Tag Archives: unifem

Why Are So Many Afghan Women Killing Themselves?

Julie GersteinAugust 11, 2010 //

More bad news out of the Middle East: Fresh off Time magazine’s cover story on the state of Afghanistan (with accompanying extremely disturbing cover photo), a new report from Afghanistan’s Health Minister found that more than 23,000 women and girls attempted suicide there last year — a “several-fold” increase on previous years.

Around 48 percent of Aghanistan’s 23.6 million people are women — so that means around .2 percent of the country’s female population has attempted suicide. Compare that with the U.S. — where 2005 statistics found that 6,730 women committed suicide — or .004 percent — and you’ll see how shocking that really is. (Attempted suicide statistics are unavailable but most reports say there is one death for every 12 to 25 attempts.)

Why are so many Afghan women taking their own lives? Keep reading »

Check This Out: YSL/UNIFEM For Women’s Anti-Violence Campaign

Leonora EpsteinMarch 8, 2010 //

Happy International Women’s Day! (Congrats on having a vagina. And on being generally awesome. And so much more.)

If this all crept up on you, and you’re stuck behind your desk all day, here’s a quick and easy way to lend your support to the female community—sign your name on the Yves Saint Laurent and UNIFEM (the women’s fund at the United Nations) anti-violence campaign. Showing your support for the “Say No to Violence” action will join you with the UNIFEM-YSL alliance, which promises to “highlight the issue and call attention to working strategies and solutions that apply in developing countries and are applicable in the developed world as well.” In addition, the initiative will provide resources and grants in a variety of areas.

A tip of the hat to YSL for using its fashion power for good and supporting the global women’s community. [SayNoToViolence.org] Keep reading »