“During and after conflict and war, women are particularly vulnerable to violence and exploitation. About 70% of casualties in recent conflicts are women and children (UNIFEM) and the forms of violence they experience include torture, rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution and mutilation (UN).”
This horrible phenomenon inspired Zainab Salbi, whose letter to her younger self is in If I’d Known Then, to establish Women For Women. The organization allows anyone to “adopt” a sister for $27 a month. The money enables a victim of war to participate in a one year Women For Women program designed to help them rebuild their lives. Not satisfied with simply addressing the immediate need for food, water and medical attention, Zainab’s program also provides them with rights awareness, leadership education and vocational and technical skills training.
Thus, Women for Women connects women to each other in the most compelling and compassionate way—something that is very important to me and the Letters To My Younger Self brand.
I am dedicating 20 per cent of my royalties from What I Know Now About Success to Women for Women in hopes that this vital organization can accomplish even more than it already does.
~Ellyn Spragins
