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Friday, March 14, 2008

prostitution

Turmoil in Bihar house over forced prostitution in remand home.
Bihar assembly today plunged into turmoil over alleged torture of inmates of a women's remand home here by authorities to force them into prostitution.
As soon as the house assembled for the day, RJD's Shyam Rajak and others wanted to know the fate of their notice of adjournment motion to discuss the issue, published yesterday in a local Hindi daily.
As Speaker Uday Narain Chaudhary disallowed Rajak from speaking, agitated RJD members including Rajesh Singh, Akhtar-ul-iman, Sunil Kumar Pushpam and others trooped into the well raising slogans against the state government.
Slogans like 'Death to Nitish Kumar Government', 'Down With the Government of Batons and Bullets', were heard as the Speaker ruled that as per norms of parliamentary democracy no adjournment motion could be accepted during the budget session of the house.
"I am deeply concerned that the members are not adhering to parliamentary norms," he said requesting the RJD MLAs to return to their seats and began taking up questions despite the noise.
Replies by ministers to short notice questions were hardly audible in the din.
After nearly 20 minutes of slogan-shouting, the RJD MLAs returned to their seats following an assurance by the chair that he would announce his ruling on the notice after the question hour.

Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking - Becky reports from India on how we fight it!
Tensions Rise in Bihar

Before traveling to Bihar, India's poorest state, I had heard stories of its backwardness, lawlessness, and utter poverty. Sounded exciting to me, and indeed it was.
Forbesganj is a main commercial city in Bihar, situated near the Nepalese border. About ten minutes from the main bizarre is a side street of little huts - the "red light district." Apne Aap runs a Community Center amidst these huts, which serves as a day school for young children and a meeting space for the women in prostitution, or those who have come out.
To my great surprise, 10 women have successfully left prostitution, against overwhelming obstacles, like daily beatings from their husbands, fathers, and brothers for the loss of family income. Moreover, these women have committed to NOT putting their daughters in prostitution, instead sending them to school. These women are forming a Self Help Group and will be the core workers at the production unit, making products for Made by Survivors. I got to meet each of them, go to their houses, and ask some general questions about what they were interested in learning/making. They all said they were just so excited for the opportunity to learn and earn that they are willing to learn any skill. I couldn't talk with the women much on the streets as we were drawing quite a crowd. I am perhaps the first white person to visit, plus these women are inconstant threat from the community. We went with two women back to the Apne Aap community center to talk in depth, and even then a "spy" came to listen through the window and we had to shoo her away.
Nearby the bizarre, Apne Aap runs a residential school for 50 adolescent girls from families affected by forced prostitution. This school is truly a beacon of hope, and the girls are all so cheery and joyous to be there. The mothers, some still trapped in prostitution, are welcome to visit their children, and have really taken an interest in their girls' education. While I was visiting, the girls were practicing for a drama performance to be given this week to American Women's Rights Activist, Ms. Gloria Steinem. The play is about a police raid on a brothel in their town, and how the brothel owner pays off the police and the girls to keep quiet about the exploitation.I was asked to help give direction to the girls, and was faced with one of the most challenging tasks in my lifetime: directing ten-year old girls how to play the part of a trafficker, brothel owner, or prostitute. But, as the Warden of the school explained, these girls grew up in a red light district, so for them it is something they were accustomed to seeing. If we don't talk about it, and pretend it doesn't happen, they may feel ashamed by their background and be more at risk of falling into the same cycle of exploitation. So, despite my initial apprehension, I understood the importance of giving these girls the opportunity to speak against the prostitution that hurt so many of their mothers, grandmothers, and sisters.

Meeting the Traffickers
This morning I arrived at the Bihar train station, a good first impression of the poorest state in India. The three-hour drive to Forbesganj led me along dirt paths, with endless stretches of hay fields, cow pastures, and ghastly thin people performing mundane chores like breaking stones, attaching dung patties to their straw huts, or squatting to relieve themselves. Quite different from the bustling atmosphere of Kolkata.
Forbesganj is situated near the Nepalese border, so it has a sizeable population and busy market place. After a brief tour of the Apne Aap grounds, I got back in the car to drive to a village of Nutt people. This community is sadly known for intergenerational prostitution. Literally, families are entrenched in this profession; the males traffic their own mothers, daughters and sisters into prostitution. Growing up in this community teaches children that it is socially acceptable to either force someone into prostitution or be a prostitute.
I’ve always imagined that I would physically beat any trafficker should I come into contact with him, or her. But today, I was surrounded by at least ten such men, and I just sat quietly in my chair. Two Apne Aap staff members had called a meeting with the villagers to discuss creating a platform for their political, educational and economic rights. This man, Kalam, was born in this village and has been leading the movement to end intergenerational prostitution. Here he smiles with his first passport, which he intends to use to travel and campaign against forced prostitution.
This was quite possibly the most intense meeting I’ve attended while here; I could barely understand the language but when one staff member said “prostitution” the villagers got very upset and shifted in their chairs. For a while, it seemed that they might force us to leave, but then one brave woman spoke up. She is absolutely beautiful; tight, dark skin, weathered eyes, and a smile that could warm the North Pole. I wondered how long she has been trapped in prostitution, probably since she reached puberty. Her voice garnered the support from the other villagers, who eventually seemed to agree that they would want to send their children to school and have access to other economic options.
One idea is to get the villagers into the dairy business, since they have access to large expanses of land for pasturing. Since it is such a remote area, I asked where the majority of buyers come from. Apparently, young men from surrounding villages and school-going men visit this village for sex. It’s hard to imagine, because the village is no more than straw huts with mud floors, a wooden block for a bed, and one small pot for cooking. The wooden block, I reminded myself, is their place of “business.”December 9, 2007

International Day to Abolish Slavery
Saturday and Sunday were World AIDS Day and International Day to Abolish Slavery, two days to be celebrated! So on Saturday we held the inaugural ceremony of Apne Aap’s Income Generation Program. We distributed certificates to the girls who have completed their training in cutting, stitching, and/or embroidery. They were so thrilled to be given this official document, signed by the Managing Trustee and Program Officer responsible for the program.
Afterwards, we asked the girls to talk about their feelings of the program. Their feedback was extremely helpful to our understanding of what works, and what doesn't work, for their daily lives. For example, many of them have household responsibilities that prevent them from coming to the center in the morning, others are forbidden from staying out past dark.
We are also opening a Self Help Group bank account for this group of girls. The joint account will allow them to take small business loans from the bank to pay their expenses. More importantly, these girls will learn how to use a bank account and will have the ownership of their business!
So Happy International Day to Abolish Slavery... through Economic Empowerment!
Freedom is Coming
Friday morning started with a motorcycle ride to a small village outside of Kolkata, where Sanlaap runs their shelter home. I went with a staff member to discuss the new project of removing several girls to live outside the shelter, in a group home. The counselors had selected the girls based on their skills, motivation, and readiness to leave the shelter. They had obvious fears, such as learning to cook for themselves, and then I realized that these girls had never learned basic life skills. Their entire childhood was stolen from the traffickers and brothel owners. The social development skills that I take for granted, like buying my own food, are going to be a new experience for this group of young women. Their fears and apprehensions are completely justified because they have been cheated so horribly in the past. So I was astonished that many of them are not only willing, but truly excited, for the opportunity to live independently.
Currently, the goal is to remove a small group of the girls who will work exclusively on TEN’s Made by Survivors line of products. This group home will serve as a model for other NGOs to follow in their shared vision of successfully re-habilitating and re-integrating survivors.
Before leaving the shelter home, the girls in the tailoring unit informed me that my new outfits were ready. I had selected material last week and they designed Indian Sawarkamees for me. I've already taken orders from my friends and co-workers here for similar outfits - if you want one let me know!

I'm thankful for Mothers
Today, Thanksgiving, was the first Women In Prostitution (WIP) meeting I’ve attended. It was absolutely amazing getting to meet some of the women, who are so beautiful and show concern for their children. We explained the school sponsorship to the women, so that they understand the importance of encouraging their children to study. I tried asking for their child’s birth date, so that the sponsors could send birthday cards or gifts. Some of them remembered; one even had a birth certificate. But the majority would say things like, “She was born on a Friday,” or “It was during the rainy season.” Some of the kids have lost their mother, so I asked them what date they’d like to set as their birthday. One chose Christmas day; another chose India’s Republic Day.
My child continues to amaze me. She got back from school, changed into play clothes, and went outside to the nearby car repair shop to play in the oil. Coming back with black feet, I couldn’t help but laugh. She’s now calling me Mom and even when she’s acting out, she behaves in front of me. Even though they can be “naughty,” it’s for an obvious reason. These children are craving attention and positive reinforcement, so it’s wonderful to see how they’ve developed even that last few months in school.
After we talked about their kids, we turned on some music and danced around the room. The women really enjoyed this expression, and then Bobby (a visiting drama therapist) started a parenting lesson. She asked the women to act out scenes of their daily life where they experienced trouble dealing with their children. This was well received by the women, who are desperate to manage their “naughty” children. Over the next few weeks, Bobby will continue the parenting lessons as well as dramatic expressions for the women.
So this Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for mothers.
Working in Kolkata has its setbacks...
In case any of you are following Kolkata news, you have probably heard about the street rioting, violence, and near state of emergency. It’s certainly an exciting time to be here. Yesterday, for example, we were in the Apne Aap Topsia center, which is a Muslim slum in central Kolkata. Around 2:00, we heard some shouting coming from the streets. A few minutes later, the car horns started, then sirens, and soon everyone in the center was frantically yelling into their cell phones. A staff member explained, “The army is coming, we need to get out now.”
From what I’ve learned, this stems from several things that have snowballed into the current situation.
1) The ruling party, Communist Party of India Marxist, planned to take over land in an area called Nandigram, with the intention of converting the farming land into a chemical plant. The landowners were willing to sell the land, but the farmers who worked the land were terribly upset since it would put them out of a job. So they put so much pressure on those landowners willing to sell, sometimes resorting to violence to push them out. The government responded with force and the area is still a conflict zone.
2) A love marriage between a wealthy Hindu and lower-class Muslim resulted in tragedy; the father of the Hindu bride arranged for the Muslim husband to be murdered. Whether this was a religious or class-based crime is still being debated, but the Muslim community is in uproar.
3) A Bangladeshi poet, Taslima Nasreen, was issued an Indian visa and is currently residing in Kolkata. She writes about women’s rights in ways that offend many of the fundamentalist Muslims here who follow Sharia law. (Think Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan) This community is demanding her visa be revoked and she be sent back to Bangladesh.
4) Political parties that are in opposition to the ruling party (CPIM) have seized on all of these conflicts to spin the message as a political one. They realize that if a state of emergency is declared in West Bengal, the national Indian government will take power until a re-election is called or peace can be restored.
So everyone has something to protest!
One thing I have noticed about all the protests is that there are hardly any women in the crowds. They’re all at home, since the men will obviously be hungry from a long hard day of “work.” Perhaps my mother is right, if I want world peace I need to put estrogen in the public drinking water.
School Sponsorship Updates
We have begun collecting the first letters from the sponsored children to their sponsors. The older girls from the Topsia slum area are able to write their own letters, with a little help from us, and talk about their family and school. They are very keen on learning business skills, as many of them want to find jobs in the coming years. The younger ones are not yet able to write, so they draw pictures and we write for them what they want to tell their sponsors. Most of them talk about their favorite subjects in school, what they want to be when they grow up (a lot of English teachers), and what they like to eat. All of the children are anxious to receive letters and photographs from their sponsors.
It has been a true blessing being able to see the development of these children. Just last January, they were unruly and had never been to a formal school. Now, they are able to sit and concentrate on a task for at least twenty minutes, formulate full sentences, and have done extremely well on their exams. One child placed first in his class for the Math exam! We are planning a field trip to reward them for the hard work.
I can personally say that sponsoring a child is a blessing. My girl is rather naughty, but she has started behaving now that she knows she has an “American Mommy” watching over her. She even gets a bit jealous when I give attention to other children, and wants to show that she can do everything the best!

Holidays and Protests
The festival of lights, Diwali, or Deepawali, was this Friday. Since everything was closed and no work could be done, I spent the morning making candles with some friends before going around the neighborhood to see more pandals. At midnight, Kali Puja began. We went to the local club to see a crowd reciting mantras to Kali, the wife of Shiva. Apparently, she went on a vicious killing spree of all the demons. Shiva was summoned to stop her, and he lay down in front of her. When she stepped on him (it is a grave sin for a wife’s feet to touch her husband) she realized her mistake and stopped the killing.
Sunday I went in search of a nearby church, only to find that it is Greek Orthodox. So I visited the Kalighat Mission of Charity home for the dying and destitute. Quite auspiciously, I came just in time for Catholic Mass, in English. Afterwards, I went to a friend’s flat to celebrate Brother’s Day, when everyone honors their brothers and male cousins with food, gifts, and ceremonial tikhas. While this is great fun, I am disappointed by the lack of Sister’s Day.
Monday was another bandh, political protest, so again everything was closed. The situation is very volatile now between the government and village protestors in Nandigram. More people have been killed and it seems the opposition parties are grouping together against the ruling CPM (Communist Party Marx).

Prostitutions

Over centuries we have been living in a society which comprises people from different strata.The fundamentals which bring us into the social stratum are many.It can be caste, relegion, ethnicity, affluence, poverty so does our profession which earns us our livelihood.When we look back into history we find that, in all ages there have been a divide in the society based on the profession that people pursue.Prostitution have always been considered as an immoral profession by majority of us.Today we are talking about its legalisation.A bill is under conception and soon be presented in the parliament for decrimnalisation of prostitution.Now,the question is "Should prostitution be legalised in India?"
This subject is indeed debatable.There are proponents who say we must go for it.They say the bill, if passed would be a boon for those who are in this business because it will allow them to enjoy the freedom of living a life which is free from all nuances.The bill would provide legal recourse to them against all the evils of society.They will no more be exploited by their customers,pimps,and of course police.
On the other hand,there are some having opposite stand as they beleive legalisation of prostitution would help in expanding this 'immoral' business of renting body to earn money.Given the practical situation of police in India,their habit of exploiting people,are we sure that the existing system would be able to provide adequate security to them?even the opponents stand is pretty logical.But,the major question remained unanswered.
Should prostitution be given same treatment as other professions like engineers,doctors,teachers?
Before making any judgement,we should actually try to delve deeper into the issue.Let us assume that parliamentarians passed the bill,we would like to ask a question to ourselves and it is, if somebody wants to open a brothel in front of our home,would we take it casually.I strongly believe that most of us would not feel comfortable.But why?Because,we have been told since our childhood that this is unethical.Some would say,it's impact on our children can be dangerous.Some people say ok,legalise it but, like old days courtesans,let them live in an area which seggregated from the mainstream residential locality ,then there is no fear of somebody opening up a brothel in front of our house.Therefore, this kind of views ultimately converge to the point that somewhere in our mind,we think that prostitution is not like other profession.According to few prominent surveys,about 80-85% of people are in this business not because of their will but circumstances forced them to do so.We are not ready to accept them,major chunk of them are there unwillingly in this profession.Then what's the solution;how can we stop people from entering into this painful world?
First of all,we must be able to distinguish between 'free prostitution' and 'forced prostitution'.There can be various reasons behind forced prostitution.It can be domestic violence,poverty,unemployment,illetracy,and the most poignant is immoral traficking.Moreover,it's beleived that if a person's upbringing is not proper,if parents failed to inculcate proper moral values to their children then they are more likely to fall prey.As I already said majority of prostitutes are in the business unwillingly and only small chunk is pursuing it with free will.So the point is, if we can somewhow mitigate the number of people flowing into this world via the route of `forced prostitution' we can definitely make a difference.In my view, the way to bring such a change is to provide each and everyone in the society without regard of any discrimination with an equal opportunity towards literacy,employment,basic infrastructure,economic growth.Indeed, if we target to eliminate the root cause we can definitely bring them to the mainstream.I would suggest our parliamentarians that passing a bill would not suffice instead,we must identify the root cause of the problem and target the same at grassroot level.

Decriminalisation of prostitution,What's your stand?

Over centuries we have been living in a society which comprises people from different strata.The fundamentals which bring us into the social stratum are many.It can be caste, relegion, ethnicity, affluence, poverty so does our profession which earns us our livelihood.

Turmoil in Bihar house over forced prostitution in remand home

PATNA: Bihar assembly on Wednesday witnessed uproarious scenes over alleged torture of inmates of a women’s remand home here by authorities to force them into prostitution.As soon as the house assembled for the day, RJD’s Shyam Rajak and others wanted to know the fate of their notice of adjournment motion to discuss the matter which was published on Tuesday in a local Hindi daily.As speaker Uday Narain Chaudhary disallowed Rajak from speaking, agitated rjd members including Rajesh Singh, Akhtar-ul-Iman, Sunil Kumar Pushpam and others trooped into the well raising slogans against the state government.Slogans like ‘death to Nitish Kumar government’, ‘down with the government of batons and bullets’, were heard as the speaker ruled that as per norms of parliamentary democracy no adjournment motion could be accepted during the budget session of the house.“I am deeply concerned that the members are not adhering to parliamentary norms,” he said requesting the RJD MLAs to return to their seats and began taking up questions despite the noise. Replies by ministers to short notice questions were hardly audible in the din.After nearly 20 minutes of slogan-shouting, the RJD MLAs returned to their seats following an assurance by the chair that he would announce his ruling on the notice after the question hour. The matter was raised once again by Rajak during Zero hour and the speaker ruled that the notice for adjournment motion was rejected for not being in order, plunging the house into chaos.Leader of the opposition Rabri Devi, Rajak and others were seen waving copies of the daily and engaging in heated arguments with the chair.Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said he had gone through the newspaper report and asked the concerned officers to go into its veracity and inform him.“I have directed the concerned officers, including the secretary of the social welfare department to go into the matter and submit a report.I have also asked a person from the newspaper house, which has claimed it has recorded evidence of the alleged torture, to make it available to me and I assure you that appropriate action will be initiated against the guilty after a thorough inquiry,” he said.Order was then restored in the house, which then took up other listed business.The notice alleged that the remand home authorities at Gaighat, including its Superintendent had assaulted the inmates on Sunday after they refused to join a prostitution racket at their bidding.It said though a committee was constituted to look into the prostitution racket being run by the remand home authorities after a complaint was received a few months ago, no step was taken to check it.