NEW YORK – Many faith-based organization (FBO) workers witness the abuse of women and female children nearly every day. Some FBOs are entirely devoted to aiding women and those who are disadvantaged due to cultural discrimination. Many other FBOs that began with the objective of ministering to the poor in the name of Jesus discover that the abuse of women is so prevalent that they have no choice but to devote an entire sector of their ministry to serving women.

The month of March begins with two global observances that focus on the plight of far too many women – Zero Discrimination Day on Sunday, March 1^st, and International Women’s Day of Sunday, March 8^th.

Although Zero Discrimination Day has typically focused on matters other than women, the theme this year is “Zero Discrimination Against Women and Girls.” A Fact Sheet published by the United Nations unveils some startling statistics that should awaken us to the plight of women around the globe. The following are some of those insights.

1. Discriminatory laws affect an estimated 2.5 billion women and girls around the world.
2. Existing statutory and customary laws limit women’s access to land and other types of property in most countries in Africa and in about half the countries in Asia.
3. More than 1 billion women lack legal protection against domestic violence.
4. An estimated 14 million refugees and displaced women and girls were targets of sexual violence in 2019.
5. At least one in three women and girls has experienced physical and/or sexual violence.
6. Fifty countries have no legislation addressing sexual harassment in the workplace.
7. An estimated 258 million children, adolescents, and young people are not in school. That is one-sixth of the global population of this age group.
8. Globally, 9 million girls of primary school age will never have the opportunity to learn to read and write in primary school.
9. Nearly one in three adolescent girls (10–19 years) from the poorest households around the world has never been to school.
10. At least 200 million girls and women in 30 countries have been subjected to genital mutilation. More than half live in just three countries, Indonesia, Egypt, and Ethiopia; 44 million of the girls are below the age of 15 years.

Gospel for Asia has published several in-depth reports that can enhance your awareness of how women around the globe are suffering needlessly and what can be done about it.

Click on the title links to access these Special Reports.

• Ending Violence Against Women
• Widows Worldwide Face Tragedy, Discrimination
• 100 Million Missing Women and a follow-up report, An Imaginative Exercise in Empathetic Fear

Click here to see what Gospel for Asia has done recently to observe and serve on International Women’s Day.

Click here to learn more about Gospel for Asia’s Women’s Ministries

To read more news on Violence Against Women on Missions Box, go here.