Hi, I am a freshman in highschool in Washington. Our class is working on a project dealing with current worldwide issues that concern our world. The topic I have chosen is women's rights. I believe that this is a very important issue that affects the lives of every single woman that lives in our world today. I will be focusing on China, Afghanistan, and the U.S, comparing and contrasting the positive and negative aspects that each country holds on their social status of women. I have done extensive research on this, and will be sharing it with my classmates in my oral presentation so that they too can become aware of how serious this is in some countries. There are some questions that I have concerning this, and would be very great full if you could share some of your answers and ideas with me.

• What are the main issues concerning women's rights in America? China? Afghanistan?
• What do you believe would be the most effective way to fight for more equal women's rights in these countries?
• In what ways do you think the government could be of help by passing laws or enforcing other rights to women?
• In China and Afghanistan, is there a way we can improve the women's rights, while still respecting their culture?
• Could you recommend any other useful resources to help with my project?

I want to thank you again for taking the time to give your knowledge about this topic, which concerns so many women today - Julia

Your question is actually very timely as in early June in New York City, there were Beijing + 5 meetings, which were follow-up meetings to the UN conference on Women which happened in Beijing, China in 1995. The purpose of this conference was to hold governments accountable to women's rights. And in preparation for these meetings a document was prepared-called the Platform for Action, which outlines 12 areas of concern (violence against women, economic equality, the girl child, etc...). Each of the 12 issues covers many sub-issues - and women around the world are dealing with these issues, but certainly some women have to prioritize some issues over others. For instance, access to education might be a bigger problem in China than it is in the US, but in the US health might be a bigger issue. There were several news stories on this conference - and places like the Women's Environment and Development Organization and the Global Fund for Women and the Center for Women's Global Leadership have tons of resources.

As for your specific questions:

• What are the main issues concerning women's rights in America? China? Afghanistan?
  See above - and for Afghanistan - it's really about political power and a separation of church and state, because the fact that a conservative religious group is controlling the country is the root of the restrictions put on their lives.

• What do you believe would be the most effective way to fight for more equal women's rights in these countries?
  In places like the US we have much legal and political equality, but we don't have a consciousness that allows these laws to be realized or actualized. So consciousness would be a start. China and Afghanistan are still at a place of needing for formal rights.

• In what ways do you think the government could be of help by passing laws or enforcing other rights to women?
  Women make up more than half of the world's population and now the governments have to be accountable to that. They have to make laws, pass legislation, they have to lead by example and allocate money.

• In China and Afghanistan, is there a way we can improve the women's rights, while still respecting their culture?
  We can't confuse culture or tradition with interpretation. For instance, the Catholic Church isn't inherently bad, but those in charge - i.e. the Vatican - are. So we have to find the root cause of the problems.

• Could you recommend any other useful recourses to help with my project?
  See above.

—Amy