March 8th is my birthday. It is also
International Women’s Day: a day for celebration, a call to action, a day set
aside to pause and appreciate, or an opportunity for self-awareness. I have
always known that I share my birthday with the Women of the World, but I never
really knew what that meant. This year, I want to—in the immortal words of Cher
Horowitz (the ultimate feminist)— “use [my] popularity for a good cause” and
get the word out about something amazing: Half
the Sky Movement: The Game.
Yes, a game. A Facebook platform game. No- I’m not kidding.
Hear me out.
The Game is a new Facebook adventure game that aims to raise
awareness and funds to empower women and girls across the world. (I know, but
you promised to hear me out!) The game is centered around the journey of
Radhika, a woman from India. Players experience the day-to-day issues and
obstacles (maternal mortality, gender-based violence, sex-trafficking and forced prostitution,
inequality of education and wages, etc.) that women in developing AND
developed countries face by unlocking and completing quests. To complete quests,
we are asked to make decisions which lead to new experiences and opportunities
for Radhika.
With every obstacle Radhika faces, she is presented with the
ability to create new opportunities for herself, her family and her community—
which means game rewards earned for the player. For
example, when faced with the dilemma of paying for medical care for her sick
daughter, Radhika’s husband tells her that they do not have the money to take
the little one to the doctor. Radhika turns this obstacle into an opportunity
by picking mangoes from her family garden to sell at market. Cut to a mini-game
that looks like Bejeweled or Candy Crush Saga whereby the player combines lines
of mangoes to be collected. Daughter’s school doesn’t have enough books for all
the children? Mini-game to collect books to donate to the school.
The Half the Sky Movement (see
www.halftheskymovement.org) exists
for the purpose of “raising awareness
and inspiring action to turn oppression to opportunity for women worldwide”. They
are “cutting across platforms to ignite the change needed to put an end to the
oppression of women and girls worldwife, the defining issue of our time”. It
began with a New York Times #1 bestselling book by Pulitzer-Winning married
authors, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. Eventually, the momentum of the
book inspired several other organizations that work toward the same goals to
combine efforts toward their shared end of ending oppression of women and girls
around the world. Next, came a critically acclaimed Primetime PBS TV series
featuring the likes of Diane Lane, Meg Ryan, America Ferrara, George Clooney
and others (available from the website for private and public screenings).
According to their website, “the Facebook game is the latest installment of the
overall movement and hopes to create an accessible medium for people of all
kinds of background to get involved in creating opportunities for women and
girls worldwide”. With the new game, they are obviously attempting to reach the
new generation that has become increasingly social media dependent (present
party excluded, obviously). Not to mention the fact that the social gaming
world has 300+ million users on a monthly basis.
Am I sounding less crazy yet?
So, as I said, Radhika’s journey begins in India and
eventually takes her to Kenya, Vietnam, Afghanistan and the United States.
(Note: I am still in Kenya. I tried to get as far as I could in this game
before posting this, but, alas, time is not a luxury that I have.) According to
the Game Guide (
http://www.facebook.com/HalftheGame/app_128953167177144)
, Radhika eventually becomes a “global leader and role-model for women
worldwide”.
At the end of each quest, players are given the opportunity
to get involved with or learn more about the nonprofit partner related to that
particular issue: visit the website, sign a petition, donate. (There are seven
nonprofit partners involved: The Fistula Foundation, GEMS, Heifer
International, ONE, Room to Read, The United Nations Foundation, and World
Vision.) AND completing many actions in the game actually trigger free
donations from corporate sponsors (ex: Johnson and Johnson donates to The
Fistula Foundation for every player that achieves a certain level in the game).
Remember the book collection game? When you complete this task, you are
informed that you have actually triggered a real-life donation of books to
children in need! Gaming and social good?! Two of my favourite things.
That said, you don’t have to pay to play. You are never
forced to contribute any money to continue playing. However, there are many
ways of making donations within the game, including in-game purchases of
power-ups and energy boosts. The donation system is built on Facebook payments,
so international payments (including Canadian dollars) can be accepted.
Additionally, donations are tax deductible. (N.B.: the FAQ page (
http://www.facebook.com/HalftheGame/app_190322544333196)
notes that 80% of donations goes to one of the seven nonprofit partners, based
on player selection, and 20% goes toward managing, hosting and sustaining the
game.)
For all those cynics out there: I am not claiming that I
believe this game will be the end of oppression towards females around the
world forever and ever. I have a degree in International Development Studies. I
understand that the game simplifies very complex issues, as any awareness
campaign MUST do to reach a wider and broader audience. Even Half the Sky
acknowledges that “Radhika’s story is ultimately a work of fiction. Reality is
much harsher and issues are never so easy to fix”. However, they (and I)
believe and hope that playing the game will give a glimpse into some of the
real challenges faced by women around the world every day. It is not a
solution, it is a conduit of information.
In sum: put a pause on your Candy Crushing saga or your
Farming in the Ville for even a few moments and dedicate some of your gaming
time to a game that seeks to make a difference. That’s my birthday wish this
year!
See you on the other side!
Jordana
Some Fast Facts:
MATERNAL MORTALITY:
- ·
1 woman dies every 2 minutes from
pregnancy-related causes
- ·
99% of maternal deaths occur in the developing
world
GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE
- ·
1 in 5 women will be a victim of rape or
attempted rape in her lifetime
- ·
102 countries have no specific legal provisions
against domestic violence
SEX TRAFFICKING AND FORCED PROSTITUTION
- Trafficking yields $9 billion in the U.S. and
generates $27.8 billion in profits worldwide each year
- The typical age of entry into the sex trade is
13 or 14 years old
EDUCATING WOMEN AND GIRLS
- 2/3 of 781 million illiterate adults in the
developing world are women
- Nearly 1 of every 5 girls who enrolls in primary
school does not complete primary education in the developing world
- A child born to a literate woman is 50% more
likely to survive past the age of 5
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
- Women earn less than 10% of the world’s wages
but work more than 2/3 of the world’s working hours
- If women’s paid employment rates increased to
the level of men’s, the U.S. GDP would rise 9%
