How The Global Trade In Donkey Skins Threatens The Lives Of Women And Girls Letter

This cruel, largely unregulated industry in the global south undermines UN goals of gender equality and poverty reduction, writes Marianne Steele of The Donkey Sanctuary Re your editorial , last year, The Donkey Sanctuary revealed at least 5.9 million donkeys are slaughtered for their skins every year to produce ejiao, a traditional Chinese medicine. Donkeys suffer at every stage from capture and transport to brutal slaughter. With Chinas donkey population depleted, the industry has turned to other countries in the global south. Despite its scale, this cruel trade remains largely unregulated and invisible, and it is women and girls who suffer most. For many, donkeys are much more than animals they are co-workers and companions. When a donkey is stolen, household income can fall by 73. In one Kenyan region, over 90 of women have experienced donkey theft. Children especially girls are taken out of school to do the donkey work.