1. 11 Women Shaping the Church
Every International Women’s Day, Sojourners has the honor and challenge of selecting the women who are most inspiring us in the ways they are leading the church, and through it, the world. Here, our 2019 honorees share why their work is important and a blessing for the year.
2. Gayle King Delivers a Master Class in De-escalation and Dogged Journalism in R. Kelly Interview
“If you saw only the stereotypes, you missed a demonstration of the courage and code-shifting required of black women every day (indeed, of all women) — both in our professional lives, and in our personal lives.”
3. What the Purity Culture Generation Is Building in Its Place
As they have entered adulthood, become parents themselves, and have perhaps long since rejected a purity culture that they experienced as harmful to body and spirit, many find themselves left without anything to replace it. But a handful of pastors, writers, and activists have been finding their way forward — through shared storytelling, interpreting a more inclusive biblical sexual ethic, and offering new models for the church to talk about sexuality in a holistic, faithful way.
4. Honor International Women’s Day by Ending Period Poverty
The Saint Louis University study found that lack of access to menstrual hygiene products meant that 36 percent of women over 18 who reported being employed part or full time had missed one or more days of work per month due to their periods. For those under 18, period poverty likely means missed school days. People with periods are effectively being shut out of opportunity simply because they cannot access the most basic of supplies.
5. Colombia’s Next Generation of Female Scientists
In a school named after Luis Maria Jimenez, a violently slain ex-mayor of the municipality, Sojourners met with three of the female students who participate in Robtronics, an extra-curricular science group that meets on Saturday mornings, run by school teacher Jhon Vega on a shoestring budget.
6. Sex Education in the U.S. Is Lacking, But New Efforts to Broaden Its Scope Are Bubbling Up
From The New York Times, a look at the state of sex education in the U.S. — it’s not great. Here are a few movements trying to change that.
7. Southern Baptists Are Debating Implementing a Predator Database. Do Databases Work?
In the wake of the damning Houston Chronicle & San Antonio Express-News reports, Southern Baptist Convention has pledged to make changes in how it deals with cases of abuse, including considering a database of predators. Sojourners looks at how these databases work in other denominations.
8. How a Miami Judge Pioneered a New Way of Handling Minor Human Trafficking Cases
The judge established GRACE Court, one of the first trauma-informed courts for juvenile survivors of human trafficking in the country — and a potential model for Alabama.
The company said it’s also planning to donate funds to organizations that “level the playing field for girls.”
10. Becoming Captain Marvel: A Feminist (and Not So Feminist) History
From Washington Post: How Carol Danvers’s evolution, from love interest to the most powerful Avenger, mirrors the ups and downs many female superheroes have experienced.
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