Running Head: BUILDING TOWARDS A BETTER TOMORROW 1

Building Towards a Better Tomorrow for Women and Girls

Rachael Mahan

Texas Woman’s University

BUILDING TOWARDS A BETTER TOMORROW 2

I used to think of sex trafficking and prostitution as something that only happened in big

cities, but there has recently been a bust in one of the neighborhoods right across from my

family’s. I didn’t imagine sex trafficking as something I would need to worry about too much in

my small “safe” town but on September 11th of this year, 11 women were found in a home found

to be part of a sex trafficking ring right in the middle of a smaller part of Fort Worth near my

own home (Manna, 2018). This just goes to show that the problems that many women (including

myself prior to this sting) see as problems that aren’t in the US and aren’t something that we will

have to worry about for ourselves and future children, are actually global problems that are seen

all over the world even in well developed countries.

According to the film Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women

Worldwide, maternal mortality, intergenerational prostitution, and economic empowerment are

global issues that need to be addressed. In the film, each problem is focused on in one specific

area of the world, but this is because these areas are the places that are working towards

addressing these problems. Economic empowerment is an issue for women all over the world, it

has gotten recent attention lately in America through the wage gape discussion, but in other

countries, women are struggling with supporting their entire families while their husbands then

spend their money on luxuries such as sodas (Chermayeff, et al., "Half the Sky: Turning

Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide", 2012). I personally believe that the gender

wage gap is a myth here in America. Through my own experiences with family and friends as

well as research, I believe and have also found other sources that show that the wage gap mostly

has to do with the choices that women make in regard to their education and careers (Agness,

2016). Not only does experience, type of work, and level of degree affect how much women and

men get paid, but one factor that is often not taken into account is what college one attends. For
BUILDING TOWARDS A BETTER TOMORROW 3

example, one that attends Yale or Harvard would typically receive a higher salary in the long run

that someone who attends a state school such as Texas Tech (Weissmann, 2012). So, if a woman

attends a state school while a man attends an Ivy League school, then the man would make more

in this situation with the same degree and job. This is often overlooked when discussing the

wage gap that can make it look worse than it actually is.

As mentioned in the opening paragraph, sex trafficking and prostitution is a major

problem all over the world. I tried to ignore this issue and act like sex trafficking didn’t exist in

America for a long time. I felt like even on the rare occasions that it did happen it was from men

taking American women across the borders to traffic them for sex in other countries. However,

ever since this sting in Fort Worth just a few weeks ago (Manna, 2012), I have finally admitted

to myself that this is a problem that needs to be talked about and addressed more in Texas and

the US overall. “On January 1, 2016, the Tarrant County 5-Stones Taskforce was created” this

unit was created as a branch off of the Fort Worth Police Department in order to respond to sex

trafficking crimes (Grantham, 2016).

Finally, the issue from the documentary that hit me most was the maternal mortality rates.

Many of my family members have had severe pregnancy complications that had to be treated

rapidly and could’ve quickly and easily resulted in death had we not been in the US with

adequate medical care. In some countries, pregnant women not only have to deal with the natural

possible complications from birth, but also complications from female genital mutilation (FGM)

that is done to many young girls as a part of their tradition and culture. This mutilation can cause

complications from the scar tissue making it hard and narrow for the baby to move through the

birth canal (Chermayeff et. al, 2012). I could not believe that FGM was so common in other

countries and actually paused the documentary to start researching more about it immediately
BUILDING TOWARDS A BETTER TOMORROW 4

because it completely disgusted me. When I read that it is happening in America at alarming

rates even though it is illegal, I was horrified. There was a case opened in 2017 about a doctor in

Michigan performing this procedure. This is the first attempted prosecution since the law was

enacted in 1996. In this case, 6 girls are cited in the claim and it is alleged that Nagarwala may

have performed this inhumane practice on more than 100 girls over a 12-year period (Baldas,

2018). The case is still being processed and the court will come to a decision over the next few

months on whether to charge the doctor in this incidence for a crime of FGM.

In this film, Edna Adan, who has created a maternity hospital in Somaliland. She saves

many lives each year through this hospital and the midwives she is training to go back to their

own communities with the tools and knowledge necessary to provide better medical care to the

laboring women there. Edna inspired me because of how she saw the need and chose to make a

change in her community. She reiterated something that my parents have been teaching me my

entire life and that is the cliché that I can do anything I set my mind to. Although this is a very

cliché phrase that is used all the time, I feel like Edna really put it into action and proved it to be

true. She gave me hope for my future that I can make a difference and major advances in my

community and community health no matter how big the job may seem. I plan to go into

neonatal nursing when I graduate, and I really resonated with Edna because she works with the

mothers that are struggling from birth and I will work with the babies that are struggling after

birth whether from being preterm complications, genetic problems, or complications from birth.

Overall, this documentary really impacted me and my views on women’s health around

the world. I saw all the different problems that women face, and it caused me to look more into

how these issues can affect American women as well. I think that the sustainable development

goals are a great start to change, but there are always more ways to improve more quickly.
 BUILDING TOWARDS A BETTER TOMORROW 5

References

Agness, K. (2016, April 12). Don't Buy Into The Gender Pay Gap Myth. Retrieved October 7, 2018,

from https://www.forbes.com/sites/karinagness/2016/04/12/dont-buy-into-the-gender-pay-gap-

myth/#61a566172596

Baldas, T. (2018, August 06). Doctor in genital mutilation case at war with feds. Retrieved October

7, 2018, from https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2018/08/06/genital-

mutilation-case-doctor/910764002/

Chermayeff, M. (Director), Beardsley, M., Gordon, J., Dupre, J., & Bennett, J. (Producers), &

Ferrari, M. (Writer). (2012). Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women

Worldwide [Motion picture on Youtube]. United States: Show of Force.

Grantham, F. (2016, January 1). Tarrant County 5-Stones Taskforce [Fight human trafficking in Fort

Worth, Texas].

Manna, N. (2018, September 12). Leader of 'large-scale' sex-trafficking ring arrested in Fort Worth;

15 women rescued. Retrieved October 7, 2018, from https://www.star-

telegram.com/news/local/crime/article218293850.html

Weissmann, J. (2012, May 17). Does It Matter Where You Go to College? Retrieved October 7,

2018, from https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/05/does-it-matter-where-you-go-

to-college/257227/