Failure to Empower Women & Girls is the Greatest Obstacle to Peace, Health and Global Sustainability

Somewhere in the world, a father is giving away his 13-year-old daughter to a man at least twice her age. The price for the precious exchange could be as small as a few head of livestock. That young adolescent is now the older man’s wife. His servant. His property. It happens every day. And the tragedy doesn’t stop there. Once married, many girls and women are coerced into having large numbers of children.

Women comprise at least 50 percent of humanity’s potential. Countries that restrict women’s potential are less productive economically, socially and culturally. It’s no mistake that countries with the most restrictive women’s rights are usually the least prosperous. Even America is losing valuable potential by restricting contributions from women.

Download Population Media Center’s free whitepaper to learn how patriarchal social norms around large family size and bias against modern contraception contribute to the women’s dis-empowerment.