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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Democratic Party Yet to Make Amends for its Shameless Disrespect for Women

Michelle Obama gave a great speech this evening, and I appreciated her grace and warmth and the fact that she even managed to acknowledge Hillary Clinton’s achievements. I’m a civil rights activist from way back - I joined thousands of women to march in Chicago in May, 1980 in support of the Equal Rights Amendment – and throughout my adult life I’ve fought for the rights of women and minority groups. So despite my grief for the way Hillary Clinton has been treated, a part of me is glad to witness the life stories of Michelle and Barack Obama, and I do wish them well.

Nevertheless, I continue to feel a deep sense of betrayal by the Democratic Party and those representatives of both the old and the new media who mistreated Hillary Clinton and continue to take cheap shots at both Bill and Hillary and her supporters, as demonstrated by the CNN crew this evening in the opening hours of the Democratic convention.

For whatever it’s worth, I’m not likely to return to the Democratic Party anytime soon.