WomanStats Project

Nearing the end of her time on our WomanStats team, Ushnata has worked social media, logistics and coding for us, and it will be hard to watch her leave! She is from Kathmandu, Nepal and got involved in WomanStats to pursue meaningful solutions to socially contrived gender imbalances.

"Having grown up in a patriarchal society where women were often treated as insignificant, I was deeply moved to explore women’s empowerment. Back in my country, I worked extensively in this field, driven by the belief instilled in me by my parents that women are capable of achieving anything. However, witnessing others failing to treat women with the respect they deserve further fueled my passion for this cause.

Additionally, during Nepal’s civil war, a significant number of women soldiers fought for democracy, yet they were never given the positions and recognition they deserved. These injustices made me eager to understand women’s roles in peace and security on a broader scale. All of these experiences and observations inspired me to learn more about Women, Peace, and Security (WPS).

When I used to talk to men who didn’t understand gender issues, they often dismissed my points, saying I was speaking from emotion and lacked data. They believed data was logical and more convincing. That experience made me realize how important data is when trying to prove a point and make people see the reality of gender inequality.

This understanding drew me to work with WomanStats. I wanted to use real numbers and evidence to show the challenges women face. Working with this data has had a huge impact on my academic life. It has strengthened my research skills and helped me back up my arguments with solid facts. Now, I can confidently present information that is not just personal experience but backed by data, making my work more credible and impactful."

Happy International Women’s Day from our team at WomanStats to you!

We’re grateful to all of you for following and supporting WomanStats as we seek to keep you updated on the status of women’s physical, economic, and legal security (and so much more)!

We are also grateful to all of our female hero’s who have come before us who have paved the way to make our work possible, useful, and relevant.

Who is one of your female heroes? Leave a comment to celebrate her legacy with us!

Meet Annie! From Redding, California, Annie has been a coder at WomanStats for a few years and is now on her way out the door as she is graduating soon! You’ll be missed, Annie (:

"I was interested in working for the WomanStats project because I have always been passionate about the unique issues that women face in a world that often tries to diminish women’s voices. I also was interested in learning more about data collection resources and methods. This job has been invaluable in expanding my lens of the world. There are so many more pressing issues and dangers that women face than I realized when I began working for the project. I believe the work I am doing is important because it brings awareness to these issues, which is the first step to ameliorating these problems."

We’re thrilled to have Dr. Susan Yoshihara, founder of the American Council on Women, Peace, and Security present at our WPS Symposium this Friday! Register at the link in our bio and we’ll see you there!