ANNOUNCING...
The RESPECT! Challenge is underway! We’ve collaborated with Macy’s to launch a national public action campaign and contest to spark a conversation about the critical role that parents, teachers, coaches, family, and mentors play in promoting a respectful society. We’re honoring the everyday heroes who encouraged us to value those who are different, or urged us to believe in ourselves. In fact, we’re asking the public to answer a very simple question: Who would you like to thank for teaching you Respect?Here’s a sample entry from Stacy McGough. She thanked her Mom for teaching her Respect, and now she’s eligible to win $10,000 for a school or non-profit of her choice. To enter the RESPECT! Challenge, click here.
Futures Talks to Producer Mikaela Beardsley
We're proud to announce that Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity aried this past week on PBS. The four-hour broadcast event based on New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof’s best-selling book profiles courageous women throughout the world who are confronting oppression in extraordinary ways.
We were lucky to hear from the film’s producer, Mikaela Beardsley, when she previewed footage of the documentary at our Y Factor summit in April. Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Joel Brinkley interviewed Mikaela about her work on Half the Sky. Here are a couple edited excerpts from their engaging conversation:
Joel: Tell us a little bit about why you got involved in the project.
Mikaela: I’ve always really cared about how we look at women. Five years later, having thought so much about it, I’ve realized that it’s a way to look at how we all look at ourselves. What is the way we are treating women saying about the world that we live in? Ultimately, I think that’s what the power this content holds for me. Showing other people in this country how violence against women operates in other places can become a way to see it in ourselves.
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President Obama Addresses Human Trafficking
President Obama delivered a moving speech before the Global Clinton Initiative in New York, vowing to crack down on the widespread practice of human trafficking and calling it, “one of the greatest human rights causes of our time.”
While the President’s remarks and initiatives have helped shed light on human trafficking, we have been working to combat this deplorable form of gender-based violence for decades. Futures Without Violence advocated for the passage of both the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and the International Violence Against Women Act—two crucial pieces of legislation that protect victims of human trafficking.
In addition to shaping legislation, we've also collaborated with the Office on Violence Against Women to help improve responses to trafficked victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Futures Without Violence helps train and educate service providers, law enforcement, and other community organizations to best help international trafficking victims who have faced violence in the U.S.
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