Leah Kaminski Writing 39C April 29, 2014 The Womans Stalemate Whilst slavery in the past played a profound role in history for its oppressive system and how the slaves were able to earn the freedom, it has not been completely stopped. Unfortunately, sex trafficking is a common system that is similar to slavery and is active around the world that many people are not fully aware of. It is mostly common, though, for women and children of third world countries to be the victims of such inhuman activities that would force sex upon them. Although they are used for sexual purposes, they are not limited from beatings and abuse from the sex slaveholder or any customers if put into a brothel. The women who are victimized usually arent aware of the situation they are put into when the traffickers take them and promise them a better life in another country; they and their families are deceived and put into an extreme debt that is usually unable to be paid off. These unsuspecting women find themselves working usually in prostitution and hardly have a choice to leave and return to their own homes. This horrifying situation leaves most wondering why anyone would support this type of business despite the immorality in it. The numbers of victims are extreme; there are approximately 4.5 million victims forced into sexual exploitation in which most is derived from Asia, according to the United Nations International Labor Organization (Keiner). Indias situation regarding sex trafficking and some of the possibilities as to why the sex trafficking demand is so high is Arenas 2 quite interesting and possesses various notions. The reason why the demand is so high may be because womens reputations in the past have already been denoted as the traditional women in the family who follows the orders of the pampered and dominant male. The fact that these women from India are greatly sought and requested for when it comes to sex workers depreciates their social structure even more. Beside the existing social structure of women, this problematic situation continuously arises also due to many men seeking for the great power that they once had over women but has since then decreased as the first world women find higher end careers for themselves. Women in India were rarely respected in the past, and this is a concern that continues to exist today in the country. There are various statistics regarding the violence given against these women by the men merely because of the gender difference. The cultural and traditional ethics that exist in India are taught to the women while they are young; unfortunately, this includes the implication that they are of a lower social status than men as a woman. The mothers, on the other hand, bring up the men differently. The men are taught to respect higher authorities such as elders and worship goddesses, yet they are not restricted from disrespecting females in real life (Bagchi). This difference between raising the two genders may have a significant impact as to why there are such high numbers of female victims. Since the men arent taught to respect women they see, there is a higher chance that they would commit violence against them and not feel guilty about it. The leniency that they had as they grew up may remain when they become men, and this gives them the belief that they could do anything they wish that will please them, even if it requires violence or force. This contrast in nurture may be the reason why there is so much violence against women reported in India. Arenas 3 The reports in India regarding violent crimes can say quite a lot about the treatment of women in the past and present. Since the year 1952 through 2011, the crime rate of rape rose 873% in India; it was the fastest crime that increased compared to all other crimes. Only 24 percent of 24,943 rapes reported in 2011 led to convictions; this small number shows that the majority of the rapes are left unresolved and the victims can no longer reach justice for themselves. This large number of reported rapes may not be very accurate; in fact, there is a possibility that the number is even larger because of the silence from the victims due to family or close friends performing the crime. The gender difference in India is emphasized even more when it comes to these rape statistics and laws; marital rape isnt considered a crime in the country, yet it is the common violence that occurs against women (Bagchi). During one study that was conducted to measure the frequency of domestic violence against women in India, the researchers found that the participants reported mostly high numbers regarding the overall violence that occurred. For sexual violence, though, the men reported significantly lower percentages than the women did, and this may be due to the contrast of definitions concerning what sexual violence is (see table 1). Marital rape, for instance, may have been one of the determining factors that men didnt interpret as sexual Table 1 Arenas 4 violence, unlike the women who did. The dissimilarity in gender views is once again highlighted, especially when it comes to sex crimes, for they certainly had differing viewpoints regarding sexual violence (Babu & Kar). Despite the great number of rape crimes, the political establishment does not do much in support of the victims; rather, there is bad treatment for them from the police station and hospitals. Along with this, the investigation processes are not very reliable and effective; the harsh cases that exist are not taken care of properly and the real offenders are usually able to walk freely. Its not much of a surprise that violence and discrimination against women can result into a larger scale problem, such as sex trafficking, after taking a look at these figures. There seems to be a consistent pattern concerning men and the crime rates against women; the reports are usually very large and continue increasing every year. This is also consistent along with the cultural values placed in the country the values that the men are being taught are hardly changing, and this results in more men discriminating against women. This type of discrimination and violence, especially sexual violence, may eventually lead to horrific situations that involve victimizing women into sex trafficking. Many of the women who end up being victims of trafficking end up having to endure various hardships and tribulations once they start their work for the exploitative employer. Since the women expected to find a better life through moving to a different and seemingly more bountiful country, they are caught off guard when they realize what they actually need to do. These women are usually victims to [abuse] and exploitation [that] follow such uncannily predictable patterns that many in the social service would almost wonder if theres an Abusers Manual being circulated (Global Woman). Along with such terrible treatment physically, the women are usually denied to Arenas 5 have any benefits or outside social interactions during the times they work. They are also subject to having been underpaid or not paid at all in some cases during their employment. Many of these examples highlight the horrible treatment that is given to these victims of trafficking, so people should all the more try to find solutions that might decrease the numbers of human trafficking and help more of these victims to attain freedom. Trafficking and slavery are both highly immoral, yet is continuously practiced throughout India by various people. This is a current situation that should be resolved, rather than allowing it to be hidden to most peoples knowledge. There are actually many various institutions and small groups that make efforts to raise the awareness of such an atrocious problem, which allows for a resolution to be seemingly possible. According to some sex trafficking victims in Mumbai, India, approximately half of the women and girls reported that their vulnerability to being trafficked was due to familial disruption. The most common form, which involved 38 percent of logistics of sex trafficking, included physical or sexual violence between the families was along with having 15.2 percent the perpetrators being their husbands and 27.8 percent being other family Table 2 Arenas 6 members (see table 2). 13.6 percent of married victims were also involved in situations where their spouse was the trafficker (Silverman). This ties back into the idea that the mens upbringing has a negative impact to crime reports; the lack of respect they have for women may eventually result in trafficking, since they dont hold a high value for them. There are currently various activists doing their best to do what they can to prevent as much as they could when it comes to sex trafficking, and this mostly includes changing the way women are thought as. If more men in India started to be taught to respect women, there would be a high possibility that the data regarding violence would decrease. Nurture as a young child is very important, as it has a great impact on how one lives their life and how one treats the surrounding people; simple solutions that involve a different upbringing might be able to create a huge impact on the society. An organization called the Equal Community Foundation has started a campaign to focus especially on this; they seek to inform, inspire and mobilise each one of us to become a part of the solution by raising men to end violence and discrimination against women (Man Up India). In Mexico, there are also many prevention programs that focus on young boys and girls and teach them of equality between the genders in order to decrease the demand for human trafficking (Fighting Against Human Trafficking). If there were programs similar to this in India, this can also be helpful as a solution to decreasing the rates for violence against women. These kinds of solutions emphasize the importance of social structure; because the traditional woman Arenas 7 was considered to be of a lower stature than men, some men find it acceptable to use them as slaves of some sort. As long as the men are taught differently that women should be respected and not treated with violence, there is hope that they will not be as susceptible to such horrible treatment to the opposite sex. The solution to fix the social structures that women in India have mainly deals with the reformation of male nurturing; otherwise, the women will be stuck in the same, unfortunate position a stalemate.
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Works Cited "About Us." Man Up India. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. Babu, Bontha V., and Shantanu K. Kar. "Domestic Violence Against Women In Eastern India: A Population-Based Study On Prevalence And Related Issues." BMC Public Health 9.(2009): 1-15. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. Bagchi, Indrani. "The Struggle For Women's Empowerment In India." Current History 113.762 (2014): 144-149.Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. Ehrenreich, Barbara, and Arlie Russell Hochschild. Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy. New York: Metropolitan, 2003. Print. Kiener, Robert. "Human Trafficking and Slavery." CQ Global Researcher 16 Oct. 2012: 473-96. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. The author, an award-winning writer, explores various topics regarding human trafficking and slavery with great detail; various notions are brought up and discussed with viable support and research. Most of the background situations are explained thoroughly with great detail and statistics as well as the past and present predicaments. Argumentative voices are also included as well as visual images for the readers to understand the drastic problem. It allowed for a better insight to trafficking and all of the smaller situations surrounding it; applying it to my paper was helpful, especially with the statistics that were included. Silverman, J.G., et al. "Experiences Of Sex Trafficking Victims In Mumbai, India." International Journal Of Gynecology & Obstetrics 97.3 (2007): 221- 226. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. Arenas 9 Truman, Mark, and Jorge Mazal. "Fighting Against Human Trafficking And The Sex Trade: An Interview With Teresa Ulloa Ziurriz." Harvard Journal Of Hispanic Policy 24.(2012): 69-74. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.