Raising the Glass Ceiling

01.06

Montage female achievement

On many levels, women today can  do anything a man can. are able

01.13

Helen Clark

Prime Minister of New Zealand

Women have gone on to be Prime Minister. They’ve been appointed as Governor General. They’ve got to the top of the judicial system. They’re running the biggest company. They’ve headed most of the professions now. You can do it. You can realize your dreams.

01.28

The world’s first female peacekeeping force in Liberia

In numerous countries women now assume rights regardless of marital status. They have already broken through the “glass ceiling” – overcoming sexist discrimination that could block their advancement.

01.45

Benazir Bhutto Former Prime Minister of Pakistan

Never acquiesce to obstacles, especially those that are constructed of bigotry, intolerance and inflexible tradition.

01.58

But in some countries women are still pushing for basic rights. Despite the progress of the international women's movement in defining and seeking redress for women's human rights abuses, violence and discrimination against women are global scourges.

02.16

Liberian rape victim

They stripped me naked – they carried me over to the seaside, then they defiled me.

02.23

Kosovo

/sex trade

Rape has been used as a weapon of war in African conflicts and in Kosovo, with near complete impunity. Domestic violence is shockingly rife. Many women in the Middle East live under discriminatory family codes that put them under the legal authority of male relatives. Millions of women and girls are forcibly married. Up to 2 million women a year are trafficked – transported through force or fraud, with the aim of exploiting them.

02.55

However, in several countries micro-credit schemes are offering real hope and women are increasingly being looked to as politicians and peacemakers.

03.08

Noeleen Heyzer

Formerly UN Development Fund for Women

(1994-2007)

Women stay longer at a peace table. They know that no matter which side wins, they are going to lose. And therefore they need peace in order to get on with every day life.

The Women’s Movement

03.34

The international women’s movement coalesced in the 19th century both in the US and Europe. It swelled as many colonized countries struggled for independence, and continues to grow today in the Middle East.

03.48

The early feminists fought for suffrage—the right to vote—and then for civil rights such as property ownership as well as financial and social rights. A sec ond wave of feminism began in the 1960s and 70s in the US and Europe, focused on better access to education, reproductive rights and equality in the workplace. A third wave formed in the 1990s to address fair pay and management opportunities.and

04.23

The United States has been a bellwether of women’s rights throughout history, so in this film we will examine key milestones in the US women’s rights movement - and the status of those rights around the world today.

04.38

(ON SCREEN)

US women get to vote

In 1920 women in the US get the constitutional right to vote. The vote was not given to all British women until 1928. In 1893, New Zealand was the first country to grant women the vote, yet in other countries the struggle for suffrage continues today. Although some countries have had female heads of state, many Middle Eastern countries still restrict women from voting.

 05.10

US legalizes contraceptive pill

In 1960, the US legalizes the birth control pill. In 1972 the US recognized unmarried women’s right to use contraception. 61% of partnered women worldwide now use contraceptives. However, in 2005, 200 million of the world’s poorest women still lacked access to them.

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05.35

US women get equal wages

In 1963, the US Equal Pay Act requires equal wages for men and women doing equal work. Other developed countries also have equal employment legislation which has put more women in management. But in most economies worldwide women still earn only 70 to 90% of what men earn for the same job.

 05.57

US bans discrimination

In 1964, the US Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination based on sex or race. Sex and racial quotas in the 1970s sought to address unequal representation. Yet the issue of juggling work and motherhood is just as pressing for women around the world today. Childcare costs in the US, for example, swallow up one-third of a low-income salary.

06.26

US equality in education

In 1972, equal access to higher education becomes US law.th century, most women globally had access to higher education except for some countries in Asia and Africa. The number of US women completing higher education tripled in a generation. By the end of the 20

06.46

US women: abortion rights

In 1973, the Roe v. Wade case gives US women the right to an abortion. However, in 1976 Congress barred the use of federal funds for abortion under its Medicaid program, except in rape or life-threatening cases. And from 1984-1993 the US refused to fund foreign organizations that advocated abortion, affecting family planning around the globe. In China, on the other hand, the government encourages abortion as part of its One Child Policy.But

07.22

US financial equality

In 1974, with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, married US women gain their own access to bank accounts and credit cards. “Women’s banks” were started around the world in the 1970s, and were especially successful in India and later in Africa. By 2005 18 million women worldwide received micro finance loans from rural banks.

 07.47

US bans marital rape

In 1976, it becomes illegal for a husband in the US to rape his wife. But in 2004 more than 200,000 rapes were reported in the US, one of the world’s highest rates. Up to 60,000 women were raped in the civil war in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Up to half a million women were raped during the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

08.17

The current generation of young women in developed countries has no personal memory of the struggle for rights. But they need only look at parts of the developing world to be reminded of how far they have come…

China: Beyond Confucius

08.57

Whereas politics and social issues drove the American women’s movement, in China - the fastest growing economy in the world - the impetus has been economics.

09.08

In China, women’s education is seen as an economic issue. Since 1949, China’s population has gone from 90% illiterate to more than 90% literate. In urban areas, women are encouraged to complete their higher education and enter the workforce as professionals.

09.33

All this in a country that for two millennia was dominated by Confucianism, with the patriarchal - male dominated - family at the center of society. For these newly weds, traditional values are still paramount.

09.48

Yi Hui

Newlywed

My mother is very supportive of our love. She often tells me what to do. For example, I should show respect to his parents, and ring them regularly to ask after their health. I should care about them, not just him.

10.15

wedding

As in other Asian nations, arranged marriages in China are still common, but the hectic pace of life here is transforming the way people find partners. The 'Eight Minute Club' in Beijing is the country's first online speed-dating organizer, for urban women.

10.34

Sun Xio

Speed-dating Host

I've heard people say that those girls cry in their rooms because they can't find a partner. They are too busy, and under too much pressure, they don't have time to go out.

10.47

Archival b/w communist China

Archival women working in the fields

When the communists swept to power in 1949, they vowed to liberate women. They encouraged women to work, shut down brothels and let women get divorces. By the late ‘60s, at the height of the Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution, it was hard to tell women from men.

11.07

Tara Wang

Magazine Editor “Madame Figaro”

Imagine a generation or generations that grew up without ever seeing a single ad, without ever seeing a sex symbol. In today’s world in China, everything is about sex appeal. I think it’s a huge change.

11.28

China today
I am very sad and I do not want this to happen to any woman or Afghan.

19.56

In 2008, Malalai Kakar was murdered by the Taliban.

20.05

Afghanistan is still a man’s world.  And yet, amazingly, there are still brave women prepared to fight publicly for women’s rights.

20.14

Habiba Surabi is Afghanistan’s first and only woman governor in Bamiyan province.

20.20

Habiba Surabi

Governor of Bamiyan Province

Women in Afghanistan have been deprived for a long time. This depression gave me the power to work. We have to have the self confidence, because for a long time during the history, men killed the self -confidence of women.

20.41

Reconstruction and development are the focus for Afghanistan now. Without both, Afghan women’s rights will only exist on paper.

Kenya: Poverty and AIDS

21.14

The women of Kenya have followed the precedent set in other parts of the world: using women’s rights as an economic incentive for development. Here, over 24,000 women’s groups are working at the local level.

21.34

Under colonial rule—which lasted until 1963—Kenyan women were disempowered by lack of property rights and education. They typically lead a rural lifestyle, with limited professional opportunities.

21.50

Rebecca Loiosoli

We work from morning up to 11 at night, you know, and these men, they are just sleeping under the trees from morning until evening, doing nothing. It's just the women who are doing everything.

22.05

Although women gained the vote in 1963, traditional attitudes have curbed this right. The 2005 constitution guaranteed property rights, but under customary law women are subservient to male relatives. Married women still need a man’s consent to get a passport. Up to 50% of Kenyan females have suffered female genital mutilation, although the practise is officially banned. 40% of Kenyan women are victims of domestic violence.

22.41

Leapora

If we see a man who is beating a woman, we like it. It’s knocking some sense into her.

22.52

AIDS victims

Overall “disempowerment” of women, including partners’ high-risk behaviour, has had devastating consequences.  Two-thirds of Kenya’s 1.2-1.4 million AIDS sufferers are women. On the shores of Lake Victoria women offer themselves to fishermen in return for their catch, in a system known as “jaboya” – or sex for fish. The region has the highest AIDs rate in the country.

23.21

Julia

Fish trader

When fishermen come from the lake I buy their fish, but in order to guarantee that you get fish you must also develop a sexual relationship. Without sex there is no guarantee that you will get any fish.

23.41

But in spite of poverty, the government has pursued parity in education. It is already helping to slow the AIDS rate and the fertility rate - now one of the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa.

23.54

There are other signs of hope. At 13, Sitatian won a scholarship to study in America. Her mother says it saved her from early marriage.

24.05

Voice of Sitatian

She told me we are giving you a pen and a paper this is the spear and this is the shield so go to a foreign land and get us something.

 24.18

As in Afghanistan, the Kenyan women’s movement has grown into a humanitarian effort.

Outro

24.31

Globally the women’s movement is still fighting for better education and health care, free choice for marriage, limiting violence against women and accountability.

24.41

Isabel Allende

Author

We need a critical number of educated women participating in government, in power, in decision-making, so that the paradigm will change.

24.52

But even where rights are lacking, hope exists.

24.55

Ledama Olekina

Maasai Education Discovery

I want to see that all girls are fully educated. All girls have a chance to fully get whatever they want. We still plan to build a university here, we want to have one of the biggest regional universities in Africa.

25.14

Kenyan teacher addresses class

Let me see, do we have any doctors in the house? Yeah let me see the hands! What about lawyers? Let's see, wow! So you see, you are the future leaders…

25.27

Whilst the early feminists were able to rally around the obvious issues of their time, today’s movement is more diffused. Yet a majority of women believe in gender equality and traditional feminist values.