriate topurpose, audience, and a range of formaland informal tasks.5. (9–10, 11–12) Make strategic useof digital media (e.g., textual, graphical,audio, visual, and interactive elements) inpresentations to enhance understanding offindings, reasoning, and evidence and toadd interest.Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and TechnicalSubjects 6–121. (9–10, 11–12) Write arguments focusedon discipline-specific content.4. (9–10, 11–12) Produce clear andcoherent writing in which the development,organization, and style are appropriate totask, purpose, and audience.7. (9–10, 11–12) Conduct short as wellas more sustained research projectsto answer a question (including a selfgeneratedquestion) or solve a problem;narrow or broaden the inquiry whenappropriate; synthesize multiple sources onthe subject, demonstrating understandingof the subject under investigation.9. (9–10, 11–12) Draw evidence frominformational texts to support analysis,reflection, and research.National Curriculum Standardsfor Social Studies1. CULTUREThrough the study of culture and culturaldiversity, learners understand how humanbeings create, learn, share, and adapt toculture, and appreciate the role of culture inshaping their lives and society, as well thelives and societies of others.4. INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENTAND IDENTITYPersonal identity is shaped by family,peers, culture, and institutional influences.Through this theme, students examinethe factors that influence an individual’spersonal identity, development, and actions.5. INDIVIDUALS, GROUPS, ANDINSITITUTIONSInstitutions such as families and civic,educational, governmental, and religiousorganizations exert a major influence onpeople’s lives. This theme allows studentsto understand how institutions are formed,maintained, and changed, and to examinetheir influence.10. CIVIC IDEALS AND PRACTICESAn understanding of civic ideals andpractices is critical to full participationin society and an essential componentof education for citizenship. This themeenables students to learn about therights and responsibilities of citizensof a democracy, and to appreciate theimportance of active citizenship.National Standards for ArtsEducation Grades 9–12VA1: Understanding and applying media,techniques, and processesVA5: Reflecting upon and assessing thecharacteristics and merits of their work andthe work of othersVA6: Making connections between visualarts and other disciplines

HALF THE SKY: MATERNAL MORTALITYGlossaryMaternal HealthFertility rateThe number of children that the average woman will have in herlifetime. This can differ significantly between continents and countries.FistulaA hole between an internal organ and the outside of the bodythat should not exist. Obstetric fistula develops when the bloodsupply to the reproductive organs is cut off during prolonged andobstructed labor. It is estimated that there are up to 100,000 newfistula cases each year and over two million women living withobstetric fistula.Female Genital MutilationFemale genital mutilation (also known as female circumcision orgenital cutting) is the removal of part or all of the external femalegenitalia, and in its most severe form, a woman or girl has all ofher genitalia removed and then stitched together, leaving a smallopening for urination, intercourse, and menstruation. This practicehas a direct effect on women and girls’ reproductive and maternalhealth and can have grave consequences during childbirth.Maternal death/mortalityThe death of a woman during or shortly after a pregnancy, or within42 days of the termination of a pregnancy. Death could be from anycause related to the pregnancy but not from accidental or incidentalcauses. The major direct causes of maternal illness and death includehemorrhage, infection, high blood pressure, and obstructed labor.Maternal healthThe health of women during pregnancy, childbirth and immediatelyafter the birth of a baby (also known as the postpartum period).Maternal mortality rateThe number of maternal deaths due to childbearing per 100,000live births.Modern contraceptionA variety of products and procedures that are used toprevent pregnancy.Obstructed laborAn important cause of maternal death in women, predominantly inthe developing world. Due to poor nutrition women’s bodies havenot developed properly and they have small pelvises, which makesgiving birth difficult. Obstructed labor also causes significant lifethreatening complications in the short-term (notably infection) andlong-term (notably obstetric fistulas).Pre-eclampsia and EclampsiaA dangerous combination of high blood pressure, fluid retention,and high levels of protein in the urine of women after their 20thweek of pregnancy. If not treated, pre-eclampsia can worsen intoeclampsia, a potentially fatal condition that results in seizures andcoma. Pre-eclampsia puts unborn children and their mothers atgreat risk.Prenatal and PostnatalPrenatal is the period of pregnancy after conception and before thebaby is born. Postnatal (also known as postpartum) is the period ofabout six weeks following the birth of a baby.Reproductive healthThe health and well being associated with sex, conception,pregnancy, and childbirth for both men and women at all fertilestages of life. Sepsis (septicemia): A condition in which the body isfighting a severe infection that has spread via the bloodstream. If aperson becomes “septic,” they will likely be in a state of low bloodpressure or “shock.” This condition can develop either as a result ofthe body’s own defense system, or from toxic substances made bythe infecting agent (such as a bacteria, virus, or fungus).Sepsis (septicemia)A condition in which the body is fighting a severe infection that hasspread via the bloodstream. If a person becomes "septic," they willlikely be in a state of low blood pressure or "shock." This conditioncan develop either as a result of the body's own defense system,or from toxic substances made by the infecting agent (such as abacteria, virus, or fungus).Adapted from Marie Stopes International (MSI) Make Women Matter campaign

Student Handout A:Why Does Maternal Health Matter to Me? (page 1)HALF THE SKY: MATERNAL MORTALITYName:Date:Class:In preparation for viewing the film module Half the Sky: Maternal Mortality, please complete thefollowing handout:1. Do you know anyone in your own life who has had a baby?If so, who was it and what is her relationship to you?What was that experience like for you?Based on your experience, how did the pregnancy and birth affect the woman and her family?What was the experience like for the men in her life? (The baby’s father, brothers, uncles, grandfathers, etc.)Was the experience for the men in her life different than for the women in her life?

HALF THE SKY: MATERNAL MORTALITYStudent Handout A:Why Does Maternal Health Matter to Me? (page 2)2. What is the story of your birth? Briefly describe below:(If possible, ask family and friends who were part of your birth story to share their experience of your birth with you.)3. Share your answers with a partner or your group and discuss the following:A. What are the similarities and differences in your stories?B. Which of the following supports and resources did the moms in each story have available to help them?• Doctor• Midwife or birth attendant• Local hospital• Medicine• Transportation• Health Insurance• Family and friendsC. How might the mother’s birth experience have been different if these supports and resources weren’t available to them?

HALF THE SKY: MATERNAL MORTALITYStudent Handout B v1:The Health Divide Question & Answer Cards (page 1)Teacher Instructions: Make two copies of question and answer card document. Cut out and distributethe “Country” and “Fact” cards from one copy and use the second copy as reference.AFGHANISTANHas the second highest maternal death rate in the world. Less than 15 percent of deliveriesare attended by trained health workers, and many women bleed to death beforethey can receive permission from their husband or mother-in-law to get medical help.UNITED STATESDeaths from pregnancy and childbirth have doubled in the past 20 years despite thefact that this superpower spends the most money on healthcare. Approximately 1woman in every 4,100 dies in childbirth.NIGERIAWomen have a 1 in 18 chance of dying in childbirth. Maternal health continues to declinewhile the rest of the world improves, despite being one of Africa’s biggest oil exporters.CANADAMaternal mortality rates have declined from approximately 1 maternal death per 200 livebirths in the early 1920s to less than 1 per 12,820 in 2010. Among the lowest maternalmortality rates in the world and three times lower than its neighbor the U.S.FRANCEWomen have a 1 in 16,667 chance of dying in childbirth. Mothers enjoy a range ofmaternity benefits, ranging from generous paid time off to extended time in the hospital.CHINAIn 1980, 1 woman would die for approximately every 580 women who gave birth, but by2008, that rate had dropped to 1 in approximately every 2,170. This improvement hasnot kept pace with the rapid economic expansion in this large Asian country.INDIAThis is the world’s largest democracy, but in this highly populated country, women have a1 in 185 chance of dying in childbirth — one of the worst rates in the world.ITALYIn 2010, the country was rated the safest place to have a baby, with just five maternaldeaths per 100,000 births (1 in 20,000). Maternal healthcare is free and families do nothave to pay for prenatal visits for the hospital birth. Moms also benefit from 22 weeks ofpaid leave from work.DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICOF CONGOEvery hour, four women die of complications due to pregnancy and labor, and for everywoman who dies, 20 to 30 have serious complications in this conflict-ridden Africancountry. The maternal mortality rate is 1 in 90.

Student Handout B v1 (page 1):The Health Divide Question & Answer Cards (page 2)HALF THE SKY: MATERNAL MORTALITYTeacher Instructions: Make two copies of question and answer card document. Cut out and distributethe “Country” and “Fact” cards from one copy and use the second copy as reference.PAKISTAN1 woman dies for every 384 who give birth. Malnutrition affects 34 percent of pregnantwomen and 45 percent of women suffer from iron deficiencies that result in stillbirths,birth defects, and infant deaths. Ongoing wars in the region and strict religious culturaltraditions also impact women’s maternal health.MEXICO1 in 1,176 women dies in childbirth, a ratio that is almost five times higher than itssuper-power neighbor. Women in poorer states of the country face even greater risksin pregnancy — the maternal mortality ratio in the least developed region of the countryalmost double the national average.JAPANWomen can choose their hospital, two prenatal checkups are provided free of charge,and there are free childbirth classes available to all. The maternal mortality rate is a low 1in 16,666.GERMANYPregnant mothers are not expected to work during the last six weeks of their pregnancy.Moms benefit from four months maternity leave, and employers are required to providefor at least three months of pay. The maternal mortality rate is 1 in 11,100.BRAZILThe average infant mortality rates have reduced substantially, decreasing by 5.5 percenta year in the 1980s and 1990s, and by 4.4 percent a year since 2000. But the rate isstill high at 1 in 1,724 due to the unequal distribution of wealth in this booming SouthAmerican country.INDONESIAOne of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world at 1 death in every 438 births.Eighty percent of maternal mortality cases happen in primary services units, indicatingthat the challenge for this island nation is the quality of care rather than accessibility.SWEDENCouples in this country enjoy 13 months paid leave, and most of that time is available tobe split between the two parents, so families can decide which parent would be betterat home. The maternal mortality rate in here is 1 in 20,000.AUSTRALIAFor most women, maternity care through Medicare is nearly free, with some only responsiblefor small co-pay amounts for doctor visits and no charge at all for hospital care.100 percent of moms have at least one pre-natal visit, and 100 percent have a skilledattendant at birth. The maternal mortality rate is 1 in 12,500.

Student Handout B v2:The Health Divide Question & Answer Worksheet (page 1)HALF THE SKY: MATERNAL MORTALITYName:Date:Class:Instructions: Review the following country names and facts and identify which fact is connected towhich country. Write the correct fact number in front of each country name.A____ AFGHANISTAN1.BFor most women, maternity care through Medicare is nearly free, with someresponsible only for small co-pay amounts for doctor visits and no charge at all forhospital care. All moms have at least one prenatal visit, and 100 percent have a skilledattendant at birth. The maternal mortality rate is 1 in 12,500.____ UNITED STATES 2.One of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world at 1 death in every 438births. Eighty percent of maternal mortality cases happen in primary services units,indicating that the challenge for this is the quality of care rather than accessibility.____ NIGERIA____ CANADA____ FRANCE3.Couples in this country enjoy 13 months’ paid leave, and most of that time isavailable to be split between the two parents, so families can decide which parentwould be better at home. The maternal mortality rate here is 1 in 20,000.4.In 1980, one woman would die for approximately every 580 women who gavebirth, but by 2008, that rate had dropped to 1 in approximately every 2,170. Thisimprovement has not kept pace with the rapid economic expansion in this large Asiancountry.5.Women have a 1 in 16,667 chance of dying in childbirth. Mothers enjoy a rangeof maternity benefits, ranging from generous paid time off to extended time inthe hospital.____ CHINA 6.Maternal mortality rates have declined from approximately 1 maternal death per 200live births in the early 1920s to less than 1 per 12,820 in 2010. Among the lowestmaternal mortality rates in the world and three times lower than its neighbor the U.S.____ INDIA____ ITALY7.Has the second highest maternal death rate in the world. Less than 15 percent ofdeliveries are attended by trained health workers, and many women bleed to deathbefore they can receive permission from their husband or mother-in-law to get medical help.8.Deaths from pregnancy and childbirth have doubled in the past 20 yearsdespite the fact that this super-power spends the most money on healthcare.Approximately 1 woman in every 4,100 dies in childbirth.

Student Handout B v2:The Health Divide Question & Answer Worksheet (page 2)HALF THE SKY: MATERNAL MORTALITYA____ DEMOCRATICREPUBLIC OF CONGO____ PAKISTAN____ MEXICO____ JAPAN____ GERMANY____ BRAZIL____ INDONESIA____ SWEDEN____ AUSTRALIA9.BWomen have a 1 in 18 chance of dying in childbirth. Maternal health continues todecline while the rest of the world improves, despite being one of Africa’s biggestoil exporters10.Women can choose their hospital, two prenatal checkups are provided freeof charge, and there are free childbirth classes available to all. The maternalmortality rate is a low 1 in 16,666.11.Pregnant mothers are not expected to work during the last six weeksof their pregnancy. Moms benefit from four months maternity leave, andemployers are required to provide for at least three months of pay. The maternalmortality rate is 1 in 11,100.12.The average infant mortality rates have reduced substantially, decreasing by5.5 percent a year in the 1980s and 1990s, and by 4.4 percent a year since2000. But the rate is still high at 1 in 1,724 due to the unequal distribution of wealth inthis booming South American country.13.the world.14.This is the world’s largest democracy, but women have a 1 in 185 chance ofdying in childbirth in this highly populated country — one of the worst rates inIn 2010, the country was rated the safest place to have a baby, with just fivematernal deaths per 100,000 births (1 in 20,000). Maternal health care is free,and families do not have to pay for prenatal visits for the hospital birth. Moms also benefitfrom 22 weeks of paid leave from work.15.Every hour four women die of complications due to pregnancy and labor,and for every woman who dies, 20 to 30 have serious complications in thisconflict-ridden African country. The maternal mortality rate is 1 in 90.16.One woman dies for every 384 who give birth. Malnutrition affects 34 percentof pregnant women, and 45 percent of women suffer from iron deficienciesthat result in stillbirths, birth defects, and infant deaths. Ongoing wars in the region andstrict religious cultural traditions also impact women’s maternal health.17.One in 1,176 women dies in childbirth, a ratio that is almost five times higherthan its super-power neighbor. Women in poorer states of the country faceeven greater risks in pregnancy — the maternal mortality ratio in the least developed regionof the country almost double the national average.

HALF THE SKY: MATERNAL MORTALITYStudent Handout C:Somaliland in ContextIt is dangerous to be a pregnant woman in Somaliland.Somaliland is a semi-desert territory in East Africa on the coast of the Gulf of Aden. Itdeclared independence from Somalia after the overthrow of Somali military dictator, SiadBarre, in 1991. Since then, the territory has lobbied hard to win support for its claim to bea sovereign state, but had still not received official international recognition. Despite this,Somaliland has a working political system, government institutions, a police force, and itsown currency, but it suffers from widespread poverty and unemployment.The health of the people of Somaliland is among the worst in Africa, with one ofthe highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the world. Childbirth brings with itserious risks, including lack of access to trained health professionals and high rates ofmalnutrition, all of which increase the chances of complications before and during labor.Because it is not an officially recognized independent state, international aid donors havefound it difficult to provide much-needed support and resources, such as maternal healthservices and funds for training and supplies.While rates of maternal mortality are among the highest in the world, they have begun todecline. In 1997, 16 women would die for every 1,000 live births, but by 2006 that ratehad gone down to approximately 10 per 1,000 births. This improvement is due in part tothe work of Edna Adan Ismail, Somaliland’s first certified nurse-midwife, and the traininghospital she founded in the country’s capital, Hargeisa.

HALF THE SKY: MATERNAL MORTALITYStudent Handout D:Film Module Screening GuideName:Date:Class:Take notes while watching the film module Half the Sky: Maternal Mortality using the following list ofquestions as a guide:• What challenges are pregnant women in Somaliland facing?• What are some of the causes of death for pregnant women?• What services does the Edna Adan Hospital provide?• Write down two or three quotes from the film that stand out most for you and/or illustrate why maternal health is an importantissue for everyone.• Write down two or three quotes from the film that stand out most for you.

HALF THE SKY: MATERNAL MORTALITYStudent Handout E:Maternal Mortality Fact Sheet (page 1)What are the causes of maternal death? Women die as a result of medical complications that happen duringand following pregnancy, often because the medical care and resources needed are too far away, unavailable,inadequate, or unaffordable. Below is a list of the major complications that account for 80 percent of allmaternal deaths all of which are treatable if resources and skilled healthcare workers are available:• Hemorrhaging: Severe bleeding, mostly occurring after childbirth• Infection: Most commonly occurring after and as a result of childbirth• Pre-eclampsia and Eclampsia: A set of symptoms including highblood pressure that occurs during pregnancy and can lead toseizures and coma during labor.• Obstructed labor: Difficult labor, which may be caused by anobstruction or constriction of the birth passage• Indirect causes: Approximately 20 percent of maternal deathsresult from diseases or physical traumas unrelated to pregnancythat are aggravated by pregnancy, such as anemia, malaria,hepatitis, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and physical and sexual abuse.Why do women die?Understanding the medical causes of maternal mortality only givesus part of the story. Maternal death is the result of a complex webof social, political, and economic forces that undermines women’saccess to essential maternal healthcare. A high maternal death rateindicates that the fundamental rights to life and health for women arebeing violated. Contributing factors to maternal mortality include:• Poverty• Gender-based discrimination• Limited access to affordable, quality healthcare• Limited access to family planning• Limited access to education• Cultural practices• Adolescent Maternity• Poverty: Being poor limits a woman’s access to information andhealthcare. Factors such as malnutrition, disease, lack of cleanwater, and inadequate medical care make pregnancy and childbirtha dangerous experience for women living in extreme poverty.• Gender-Based Discrimination: Maternal mortality rates are also aneffective measure of women’s place in society. In countries wherewomen are devalued they lack access to education, economicopportunities, social supports, and leadership and decision-makingopportunities that contribute to higher maternal mortality rates.• Limited Access to Affordable, Quality Healthcare: Many womencannot use health services during pregnancy and childbirthbecause their families simply cannot afford the costs. And if theylive in a poor community, the available healthcare may be poor aswell. Key factors that continue to contribute to the large number ofwomen dying include: too few or untrained health workers, a lackof equipment and supplies, unavailable transportation, insufficientfunds, and a lack extended services including family planning andpostnatal care.• Limited Access to Family Planning: Having large numbers ofchildren with short recovery periods between pregnancies isdetrimental to women’s health. If women had only the number ofpregnancies they wanted, at the intervals they wanted, maternalmortality would drop by about one-third.• Limited Access to Education: When women are better educatedthey have a better chance of surviving childbirth. Educated womenare also more likely to have wage-earning jobs that give themgreater decision-making roles in a family’s finances and enablethem to save money and afford health-care when it is most needed.According to the World Bank, for every 1,000 girls who get anadditional year of education, two fewer women will die in childbirth.• Cultural Practices: In some cultures, seeking medical help isseen as a sign of weakness and pregnant women in the poorestcountries are often tended to by family or traditional birthingassistants who may have little or no medical training and who mayuse traditional practices that could complicate pregnancies andworsen a mother’s condition.• Adolescent Maternity: Child marriage contributes greatly toadolescent maternal mortality rates. Currently, an estimated 51million girls under the age of 18 are married, and over the nextdecade, it is estimated that another 100 million girls will becomechild brides. Studies show that adolescents age 15 through 19 aretwice as likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth as those overage 20, and girls under age 15 are five times more likely to die.

HALF THE SKY: MATERNAL MORTALITYStudent Handout E:Maternal Mortality Fact Sheet (page 2)Too Far to Walk:The Delay ModelWhat’s Needed to ImproveMaternal Health?When a life-threatening pregnancy-related emergency occurs,getting help fast is incredibly important. The following modeloutlines the three primary delays women face when trying to accessemergency care:• Delay One: Recognizing Danger Signs and Deciding to SeekCare: Poor families in communities with limited information andresources tend to delay decision-making or make inappropriatechoices when complications arise.• Delay Two: Reaching Appropriate Care: This delay is worse forpoor rural women and their families who tend to face higher andless predictable costs of emergency transportation because of longdistances and limited public transit and services.• Delay Three: Receiving Care at Health Facilities: The final delayis influenced by economic status, discrimination based on genderor ethnic prejudice, and availability of providers. Poor families oftenhave to borrow money to pay up front when complications arise.Frequently, households do not have ready access to sufficientcash in time, and often, credit is withheld for needed supplies,medications, and services.Improving maternal health for women around the world requirescoordinated efforts by international and local institutions to raisepublic awareness, address gender-based discrimination, increasepolitical will, and commit resources to prevent and respond to thecauses of maternal mortality. Here are some strategies that havebeen most effective:• Improving the availability of quality medical services:• Better-trained health care providers (doctors and nurses)who understand and are sympathetic to the challenges theirpatients face• Training for traditional healthcare providers and midwives sothey can provide support and care before and after the birth andare better able to address emergencies when they arise• Mobile clinics that can reach remote areas and provideongoing access to services• Emergency transportation services or a community-basedemergency transportation network to get women to the nearestfacility as quickly as possible in the event of complications• Improved communication systems so families in remote areascan contact providers in an emergency• Improving maternal nutrition during and after pregnancy: Thisimproves maternal health and improves the health of new-born babies• Providing secondary education for girls: This has been shown tosignificantly increase the likelihood that mothers will have healthierpregnancies, and improves the survival rate of newly born babies.• Education and Outreach Programs: Providing training, education,and outreach to the entire community empowers women, girls, men,and boys with the tools they need to make informed decisions abouttheir health and the health of their family members.

HALF THE SKY: MATERNAL MORTALITYStudent Handout F:Case Study #1, Prudence, CameroonPrudence had been living with her family in a village 75 miles away from the hospital in Yokadouma,Cameroon, and she had received no prenatal care. She went into labor at full term, assisted by atraditional birth attendant who had no training. But Prudence had obstructed labor, and the baby couldn’tcome out. After three days, the birth attendant sat on Prudence’s stomach and jumped up and down.That ruptured Prudence’s uterus. The family paid a man with a motorcycle to take Prudence to the hospital.The hospital’s doctor, Pascal Pipi, realized that she needed an emergency cesarean. But he wanted$100 for the surgery, and Prudence’s husband and parents said they could raise only $20. Dr. Pipi wassure that the family was lying and could pay more. Perhaps he was right because one of Prudence’scousins had a cell phone. If she had been a man, the family probably would have sold enough possessionsto raise $100.Journalist Nicholas Kristof had come upon the clinic by accidentand dropped in to inquire about maternal health in the area. Whenhe stumbled upon Prudence in the hospital bed, she had been lyingthere untreated for about three days, according to her family. Thefetus died shortly after she arrived at the hospital, and now it wasdecaying and slowly poisoning Prudence.“If they had intervened right away, my baby would still be alive,” AlainAwona, Prudence’s 28-year-old husband said angrily as he hoveredbeside his wife. A teacher at a public school, he was educatedenough to be indignant and assertive at the mistreatment of his wife.“Save my wife!” he pleaded. “My baby is dead. Save my wife!”Dr. Pipi and his staff were furious at Alain’s protests and embarrassedat having a woman die in front of visitors. He told the Kristof thatwithout intervention, Prudence had only hours to live, and that hecould operate on her if he had the remaining $80. So Kristof and histraveling companions gave the doctor the remaining money.Prudence didn’t seem fully aware of what was going on, but hermother had tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. The family hadbeen sure that Prudence was going to die, and now it suddenlyseemed that her life could be saved. Alain insisted that we stickaround to see the surgery through. “If you go,” he warned bluntly,“Prudence will die.”The nurses said that everything was ready for Prudence’s surgery,but the hours dragged and nothing happened. At 10 p.m., Kristofand the family found out that the doctor had left and would be backin the morning. They were shocked and furious and consideredgoing to find him but the Cameroonian interpreter that was travelingwith Kristof tugged the group aside. “Look, I’m sure we can findout where Dr. Pipi lives if we ask around,” he said. “But if we go tohis house and try to drag him back here to do the surgery he’ll beincredibly angry. Maybe he’ll do the surgery, but you don’t knowwhat he’ll do with the scalpel. It wouldn’t be good for Prudence.The only hope is to wait for morning, and see if she is still alive.”The next morning, Dr. Pipi finally operated, but by then at leastthree days had elapsed since Prudence had arrived at the hospitaland her abdomen was severely infected. He had to remove 20centimeters of her small intestines, and he had none of the powerfulantibiotics that were necessary to fight the infection.The hours passed. Prudence remained unconscious, and graduallyeverybody realized that it wasn’t just the anesthesia; she was ina coma. She began fighting for breath, in huge terrifying rattles.Finally, the family members decided that they would take her hometo the village to die. They hired a car to take them back to thevillage, and they drove back, somber and bitter. Three days after thesurgery, Prudence diedThis story was excerpted and adapted from Half the Sky: Turning Oppression intoOpportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Knopf 2009.www.halftheskymovement.org

HALF THE SKY: MATERNAL MORTALITYStudent Handout F:Case Study #2, Antonia, PeruAntonia had just turned 40. She was the anchor of her family. She’d farmed a small parcel of land andtended livestock with her husband Lorenzo since they were married as teenagers. She gave birth toseven children, ranging in age from two to 18. During her eighth pregnancy when Antonia went into laborthree weeks early, Lorenzo wanted to go to the hospital to get a doctor. Antonia knew it would take himat least two hours to reach the hospital and return with help and was afraid of being alone during thedelivery. So, Lorenzo remained at home and waited.Antonia gave birth to a baby boy, Adolfo, around 6 p.m., but the joywas soon replaced by anguish. Lorenzo, who had assisted Antoniain all her previous births, realized that something had gone wrong.Antonia was bleeding heavily. Lorenzo knew she needed help rightaway. After glancing one last time around his one room adobehome, taking in his wife and his other children shuffling near theirmother’s bed, silent and scared, he left to get help.There are no phones or two-way radios in their tiny village high inthe mountains of Peru’s remote Puno region. The nearest healthpost was a couple miles away traveling on very bad roads. Lorenzoknew from making prenatal visits with his wife there that the onehealth worker wasn’t equipped or trained to handle this type ofemergency. Also, it was Good Friday and he knew that the healthpost was likely closed since it was a holiday.Lorenzo borrowed an old motorcycle and puttered slowly down thesteep, muddied road to the hospital almost an hour away in normalconditions. The drenching rains made the roads nearly impassibleand his transportation broke down half way there. After an hour ofpleading with people in a nearby village for help, Lorenzo managedto borrow a bicycle on which he made the rest of the journey to thehospital. When he reached the hospital, the doctor on call was notthere and the ambulance was in disrepair. After another 30-minutedelay, Lorenzo found the doctor and hired a pick-up truck, and theywere on their way. Unfortunately, the truck got stuck in the mud as itapproached the house and Lorenzo and the doctor had to walk theremaining distance.By the time Lorenzo and the doctor finally arrived on foot just after10 p.m., it was too late. About an hour before, in her mother’s armsand surrounded by her children (including the baby boy she hadjust given birth to), Antonia died.The doctor said Antonia died because the placenta, which helpsnourish the baby in the womb, had blocked her cervix. Shehemorrhaged, which led to cardiac arrest. Antonia’s condition wasconsidered serious, but treatable.In discussions with Lorenzo in the months following Antonia’sdeath, he recounted his schedule: He got up by 4 in the morning tomake breakfast. By 8 a.m. the children left for school and he tendedto the livestock. At around 4 p.m. he came back from dealing withthe livestock to cook dinner. Then he bathed the children and putthem to bed, and he went to sleep about 9 p.m. He was extremelytired, but recognized that this is the schedule Antonia had keptevery day when she was alive.The children suffered without their mother. They only went to schoolsporadically and the younger girls, ages 5 and 9, stopped eatingand were depressed. The oldest son, who had planned to go to thecity for school, dropped out to work in the hazardous gold minesin order to send money back to his family. The second oldest sonwas also forced to drop out of school to help his father aroundthe house and take care of his siblings. Lorenzo had to sell all thelivestock and possessions to pay for baby formula. Having spent allhis money on the baby, Lorenzo’s other children clearly had becomemalnourished and they had no money for school supplies.This case study was excerpted and adapted from the Care report“The Impact of Maternal Health in Peru”www.care.org/campaigns/mothersmatter/downloads/Peru-Case-Study.pdf

HALF THE SKY: MATERNAL MORTALITYStudent Handout F:Case Study #3, Mastbegeen, AfghanistanSangima watched helplessly as her sister-in-law, Mastbegeen, died trying to give birth to her seventhchild. She tells Mastbegeen’s story to and interviewer from Integrated Regional Information Networks,(IRIN) part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):Sangima: As you see, we live in this very remote mountain villagein Wakhan District [Badakhshan Province], which is very far fromall facilities, including a clinic. Mastbegeen [her sister-in-law] waseight months pregnant when she started feeling pain. I told mybrother [Mastbegeen’s husband] to find a birth attendant. He tookthe donkey and left the house. After an hour he came back with theold woman.Interviewer: Was the woman a professional health worker?Sangima: She was not from the clinic, but yes she was professionalas she has been working as a midwife for years. She has a lot ofexperience, she is an old woman. There’s no clinic near us and theseold women are the only people who help pregnant women.Interviewer: What I mean is, did she have any formalmidwifery training?Sangima: I don’t think so, because she is very old and illiterateas well. She helped Mastbegeen give birth to the child. After thebirth, Mastbegeen started bleeding. I asked the old woman whatwas happening and she said: “Don’t worry, most women bleed forsome time after giving birth.” Somehow I trusted the old woman, butthen I thought to myself, when I gave birth to my own child I wasnot bleeding like Mastbegeen. I mentioned this to my brother andwe thought we should take her to a clinic. But it was 11pm and thenearest clinic in Khandod [district capital] was six hours’ walk away.We didn’t have any choice but to wait.At midnight, she stopped crying. I bent over her face and shoutedMastbegeen! Mastbegeen! But she didn’t reply. I saw her chestwas moving so I knew she was alive. I left the room to call mybrother, who was helping the old woman to wash the newbornbaby girl. We went back in and found she was dying. We shookher and kept calling out to her, but she didn’t reply and we sawher passing away. It was a very sad scene; I hope no one else onearth has to witness such a calamity in their family. We didn’t knowwhat happened to the baby, but she also died just an hour afterher mother.Now Mastbegeen’s six children are in a very bad state. Sometimes Icome to cook for them or wash them, but still they are not as cleanas other children. My brother cooks, but he can’t cook as well as awoman. He is also poor and can’t provide them with good clothingand food. This is the reality not only in our village, but also in manyremote villages in the Wakhan corridor in Badakhshan, where wehave little or no access to health careThis case study was excerpted and adapted from VEIL OF TEARS: Afghans’ Stories ofLoss in Childbirth Integrated Regional Information Networks, (IRIN) 2009 as part of theUnited Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)www.irinnews.org/pdf/veil_of_tears.pdf

HALF THE SKY: MATERNAL MORTALITYStudent Handout G:Case Study Worksheet (page 1)Case Study:Date:List of the names of all the students in the group:Why did she die? Understanding the Causes of Maternal Mortality1. What was the name of the woman in your case study and what was her cause of death?2. Was the condition she suffered from treatable?3. If so, what were the factors that contributed to her death?Briefly describe what role if any each of the following played:• Poverty• Gender-based discrimination• Limited access to quality healthcare• Limited access to family planning• Limited access to education• Cultural practices4. Using the Delay Model as a reference, describe the delays that the mother and her family facedwhen attempting to access care:

HALF THE SKY: MATERNAL MORTALITYStudent Handout G:Case Study Worksheet (page 2)Action Plan: How Can Women’s Lives Be Saved?Edna Adan came back to Somaliland to apply her skills, resources, and training to improving the lives of women in her country. Imagine thatyour group came from the same community as the woman in your case study and you have the opportunity to return to help improve thematernal health of the women who live there. What would your plan of action be?Using the Maternal Health Fact Sheet as a resource, work with your group to develop a comprehensive strategy that includes the following:1. What outreach and resource strategies would you put into place for each of the following?• Improving the availability of quality medical services:• Improving maternal nutrition during and after pregnancy:• Providing education opportunities for girls:• Providing Outreach Programs:2. How would you include the community in your plan of action?What role will boys and men play in improving maternal health?3. What challenges do you expect to face?4. What outcome do you hope to achieve?

040HALF THE SKYEducation for AllOVERVIEWAudienceHigh School (9-12 grade), CommunityCollege, Youth Development OrganizationsTime90 minutes or two 50 minutes classperiods + AssignmentsSubject AreasWomen’s Studies, Social Studies, GlobalStudies, Media Studies, English LanguageArts , Education Studies“When you educate a girl, thereis a ripple effect that goesbeyond what you would getfrom a normal investment…When you educate a girl, youeducate a village.”Sheryl WuDunnHalf the SkyPurpose of the LessonAccess to education is recognized as abasic human right as well as significantfactor in breaking the cycle of povertyand improving quality of life for children,communities, and countries. Despite this,millions of girls and women around theworld are disproportionately denied theopportunity to attend school and pursueeducation and training outside the home.Objectives:Through this lesson students will:• Explore the value of education in theirown lives• Consider the ripple effect for families,communities, and nations where girls aredisproportionately denied the right to goto school• Identify the location of Vietnam on a mapand understand the social and politicalcontext that has shaped the educationopportunities for Vietnamese girls.• Understand the Millennium DevelopmentGoals’ strategy to cut poverty in half by2015 and examine the progress andthe status of Goal 2 Universal PrimaryEducation in relationship to the globalgender disparity.• Create an Education Genealogy thatexplores the impact of education in theirown families and communities and tracesthe path and influence of education throughthe generations.Resources:• Film Module: Education in Vietnam (10:38)• Half the Sky: Turning Oppression intoOpportunity for Women Worldwide FilmSeries Trailer (5:48): itvs.org/films/halfthe-sky• LCD projector or DVD player• Teacher Handouts--Educating Girls and Women DiscussionGuide (Download Half the Sky: TurningOppression into Opportunity for WomenWorldwide discussion guide PDFs fromthe ITVS Women and Girls Lead website:www.womenandgirlslead.org)• Student Handouts--Student Handout A: Life Map--Student Handout B: The EducationRipple Effect--Student Handout C: Vietnam In Context--Student Handout D: Film ModuleScreening Guide--Student Handout E: Education for All--Student Handout F: Notes from the Field• Whiteboard/blackboard and markers/chalk• Pens and writing paper• Computers with Internet access• Kraft Paper• Washable Markers• Wall map of the world with country names:www.amaps.com/mapstoprint/WORLDDOWNLOAD.htm

041HALF THE SKYEducation for AllLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESPrescreening ActivityTime: 30 minutesYou will need: Student Handout A: Life Map, Student Handout B: Ripple Effect, StudentHandout C: Vietnam In Context, white board/black board, dry-erase markers/chalk, kraftpaper, washable markers, and a wall map of the world with country names (free printablemaps are available here: www.amaps.com/mapstoprint/WORLDDOWNLOAD.htm)Goal: Students will begin to explore the value of education by considering how their livesand their futures would be different if they were denied the opportunity to attend school.They will then examine the global gender divide in education and the possible ripple effectfor families, communities, and nations where girls are disproportionately denied the right togo to school.PART 1• Begin the lesson with a class discussion using the following questions for prompts.Students can be divided into pairs (Think-Pair-Share) and each group can discuss theirresponses to the scenarios among themselves before sharing with the rest of the class.Students can also work individually and do a “quick writing” response before sharing withthe class.--A. Ask the class the following question: Imagine you went home tonight and your familytold you that no one expects you to go to school anymore (Or you don’t have to go toschool anymore). How would that make you feel? Would you choose to continue to cometo school? Encourage students to respond honestly. Discuss student reactions and askthem to go into more depth about the reasons why their responses were either positive ornegative.--B. Now, imagine you are a 14-year-old student in a country where everyone has to pay togo to school. If you were that student, how would you feel if you went home tonight andyour family told you that you couldn’t go to school anymore because it is too expensive?What would you do? Would you be willing to go to work to help pay for school? Discussstudent reactions and compare them to their reactions from the first question.--C. Imagine you are still that 14-year-old student and you went home tonight and your familytold you that your sibling(s) would continue to go to school, but you couldn’t go to schoolanymore. They tell you that it’s too expensive to send all of their children, and they thinkit’s more important for your other sibling(s) to be educated. Besides, they need your helpdoing chores and taking care of the other children in the house. How would you respondto that? What would you do?• Based on the discussion, have the class work in pairs and consider what impact scenarioC would have on the life of their hypothetical 14 year-old student. Using Student HandoutA: Life Map briefly brainstorm some possible consequences that a student might face as aresult of being denied access to an education.• Ask groups to discuss their responses with their partner(s) then share their results withthe class.

042HALF THE SKYEducation for AllLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESPrescreening ActivityPART 2• Introduce the following information:Access to education is recognized as a basic human right as well as significant factorin breaking the cycle of poverty and improving quality of life for children, communities,and countries. Despite this, millions of girls and women around the world are denied theopportunity to attend school and pursue education and training outside the home.Of the approximately 75 million children who are currently not in school, the majority aregirls. Worldwide, for every 100 boys out of school, there are approximately 122 girls whoare unable to attend school. In developing countries and countries with strict cultural andreligious codes regarding gender roles, this gap is much wider: for every 100 boys out ofschool in Yemen, there are 270 girls who are not in school, in Iraq it is 316 girls, and inIndia it is 426 girls to every 100 boys.• Distribute Student Handout B: The Education Ripple Effect and ask students to return totheir groups. Using the handout as a guide, ask each group to share their responses tothe statement above and discuss the possible ripple effects that result from the disparity ineducation opportunities for girls.• Have each group share their results and discuss as a class.• Give each group a large piece of Kraft paper to post on the wall and ask them to record theripple effects from their discussion.• Have the students walk around the room and read eachother’s responses and leavefeedback or comments using Post-It Notes. (Be sure to establish guidelines on how to giveconstructive and appropriate feedback.)• Complete the activity by brainstorming some possible strategies that might help to eliminatethe barriers to education that their 14-year-old student faces. Record the results on theboard to revisit later.• Ask the students to keep this activity in mind as they watch the film and tell them that theywill return to their responses throughout the lesson.PART 3• In preparation for viewing the film module, ask a volunteer to locate Vietnam on a wall map.• Provide students with the one-page fact sheet, Student Handout C: Vietnam In Context.Have them read the fact sheet and discuss briefly with a partner.• Variation: This handout can be provided in advance of the lesson for students to review ashomework.

043HALF THE SKYEducation for AllLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESViewing the ModuleClass time: 10-15 minutesNote: We recommend that if time permits you begin this section by watching the film seriestrailer (5:48): itvs.org/films/half-the-skyYou will need: pens and writing paper, LCD projector or DVD player, HTS: Education inVietnam film module (10:38), Student Handout D: Film Module Screening Guide, pens/pencils• Distribute Student Handout D: Film Module Screening Guide and instruct students to takenotes during the screening using the worksheet as a guide.• Variation: The questions from Student Handout D can be projected or written on the boardand reviewed briefly before viewing the film module to save paper.

044HALF THE SKYEducation for AllLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESPost-Screening ActivityTime: 25 minutesYou will need: Student Handout E: Education for All, Student Handout F: Notes from theField, white board/black board, dry-erase markers/chalk, pens/pencils, writing paper.Goal: Students will be introduced to the Millennium Development Goals strategy to cutpoverty in half by 2015 and examine the progress of Goal #2: Equal Access to Education.Working in groups, they will imagine that they are student ambassadors for the MillenniumDevelopment committee who are collaborating with the Nhi and Phung from the film toidentify strategies to improve education in their communities in Vietnam as well as thestudent’s communities in the United States.Part 1: Discussion Questions (5-10 minutes):• What did you think of the film? Was there anything that surprised you?• How do you feel about each student’s story?• What are some of the similarities between the stories that you saw?What are some of the differences?• What role does gender play in their access to education? In what way?• Bich Vu Thi — Room to Read Girls Education Program Officer — talks about her own strugglesachieving access to education in a poor family where girls were not valued. She says, “Oneboy is one child, but 10 girls are not equivalent to one child.” What do you think she meantby that? How do you think this attitude influences girls’ opportunities?• What are some things that are being done to support girls in going to school?• John Wood, the Founder of Room to Read, has stated that “it is a moral failure” that millionsof girls woke up this morning and didn’t go to school? Do you agree? Why or why not?• How does his statement connect with Phung’s father’s belief that by sacrificing a smallamount today, he is giving his children a path out of poverty?• Do you think we are facing similar challenges in our own country? Could you providesome examples?• Are there groups of young people in this country who are forced to make similar choicesbetween supporting their families or focusing on their own education and future?• Nicholas Kristof says in the film, “We often have the idea that providing education is aboutbuilding a school, providing teachers, school books, and it’s so much more complicatedthen that in an environment of poverty.” What challenges and complications is he referringto? How do the parents in the film address these barriers and how do their actions shapetheir daughter’s futures?• What does it take to construct a system that supports the education of girls? Are theremodels in other countries?

045HALF THE SKYEducation for AllLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESPost-Screening Activity:Part 2: Millennium Development Goals and Education for All• Briefly introduce the Millennium Development Goals and Goal 2: Universal PrimaryEducation (MGD2) using the summary paragraph:In 2000, the United Nations brought together the Heads of State from 189 countries todiscuss how to cut global poverty in half by 2015 and ensure fundamental human rightsfor all. The strategy they developed consists of eight goals, and includes a commitment toachieving primary education for all children. Millennium Development Goal 2: UniversalPrimary Education (MGD2) seeks to ensure that children everywhere — boys and girlsalike — will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling by 2015 and that girlswould have the same opportunities and access to education as boys by 2005. This targetwas set because countries around the world recognize that providing education is the keyto reducing poverty and improving the health and wellbeing of families and communities.Unfortunately the goal for equal access to education by 2005 was not reached, butprogress is being made.• Divide the class into groups of 3–4 students and provide each with Student Handout E:Education for All and Student Handout F: Notes from the Field.• Explain that each group will review the fact sheet and imagine they are studentambassadors working with the Millennium Development Committee. Their assignment isto work in collaboration with a student from the film to identify ways that they can improveeducation for girls in Vietnam. In return, they will imagine what insights their Vietnamesepartners can provide regarding the importance of education in their lives and how we canimprove the quality and commitment to education in our communities in the USA. Studentsshould refer to their notes from the film and the class discussion as well as StudentHandout E: Education for All for guidance.• Students can present their completed work to the class as notes from the field or they candevelop a script and perform the interviews and dialogue.

046HALF THE SKYEducation for AllAssignmentsSelect one or more of the following assignments to completethe lesson:1) Why does education matter? How would you advertiseEducation for All? Students will develop a public service oradvertising campaign to promote the idea of universal education.Students should incorporate the resources from the lessonincluding facts, case studies, and strategies in their campaignmaterials. When researching their topic, students think about theiraudience and how they can galvanize collective support froma broad-range of people (male, female, adults, youth, differenteconomic and cultural backgrounds, etc.) Students can workindividually or in a group and their projects should consist of apresentation and informational material.• Students’ PSA or advertisement can be created as a video using theresources below. If video resources are unavailable, the PSA can bepresented live during class or an assembly or community event.The Ad Council:www.adcouncil.org/Our-Work/Current-WorkMediaSmarts:www.mediasmarts.caUsing Public Service Announcements in the Classroom:www.kathyschrock.net/psa• Social media is a powerful force for change and should beincorporated into their campaign. An example of a successfulsocial media campaign can be found here: jflopsu.tumblr.com/post/10561740209/abolishcancer-twitterview• Students can develop brochures with infographics to highlight theirmessage and research using the following examples and tools:UNESCO: Education Counts Brochure:unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001902/190214e.pdf2) Education Genealogy. Have students explore the impactthat education has had in their own families and communities bycreating an Education Genealogy that traces the path and influenceof education through the generations. (Variation: If time is limited,ask students to select one subject to focus their research on.)• Have students interview members of their family (or community,if family members are not accessible) from several generationsusing the prompts below as well as their own questions. Theycan take notes or record the interviews on video or audioequipment if available.--What role did education play in your life?--What challenges if any did you face? Were there any barriers togoing to school?--How did your parents/guardians view your education? Was it apriority?--Was the education experience different for boys and girls whenyou were in school?--What strategies did your parents/guardians employ to help opendoors and break barriers to success?--What is your best and worst memory related to your education?--How was your experience with education different from thegeneration before you?--What does education mean in your life now?--How do you see education for the next generation?• Students should combine interviews and oral history with researchon the development of the education system throughout their family(or community’s) history and consider how their ancestors’ accessor lack of access to education has shaped their own opportunities.Krum’s 10 Tips for Designing Infographics:digitalnewsgathering.wordpress.com/2010/04/24/10-tips-fordesigning-infographicsTeaching with Infographics:learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/teaching-withinfographics-places-to-start

HALF THE SKYEducation for All048Extensions1) FUTURESTATES. What would you sacrifice for a goodeducation? The film Crossover, by Tina Mabry, imagines a futurewhere schools are segregated by economic status and a strugglingmother must decide whether to sell her own organs to give herchildren a better education. Screen the film for students andconsider current obstacles to education in the US and aroundthe world. What message was the filmmaker sending about theeducation in the United States and the need for education reform?Should education continue to be compulsory and free? Havestudents research the current debate and speculate about thefuture of education in America.Crossover:futurestates.tv/episodes/crossoverFUTURESTATES Website:futurestates.tvEducator Resources:futurestates.tv/about/for_educators2) Legislating Equal Access. Title IX, Education Amendmentsof 1972, (also called Title IX) was enacted in 1972 and hasbeen credited with raising the opportunity of girls and women ineducational environments. While it is best known for paving the wayfor female student athletes, Title IX also ensures an equal educationfor pregnant and parenting students and for those seeking STEM(science, technology, engineering, and math) careers. Throughthis lesson plan from TeachingTolerance.org, students will becomefamiliar with the principles of Title IX and evaluate its impact on theirown learning environment: become familiar with the principles ofTitle IX and evaluate its impact on their own learning environment:www.tolerance.org/activity/legislating-equal-access3) The Girl Effect. Have youth mobilize their community andharness the power of The Girl Effect. The Girl Effect is a collectivemovement created by the Nike Foundation, the NoVo Foundation,the United Nations Foundation, and the Coalition for AdolescentGirls that is driven by thousands of grassroots and communitybasedcampaigns around the world aimed at empowering girlsand improving life for their families and communities. The GirlEffect Toolkit has a range of resources, tips, multi-media tools, andstep-by-step guides for creating your own campaign, organizingcommunity events, and starting local clubs to galvanize support forgirls education and empowerment.The Girl Effect:www.girleffect.orgThe Girl Effect Tool Kit:www.girleffect.org/uploads/documents/5/Girl_Effect_Tool_Kit.pdf4) Are Schools Killing Creativity? Have students view KenRobinson’s TED Talk entitled, “Are Schools Killing Creativity” andthe RSA Animation “New Paradigms in Education” and discusswhat education — specifically school-based education — means in thisrapidly changing world. Have students research the developmentof education in the United States from the industrial model throughNo Child Left Behind and consider how schools have changed(or failed to change) to address each generations needs. Havestudents consider: What will the world look like when today’skinder-gardeners graduate from high school? How can schoolsprepare students for a future that we have trouble imagining?Have students work in groups to design a model of education forthe 21st century that combines the traditional “3 Rs” of education(reading, writing, and arithmetic) with the new “4 Cs”: communication,collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. Resources:TED:www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtYRSA:www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4UPartnership for 21st Century Skills:www.p21.org

049HALF THE SKYEducation for AllExtensions (cont.)5) Millennium Development Goals: Empowering WomenEmpowers the WorldIn September 2000, the United Nations signed the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs) with the aim of halving the numberof people living in poverty, reducing maternal and child mortality,fighting disease, and improving social and economic conditionsin the world's poorest countries by 2015. Have your class screenthe complete series of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression intoOpportunity for Women Worldwide and examine the connectionbetween the issues addressed in the documentary the MDGcampaign’s focus on women. Have them consider how and whyimproving rights and resources for women and girls is consideredkey to eradicating global poverty.• Divide the class into eight groups, assign each an MDG, andinstruct the groups develop a “We Are the Goal” presentation,which should include the following:--A summary of the MDG and the campaign’s strategies forimproving social and economic conditions for women--Information on the public perception and understanding of theMDGs. (Students can investigate the public’s knowledge andunderstanding of the MDG campaign by recording “person-onthe-street”interviews and include the footage in the presentation.)--Examples of specific programs that have been implemented andtheir impact to date--How the campaign relates to issues in the students’ owncommunities--A plan of action for the group and their school community tocontribute to the MDG campaign• The presentations should be multi-media and can include photoessays, video footage, audio clips, animations, and infographicsusing the following websites as resources:Animoto:animoto.comCapzles:www.capzles.comPrezi:prezi.comInfographic tools:www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/05/eight-free-tools-forteachers-to-make.html• Information and resources for research on the MDGs can be found at:United Nations Millennium Development Goals:www.un.org/millenniumgoalsEnd Poverty 2015:www.endpoverty2015.orgMDG Get Involved:www.un.org/en/mdg/summit2010/getinvolved.shtmlUN Women:www.unifem.org/gender_issues/millennium_development_goalsMDG Monitor:www.mdgmonitor.org

HALF THE SKYEducation for All050Additional ResourcesBOOKSN. Kristof, S. WuDunn, Half the Sky:Turning Oppression into Opportunity forWomen Worldwide, New York : Alfred A.Knopf, 2009FILMSHalf The Sky: Turning Oppression IntoOpportunity For Women Worldwide:Filmed in 10 countries, the documentaryfollows Nicholas Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn,and celebrity activists America Ferrera,Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan,Gabrielle Union, and Olivia Wilde on ajourney to tell the stories of inspiring,courageous individuals. Across the globe,oppression is being confronted, and realmeaningful solutions are being fashionedthrough health care, education, andeconomic empowerment for women andgirls. The linked problems of sex traffickingand forced prostitution, gender-basedviolence, and maternal mortality — whichneedlessly claims one woman every 90seconds — present to us the single mostvital opportunity of our time: the opportunityto make a change. All over the world,women are seizing this opportunity. Visit thewebsite at: www.halftheskymovement.orgITVS Women and Girls Lead FilmCollection: Women and Girls Lead offersa collection of films by prominentindependent filmmakers. These films focuson women who are working to transform theirlives, their communities, and the world. Visitthe website to learn more about the filmsand explore our diverse catalogue of educatorresources, lesson plans, and film modules.See www.womenandgirlslead.org formore details.WEBSITESThis is the official website for the Halfthe Sky: Turning Oppression intoOpportunity for Women Worldwide film,book, and movement.www.halftheskymovement.orgRoom to Read – founded by John Wood,this organization partners with communitiesacross Asia and Africa to improveeducational opportunities for children byfocusing on the two areas where programscan have the most impact: literacy andgender equality in education.www.roomtoread.orgCARE International – fighting poverty andinjustice in more than 70 countries aroundthe world and helping 65 million peopleeach year to find routes out of poverty.www.careinternational.orgThe Centre for Development andPopulation Activities (CEDPA) – worksthrough local partnerships to give womentools to improve their lives, families, andcommunities. CEDPA’s programs increaseeducational opportunities for girls, ensureaccess to lifesaving reproductive healthand HIV/AIDS information and services,and strengthen good governance andwomen’s leadership in their nations.www.cedpa.orgGirl Scouts of America – Girl Scouts ofthe USA has a membership of over 3.2million girls and adults and empowersgirls by tackling important societal issues,embracing diversity and reaching out toevery girl, everywhere.www.girlscouts.orgThe Campaign for Female Education(Camfed) – fights poverty and HIV/AIDS inAfrica by educating girls and empoweringwomen to become leaders of change.us.camfed.orgGirls, Inc. – inspires all girls to be strong,smart, and bold through life-changingprograms and experiences that helpgirls navigate gender, economic, andsocial barriers.www.girlsinc.orgThe Girl Effect – A collective movementto lift 50 million women and girls out ofpoverty by 2030 through the education andempowerment of girls.www.girleffect.orgNational Coalition on Women andGirls Education (NCWGE) – A nonprofitorganization of more than 50 groupsdedicated to improving educationalopportunities and advocate for thedevelopment of national education policiesthat benefit all women and girls.www.ncwge.org

HALF THE SKYEducation for All051StandardsCommon Core State Standardsfor English Language Arts& Literacy in History/SocialStudies, Science, and TechnicalSubjectsWriting Standards 6–123. (9–10, 11–12) Write narratives todevelop real or imagined experiences orevents using effective technique, wellchosendetails, and well-structured eventsequences.4. (9–10, 11–12) Produce clear andcoherent writing in which the development,organization, and style are appropriateto task, purpose, and audience. (Gradespecificexpectations for writing types aredefined in standards 1–3 above.)6. (9–10, 11–12) Use technology,including the Internet, to produce, publish,and update individual or shared writingproducts, taking advantage of technology’scapacity to link to other information and todisplay information flexibly and dynamically.Speaking and Listening Standards1. (9–10, 11–12) Initiate and participateeffectively in a range of collaborativediscussions (one-on-one, in groups, andteacher-led) with diverse partners on [grade9–12] topics, text, and issues, buildingon others’ ideas and expressing their ownclearly and persuasively.4. (9–10) Present information, findings,and supporting evidence clearly, concisely,and logically, such that listeners can followthe line of reasoning and the organization,development, substance, and style areappropriate to purpose, audience, and task.4. (11–12) Present information, findings,and supporting evidence, conveying a clearand distinct perspective, such that listenerscan follow the line of reasoning, alternativeor opposing perspectives are addressed,and the organization, development,substance, and style are appropriate topurpose, audience, and a range of formaland informal tasks.5. (9–10, 11–12) Make strategic useof digital media (e.g., textual, graphical,audio, visual, and interactive elements) inpresentations to enhance understanding offindings, reasoning, and evidence and toadd interest.Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and TechnicalSubjects 6–121. (9–10, 11–12) Write arguments focusedon discipline-specific content.4. (9–10, 11–12) Produce clear andcoherent writing in which the development,organization, and style are appropriate totask, purpose, and audience.7. (9–10, 11–12) Conduct short as wellas more sustained research projectsto answer a question (including a selfgeneratedquestion) or solve a problem;narrow or broaden the inquiry whenappropriate; synthesize multiple sources onthe subject, demonstrating understandingof the subject under investigation.9. (9–10, 11–12) Draw evidence frominformational texts to support analysis,reflection, and research.National Curriculum Standardsfor Social Studies1. CULTUREThrough the study of culture and culturaldiversity, learners understand how humanbeings create, learn, share, and adapt toculture, and appreciate the role of culture inshaping their lives and society, as well thelives and societies of others.4. INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENTAND IDENTITYPersonal identity is shaped by family,peers, culture, and institutional influences.Through this theme, students examinethe factors that influence an individual’spersonal identity, development, and actions.5. INDIVIDUALS, GROUPS, ANDINSITITUTIONSInstitutions such as families and civic,educational, governmental, and religiousorganizations exert a major influence onpeople’s lives. This theme allows studentsto understand how institutions are formed,maintained, and changed, and to examinetheir influence.10. CIVIC IDEALS AND PRACTICESAn understanding of civic ideals andpractices is critical to full participationin society and an essential componentof education for citizenship. This themeenables students to learn about therights and responsibilities of citizensof a democracy, and to appreciate theimportance of active citizenship.National Standards for ArtsEducation Grades 9–12VA1: Understanding and applying media,techniques, and processesVA5: Reflecting upon and assessing thecharacteristics and merits of their work andthe work of others

HALF THE SKY: EDUCATION FOR ALLStudent Handout A:Life MapName:Date:Class:Work with your partners to brainstorm some possible consequences that the student in this scenariomight face as a result of being denied access to an education.You are a 14-year-old student and your family told youthat your sibling(s) would continue to got to school,but you couldn’t go to school anymore because it’stoo expensive to send all of their children, and theythink it’s more important for your other sibling(s) to beeducated. Besides, they need your help doing choresand taking care of the other children in the house.POSS I B LE S HORT-TE R M CON S EQU E NCE SPOSS I B LE LONG-TE R M CON S EQU E NCE S

HALF THE SKY: EDUCATION FOR ALLStudent Handout B:The Education Ripple EffectGroup Names:Class:Read and discuss the following statement and work as a group to answer the discussion questions:Access to education is recognized as a basic human right as well as a significant factor in breaking the cycle of poverty and improvingquality of life for children, communities, and countries. Despite this, millions of girls and women around the world are denied the opportunityto attend school and pursue education and training outside the home.Of the approximately 75 million children who are currently not in school, the majority are girls. Worldwide, for every 100 boys out ofschool, there are approximately 122 girls who are unable to attend school. In developing countries and countries with strict cultural andreligious codes regarding gender roles, this gap is much wider: for every 100 boys out of school in Yemen, there are 270 girls who are notin school, in Iraq it is 316 girls, and in India it is 426 girls out of school for every 100 boys out of school.Discussion Questions:• How do you feel about this information? Did it surprise you? If so, what surprisedyou most?• Why do you think girls are less likely than boys to have access to education? What factorsmight influence girls’ access to education?• In some communities the majority of girls in a village or town may be uneducated.What impact do you think this might have on the community?• In nations where girls are four times less likely to get an education, how do you think thecountry might be affected?

HALF THE SKY: EDUCATION FOR ALLStudent Handout C:Vietnam in ContextVietnam: Country HistoryAncient Vietnam was home to some of the world’s earliest civilizations, with a cultural historyof over twenty thousand years – putting its citizens among the first humans to practicefarming and agriculture.Vietnam has spent much of its history repelling or being ruled by invaders. For over athousand years Vietnam was governed by powers foreign to its region. In the late 19thcentury, the country was colonized by France, which ruled Vietnam until 1954, when Francewas defeated by communist forces.The population of Vietnam was politically divided following the overthrow of French rule andan agreement was made to divide the country into North Vietnam (which was predominantlyCommunist) and South Vietnam (which opposed Communist rule), with the plan ofreunifying the country through democratic, countrywide elections. This division eventuallyled to the Vietnam War.After millions of Vietnamese deaths and the American withdrawal from Vietnam in 1973, thewar ended with the fall of Saigon to the Northern armies in 1975. For almost 20 years, areunified Vietnam suffered regional conflict and reconstruction and experienced internationalisolation and limited economic growth.Girls’ Education in VietnamThe Doi Moi (The Renovation)In the 1980s, Vietnam’s government introduced a series of reforms aimed at improvingthe country’s living standards and economy. Since then, the Doi Moi (the renovation), asit’s called, has made great advances — especially in the areas of private business, foreigninvestment, and transforming the country into an industrialized nation. But efforts to improveeducation have been met with many challenges, especially in rural areas.Although Vietnam has made significant progress in achieving universal primary educationand improving girls’ access to schooling, the overall quality of education is poor byinternational standards and teachers are in short supply. Children in rural areas are forcedto travel miles alone to reach the nearest school, and family responsibilities often outweighstudents’ hopes for education, with girls in particular dropping out so they can contribute tothe household income.Flying DucksIn Vietnam, girls are referred to as “flying ducks,” a saying that has its roots in Chinesetradition and refers to the belief that a girl’s value is lost to the family after her marriage.For parents who have limited resources, choosing to invest in their sons’ education overtheir daughters’ seems like a better bet, since tradition dictates that boys are responsiblefor taking care of parents in their old age, while a girl’s skills and talents will benefit herhusband’s family.Son preference is deeply rooted in many Asian countries, and daughters may be seen asa liability, especially where dowries must be paid. In Half the Sky: Turning Oppression intoOpportunity for Women Worldwide, Bich Vu Thi, a program officer for Room to Read’sGirls’ Education program, talks about her own struggles achieving access to education ina poor family where girls were not valued. She says, “One boy is one child, but 10 girls arenot equivalent to one child.” In a country like Vietnam, where the average person earns justone dollar a day, the preference for boys, coupled with other factors — such as the need fordaughters to help at home, the cost of schooling, and the long distances students oftenhave to travel to attend school — puts education out of reach for thousands of girls whosefamilies are living on the economic margins.

HALF THE SKY: EDUCATION FOR ALLStudent Handout D:Film Module Screening GuideName:Date:Class:Take notes while watching the Education in Vietnam film module, using the following list of questionsas a guide:• Why is education important to each of the students in the film?What are their goals?• What challenges do they face?• What are their families’ attitudes toward education?• What are they each doing to overcome the barriers?• Write down two or three quotes from the film that stand out most for you and illustrate the value and role of education in the livesof the students featured in the film.

HALF THE SKY: EDUCATION FOR ALLStudent Handout E:Education for All Fact SheetFast Facts about Girls’ Education• Of the 781 million illiterate adults in the developing world, twothirdsare women.• U.S. women comprise 48 percent of the U.S. workforce but just 24percent of science, technology, engineering, and math workers.• An extra year of primary school boosts girls’ eventual wages by10 to 20 percent and an extra year of secondary school increasesearnings by 15 to 25 percent.• Educated women have greater control over their financialresources and are more likely to invest in their family’s health,education, and nutrition.• A child born to a woman who can read is 50 percent more likely tosurvive past age five. Women with formal education are much morelikely to delay marriage and have fewer and healthier babies.• Education fosters democracy and women’s political participation.A study in Bangladesh found that educated women are three timesmore likely to take part in political meetings.• Girls’ education ranks among the most powerful tools for reducingvulnerability to HIV/AIDS.Strategies for SuccessBelow is a list of some of the most successfulstrategies that countries and communities areusing to achieve Millennium Development Goal 2:• Reduce or eliminate school fees: Unlike the United States, manycountries do not provide free education. For children in thesecountries, school fees are a major barrier to education, especiallyfor girls. When countries such as Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi,Tanzania, and Uganda eliminated their school fees, studentenrollment skyrocketed.• Provide merit-based scholarships: Providing scholarships basedon student performance is an effective way of raising test scoresand academic performance.• Offer financial incentives to families: One of the most successfulantipoverty initiatives in the world is Oportunidades in Mexico,which pays parents a monthly stipend if their children attend schoolregularly. Oportunidades has raised high school enrollment in somerural areas by 85 percent and has been especially beneficial for girls.• Address health concerns that impact attendance: Giving girlsaccess to private bathroom facilities has been an effective strategyto increase attendance at high schools.• Improve quality and relevance of curricula: Students need tohave access to information and skills that are not taught at home,such as computer literacy and financial skills. Parents who havelimited funds are more willing to invest in their daughters’ educationif it will help them succeed in our rapidly changing world.• Provide mentors and role model programs: Girls benefit frommentorship that provides them with support and information thatthey may not get from their parents or teachers. When girls receiveinformation that will help them make good decisions about allaspects of their lives, they are more likely to stay in school and besuccessful in future activities, whether that is raising a family, beinga community leader, or having a job.

HALF THE SKY: EDUCATION FOR ALLStudent Handout F:Notes from the FieldName:Date:Class:Interview Subject:Imagine you are part of a group of student ambassadors from the Millennium Development Committee.You have been given the assignment to collaborate with one of the students from the film, with the goalof improving education in both your communities. Use the steps below to complete your assignment:Step 1: Your team will “interview” your subject about the challengesand barriers to education for girls in her community and record herresponses. Imagine what responses your subject would provide tothe following questions, and think of three additional questions thatyou would like to ask her:• What are the three biggest challenges or barriers you have faced inyour ongoing effort to pursue an education?• If you could snap your fingers and eliminate one barrier orchallenge, what would it be and why?• Have you faced special challenges because you are a girl? If so,what have they been?• What strategies have you used to overcome these challenges?Have they worked?If so, how? If not, why not?• How has your family responded to your efforts to achieve aneducation? How does their response make you feel?• You (and your family) continue to make difficult sacrifices to makeit possible for you to go to school. Why is education so importantto you?• What advice would you give to other girls and boys aroundthe world who area trying to achieve an education in difficultcircumstances?• Team Question 1:• Strategy 1:• Strategy 2:Step 3: Now it’s your subject’s turn to interview you abouteducation in the United States and in your community in particular.Imagine what responses your team would provide to the followingquestions, and think of three additional questions that your subjectwould ask you: What are the three biggest challenges or barriersyou have faced in your ongoing effort to pursue an education?• What does education mean in your family or in your community?Why is education important to you?• What are the three biggest challenges or barriers to education thatstudents in your community face?• If you could snap your fingers and eliminate one barrier or challengewhat would it be and why?• Do girls and boys face different educational challenges? Whatimpact, if any, does gender have on education in the United States?• Subject Question 1:• Subject Question 2:• Team Question 2:• Subject Question 3:• Team Question 3:Step 2: Use Student Handout E: Education for All Fact Sheet asa guide to identify two strategies for improving access to educationthat would be most effective for your subject and her community.List the strategies below. Using a separate sheet of paper, brieflydescribe how you would collaborate with your subject and hercommunity to implement each strategy. What outcome do you hopeeach will achieve?Step 4: Based on her own experience, what advice do you thinkyour subject could share with you about improving education inyour community?

HALF THE SKYGender-Based Violence: Challenging Impunity058“It is really hard to find legalremedies to rape when youhave cultural attitudes like thiswhere rape is unfortunate butforgivable but being raped isjust an unpardonable sin.”Nicholas Kristof, Half the Sky: TurningOppression into Opportunity for WomenWorldwideOVERVIEWAudienceHigh School (grades 11-12), CommunityCollege, Youth Development OrganizationsTime90 minutes or two 50-minute class periods+ assignmentsSubject AreasWomen’s Studies, Social Studies, Civics,Global Studies, Media Studies, Health,English Language ArtsPurpose of the LessonAlthough it is widespread, violence againstwomen and girls goes widely unreporteddue to factors such as fear of retribution,shame, stigma, lack of economic resources,inadequate social services, ineffectivelegal systems, and concern for children(including fear for their children's safetyand losing custody and access if theychoose to leave). Few countries provideappropriate training for the police andjudicial and medical staff who are the firstresponders for women and girls duringand after violent events. As a result, victimsof violence are left vulnerable to furtherabuse from the systems and institutionsthat are meant to protect them, and theperpetrators are often left unpunished andfree to continue perpetrating violence.This lesson will examine the global crisisof gender-based violence, the culture ofimpunity that surrounds it, and the impactit has on our own communities. Throughthe activities, students will be challengedto consider the factors that contributeto violence against women and girls andhow they can contribute to local andinternational efforts to eradicate it.

059HALF THE SKYGender-Based Violence: Challenging ImpunityOVERVIEWNote for Teachers about the Lesson PlanGender-Based Violence: ChallengingImpunity and Its Contents:This lesson and the accompanying filmmodule from Half the Sky: TurningOppression into Opportunity for WomenWorldwide address the challenging issue ofgender-based violence directly and honestly,but the discussions and topics might notbe suitable for all audiences. Teachersshould prepare for the lesson by reading allthe materials thoroughly and watching thecomplete film module to determine if thistopic and lesson are appropriate for theirclass. Teachers should also brief studentson what they will be viewing in advance andidentify students who might be personallyor adversely affected by this material. Priorto launching the lesson, please contact yourschool counselor or social worker to discusspolicies and procedures for addressinga disclosure of violence or abuse and beprepared to provide students with support orthe option of not participating in the lessonwhere appropriate.For additional information about thedocumentary Half the Sky: TurningOppression into Opportunity for WomenWorldwide, please download the freeGender-Based Violence DiscussionGuide from the ITVS Women and GirlsLead website (womenandgirlslead.org), visit the project’s official website(halftheskymovement.org), and readHalf the Sky: Turning Oppression intoOpportunity for Women Worldwide byNicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.Objectives:Students will:• consider the benefits and consequences oftaking a stand against an injustice;• learn the definition of the word impunityand the meaning of the phrase a cultureof impunity, and discuss the contributingfactors that allow a culture of impunity todevelop;• identify the location of Sierra Leone on amap and understand the social and politicalcontext that has shaped the culture ofimpunity and violence in that country;• develop a working definition for the termgender-based violence and consider theglobal culture of impunity in relation toviolence against women;• work in groups to analyze a scenario thatillustrates an example of gender-basedviolence and imagine how their subject’sstory would play out in two differentenvironments;• examine the root causes and impact ofgender-based violence in their communityand develop a strategy to address it; and• understand the roles that men and boyscan play in eradicating gender-basedviolence in their families and communities.Resources:• Film module: Gender-Based Violence inSierra Leone (10:44)• Half the Sky: Turning Oppression intoOpportunity for Women Worldwide FilmSeries Trailer (5:48): itvs.org/films/halfthe-sky• LCD projector or DVD player• Teacher handouts:--Gender-Based Violence DiscussionGuide (Download Half the Sky: TurningOppression into Opportunity for WomenWorldwide discussion guide PDFs fromthe Independent Television Service [ITVS]Women and Girls Lead website:www.womenandgirlslead.org.)• Student handouts:--Gender-Based Violence Glossary--Student Handout A: Sierra Leone inContext--Student Handout B: Film ModuleScreening Guide--Student Handout C: Gwen’s Story--Student Handout D: RepresentativeGwen Moore and the Violence AgainstWomen ACT (VAWA)• Pens/pencils and writing paper• Whiteboard/blackboard and markers/chalk• Computers with internet access• Post-it notes• Kraft paper• Washable markers• Wall map of the world with country names:www.amaps.com/mapstoprint/WORLDDOWNLOAD.htm

060HALF THE SKYGender-Based Violence: Challenging ImpunityLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESPrescreening ActivityTime: 30 minutesYou will need: Student Handout A: Sierra Leone in Context, whiteboard/blackboard, dryerasemarkers/chalk, kraft paper, washable markers, medium-sized Post-it notes, a wall mapof the world with country names (free printable maps are available here: www.amaps.com/mapstoprint/WORLDDOWNLOAD.htm)Goal: Students will consider the benefits and consequences of taking a stand against aninjustice, and how these factors might affect their own choices. They will learn the definitionof the word impunity and the meaning of the phrase a culture of impunity and discuss thecontributing factors that allow a culture of impunity to develop. In preparation for viewingthe Gender-Based Violence in Sierra Leone film module, students will identify the locationof Sierra Leone on a map and understand the social and political context for the eventsdepicted in the film.Part 1: To Speak Out or not to Speak Out• Divide the class into groups of three to five students and provide each group with a largesheet of kraft paper, markers, and Post-it notes.• Give the students the following instructions:--Think of a time when you (or someone you know) successfully spoke out in order to right awrong or to protect yourself or someone else.--Select a Post-it note (one for each student in the group) and write down all of the words youcan think of to describe how you felt about yourself or the other person who took a stand.--Discuss your responses as a group, then share your words with the class.• Have each group hang their kraft paper on the wall and draw a horizontal line across themiddle and mark points along the line numbered one to five as follows:| | | | |1 2 3 4 5• Tell the students that this graph represents the likelihood that a person would speak out in agiven situation (1=least likely; 5=most likely). In this first scenario, they — or the person theyknew — spoke out, so have the students place all of their Post-its on number five.• Following the pattern of the first question, ask students in each group to write the lettercorresponding to each of the following scenarios and their responses on a Post-it note andplace the completed Post-it on the area of the graph that indicates how likely they would beto speak out.--Imagine that you spoke out about an injustice but nothing was done and the injustice wasnot corrected. Write on your Post-it note all of the words that you can think of to describehow you might feel. Place your Post-it on the graph in the area that indicates how likelyyou would be to speak out again.--

061HALF THE SKYGender-Based Violence: Challenging ImpunityLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESPrescreening Activity (cont.)--Imagine that you knew before speaking out that your actions would probably not besuccessful or that no one would support you. How would you feel about taking action?Write on your Post-it note all of the words that you can think of to describe how you mightfeel. Place your Post-it note on the graph in the area that indicates how likely you wouldbe to speak out.--Imagine that you knew that you would be blamed, bullied, or shunned if you came forward.--Imagine that you found out that your family would suffer.--Imagine that you knew it was likely that you or the person you were helping would be inmore danger as a result.• After completing the activity, discuss the results as a class, including the placement of thePost-its for each question and what can be inferred from the results.• Record the student feedback for reference later in the lesson.Part 2: Culture of Impunity• Introduce the word impunity to the class. Have a student volunteer look up definitionsin two or more sources and share their findings with the class. (Example: When peopleare able to commit crimes and/or violate the human rights of others without facingconsequences.)• Based on these definitions, ask students what is meant by the phrase a culture of impunity.(Example: The term culture of impunity refers to a situation in which people in a society havecome to believe that they can do whatever they want without having to face any penaltiesor punishments and victims of those actions are denied basic rights and/or protections.)• Variation: Students can use a word map to process their responses:www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson307/wordmap.pdf.• Ask the students to identify which, if any, of the examples from the previous activity theythink are indicative of a culture of impunity and why.• Ask students to share possible examples of impunity that they may have seen in the news,learned about in class, or experienced in their own lives. Examples could include the following:--Prior to the abolition of slavery, many states allowed slaveowners to treat enslaved peoplein any way they saw fit. No matter how horrendously owners treated, tortured, or killedslaves, the law would ignore the actions of the perpetrators and the victims had no legalrights or protections.--Since the digital revolution, there has been a major shift in the way that music is acquired.As of 2009, only 37 percent of music acquired in the United States was paid for. From2004 through 2009 alone, approximately 30 billion songs were illegally downloaded.• Using the students’ examples as a guide, have the class work in pairs (Think-Pair-Share)and brainstorm a list of factors that might contribute to the creation of a culture of impunity.• Complete the discussion with the following questions:--What impact would a culture like this have on an individual’s ability to feel empowered tospeak out?--What role do you think race, poverty, and gender might play in an individual’s ability toachieve justice?

062HALF THE SKYGender-Based Violence: Challenging ImpunityLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESPrescreening Activity (cont.)• Ask the students to keep this activity in mind as they watch the film and tell them that theywill revisit their work later in the lesson.Part 3: Sierra Leone in Context• In preparation for viewing the film module, ask a volunteer to locate Sierra Leone on awall map.• Provide students with the one-page fact sheet Student Handout A: Sierra Leone inContext. Have them read the fact sheet and discuss briefly with a partner.• Variation: This handout can be provided in advance of the lesson for students to reviewas homework.

HALF THE SKYGender-Based Violence: Challenging Impunity063LESSON PLAN PROCEDURESViewing the ModuleClass time: 10-15 minutesNote: We recommend that if time permits you begin this section by watching the film seriestrailer (5:48): itvs.org/films/half-the-skyYou will need: Pens/pencils and writing paper, LCD projector or DVD player, the Gender-Based Violence in Sierra Leone film module, Student Handout B: Film Module ScreeningGuide, Gender-Based Violence Glossary• Distribute Student Handout B: Film Module Screening Guide and instruct students to takenotes during the screening, using the worksheet as a guide. Students may also need acopy of the Gender-Based Violence Glossary for reference while viewing the film.• Variation: The questions from Student Handout B can be projected or written on the boardand reviewed briefly before viewing the film module to save paper.Time: 45-50 minutes

064HALF THE SKYGender-Based Violence: Challenging ImpunityLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESPost-Screening ActivityYou will need: Student Handout C:Gwen’s Story, Student Handout D:Representative Gwen Moore and theViolence Against Women Act (VAWA),whiteboard/blackboard, dry-erase markers/chalk, pens/pencils, writing paperGoal: Students will discuss the film moduleand create a working definition of genderbasedviolence. They will work in groupsto analyze a scenario that illustrates anexample of gender-based violence andimagine how their subject’s story wouldplay out in two different environments.Finally, they will consider the status ofgender-based violence in the United States,how it impacts their own community, andtheir role and responsibility in addressingthis issue.Part 1: Discussion Questions• Begin by discussing the Gender-Based Violence in Sierra Leone film module and ask forvolunteers to share their notes and quotes from the screening guide. Use the followingquestions to guide the class discussion:--What did you think of the film? Was there anything that surprised you?--How do you feel about Fulamatu’s story?--In addition to the physical violence Fulamatu experienced, what other forms of violencewas she exposed to?--What role does Fulamatu’s gender play in her story? Based on what you saw in the film,do girls and women have equal status with boys and men in Fulamatu’s community?--In the film, Amie Kandeh says, “When you look at the root cause of violence againstwomen, it is about power and control.” What does this statement mean to you? Do youagree with her?--Why did Kandeh work with the International Rescue Committee to establish the RainboCenters? How does her personal experience inform her work? Why do you think she isable to stand up against an issue that few speak about openly in her community?• Why do you think Kandeh refers to her clients at the Rainbo Center as “survivors” insteadof “victims”?• Kandeh says that “the IRC (International Rescue Committee) has responded to about tenthousand sexual assault survivors” since the program began in Sierra Leone and “there’snot even one percent of those cases that have been convicted.” What are some of thebarriers that get in the way of bringing perpetrators to justice?--What did the police do to investigate Fulamatu’s allegations? If you were the police, howwould you have handled the investigation?--In what ways does our definition of impunity connect with Fulamatu’s story? How did theresponses of her family, the police, and the community contribute to the culture of impunity?--What impact did the culture of impunity in Freetown have on Fulamatu’s choicesand opportunities?--How might the outcome of Fulamatu’s story have been different if there was a woman onthe staff of the Family Support Unit? Would that have had an impact?--What role should the government play in protecting women against violence? What rolesshould the police and justice system play?--What parallels, if any, do you see in the treatment of women and girls in Sierra Leone andthe treatment of women and girls in the United States?--What impact, if any, do you think factors such as race and economic status have onviolence against women and girls in the United States?

065HALF THE SKYGender-Based Violence: Challenging ImpunityPost-Screening Activity:Part 2: Gender-Based Violence• This lesson plan is titled “Gender-Based Violence: Challenging Impunity.” Ask the studentswhat they think this term means based on what they saw in the film, and brainstorm adefinition as a class. Have a volunteer look up additional formal definitions for the term andask students to further refine the definition as needed.• Introduce the following information:--World-wide, gender-based violence kills and disables as many women between the agesof 15 and 44 as cancer, traffic accidents, malaria, and war combined.--UN Women: Say NO — UNiTE to End Violence against Women• Ask students: What does this statement mean to you? Have them summarize thisinformation in their own words and share with a partner. (Variation: Print out multiple copiesof the quote and have students read it quietly, write their responses, then pass it on toanother student. Repeat this process two or three times before discussing their responsesas a class.)• Share the Gender-Based Violence Glossary with the students and use the followingprompts to guide a discussion or have students make a brief journal entry based on one ormore of the questions:--What do you think about this information?--How does this information connect with our definition of gender-based violence?--How was this information reflected in the film?--In what way, if any, do you think violence against men is included in gender-based violence?Why or why not? (Explain that, although it is far less frequent than violence against women,gender-based violence has its roots in power and control, and many men and boys havebeen the victims of gender-based violence perpetrated by women or a male partner.)--In what ways, if any, does this information connect to our discussion of a culture of impunity?

066HALF THE SKYGender-Based Violence: Challenging ImpunityPost-Screening Activity:Part 3: Gwen’s Story• Divide the class into groups of three to four students and provideeach group with Student Handout C: Gwen’s Story.• Have the groups review Gwen’s story and consider how it wouldplay out in two different environments: 1) Fulamatu’s community inFreetown; 2) A community in the United States.• Using the prompts in Student Handout C: Gwen’s Story as a guide,each group will write two endings for their subject’s story, one foreach scenario. When complete, the groups will share their storieswith the class, followed by a class discussion.• Reveal and discuss the origin of Gwen’s story by either usingStudent Handout D: Representative Gwen Moore and the ViolenceAgainst Women Act (VAWA) or reading the description below:“Gwen’s Story” is based on the experience of CongresswomanGwen Moore, representative for Wisconsin's Fourth CongressionalDistrict. She is the first African American and second womanto be elected to Congress from the state of Wisconsin and hasserved since 2005.In the mid-1970s, Rep. Moore was attacked and raped by herfriend in his car. She said that he later challenged her story incourt on the grounds that she was dressed provocatively and hada child out of wedlock. She remembers, “I was literally on trial thatday.” Rep. Moore said that her rapist was found not guilty and shewas fired from her job as a file clerk for not calling in to work theday after the attack.Rep. Moore shared her story on the floor of the House ofRepresentatives in March 2012 in support of renewal of theViolence Against Women Act. She stressed that the attackhappened almost 20 years before the Violence Against WomenAct had been passed into law in September 1994 and that theoutcome of her story might have been different if current lawsproviding stronger protection and support for victims of genderbasedviolence had been in place.The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was the first majorU.S. law to help government agencies and victim advocates worktogether to fight domestic violence, sexual assault, and othertypes of violence. It created new punishments for certain crimesand started programs to prevent violence and help victims. Sincethe law was passed, there has been a 51 percent increase inreporting of domestic violence by women and a 37 percentincrease in reporting by men. The number of individuals killed byan intimate partner has decreased by 34 percent for women and57 percent for men.Despite this progress there is still work to do. In the UnitedStates today, a woman is abused — usually by her husband orpartner — every 15 seconds, and is raped every 90 seconds andonly about 3 percent of rapists ever serve a day in jail.• Complete the lesson with a discussion, using the prompts belowas a guide. (Students can also respond to one or more of thesequestions in their class journal.)--Were you surprised by this information? In what way?--What does this suggest about the status of women in theUnited States?--What role do power and control play in gender-based violence?--How does this information connect with what we have learnedabout gender-based violence worldwide?--In what ways, if any, does this information connect to ourdiscussion of a culture of impunity?--What responsibility do we as individuals have to address genderbasedviolence in our communities?--What role do you think men can play in eradicating violenceagainst women and girls? What role can women play? How canwe work together to address this issue?

067HALF THE SKYGender-Based Violence: Challenging ImpunityAssignmentsSelect one or more of the following assignments to completethe lesson:1. What would our Rainbo look like?Share the following information with the class: Gender-basedviolence is a global problem and even our country struggles witha culture of impunity. In the United States, only about 3 percent ofrapists ever serve a day in jail.--Imagine that Amie Kandeh asked you to open a Rainbo Centerin your community to address gender-based violence in theUnited States.--Who would you work with?--What services would you provide?--How would you reach out to families, men, youth, andcommunity leaders?--How would you involve law enforcement?--What legal support would you provide for the survivors?--What challenges would you expect to face?--What outcome would you hope to achieve?2. A Letter of SolidarityInstruct students to write a letter of solidarity to Fulamatu describingthe effect that her story and her choice to speak out has had onthem. What impact has her action had on breaking the silence andthe global culture of impunity surrounding gender-based violence?(For example, even though her perpetrator was set free, her storyhas reached young men and women around the world.) Next, havestudents research current events and news stories related to thisissue and identify an individual or community that has experiencedgender-based violence. Have students write a second letter ofsolidarity to them, sharing what they have learned about theimportance of breaking the silence through Fulamatu’s story.3. Say No to Violence!Have students research the impact of gender-based violence intheir community and the services and supports that are availableto survivors. Working in groups, students should develop a planof action to mobilize their community and become part of thecampaign to eradicate violence against women.• Instruct students to work in groups to create their own multimedia“Say No to Violence” toolkits, including a Google Map detailing localprograms and organizations in their community and the servicesthey offer.• When developing their campaigns, students should considerhow they can galvanize support from a broad range of audiences.How will they reach out to students, adults, women and girls,men and boys, etc.? Recommend that students visit the WhiteRibbon Campaign and Man Up Campaign for information andresources on how men and women can work together to endgender-based violence:Man Up Campaign:www.manupcampaign.orgWhite Ribbon Campaign:www.whiteribbon.ca• For more ideas, groups can research and connect with the UNiTEto End Violence against Women campaign, which was launched in2009 by UN Women to engage people from all walks of life, online,and on the ground to end gender-based violence in all its forms.--UNiTE to End Violence against Women, Say No Campaign:www.saynotoviolence.org--Say NO — UNiTE to End Violence against Women’s“Organizer’s toolkit”:saynotoviolence.org/about-say-no/organizers-toolkit

068HALF THE SKYGender-Based Violence: Challenging ImpunityExtensions1. Is all violence created equal? The Violence Against Women Act(VAWA) was enacted in 1994 to recognize the pervasive nature ofdomestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking andto provide comprehensive, effective, and cost-saving responsesto these crimes. VAWA programs were created to give lawenforcement, prosecutors, and judges the tools they need to holdoffenders accountable and keep communities safe while supportingvictims. But if violence, assault, and stalking are already crimes, isit necessary to have a specific law that targets violence againstwomen? Why or why not?--Instruct students to research the history and content of theViolence Against Women Act and how its provisions relate toexisting criminal laws.--Ask students to compile data on the impact of the VAWA since itwas enacted.--Explain that there is an ongoing debate about how and if theVAWA should continue to be funded, and if it should be expandedto include groups such as undocumented immigrants andmembers of the LGBT community.--Following their research, have students engage in a formaldebate about the issue. Education World offers a selection ofdebate resources that provide guidelines and rules for classroomdebates: www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson304b.shtml.2. Why should boys and men care about ending genderbasedviolence? Violence prevention requires a change in thesocial conditions that make violence normal and acceptable.Men and boys receive messages about relationships, violence,and power every day, and they also experience different formsof oppression: racism, classism, ableism, homophobia, etc. Menalso enjoy certain privileges in institutions established by sexism.Generally speaking, men have greater access to resourcesand opportunities and are in a position to influence large socialstructures and institutions. As a result, they can play an importantrole in preventing violence against women.--Instruct students to research the root causes of violence againstwomen and girls and examine the unequal power relationsbetween men and women that lead to gender-based violence.--Have them identify negative consequences of violence againstwomen in the lives of boys and men.--For additional resources and lesson plans on this topic, refer tothe following websites:Man Up Campaign:www.manupcampaign.orgWhite Ribbon Campaign:www.whiteribbon.ca“Guide to Engaging Men and Boys in Preventing Violence AgainstWomen & Girls” by the Men’s Nonviolence Project, a project ofthe Texas Council on Family Violence:www.tcfv.org/pdf/mensguide/EngagingMenandBoys.pdf3. Journalism vs. Activism: Nicholas Kristof actively participatesin Fulamatu’s story, even helping the authorities track down theaccused child-rapist. He considers the journalistic ethics of hisinvolvement and concludes that he is comfortable with his decision.• Have students view the entire Gender-Based Violence segmentfrom Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity forWomen Worldwide• Ask students to consider the following questions: What do youthink about Nicholas Kristof’s decision? Is there a distance thatjournalists should maintain in order to remain objective? Is it moreethical to simply observe and report or to actively participate?• Share The Guardian article and photo essay, The Bystanders withyour students and discuss what a journalist’s responsibility is whenreporting a story.• The Bystanders Article:www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jul/28/guttedphotographers-who-didnt-help• The Bystanders Photo-Essay:www.guardian.co.uk/media/interactive/2012/jul/28/bystanders-photographers-who-didnt-help• Have students select a photojournalist featured in the story andconsider if they agree or disagree with the journalist’s decision.• Ask them to draft a letter from perspective of the journalist to oneof their photograph’s subjects explaining their decision: why theyfeel that it was the correct choice or what they wish they had donedifferently. The completed letters can be presented as a monologue.4. The silent war against women and girls. Violence againstwomen and girls was a hallmark of the brutal civil war in SierraLeone but these atrocities are not unique to this conflict. Rapehas long been used as a weapon of war, and violence againstwomen during or after armed conflicts has been reported in everywar-zone. Between 250,000 and 500,000 women were rapedduring the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and between 20,000 and50,000 women were raped during the conflict in Bosnia in the early1990s. In 2009, the United Nations Security Council adopted aresolution classifying rape as a war tactic and posing grave threat

069HALF THE SKYGender-Based Violence: Challenging ImpunityExtensionsto international security. The resolution describes sexual violenceas a deliberate weapon that humiliates, dominates, instills fear andworsens conflict situations by forcibly dispersing or relocatingcommunities.• Ask students to consider why violence against women and girls isespecially prevalent in war zones.• Divide the class into groups of 3-5 students and instruct eachmember of the group research a different contemporary conflictand the role that gender-based violence plays in it. Each studentshould identify root causes of the violence, how violence againstwomen was used as a tool of war, and what the long-term impactwas/is for the communities that were affected.• Once each member of the group has completed their individualresearch, have them compare their results with their partners andidentify areas of commonality.• Groups can present their collective findings as a multimediapresentation including their research, photo-essays, videofootage, audio clips, and infographics using the followingwebsites as resources:Animoto:animoto.comCapzles:www.capzles.comPrezi:prezi.comInfographic tools from the Educational Technology and MobileLearning website:www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/05/eight-free-tools-forteachers-to-make.html5. Students Rebuild! Have your students participate in theglobal campaign to improve the health, opportunities, and safetyfor youth around the world. Students Rebuild is an initiativeof the Bezos Family Foundation that mobilizes young peopleworldwide to “connect, learn and take action on critical globalissues.” The program’s goal is “to activate our greatest creativeresource—students—to catalyze powerful change. Working together,we identify the need, create the challenge, and forge strongpartnerships. Then, we provide the tools and support to ensure ourcollective efforts are sustainable—now and into the future.”Students Rebuild has joined the One Million Bones project in aglobal effort to cover the National Mall in Washington D.C. in 2013with 1,000,000 handmade bones as a visible petition againsthumanitarian crises. Students Rebuild is challenging studentsworldwide to make bones, as a symbol of solidarity with victimsand survivors of ongoing conflict. Each bone made generates $1from the Bezos Family Foundation for CARE's work in conflictaffectedregions, up to $500,000! CARE is a leading humanitarianorganization fighting global poverty.Students can speak out against the violence in Sierra Leone,Burma, Syria or other struggling regions by joining StudentsRebuild and bringing the One Million Bones project to theircommunity. Students can learn more about CARE’s work in theDRC here: www.studentsrebuild.org/congo and in Somaliawww.studentsrebuild.org/somalia.Students can connect directly with fellow students across theworld to learn more about the causes and of the ongoing conflictand the challenges youth are currently experiencing by joiningInteractive Videoconferences where they will see and speak to thestudents of ETN, a CARE supported vocational school in easternDRC. Or they can participate in webcasts to connect directly withstudents and aid workers in the DRC. Learn more and sign up forIVCs and webcasts here: studentsrebuild.org/connect-field6. Further Discussion: Hillary Clinton draws a parallel between theattitudes toward and treatment of women around the world todayand the experience of African American slaves during the heightof the slave trade explaining that both communities were not seenas “fully human” they were both “some other kind of being.” Havestudents view the entire Gender-Based Violence segment fromHalf the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for WomenWorldwide and discuss the following:--What do you think she means by this statement?--Do you agree? Why or why not?--What similarities do you think she sees in both communities’experiences?--Is this an accurate parallel to draw? Why or why not?

HALF THE SKYGender-Based Violence: Challenging Impunity070Additional ResourcesBOOKSN. Kristof, S. WuDunn, Half the Sky:Turning Oppression into Opportunity forWomen Worldwide, New York : Alfred A.Knopf, 2009FILMSHalf The Sky: Turning Oppression IntoOpportunity For Women Worldwide:Filmed in 10 countries, the documentaryfollows Nicholas Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn,and celebrity activists America Ferrera,Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan,Gabrielle Union, and Olivia Wilde on ajourney to tell the stories of inspiring,courageous individuals. Across the globe,oppression is being confronted, and realmeaningful solutions are being fashionedthrough health care, education, andeconomic empowerment for women andgirls. The linked problems of sex traffickingand forced prostitution, gender-basedviolence, and maternal mortality — whichneedlessly claims one woman every 90seconds — present to us the single mostvital opportunity of our time: the opportunityto make a change. All over the world,women are seizing this opportunity. Visit thewebsite at: www.halftheskymovement.orgITVS Women and Girls Lead FilmCollection: Women and Girls Lead offersa collection of films by prominentindependent filmmakers. These films focuson women who are working to transform theirlives, their communities, and the world. Visitthe website to learn more about the filmsand explore our diverse catalogue of educatorresources, lesson plans, and film modules.See www.womenandgirlslead.org formore details.WEBSITESThis is the official website for the Halfthe Sky: Turning Oppression intoOpportunity for Women Worldwide film,book, and movement.www.halftheskymovement.orgITVS’s Women and Girls Lead is aninnovative public media campaigndesigned to celebrate, educate, andactivate women, girls, and their alliesacross the globe to address the challengesof the 21st century.womenandgirlslead.orgThe International Rescue Committee(IRC) responds to the world’s worsthumanitarian crises and helps people tosurvive and rebuild their lives.www.rescue.orgCARE International is an organizationfighting poverty and injustice in more than70 countries around the world and helping65 million people each year to find routesout of poverty.www.careinternational.orgThe Centre for Development andPopulation Activities (CEDPA) worksthrough local partnerships to give womentools to improve their lives, families, andcommunities. CEDPA’s programs increaseeducational opportunities for girls, ensureaccess to lifesaving reproductive healthand HIV/AIDS information and services,and strengthen good governance andwomen’s leadership in their nations.www.cedpa.orgUNiTE to End Violence against Womenwas launched in 2009 by UN Women toengage people from all walks of life to endgender-based violence in all its forms.endviolence.un.orgGirls Educational and Mentoring Services(GEMS) is the only organization in New YorkState specifically designed to serve girlsand young women who have experiencedcommercial sexual exploitation and domestictrafficking and their work has put them onthe forefront of the national movement toend the sexual slavery of women.www.gems-girls.orgFutures Without Violence works toprevent and end violence against womenand children around the world.www.futureswithoutviolence.orgThe Rape, Abuse & Incest NationalNetwork (RAINN) is the nation's largestanti-sexual violence organization andcreated and operates the National SexualAssault Hotline (800.656.HOPE).www.rainn.orgMan Up Campaign is a global campaignto activate young women and men to stopviolence against women and girls.www.manupcampaign.orgStriving To Reduce Youth ViolenceEverywhere (STRYVE) is “a nationalinitiative, led by the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention (CDC), which takesa public health approach to preventingyouth violence before it starts.”www.safeyouth.govThe National Network to End DomesticViolence (NNEDV), a social changeorganization, is dedicated to creatinga social, political, and economicenvironment in which violence againstwomen no longer exists.www.nnedv.org

HALF THE SKYGender-Based Violence: Challenging Impunity071Additional ResourcesWEBSITESThe National Organization for Women(NOW) is the largest organization offeminist activists in the United States andworks to bring about equality for all women.www.now.orgAmnesty International is a worldwidemovement of people who campaignfor internationally recognized humanrights for all.www.amnesty.orgSave the Children is an organization thatworks to save and improve children’s livesin more than 50 countries worldwide.www.savethechildren.orgThe United Nations Population Fund(UNFPA) is an international developmentagency that promotes the right of everywoman, man, and child to enjoy a life ofhealth and equal opportunity.www.unfpa.org/publicMédecins Sans Frontières is “aninternational, independent, medicalhumanitarian organisation that deliversemergency aid to people affected by armedconflict, epidemics, healthcare exclusionand natural or man-made disasters.”www.msf.org

HALF THE SKYGender-Based Violence: Challenging Impunity072StandardsCommon Core State Standardsfor English Language Arts& Literacy in History/SocialStudies, Science, and TechnicalSubjectsWriting Standards 6–123. (9-10, 11-12) Write narratives todevelop real or imagined experiences orevents using effective technique, wellchosendetails, and well-structured eventsequences.4. (9-10, 11-12) Produce clear andcoherent writing in which the development,organization, and style are appropriateto task, purpose, and audience. (Gradespecificexpectations for writing types aredefined in standards 1–3 above.)6. (9-10, 11-12) Use technology, includingthe Internet, to produce, publish, andupdate individual or shared writingproducts, taking advantage of technology’scapacity to link to other information and todisplay information flexibly and dynamically.Speaking and Listening Standards1. (9-10, 11-12) Initiate and participateeffectively in a range of collaborativediscussions (one-on-one, in groups, andteacher-led) with diverse partners on[grade 9-12] topics, text, and issues,building on others’ ideas and expressingtheir own clearly and persuasively.4. (9-10) Present information, findings, andsupporting evidence clearly, concisely, andlogically, such that listeners can followthe line of reasoning and the organization,development, substance, and style areappropriate to purpose, audience, and task.4. (11-12) Present information, findings,and supporting evidence, conveying a clearand distinct perspective, such that listenerscan follow the line of reasoning, alternativeor opposing perspectives are addressed,and the organization, development,substance, and style are appropriate topurpose, audience, and a range of formaland informal tasks.5. (9-10, 11-12) Make strategic useof digital media (e.g., textual, graphical,audio, visual, and interactive elements) inpresentations to enhance understanding offindings, reasoning, and evidence and toadd interest.Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and TechnicalSubjects 6–121. (9-10, 11-12) Write arguments focusedon discipline-specific content.4. (9-10, 11-12) Produce clear andcoherent writing in which the development,organization, and style are appropriate totask, purpose, and audience.7. (9-10, 11-12) Conduct short as wellas more sustained research projectsto answer a question (including a selfgeneratedquestion) or solve a problem;narrow or broaden the inquiry whenappropriate; synthesize multiple sources onthe subject, demonstrating understandingof the subject under investigation.9. (9-10, 11-12) Draw evidence frominformational texts to support analysis,reflection, and research.National Curriculum Standardsfor Social Studies1. CULTUREThrough the study of culture and culturaldiversity, learners understand how humanbeings create, learn, share, and adapt toculture, and appreciate the role of culturein shaping their lives and society, as wellthe lives and societies of others.4. INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENTAND IDENTITYPersonal identity is shaped by family,peers, culture, and institutional influences.Through this theme, students examinethe factors that influence an individual’spersonal identity, development, and actions.5. INDIVIDUALS, GROUPS, ANDINSITITUTIONSInstitutions such as families and civic,educational, governmental, and religiousorganizations exert a major influence onpeople’s lives. This theme allows studentsto understand how institutions are formed,maintained, and changed, and to examinetheir influence.10. CIVIC IDEALS AND PRACTICESAn understanding of civic ideals andpractices is critical to full participationin society and an essential componentof education for citizenship. This themeenables students to learn about therights and responsibilities of citizensof a democracy, and to appreciate theimportance of active citizenship.National Standards for ArtsEducation Grades 9-12VA1: Understanding and applying media,techniques, and processesVA5: Reflecting upon and assessing thecharacteristics and merits of their work andthe work of others

Gender-Based Violence GlossaryDefining Violence Against Women and GirlsHALF THE SKY: GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE: CHALLENGING IMPUNITYThe Declaration of the Elimination of Violence Against Women, adopted by the United Nations GeneralAssembly in 1993, defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in,or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats ofsuch acts, coercion, or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.”This includes:Domestic violenceA pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used byone partner to gain or maintain power and control over anotherintimate partner. This can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, orpsychological actions or threats. It also includes any behaviors thatintimidate, isolate, frighten, threaten, blame, hurt, or wound.Economic violenceMaking or attempting to make an individual financially dependentby maintaining total control over financial resources, withholdingan individual’s access to money, or forbidding an individual’sattendance at school or employment.Emotional abuse and psychological abuseUndermining an individual’s sense of self-worth or self-esteemis abusive. This may include constant criticism, name-calling,damaging a woman’s relationship with her children, causing fear byintimidation, and threatening physical harm.Female genital mutilation/cuttingFemale genital mutilation (also known as female circumcision orgenital cutting) is the removal of part or all of the external femalegenitalia, and in its most severe form, a woman or girl has all of hergenitalia removed and then the wound is stitched together, leavinga small opening for urination, intercourse, and menstruation. Thispractice has a direct effect on women and girls’ reproductive andmaternal health and can have grave consequences during childbirth.Female genital mutilation is mostly carried out on young girlsbetween infancy and age 15 and is motivated by a mix of cultural,religious, and social factors within families and communities.Honor killingActs of vengeance, usually death, committed against femalefamily members who are believed to have brought dishonor on thefamily. A woman can be targeted for a variety of reasons, includingrefusing to enter into an arranged marriage, being the victim of asexual assault, seeking a divorce (even from an abusive husband),or allegedly committing adultery.Human traffickingA crime against humanity that involves an act of recruiting,transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving a person throughthe use of force, coercion, or other means, for the purpose ofexploiting them.Physical abuseHitting, slapping, shoving, grabbing, pinching, biting, hair pulling, etc.are types of physical abuse. This type of abuse also includes denyingmedical care or forcing alcohol and/or drug use on the victim.Sexual abuse and rapeCoercing or attempting to coerce any sexual contact or behaviorwithout consent. Sexual abuse includes attacks on sexual partsof the body, marital rape, forcing sex after physical violence hasoccurred, or treating another person in a sexually demeaning manner.Sexual harassment and intimidationUnwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and otherverbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.

HALF THE SKY: GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE: CHALLENGING IMPUNITYGender-Based Violence GlossaryPower and ControlThis chart uses a wheel to show the relationship of physical abuse to other forms of abuse. Each partshows a way to control or gain power.physicalV I OCOERCION ANDTHREATS:Making and/or carryingout threats to dosomething to hurt her.Threatening to leave her,commit suicide, or reporther to welfare. Makingher drop charges. Makingher do illegal things.L E N C EINTIMIDATION:Making her afraid byusing looks, actions, andgestures. Smashingthings. Destroying herproperty. Abusing pets.Displaying weapons.sexualMALE PRIVILEGE:Treating her like aservant: making all thebig decisions, acting likethe “master of the castle,”being the one whodecides men’s andwomen’s roles.ECONOMIC ABUSE:Preventing her fromgetting or keeping a job.Making her ask formoney. Giving her anallowance. Taking hermoney. Not letting herknow about or haveaccess to family income.POWER&C ONTROLEMOTIONAL ABUSE:Putting her down. Makingher feel bad aboutherself. Calling hernames. Making her thinkshe’s crazy. Playing mindgames. Humiliating her.Making her feel guilty.ISOLATION:Controlling what shedoes, who she sees andtalks to, what she reads,and where she goes.Limiting her outsideinvolvement. Usingjealousy to justify actions.physicalUSING CHILDREN:Making her feel guiltyabout children. Usingchildren to relaymessages. Usingvisitation to harass her.Threatening to take thechildren away.V I OMINIMIZING, DENY-ING, AND BLAMING:Making light of the abuseand not taking herconcerns about itseriously. Saying theabuse didn’t happen.Shifting responsibility forabusive behavior. Sayingshe caused it.L EN CEsexual

HALF THE SKY: GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE: CHALLENGING IMPUNITYStudent Handout A:Sierra Leone in ContextThe Republic of Sierra Leone is located on the Atlantic coastof West Africa and is a country rich with natural resources,including gold, titanium, and diamonds. Despite its natural wealth,approximately 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s population lives inpoverty and the country is struggling to recover from a recent,brutal civil war that cost tens of thousands of lives and has left alegacy of violence against women and girls.From Colonization to the Founding of FreetownFrom 1495 until the middle of the 20th century, Sierra Leoneendured over 450 years of colonization and oppression, primarilyunder British rule, and became a major departure point forthousands of West Africans who were enslaved during the heightof the transatlantic slave trade.As the slave trade continued to grow in the Americas, the abolitionmovement in Great Britain was also growing. By the time of theAmerican Revolution, slavery had been outlawed in Great Britain butwas still practiced in many of its colonial outposts. In 1791, ThomasPeters, who had served in the Black Pioneers (the African Americanregiment of the British Army), collaborated with British abolitioniststo establish a free settlement in Sierra Leone for over eleven hundredformer African American slaves. These settlers had escaped fromthe American colonies during the Revolutionary War and soughtsanctuary with the British Army. They established the settlement ofFreetown in Sierra Leone, which is now the country’s capital.Independence and Internal ConflictDuring Sierra Leone’s long colonial history, its people mountedseveral unsuccessful revolts against British rule. In 1951, the SierraLeone People’s Party oversaw the drafting of a new constitutionfor an independent Sierra Leone, which began the process ofdecolonization. Almost a decade later, constitutional conferenceswere held in London to bring an end to British rule, and in 1961,the country gained independence from the United Kingdom, withthe respected politician and medical doctor Sir Milton Margai as itsfirst prime minister.Sierra Leone enjoyed several years of relative stability and progressfollowing independence, but after the death of Sir Milton Margai,political rivalries and power struggles began to fracture the newlyestablished government. Over the next three decades these clashescontinued and resulted in several coups, the rise of an authoritariansystem of one-party rule, and widespread corruption.Civil War and a Legacy of Violence against WomenSierra Leone’s brutal civil war stretched from 1991 to 2002 andwas driven by a complex web of forces, including the legacy ofexploitation by colonial forces, rivalries between ethnic groups,and pressure and influence from other countries who hadpolitical, military, and economic interests in Sierra Leone and itsresources — especially its diamonds.The Sierra Leone Civil War was known internationally for its horrificatrocities, but until recently, little attention was devoted to abusesdirected specifically against women. During the conflict, violenceagainst women was routinely used as a tool of war and womenand girls were sexually and physically abused in extraordinarilybrutal ways, including rape, torture, amputation, forced pregnancy,trafficking, mutilation, and slavery. Although the war has long sinceended, the mistreatment of women continues.Sierra Leone emerged from this war in 2002 with the help of alarge United Nations peacekeeping mission. More than seventeenthousand foreign troops disarmed tens of thousands of rebelsand militia fighters, but several years on, the country still faces thechallenge of reconstruction. Rape, abduction, and sexual slaveryare part of the brutal legacy of the civil war, which left over halfthe country’s population displaced and destitute. Over a decadesince conflict ended, many fear that rape is more of a problem inpostconflict Sierra Leone than it was during the war.Truth and Reconciliation: Breaking the SilenceFollowing the end of the civil war, a Truth and ReconciliationCommission (TRC) was established in Sierra Leone to create animpartial record of the abuses that occurred during the conflict. Thecommission’s investigators soon found that gathering information,specifically about sexual violence, was not easy. In Sierra Leone,as in many other countries, women and girls are afraid to speakpublicly about rape and other sexual violence. They are shunnedin their own communities when they admit they have been sexuallyabused. To help break through such barriers, the UN DevelopmentFund for Women (now UN Women) intervened with advice, training,and other support. Based on their findings, the commission urgedreforms in Sierra Leone’s legal, judicial, and police systems to makeit easier for women to report cases of sexual and domestic violence.Sources:www.unfpa.org/women/docs/gbv_sierraleone.pdfwww.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14094194www.rescue.org/video/stop-violence-against-women-irc-sierra-leonewww.un.org/en/africarenewal/vol18no4/184sierraleone.htmwww.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/TestFrame/b8dedfadc369a158c1256b81005a84f9?Opendocumentwww.irinnews.org/Report/78853/SIERRA-LEONE-Sex-crimes-continue-in-peacetimewww.halftheskymovement.org/pages/amie-kandeh

Student Handout B:Film Module Screening GuideHALF THE SKY: GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE: CHALLENGING IMPUNITYName:Date:Class:Take notes while watching the Gender-Based Violence in Sierra Leone film module, using the followinglist of questions as a guide:• What happened to Fulamatu?• What actions did she take?• What consequences did Fulamatu face for speaking out?• What consequences did the perpetrator face?• Write down two or three quotes from the film that stand out most for you and/or illustrate the culture of impunity thatFulamatu is facing.

HALF THE SKY: GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE: CHALLENGING IMPUNITYStudent Handout C:Gwen’s StoryRead Gwen’s story and work with your group to complete the activity below:Gwen was a single mother who had been struggling financially and personally. She had her first child at a young age but was determinedto stay in school and get her education, so she worked part-time and relied on government support to help with her tuition and child care.One day she was riding in a car with a male friend, on the way to pick up some food. Without warning, her friend turned off the road,parked behind some buildings, and attacked her. He choked her almost to death and raped her. He later claimed that she deserved itbecause of what she was wearing that day and because she had already had a child but was not married.How do you think Gwen’s story turns out?Work as a group to create two endings for Gwen’s story based on the following scenarios:1) Imagine that Gwen lives in Fulamatu’s community in Freetown, Liberia:• What steps will Gwen take?• Who will she turn to for support?• What reactions will she get from her friends, family, and community?• Will she reach out to her local law enforcement? How do you think they will respond?• What do you think will happen to the perpetrator?• What impact do you think this event will have on Gwen and her family?2) Imagine that Gwen lives in a community in the United States:• What steps will Gwen take?• Who will she turn to for support?• What reactions will she get from her friends, family, and community?• Will she reach out to her local law enforcement? How do you think they will respond?• Will she have access to family support programs or community programs? What kinds of services will they provide?What do you think will happen to the perpetrator?• What impact do you think this event will have on Gwen and her family?

HALF THE SKY: GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE: CHALLENGING IMPUNITYStudent Handout D:Representative Gwen Moore and the Violence Against Women Act“Gwen’s Story” is based on the experience of Congresswoman GwenMoore, representative for Wisconsin’s Fourth Congressional District.She is the first African American and second woman to be elected toCongress from the state of Wisconsin and has served since 2005.In the mid-1970s, Rep. Moore was attacked and raped by her friend in his car. She saidthat her attacker later challenged her story in court on the grounds that she was dressedprovocatively and had a child out of wedlock. She remembers, “I was literally on trial thatday.” Rep. Moore said her rapist was found not guilty and she was fired from her job as afile clerk for not calling in to work the day after the attack.Rep. Moore shared her story on the floor of the House of Representatives in March 2012in support of renewal of the Violence Against Women Act that was first passed into lawin September 1994. She stressed that the attack happened before the Violence AgainstWomen Act had been passed, and if current laws providing stronger protection and supportfor victims of gender-based violence had been in place, the outcome for her might havebeen different.The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was the first major law to help governmentagencies and victim advocates work together to fight domestic violence, sexual assault,and other types of violence. It created new punishments for certain crimes and startedprograms to prevent violence and help victims. Since the law was passed, there has been a51 percent increase in reporting of domestic violence by women and a 37 percent increasein reporting by men. The number of individuals killed by an intimate partner has decreasedby 34 percent for women and 57 percent for men.Despite this progress, there is still work to do. In the United States today, a woman isabused — usually by her husband or partner — every 15 seconds, and is raped every 90 seconds.

HALF THE SKYSex Trafficking and Intergenerational Prostitution079“No child, no woman, no humanbeing should be selling theirbodies for survival.”Urmi BasuFounder of New Light“I want to empower thesurvivors to stand up and sayno if they want to say no.”Somaly MamFounder of AFESIP CambodiaOVERVIEWAudienceHigh School (grades 11–12), CommunityCollege, Youth Development OrganizationsTimeTwo to three 50-minute class periods +assignmentsSubject AreasWomen’s Studies, Social Studies,Global Studies, Media Studies, EnglishLanguage ArtsPurpose of the LessonModern-day slavery is relatively unknown,in part because it does not fit our historicimage of slavery. Contemporary humanslavery can take many forms, includingforced labor, child marriage, debt bondage,and commercial sexual slavery. Modernslaves can be garment workers, domestichelp, agricultural workers, and prostitutes.They might work in factories, build roads, orharvest crops.Although slavery was officially abolishedworldwide at the 1926 Slavery Convention,it continues to thrive thanks to thecomplicity of some governments and theignorance of much of the world. Sexualexploitation is the most widespread formof human trafficking, making up 79 percentof all recorded human trafficking cases.One in five victims of human traffickingare children and two-thirds of victims arewomen. Gender-based discriminationand the devaluing of women and girlsare at the root of this exploitation, whichis compounded by religious and culturaltraditions and other social and economicinequalities. Sexual exploitation andtrafficking exist because it is acceptable forthose in the society with more power —often adult men — to purchase and usethose with less power: women andchildren, and among them especially, ethnicminorities, the poor, and the disabled.Through this lesson students will learnthat there are more people living in slaverytoday than at any time in history andconsider the causes and consequencesfor women and children, who aredisproportionately victimized by thecommercial sex trade and who constitutethe vast majority of the estimated twomillion people sold into sex slavery aroundthe world every year.

080HALF THE SKYSex Trafficking and Intergenerational ProstitutionOVERVIEWNote for Teachers about the Lesson PlanBreaking the Chains of Modern Slavery:Sex Trafficking and IntergenerationalProstitution and Its Contents:This lesson and the accompanying filmmodule from Half the Sky: TurningOppression into Opportunity for WomenWorldwide address the challenging issuesof sex trafficking and prostitution directlyand honestly, but the discussions and topicsmight not be suitable for all audiences.Teachers should prepare for the lessonby reading all the materials thoroughlyand watching the complete film moduleto determine if this topic and lesson areappropriate for their class. Teachers shouldalso brief students on what they will beviewing in advance and identify studentswho might be personally or adverselyaffected by this material. Prior to launchingthe lesson, please contact your schoolcounselor or social worker to discusspolicies and procedures for addressinga disclosure of violence or abuse and beprepared to provide students with support orthe option of not participating in the lessonwhere appropriate.For additional information about thedocumentary Half the Sky: TurningOppression into Opportunity for WomenWorldwide and the global crisis of humantrafficking and violence against womenand girls, please download the freeSex Trafficking and IntergenerationalProstitution Discussion Guide fromthe Women and Girls Lead website(www.womenandgirlslead.org), visitthe project’s official website (www.halftheskymovement.org), and readHalf the Sky: Turning Oppression intoOpportunity for Women Worldwide byNicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.Objectives:Students will:• understand the status and context ofmodern slavery;• develop a working definition for humantrafficking;• consider the global impact of the modernslave trade and the role that gender playsin human trafficking;• understand what it means to be anUpstander, Bystander, Perpetrator, andSurvivor; and• examine the complex relationships ofindividuals who are affected by the sexualtrafficking of women and girls and howtheir interactions with that issue and witheach other overlap using the lenses ofUpstanders, Bystanders, Perpetrators,and Survivors.Resources:• Film modules:Intergenerational Prostitution in India(10:44)Sex Trafficking in Cambodia (10:11)• Half the Sky: Turning Oppression intoOpportunity for Women Worldwide FilmSeries Trailer (5:48): itvs.org/films/half-the-sky• LCD projector or DVD player• Teacher handouts:--Teacher Handout A: Mapping ModernSlavery--Sex Trafficking and IntergenerationalProstitution Discussion Guide (DownloadHalf the Sky: Turning Oppression intoOpportunity for Women Worldwidediscussion guide PDFs from theIndependent Television Service [ITVS]Women and Girls Lead website:www.womenandgirlslead.org.)• Student handouts:--Student Handout A: What Is ModernSlavery?--Student Handout B: Cambodia and Indiain Context--Student Handout C: Film ModuleScreening Guides--Student Handout D: Upstander,Bystander, Perpetrator, Survivor--Student Handout E: Responsibility,Culpability, and Understanding• Whiteboard/blackboard and markers/chalk• Pens/pencils and writing paper• Computers with internet access• Wall map of the world with country names:www.amaps.com/mapstoprint/WORLDDOWNLOAD.htm

081HALF THE SKYSex Trafficking and Intergenerational ProstitutionLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESPrescreening ActivityTime: 40 minutesYou will need: Student Handout A: What Is Modern Slavery?; Student Handout B:Cambodia and India in Context; Teacher Handout A: Mapping Modern Slavery; a wall mapof the world with country names; pens/pencils; writing paper; and map pins, stickers, orsmall Post-itsGoal: Students will challenge their preconceptions about slavery and discuss the status andnature of slavery in the 21st century. Students will develop working definitions for modernslavery and human trafficking and an understanding of the different forms that traffickingtakes. Students will brainstorm contributing factors and complete the activity by consideringthe role that gender plays in human trafficking.Part 1: What Does Slavery Mean to You?• Ask the class to consider the following question and give students one minute to quicklywrite their responses: What does the term slavery mean to you?• Ask for volunteers to share and discuss their answers, and use the prompts below to furtherexplore their responses:--Do you think slavery still exists? Why or why not?--What do you imagine modern slavery looks like?• Record the responses on the board to refer to them later in the activity.Divide the class into small groups of two to three and distribute Student Handout A: WhatIs Modern Slavery? Give the groups seven to ten minutes to read and discuss the summaryof modern slavery using the questions in the handout.• Ask the pairs to share the results of their discussions with the class and track the groups’speculations about question #4 (Where in the world do you think modern slavery existstoday?) on a wall map with pins, stickers, or small Post-its.Distribute two Fast Facts from Teacher Handout A: Mapping Modern Slavery to eachgroup. Each Fast Fact will contain a brief summary about slavery in a different country of theworld. The groups will discuss their facts and try to identify which country they think eachfact applies to.• Each group will share their fact and the countries they believe they represent. Once the correctcountries for each fact have been identified, groups will mark their countries on the map.• The class will review the map and compare their speculations with the reality of the modernslave trade suggested by their country facts.• Complete the activity by sharing the following information:Trafficking affects all regions and the majority of countries in the world. Both men andwomen may be victims of trafficking, but the primary victims worldwide are womenand girls, the majority of whom are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation.Traffickers primarily target women and girls because they are disproportionately affectedby poverty and discrimination, factors that impede their access to employment, educationalopportunities, and other resources. (www.stopvaw.org)

082HALF THE SKYSex Trafficking and Intergenerational ProstitutionLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESPrescreening ActivityPart 2: Cambodia and India in Context• In preparation for viewing the film modules, ask a volunteer to locate Cambodia and India onthe wall map.• Provide students with the fact sheet Student Handout B: Cambodia and India in Context.Have them read the fact sheet and discuss briefly with a partner.• Variation: This handout can be provided in advance of the lesson for students to reviewas homework.Part 3: Kenya in Context• In preparation for viewing the film module, ask a volunteer to locate Kenya on the wall map.• Provide students with the fact sheet Student Handout C: Kenya in Context. Have themread the fact sheet and discuss briefly with a partner.• Variation: This handout can be provided in advance of the lesson for students to reviewas homework.

083HALF THE SKYSex Trafficking and Intergenerational ProstitutionLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESViewing the ModuleClass time: 35 minutesNote: If time permits, we recommend thatyou begin this section by watching theHalf the Sky: Turning Oppression intoOpportunity for Women Worldwide FilmSeries Trailer (5:48): itvs.org/films/halfthe-skyYou will need: Pens/pencils, writing paper,LCD projector or DVD player, StudentHandout C: Film Module ScreeningGuides, the Breaking the Chains of ModernSlavery: Cambodia — Sex Trafficking andBreaking the Chains of Modern Slavery:India — Intergenerational Prostitution filmmodules• Distribute Student Handout C: Film ModuleScreening Guides and instruct students totake notes during the screening using theworksheet as a guide. and reviewed brieflybefore viewing the film module to save paper.Part 1: Intergenerational Prostitution in India• Screen the Intergenerational Prostitution in India film module, then review the students’notes and follow with the discussion questions below:--Based on the stories in the film, what are some factors that contribute to women in theKalighat district of Kolkata becoming prostitutes?--What strategies did the brothel owners use to keep them obedient?--Why do they remain prostitutes?--What impact have their experiences had on their expectations for their daughters?--In the film module, Basu relates a common parental fear: “Maybe someday when mychild is empowered and educated and moves away, he or she is going to abandon me.”What other factors contribute to the parents’ or community’s reluctance to see the nextgeneration change their fate? How would you react if someone more privileged than youwere to offer to take your children away to a better life?--Can you give examples of quotes from the film that stood out the most for you?Part 2: Sex Trafficking in Cambodia• Screen the Sex Trafficking in Cambodia film module, then review the students’ notes anddiscuss briefly:--How did Somaly Mam and Somana become prostitutes?--What strategies did the brothel owners use to keep them obedient?--How are they using their experiences to help others?--Why do you think Mam refers to the young women and children in the AFESIP program assurvivors rather than victims?--Somana chose her name because it means “forgiveness.” She tells the story of returningfrom the brothel and says, “The moment I became a victim, no one would forgive me. Theywould say I am a bad girl. If that mentality continues, I couldn’t live with myself. But I amnot angry, I’ll stand taller to help other girls.” What did you think of Somana’s story? Whatrole do you think forgiveness can play in reintegrating survivors into their communities?Would you have taken the same path if you were in Somana’s shoes? If you were asurvivor, what name do you think you would choose?--Mam has said that “the girls and me are the same because we have the same life. I amthem. They are me.” Is it important that Mam is both a Cambodian and a survivor of sexslavery? Why or why not? How do you think her experience informs her work?--Can you give examples of quotes from the film that stood out the most for you?

084HALF THE SKYSex Trafficking and Intergenerational ProstitutionLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESPost-Screening ActivityTime: 50–65 minutesYou will need: Student Handout D: Upstander, Bystander, Perpetrator, Survivor; StudentHandout E: Responsibility, Culpability, and Understanding; pens/pencils; whiteboard/blackboard; dry-erase markers/chalkGoal: Students will discuss the film modules and share their notes. They will then considerwhat it means to be an Upstander, Bystander, Perpetrator, or Survivor and examine the rolesthat subjects from the film play in relationship to each other and to the broader global crisisof sex trafficking.Part 1: Postscreening Discussion Questions• Begin by comparing and discussing the Sex Trafficking in Cambodia and theIntergenerational Prostitution in India film modules, using the following questions to guidethe class discussion:--What did you think of the film? Was there anything that surprised you?--How does each film represent modern slavery?--What are the similarities and differences between the circumstances for women and girlsin Cambodia and India?--Do any of the women’s families play a role in their trafficking? Can you give someexamples from the films?--Based on what we saw in the films and our earlier discussion, why do you think thefamilies (and the girls themselves) may see prostitution as an option?--In the film, America Ferrera says, “It’s not just saving them from prostitution, it is savingthem from a world where these women themselves have never been taught to value theirown lives.” What do you think she means by this? Do you agree with this statement?--How is sexual exploitation connected to the cycle of poverty?--What role, if any, could access to education and economic empowerment play incombating this form of gender-based violence?--Nicholas Kristof says that one of the “global paradoxes is that countries with the mostconservative sexual traditions tend to have the most prostitution.” Why do you think that is?What value do women have in these societies?--Somaly Mam talks about the global crisis of sex trafficking and sexual slavery and says,“Sometimes people want to do too much and they do nothing. Sometimes they feel like, ‘Ican’t help you, I cannot.’” But she then goes on to say, “Everyone can help. Everyone can doone thing.” Do you agree with this statement? Do you think this issue is connected to yourlife in any way? If so, how, and if not, why not? What responsibility, if any, do each of us haveto take action on the issues of sex trafficking and the sexual slavery of women and girls?

085HALF THE SKYSex Trafficking and Intergenerational ProstitutionPost-Screening ActivityPart 2: Upstander, Bystander, Perpetrator, Survivor• In this activity, students will consider what it means to be anUpstander, Bystander, Perpetrator, or Survivor and examine theroles that each of the subjects from the film plays in relationship tothe broader crisis of sex trafficking.• Divide the class into small groups of three students and distributeStudent Handout D: Upstander, Bystander, Perpetrator, Survivor.• Ask the groups to review the definitions for each term and rewriteeach in their own words using the handout as a guide. Have eachgroup share its results with another group and refine its owndefinitions and understanding of the terms based on the discussion.• Distribute Student Handout E: Responsibility, Culpability, andUnderstanding and have each group identify a collection of threesubjects from one of the films to focus on for the activity.• Ask each member of the group to select one individual from theircollection of subjects and have each student complete a copy ofStudent Handout E with their character in mind. While completingtheir handouts, the students should consider the complex relationshipthat each subject has to sexual exploitation of women, using thelenses of Upstander, Bystander, Perpetrator, and Survivor, and howtheir interactions with that issue and with each other overlap.• When the students have completed the handout, have each taketurns sharing their subject’s profile with the other members oftheir group. Ask the members of the group to imagine and sharehow their own subjects might respond to the others’ responsesand statements.• Complete the process by instructing each group to discusshow the subjects who were Bystanders or Perpetrators couldmake different choices in order to be Upstanders. Have studentsshare what they think the benefits and consequences of differentchoices might be for him or her and for the other subjects involved.Students can draw on their own experiences and share the toolsthey might use to be an Upstander in this situation.• If time and resources allow, provide a large sheet of kraft paper toeach group and have them create and illustrate speech bubbles fortheir responses to the discussion. Give the class five minutes towalk around the room and review each group’s work.• Review the results of the activity and discuss as a class using thefollowing prompts:--What surprised you most about this activity?--Did any of your subjects play more than one role?--What role do factors such as gender, age, and economic status playin the options each subject had and the choices available to them?--In what ways does understanding the subjects’ relationships toeach other help you better understand the circumstances that ledto the violation of these women’s rights?--How has your understanding of slavery changed since thebeginning of this lesson?--There is a culture of silence surrounding sex trafficking andsexual exploitation of women and children. Survivors oftenexperience social stigma, fear of retribution, and emotionaltrauma and are reluctant to share their stories. What are someof the ways that Somaly Mam’s programs in Cambodia andNew Light in India are breaking those taboos and helpingSurvivors become Upstanders and challenging Bystanders andPerpetrators to reconsider their choices?--What are the consequences of being an Upstander? What aresome of the consequences for survivors who come forward tospeak on their own behalf?--Now that we know about this issue, what responsibility do wehave? How can we be Upstanders for the Survivors of sexualtrafficking?

086HALF THE SKYSex Trafficking and Intergenerational ProstitutionAssignmentsSelect one or more of the following assignments to completethe lesson:1. The Institution of Sexual SlaveryOne of the primary reasons that sex trafficking and sexual slaverycontinue to flourish is that there are too few penalties for traffickers,brothel owners, and the patrons that keep this economy running.In what ways do governments and social institutions participatein these issues? How might their collective actions make themUpstanders, Bystanders, Perpetrators, and/or Victims of thetrafficking industry?• Instruct students to work in groups and research and reviewdomestic and international policies and agreements aimed atpreventing and eradicating trafficking, including the United States’Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, The UN GeneralAssembly’s Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking inPersons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the UnitedNations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and theUnited Nations’ (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights.Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000:www.state.gov/j/tip/laws/61124.htmProtocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons,Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United NationsConvention against Transnational Organized Crime:www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4720706c0.htmlThe Universal Declaration of Human Rights:www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml• Using the U.S. Department of State’s “Trafficking in Persons Report2012” as a resource (www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2012/index.htm) have each group identify a country from each of the three tiersdescribed below and read the country summary.--Tier 1: Countries whose governments fully comply with theTrafficking Victims Protection Act’s (TVPA) minimum standards.--Tier 2/ Tier 2 Watch List: Countries whose governments do notfully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards, but are makingsignificant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with thosestandards.--Tier 3: Countries whose governments do not fully comply with theminimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.• Instruct each group to compare and contrast the Protection,Prosecution, and Prevention policies described in each country’ssummary and find areas of overlap and difference.●• Groups should supplement their research for each country byexamining their countries’ economies, education systems, socialservices, and status of women.• Ask students to consider how trafficking flourishes in some regionsand not in others.--What role do equal opportunities for women, a strong civil society,a robust economy, access to education, lower rates of governmentand private sector corruption, the rule of law, and educationalopportunities play in the rate of trafficking?--Why are some countries the suppliers of trafficking victims whileothers are the destinations?--What are the economic forces that are driving the traffickingindustry and how might these forces impact countries’ responsesto the crisis?--What role do social and religious restrictions on women’s statusplay in their vulnerability to trafficking?• Ask students to consider how governments and social institutionscan function as Upstanders, Bystanders, Perpetrators, and/orVictims of the trafficking industry. What role can individual citizensplay to eradicate an institutional culture that allows trafficking toflourish in their own country and in other parts of the world?• Students should report their findings by creating a profile for eachcountry and developing an infographic that illustrates the factorsthat contribute to the country’s success against or struggle withtrafficking. They should also identify at least three actions thatstudents in their community can take against human trafficking andsexual slavery and develop fliers, brochures, and a social media siteto spread the word about their campaign.• Students can use the following websites for additional research,resources, and information:Polaris Project: www.polarisproject.orgUnited Nations Office on Drugs and Crime: www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking.htmlHumanTrafficking.org: www.humantrafficking.orgTumblr: www.tumblr.comAnimoto: animoto.comCapzles: www.capzles.comPrezi: prezi.comInfographic tools from the Educational Technology and MobileLearning website: www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/05/eight-free-tools-for-teachers-to-make.html

087HALF THE SKYSex Trafficking and Intergenerational ProstitutionAssignments (cont.)2. Epistolary Poems: An Open Letter To…Building on the postscreening activity, students will write twoepistolary poems (poems in the form of letters) in the voices of twocharacters from the films.• Ask each student to select an Upstander or Survivor from oneof the films and write an epistolary poem to one of the story’sBystanders or Perpetrators. In the poems, have the subjects explainthe impact that the Bystander or Perpetrator had on their lives, whythey made the choices they made, what they hoped to achieve, andhow they feel about their choices.• Ask students to watch the module again and write down words,quotes, and actions that speak to the themes of their poems.Let them know that they can speculate when needed but shoulddraw from the actual words and actions of the characters asmuch as possible.• Next, have the students write a response epistolary poem from theBystander or Perpetrator. In the poems, have the subjects explainwhy they made the choices they made, what their motives were,and how they feel about their choices.• The following websites provide detailed information about andresources for developing epistolary poems:Poets.org:www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/22718Epistolary Poetry FAQ:www.tabayag.com/epistolary-poetry/epistolary-poetry-faqPBS NewsHour Extra: Poetrywww.pbs.org/newshour/extra/poetry3. Human Trafficking at HomeSex trafficking is not just a problem in the developing world.Approximately 14,500 to 17,500 people are trafficked into theUnited States each year. What impact, if any, do you think sextrafficking and sexual exploitation are having in your community?What more could or should the United States do to combat sexualexploitation on the national and international levels?• Divide the class into groups and instruct each group to researchand examine the impact of human trafficking in their community.• Have them identify and connect with local and national groupsthat are working to help survivors and eradicate trafficking and findout how they and their peers can contribute to and participate inthose campaigns. Students should examine what impact, if any,that trafficking is having in their region, what forms trafficking takesin the United States, which communities are most affected, andthe effect of the growing sex-tourism industry among Americanstraveling to places like Thailand, Cambodia, and the DominicanRepublic.• Instruct each group to develop an action plan to address theproblem in their community or region.• Groups should complete their projects by designing websitesand creating social media campaigns that will provide fact sheets,resources, and information about the issue and how survivorsand volunteers can connect with service providers. The followingwebsites can be used as resources:Polaris Project:www.polarisproject.orgCARE’s “Human Trafficking” section:www.care.org.uk/advocacy/human-traffickingUN Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking:www.ungift.orgWeebly for Education:education.weebly.comTodaysMeet — Microblogging for the Classroom:www.todaysmeet.com

088HALF THE SKYSex Trafficking and Intergenerational ProstitutionExtensions1. Buying in to SlaveryWhen we think of modern slavery, we often imagine that it issomething very separate from our own lives being perpetrated bycriminals and thugs operating in a world very different from ours. Inreality, we encounter the products of slavery every day in our grocerystores, shopping malls, restaurants, and the buildings we live andwork in. How do our daily choices contribute to modern slavery?• Display a range of items (a pair of sneakers, a cotton shirt, achocolate bar, a cup of coffee, a photo of a car, a silk scarf, a bowlof rice, etc.) and ask students what they think the items have incommon. Explain that each of these items is directly or indirectly theproduct of modern slavery.• Ask students to select one item and research its production anddistribution from its source to the stores where we buy it.• Where possible, students should contact the companies andindividuals involved with the production and conduct interviewsabout their relationship to the product.• Have students document the product’s journey and their researchprocess with video, photos, interviews, journal writing, and socialmedia sites such as Pinterest and Tumblr. Their process documentsand research can be compiled into a multimedia presentation.• Students can also create an interactive map of the story of theproduct’s journey and the ripple effect of its production usingGoogle Maps.• The following websites can provide resources and information forthe projects:This interactive website can calculate your individual “slaveryfootprint”: slaveryfootprint.orgStories of modern survivors of slavery:www.freetheslaves.net/SSLPage.aspx?pid=386Prezi: www.prezi.comWeebly for Education: education.weebly.comTodaysMeet — Microblogging for the Classroom:www.todaysmeet.com2. Caste, Class, and Women’s RightsUrmi Basu describes the cycle of intergenerational prostitutionthus: “Women who are in prostitution have very little ability to maketheir daughters aspire to do something different. It’s not that transgenerationalprostitution happens because they want to make ithappen. It’s because they have no option, they have no escape.”• Have students research the caste system in India and how itintersects with intergenerational prostitution.• Ask them to examine that system in relationship to the UnitedStates, which is among the least socially mobile of theindustrialized countries.Once the students have completed their research, have the classdiscuss and debate the following questions using the “fishbowl”teaching strategy, which helps students practice being contributorsand listeners in a discussion: (www.facing.org/resources/strategies/fishbowl)--Is there a caste system in the United States?--What impact, if any, does our lack of social mobility have onwomen’s rights?3. Legalize ItShould prostitution be legalized? There is an international debateraging around the subject of prostitution and whether women willbe better protected — and more empowered — if it is made legal andregulated by national and international laws and policies. Somebelieve that legalizing prostitution legitimizes the commercializationof women’s bodies and increases practices such as trafficking,slavery, and child rape.--Screen the complete films for both Cambodia: Sex Trafficking andIndia: Intergenerational Prostitution and have students considerwhat they think the impact that legalizing prostitution would have.--Ask students to share their feedback and what they know aboutthe debate. What are the main points of those who opposelegalized prostitution? What are the main points of thosesupporting it?--Have students work individually or in groups and assign eachstudent/group one side of the debate to research.--Following their research, have students engage in a formal debateabout the issue. Education World offers a selection of debateresources that provide guidelines and rules for classroom debates:www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson304b.shtml

089HALF THE SKYSex Trafficking and Intergenerational ProstitutionExtensions (cont.)4. The Modern Triangular TradeHillary Clinton states in Half the Sky: Turning Oppression intoOpportunity for Women Worldwide that “A lot of the brutalityagainst girls and women is rooted in deep cultural stereotypesabout the worth of women. And it's not that different from the wayAfrican American slaves were viewed in 18th- or 19th-centuryAmerica or Europe. These [people] were not fully human, thesewere some other kind of being that under the Bible or under aconvenient social rationale were put on Earth to serve somebodyelse.” From the late 16th to early 19th centuries, the transatlanticslave trade carried slaves, cash crops, and manufactured goodsbetween West Africa, North America, and the European colonialpowers. The use of African slaves was fundamental to growingcolonial cash crops, which were exported to Europe. Europeangoods, in turn, were used to purchase African slaves, who werethen brought by sea from Africa to the Americas, a treacherousjourney known as the Middle Passage. Today, women and girlsare trafficked around the world in exchange for money, goods,weapons, etc. and they are kept in slavery to provide sex and cheaplabor. But today’s trade routes are often more complex and moredifficult to track.• Have students research the history of the Transatlantic TriangleTrade in relation to the contemporary slave trade.• Building on the earlier activity, have students create an interactiveGoogle Map that tracks both the transatlantic slave trade and themodern movement of people, goods, and money.• Have them consider the similarities and differences between ourhistorical understanding of slavery and its modern manifestation.--What challenges did abolitionists face during the transatlanticslave trade and what strategies did they employ?--How do those challenges compare to the ones faced by themodern abolition movement?--Are there strategies from the past that would be effective today?--In Mississippi in 1850 an agricultural slave cost the equivalentof fifty thousand to a hundred thousand dollars at today’s prices.An equivalent slave in India today costs just ninety dollars. If theaverage price of a trafficked human is at a historic low, how doesthat impact the way that slaveowners treat the people they areenslaving? For example, what is the incentive for traffickers toprovide adequate conditions and health care when it might bemore “cost effective” to allow their victims to die?5. Hey Man, Keep it Real and Be CoolWhat role do men and boys have in eradicating the sexualslavery of women and children? How can they collaborate in theinternational campaign? Antitrafficking efforts frequently addressonly the victims of sex trafficking, ignoring the force that fuelsthe trade — male demand for purchased sex. Without demand forpurchased sex, traffickers, pimps, and brothel owners will be drivenout of business. Have students check out the Demi and AshtonFoundation’s “Real Men Don’t Buy Girls” Campaign and ApneAap’s “Cool Men Don’t Buy Sex Campaign” and develop their ownsocial media campaign using viral video, photography, and socialmedia to help end sex slavery and the sexual exploitation of womenand girls in their own communities.• The Demi and Ashton Foundation’s “Real Men Gallery”:demiandashton.org/realmen• Apne Aap’s “Cool Men Don’t Buy Sex Campaign”:apneaap.org/cmdbs/cool-men-dont-buy-sex-campaign6. Journalism vs. Activism:In the full length segment on Cambodia in the film Half the Sky:Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide,Nicholas Kristof actively participates in Somaly Mam’s brothel raidstory. He considers the journalistic ethics of his involvement andconcludes that he is comfortable with his decision.• Have students view the entire Sex Trafficking in Cambodiasegment from Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunityfor Women Worldwide• Ask students to consider the following questions: What do youthink about Nicholas Kristof’s decision? Is there a distance thatjournalists should maintain in order to remain objective? Is it moreethical to simply observe and report or to actively participate• Share The Guardian article and photo essay, The Bystanderswith your students and discuss what a journalist’s responsibilityis when reporting a story. The Bystanders Article: www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jul/28/gutted-photographers-who-didnthelp,The Bystanders Photo-Essay: www.guardian.co.uk/media/interactive/2012/jul/28/bystanders-photographers-whodidnt-help• Have students select a photojournalist featured in the story andconsider if they agree or disagree with the journalist’s decision.• Ask them to draft a letter from perspective of one of the journalistsfrom the story to one of their photograph’s subjects explaining theirdecision: why they feel that it was the correct choice or what theywish they had done differently.• The completed letters can be presented as a monologue.

HALF THE SKYSex Trafficking and Intergenerational Prostitution090Additional ResourcesBOOKSN. Kristof, S. WuDunn, Half the Sky:Turning Oppression into Opportunity forWomen Worldwide, New York : Alfred A.Knopf, 2009FILMSHalf The Sky: Turning Oppression IntoOpportunity For Women Worldwide:Filmed in 10 countries, the documentaryfollows Nicholas Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn,and celebrity activists America Ferrera,Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan,Gabrielle Union, and Olivia Wilde on ajourney to tell the stories of inspiring,courageous individuals. Across the globe,oppression is being confronted, and realmeaningful solutions are being fashionedthrough health care, education, andeconomic empowerment for women andgirls. The linked problems of sex traffickingand forced prostitution, gender-basedviolence, and maternal mortality — whichneedlessly claims one woman every 90seconds — present to us the single mostvital opportunity of our time: the opportunityto make a change. All over the world,women are seizing this opportunity. Visit thewebsite at: www.halftheskymovement.orgITVS Women and Girls Lead FilmCollection: Women and Girls Lead offersa collection of films by prominentindependent filmmakers. These films focuson women who are working to transform theirlives, their communities, and the world. Visitthe website to learn more about the filmsand explore our diverse catalogue of educatorresources, lesson plans, and film modules.See www.womenandgirlslead.org formore details.WEBSITESThis is the official website for the Halfthe Sky: Turning Oppression intoOpportunity for Women Worldwide film,book, and movement.www.halftheskymovement.orgITVS’s Women and Girls Lead is aninnovative public media campaign designedto celebrate, educate, and activate women,girls, and their allies across the globe toaddress the challenges of the 21st century.womenandgirlslead.orgAFESIP Cambodia was founded bySomaly Mam to care for those victimizedby trafficking and sex slavery. The primaryobjective of AFESIP's work is to securevictims' rights by providing holistic carethrough a victim-centered approach, withthe long-term goals of successful andpermanent rehabilitation and reintegration.www.afesip.orgVoices for Change is a project of theSomaly Mam Foundation “designed togive survivors an opportunity to helpthemselves by helping others, to havetheir voices heard in the courts of law andpublic perception, and to have influenceand impact on effectuating change. It is ourvision that from those who have struggledthrough the pain of slavery will arise a newgeneration of leaders who stand for justiceand free will.”www.somaly.org/survivor-empowermentApne Aap organizes “groups of womenand girls who are at the risk of orare affected by trafficking” into selfempowermentgroups and ensurestheir access to “three fundamentalrights — education, sustainable & dignifiedlivelihood, and legal empowerment” asper their 3L model. They also develop andparticipate in nationwide education andoutreach programs to support victims ofsexual exploitation and end trafficking.www.apneaap.orgNew Light provides shelter, educationalopportunities, recreational facilities, healthcare, and legal aid for the children, girls,and women in Kalighat, one of the oldestred-light districts in the city of Kolkata.www.newlightindia.orgThe International Rescue Committee(IRC) responds to the world’s worsthumanitarian crises and helps people tosurvive and rebuild their lives.www.rescue.orgCARE International is an organizationfighting poverty and injustice in more than70 countries around the world and helping65 million people each year to find routesout of poverty.www.careinternational.orgThe Centre for Development andPopulation Activities (CEDPA) worksthrough local partnerships to give womentools to improve their lives, families, andcommunities. CEDPA’s programs increaseeducational opportunities for girls, ensureaccess to lifesaving reproductive healthand HIV/AIDS information and services,and strengthen good governance andwomen’s leadership in their nations.www.cedpa.org

HALF THE SKYSex Trafficking and Intergenerational Prostitution091Additional Resources (cont.)WEBSITESGirls Educational and Mentoring Services(GEMS) is the only organization in New YorkState specifically designed to serve girlsand young women who have experiencedcommercial sexual exploitation and domestictrafficking and their work has put them onthe forefront of the national movement toend the sexual slavery of women.www.gems-girls.orgECPAT International is a global networkof organizations and individuals workingtogether for the elimination of childprostitution, child pornography, and thetrafficking of children for sexual purposes.www.ecpat.netUNiTE to End Violence against Womenwas launched in 2009 by UN Women toengage people from all walks of life to endgender-based violence in all its forms.endviolence.un.org

HALF THE SKYSex Trafficking and Intergenerational Prostitution092StandardsCommon Core State Standardsfor English Language Arts& Literacy in History/SocialStudies, Science, and TechnicalSubjectsWriting Standards 6–123. (9–10, 11–12) Write narratives todevelop real or imagined experiences orevents using effective technique, wellchosendetails, and well-structured eventsequences.4. (9–10, 11–12) Produce clear andcoherent writing in which the development,organization, and style are appropriateto task, purpose, and audience. (Gradespecificexpectations for writing types aredefined in standards 1–3 above.)6. (9–10, 11–12) Use technology,including the Internet, to produce, publish,and update individual or shared writingproducts, taking advantage of technology’scapacity to link to other information and todisplay information flexibly and dynamically.Speaking and Listening Standards1. (9–10, 11–12) Initiate and participateeffectively in a range of collaborativediscussions (one-on-one, in groups, andteacher-led) with diverse partners on [grade9-12] topics, text, and issues, building onothers’ ideas and expressing their ownclearly and persuasively.4. (9–10) Present information, findings,and supporting evidence clearly, concisely,and logically, such that listeners can followthe line of reasoning, and the organization,development, substance, and style areappropriate to purpose, audience, and task.4. (11–12) Present information, findings,and supporting evidence, conveying a clearand distinct perspective, such that listenerscan follow the line of reasoning, alternativeor opposing perspectives are addressed,and the organization, development,substance, and style are appropriate topurpose, audience, and a range of formaland informal tasks.5. (9–10, 11–12) Make strategic useof digital media (e.g., textual, graphical,audio, visual, and interactive elements) inpresentations to enhance understanding offindings, reasoning, and evidence and toadd interest.Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and TechnicalSubjects 6–121. (9–10, 11–12) Write arguments focusedon discipline-specific content.4. (9–10, 11–12) Produce clear andcoherent writing in which the development,organization, and style are appropriate totask, purpose, and audience.7. (9–10, 11–12) Conduct short as wellas more sustained research projectsto answer a question (including a selfgeneratedquestion) or solve a problem;narrow or broaden the inquiry whenappropriate; synthesize multiple sources onthe subject, demonstrating understandingof the subject under investigation.9. (9-10, 11-12) Draw evidence frominformational texts to support analysis,reflection, and research.National Curriculum Standardsfor Social Studies1. CULTUREThrough the study of culture and culturaldiversity, learners understand how humanbeings create, learn, share, and adapt toculture, and appreciate the role of culture inshaping their lives and society, as well thelives and societies of others.4. INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENTAND IDENTITYPersonal identity is shaped by family,peers, culture, and institutional influences.Through this theme, students examinethe factors that influence an individual’spersonal identity, development, and actions.5. INDIVIDUALS, GROUPS, ANDINSITITUTIONSInstitutions such as families and civic,educational, governmental, and religiousorganizations exert a major influence onpeople’s lives. This theme allows studentsto understand how institutions are formed,maintained, and changed, and to examinetheir influence.10. CIVIC IDEALS AND PRACTICESAn understanding of civic ideals andpractices is critical to full participationin society and an essential componentof education for citizenship. This themeenables students to learn about therights and responsibilities of citizensof a democracy, and to appreciate theimportance of active citizenship.National Standards for ArtsEducation Grades 9–12VA1: Understanding and applying media,techniques, and processesVA5: Reflecting upon and assessing thecharacteristics and merits of their work andthe work of others

Student Handout A:What Is Modern Slavery?HALF THE SKY: SEX TRAFFICKING AND INTERGENERATIONAL PROSTITUTIONGroup Names:Class:Read the following summary of modern slavery and discuss your reactions with your group by answeringthe questions below:Modern-day slavery is relatively unknown, in part because it does not fit our historic image of slavery. Contemporary human slavery cantake many forms, including forced labor, child marriage, debt bondage, and commercial sexual slavery. Modern slaves can be garmentworkers, domestic help, agricultural workers, and prostitutes. They might work in factories, build roads, or harvest crops.There are more people living in slavery today than at any other time in history. According to Anti-Slavery International (ASI), the world’soldest human-rights organization, there are at least 27 million adults and children, in countries all over the world, who are being forced tolive and work as slaves or in slave-like conditions; the majority of these are women and girls.The act of forcing an adult or child into slavery for financial or personal profit is known as human trafficking. Human trafficking is a crimeagainst humanity which involves recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving a person through the use of force, intimidation,trickery, or other means, for the purpose of exploiting them.Every country has passed laws against slavery, and by doing so they have promised to end it within their borders. Many countries,however, fail to enforce antislavery laws. In the United States only a tiny fraction of law enforcement resources are directed at slaveryand trafficking, in spite of the fact that as many people are newly enslaved each year in the United States, according to U.S. governmentestimates, as are murdered.1. How do you feel about this information? Did it surprise you?If so, what surprised you most?2. How often do you see stories about modern slavery in the news or depicted in the media?Why do you think that is?3. Why do you think the majority of modern slaves are women and girls?4. Where in the world do you think modern slavery exists today?

HALF THE SKY: SEX TRAFFICKING AND INTERGENERATIONAL PROSTITUTIONStudent Handout B:Cambodia in ContextCambodia continues to be burdened by its long history of violence, and women andchildren often pay the highest price. It is one of the poorest countries in the world andrelies heavily on foreign aid. Millions of unexploded land mines and bombs from decadesof war continue to kill and maim civilians, despite an ongoing demining drive. Thousandsare infected with HIV/AIDS and the numbers increase every year, making it among theworst-affected countries in Asia. International organizations, foreign donors, and foreigngovernments have urged the Cambodian government, led by Prime Minister Hun Sen,to clamp down on Cambodia’s pervasive corruption and address the ever-growing sextraffickingcrisis.Most Cambodians consider themselves to be Khmer descendants of the Angkor Empire.The Khmer people have lived in the Indochina area in Southeast Asia for at least twothousand years and the Khmer Kingdom was the most powerful mainland Southeast Asianstate for most of the period from 802 to 1432. At its height, the capital at Angkor wasone of the largest cities in the world.France colonized Cambodia in the 19th century and ruled the country until Cambodianforces, led by King Norodom Sihanouk, achieved full independence in 1953. Sihanouk ledCambodia until 1970, when Marshal Lon Nol forced him out in a coup d’état. Spurred onby the secret bombing campaign in Cambodia carried out by United States forces duringthe Vietnam War, the militant left-wing group the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, defeatedLon Nol and ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979.As the new ruler of Cambodia, Pol Pot set about transforming the country into his visionof an agrarian utopia. The cities were evacuated, factories and schools were closed, andcurrency and private property were abolished. Anyone believed to be an intellectual, suchas someone who spoke a foreign language, was immediately killed. Skilled workers werealso killed, in addition to anyone caught in possession of eyeglasses, a wristwatch, or anyother modern technology. Prostitution was completely banned and punishable by death,resulting in its virtual elimination in the highly authoritarian social system. During thisperiod, an estimated 2 million Cambodians were killed, approximately 25 percent of thecountry’s population.The Vietnamese army overthrew the Khmer Rouge in 1979, but civil conflict continued inCambodia for the next two decades. After the dismantlement of the State of Cambodia in1992, about twenty thousand male troops and civilian personnel from the United NationsTransitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) arrived together with many nongovernmentalorganizations (NGOs) and business interests from abroad. Ironically, the increase offoreign humanitarian workers in the country created a larger market for sexual servicesin this very poor country and drove the increase in sex trafficking and the exploitation ofwomen and children, which continues to grow today.Cambodia Sources:www.ecpatcambodia.org/index.php?menuid=2&submenuid=17&menuname=ECPAT%20Cambodiawww.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/cambodia.htmwww.cambodia.org/khmer_rougewww.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13006539www.hrw.org/news/2011/06/24/cambodia-khmer-rouge-trial-justice-delayed

HALF THE SKY: SEX TRAFFICKING AND INTERGENERATIONAL PROSTITUTIONStudent Handout B:India in ContextIn Kolkata, India (formerly Calcutta), there are over ten thousand women and girls wholive and work as prostitutes. Many were trafficked into the country from Nepal andBangladesh, while others were born into the commercial sex trade, having been thechildren of generations of prostitutes. While not all of these women are forced into sexwork, the reality is that few other options are available.Around India, there are castes that traditionally engage in familial, intergenerationalprostitution. A caste system is a type of social structure that divides people on the basisof inherited social status. Within a caste system, people are rigidly expected to marryand interact with people of the same social class and are relegated to specific typesof occupations and labor. For impoverished girls born into lower-caste families whereprostitution has been practiced for generations, becoming a sex worker is not only seenas a means of survival but also a family duty.Starting from around age 13, girls are sold by their parents or family or are married offand subsequently prostituted by their husbands. Earnings are higher for younger girlsso there is an urgency to marry or sell them before their value diminishes. For manyrural, uneducated parents, it is difficult to imagine how a female child could bring anyvalue to the family beyond prostitution. And for the girl who has been denied educationand training, it is equally difficult to imagine a brighter future. In this context, the castesystem and cultural traditions provide easy justification for a practice driven by poverty,economics, and gender-based discrimination.The heartbreaking reality of India’s intergenerational prostitution is especially apparent inKalighat, one of the oldest red-light districts in Kolkata. Here, narrow alleys lined with small“apartments” form a confusing maze and the buildings lean into the street across crowdedroads. Life is a constant struggle in this society where sex workers are regarded asnonhumans, and opportunities for these women are limited after working in the business.India Sources:site.ruchiragupta.comwww.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CF0QFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.un.org%2Fga%2Fpresident%2F62%2FThematicDebates%2Fhumantrafficking%2Fgupta.pdf&ei=B4XrT7X0BKOT0QHenInKBQ&usg=AFQjCNEbly1TJFCBOwJxKxHpmi4tO8dvNQ

HALF THE SKY: SEX TRAFFICKING AND INTERGENERATIONAL PROSTITUTIONStudent Handout C:Film Module Screening Guide: Intergenerational Prostitution in IndiaName:Date:Class:Take notes while watching the film module, using the following questions as a guide:• How did Sushmita’s mother Shoma become a prostitute?• What are some other factors that cause women to become prostitutes?• What strategies did the brothel owners use to keep Shoma obedient?• Why does she remain a prostitute?• Write down two or three quotes from the film that stand out most for you.

HALF THE SKY: SEX TRAFFICKING AND INTERGENERATIONAL PROSTITUTIONStudent Handout C:Film Module Screening Guide: Sex Trafficking in CambodiaName:Date:Class:Take notes while watching the film module, using the following questions as a guide:• How did Somaly Mam and Somana become prostitutes?• What strategies did the brothel owners use to keep them obedient?• How did they escape?• How are they using their experiences to help others?• Write down two or three quotes from the film that stand out the most for you.

Student Handout D:Upstander, Bystander, Perpetrator, SurvivorHALF THE SKY: SEX TRAFFICKING AND INTERGENERATIONAL PROSTITUTIONName:Date:Class:Read each of the following definitions and rewrite the definitions in your own words.Provide an example from history, fiction, or your own life that illustrates each of these roles:Upstander: An individual who sees an injustice taking place or someone being wronged and takes action. They might intervene directly andtell the Perpetrator(s) to stop, but Upstanders do not need to put themselves at risk in order to be helpful; they might also respond in otherways, such as seeking help from authorities, supporting the survivor, working to improve an unjust social system, and lending their time andvoice to campaigns and initiatives that are working to bring about positive change.In your own words:Example of an Upstander:Bystander: An individual who sees an injustice occur but attempts to remain uninvolved in the situation, often by looking on silently or findingan excuse to walk away. Individuals who witness — but are not directly affected by — the actions of Perpetrators help shape society by theirreactions. Not taking action in the face of an injustice is a choice that can influence the outcome of an event and the culture of a community.In your own words:Example of a Bystander:Perpetrator: Someone who commits crimes, violates the fundamental human rights of an individual or group, or actively participates insupporting systems or individuals who engage in unjust behavior.In your own words:Example of a Perpetrator:Survivor: An individual who has been subject to an act of wrongdoing, including intimidation, theft, violence, sexual aggression, or anyviolation of their fundamental human rights.In your own words:Example of a Survivor:

HALF THE SKY: SEX TRAFFICKING AND INTERGENERATIONAL PROSTITUTIONStudent Handout E:Responsibility, Culpability, and Understanding (page 1)Name:Date:Class:Select a collection of three subjects from the films and consider the role each one plays in the sexualexploitation of women and girls, using the roles of Upstander, Bystander, Perpetrator, and Survivor asa guide. Each member of your group should select one subject and complete the handout using yourunderstanding of the subject from the film and the class discussions.Collection 1Subject A: SomanaSubject B: Her familySubject C: Somaly MamCollection 2Subject A: ShomaSubject B: Her husbandSubject C: SushmitaCOLLECTION #: _______SUBJECT: _______________________________1. Which of the following applies to your subject?UPSTANDER: ___YES or ___NOWhy or why not? Give an example from the film that supports your response:BYSTANDER: ___YES or ___NOWhy or why not? Give an example from the film that supports your response:PERPETRATOR: ___YES or ___NOWhy or why not? Give an example from the film that supports your response:SURVIVOR: ___YES or ___NOWhy or why not? Give an example from the film that supports your response:

HALF THE SKY: SEX TRAFFICKING AND INTERGENERATIONAL PROSTITUTIONStudent Handout E:Responsibility, Culpability, and Understanding (page 2)Name:Date:Class:To Be an Upstander or to not Be an Upstander:1. Fill in the bubble below with the thought you imagine wentthrough your subject’s mind when she/he was faced withthe option to be an Upstander.4. Why do you think she/he chose the path she/he is on?Based on what we learned from the film and what we knowfrom our activities and handouts, what factors influencedher/his choice?5. Imagine you are your subject and you have the chance toexplain your choice to each of the other individuals in yourgroup’s collection. What do you think you would say?Subject: ___________________________________What would you say?2. What options did your subject have in this situation(list at least three examples)?Subject: ___________________________________3. What role do factors such as gender, age, and economicstatus play in the options your subject had and the choicesavailable to them?What would you say?

Teacher Handout A:Mapping Modern Slavery (page 1)HALF THE SKY: SEX TRAFFICKING AND INTERGENERATIONAL PROSTITUTIONCut out each of the facts below and distribute to the student groups.A. Forced labor occurs in at least 90 cities across this countryand at any given time, ten thousand or more people are forcedto toil in sweatshops, to clean homes, to labor on farms, or towork as sex workers. Trafficking occurs for commercial sexualexploitation in street prostitution, massage parlors, and brothels,and for labor in domestic service, agriculture, manufacturing,janitorial services, hotel services, hospitality industries, construction,health and elder care, and strip club dancing. The topcountries of origin for foreign victims in 2010 were Thailand,India, Mexico, the Philippines, Haiti, Honduras, El Salvador, andthe Dominican Republic.E. About three hundred thousand of the children of thisCaribbean country are restaveks — children working as domesticslaves. Thirty percent receive only one meal per day.B. In this African country, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)has kidnapped twenty thousand children over the past 20 yearsand forced them into service as soldiers or sexual slaves forthe army. Children are also exploited in forced labor withinthe country in fishing, agriculture, mining, stone quarrying,brickmaking, road construction, car washing, scrap collection,bars and restaurants, and the domestic service sector, and areexploited in prostitution.F. Between 1988 and 1998 there were over one hundredthousand slaves working in the fields, harvesting crops, anddoing domestic labor on 226 agricultural estates in this largeSouth American country. Sex trafficking of women and girlsoccurs in all 26 states and an estimated two hundred andfifty thousand children have been involved in prostitution. Alarge number of women and children are found in sex traffickingabroad, often in European countries, including Spain, Italy,Portugal, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland,France, Germany, Norway, and Luxembourg, as well as in theUnited States, and as far away as Japan.C. In Asia, this is the major destination country for traffickedwomen, especially women coming from the Philippines andThailand. Organized-crime syndicates (the Yakuza) are believedto play a significant role in trafficking, both directly and indirectly.Traffickers strictly control the movements of victims, using debtbondage, threats of violence or deportation, blackmail, andother coercive psychological methods.G. An estimated four thousand trafficking victims are in thisEuropean island country at any given time for the purposesof commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor, includingconstruction, food processing, domestic servitude, and foodservice. They come from a broad range of countries, includingLithuania, Russia, Albania, Ukraine, Malaysia, Thailand, China,Nigeria, and Ghana.D. In this African country, women and girls — particularly thosefrom rural areas or who are internally displaced — are vulnerableto forced labor as domestic workers in homes throughout thecountry; most are believed to be working without contracts orgovernment-enforced labor protections. Some of these womenand girls are subsequently sexually abused by male occupantsof the household or forced to engage in commercial sex acts.In 1998 alone, three thousand children from a Christian populationof one hundred and fifty thousand were abducted towork as laborers.H. This Scandinavian country is a destination for women and girlssubjected to sex trafficking, and for men and women subjected toconditions of forced labor. Female sex trafficking victims originatein Russia, the Baltic countries, the Caucasus, Asia, Africa, centraleastern Europe, and the Caribbean; forced labor victims comeprimarily from India, China, Thailand, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.Forced labor victims are exploited in the construction industry,restaurants, agriculture, berry-picking fields, and as cleaners anddomestic servants.Adapted from the U.S. Department of State’s “Trafficking in Persons Report 2011”www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/index.htm

Teacher Handout A:Mapping Modern Slavery (page 2)HALF THE SKY: SEX TRAFFICKING AND INTERGENERATIONAL PROSTITUTIONCut out each of the facts below and distribute to the student groups.I. Approximately 85 percent of identified victims of sex traffickingin this major European nation originate in Europe, including25 percent from within the country. Non-European victimsoriginate in Nigeria and other parts of Africa, as well as in Asiaand the Western Hemisphere. The majority of identified sextraffickingvictims have been exploited in bars, brothels, andapartments. Victims of forced labor have been identified inhotels, domestic service, construction sites, meat-processingplants, and restaurants.M. Low-skilled workers from Thailand, China, Nepal, thePhilippines, India, Sri Lanka and, to a lesser extent, Romania,migrate voluntarily and legally to this eastern Mediterraneancountry for temporary contract labor in construction, agriculture,and home health care provision. Some, however, subsequentlyface conditions of forced labor through such practices as theunlawful withholding of passports, restrictions on movement,inability to change or otherwise choose one’s employer, nonpaymentof wages, threats, sexual assault, and physical intimidation.J. Women and children are found in forced and child prostitutionwithin this Central American country, as well as in Mexico andthe United States. Men, women, and children are subjected toforced labor within the country, often in agriculture or domesticservice, and particularly near the Mexican border and in thehighland region. Indigenous people are particularly vulnerable tolabor exploitation.N. NGOs report that the most common form of trafficking inthis Caribbean country is sex trafficking, which allegedly occursin nightclubs, bars, and private homes. The populations mostvulnerable to trafficking include women and children from poorand single-parent backgrounds. People living in the country’spoverty-stricken garrison communities, territories ruled by criminal“dons” that are effectively outside of the government’s control,are especially at risk.K. The forced labor of millions of its citizens constitutes thelargest trafficking problem in this highly populated southernAsian country. Men, women, and children are forced to workin places such as brick kilns, rice mills, agricultural worksites,and embroidery factories. A common characteristic of bondedlabor is the use of physical and, in many instances, sexualviolence — including rape — as coercive tools, in addition todebt, to maintain these victims’ labor. Ninety percent of traffickingin this country is internal, and those from the mostdisadvantaged communities, including the lowest castes,are particularly vulnerable to forced or bonded labor andsex trafficking. Children are also subjected to forced laboras factory workers, domestic servants, beggars, agriculturalworkers, and, to a lesser extent — in some areas of rural UttarPradesh — as carpet weavers.O. Traffickers, who gain poor families’ trust through familial,tribal, or religious ties in this large African country, fraudulentlyrecruit children through offers to raise and educate them andwomen through offers to place them in lucrative employment.Men, women, and children voluntarily migrate to other easternAfrican nations, Europe, and the Middle East — particularly SaudiArabia — in search of employment, where they are trafficked intodomestic servitude, massage parlors and brothels, and forcedmanual labor, including in the construction industry.L. Children are trafficked within this country for commercial sexualexploitation – sometimes through forced marriages, in whichtheir new “husbands” force them into prostitution and involuntaryservitude as beggars or laborers to pay debts, provide income,or support drug addiction in their families. There are reports ofwomen and girls being sold for marriage to men in neighboringPakistan for the purpose of sexual servitude. Some NGOs reportthat religious leaders and immigration officials are involved in thesale of young girls and boys between 9 and 14 years old to menin the Gulf states for commercial sexual exploitation. Accordingto these sources, a young girl or boy could be sold for as little asfive dollars.P. Men, women, and children from this landlocked SoutheastAsian country are found in conditions of forced labor inThailand, Malaysia, and China. Many migrants, particularlywomen, pay broker fees to obtain jobs in Thailand — normallyranging from $70 to $200 — but are subjected to conditions ofsexual servitude and forced labor in Thailand’s commercial sextrade or in domestic service, garment factories, or agriculturalindustries upon their arrival. Ethnic minority populations are particularlyvulnerable to trafficking in Thailand, due to their lack ofThai language skills and unfamiliarity with Thai society.

Teacher Handout A:Mapping Modern Slavery (page 3)HALF THE SKY: SEX TRAFFICKING AND INTERGENERATIONAL PROSTITUTIONCut out each of the facts below and distribute to the student groups.Q. This West African country is a source and destination countryfor young women and children subjected to forced laborand sex trafficking. Most trafficking victims originate from withinthe country’s borders and are subjected to domestic servitude;forced begging to support religious instructors; sex trafficking;or forced labor in street vending, on rubber plantations, andin diamond mines. Traffickers operate independently and arecommonly family members who may promise poorer relatives abetter life for their children. Children sent to work as domesticservants for wealthier relatives are vulnerable to forced laboror – to a lesser extent — commercial sexual exploitation.T. Many sex-trafficking victims from rural areas of this SouthAmerican country are forced into prostitution in urban centersor wealthy provinces. The border area with Paraguay andBrazil is a significant area for sex- and labor-trafficking victims.A significant number of foreign women and children, primarilyfrom Paraguay, Bolivia, and Peru, are subjected to sex trafficking.Bolivians, Paraguayans, and Peruvians, as well as citizensfrom poorer northern provinces of the country, are subjected toforced labor in sweatshops and on farms.R. Most trafficking victims in this African country are exploitedwithin the country, though victims of sex and labor traffickinghave also been identified in South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique,Tanzania, and parts of Europe. Within the country, children aresubjected to domestic servitude and other forms of forcedlabor, including in cattle herding, agricultural labor, and menialwork in small businesses. At local bars and rest houses, ownerscoerce girls and women, who work at the establishments,to have sex with customers in exchange for room and board.Forced labor is often found on tobacco plantations.U. Men and women from several Pacific Islands, India, China,South Korea, and the Philippines are recruited to work temporarilyon this island continent. After their arrival, some aresubjected by unscrupulous employers and labor agencies toforced labor in sectors such as agriculture, horticulture, construction,cleaning, hospitality, manufacturing, and domesticservice. They face confiscation of their travel documents,confinement on the employment site, threats of physical harm,and debt bondage. Some traffickers attempt to hide their foreignvictims from official notice or prevent victims from receivingassistance by abusing the legal system in order to create difficultiesfor victims who contact authorities for help.S. This North American country is a large source, transit, anddestination country for men, women, and children subjected tosex trafficking and forced labor. Groups considered most vulnerableto human trafficking include women, children, indigenouspersons, and undocumented migrants. Women, girls, and boysfrom poor rural areas are subjected to sexual servitude withinthe United States, lured by fraudulent employment opportunitiesor deceptive offers of romantic relationships, including marriage.Trafficking victims are also subjected to conditions of forcedlabor in agriculture, domestic service, construction, and streetbegging, in both the United States and their home country.V. In this southern African country, Thai women are subjectedto prostitution in illegal brothels, while eastern Europeanorganized-crime units force some women from Russia, Ukraine,and Bulgaria into debt-bonded prostitution in exclusive privatemen’s clubs. Chinese traffickers bring victims from Lesotho,Mozambique, and Swaziland to Johannesburg or other cities forprostitution. Migrant men from China and Taiwan are forced towork in mobile sweatshop factories. Taxi drivers and criminals atthe border transport Zimbabwean migrants, including children,into the country and may subject them to sex or labor traffickingupon arrival.Adapted from the U.S. Department of State’s “Trafficking in Persons Report 2011”www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/index.htm

HALF THE SKY: SEX TRAFFICKING AND INTERGENERATIONAL PROSTITUTIONTeacher Handout A:Mapping Modern Slavery (page 4)Cut out each of the facts below and distribute to the student groups.W. Media reports indicate that there are between two hundredthousand and four hundred thousand women engaged inprostitution in this western European country, with over threethousand entertainment establishments dedicated to prostitution.According to media reports and government officials, approximately90 percent of those engaged in prostitution are victimsof forced prostitution, controlled by organized networks operatingthroughout the country.Y. The Migration Research Center estimates that one millionpeople in this large northern Asian country are exposed to“exploitative” labor conditions that are characteristic of traffickingcases, such as withholding of documents, nonpayment forservices, physical abuse, or extremely poor living conditions.Instances of labor trafficking were reported in the construction,manufacturing, agriculture, and domestic services industries.There are also reports of exploitation of children, including childprostitution in large cities and forced begging.X. In this North American nation, women and girls, particularlyfrom aboriginal communities, are found in conditions of commercialsexual exploitation across the country. Foreign womenand children, primarily from Asia and eastern Europe, are subjectedto sex trafficking; sex-trafficking victims have come fromChina, Hong Kong, Fiji, Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines,Romania, Ukraine, and Moldova, in addition to other countriesand territories. Law enforcement officials report the involvementof organized crime in sex trafficking. Most suspected labortraffickingvictims are foreign workers who enter the countrylegally, but then are subjected to forced labor in agriculture,sweatshops, and processing plants, or as domestic servants.Z. Men, women, and children from this Southeast Asian countrymigrate to Thailand, Malaysia, and other countries for work, andmany are subjected to sex trafficking or forced to labor in the Thaifishing and seafood processing industry, on agricultural plantations,in factories, in domestic work, or in begging and streetselling. Within the country, women and children are traffickedfrom rural areas to major cities and tourist centers for commercialsexual exploitation. Children are also subjected to forced labor,including being forced to beg; scavenge refuse; and work in quarries,as domestic servants, or in the production and processingof bricks, rubber, salt, and shrimp. According to the InternationalLabor Organization, there are an estimated twenty-eight thousandchild domestic workers in Phnom Penh alone.KEYA. UNITED STATES OF AMERICAB. UGANDAC. JAPAND. SUDANE. HAITIF. BRAZILG. GREAT BRITAINH. FINLANDI. GERMANYJ. GUATEMALAK. INDIAL. IRANM. ISRAELN. JAMAICAO. KENYAP. L AO SQ. LIBERIAR. MALAWIS. MEXICOT. ARGENTINAU. AUSTRALIAV. SOUTH AFRICAW. S PAI NX. CANADAY. RUSSIAZ. CAMBODIAAdapted from the U.S. Department of State’s “Trafficking in Persons Report 2011”www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/index.htm

HALF THE SKYWomen’s Economic Empowerment0105“If we empower women weempower society. There is adirect correlation. We are notjust changing a life, we arechanging a community.”Roshaneh ZafarFounder and managing director of theKashf FoundationOVERVIEWAudienceHigh School (grades 11–12), CommunityCollege, Youth Development OrganizationsTime90 minutes or two 50-minute class periods+ assignmentsSubject AreasWomen’s Studies, Social Studies, GlobalStudies, Economics, Media Studies,Financial Literacy, English Language ArtsPurpose of the LessonWomen and girls play a vital role in theeconomic prosperity of their families,communities, and countries, yet in everypart of the world, women often work longerhours than men, are paid less for theirwork, are at a higher risk of unemployment,and are far more likely to live in poverty.A growing body of research shows thatenhancing women and girls’ economicopportunities plays a critical role inreducing poverty as well as gender-baseddiscrimination and violence, improvingwomen and girls’ access to education andcivic participation, and raising the qualityof life for future generations. When womenare in charge of their financial destinies,income, and capital — such as land andlivestock — they gain more control over theirown lives and personal security and as aresult have greater access to decisionmakingand leadership roles in theirhomes and communities. Women are alsoconsistently more likely to reinvest profitsback into their families, which — in additionto improving their own children’s nutrition,health, and education — contributes to theeconomic growth and security of theircommunities and countries.This lesson will consider how and whywomen and girls are disproportionatelyaffected by extreme poverty and willexamine the ripple effects of women’seconomic empowerment on individuals,families, communities, and societies.

0106HALF THE SKYWomen’s Economic EmpowermentOVERVIEWNote for Teachers about the Lesson PlanWomen’s Economic Empowerment andIts Contents:This lesson and the accompanying filmmodule from Half the Sky: TurningOppression into Opportunity for WomenWorldwide illustrate a range of challengesfacing women in a frank and honest manner,but the discussions and topics might notbe suitable for all audiences. Teachersshould prepare for the lesson by reading allthe materials thoroughly and watching thecomplete film module to determine if thistopic and lesson are appropriate for theirclass. Teachers should also brief studentson what they will be viewing in advance andidentify students who might be personallyor adversely affected by this material. Priorto launching the lesson, please contact yourschool counselor or social worker to discusspolicies and procedures for addressinga disclosure of violence or abuse and beprepared to provide students with support orthe option of not participating in the lessonwhere appropriate.For additional information about thedocumentary Half the Sky: TurningOppression into Opportunity forWomen Worldwide, please downloadthe free Women’s EconomicEmpowerment Discussion Guide fromthe ITVS Women and Girls Lead website(womenandgirlslead.org), visit the project’sofficial website (halftheskymovement.org),and read Half the Sky: Turning Oppressioninto Opportunity for Women Worldwide byNicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.Objectives:Students will:• consider the challenges associated withliving in extreme poverty and develop aone-week budget for a family of three livingon two dollars a day;• examine the relationship between genderand poverty and discuss the possiblefactors for and consequences of thesubstantial economic disparity betweenwomen and men;• identify the location of Kenya on a map andunderstand the social and political contextof the economic challenges faced by thewomen in the film module;• consider the role that men and boys canplay to improve economic independencefor women and girls and how empoweringwomen empowers men; and• understand the beneficial ripple effectof women’s economic empowermenton individual women, their families, theircommunities, and their countries.Resources:• Film module: Women’s EconomicEmpowerment in Kenya (10:41)• Half the Sky: Turning Oppression intoOpportunity for Women Worldwide FilmSeries Trailer (5:48): itvs.org/films/half-the-sky• LCD projector or DVD player• Teacher handouts:--Women’s Economic EmpowermentDiscussion Guide (Download Half theSky: Turning Oppression into Opportunityfor Women Worldwide discussion guidePDFs from the Independent TelevisionService [ITVS] Women and Girls Leadwebsite: www.womenandgirlslead.org.)• Student handouts:--Student Handout A: Living on $2 a Day--Student Handout B: Poverty and Gender--Student Handout C: Kenya in Context--Student Handout D: Film ModuleScreening Guide--Student Handout E: Expert Fact Sheets--Student Handout F: The Ripple EffectWorksheet• Pens/pencils and writing paper• Whiteboard/blackboard and markers/chalk• Calculators (if available)• Computers with internet access• Wall map of the world with country names:www.amaps.com/mapstoprint/WORLDDOWNLOAD.htm

0107HALF THE SKYWomen’s Economic EmpowermentLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESPrescreening ActivityTime: 30 minutesYou will need: Student Handout A: Living on $2 a Day, Student Handout B: Povertyand Gender, Student Handout C: Kenya in Context, pens/pencils and writing paper, andcalculators, if availableGoal: Students will consider the challenges associated with living in extreme poverty anddevelop a one-week budget for a family of three living on two dollars a day.Part 1: Living on $2 a Day• Hold up two dollars and ask students the following questions:--If I told you that you had to feed yourself for a whole day using just two dollars, whatwould you spend it on? Discuss as a class and record feedback.--If I told you that you had to feed your whole family for a day with just two dollars, howwould you spend the money? Discuss as a class and record feedback.• Share the following information with the class:More than one-half of the world's people live below the internationally defined poverty lineof less than U.S. $2 a day — including 97 percent of the population in Uganda, 80 percentin Nicaragua, 66 percent in Pakistan, and 47 percent in China.• Divide the class into groups of two to three students and distribute Student Handout A:Living on $2 a Day. Ask them to use the information in the handout to develop a one-weekbudget for a family of three living on only two dollars per day. (Note: The costs included inthe worksheet are adapted from Student Voices against Poverty: The Millennium CampaignCurriculum Project: www.un.org/works/Lesson_Plans/MDGs/MDG_Curriculum_US.pdf). Have them collaborate with their group to decide which items and expenses theyshould spend money on and which they would not be able to afford. (For example: Wouldthey choose school fees over paying the electric bill? Would they put any money in theirsavings account?)• When they complete their budgets, have them illustrate their results using a pie chart. Theycan create the charts using either their worksheets, large sheets of kraft paper and markers,or an interactive online tool such as the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)Kids’ Zone “Create a Graph” tool: nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/default.aspx?ID=3037a0d01a0d43a99e136a4ce8a03347.

0108HALF THE SKYWomen’s Economic EmpowermentLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESPrescreening Activity• Discuss the groups’ results as a class, using the following discussion prompts:--What surprised you most while completing this activity?--What was the biggest challenge your team faced when making the budget?--What was your biggest expense?--Were there any “essentials” that you could not afford? What were they? What did youhave to sacrifice?--Were you able to put any money in your savings account?--Were you able to pay for your children’s school fees?--Would you be willing to ask your child to work instead of going to school to help supportthe family? How young is too young for a child to go to work if a family is trying to surviveon two dollars per day?--What do you think would happen if you or someone in your family got sick? Whatexpenses would you cut to pay for their medical bills?--How did it make you feel, knowing that you could not provide all of the needed resourcesfor your family?Part 2: Global Poverty and Gender• Introduce the following information:Seventy percent of the world’s poor are women and girls. Although women play a vitalrole in the economic prosperity of their families, communities, and countries, in every partof the world, women work longer hours than men, are paid less for their work, are at ahigher risk of unemployment, and are far more likely to live in poverty.• Divide the class into groups of four students and assign each student in each group a numberfrom one to four (this is commonly known as the “numbered heads together” activity).• Distribute Student Handout B: Poverty and Gender to each group and have them review thefact sheet and respond to what they have read by discussing the questions that are provided.• When the discussion is complete, call out a number from one to four and have the studentfrom each team who was assigned that number present their group’s results to the class.(This will help ensure that all of the students are actively involved in the activity.)Part 3: Kenya in Context• In preparation for viewing the film module, ask a volunteer to locate Kenya on the wall map.• Provide students with the fact sheet Student Handout C: Kenya in Context. Have themread the fact sheet and discuss briefly with a partner.• Variation: This handout can be provided in advance of the lesson for students to reviewas homework.

0109HALF THE SKYWomen’s Economic EmpowermentLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESViewing the ModuleClass time: 10–15 minutesNote: We recommend that if time permits you begin this section by watching the film seriestrailer (5:48): itvs.org/films/half-the-skyYou will need: Pens/pencils and writing paper, LCD projector or DVD player, the Women’sEconomic Empowerment in Kenya film module (10:41), and Student Handout D: FilmModule Screening Guide• Distribute Student Handout D: Film Module Screening Guide and instruct students to takenotes during the screening using the worksheet as a guide.• Variation: The questions from Student Handout D can be projected or written on the boardand reviewed briefly before viewing the film module to save paper.

0110HALF THE SKYWomen’s Economic EmpowermentLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESPost-Screening ActivityTime: 50 minutesYou will need: Student Handout E: Expert Fact Sheets, Student Handout F: The RippleEffect Worksheet, pens/pencils and writing paper, and computers with internet access,if availableGoal: Students will discuss the film modules and share their notes. Students will work ingroups to research and understand effects of economic empowerment of women on theindividual level, the family level, the community level, and the national level. They will usetheir collective research to create a written and/or visual narrative illustrating the ripple effectof empowering a single woman.Part 1: Postscreening Discussion Questions• What did you think of the film? Was there anything that surprised you?• What were some of the economic challenges that the women faced?• What were some of the unsuccessful and successful strategies for women’s economicempowerment that the film highlighted?• Ingrid Munro says that in order to “get people out of poverty you need to deal with everyaspect of their life.” What does she mean by this? Do you agree with this statement? Whyor why not?• While walking through the market, the women from Jamii Bora tell Nicholas Kristof andOlivia Wilde that “the men buy the sodas, the women buy the milk.” Why is this exchange sosignificant? What does it reveal about the financial dynamics of Kenyan families?• What role do men have to play in women’s economic empowerment? How doesempowering women improve quality of life for men?• When we read about problems in communities, our minds tend to go immediately to aidprograms and aid organizations, but what about business as a solution? What are thebenefits and pitfalls of social entrepreneurship in comparison to traditional aid?• Many economists and development experts believe that the social-entrepreneurshipmodel highlighted in the film ignores the bigger social and institutional issues such asdiscrimination, corruption, and corporate greed that are the actual roots of extreme povertyand places too large a burden on the individual. Do you think the entrepreneur approachis unfair to individual women by making them responsible for overcoming the failings oftheir society? What are some other strategies shown in the film that help to improve theeconomic security of women and their families?• All of the strategies that were highlighted in the film show women working with others toovercome the economic challenges and barriers that they face. What benefit is there infacing individual economic challenges in collaboration with one’s peers and community? Isthis an approach that could be used in our communities?• How did the lives of the women change when they became financially independent?• How can women’s economic independence break the cycle of poverty?• What role has the issue of women’s economic empowerment played in your life? Werethere different economic expectations for girls and boys in your community or family? Wereyou expected to be financially independent when you grew up? How did your experiencecompare to that of the women in the film?

0111HALF THE SKYWomen’s Economic EmpowermentLESSON PLAN PROCEDURESPost-Screening Activity:Part 2: Women’s Economic Empowerment Jigsaw• Divide the class into groups of four students each and explain that they will work in groupsto research and understand effects of economic empowerment of women on the individuallevel, the family level, the community level, and the national level. They will use theircollective research to create a written and/or visual narrative illustrating the ripple effect ofempowering a single woman.• Jigsaw Activity: From the following list, assign each student in the group an “Area ofExpertise” about the impact of women’s economic empowerment on various entities:--An individual woman--Her family--Her community--Her society• Ask the “experts” from each group to work together to research their topic. DistributeStudent Handout E: Expert Fact Sheet to each group and ask students to supplement theirresearch with online sources. The following websites can be used as resources:--The United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) report on women’s economicempowerment: www.unfpa.org/public/global/pid/382--The “Women, Poverty & Economics” section of the UN Women website:www.unifem.org/gender_issues/women_poverty_economics--The “Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment” section of the USAID website:www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/gender-equality-and-womens-empowerment• When the research is complete ask the “experts” to return to their original groups and sharetheir findings.• Distribute Student Handout F: The Ripple Effect Worksheet to each group and ask them toread the brief paragraph describing extreme poverty in the United States.• Instruct them to imagine that they are working with Jamii Bora and have been assigned tohelp improve economic empowerment for women in their local community. Have the groupscomplete the worksheet using their research and expertise.• Finally, have students use what they have learned to develop a brief written and/or visualnarrative illustrating the ripple effect of providing economic empowerment to women intheir community. The following websites provide resources that can be used to createinfographics and visual representations of their research:--Infographics in Education: infographicsineducation.wikispaces.com--“Teaching with Infographics: Places to Start”:learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/teaching-with-infographics-places-to-start• The groups should display their results and discuss with the class:--Why is women’s economic empowerment an important issue?--How does women’s economic empowerment empower men and boys as well? What rolecan men play in improving the economic independence of women?--How can women’s economic independence help break the cycle of poverty?

0112HALF THE SKYWomen’s Economic EmpowermentAssignmentsSelect one or more of the following assignments to completethe lesson:1. Women’s economic empowerment in our community.Ask students to work alone or in groups to research services andorganizations that provide support to women and girls in theircommunities and consider the impact that gender and factors suchas race, religion, and class play in the economic security of anindividual and of a family.• Students should use their strategies from the postscreening activityas a guide and incorporate resources and organizations in the areathat provide support and services.• They can also contact organizations in their communities thatprovide entrepreneurship support for low-income women who wantto start their own businesses.• If possible, they should interview one of an organization’s clientsto discuss the benefits and challenges of entrepreneurship anddevelop a profile of their subject or the organization.• Students can present their completed projects to their schoolcommunity and can also reach out to their local city council todiscuss their project and their findings. The following websitecan help you contact your local elected officials: www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml.• Multimedia presentation resources:--Zentation, where you can combine videos, slides, and audio intopresentations: Zentation.com--VoiceThread, a video, audio, and slide editing program:Voicethread.com--VCASMO, an easy-to-use multimedia presentation tool:Vcasmo.com--“Writing Copy for Voiceovers”:peterdrewvo.com/html/tips_for_writing_for_voiceover.html2. Journaling Exercise: How would you live on less than$2 a day?As we have seen, extreme poverty is not something that only exists indeveloping countries; nearly 1.5 million Americans are living on lessthan two dollars per day. Ask students to imagine that they are one ofthese 1.5 million Americans and have them do a series of short diaryentries using a social media site such as Tumblr describing a weekin their life. Have them consider what life would be like if they had tosurvive with extremely limited resources and then write their journalentries using the following questions as a guide:• What would your biggest challenges be each day?• What would you have to sacrifice?• What would you spend your money on or save up for?• Would you continue to come to school? If so, how would yourlimited resources shape your experience? If not, what would youuse your time for instead?• What impact would living on two dollars a day have on yourexpectations for your future?

0113HALF THE SKYWomen’s Economic EmpowermentExtensions1. This Land is My Land (Too)Studies show when women have secure rights to their land, theirfamily nutrition and health improve, they may be less likely to bevictims of domestic violence, and their children are more likely toreceive an education and stay in school longer. Despite this, womenaround the world are struggling to gain the right to own their ownland. Have students research the importance of land rights inensuring women’s economic empowerment.• Instruct students to work in groups to research the status of landrights around the world, and identify countries where womenare struggling to own their own land. Have them also identifycountries that have improved women’s access to land rights in thepast 20 years.• Have each group select one country that lacks adequate landrights and one country where women’s rights recently improvedand compare the status of women and their quality of life ineach country.• What impact has owning/not owning land had on women’s livesand the lives of their families?• How have women’s lives changed since they began owning theirown land?• Has the introduction of land rights for women had an impact at thecommunity or national level?• Students can use the following websites for research andinformation and should complete their projects by creatingmultimedia presentations of their research using Prezi (prezi.com).Landesa:www.landesa.orgInternational Land Coalition:www.landcoalition.orgThe “Women’s Land & Property Rights” section of theUN Women website:www.unifem.org/gender_issues/women_poverty_economics/land_property_rights.php2. Small Loans, Big DebatesMicrofinance was once believed to be a key strategy in povertyalleviation, but in recent years, questions about its broadeffectiveness beyond individual success stories, along with aseries of scandals — including reported suicides among indebtedborrowers in Andhra Pradesh, India — have overshadowed storiesof small loans helping pull women out of poverty. The debate hasbeen characterized by extreme claims on both sides, but what is thebottom line on microfinance?• Screen the complete segment from the film on Women’s EconomicEmpowerment and have students consider why microfinance hasbeen moderately effective in some countries but not at all in others.• Ask students to share their feedback and what they think about thedebate about microfinance.• Have students work individually or in groups and research the issue.What are the main points of those who support microfinance?What are the main points of those who are against it?• Assign each student/group one side of the debate to research indetail. Following their research, have students engage in a formaldebate about the issue. Education World offers a selection ofdebate resources that provide guidelines and rules for classroomdebates: www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson304b.shtml• Resources on this topic can be found at the following websites:Women’s World Banking:www.swwb.orgGrameen Bank:www.grameen-info.orgMicrofinance Open Book Blog by David Roodman of theWashington-based Center for Global Development:blogs.cgdev.org/open_book/2009/02/summary-and-outline.php

0114HALF THE SKYWomen’s Economic EmpowermentExtensions3. Millennium Development Goals:Empowering Women Empowers the WorldIn September 2000, the United Nations signed the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs), with the aim of halving the numberof people living in poverty, reducing maternal and child mortality,fighting disease, and improving social and economic conditionsin the world's poorest countries by 2015. Have your class screenthe complete series of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression intoOpportunity for Women Worldwide and examine the connectionbetween the issues addressed in the documentary and theMillennium Campaign’s focus on women. Have them consider howand why improving rights and resources for women and girls isconsidered key to eradicating global poverty.• Divide the class into eight groups, assign each an MDG, andinstruct the groups to develop a “We Are the Goal” presentation,which should include the following:--A summary of the MDG and the campaign’s strategies forimproving social and economic conditions for women--Information on the public perception and understanding ofthe MDGs; students can investigate the public’s knowledgeand understanding of the Millennium Campaign by recording“person-on-the-street” interviews and including the footage inthe presentation--Examples of specific programs that have been implemented andtheir impact to date--How the campaign relates to issues in the students’ owncommunities--A plan of action for the group and the school community tocontribute to the Millennium Campaign• The presentations should be multimedia and can include photoessays,video footage, audio clips, animations, and infographics,using the following websites as resources:Animoto:animoto.comCapzles:www.capzles.comPrezi:prezi.comInfographic tools from the Educational Technology and MobileLearning website:www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/05/eight-free-tools-forteachers-to-make.html• Information and resources for research on the MDGs can be found at:United Nations Millennium Development Goals:www.un.org/millenniumgoalsEnd Poverty 2015:www.endpoverty2015.orgThe “Get Involved” section of the UN MDGs website:www.un.org/millenniumgoals/getinvolved.shtmlThe “Millennium Development Goals” section of theUN Women website:www.unifem.org/gender_issues/millennium_development_goalsMDG Monitor:www.mdgmonitor.org4. Kick-Start a ConversationWomen’s World Banking (WWB) is a global network of 39 financialorganizations from 27 countries and the only microfinance networkwith an explicit focus on women. Have your students visit theWWB website to learn how they can host an event at their schoolor in their community to kick-start the conversation about women’seconomic empowerment and find out how they can work withWWB to make a difference. The website provides complete detailsfor planning events and a multimedia tool kit to help bring the issueto life for your community.Women’s World Banking:www.swwb.orgThe “Host Your Own WWB Event” section of the WWB website:www.swwb.org/content/host-your-own-wwb-event5. Connect with CommunitiesKiva is a grassroots nonprofit organization with a mission toconnect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Kiva reliesheavily on its team of committed volunteers and offers a range ofopportunities to get involved, including the Kiva Translation Programand the Kiva Fellows Program, which has offered over four hundredindividuals an opportunity to put their skills to work in support ofglobal microfinance. Visit Kiva’s website for more information:www.kiva.org.

HALF THE SKYWomen’s Economic Empowerment0115Additional ResourcesBOOKSN. Kristof, S. WuDunn, Half the Sky:Turning Oppression into Opportunity forWomen Worldwide, New York : Alfred A.Knopf, 2009FILMSHalf The Sky: Turning Oppression IntoOpportunity For Women Worldwide:Filmed in 10 countries, the documentaryfollows Nicholas Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn,and celebrity activists America Ferrera,Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan,Gabrielle Union, and Olivia Wilde on ajourney to tell the stories of inspiring,courageous individuals. Across the globe,oppression is being confronted, and realmeaningful solutions are being fashionedthrough health care, education, andeconomic empowerment for women andgirls. The linked problems of sex traffickingand forced prostitution, gender-basedviolence, and maternal mortality — whichneedlessly claims one woman every 90seconds — present to us the single mostvital opportunity of our time: the opportunityto make a change. All over the world,women are seizing this opportunity. Visit thewebsite at: www.halftheskymovement.orgITVS Women and Girls Lead FilmCollection: Women and Girls Lead offersa collection of films by prominentindependent filmmakers. These films focuson women who are working to transform theirlives, their communities, and the world. Visitthe website to learn more about the filmsand explore our diverse catalogue of educatorresources, lesson plans, and film modules.See www.womenandgirlslead.org formore details.WEBSITESThis is the official website for the Halfthe Sky: Turning Oppression intoOpportunity for Women Worldwide film,book, and movement.www.halftheskymovement.orgITVS’s Women and Girls Lead is aninnovative public media campaign designedto celebrate, educate, and activate women,girls, and their allies across the globe toaddress the challenges of the 21st century.womenandgirlslead.orgJamii Bora works to strengthen and utilizeall the skills, determination, and hard workof the people of Kenya to build a betternation through better families.www.jamiibora.orgThe Umoja Uaso Women’s Group inKenya is a refuge for victims of domesticabuse where women support themselvesand their families through the sale oftraditional crafts and promote humanrights, economic empowerment, and thepreservation of indigenous art.www.umojawomen.orgWomen’s World Banking (WWB) is aglobal network of 39 financial organizationsfrom 27 countries and the only microfinancenetwork with an explicit focus on women.www.swwb.orgThe Centre for Development andPopulation Activities (CEDPA) worksthrough local partnerships to give womentools to improve their lives, families, andcommunities. CEDPA’s programs increaseeducational opportunities for girls, ensureaccess to lifesaving reproductive healthand HIV/AIDS information and services,and strengthen good governance andwomen’s leadership in their nations.www.cedpa.orgGirls Inc. inspires all girls to be strong,smart, and bold through life-changingprograms and experiences that help girlsnavigate gender, economic, andsocial barriers.www.girlsinc.orgThe Landesa Center for Women’s LandRights recognizes that the lack of secureland rights is a root cause of global poverty.Their land law and policy experts help poorcountries develop and implement land laws,policies, and programs that provide laddersout of poverty for their citizens and promotelong-term economic growth.www.landesa.orgKiva is a grassroots nonprofit organizationwith a mission to connect people throughlending to alleviate poverty.www.kiva.orgThe Campaign for Female Education(Camfed USA) fights poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa by educating girls andempowering women to become leadersof change.us.camfed.org/site/PageServer?pagename=home_indexThe Girl Effect is a collective movementto lift 50 million women and girls out ofpoverty by 2030 through the education andempowerment of girls.www.girleffect.orgThe United Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF) is mandated by the UnitedNations General Assembly to advocate forthe protection of children’s rights, to helpmeet children’s basic needs, and to expandtheir opportunities to reach their full potential.www.unicef.orgWomen for Women International“provides women survivors of war, civilstrife and other conflicts with the tools andresources to move from crisis and povertyto stability and self-sufficiency, therebypromoting viable civil societies. We’rechanging the world one woman at a time.”www.womenforwomen.org

HALF THE SKYWomen’s Economic Empowerment0116StandardsCommon Core State Standardsfor English Language Arts& Literacy in History/SocialStudies, Science, and TechnicalSubjectsWriting Standards 6–123. (9–10, 11–12) Write narratives todevelop real or imagined experiences orevents using effective technique, wellchosendetails, and well-structured eventsequences.4. (9–10, 11–12) Produce clear andcoherent writing in which the development,organization, and style are appropriateto task, purpose, and audience. (Gradespecificexpectations for writing types aredefined in standards 1–3 above.)6. (9–10, 11–12) Use technology,including the Internet, to produce, publish,and update individual or shared writingproducts, taking advantage of technology’scapacity to link to other information and todisplay information flexibly and dynamically.Speaking and Listening Standards1. (9–10, 11–12) Initiate and participateeffectively in a range of collaborativediscussions (one-on-one, in groups, andteacher-led) with diverse partners on [grade9–12] topics, text, and issues, buildingon others’ ideas and expressing their ownclearly and persuasively.4. (11–12) Present information, findings,and supporting evidence, conveying a clearand distinct perspective, such that listenerscan follow the line of reasoning, alternativeor opposing perspectives are addressed,and the organization, development,substance, and style are appropriate topurpose, audience, and a range of formaland informal tasks.5. (9–10, 11–12) Make strategic useof digital media (e.g., textual, graphical,audio, visual, and interactive elements) inpresentations to enhance understanding offindings, reasoning, and evidence and toadd interest.Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and TechnicalSubjects 6–121. (9–10, 11–12) Write arguments focusedon discipline-specific content.4. (9–10, 11–12) Produce clear andcoherent writing in which the development,organization, and style are appropriate totask, purpose, and audience.7. (9–10, 11–12) Conduct short as wellas more sustained research projectsto answer a question (including a selfgeneratedquestion) or solve a problem;narrow or broaden the inquiry whenappropriate; synthesize multiple sources onthe subject, demonstrating understandingof the subject under investigation.9. (9–10, 11–12) Draw evidence frominformational texts to support analysis,reflection, and research.National Curriculum Standardsfor Social Studies1. CULTUREThrough the study of culture and culturaldiversity, learners understand how humanbeings create, learn, share, and adapt toculture, and appreciate the role of culture inshaping their lives and society, as well thelives and societies of others.4. INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENTAND IDENTITYPersonal identity is shaped by family,peers, culture, and institutional influences.Through this theme, students examinethe factors that influence an individual’spersonal identity, development, and actions.5. INDIVIDUALS, GROUPS, ANDINSITITUTIONSInstitutions such as families and civic,educational, governmental, and religiousorganizations exert a major influence onpeople’s lives. This theme allows studentsto understand how institutions are formed,maintained, and changed, and to examinetheir influence.10. CIVIC IDEALS AND PRACTICESAn understanding of civic ideals andpractices is critical to full participationin society and an essential componentof education for citizenship. This themeenables students to learn about therights and responsibilities of citizensof a democracy, and to appreciate theimportance of active citizenship.National Standards for ArtsEducation Grades 9–12VA1: Understanding and applying media,techniques, and processesVA5: Reflecting upon and assessing thecharacteristics and merits of their work andthe work of others

HALF THE SKY: WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENTStudent Handout A:Living On $2 A DayThe Cost of Living inLiberia on $2 per DayExchange Rate:US $1 = 50 Liberian dollars (LRD)Living on $2 per day = Living on 3,000Liberian dollars per month*all values listed in LRD1. HousingMonthly rent $12,250Cooking gas/$300/monthKerosene/CoalElectricity$14,700/monthWater$7,350/month2. TransportationOne-way bus ticket to work $253. Meal PlanningPound of rice $245Pound of sugar $73.50Ten tea bags $98Pound of grain $65Pound of tomatoes $98Pound of zucchini $49Pound of onions $49Bottle of Coca-Cola $85Small goat $500Small chicken $2504. Education FeesSchool feesand materials$900/month/child5. ClothingWork shirt $245Work trousers $245Shoes $986. Cost of Personal ItemsSoap$1.50 for pack of six barsShampoo $1.50Toothpaste $147Toothbrush $49Toilet paper$250 for six rolls7. MedicineAntimalaria drugs $343Budget WorksheetImagine that you are part of a family (you, your spouse, and one child)living on $2 per day in Liberia. Using the Cost of Living Worksheetfor reference, work with your team to fill out the budget chart below.Step 1: In the Need column, list the costs in Liberian dollars for each of the items that afamily of three would need during one month. Add up the total costs and compare thattotal with your monthly income of $3,000 LRD. Are your total expenses more or less thanyour income?Step 2: Revisit your need list and eliminate or add items and expenses to keep your monthlybudget at or below your income. List the amounts for all of the items and expenses thatremain in the Can Afford column.Step 3: List the cost of all of the items that you need but cannot afford in the Can’tHave column.BASICS NEED CAN AFFORD CAN’T HAVERentWaterElectricityCooking fuelSchool fees7 lbs. rice4 lbs. tomatoes5 lbs. zucchini20 bottles Coca-Cola1 lb. sugar7 lbs. onions2 small chickensSoap (1 bar)Toothpaste (1/2 tube)Antimalaria drugsTOTAL8. Other Assorted ItemsTV $14,700Adapted from the UN Millennium Campaign’s Student Voices against Poverty:The Millennium Campaign Curriculum Projectwww.un.org/works/Lesson_Plans/MDGs/MDG_Curriculum_US.pdf

HALF THE SKY: WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENTStudent Handout B:Poverty and GenderWomen play a vital role in the economic prosperity of their families, communities, and countries, yet inevery part of the world, women work longer hours than men, are paid less for their work, are at a higherrisk of unemployment, and are far more likely to live in poverty.Fast Facts• Approximately 70 percent of the world’spoor are women and girls.• Women earn less than 10 percent of theworld’s wages, but do more than two-thirdsof the world’s work.• In the United States, a woman earnsapproximately $0.76 for every $1.00 that aman earns in a similar job.• In one out of three households around theworld, women are the sole breadwinners.• Economically empowered women tend tohave fewer children.• Each additional year in school raises awoman’s earnings by about 15 percent.• Women reinvest 90 percent of their incomeinto their families while men invest only30 to 40 percent. In Brazil, when income isin the hands of the mother, the survivalof a child increases by about 20 percent.• Women in sub-Saharan Africa own lessthan 2 percent of the land, but producemore than 90 percent of the food.• Studies show that when women havesecure rights to their land, their family’snutrition and health improve, they are lesslikely to be victims of domestic violence,and their children are more likely to receivean education and stay in school longer.• In developing countries, women and girlsare most often responsible for householdand community water management andtravel great distances in search of water,which limits their time for other activities,including doing income-generating work.• South African women collectively walkthe equivalent of a trip to the moon(384,400 kilometers or 238,855 miles)and back 16 times a day to supply theirhouseholds with water.Barriers to Women’s Economic SecurityDiscussion Questions$=Financial dependence: Women who are denied the opportunity to earn andcontrol their own income and participate in important decisions regarding theirpersonal finances and the economic security of their families are at greater riskof poverty and domestic violence and are more vulnerable to reproductive andmaternal health challenges.Limited participation in the workforce: Worldwide, women are more likelyto work in the informal sector (in jobs such as domestic services and childcare), where wages are unregulated and workers lack basic rights and jobsecurity. Women who work in the formal sector are more likely to experiencediscrimination and occupy fewer leadership positions than their maleco-workers.Unequal pay: Despite doing the majority of the world’s work, women earnon average between 10 and 30 percent less than men. According to a 2009report by the U.S. Census Bureau, women who work full-time, year-round earnon average 23 percent less than men who work the same job.Child care: Traditional gender roles limit women’s ability to participate equallywith men at work and also limit men’s responsibility for child care and unpaidwork duties.Access to land: Women’s ability to own and inherit land is limited or deniedin many countries as a result of social and cultural traditions, legal restrictions,and the lack of information and education available to women.• How do you feel about this information?Did it surprise you? If so, what surprisedyou most?• What impact, if any, has economic equalityhad on your life, your family, or yourcommunity?• How often do you see stories aboutwomen’s economic empowerment in thenews or depicted in the media? Why doyou think that is?• What traditional expectations orstereotypes about women might helpto reinforce economic inequality?How often do we see these stereotypesrepresented in our media? Why do youthink that is?

HALF THE SKY: WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENTStudent Handout C:Kenya Past and PresentKenya is a relatively stable African country with a truly multiculturalpopulation, whose ethnic diversity has produced a vibrant culture.It is also a country that spent 80 years fighting for freedom fromcolonial rule only to face four decades of political corruption that hasundermined its economic and civic development and contributed tothe disempowerment of millions of women.The colonial period in Kenya was a time of vicious political and cultural oppressionand economic exploitation for the indigenous communities who had lived in that regionfor centuries. In 1894, Britain declared protectorate over Kenya, and the new state’sboundaries were drawn without the consultation of Kenya’s people. This act arbitrarilybrought together over 40 previously independent communities into one territorial entity. Theongoing civil unrest that Kenya faces finds its roots in the painful legacy of violence andethnic tension from the country’s colonial era.After achieving independence from Britain in 1963, Kenya’s leader, Jomo Kenyatta,consolidated the political parties under the Kenya African National Union (KANU) party,and by 1969, banned all other political parties. He was succeeded in 1978 by Daniel arapMoi, who maintained one-party rule under KANU and remained in power for 24 years. Inthe early 1990s, violent unrest and international pressure led to the restoration of multipartypolitics, but it took another decade before opposition candidate Mwai Kibaki ended nearly 40years of KANU-party rule with his landslide victory in 2002’s general election.Despite President Kibaki’s pledge to tackle corruption, mismanagement of international aidhas been a continuing issue, with some donors estimating that up to $1 billion was lostbetween 2002 and 2005 alone. In addition to high-level corruption and graft, Kenyans alsoface crippling daily challenges including high unemployment, widespread crime, reoccurringdroughts, and extreme poverty, with most Kenyans living on less than one dollar a day.For Kenyan women, poverty and pervasive traditionalism are the two major obstaclesto obtaining equal rights. Although government policy, legislation, and the media favorwomen’s rights, the traditional view of women’s low status has proven difficult to overcome.Violence against women is a serious problem, with many traditional cultures permitting andeven encouraging men to physically discipline their wives. The practice of female genitalmutilation (FGM) is prevalent, with about 50 percent of Kenyan women having sufferedFGM. Rape is also widespread despite legal prohibitions, and there is substantial evidencethat incidences of child rape are growing. Underlying all of these violations of women’srights is a deeply entrenched economic discrimination linked to cultural traditions andcustomary laws that deny women the right to make decisions about their own resources orto inherit and own land.Recent political improvements — including the new constitution adopted in 2010 thatdelegates more power to local governments and gives Kenyans a bill of rights — haveinspired cautious optimism for many Kenyans. These changes are especially importantfor women, who hope to benefit from policies that seek to end gender discrimination andsupport women’s leadership and participation, such as a quota guaranteeing a minimum of47 women members of Parliament in the National Assembly.*For more information on Kenya, visit the ITVS website and view theeducational materials for Taking Root, a documentary film that tells the story ofKenya’s Green Belt Movement and follows Wangari Maathai, the movement’sfounder and the first environmentalist and African woman to win the Nobel Prize:www.itvs.org/educators/collections/womens-empowerment/lesson-plans/from-roots-to-branches.

HALF THE SKY: WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENTStudent Handout D:Film Module Screening GuideName:Date:Class:Take notes while watching the Women’s Economic Empowerment in Kenya film module, using thefollowing list of questions as a guide:• ●What are some of the economic challenges that the women in the film face?• ●What strategies do the women use to become financially independent?• What impact does the women’s economic security have on their lives, the lives of their families, and their communities?• Write down two or three quotes from the film that stand out most for you and illustrate the value and role of economicempowerment in the lives of the women featured in the film.

HALF THE SKY: WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENTStudent Handout E:Expert Fact Sheet (Page 1)Benefits of Women’sEconomic EmpowermentA growing body of research shows that enhancing women andgirls’ economic opportunities plays a critical role in reducing povertyas well as gender-based discrimination and violence, improvingwomen and girls’ access to education and civic participation,and raising the quality of life for future generations. When womenand girls are in charge of their financial destinies, income, andcapital — such as land and livestock — they gain more control overtheir own lives and personal security and as a result have greateraccess to decision-making and leadership roles in their homes andcommunities. Women are also consistently more likely to reinvestprofits back into their families, which — in addition to improving theirown children’s nutrition, health, and education — contributes to theeconomic growth and security of their communities and countries.Expand YourResearchWork with your expert group and investigate the impact of women’seconomic empowerment using the following websites as resources:• The United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) report on women’seconomic empowerment: www.unfpa.org/public/global/pid/382• The “Women, Poverty & Economics” section of theUN Women website:www.unifem.org/gender_issues/women_poverty_economics• The “Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment” section of theUSAID website: www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/gender-equalityand-womens-empowermentWhat Is Needed?Women and girls have an essential role to play in the globalcampaign to eradicate poverty, but progress on women’s economicempowerment continues to be slow and uneven. Limited accessto land and property, housing, credit, technology, and markets hasundermined women’s livelihoods and restricted their ability to benefitfrom the economic growth they help to generate. The followingstrategies have been identified as critical to ensuring women’seconomic empowerment:• Promote equal opportunities for women in employment and tacklegender-based discrimination in all areas of the public sphere.• Support professional-development programs that target women andgirls and provide leadership training and mentorship.• Provide resources and enact policies that support women who arejuggling paid work and family responsibilities, and provide supportfor men, such as paternity leave, so they can take a greater role inchild care and domestic tasks.• Increase the number of female entrepreneurs and the size of theirbusinesses by giving them greater access to financial services suchas microfinancing, training, technical assistance, and networking toshare best practices.• Improve women’s access to a range of financial services, includingsavings, credit, and insurance, as well as to the right to own andinherit land.• Increase women’s leadership and participation in economicdecision-making bodies at every level.

HALF THE SKY: WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENTStudent Handout E:Expert Fact Sheet (Page 2)Name:Date:Class:Economic Expert WorksheetTopic of expertise (check one below):The impact of women’s economic empowerment on:___ An individual woman___ Her family___ Her community___ Her society1. Research your topic and list at least five benefits of women’s economic empowerment in your area of expertise.12345+2. Identify at least three strategies for women’s economic empowerment that have made improvements in your area of expertise.123+

HALF THE SKY: WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENTStudent Handout F:The Ripple Effect WorksheetName:Date:Class:When we think of extreme poverty we often think of communities in developing countries, but more andmore women and their families in the United States are facing financial crisis. According to a 2012 studyby the National Poverty Center, the number of U.S. households living on less than two dollars per personper day more than doubled between 1996 and 2011, from six hundred and thirty-six thousand to 1.46million. The number of children in extremely poor households also doubled, from 1.4 million to 2.8 millionImagine your team is working with Jamii Bora and you have been assigned to help improve economic empowerment forwomen in your community. Based on your research, respond to the following questions:• What strategies would you use?• What outcomes would you hope to achieve?• How would empowering women benefit the individual women, their families, their communities, and their society?• How would men and boys benefit from women’s economic empowerment?

0124Purchasing the Full-length FilmNew Video, a Cinedigm company, is a leading entertainment distributor and the largestaggregator of independent digital content worldwide. New Video’s Docurama Films is proudto offer Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide aspart of its roster of acclaimed, award-winning documentaries. Educators may purchasethe full-length film through their website: www.newvideo.com/institutional.Purchasing the BookFrom two of our most fiercely moral voices, a passionate call to arms against our era’smost pervasive human rights violation: the oppression of women and girls in the developingworld. With Pulitzer Prize-winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn as ourguides, we undertake an odyssey through Africa and Asia to meet the extraordinarywomen struggling there, among them a Cambodian teenager sold into sex slavery and anEthiopian woman who suffered devastating injuries in childbirth. Drawing on the breadthof their combined reporting experience, Kristof and WuDunn depict our world with anger,sadness, clarity, and, ultimately, hope.Through these stories, Kristof and WuDunn help us see that the key to economic progresslies in unleashing women’s potential. They make clear how so many people havehelped to do just that, and how we can each do our part.Throughout much of the world, the greatest unexploited economic resource is the femalehalf of the population. Countries such as China have prospered precisely because theyemancipated women and brought them into the formal economy. Unleashing that processglobally is not only the right thing to do; it’s also the best strategy for fighting poverty.Deeply felt, pragmatic, and inspirational, Half the Sky is essential reading for everyglobal citizen.The book may be purchased through amazon.com.

CreditsWRITERAllison MilewskiITVS STAFFDirector of Engagement & EducationDuong-Chi DoEducation ManagerAnnelise WunderlichEngagement & Education CoordinatorRenee GaschWomen and Girls Lead Campaign ManagerLocsi FerraNational Community Engagement ManagerSara Brissenden-SmithEngagement & Education AssistantNallaly JimenezMedia Services ManagerBenita StillsDesignersMichael SilvaBrittany TruexCopyeditorJocelyn TruittSHOW OF FORCE STAFFMaro Chermayeff, Executive Producer and DirectorRachel Koteen, Co-ProducerJoshua Bennet, ProducerTEACHER ADVISORSDavid MaduliCrystal Fresco GiffordNGO ADVISORSThe Centre for Population and Development and PopulationActivities (CEDPA) (Maternal Mortality)Laurette CucuzzaEva CantrellRose AmoloInternational Rescue Committee (IRC)(Gender-Based Violence)Heidi ChaseKiva (Economic Empowerment)Chelsa BocciErin VirayPolaris Project (Sexual Slavery)Audrey RoofehRoom to Read (Education)Sonia TorresWomen’s World Banking (Economic Empowerment)Mary Ellen IskenderianPhoebe RockJulie SlamaCOMMUNITY CLASSROOMCommunity Classroom is an innovative and free resource for educators, offeringshort-form film modules adapted from ITVS’s award-winning documentaries andstandards-based lesson plans for high school and community colleges, NGOS,and youth organizations. To learn more, visit itvs.org/educatorsITVSIndependent Television Service (ITVS) funds, presents, and promotes award-winningindependently produced documentaries and dramas on public television andcable, innovative new media projects on the Web, and the Emmy ® Award-winningseries Independent Lens on PBS. ITVS receives core funding from the Corporationfor Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.ITVS’s Women and Girls Lead campaign is a strategic public media initiativeto support and sustain a growing international movement to empower womenand girls, their communities, and future generations. To learn more, visitwomenandgirlslead.orgSHOW OF FORCEDedicated to creating feature documentaries and television series events of thehighest caliber, Show of Force is known for dynamic, character-driven storytellingthat consistently engages, entertains, and inspires. Show of Force is a mediaproduction company represented by CAA (Creative Artists Agency), with 20 yearsof combined experience and excellence between partners Maro Chermayeff andJeff Dupre. They have produced over 20 hours of television and media content peryear with a staff of excellent young producers and are the recipients of numerousawards and accolades for their work on both U.S. and international media broadcasts.Show of Force is the production company overseeing the multiple platformsof the Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwidemovement. To learn more, visit showofforce.comWyncoteFoundationIndependent Television Service (ITVS) email: classroom@itvs.org web: itvs.org/educators/collections