Week 4 - Moving Forward and the Need For Awareness

Even after reading/watching so much regarding the sex traffic industry I still find it hard to believe that there people out there that are so evil. In my eyes "evil" is the only way to describe people that commit crimes like this and it's just as bad to solicit these women. I think the real problem is that most people simply don't know it's happening on such a level. It's good to realize that there are organizations out there to raise awareness to this blight; such as the Half the Sky movement and the Somaly Mam Foudation. After reading through chapter 2 of Half the Sky I thought a lot about other groups that are assisting in fighting sex trafficking and human trafficking in general. The Polaris Project is another great resource for raising awareness and helping victims restart their life. The Polaris Project statistics show that in the U.S. human trafficking and slavery have dropped substantially in the past three years. This is mainly because victims are starting to find more avenues for help. However the reality is that this isn't enough, as I stated earlier this topic was something I knew nothing about and I consider myself a well informed person. There is little to no push to inform the general public and condemn the men surrounding this issue. If there is no demand then there will be no need for supply. I realize that's easy to say and hard to make a reality but just as early as two days ago President Obama stated in his speech that he plans to continue his efforts against human trafficking and slavery. You can read more about the White Houses efforts to combat human trafficking here - http://m.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/09/25/all-hands-deck-renewing-call-combat-human-trafficking.
Do you think these efforts are enough? It's hard to wrap your mind around ways that YOU could help. Any ideas?
I, myself feel that it should start with some hard prosecution of the men that pay for and participate in such illegal practices.

WEEK 4, CHAPTER 3 SPEAKING UP and STANDING OUT

 

 

            While reading this chapter my mind began to wonder back to the days of slavery in the U.S. as it pertains to women. The chapter starts off by stating one of the reasons so many women and girls are kidnapped, trafficked, raped and abused is because they grin and bear it.  They endure due to the only other option being death.  This took me back to the history of African American women during slavery with no voice, no protection from their husbands for fear of being lynched, no regard for human life or dignity.  I agree whole heartedly that with education and empowerment training, girls can understand that being a woman does not constitute being treated as less than human.

            The boldness of Usha Naryane especially sparked my interest.  Speaking out and speaking up is one thing but when it’s backed by action that’s what is different, it makes the difference.  I found myself crying then cheering as I read Usha’s story. It proved that education is powerful and if put to good use it yields results. Even though Usha’s mom stated she was worried about the fearlessness of her daughter she was completely supportive of her.  I enjoyed reading how the women stepped up and took matters into their own hands, devised a plan and stood together to achieve their freedom. 

            A whole community driven by one who was finally fed up with the unfair treatment of her community, her people and filled up by charisma and leadership.

           

Chapter 3; Learning to Speak Up.

Chapter 3 left me feeling like I should be outside doing something better with my life and my education to "be that change".  I felt strongly encouraged that women in these countires are finding their voices.  Not that they didn't have one, but now they are hopefully using it.  So many times throughout a week do I wish I had the courage to speak up in certain situations, or just believed in myself that my opinion or thoughts weren't less superior than others.  I found hope in reading about Usha's journey and how she didn't doubt herself or back down because of fear.  She was confident in her education, and didn't give in to the threats of Akku Yadav.

Although it is important to encourage women to stand up for themselves and to speak up, I agree with Nick Kristof on page 53 where he states that education is key; "More broadly, the single most important way to encourage women and girls to stand up for their rights is education, and we can do far more to promote universal education in poor countries."  I think that these women, and more girls starting at a young age should be encouraged to attend school and to pursue an education.  These girls will learn their rights as humans and other key survival information that they need to know especially in these countries where sex traffickers are on the hunt for poor, weak, uneducated girls.  The more educated women these countries have, the more women like Usha and Sunitha, more and more girls will be rescued and can also find a hope that there is freedom.

I found it heartbreaking that many of the women started committing suicide when they had the chance to break free when the brothels closed with no provision for the girls working there.  Although I can imagine it being scary when you're finally finding freedom, but there is no place to go, and no way to earn money.  On the the brighter side, I love that Sunitha's organization, Prajwala, provides job training to help former prostitutes start new careers and new lives by finding family members and getting married.

Even though Sunitha plays down her success of 85% of women being able to stay out of prostitution, while 15% have returned, I admire the courage and passion she has for rescuing women and educating them with new skills.  Do you guys think that even though Sunitha states that "There's more prostitution now than when we started," what she has begun and so far done was worth it?

I'll end with the quote from the beginning of the chapter:" Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world.  Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves.  All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people." - George Bernard Shaw. How can we, like unreasonable people, stop letting the world change us, and let us change the world?

Week 4, Chapter 3 Learning to Speak Up

Learning to Speak Up

Chapter 3 was very inspiring and looked at the brighter side of these situations and horrible happenings that we have been reading about in class. It gives these tragic stories a sense of hope and faith in humanity. The bravery that it takes for a woman to stand up against her abuser is unimaginable to me. All of chapter 3 was about a place in Nagpur, India that was called, Kasturba Nagar. It gave examples of Akku Yadav's gang's violent actions towards women and people in the "Dalit" community in general; I was wondering if other countries have similar gangs like this and similar violent actions towards innocent people? They say in the text that he does these violent things to gain empowerment, but I don't clearly see what empowerment he is getting from it. So that confuses me a little bit.

Another thing that I realized is that in both of these stories the story tellers (Usha Narayane and Sunitha Krishnan) they were trying to make a point that the more educated the women were, the less likely they were to be a target for these kinds of situations. Although that may be true, throughout the chapter Nick Kristof was also trying to get across the point that no matter how hard it is for women, they need to stand up for themselves and continue to put up a fight, which would undermine the brothels because they would receive less profits. -- This to me is scary because I don't think anyone can put themselves in that situation unless they have actually been through it. It may be easy to say "stick up for yourself, keep the fight going," but when you're Abbas Be, watching a 16 year old girl stripped naked, hogtied, and stabbed to death in front of hundreds of people, because the girl was trying to stand up for herself -- that's easier said than done, educated or not. Does anyone else feel the same way?

With all that aside, I do think that it is great that people are seeing this as a major issue in countries today and that people are taking it seriously. People like Zach Hunter (who is only 12 years old!!!), from Atlanta are taking leaps to reach out and change people's lives, which is truly inspiring to me, and it really makes me feel like I ought to be doing something to help. Maybe if everyone would do something to help - things could look brighter for these trafficked girls, sooner than later! 

All references from Half The Sky, by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, chapter 3: Learning to Speak Up (pg. 47-60).

Dot

This is a great story not only for children but for adults too. Often times as people mature and take on more responsibility we become engulfed in work and forget about the seemingly insignificant events in our peripheral. What I mean is, in today’s fast paced society it is easy to see life through a microscope and forget the fundamental lessons we learn as children, such as,Believe in yourself and Don’t be afraid to try. The story of The Dot reminds me of the little engine that could, “I think I can, I think I can…” Start small and great things can and will happen; a valuable lesson for children and adults alike. It also reminds me of myself because I (as many children) was one who doubted myself at times and I am grateful that my teachers were there to encourage me. I believe all teachers and those aspiring to teach should read this book, never accept I can’t  or I don’t know how as an answer and you will surely be part of a snowballing effect comprised of greatness and gratitude.

Dot Day

This book reminded me of an exceptional teacher I had when I was a little girl. Her name was Mrs. Heidi Kline-Line and she was the art instructor for Sherman Elementary School. I had always loved making crafts and art projects at home; collages with my mom or finger painting with my grandpa. When I started school things  got even better. Mrs. Kline-Line would blast the oldies station and we would sit in her colorful room and draw, paint and create. She never had a negative word to say and viewed each student's blotchy sketches with adoring eyes. Students would come into class and exclaim "I can't do this! I can't draw!" She would smile and patiently sit beside them, coaxing them to release their creativity. In the end all her students would manage to make something, and her words of praise would make even the meekest child confident. I remember the feeling in that classroom, it was very free and comforting. There was an unspoken agreement between students and teacher that not a word of judgment would be passed inside the confines of Kline-Line's art room. It was the part of the day where everyone got along. I think both my teacher and the instructor in the Dot Day book cultivated inspiration in their students. Both teachers gave their students confidence to go forward and pursue something. As I reminisce about Mrs. Kline-Line I harbor a hope that one day  a student will remember me with such fondness. It was people like her that made me want to be a teacher. She inspired me and provided a spot in the school day where everyone got along and believed in themselves. If I can accomplish this same enthusiasm in my classroom one day I will be so, so overjoyed.

Week 3, Chapter 2

There have been so many ideas and trials to stock trafficking and prostitution but none of them are actually working. There has to be someway to stop this; something that will put this terrible thing to an end. The big stick approach and the legalize and regulate model have both been tried multiple times in multiple places and it’s not going anywhere. 

The big stick approach is almost being used to scare people away from it. The idea is that if it is illegal and people start getting in trouble for it, it’ll start to scare others away. There are a few problems with this technique. One problem is that there aren’t enough people in power actually going through with this approach. The police officers aren’t really doing their job to go through and arrest people for trafficking. The second problem is even if people are getting in trouble for this, it isn’t scaring people that have been doing it forever. Just like other crimes, if people want to do it bad enough, they are going to make it happy whether it is legal or illegal. 

The legalize and regulate model also isn’t working. The idea is to make prostitution legal so that it can be regulated. The regulation are to be able to have health checks and make sure things are happening the way they are supposed to. The regulation is also the get underaged girls out of the prostitution. This model also is not working as well as planned. Making prostitution legal has made it more open in these places but their are also places that aren’t as open where the health checks aren’t happening and the underaged girls are still being used, it is just not being seen. 

Seeing that many different ideas and approaches to this aren’t working, we need to find another way to help. These women are innocent and not deserving of this. We just need to open up the eyes of others to this idea as well. What are some ideas that some of you have to help this problem? I think if people start talking about this more openly and seeing some outside ideas, it can slowly be helped. Even if this starts as small as this blog, what if one day one bloggers idea turns into a world-wide help for trafficking and prostitution?

The Dot!

When I asked myself, who in my life encouraged me to make a mark? It didn’t take me long to think of the answer. My parents and my brothers came to my mind right away. I was lucky enough to grow up in a household where everyone in it was always encouraging me and pushing me to follow my dreams. When I told them I wanted to continue to be a dancer throughout my life, they supported me. When I told them I wanted to become a teacher, they told me that I could do it! They are always telling me to be the best that I can be. They have always done this in such a loving and supporting way. Not only have they told me to follow my dreams in becoming a teacher, they have always told me that I can make a difference. I can make a difference in a child’s life. Whether it’s one child that I make an impact on or fifty children. I don’t just want to become a teacher because I like to teach, I want to be become a teacher because I want to work with children. I want to be the teacher that my students remember. My family has always made me believe that I can be that teacher. The one that made a difference in a child’s life. Having their love and support in my life since the beginning has made me who I am today. I have never given up. Some may think that having your family’s support doesn’t matter that much, but to me it means the world. If they weren’t supporting me all of the time, I don’t think I could have gotten this far in my career. I hope that my family knows how much I love and appreciate their support in guiding me to pursue my goal and make my mark!

Week Three Blog

As is common with any form of abuse, the act becomes an ingrained cycle passed from person to person or even generation to generation.  The authors discussed this briefly in Chapter 2 when examining their experience with Momm, a trafficked girl in Cambodia who began to climb the ranks within the brothel that purchased her by taking on the responsibilities of managing new arrivals, "The slave was becoming the overseer," the authors stated.  This information has reached the point of common knowledge so, the conversation has now developed into a discussion on how to stop and prevent the abuse by breaking the cycle. 

The authors discussed several routes taken by nation throughout the world, from Sweden's approach of severely punishing those who purchase sex rather than those providing it, to the Netherlands efforts to curb trafficking by legalizing prostitution and enforcing health screenings within the legal brothels.  While evidence supports the Swedish approach more than the method used by the Netherlands, the creation of laws means nothing without the enforcement of them by local police under the active regulation of the nation's governmental system. 

I am inclined to agree with the authors when they said, "Our focus has to be on changing reality, not changing laws."  While laws are nice on paper and when placed on the desk in front of a politician during a photo opportunity, they mean little if actions are not being taken by the government and by NGOs.  Projects like "Pivot" that create innovative ways of reaching out to trafficked girls in a confidential way through water soluble messages in sanitary napkins should be commended, not just for their efforts, but for devising a way to get a message to a girl and allowing her to dispose of the evidence before her captor beats her after finding it in her possession.  However, this particular method does limit the number of girls reached to those who live in cultures where disposable napkins and working toilets are used.

Many individuals are setting out to create active change, like former victim, Somaly Mam who rightfully boasts about the 7,000 or so trafficked girls that she and her organization have rescued from brothels.  I can understand how some can criticize smaller efforts, such as the products from "Pivot" or Mam's work to transform the lives of trafficked girls, but I would argue that it only takes one stone to creating a lasting ripple in a pond.

Week 3/ Group 1 Blog post/ Chapter 2

As I read this chapter I started to understand how a weak/poor government could be the biggest problem in trying to combat the issue of sex trafficking of underage girls and women who don’t want to do such a thing for a living. The example the Nick gave about the officers in India not watching out for girls that are being trafficked from Napal helped me to understand how big of a role the government plays. I also noticed that one of the reasoning that the men need these girls is that they can’t have sex with “good” Indian girls until they’re married, but they need someone to satisfy their needs until then. I wanted to talk about this because it also came up in chapter one as a reason for why this occurs often in societies like India and Arab nations. I was born in that kind of culture (Palestine), by that kind of culture I mean I lived in an Arab society were girls and guys are not allowed to have sex before they’re married. If a girl has sex before she is married she will be disowned by her family, but there’s no true way of finding out if a man is a virgin so no one really cares if the men have sex before. I hear so many stories about young men traveling out of the country just so they can have sex, and I’ve hear many stories about them paying for it. I find this to be ridiculous, and it doesn’t make any sense to me whatsoever.  I understand that some people believe it’s very wrong to commit to someone in such a way before marriage, but I don’t understand how it would be okay for a guy, but if the girl were to love her virginity she is frowned down upon. Whenever I visit there I’m always terrified of getting kidnapped and raped just because I know guys there are deprived of such things, and it’s more likely to happen there than here in America. I think its societies like that, and societies with that mindset are part of the cause of forced prostitution. I believe that if those societies where to be free (like America) there wouldn’t be that big “need” for guys to have to pay for sex. I believe that if these societies didn’t care about when girls had sex, it should be something that the girl can decide for herself. I don’t think it’s right to believe that just because a girl had sex before she’s married she’s immediately a bad girl who’s a slut (that’s what they think of any girl who has sex before marriage).I think it’s better for guys to have sex with girls whom they are dating instead of having to travel outside of the country just to have sex. I would also like to point out, that Palestine does also have a very weak government system. A lot of times with the stories I hear it is someone on the police force that did the kidnapping/raping. This chapter has helped me to be able to see how societies with that kind of mindset, and weak government can have higher rates of sex trafficking. So I have to ask what you guys think about this kind of thinking of societies that don’t allow guys and girls to have sex before marriage? Do you guys think this contributes to the issue? If so, what do you think could be the solution? 

The Dot Day Lesson plan

I would love to be a second grade teacher and use this book for some of my lesson plans.

I would use the book to start a discussion about diversity. If every student in the class drew a dot all of the dots would be not be the same. I would ask the class why the dots are different and get the class talking about the differences in the dots.

By the class talking about diversity this will also help the class become more social. This will help the students become more comfortable in the classroom and want to ask questions.

I could also use this book as writing prompt. I could ask the students to write about a time someone encouraged them or a time they encouraged someone else. This will help the students to get an idea of how the real world and the book relate.

Group 1 Blog Post on Chapter 2

The topic of trafficking and prostitution has made it's way in the class room since the first week of class. As a class we have discussed our opinions on the tragic topic of modern slavery with India being the main focus. Is there an example of something in the United States that is illegal, but the law is irrelevant in certain locations or regions? (For example, Detroit)

In Chapter two we are introduced to Nick who is crossing the border of India into Nepal and strikes up a conversation with an Indian officer. The officers remarks to Nick's comments and suggestions left my mind uneasy. The officer and the government he works for seemed to be more concerned with monitoring terrorism and smuggled goods than trafficked girls? I pose the question; In your opinion, do you think trafficked girls to be considered smuggled goods? And explain your answer. Another remark from the same officer that I found difficult to understand was "prostitution is inevitable." Isn't terrorism inevitable too? But yet the government still has safety measures and procedures to follow to prevent the act of terrorism, so shouldn't the inevitability of prostitution be monitored and controlled too?  Why or why not?

 

And I leave you with a quote for thought. Continuing on in the chapter I found an interesting quote "you don't have to arrest everybody, you just have to get enough that it sends a ripple effect and changes the calculations." -Gary Haugen (President and CEO of International Justice Mission)
Do you agree or disagree with Haugen's strategy tactic? Why might it work, and why might it not work?