"Half the Sky" has been an eye-opening read so far, giving insight on the lives of the lower-class girls who suffered as involuntary sex slaves. It is truly ironic how the countries that are the most sexually oppressed have the most underage trafficked girls. The most infuriating part to me is where Nick was having a conversation with the Indian border guard regarding the the trucks transferring numerous Nepali girls to brothels. According to the border guard, the poorer girls from Nepal were to satisfy the need of young Indian males because the "decent" and "middle-class/higher-class" Indian girls are supposed to be saved (for marriage). Basically, 1) poor girls inevitably become sacrificial lambs since in this society good girls need to stay chaste 2) poor girls aren't good girls. Whether it is based on Indian religious belief or not, there is something fundamentally wrong with this society that has extreme double standards for different genders and allows their people to exploit young girls from poor backgrounds. First of all, the close-minded view of the Indian culture should be changed: girls should not be judged by whether their hymens are intact or not. While that one may take longer to change (since it's probably based on some kind of religious belief), the least they can do is to respect basic human rights and allow the girls to choose their own career paths. It is hard to believe that the young men who are educated in society with such twisted values and morals can grow up to be righteous human beings, let alone the girls who are tortured all the best years in their lives.
"Neth and Momm underscore that many prostitutes are neither acting freely nor enslaved, but living in a world etched in ambiguities somewhere between those two extremes." The stories of Neth and Momm, two trafficked cambodian girls, demonstrated how more complicated reasons are involved in the prostitution of young girls. In Momm's case, she was drugged and became addicted to meth, making her inseparable from the brothel. Neth left and happily married, but was soon discouraged by the fear of AIDs. Their pasts as prostitutes are not something they can simply walk away from. To help these girls, we need to understand their stories in order to find the right remedy to their problems.
"Neth and Momm underscore that many prostitutes are neither acting freely nor enslaved, but living in a world etched in ambiguities somewhere between those two extremes." The stories of Neth and Momm, two trafficked cambodian girls, demonstrated how more complicated reasons are involved in the prostitution of young girls. In Momm's case, she was drugged and became addicted to meth, making her inseparable from the brothel. Neth left and happily married, but was soon discouraged by the fear of AIDs. Their pasts as prostitutes are not something they can simply walk away from. To help these girls, we need to understand their stories in order to find the right remedy to their problems.
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