♪host: this week, "global 3000" is dedicated to women.we head to south africa's hippest hubs to meet young,female tech-whizzes. in india, we pay a visit to thekhasi, where women run the show. and in saudi arabia, we meetwomen for whom working means nothing less than freedom.freedom is an alien concept for women here.they're not allowed to drive. they need male consent totravel, or even just to own a passport.but for several years, women in saudi arabia have beencampaigning for equal right, filming themselves behind thewheel, and training for football matches.they've even ventured into

satire on youtube.and it's having an effect. saudi universities now have morefemale than male students. and over the next few years thenumber of women in the workforce is set to rise from 22% to 30%.in the saudi city of jeddah, the nesma embroidery and tailoringcenter is breaking new ground. it employs more than 60 saudiwomen. that's unusual in this extremelyconservative islamic kingdom. its managing director is ranazumai. herself a mother of three, shepays her staff well and provides them with a minibus service andeven daycare for their children. ms. zumai: a shy housewifeshould absolutely grab this job

opportunity.and in the process, learn how to make a more confidentimpression. in the beginning when thecustomer, they not trusting us, that how i can deal as a man --they are all women. some of customers make the orderin minimum quantity, becaue they don't trust that we candeliver it. but after the first deal and thesecond deal and the third deal, now they depend on us in alltheir quantity, and big quantity.we keep it female because we want to provide our women,muslim women, with an environment where they feelrelief if they want to work freely without wearing hijab.we feel more comfortable. host: the women are only wearingtheir veils inside the factory

but they later discover that thework, it means more than thi. that work means to secureyourself, feel your value, your right in your community.now the target of the girl when she graduates from this countryschool is not only focusd on what man she will marry.no, because she can live without being married.host: fatimah ali is one of the employees who is not married.ms. ali: the most important thing for me is to know that iam no longer financially dependent on my parents.that makes me feel so strong. all of a sudden i can just goout and do things by myself, things our society doesn't thinkare good for women -- being with friends or being out and abouton my own.

in the past i was never amongpeople. i was always at home. today, i have made so many goodfriends. host: a new sense of freedom ina country that until recently, largely excluded women frompublic life. host: how long have marriedwomen in europe had the right to work without the consent oftheir husbands? in france, since 1965.women in germany had to wait another 12 years.and in switzerland, it wasn't until 1988 that legal reformsgave women and men equal rights. before that, men were the headof the family, while women cared for the children and household.equality is about leading an autonomous life, it's abouteducation, and deciding whether to have children or not.and of course it's about being

paid the same for the same work-- still a huge issue, worldwide.women in india are among the most disadvantaged in the world.and yet here, in the state of meghalaya, there's a tribe whodo things completely differently -- the khasi. >>you see. i have a daughter.she is a girl, and i will educate her.whatever she wants, i will give her, but not bad things.host: not bad things but good things, and that means land anda house. khasi men work on their wives'land. at the moment they're harvestinglaurel. this landowner has a son, andalso, much to her satisfaction, two daughters. >>in khasi society, overallresponsibility lies with mothers.the mother is the head of the

family.when she dies, her daughter inherits her property.that's how it's been for generations.host: the khasi practice matrilineal descent.the youngest daughter of the family, the ka khadduh, inheritsall ancestral property. sons live with their mothersuntil they get married. then they move in with theirwife's family. every time a daughter marries,the family extends the property to accommodate her new family. >>our children have theirmother's name, not their father's name.your task as a man is to fulfill your family's needs.the women are in charge of the home and the property.they make sure everything runs smoothly.host: in the state of meghalaya,

the khasi -- who number roughlyone million -- are officially recognized as an ethnicminority. they enjoy certain privileges,with khasi laws protected by an autonomous district government.they also pay lower taxes and benefit from india's employmentreservation policy for government and public sectorjobs. jobs. indian culture tends to favorboys over girls. but in khasi culture, a familywith no girls is considerd unfortunate.men are financially dependent on their wives.there are barely any registered cases of domestic violence.in the afternoons, the women like to meet up for tea andgossip in mawlongbna. from farmers to businesswomen,everyone here chas together comfortably.kong arbi is the owner of the tea house.ms. arbi: i sell tea and light snacks.i provide for my own children and my whole clan.i don't earn a lot, but it's

enough for my family.host: kong arbi is determined to protect khasi tradition fromoutside influences. ms. arbi: as a woman, i'm veryproud of our tradition. men move in with their wives.they look after us and thy also help us look after the children.it's good to be a woman here. host: but life isn't always easyfor the ka khadduh. from an early age, youngestdaughters have to take care of their families.they look after the younger children in the extended family,cook, clean, and wash clothes. they're also expected to takecare of their parents and grandparents until they die.indian society is largely male-dominated, and khasi menare often the butt of jokes.

but they themselves have noproblem with women ruling the roost. >>my wife should respect me alot and i also respect her a lot.but we both respect raising our children, for developing theirfuture, girls or boys. but love is more important.i love her and she loves me, and supporting our children.host: bibalisha is renovating her mother's market stall.she's just 18 and still goes to school, but she's already thehead of her family. still, she's optimistic aboutthe future. bibalisha: it's not a burden atall. because after we work and get ajob at least we can make money. for our parents, we can keep amaid at home, maybe to take cae

of them.for us, after our studies i can go abroad, go for travelling.it's not a burden at all. host: but if she's to upholdtradition as well, she'll have her work cut out for her.however, one tradition remains unchallenged.meghalaya's villages are considered the cleanest in thewhole of asia. the women are constantlycleaning and tidying. and broomsticks from mawlongbnaare popular tourist souvenirs. broom grass grows hereeverywhere. it's handpicked by the women andbound to make the brooms. one feature of khasi culture, atleast, that has been exported all over south asia. ♪host: from rural india to urban germany.we asked some women and men,

>>i'd say a typical woman isvery emotional, very intuitive, more so than men. >>they have got far too manyclothes in their closet, they're addicted to shopping. >>sensitive, led by theirfeelings. >>that's right, moody. >>they complain abouteverything. >>they can cook. tidy up. >>a typical woman?a good listener. but when the man's not there,she does what she wants. >>sweet, polite. >>a little bit shy. >>good manners, a bit shy. >>cute, somehow. >>women are only interested inshopping, appearances, how thy

look. >>yeah, make-up and all that. >>when someone gives her anopportunity, she will say, oh, i really don't know if i can dothat. >>tough, self-confident,strong. host: and now to some strongwomen campaigning for the rights of others, using dance toprotest against violence. "one billion rising" gotunderway in 2013. the name "one billion" remindsus that one in three women around the world have alreadysuffered abuse in their lives. it's become one of the largestprotest movements in the world. we met the woman behind it.reporter: author, artist, and activist.eve ensler is outspoken and impulsive, and she fights forher vision of feminism.

ms. ensler: you believe in thepower that women have in them and the power they can generateif they are equal, if they are cherished, if they aren't hurtand uncut, unviolated and unraped. what would women be?reporter: this is washington square park in new york city.demonstrations have been taking place here ever since u.s.president donald trump took power.whenever she can, eve ensler joins in.ms. ensler: just all these people here.the fact that the resistance is growing and growing and growing,and it's gonna get fiercer and deeper and more connected as wego. and eventually we are going tohave a massive uprising in ths country against this regime.i believe it. reporter: an uncompromisingradical, she rejects everything that donald trump stands for.ms. ensler: refer to him as

predator-in-chief from thispoint on. this will drive him crazybecause he loves the name so much. predator-in-chief!we have a self-confessed sexual assaulter, an accused rapist, asexual harasser. a man who has said women shouldbe punished for having abortions.reporter: for decades, the new yorker has been campaigning forequal rights for women, whether in america, india, or congo. ♪she rose to fame with "the vagina monologues," a theaterpiece about women and their experiences with sex,relationships, and violence. she herself suffered violenceand sexual abuse as a child. yet, she says the anger she feltfor her father made her stronger.ms. ensler: i bless my rage, because that rage kept me fromkilling myself. you know, i became suicidallater on, but at the time of my

childhood i was just defiant.i did everything the opposite if he told me to do.told me not to go out, i went out.he told me not to smoke pot, i smoked pot.told me not to -- everything he did. but you know what?that kept me alive. reporter: now she draws herstrength from her friends, tony montenieri and susan swan.they're her family, and the three work closely together.in 1998, ensler founded the women's organization v-day.active worldwide, v-day supports of gender violence in the democratic republic ofcongo. ♪ this evening she's on her way toa women's film festival, where she'll be receiving an award.she stops for photographs on the

red carpet with her stepson,actor dylan mcdermott. they've very close.mr. mcdermott: one of the most important things in life,obviously, is your character. and eve's character is so true,so gold, if you will. and what she has done for womenaround the planet will go down in history, i believe.i mean, she is a radical. reporter: eve ensler is theevening's guest of honor. she's a role model for many ofthe women in the audience. >>ladies and gentlemen, thenext president of the united states, eve ensler!reporter: eve ensler enjoys her applause, but she's never seenherself as a celebrity. ms. ensler: so much of my lifehas been about being on the frontlines, struggling in thearts where i had to struggle every day of my life in thetiniest little theaters at te beginning of my career to littleholes in the middle of nowhere to little towns.and the same with my activism.

i have been doing direct action,i have been doing organizing for people across the globe cometogether to dance in defiane of the injustices women suffer.dance as protest. the campaign has supporters allover the world, from new yor, to berlin, to dehli.ms. ensler: music, dance, song, hip hop, poetry, spoken word,theatre. we need to make art. we need to make love.art brings us into our bodies. it catalyses sexual energy andwe all need to have a lot of sex.reporter: that's the sort of message her fans and supporterslove her for. ♪ the continued violence againstwomen makes her furious.

but eve ensler doesn't despair.she will carry on her fight. giving up simply isn't anoption. host: and now to africa, acontinent with 58 countries and 1.2 billion people.but just how linked up are they? less than a third of africanshave internet access -- most of them in south africa, kenya, andnigeria. in 2015, there were 226 millionregistered smartphone sim-cards. however, that number is set totriple by 2020. and that's influencing urbanhipsters in their choice of work.reporter: cape town's waterfront up their internet platform tohelp young african women achieve

their professional dreams.it organizes workshops and events across africa onnetworking, drawing up busines plans, and marketing and prstrategies. this weekend, thoko miya isrunning a workshop on programming for youngentrepreneurs. computer science and softwaredesign are still very much male-dominated fields.ms. miya: science, technology, engineering and math areextremely important because n africa -- and i think it is aphenomenon around the world -- women often are told, you wouldbe better at something els, and that's why we focus ontechnology and entrepreneurship. getting people, and especiallywomen in africa, involved in tech and getting them involvedin entrepreneurship activities, getting them involved in keyareas where they could be industry leaders.reporter: thoko miya works for

girlhype, a non-profitorganization that aims to get more women into stem subjects.her mother founded girlhype 12 years ago.ms. miya: the biggest challenge is investments.getting investments, getting endorsements, gettingsponsorships. i think african women reallyneed to come in with a sense of leadership, come in with a senseof ownership, come in with, this is me, this is what i do and iam capable. leave the beggar mentality athome, you don't need to beg when you're here.bring you and your leadership. reporter: some of today'sparticipants already run their own websites.nyaki tshabangu has an online platform that promotes naturalhair. users can buy products, discusstips for hair care, and find out about services and events takingplace. she is familiar wih the challenges facing femaleentrepreneurs. ms. tshabangu: access togovernment funding, access to

private sector funding, notbeing bold enough to go into companies and say, you shouldhire me or i need to be working here or you need to listen tome. i think that is the biggest challenge with women, in southafrica particularly. reporter: mich atagana is headof communications and public affairs at google south africa.she's confident that digital technology will continue tocreate jobs. she also hopes it will allowafrican businesses to forge their own path.ms. atagana: i think we are so obsessed with scale becausethat's what the world of entrepreneurship in the west hastaught us to believe in. when you think about it, if iemploy three people and one person leaves my business,because they are equipped enough to start their own business, andthen they employ another thre people and one person leavesthat business to go employ another three people -- whenthat happens on a scale of 10,000, is that not scaling?reporter: the new opportunities aren't restricted to the digitalworld.

job creation is a priority inevery sector. ms: atagana: it is only some ofjobs that apps can give, but f you can build a farm that allowsafricans to produce and sell their own food, you've creatednot just so many jobs, you've fed so many people.reporter: here in cape town, the digital future has arrived, andwomen are very much part of it. ♪ >>i am. >>a global teen. ♪milenia: my name is milenia reije, i live in las galeras.i was born on the 2nd of

january, 2000, and that's why iwas named milenia. ♪ i love it.i get up at 7:00 in the morning to get to school by 8:00, and istay until midday. i like spending time with myfriends and playing games. ♪ we play dominoes.you need four players. ♪ i'm afraid of violence andmurder.

i'm also frightened by cyclonesand earthquakes, that sort of thing. ♪ trees. fruit. games.and the beach. ♪ >>it's brain and beauty, it'strying to solve the problem.

>>men and women, they are allequal because they all have the same responsibilities.what i can do, a woman can do. host: what's a typical woman ora typical man for you? tell us on facebook -- dw globalsociety. you'll also find lots ofinteresting discussions, web videos, and live events there.follow us on dw global society. center at dw.com.we are back next week. see you then. ♪[captioning performed by the national captioning institute,which is responsible for its

caption content and accuracy.visit ncicap.org]

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