Political, cultural, and media elites are increasingly raising alarm over what has become one of the world's largest illegal commercial sectors—the trade in human beings. The U.S. Government estimates that 600,000 to 800,000 men, women, and children are trafficked across international borders each year. ...
Christian and non-Christian activists against the exploitation of women look back for inspiration to the 19th-century Indian social reformer Pandita Ramabai. Ramabai disguised herself as a sannyasini (female mendicant), determined to rescue destitute women who were being forced into servitude and sexual degradation. She beheld unspeakable horrors: hundreds of agents enticing abandoned and helpless child-widows into institutions where they were shut up or rented out to men. Her initial effort to rescue seven wretched women nearly cost her life. She returned twice, during a terrible famine, to rescue and carry away scores of victims in her train of bullock carts—starving little girls (and on occasion a few boys) clad in filthy rags—and to give them a new life at her Mukti Mission. Literate and skilled "graduates" of Mukti went out into the world. Many became teachers or widely sought-after wives. Some attended colleges in America and became medical doctors. —Robert Eric Frykenberg
They traveled, preached, wrote books and letters, challenged church leaders, ministered to the poor and sick, defended those in need, and inspired faith and courage in others. You can learn more about all of these women, and many others, in our archives.
February 8, 356: For the third time since the Council of Nicea in 325, Athanasius goes into exile. The defender of orthodoxy was out of favor as Arianism, a heresy condemned at the council, ran rampant throughout the Empire. He would be exiled twice more before he died (see issue 51: Heresy in the Early Church).
February 8, 1587: Mary, Queen of Scots, is beheaded. Attempting to restore Catholicism to England, she began persecuting Protestants. But, largely thanks to the work of John Knox, her attempts failed (see issue 48: Thomas Cranmer and issue 46: John Knox)
February 8, 1693: The College of William and Mary is founded in Williamsburg, Virginia. Originally intended to educate Anglican clergymen, it is America's second-oldest higher education institution (Harvard is the oldest).
