Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide »

Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, are the first married couple to win a Pulitzer Prize in journalism for their coverage of China as New York Times correspondents. They received the 2009 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Lifetime Achievement and many other prizes including the George Polk and Overseas Press Club awards.
 
Mr. Kristof won a second Pulitzer in 2006, for “his graphic, deeply reported columns that, at personal risk, focused attention on genocide in Darfur.” He has also served as bureau chief in Hong Kong, Beijing, and Tokyo, and as associate managing editor.

Ms. WuDunn, now a business executive, worked at The New York Times, on both the business and news sides. She has been a foreign correspondent in Asia, a business editor and a television anchor. She is the first Asian-American to receive a Pulitzer Prize.
 
They live near New York City.

“Women hold up half the sky”—Chinese proverb

With Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn as our guides, we undertake a journey through Africa and Asia to meet an extraordinary array of women struggling under profoundly dire circumstances—and an equally extraordinary group that have triumphed. Through their stories, Kristof and WuDunn help us see that the key to progress in our world lies in unleashing women's potential—and they make clear how each of us can help make that happen.

Fiercely moral, pragmatic, and inspirational, Half the Sky is essential reading for every global citizen.

The New York Times - Irshad Manji

…this gripping call to conscience…tackles atrocities and indignities from sex trafficking to maternal mortality, from obstetric fistulas to acid attacks, and absorbing the fusillade of horrors can feel like an assault of its own. But the poignant portraits of survivors humanize the issues, divulging facts that moral outrage might otherwise eclipse.

Introduction: The Girl Effect xi

Chapter 1 Emancipating Twenty-First-Century Slaves 3

Fighting Slavery from Seattle 17

Chapter 2 Prohibition and Prostitution 23

Rescuing Girls Is the Easy Part 35

Chapter 3 Learning to Speak Up 47

The New Abolitionists 54

Chapter 4 Rule by Rape 61

Mukhtar's School 70

Chapter 5 The Shame of "Honor" 81

"Study Abroad"-in the Congo 88

Chapter 6 Maternal Mortality-One Woman a Minute 93

A Doctor Who Treats Countries, Not Patients 103

Chapter 7 Why Do Women Die in Childbirth? 109

Edna's Hospital 123

Chapter 8 Family Planning and the "God Gulf" 131

Jane Roberts and Her 34 Million Friends 146

Chapter 9 Is Islam Misogynistic? 149

The Afghan Insurgent 161

Chapter 10 Investing in Education 167

Ann and Angeline 179

Chapter 11 Microcredit: The Financial Revolution 185

A CARE Package for Goretti 199

Chapter 12 The Axis of Equality 205

Tears over Time Magazine 216

Chapter 13 Grassroots vs. Treetops 221

Girls Helping Girls 230

Chapter 14 What You Can Do 233

Four Steps You Can Take in the Next Ten Minutes 252

Appendix: Organizations Supporting Women 255

Acknowledgments 259

Notes 261

Index 281