It may come slower than they'd hope for, but women around the world - victims of rape, domestic violence, communal violence, and oppression by their traditional communities for the sole fact that they were born females - are making big changes.
I read an uplifting post about women who were beaten for selling goods in their towns where this was considered acceptable only for men. After being beaten, and finding that her husband had done nothing to defend her honor or life during her hospital stay, she decided along with some other women to start a village FOR women and led BY women. While disturbing to note that men had gone so far as to blockade the entry to the female-only towns and even to beat the women in front of tourists who give them their livelihood through visits and the buying of traditional jewelry and crafts, it is incredibly invigorating to hear that the women persevered, bought land where blockades had occurred, and have continued to fight for their rights to life free of violence and oppression, both as women and as human beings.
While destroying traditional patriarchal norms of their people, they are creating new traditions that accept women of all ages and their children. They accept male visitors who are invited in but they are not allowed to stay. Other similar communities are cropping up nearby, with different rules and regulations and hierarchies, but all with the same goal in mind: to change the world for women, to make it a better place where they have voices and power over themselves.
You can check out the full story and some gorgeous images of these world-changing women by clicking here.
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