Why Do Soroptimist Focus on Women and Girls?

Here are just a few reason the Soroptimists focus their efforts are helping women and girls in their community:

- One in three women have been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in their lifetime.

- According to a recent report, of the 600,000-800,000 people trafficked across international borders annually, 80 percent are female.

- Women work two-thirds of the world's working hours but earn only 10 percent of the world's income, and own less than 1 percent of the world's property.

- Of a total 550 million working poor, 330 million (60 percent) are women.

- The United Nations estimates that globally women's unpaid care is worth up to $11 trillion annually.

- Two-thirds of the 880 million illiterate adults are women.

- Of the more than 110 million children not in school, approximately 60 percent are girls.

- By age 18, girls have received an average of 4.4 years less education than boys.

- In some countries in sub-Saharan Africa, adolescent girls have HIV rates up to five times higher than adolescent boys.

- Pregnancies and childbirth-related health problems take the lives of nearly 146,000 teenage girls each year.

- An estimated 450 million adult women in developing countries are stunted, a direct result of malnutrition in early life.

- Two million girls and women are subjected to female genital mutilation every year, and thousands suffer needlessly from obstetric fistula.

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