Happy International W-day Everyone!
It is ten years after Beijing , an occurrence that incidentally had tremendous impact on my private life.
And what have we accomplished?
The trafficking of persons is rapidly overtaking drug trafficking as the second most lucrative business in the world.
Not all trafficked persons end up being sexually exploited, however, predominantly women and children are forced into prostitution.
I cannot help but ask myself, who are these people who walk into a darkened room and pay to rape a person? What is it that an enslaved person does better than the dominant hand? Is it the fear? Is it the pain? Is the fact that they are unvilling such a turn on?
Once, I was in the midst of a heated debate on an Internet message board (yes, yes, the word heated is perhaps not compatible with the Internet) when my opponent wrote that in his opinion the sexual exploitation of children was no worse than making a five year old work in a factory. To this day, I have not been able to come up with a rebuttal, because to me, the difference is so enormous that it can barely be put in words. And this was a clever young man in Law School.
Obviously, I don't think it is ok that five year olds work in factories. I think we as consumers have to actively engage ourselves to try to find out what goes on in the factories that provide us with all the crapola we claim to need.
Perhaps the nucleus of the problem lies in the complete lack of empathy that many seem to display towards the victims of rape and sexual exploitation. Even I, who claim to be outraged, have a hard time really understanding the damage done to people who have been victimized by sexual predators.
I cannot fathom how this, one of life's greatest joys, can be turned into something painful and vile. Obviously, with support and therapy victims can turn it into joy at some point, but somehow I doubt that this particular group has access to that. In stead, if they are ever freed from their captors, many of them are ostracize from their community, as if the sexual violence was their own doing.
Of course I hope that the UNFPA and UNICEF are successful in their goals toward better helping the victims.
However, I think we need to put the buyer in focus, who are the people who feel that they are right to pay for the use of another human body? What in the general comprehension of right and wrong makes rape ok if you pay for it?
Happy March 8th everyone!
And what have we accomplished?
The trafficking of persons is rapidly overtaking drug trafficking as the second most lucrative business in the world.
Not all trafficked persons end up being sexually exploited, however, predominantly women and children are forced into prostitution.
I cannot help but ask myself, who are these people who walk into a darkened room and pay to rape a person? What is it that an enslaved person does better than the dominant hand? Is it the fear? Is it the pain? Is the fact that they are unvilling such a turn on?
Once, I was in the midst of a heated debate on an Internet message board (yes, yes, the word heated is perhaps not compatible with the Internet) when my opponent wrote that in his opinion the sexual exploitation of children was no worse than making a five year old work in a factory. To this day, I have not been able to come up with a rebuttal, because to me, the difference is so enormous that it can barely be put in words. And this was a clever young man in Law School.
Obviously, I don't think it is ok that five year olds work in factories. I think we as consumers have to actively engage ourselves to try to find out what goes on in the factories that provide us with all the crapola we claim to need.
Perhaps the nucleus of the problem lies in the complete lack of empathy that many seem to display towards the victims of rape and sexual exploitation. Even I, who claim to be outraged, have a hard time really understanding the damage done to people who have been victimized by sexual predators.
I cannot fathom how this, one of life's greatest joys, can be turned into something painful and vile. Obviously, with support and therapy victims can turn it into joy at some point, but somehow I doubt that this particular group has access to that. In stead, if they are ever freed from their captors, many of them are ostracize from their community, as if the sexual violence was their own doing.
Of course I hope that the UNFPA and UNICEF are successful in their goals toward better helping the victims.
However, I think we need to put the buyer in focus, who are the people who feel that they are right to pay for the use of another human body? What in the general comprehension of right and wrong makes rape ok if you pay for it?
Happy March 8th everyone!
posted by disinterpreter at 9:43 AM
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