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JEFFREY BROWN: And finally tonight: A new PBS documentary shines a light on the oppression of women and girls worldwide. "Half the Sky" airs in two parts over two nights, starting this evening. It's based on a book of the same name by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and his wife, journalist Sheryl WuDunn.
Kristof traveled to six countries to look at gender-based violence, forced prostitution, maternal mortality, and other issues.
In this excerpt, he and actress Eva Mendes tour a sexual abuse victims center in Sierra Leone.
WOMAN: Welcome to the Rainbo Centre. Really, we're primarily responding to rape. We provide specialized medical treatment and counseling as well.
EVA MENDES, Actress: Counseling? Yes.
WOMAN: We have seen over 9,000 survivors within eight years.
EVA MENDES: Eight years.
WOMAN: Fifty-two percent that are between the ages of 12 and 17. Then you have about 26 percent that are under 12.
NICHOLAS KRISTOF, The New York Times: Under 12? Twenty-six percent are under 12?
WOMAN: That are under 12 years old, yes.
NICHOLAS KRISTOF: OK. Wow.
WOMAN: They are.
The trend is, we are seeing more and more children, about 80 percent of our clientele.
We see an average between 100 to 200 a month. And they are as young as two-and-a-half months old.
Excuse me. Sorry. We have a three-year-old that has just come in for follow-up.
NICHOLAS KRISTOF: Yes. It's a 3-year-old...
WOMAN: It's a 3-year-old girl who has been raped. And she's just come back for follow-up. Yes. You want to come with me?
NICHOLAS KRISTOF: Yes.
What is her story, very briefly?
WOMAN: She's actually—they don't know who the perpetrator is. But she was getting sick. And they took her into the hospital.
And that's when it was realized that she has been abused, because they have not been to see who it—know who it is.
EVA MENDES: You can't even fathom like how—how somebody could even just hurt a child, but how they can commit such an aggressive sexual act against them.
WOMAN: This is Jessica.
NICHOLAS KRISTOF: Hey, Jessica.
EVA MENDES: Hi, Jessica.
How you can rape a child is beyond...
Hey. It's magic.
WOMAN: So, Jessica is doing much better now.
EVA MENDES: I mean, why? Why?
JUDY WOODRUFF: Joining me now from New York are husband and wife team and "Half the Sky" co-authors Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.
For more than two decades, they have been working to draw attention to neglected issues and areas of the world.
And we welcome you both.
And, Nick, we just saw you in that clip from Sierra Leone. It's just an unimaginable situation.
