In a few short weeks, the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Educational Center will open its newest exhibit, Women Hold Up Half the Sky. In cooperation with the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, and inspired by the book Half the Sky by Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, the exhibition identifies and explores one of the central moral challenges of the 21st century: equality for women in the United States and around the world.

The exhibition, opening Sept. 25, is divided into three primary subjects: maternal health, gender-based violence, and sex trafficking. Each section honestly portrays the injustices perpetrated against women and girls around the world and shares amazing personal stories of women working individually, and in partnership with social justice-based organizations, to improve the quality of life for women in their culture and communities.

Despite the serious subject matter, to walk through Women Hold Up Half the Sky is an inspirational and thought-provoking experience. The exhibition occupies the museum’s downstairs exhibition space and transforms the normally dark basement into a vibrant, living classroom. Colorful art hangs from the ceiling and on the exhibition’s walls, alongside photographs, and multimedia installations designed to engage museum visitors while educating them about the extraordinary challenges facing women and girls across the globe.

Among these accounts is the inspiring story of Goretti Nyabenda of Burundi. During the early years of their marriage, Goretti’s husband regularly beat her and prohibited her from leaving their family home. Goretti and her six children lived in constant fear of his wrath. But one day, Goretti joined a solidarity group for abused women supported by the humanitarian organization CARE. Through her support group, Goretti received a microloan for an entrepreneurial venture that eventually led to the founding of her own banana beer business. “Now I have peace in my household, and we make all decisions together,” says Goretti. “After 16 years of marriage, we are finally able to communicate. My husband considers me an equal partner.” As a result, “many people, both men and women are changing the way they think” about the role and treatment of women in Goretti’s community.

Stories like Goretti’s “underscore the importance of the role that women play in their local communities. When women are empowered” and given the opportunity to thrive, says Shoshana Buchholz-Miller, vice president of the Museum’s Education and Exhibitions, “it not only impacts them positively, but it impacts their family and their community positively as well.” Like Goretti, other women whose stories are featured in the exhibition stand as testament that when provided with the opportunity and the resources to effect change, anyone can improve her situation and uplift her community.

On this side of the globe, Women Hold Up Half the Sky also brings attention to the injustices faced by women and girls within American-particularly Midwestern-communities. Unbeknownst to many Americans, domestic abuse and sex trafficking are still extremely common dangers for women and girls in the United States. According to the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE), “[on] any given day in the Chicago metropolitan region, there are more than 10,000 girls and women engaged in prostitution-related activities.” More often than not, girls enter the sex trade by age 15. Buchholz-Miller reiterates, “Not only is the US a transit point [for sex trafficking], but it is also a substantial market,” which is why the museum has given this issue a spotlight in the exhibition.

To provide the tools for meaningful and effective dialogue on this subject, the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Educational Center has partnered with YWCA Evanston/North Shore in presenting the exhibition and designing complementary public programming. “We are very excited to be a part of this effort,” says Kathy Slaughter, YWCA Evanston/North Shore Vice President of Development. “The exhibition highlights critical issues facing women and girls both globally and locally. It shows visitors that violence against women and economic abuse are issues in developing countries, and also in our own communities, and that there are programs in place, like those at the YWCA Evanston/Northshore, to provide comprehensive aid.”

“The themes of this exhibition are hard to wrap your mind around,” says Slaughter, “but they are real, women are really experiencing them, and there is hope.”

Exhibition programs will include film viewings, panel discussions, and family forums, among other engaging activities.

The exhibition opens on Sept. 25, and will run until Jan. 22, 2017. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan will be the keynote speaker at the exhibition’s opening event on Sept. 25.

For more information on this exhibition, visit www.ilholocaustmuseum.org .

Jenna Cohen is a freelance writer living in the Chicago area.