These girls are missing

Author / Creator

Robertson, Shari

Available as

Online

Summary

Everybody knows this instinctively -- educate women and you will change society. Perhaps that's why in many African countries, fewer than 20% of girls ever enter a schoolroom, and across the contin...

Everybody knows this instinctively -- educate women and you will change society. Perhaps that's why in many African countries, fewer than 20% of girls ever enter a schoolroom, and across the continent, only one woman in three learns to read. It s not official policy. In fact, an international industry devoted to changing the status quo exists. Still the deck is stacked against African girls. How can a schoolgirl be such a threat to traditional concepts of appropriate gender roles and control of fertility? These Girls Are Missing offers small sets of stories, sharp glimpses into a few intimate relationships layered to mirror the complex reality: Nadouba and Bintu in their West African village, Taz and Patricia from elite St. Mary s Secondary School in Malawi, Ethel and her mother torn between village and the modern world, a relaxed and riotous conversation among a group of Malinke elders. Through knowing them, the audience grows to understand how deep cultural attitudes, more than economics, undermine the future of Africa s women. More provocative than prescriptive, this film aims to inspire reflection, argument and deeper understanding.

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