Filmed in 11 countries, this collection of video segments spotlights Lydia Cacho, Casimira Rodriguez, and 14 other women who are making a difference in Southeast Asia, the Pacific, the Caribbean, and Latin America.

Segments include…

Southeast Asia

• Indonesia —Standing in the Gray Zone: This clip profiles Nurdiati Akma, one of thousands of Indonesian women campaigning for a law restricting access to pornography—particularly by children. The Women’s Congress of Indonesia and NGOs have been campaigning for new laws since 1998, with little success.

• Thailand—My Missing Husband: This clip profiles Angkana Neelapaijit, who has campaigned relentlessly for the government to be held accountable for police involvement in torture, “disappearances,” and murder. Her husband, a leading human rights lawyer, was abducted by police officers in 2004.

• Philippines—In Conflict and in Peace: This clip profiles Samira Usman, who is living with her family in an evacuation center. Driven from her home in Mindanao by war, she and other women are taking control of their lives by setting up small businesses and playing a key role in peace negotiations.

Pacific

• New Zealand—The Mother’s Voice: This clip profiles Deanie Mulu. Trapped in the multigenerational cycle of poverty and family abuse, this single mother lost custody of her children, which she’d had while still a teen—but through the intervention of social workers, she has become a fit parent and has been reunited with them.

• Fiji—Determined Women: This clip profiles Anshu Mala and Vijay Latchmi, two chutney entrepreneurs benefitting from the support of Friend, a local NGO. Their enterprises are revolutionizing the local community by providing jobs for women and financing for the country’s only senior citizens center.

Caribbean

• Jamaica—Strides of Women: This clip profiles Cassida Jones, vice president and head of human resources at the firm of Grace Kennedy Limited—one of a new generation of women changing the face of the Jamaican corporate world.

• Trinidad and Tobago—Breakfast Shed, Femmes du Chalet: This clip profiles Omega Rosales, Stephanie Gill, and Charmaine Best, three generations of women from one family involved in the formidable Femmes du Chalet cooperative at the Breakfast Shed—an iconic eating place for Trinidad’s dockworkers.

Latin America

• Mexico—Lydia Cacho: This clip profiles journalist Lydia Cacho, author of The Demons of Eden, an exposé of a crime ring allegedly involved in the sexual abuse of children. The book represents one of many times she—at grave personal risk—has taken on Mexico’s male-dominated legal system to seek justice for female victims of violence.

• Cuba—Volunteers of Hope: This clip profiles three female Cuban health professionals who have helped improve the lives of others abroad: pediatrician Rafaela Audiva, in Ethiopia and Namibia; dermatologist Omara Lemus, in Pakistan; and general practitioner Ileana Cuba, in Guatemala.

• Brazil—House of Dreams: This clip profiles Dagmar “Auntie Dag” Garroux, who runs the Casa do Zezinho educational center for poor children in São Paulo—an area the UN once called the most dangerous place on Earth. Her center is an oasis of hope that is giving both girls and boys equal opportunities to create a better life.

• Bolivia—Protagonists of the New History: This clip profiles human rights activist Casimira Rodriguez, Minister of Justice under Evo Morales—Bolivia’s first president of indigenous descent. Quechua make up 60 percent of Bolivia’s population but were denied power until 2003 when they protested the sale of Bolivia’s gas reserves.

(56 minutes)