Togo Article

This article really opened my eyes to the horrors of human trafficking. At first I knew that people would be kidnapped, addicted to drugs and sometimes even killed. But now I see it in a broader perspective. I didn’t know that even children were taken away and beaten and kept in slave-like conditions. I honestly had no idea that it wasn’t just prostitution or sexual slavery. What surprised me was that men and kids are also taken away and used for things that some people are just too lazy to do. Some kids are just used for vacuuming and cleaning which someone can legally hire someone to do it for them, but I guess people just love their money more than human life. Also people have their passports taken away and when their loved ones are going crazy trying to find them, the person who was trafficked can’t even call them to rest their weary souls. What amazed me is that some people kind of volunteer for this kind of things. While I do admire the bravery and selflessness that it requires someone to do this for their family. But it also shocks me is that parents even give their kids away for this kind of thing.

Final Trafficking article

I started reading this article expecting to hear about little girls from all over the world being shipped across the ocean to be in massage parlors, nail salons, and the sex trafficking business. When i started getting deep into the article, something caught my eye; and it was that they said girls were forced into marriage without even knowing it. I was shocked, because i didn't think people could do that, and just be fine with locking fifth and sixth grade girls in cages without food. In my opinion, i think that Thailand and China need to enforce their laws a lot more. If I were the leader of China or Thailand i would try to stop these immigrants from being put into terrible situations with no water, and little food. These countries need to start making a change in their streets by at least trying to step up and keep these children from being put into helpless situations with no support, and no money.

3 essays blog

The three essays that we were assigned to read were all different experiences in the lives of women who came from different cultural backgrounds, but basically told the same story. Since the beginning of time women have been considered the weaker sex, and the stories that we read only prove that these feeling are not completely gone. The first story talks about how sexism trickles down from generation to generation, the author tells of how her father treated her and her sister differently from her brothers, and didn’t show much respect for the opposite sex by condoning her brothers promiscuous behavior while completely banning her sister from even meeting up with boys. The second essay tells of how the author’s father thought that she would end up as nothing but somebody’s wife, just because she was a girl, and how the author felt that she constantly had to prove herself to him academically. The third essay depicts a different scenario completely, as the author tells of how a mere black eye brought everyone to the assumption that she had been beaten by her spouse. All in all, the purpose of all of these essays are to prove that women are not as weak, stupid, or helpless as many would think, and that sexism still finds a way into our society and daily lives.

3 essays response

I think the one thing these three essays have in common, is the fact that the men and people in these three different stories underestimate the abilities these women have and it's truly ashame. The first essay shows that the men can't trust the women or better yet they don't want to trust to which is really crazy. I personally think that they just don't want the females to have fun at all and want them to suffer and have to look after everything all the time and that can get tiring. With the second story,it's weird that the father would just focus so much of his time on his son's that the only thing that he is concerned about her is that she go to college and find a husband, not go to college and get a masters or something like that. I personally don't find that important. The people in the third story don't believe the woman's reason for her injury, they just assume that a man put his hands on her. I think that right there they either believe that if a man did put his man on her it was her fault, which is not the case. People just assume so many things and make it harder for women to achieve things in life. Men are constantly putting women down or at least trying to. It doesn't matter what race we are they will do it anyway.

Rwanda Article

I actually found the Rwanda article somewhat surprising. I thought it was surprising based on the events that have happened in Rwanda and the state that it is in following them. I think the thing that surprised me the most was not the fact that women had taken such a large role within the government, but it seemed to be managing things a lot better. Like I said the recent events in Rwanda have had such a tremendous impact on the people as well as the land. It would be pretty safe to assume that because 55 percent of the country is female, that would be an understandable reason as to why one-third of the Rwandan government would be run by women. I thought it was also pretty cool to see how accepting men are of the situation and how they feel as though their leadership is working better than their past male leaders. Although it is small, it seems as if a lot of progress is being made to help the situation in Rwanda. It seems as if it is working because there are so many women in the country and therefore it is easier for the women within the government to know how to act on what they do.

3 Articles

I thought that the three articles were all very interesting. I thought each were different because of the language and the time in which it was written. In fact, I thought the coolest thing about each of these articles was the difference in each woman’s language whether it was Alice Walker’s southern family in the 70s, Sandra Cisneros Mexican-American family in the 90s or Jane Slaughter’s Detroit family in the late 80s; each story had its own tone. However, I thought that there were numerous similarities, the main ones generally being about family. The main thing I noticed with the first two was that there were a lot of brothers so their fathers are very hard to impress. I think the main theme I noticed would have to be the how each woman overcomes an obstacle that is centered around the men in their life. An example for each one would be would be how Alice Walker ends up being the responsible adult that none of her brothers turned out to be despite her father’s doubts of the woman she would become. Sandra Cisneros left for college and was still able to please her father despite his ideas. And Jane Slaughter was able to get by the rumors or thoughts of her husband speculated by her peers, due to her black eye, or “beaut.”

Rwanda Article

Amazingly women in the tiny African country of Rwanda have finally stepped up and taken power. Women now run the show. They have seats in congress and they can have just about any job they want to. Rwanda has banished archaic patriarchal laws that are enforced in just about the rest of Africa. In recent years the ratio of women to men, making women the dominant sex in this small country. In 1994, genocide occurred where 800,000 people were killed and over killed and raped. Then the population of Rwanda then become 70% women. Then a new constitution was introduced in 2003 where 30% of all parliament and cabinet seats had to be women. And then right next to Rwanda a sexual violence ravaged Congo. Where there is no law and there is no order. And then even some women legislatures and cabinet seats were raped, threatened and one was murdered. And out of 222 lawyers or lawmakers only a few are women.

Rwanda Article

I think that the situation in Rwanda where the women are the majority and run the country is a nice change. I also find it very unique because not many places in the world, especially in that area of the world, have more women then men running the country. Also, I think this is good because it can most-likely give women a better chance of getting equal treatment. Women are now more or less running Rwanda because they need more opportunities in getting a job and being able to support their family without the help of men. I think that the men in Rwanda find it unfair that the women have more rights and have more political power then men. The fact that women run the country, and they want to give women to have more rights is working, but it might be a problem if the men feel emasculated in a way; because they might want to protest, or retaliate in some way.

Women in Rwanda article

Its nice to see that women are starting to stand up for themselves and stop letting the guys do everything. There starting to do what guys were doing all the time. before women couldn't even do half of the things tat we can do today. girls are now running for president witch is good. They are standing up for what they believe in and being heard from people that once didn't care and now they have those people on there side. this makes me feel wonderful and proud that women have accomplished something that was once hopeless. this is definitely a working progress. i hope that it stills keep going cause we should never be looked upon as a slave.

rwanda article

In my opinion it is a good thing that they have those laws in Rwanda and that women are finally being recognized for all that they can do. Also that they are finally getting the respect they deserve. Even though some of it is because it is the law a lot of it is because people actually respect women more now. Women started "running" the country because it is now a law that at least 30% of Parliament has to be female and now they have 56 seats in Parliament so they are the majority. In my opinion it is working VERY well. Some men are still being ignorant about things and saying that women could now oppress men because they are the majority. But some men are being open minded and actually looking at the big picture and think that women are "more reasonable, more merciful, and less corrupt than men."

togo article

This was not the first time that I have heard about human trafficking in Africa, among other places in the world, I was shocked to how young some of the girls where. When I hear the words “human trafficking” my mind automatically jumps to forced prostitution. The article tells the story of a girl who had been working as a maid since she was nine years old, and how she was abused and mistreated. The fact that so many of these girls have to go through such horrible mess during their lives while still being so young breaks my heart. In my opinion, the main cause of all of this is the poverty that these people live in, because the few cents a day that they make is what they must survive with, they will take any job they can find for themselves or their daughters, just to support their families. They don’t have the time or luxury of even thinking of the horrible things that might happen to them, leaving home to work for a stranger. I think that this problem might be solved if more jobs start to appear, a union for housekeepers might help as well, and the police and law makers cracking down on abusive employers.

Final trafficking article -- READ BY THURSDAY!!!

Please read the following summary of a Save the Children report and write a 200 word blog about it. Focus on the section regarding trafficking. Please be prepared, on Thursday, to ask informed questions. Most importantly -- why is this something to think about in a class about women in history and literature?

Small Dreams Beyond Reach: The Lives of Migrant Children and Youth Along the Borders of China, Myanmar and Thailand
Therese M. Caouette
A Participatory Action Research Project of Save the Children (UK) and the UK Department for International Development / 2001

The majority of cross-border migrants from China and Myanma into Thailand were young, came from rural areas, and had little or no formal education. Along all the borders, young people began migrating on their own at about the age of thirteen. Some children under that age also migrate on their own, though most are accompanied by parents or relatives.

The decision to migrate is complex and usually involves numerous overlapping factors. Children and youth did not give one reason exclusively, but an explanation that included economic survival, war, refuge, government policies, personal problems, and envisioned opportunities abroad. The majority of migrants first explained their move to find work as necessary for their daily survival.

Migrants travelled a number of routes that changed frequently according to their political and economic situation. The vast majority crossed without documentation and even those with travel permits often stayed beyond their expiration or did not abide by the restrictions placed on their visit, with the ultimate result of being identified as illegal immigrants.

Generally, migrants leave their homes not knowing what kind of job they will find abroad and even when they think they know, they often find it is not what they expected. The actual jobs available to migrants were very gender specific. Migrant girls and women sought jobs in factories, shops and restaurants, sex work (direct or indirect), the entertainment industry, or as domestic workers (cleaning and care taking). Male migrants found jobs in the fishing and agricultural industries or as manual day laborers or construction workers.

Though the living and working conditions of cross-border migrants vary according to the place, job, and employer, nearly all study participants noted their vulnerability to exploitation and abuse without protection or redress. The study revealed extensive debt-bondage, sexual abuse, illegal confinement, confiscation of documents, arrest and extortion, forced overtime, few basic resources, and poor accommodations that were overcrowded, insecure, and often violent. Sexual abuse was commonly reported among girls and young women, particularly among those involved in sex work and domestic service.

Trafficking of persons, predominantly children and youth, was common at all sites. The majority of young women and children were trafficked into sex work, marriage, domestic work, or begging. It was found that the majority of girls from migrant communities along the Thai-Myanmar border left their border villages for jobs further inside Thailand. Typically, girls were recruited during the fifth and sixth grade. Trafficking into marriage was also frequently reported by girls and young women from minority communities in Northern Shan State, who often were forced into marriages deeper in China. Many domestic workers from Myanmar also reported being trafficked into domestic work and forced into arrangements and conditions without their knowledge or agreement. Trafficking of young children and babies was reported from Myanmar into China.

Migrants frequently considered their options and opportunities to return home. For many, the decision to return revolved around issues of security and logistics. Discriminatory attitudes towards those who have migrated, especially girls and young women, made the reintegration process extremely difficult, often resulting in further migration.

Though many acknowledge that growing numbers of children and youth migrate with or without their families, there is little awareness of their concerns and needs and extremely few interventions undertaken to reach them.

Homework, due 4/7

Please go to the following website and pick three countries along the left-side. Read what it says about human trafficking in the areas you choose, and write 3 questions for each country (so a total of 9 questions!).
http://www.humantrafficking.org/updates

NPR Story on Human Trafficking

Please click on the following link and listen to the story about human trafficking. Write down 3 questions you have that you could ask our speaker on Thursday.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102705618

Rwanda Response

In a way I think it's a good thing that women have the freedom to become what they want to be in their country after many years of being extremely limited to what they could do in their future other than being a mother and a housewife. they had to deal with many years of rape and were criticized on what they could do and were pretty much often told that the only that they are good for is to have babies and cook. I don't think that they appreciated the men getting all the attention for the "hardwork" that they do and not realize whathardwork women have to put up with and that they don't live an easy life either. But now that things have changes around a bit alot of men arent too happy with this new change. Alot of them don't agree that the women in their country have careers and are making more money than them. The men are just flat out jealous of them because they think that now women are on control of their own life that they might control theirs and that's not the case of this matter.