Wednesday November 13th the entire country of Ireland and most of the world was rocked by the news that a woman in an Irish hospital died after being denied a termination for a baby she was already miscarrying. She was 31 years old, she was a dentist and her name was Savita Halappanavar. As an [...]
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Race, Class, Gender and Economics – A Discussion about the Indian Commercial Surrogacy Boom
A country of over a billion, India isn’t a stranger to the baby-boom. Over the last few years, this fertility has been captured into a new business – known as commercial surrogacy or “wombs for rent”. Commercial surrogacy is legal in India as of 2002. Combine that with India’s relatively affordable and high standard of [...]
Testing Assumptions about Women and Technology
A reminder from the field: Always test assumptions.
Earlier this year, alongside a colleague from the Global Health Project at the MIT Sloan School of Management, I worked to determine how LifeSpring, a maternal health hospital in Hyderabad, India, might utilize mobile technology to gather data about its outreach efforts.
Debate Night: You Sank My Battleship
In the third and final presidential debate, the round goes to the quip heard ’round the world (from President Barack Obama): I think Gov. Romney maybe hasn’t spent enough time looking at how our military works. You mentioned our Navy, for example, and that we have fewer ships than we had in 1916. Well, governor, we also [...]
“Sex and World Peace” or What Do Little Girls Have To Do With Our Wars
Last week a Taliban hit squad in Pakistan targeted and shot Malala Yousafzai, a 14-year-old who was fighting for the right of girls to be educated. I cried at the inhumanity on and off all day when I heard. Maybe she should have just dressed the part and saved her life. I’m not being flip. [...]
Let’s Hear it for the Girls!
The first International Day of the Girl has come and gone and I’m very excited that international agencies, non-governmental organizations, governments, and community leaders are yelling from the rooftops that girls can and are changing the world. As a former girl myself, I totally agree! There’s an old saying ‘when you educate a girl, you educate [...]
Inviolata Mmbwavi: Kenyan Feminist HIV+ Parliament Candidate
Inviolata Mmbwavi carries a tattered copy of the Kenyan constitution with her. “It is my weapon,” she tells me. “When someone says something that isn’t right under the law, I pull open my copy!” The constitution is fragile and new. Written in 2010, it has yet to be fully implemented in Kenya. Based in part [...]
Breaking the Cycle: Standing Up Against Domestic Violence
Around the world different months have different observances and of course October is no exception. Two of Octobers best known observances are for Breast Cancer and Domestic Violence. A vast majority of people will know the symbol associated with Breast Cancer Awareness is universally a pink ribbon but not as many will know that there [...]
A Hope for the Future: An Open Letter to Lady Gaga
Dear Lady Gaga, Let me start off my prefacing this open letter. I’m not writing this in the hopes of pulling at proverbial heartstrings nor am I hoping to gain unwanted attention. I’m writing this to thank you. Over the past few weeks you have been maliciously attacked because of your appearance. To say this [...]
Violence Against Women is STILL A Global Pandemic
Next month is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and at the end of November, the annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence takes place. Last Fall, I wrote an article in the Huffington Post called “Violence Against Women is a Global Pandemic.” If you click on the link, you can review the deplorable statistics. It [...]