A Voice For the Voiceless

The Advocacy Project helps marginalized communities to tell their story, claim their rights and produce social change. We recruit graduate students to volunteer as Peace Fellows with partners.

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"I look at myself as having the potential to be as strong and caring as the amazing women I met in Kenya."

Kate Cummings (Tufts University) volunteered in 2009 as a Peace Fellow for Vital Voices in Africa.

For more 2009 feedback click here.

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Partner Campaigns > Uterine Prolapse ...

Uterine Prolapse in Nepal


600,000 women in Nepal suffer from the debilitating condition of uterine prolapse. The problem occurs when a woman's uterus falls out of her body, and often it is caused by poverty and discrimination. Poor women are denied access to health services. In some parts of Nepal, particularly in the west, women are considered unclean after they give birth and forced to return to work in the fields while their muscles are still soft. Women with the condition are ostracized and often divorced - some even end up working as servants for their former husband. Many live with a fallen uterus for the rest of their lives.

The Women’s Reproductive Rights Program (WRRP) has worked for years to curb prolapse, and developed an innovative model for treating and preventing the condition. WRRP is seeking to expand its model to the far West, and lobby the Nepali government for more resources.

Milestones:

  • Meet women in Eastern Nepal whose lives were ruined by uterine prolapse – until they decided enough was enough and took action. AP has profiled their successful lobbying in a new film, ‘Saving the Womb’ which is available in high definition from AP. Donate $5 to cover shipping and handling. Email Erin Lapham to order a copy.
  • May 2010: Bill before US Congress (The MOMS Act) describes uterine prolapse as global threat to reproductive health.

Hear a leading Nepali advocate describe the crisis of uterine prolapse: "Women have their own traditonal healing system. Sometimes they cut a piece of slipper and put it in the vagina just to hold their falling womb, because they have been suffering from so much pain" - Samita Pradhan, Director of the WRRP (left). Please be aware that this video may be upsetting.

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