Games for Change has teamed up with Pulitzer prize-winning authors Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn to create a new Facebook game called Half the Sky, which will help raise awareness about sex slave trafficking around the world. If this isn’t enough of a reason to stop playing Farmville, I don’t know what is.
The Half the Sky Movement launched in 2009 with the book, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, which earned the #1 spot on the New York Times best seller list. The book then inspired a PBS TV series that aired last October starring celebrities such as Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan, and Diane Lane. The next installment of the TV series will be out March 8th, International Women’s Day.
The Facebook game gives its players an opportunity to virtually travel not only to other countries such as India, Kenya, Vietnam, and Afghanistan , but also explore parts of the United States to help raise awareness about women’s issues in third world countries as well as in our own backyard. In 2005, the Department of Justice reported there have been an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 sex slaves in the U.S. alone since 2001. All of the proceeds from the game will go to The Fistula Foundation, GEMS, Heifer International, United Nations Foundation, ONE, Room to Read, and World Vision.
“Around 300 million people play games on Facebook across the globe on a monthly basis,” said Games for Change co-presidents Asi Burak and Michelle Byrd. “If we’re able to inspire a portion of this group of players to spend 15 or 30 minutes of their time with this game, the ripple effect of players’ actions will result in significant and much-needed funding for this critical cause.”
Photos via halftheskymovement.org and gamesforchange.org
