From Outrage to Courage

I'm currently reading a book on women taking action for health and justice by Anne Firth Murray. The book, titled "From Outrage to Courage" discusses the various elements affecting the health of women around the globe. Here is an excerpt from the book. I would highly recommend the book.

Being born female is dangerous to your health. This reality may not be true for many readers, but for most women living in poorer countries around the globe, it is devastating.

The dangers start before birth. Sex-selective abortion is widespread, as parents decide for various reasons that they cannot bring another girl into the world. Hundreds of thousands of girls have "disappeared," unbalancing sex ratios in countries like China, India, and Korea. Every person in poverty is at a disadvantage, but the gender differences are staggering. Ninety million girls worldwide, compared with twenty-five million boys, do not go to school... More than half a million women die each year from almost completely preventable childbirth-related injuries and illnesses. One fourth to one half of women worldwide suffer violence at the hands of an infinite partner.

Women's health is so much more than a medical issue; it is cultural, political, economic, and - above all - an issue of social justice.