Hillary tried, but abuse of women and girls continues around the world

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton shakes hands with South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoane-Mashabane at the United Nations Office at Geneva, Switzerland, on February 28, 2011. In the background on the right is Esther Brimmer, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs. [Eric Bridiers photo/ State Department/ Public Domain]

America unavoidably sets an example for the rest of the world. Whether it's our hyper-competitive economic system, our abuse of the environment, or, yes, our continued demeaning treatment of 51 percent of our population, that is women, who still are not guaranteed equal rights, see here. Despite Hillary Clinton's unflagging efforts as the former Secretary of State to support women around the world, the nightmares continue.

We applaud the 60 Nigerian women and girls who recently escaped from Boko Haram, a radical Islamic group determined to create an Islamic state. Boko Haram abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in April 2014, and it's imperative that we continue to pressure world governments to secure the release of the remaining female captives.

The BBC reports:

More than 60 women and girls are reported to have escaped from the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram, security sources say.

They were among 68 abducted last month near the town of Damboa in north-eastern Borno state.
Reports say the women escaped when the militants went to attack a military base near Damboa on Friday.

The Nigerian military said it killed more than 50 rebels in a clash that night.

Boko Haram is still holding more than 200 schoolgirls abducted in April.

Local vigilante Abbas Gava told journalists he had "received an alert from my colleagues... that about 63 of the abducted women and girls had made it back home".

"They took the bold step when their abductors moved out to carry out an operation," he said.
A high-level security source in the state capital Maiduguri confirmed the escape, AFP news agency reported.

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