ITVS's Women and Girls Lead Presents Half the Sky and MAKERS

Last Thursday, the Independent Television Series (ITVS) Women and Girls Lead media campaign presented two upcoming PBS media projects in the Senate Russell Building:

* Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
* MAKERS: Women Who Make America 

The event consisted of video clips from Half the Sky and MAKERS, remarks by several leading women in the media and government, and a panel discussion with other distinguished speakers. The purpose of this new initiative is to empower women and girls and to encourage them to take on leadership roles, improve their communities, and to become innovators in areas like the arts, science, business and politics.

Half the Sky is a four-hour television event based on the book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. It covers several human trafficking-related issues such as sex trafficking, forced prostitution, and the prevalence of brothels. MAKERS is a digital video and broadcast initiative that tells the story of the women's movement in America through various documentaries.

The Speakers of the event were: Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-large for Global Women's Issues Sheryl WuDunn, Co-Author of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide Patricia de Stacy Harrison, President and CEO of the Corporation fro Public Broadcasting Urmi Basu,Founder of New Light Paula Kerger, President and CEO of PBS Esta Soler, President of Futures Without Violence Robin Morgan, Co-Founder of the Women's Media Center Among the topics of the event were whether a true difference can be made, the role of public TV, and how far the U.S has come in making progress. All of the panelists seemed to agree that a true difference can be made in the field of media and in the women's movement. Sheryl responded that it is important to highlight the contributions of women and men making changes, and that it is crucial to show people there is a road open to change. Urmi Basu stated that one of the challenges with education is convincing mothers that their daughters deserve a better future, and that an education will allow girls to have better lives. Some of the questions from the Question and Answer segment included what can be done to help change negative stereotypes of seniors, whether the media projects will be shown overseas, what more needs to happen, and the difficulty in choosing whether to intervene in certain potentially dangerous situations.

Check it out Bridge to Freedom Foundation Volunteer Seda Nak was captured on Instagram at the Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn event! Way to represent BTFF and fight for womens rights -especially those victimized by modern slavery- Seda!

You're probably wondering, "What's next?" Well, some of the future initiatives will include the launch of: 18 videos in home languages, including the Half the Sky and MAKERS projects 2 or 3 mobile games, including "9 minutes" - a maternal health game a Facebook game, in November, that will engage and teach people about the issues women face What can you do? Support these initiatives and watch related documentaries and other media. The Half the Sky television event will be broadcasted by PBS this Fall, while MAKERS, will air in Winter 2013.

For more information, visit: Women and Girls Lead - http://itvs.org/women-and-girls-lead/ Half the Sky - http://itvs.org/films/half-the-sky MAKERS - http://www.makers.com/

DC SMS Survivor Speaker Panel

Last Thursday, DC Stop Modern Slavery held an All-Survivor Speaker Panel to bring awareness to human trafficking and address some issues faced in society including the influence of media and the law. The contributing speakers were Stacy Jewell Lewis, writer and director of the play Stolen, and Barbara Amaya, activist and author who is currently working on a book entitled, " A Girl's Guide To Survival: Life Lessons From The Street"; Shamere McKenzie, also a survivor, moderated the panel.

After speaking, the panel was opened to a Question and Answer section. When asked  about the role of media, Stacy stated, "We are generally being reprogrammed everyday...media is slowly taking away childhood and putting it into an adult [perspective]." She also added that the "media role is good and bad, [in that it includes] those who want to educate versus those who want to entertain." It was really interesting to hear her take on the Disney film The Lady and the Tramp when speaking about the role of cartoons in media. Stacy expressed how she realized that there were many parallels, though unintentional, with the film and human trafficking.

Barbara contributed to several questions regarding the law including the terms on which police charge. She stated that the charge is "loitering for the purposes of prostitution;" those who are charged are taken to the courthouse chain-gang style like a humiliating walk of shame. Additionally, Barbara mentioned that Safe Harbor laws should label victims as people with needs because survivors are barred from many programs, like Victim Assistance and jobs, when they have convictions.

All three survivors had the opportunity to respond on the use of the word "pimp." People have become desensitized to the term over time, especially since the term is being glamorized. Shamere said "if the media can make us laugh at things, then it's ok."

DC Stop Modern Slavery will be having a pre-walk rally this Monday. The rally will include guest Tina Frundt, the founder of Courtney's House. Bridge to Freedom foundation is a proud partner of Courtney's house.