Good newsweek!

The truth be told, I am a pretty crap newspaper reader. I never sit still long enough. I fantasize about Saturday mornings stretching out the Sydney Morning Herald on a harvest table with a bowl of market tomatoes near by for decoration, a slither of morning sun, a flat white and croissants. I am Elle Macphearson slim in this fantasy, I might add.

So on our Singapore stopover I picked up a copy of Newsweek, a quality publication with International stories. I was drawn to the headline, Hear them Roar - Female Dissidents are rewriting the rules in countries where they can’t even show their faces.

The premise of the piece is how women in post conflict areas and developing nations are influencing public policy and the economy. And how the rise of dissidents reflects a larger trend towards political participation.

The story was one of the most positive pieces of news I have come across in a long time. Things I didn’t know…..

Rising education levels for girls have led to more economic power.

And most interestingly, the majority of new earned income over the next 10 years will come from women. Female economic empowerment is seen, as the most cost effective was to develop peaceful, prosperous and stable societies.

Rwanda, post conflict, has 56.3% of parliamentarians that are women.

Russia, 73% of businesses have a woman in senior management.

Macedonia has 30% women M.P’s, they have formed a political club which works across party lines.

But the most thought provoking content in the article is how women in places like Iran, where female education levels rapidly are rising but dissent in public spaces is outlawed, are using the Internet and social networking sites to unite safely. Whilst bloggers and activists are still regularly exiled, the voice of dissent is moving faster.

I have never considered for a moment life without free speech - That a simple blog could have you fleeing for your life.

So as a result of this story, I am considering my privileged life as an Australian woman. With access to education and services, where I can live and raise a family safely, where I have the license to fantasize about Saturday mornings free from washing………..I am considering if I could ever be as brave as those fighting from the inside for everything I was given as a birthright.