Women, they thought, were controlled through sexual violence. For example, public spaces were physically dominated by men, making it difficult for women to make a living in the formal ("public") sector. Modern education and mass media perpetuated sex-biased stereotypes. A series of interlinked crises (growing impoverishment, food insecurity, financial disarray, environmental degradation, demographic pressure) worsened the problem—so much so that the majority of the world's people found survival almost impossible. Rather than channeling resources into antipoverty grograms and reducing the burden of gender subordination, nations militarized while donor agencies expressed hopelessness and lack