Award-winning Humanitarian commends Calgary
Posted Mar 12, 2013 1:24 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
An award-winning humanitarian and journalist says Calgary has a lot to be proud of in the battle for women’s rights.
Sally Armstrong has chronicled the stories of women and girls fighting oppression and violence around the world, in her new book “Ascent of Women.”
“Do you know, there’s a case right now in Kenya where 160 little girls between the ages of 3 and 17 are suing their government for failing to protect them from being raped. That case began in Canada, because Canada is the country where the women sued the government for failing to protect them, and won,” says Armstrong.
She says efforts like that evolved from the accomplishment of women like the Famous Five back in the first wave of the women’s movement.
More recently, Armstrong says, Calgary has been the starting point for the biggest move to change the status of women in Afghanistan.
“Two Calgary women started “Canadian Women For Women In Afghanistan.” They’ve done absolutely remarkable things. There are more than 13 chapters across the country and they have raised more than four million dollars. There are more than a hundred thousand little girls in school in Afghanistan today because of what these women in Calgary started,” says Armstrong.
Calgarians Janice Eisenhauer and Carolyn Reicher started the organization.
Also among the stories inside Armstrong’s book are that of 15 year old Alaina Podmorrow, of Kelowna, BC, who has been raising money across the country to pay teachers in Afghanistan since she was just nine years old.
Armstrong will be speaking in Calgary Tuesday, March 19th at 7 p.m. at the John Dutton Theatre.
