How Half the Sky opened ethical and sustainable shoe brand co-founder Natalie Chow’s eyes to human trafficking and slavery
- Kibo co-founder Natalie Chow was shocked by the horrific facts about female oppression in the 2009 book Half the Sky – it ‘started everything for me’
- She co-founded Kibo initially to raise awareness of the issue, as fashion is one of the largest drivers of human slavery and trafficking, she says
Non-fiction book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide (2009), by Pulitzer Prize-winning husband-and-wife journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, examines the numerous ways women are mistreated around the world, and looks at possible solutions, arguing that their oppression represents the single biggest moral challenge of the modern era.
Natalie Chow, co-founder of Hong Kong-based sustainable and ethical footwear brand Kibo, tells Richard Lord how it changed her life.
I read it in 2012 or 2013. I had gone to an event that was all about justice, at The Vine Church, in Wan Chai. I attend another English-speaking church, and I’d heard about the event there.
I thought I’d check it out, with absolutely no expectations, and I got the book there.
On the cover, it doesn’t say anything about human trafficking or slavery – there’s a lot of women – so I didn’t really know what it was about.
