| | Week of March 08, 2012 | | SUMMIT Today, inspiring women from around the globe are convening in New York City for Newsweek and The Daily Beast’s third annual Women in the World Summit. Among the remarkable women leaders and activists who will join host Tina Brown at the event: Nobel winner Leymah Gbowee, Angelina Jolie, Madeleine K. Albright, IMF chief Christine Lagarde, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Oscar winner Meryl Streep, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, and many more. The three-day event will spotlight the most urgent issues facing women around the world today, from war to revolution to forced marriage and “honor” violence. See who else is coming and follow live-stream coverage on The Daily Beast. To get involved with women around the world, check out our Women in the World Foundation. MY TURN When Sabatina James was 18 years old, her parents threatened to kill her. And they meant it. “If they had their way, I would probably be dead today,” she tells Abigail Pesta in a Newsweek exclusive. James, the daughter of conservative Pakistani parents, had inflamed her family by refusing an arranged marriage. In so doing, she sparked a violent war with her parents, who viewed marriage as a girl’s fate. Sabatina’s mother beat her daughter regularly—and then beat herself, whipping her chest with a rod, saying “I have given birth to a whore.” When Sabatina still refused to submit, she was shipped off to a conservative Islamic school, or madrassa, in Lahore. Despite brutal treatment in the madrassa—where girls were caned for the slightest infraction—Sabatina still refused to wed, defiantly choosing her freedom. The choice brought threats on her life, from her own family. Today, at 29, she runs an underground railroad to help others girls escape their families. “I have always loved my freedom,” says Sabatina, who will appear onstage at our Women in the World summit. “But I have paid a high price.” ON THE GROUND In a move that is spurring major controversy in Texas, the state is cutting funding for Planned Parenthood—and may be on the verge of abolishing its Women’s Health Program, which provides reproductive-health care for more than 130,000 poor women who don’t meet the state’s narrow Medicaid eligibility requirements. Texas has the highest rate of uninsured women in the country. As a result, women’s health advocates have been left scrambling. Michelle Goldberg reports for Newsweek on the front lines of the latest battleground—and how Planned Parenthood is fighting back. GAME CHANGERS China is booming—it now has more self-made female billionaires than any other country in the world. In the year of the dragon, “Tiger Mom” Amy Chua profiles four Chinese powerhouses who bucked tradition to get rich—very, very rich. “This is not only because China has more females than any other nation,” says Chua. “Many of these extraordinary women rose from nothing, despite living in a traditionally patriarchal society. They are a beguiling advertisement for the New China—bold, entrepreneurial, and tradition-breaking.& rdquo; Read in Newsweek how these women make it to the top in the wild, wild East. LIFE AFTER DEATH She remembers seeing sparks—bright blasts of gunfire that hit her mother and her 6-year-old sister. The night was Aug. 13, 2004, and a young girl named Sandra Uwiringiy’imana was in the middle of a massacre in Africa. There were men with machetes and guns, slashing throats and burning bodies. Ten-year-old Sandra first fainted, then ran, only to find herself with a gun pointed at her own head. In that moment, she remembers thinking, “Goodbye, life.” Today, she lives a world away—in Rochester, N.Y., where she hangs out at the mall and goes to the movies with her teenage friends. In a Daily Beast exclusive, she tells Abigail Pesta how she survived the terrible night, and how she has turned the tragedy into art—by photographing fellow survivors of the massacre. Each year on the anniversary of the deadly attack, she says, the survivors meet, and she tells their story through poignant portraits. Watch for Sandra onstage at our Women in the World summit. | |
GET The Cheat Sheet A speedy, smart summary of news and must-reads from across the Web. You’ll love the featured original stories on politics, entertainment, and more from The Daily Beast’s diverse group of contributors. GET The Yes List Weekly cultural recommendations from The Daily Beast.
| |