Panos London: Illuminating Voices

Panos London promotes the participation of poor and marginalised people in national and international development debates through media and communication projects. We are part of the worldwide Panos Network of independent institutes working to ensure that information is used more effectively to foster debate, pluralism and democracy.

Great resource for articles in their online magazine!

http://www.panos.org.uk/

Ramdas's Review of Half the Sky

Many of us saw Kavita Ramdas, former President and CEO of The Global Fund for Women when she came to campus last week. She mentioned the fact that she had written a review of Half the Sky. Might be useful for us to discuss this sometime in class?

http://www.ssireview.org/images/articles/2010WI_Reviews_Ramdas.pdf

Abortion Laws Worldwide

Check out the map especially--red countries show where abortion is illegal. I think it's interesting that all of these countries are in tropical areas. Maybe climate is related to poverty is related to maternal health issues?

http://www.womenonwaves.org/set-158-en.html

Questions for Discussion Week 7

1. These readings outline many of the particular vulnerabilities of women to high mortality rates. In the past six weeks we have also identified many of the social and cultural roles of women. Based on this information, why are women so at risk for health issues and complications?

2. In the last paragraph of "Cooking Stoves", the authors argue that "improving the overall status of women by enhancing their access to capital, political, and legal representation would also contribute to a lessening of biomass cooking practices which place women and children in harm's way". From our conversations about financial empowerment and societal roles of women, how could access to capital reduce women's health concerns?

3. How does a society's attitude towards women's reproductive capabilities affect health outcomes?

Discussion Qs

1) The Mali article points out that discrimination is larger than just a women's rights issue. Discrimination is a human rights problem, so why isn't reproductive discrimination more of a priority for organizations/governments?

2) I was REALLY surprised to learn that biomass smoke exposure was neck-and-neck with malaria as the leading cause of death for adults in the developing world. It's not something that is mentioned a lot in discussions about development and/or gender in the developing world, though. Do you think that malaria gets more "air time" because it is much more of a gender-blind phenomenon than biomass smoke exposure (which largely affects only women)?

3) "Women Deliver" says that abortion is illegal in 72 UN Member countries, most of which are in the developing world. Why? A couple of our readings mentioned how expensive abortion clincs/treatment and post-abortion care at hospitals is. Do you think this is the primary factor?Are there cultural barriers to it?

Fuel for Cooking and Solar Cookers

Solar Cookers International

The Impact of Rising Food Prices

Across the world, food stocks are down in part because of unfavorable weather, ranging from drought to floods in various parts of the world. The demand for rice and other grains, meanwhile, has been growing, especially in big developing countries like China. This situation has added to the struggle for families trying to survive, and has helped to fuel protests in the Mideast. With food costs rising in developing nations, there is less money for the population to buy needed fuel, primarily charcoal, for cooking. Introducing solar cooking to more areas is an important way for residents to offset the higher price of food staples. 
NPR: The Impact of Rising Food Prices on Arab Unrest

Questions

1) A trend I've noticed is that there seems to be an either-or mentality regarding abortion and maternal mortality. People tend to think that maternal mortality cannot be fixed without making abortion absolutely 100% accessible and socially acceptable, etc or that abortions are wose than maternal mortality and therefore, take all precedence in fighting them. Is it really one or the other?

2) Half the Sky made the point that most birth-complications regarding the baby getting stuck are because the mother's pelvis isn't developed enough to be large enough because she is too young. Is there any way to delay the age at which women are getting pregnant, would that be effective?

3) Out of curiosity, why do you think that Ireland has maintained such a low MMR and has such few issues with maternal mortality? Why is the US not up to those standards?

4. In Half the Sky chapter 6, Sheryl talks about how people are more likely to donate money to one child as opposed to thousands who are starving. Why? How much of a factor is this in people's decision to donate to help reduce maternal mortality?

5. In chapter 7 of Half the Sky, Sheryl talks about how doctors leave Africa to work abroad, leaving foreign doctors as the majority in Africa. I think this would be an interesting concept to discuss in terms of nationalism, civic duty to your own society, and why there seems to be a lack of that in African countries.

Week 6 Quesitons

1. In 'The Pregnancy Death Road', it says that maternity is not a disease, it is the means by which the human race is propagated and that society has more of an obligation to prevent maternal deaths than deaths by disease. As per usual, I have no question for this but rather think it would be interesting to discuss.

2. In 'The Pregnancy Death Road', is says that on a very personal level, the woman's ability to plan how many children she wants and when she wants them is central to the quality of her life. How can women be given more of a say in family planning in male dominated societies?

3. In 'The Pregnancy Death Road', it says, the conditions are clear: abortion must be provided by professionally trained personnel in a clean and safe environment, it must be legal, it must be inexpensive, it must be widely provided, and it must be socially supported. How is this plausible if in the rural areas where this is most needed, it is often true that the only foreign aid to be found are missionaries?

***More question may be coming on other readings, I have notes on them I just didn't mark which notes go with which reading, so if I have time I will post a wider variety of questions.

Brait, Response 2

Emily Brait

Response paper 2

Prostitution and Trafficking in China

In discussing the livelihood of women, we focused on what many people would not consider to be a livelihood, at least not an appropriate livelihood: prostitution. In our discussion of prostitution, we looked at it from different angles. We discussed prostitution with regard to women who choose to be prostitutes of their own accord, and manage themselves, without a pimp or being in a brothel. I thought that this was an important aspect to look at, because although these women seemingly go into prostitution of their own accord, there are many different factors which lead to this decision. The question must be asked, do these women decide to go into prostitution because they see it as a lucrative business opportunity, or do they go into because society does not allow them to do anything else? Is it truly a choice made freely if women are held back from earning an income because of a male dominated world, leaving them with few other options? Obviously, no one is forcing a woman into prostitution directly by not affording her any other options; however it can be said that they are indirectly forcing her into prostitution. The prostitution industry is one which is not black and white, but is very complex and intricate. Another topic which we covered was the right a woman has to her body. Should a woman be allowed to sell herself for sex? In many countries, like the US, the answer is no. Legally, no one is allowed to sell themselves for sex. I take issue with this decision, because the implications of criminalizing prostitution infringes upon personal freedom. Women who choose freely to sell themselves for sex are making a decision to utilize their body for profit, and to tell someone that they are not allowed to do this puts sanctions on what one can do with their body. Of course, I do agree that prostitution as a means of income does present numerous harms both to the prostitute as well as to the customers, however there are many professions which pose dangers, some arguably are more dangerous than prostitution. Some would argue that applying this perspective to the developing world comes with different considerations, such as desperation for income, lack of accessibility to the formal sector, and the societal status of women. However, these same issues are prevalent in the developed world as well and play into the decision that women make to become prostitutes. There is a fine line on which the focus of prostitution should lie, where not too much consideration to either side of the argument. When discussing prostitution, both the positive aspects and the negative aspects of this type of work must come into play, and assumptions cannot be made either way as to the motivations of women when going into prostitution.

After our discussion on prostitution in this class and my discussion of human trafficking in my Current Affairs class, I have decided to focus my research on human trafficking in China and how the government is taking legal action to prevent it. In my research this week, I looked more into the reasons for trafficking in China. One of the main reasons for trafficking in China is a result of the One Child Policy. Because of the gendercide that is a result of this policy, there has arisen a trafficking network of girls. Families will sell their girls to make room for the possibility of a boy. Because of the policy, there is a deficit of females in China, so men will result to purchasing trafficked women for their wives. The female shortage in China has also caused an increase in prostitution, forced prostitution, and trafficking. China is currently on the Tier 2 of the Watch List for failing to comply with the minimum standards to prevent trafficking. Every year, a minimum of 10,000 to 20,000 women are trafficked within China. Interestingly enough, the One Child Policy is not a national law, but it is enforced throughout the country. People are coerced into complying with the law through education, societal pressure, harsh punishments, and forced abortions and sterilizations. Girls are seen as a financial burden to families because China is a patriarchal society, however within the trafficking industry, selling women can be very lucrative. Purchasing women was criminalized in 1991, however this decision made abduction and sale different offenses. The punishment for trafficking women range from fines to the death penalty in extreme cases. Often, the women who are trafficked face charges and punishment as well for their involvement in prostitution, even though it was not voluntary on their part.

James - Response Paper - Livelihood

Carly James
M. Marouan
February 25, 2011

Response Paper

Weeks 4-6, Livelihood

Admittedly, I entered the discussions these past few weeks under the assumption that female livelihood in the developing world was a topic with which I was fairly familiar and understood from many angles. The variety of topics we discussed in terms of livelihood and subsistence, however, really challenged the ideas I had about my own understandings thereof. The first week, we discussed microfinance as providing the means for women to explore options of financial independence and entrepreneurship that formal institutions do not typically provide. Microfinance is so often heralded as being an outlet for women to make their own money, support their families, and exercise the skills they already possess. This seems to be true overall, but it is important that we do not overlook the challenges and downfalls of microfinance. For instance, we discussed in class, on a theoretical level, the explicit preference for women typical of microfinancial institutions modeled off of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Why is it that women are considered more responsible (financially and otherwise) than men? What is their obligation to the family that is distinct from that of men? Also, considering the fact that many microfinance institutions target women and openly advertise with a priority towards lending to women, should microfinance institutions actually exclude men from their clientele? Furthermore, as we consider the challenges to microfinance in the face of all of its benefits to women, we must also be aware of some of the unintended downfalls of it. We briefly discussed the social pressures involved in sharing money in a group-type setting. These pressures can be so pronounced that they can drive some women to suicide, which has been seen on too many occasions in India.
By far the most interesting discussions for me over the past several weeks have been those related to prostitution. It seems that there are many different impetuses for women to become prostitutes, whether such a transition is voluntary or involuntary. Perhaps it is a way for them to be financially independent, albeit a last resort of a profession. Some women are forced into prostitution rings and sex slavery out of her family’s need for additional income, because her father may be manipulated into believing that it will bring respect or additional income to the family (when in fact it, in many times, results in a permanently severed relationship between father and daughter). In Half the Sky, readers learn about prostitution in Cambodia as being a “natural” choice because girls have to “abandon their dreams because they’re unaffordable.” Here, we understand prostitution as some sort of inevitability because women and girls do not have the skills, experience, and education level that would make them attractive in the job market. Naturally, we pose the question, why? Why are women barred from these kinds of opportunities? Is it related to extreme poverty or does gender play some sort of indisputable, socially disadvantaging part in all of this? With the title of this course in mind, this must be the frame of our inquiries. How do we parse through gender and poverty? What is the interplay between social constructs of gender and the causes of extreme poverty? Contained within the cultural systems of the developing world, are there prejudices against women? Does being a woman pose certain institutional obstacles? What are the mechanisms, if any, which promote and perpetuate these discriminatory notions? And furthermore, to extrapolate this to the realm of development work, assuming that this discrimination is unfair, are we obligated to help? Obviously, this last question is not compatible with the nature of this class, but all of the other questions highly relate to our study and help us understand the way in which we view these problems as females, as students, as Americans, and as fellow human beings.
With that in mind, our discussion on discrimination and exoticism was quite stimulating for me. We posed questions about the desirability of ethnically exotic women and how this somehow distanced men from the moral undertones involved in paying for sex. In Senegal, gender roles are fairly prominent and distinct culturally. Women’s work is primarily centered around the house, the household, and the family. Most women are not employed in the formal sense of the word, but do chores around the household such as cooking, tilling/working the fields, tending to the children, etc. Some women do sell goods in the urban markets, which is a fairly common occupation for women across the West African subregion. If women in Senegal do work as market women, then they can sometimes become involved in microfinance schemes. There are indigenous practices of savings and credit sharing (les tontines) which can be seen widely among female entrepreneurs in the informal sector. These are means of social networking among females, which encourages a sort of solidarity. In the past, husbands often prohibited their wives from working. This cultural nuance has changed in recent times, and the government has supported such a transition. Senegal is thus on the cusp of promoting women’s work as a means of gaining financial independence, even though there is a paradoxical subscript of women who have been sharing money and socially networking for many years.

Livelihood Response Paper - Baccus

We began our discussion of livelihood with readings focused on developing women’s involvement in the informal economy, which is by no means minuscule. In fact, Chen notes that the informal economy is where most women in developing countries work. Furthermore, “women are overrepresented in the informal economy worldwide” (Chen). In other words, there are more women in this sector than men in almost every country. However, what I found most intriguing about our discussion of the informal sector was not that it was dominated by females, but that it had a strong male/ female work divide. Gender roles carry forward in the developing world’s informal sector in a way similar to how they did when females first entered the formal economy of the United States. Women work a category of jobs distinct from men. Men in the informal economy tend to have larger businesses while women often have small businesses frequently related to food. Women too are paid less than men in the informal sector, and this pay gap is far starker than even the same gap in the formal economy. Considering the lack of social protection in the informal economy and this distinct gender divide, women in developing countries who work in the informal economy must have a much harder time breaking out of gender norms than if they worked in the formal economy. If this is the case, wouldn’t it be better to legalize the formal economy to empower and protect these women who make up the majority of informal employees? This might be an easy leap to make, but the truth is that, as we read, the informal economy provides a much needed market for the most impoverished communities in developing countries. Informal goods are sold at a much lower cost than in the formal market. Thus, I believe that until there are institutional and market changes in developing countries to accommodate for the poorest segment of their societies where women and girls are the vast majority, the informal economy is an extremely necessary element in the present-day despite the limitations and dangers it places on informal women workers.

The fact that women in comparison to men do tend to run smaller businesses in the informal economy of the developing world crossed my mind again when we discussed microcredit. Microcredit often primarily targets women and accordingly often focuses not only on income generation but simultaneously on female empowerment. However, is it truly empowering women if microcredit loans are still locking them into small businesses? While some women break the mold, as we discovered in our readings, most women micro-lenders do not produce massive businesses. They often use profits for their children’s education or for improvements for their families in general. Thus, they do not reinvest in their businesses and these businesses consequently stay small. Considering these facts, perhaps female empowering microcredit initiatives might not be empowering women or breaking with traditional gender roles as much as they perpetuate to do so. Moreover, they could simply be reinforcing gender norms. The UNIFEM article we read notes that microfinance loans cause many women to feel overloaded and overworked and this predicament could stem from such a perpetuation of traditional gender roles. Many women borrowers in developing countries are still responsible for the household as well as their small business, which is a double burden that in itself limits the growth of their businesses and their empowerment.

The last aspect of female livelihood in the developing world that our readings addressed was the sex trade. Kempadoo notes that there is an underlying exoticism to the sex trade. Women sex workers are appealing because they are often different from the women in the culture of their clients. The more I thought about this rational, albeit its truth, the more it angered me because it innately means that these “exotic” women sex workers are being valued less than the women of the clients’ culture in a huge way. Why should women who choose to be sex workers be dehumanized in this way? Furthermore, does this mindset not also perpetuate the notion that feeds illegal sex work and forced prostitution? Our readings best described this exoticism as a remnant of colonialism itself and I would have to agree.

Our readings also addressed the blurry line between forced sex work and sex work of a voluntary nature. In developing cultures, sometimes women willingly enter sex work as simply another means of income generation. Other times, they are tricked into sex work unknowingly with promises of improved lives and income generation for their family. Sometimes even if these women get the opportunity to leave sex work, they continue it because it is the only thing that they know. As our readings and discussion pointed out, the bigger issue in all of this is that poverty itself is disempowering and perhaps this means that the truest form of slavery in the modern day developing world is in fact poverty itself too and not simply its products, which include forced and voluntary sex work in the developing world.

In Bangladesh, approximately 200,000 women and girls are sex workers. Many of these girls are sold to brothels by their impoverished families. According the British charity Action Aid, ninety percent of these female sex workers are addicted to steroids. Many female sex workers in Bangladesh are given steroids typically used to fatten up livestock when they join or are forced into brothels. This is done in order to hide the actual age of the girls who are too often young teenagers. In Bangladesh, sex work is legal in a few small, state-recognized brothels and Bengali laws specify that legal female sex workers must be at least 18 years old. However, the existence of the law alone clearly does not prevent underage girls from entering sex work and in fact might actually further encourage their potentially fatal use of steroids.

Livelihoods Response - Groft

In our readings and discussion on women’s livelihoods, empowerment through financial access was a recurring concept. Many development initiatives, human rights groups, and even health groups target women. Phrases like “Educate a girl and you educate a village” and promotions like “The Girl Effect” epitomize this. We read about proven studies in microfinance initiatives that women who receive loans spend that money to invest in their children, while men, when given similar financial opportunities, reinvest in business ventures. Which appeals to development more? Well, the women’s choices do because they spread the prospects for growth to all of their family members, expanding to include women and girls, while men limit those opportunities to themselves and their sons.

I constantly ask myself, “Why?” Why do men not support their families? And why do women tend to be so seemingly selfless? There is this tendency to attribute these differentials to women’s goodness and men’s selfishness. Feminist movements have struggled with this many a time when women argued that they deserve suffrage not because they are moral and good and men are not, but because they are equal and human just like men. I’ve felt for a long time that the reasons behind women’s apparent moral, communitarian “nature” relative to men’s apparent selfish “nature” can be broken down and understood beyond biological means, and this unit’s readings have given me a better understanding of how.

There is first and foremost an issue of maintaining the power status quo. In patriarchal societies—which most societies these days are—males have more power than females. Throughout human history, those who have power try to maintain that power; male or female, they’re not particularly anxious to give it up. Because women have been confined to the domestic sphere, their power also resides in this sphere. They must have power here if they cannot have power elsewhere. Because of this, women are targeted by development organizations because as far as development workers are concerned, the more people—male or female—who are empowered and active agents in society, the more a society can and will grow and succeed. It’s a game of numbers— more people for more power sharing and more growth sharing. And if women are empowered, they ensure their own empowerment by ensuring other women’s empowerment, including their daughters. It is not, however, in the interests of men to keep power by investing in their daughters.

When a woman receives a loan, it is in her own personal interest to invest in her family and make that financial opportunity available communally within the family. We have learned that women are often valued solely in relation to the men in their lives and solely for their ability to produce and maintain a family. Thus, if this is her role in society, she would see it to be more in her interests to invest in her “business”—which is, of course, her family. Investing solely in herself and in something that solely benefits her, as an individual, is not worth her resources if she is not valued in society as an individual. On the other hand, men can invest in themselves because they, as individuals, are valued by society. Men increase their worth by investing in themselves, whereas women increase their worth by investing in their families.

One of our readings noted that this apparent selfless tendency of women may not hold true once women are more empowered. And I think this can be seen in American society now, where women are viewed as choosing their careers over their families when they are merely doing what men have done for centuries—investing in themselves and being defined by something outside of their reproductive abilities. There’s a freedom in this, but there is also a social confinement when we expect women to be selfless beings who should want to exist for the sole reason of being a caretaker to her children or her husband. Women who choose an alternate road are villainized.

I wonder if targeting women because “if you educate a woman you educate a village, but if you educate a man, you only have an educated man” only exacerbates this problem. Yes, target women who are disempowered and disenfranchised members of society—but not because they will be such moral benefactors. Women may not invest in their families if they are given a loan, but does that mean they should not be given that loan? Men are given loans because they are human. Let women be given those loans for the same reason. If you want selfless benefactors, then be prepared for the fact that some men may be selfless. But also, be aware of the social barriers that might prevent men from being as communal minded as men. We must not neglect the men in the equation, because they are confined in their own ways. If a man is taught, explicitly or implicitly, by society that his source of power comes from his ability to exert that power over another human being, namely women, then to take that away from him is to take away his sense of manhood, his sense of identity, his sense of humanity, because he has been told that this power, this manliness is what makes him human, what makes him who he is.

An article by Villia Jefremovas entitled “Loose Women, Virtuous Wives, and Timid Virgins: Gender and the Control of Resources in Rwanda” discusses the perceptions of women with varying degrees of freedom and social acceptability in Rwanda. The article examines three different women who are financially empowered in managerial and operational duties in brick-making. Ultimately, being independent from a husband and being viewed as “loose” frees a woman to secure her own rights as an independent woman, but these rights—and her rights to the fruits of her labors—cannot be fully secured from direct and indirect ways of encroachment. On the other hand, a woman who is married—and even a widowed woman—may have control over resources but cannot have ownership, which ultimately places her at the will of her “master”. She cannot be fully independent, and even if she were, she is viewed as abnormal and even immoral within Rwandan society. (This article is extremely useful, however I need to do additional research into the modern accuracy of this article’s findings as it was published twenty years ago in 1991.)

Response Paper for Microfinance

Response Paper 2

            Through our discussions about microfinance, I have realized I cannot escape the importance of women in the growth of developing countries’ economies and the welfare of their people. Somehow, women have proven themselves central to the pulse of communities. Not perhaps, as official leaders, but as the cornerstones which keep the whole community from perishing. If women were absent, I shudder to imagine what would happen. That said, strengthening the women and providing them with infrastructures that enable them to climb even higher will transform these countries beyond recognition. So far, we have seen the success of programs that streamline funding through the women because then the money is invested back into the family and community. My struggle begins with the thought of whether empowerment and whether empowering a woman and teaching her how to further her own business will lead to her abandoning this pattern of investing in the community. And does a focus on women further the cycle because there is no correction of the men’s attitudes towards investing in the community? I have come to believe that there needs to be a combination of the two.

            It was extremely interesting for me to be introduced to the countless microfinance initiatives and models that have found success. Most everyone is familiar with the Grameen Bank model but I had never considered rotating credit or door-to-door savings initiatives. I wrestle with the tension between microsavings and microloans. I wonder whether or not one is possible without the other. Microsavings only work if there is money that is coming in already, which might only be possible as a result of a microloan. However, microloans are also dysfunctional without knowledge of how to save, how to handle one’s money. Again, it strikes me as a necessity for balance between the two; they truly belong hand in hand.

            Another thought that stuck with me was the definition of empowerment and whether than varies between cultures. Coming from an American perspective, empowerment often is taken in the financial context. Empowering a woman here means giving her the resources and desire to make her own decisions and to be self-reliant. However, in other cultures, there are different priorities and empowerment might be defined differently. I would be interested in discovering how some developing countries would define empowerment because I am loathe to fight for freedoms that we assume women need that they do not desire. Furthermore, the question arises of whether empowerment will increase self-interest and lessen the communal investment that is so valued in women right now.

            In my studies of prostitution and sex trafficking, I have found the two to be nearly inseparable. Though I concede that they are defined differently, one being an occupation of sorts and another being illegal enslavement, I have not been convinced that there are many places where one is present without the other. There are people who argue that prostitution is simply selling a service and is equitable with any other commodity in the market. I can set aside personal views in order to understand that argument, even if I do not agree with it. These same people often promote the legalization of prostitution. It is at this point that I must stress how legalizing it in order to give it legitimacy and lessen the stigma actually has ripple effects. Those effects include the impact on sex trafficking and how much more tempting it is to participate in this market because there is much higher profitability, now that brothel keepers do not have to pay police bribes. Though legalizing prostitution may, and only in some cases, actually succeed in dealing with several health concerns, it does not shrink the market. It certainly does not dissuade any brothel owners from participating in illegal trafficking. Prohibiting prostitution puts more pressure on brothel owners and police and the business becomes less profitable. Oftentimes, owners give up the business, thereby shrinking the market. It is a complicated matter but I think these are logical arguments.

            In the context of Nigeria, I sought to understand why women and girls are more vulnerable to be trafficked. Lack of education lessens opportunity and so they are often seeking ways to get a job, even if it means accepting an offer in another country from a seemingly harmless extended family member. Women tend to be less informed about the risks of migration and so they are taken advantage of on the way. Violence against women is culturally more acceptable and, therefore, not as many people will protest if they see anything happen. There has been a popularization of foreign workers in domestic and care-giving roles and so that leaves Nigerian women out of work and looking for funding. Culturally, women and children’s human rights are often discounted and so no one is looking out for their welfare. For all of these reasons, and several others, women and girls are more vulnerable to be trafficked in Nigeria.

Questions for 2/21/11

1. In Half the Sky, a intelligence officer along the Nepal-Indian border says, "Prostitution is inevitable. There has always been prostitution in every country. And what's a young man going to do from the time when he turns eighteen until when he gets married at thirty?" What are your thoughts and opinions on this quote?

2.In Prostitution, Marginality and Empowerment: Caribbean Women in the Sex Trade, she notes that while prostitutes are often targeted for HIV and AIDs education programs, their clients are not. This is a major issue in itself but what does this larger focus and criticism of only prostitutes and not their clients imply?

3. When one trafficked Nigerian woman was arrested in Italy for being a drug courier, she told the police that she had been forced into prostitution and then forced to be a drug mule, but they "did not believe her." Why does this continually happen? Is it really that they didn't believe her or that they just refuse to do anything to fix this issue?

Questions

1) In the Overlake School example mentioned in Kristof, the implication is that education is the "way out" for prostitutes. That is, it is a prevention mechanism. What is the group's thoughts on this? Given the opportunity, do you think girls would choose education over an income, even if they find themselves in dire poverty (and perhaps social and/or family pressures are involved)?

2) This is more of a comment than a question, I suppose. Prostitution seems to be founded on discrimination, on the idea that women may be sexually commodified and this is somehow acceptable. In Kempadoo's article, he mentions that racism and exoticism has played an important role in the Carribean sex industry. He says that this racism, however, is "unique in that it fostered the illusion of admiration for, and attraction to the Other while enacting murder, rape, violence, and enslavement." This illusion is interesting to me, and I'd like to understand how the women themselves see this exoticism and whether or not it is as "flattering."

3) I think it was Kristof who briefly discussed the concept of having women form labor union-type organizations as prostitutes. This helps to formalize their work and engage them in activism efforts. Do we think that this would be beneficial to them in the long-run? Would organization and coordination help the women band together to stand up for their individual and collective rights as women, as humans?

Born into Brothels

Last week, the Alabama International Relations Club (AIRC) viewed a trailer for the documentary Born into Brothels. I found it absolutely compelling, because not only did it tell the shocking story of prostitution in Kolkata, but it did so through the lens of the children of prostitutes. Several children were given cameras and told to take pictures of their everyday experiences, and the result is this film. AIRC is scheduled to screen the film later in the year, and I think it would be a great idea if our class decided to go as well (even though 2/5 of the class will already be there!).

http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/bornintobrothels/

A few wholly unthoughtout questions... on one of the readings...

Some are hoodwinked into the work, and arrive at Curicao without being aware of what they applied for, but an equal number know what Campo stands for.

- Do those who don’t know what it stands for get a say in whether to continue with the job or not?

Few women in this sector have pimps, and they manage to work quite independently.

- Is this still a form of slavery?

And although prostitution was initially legalized to cater to male visitors and migrants, in 1993 the majority of the paying clients were Antillian and other Carribean men of all classes. Given that in the early 1990s the male population of Curacao above the age of twenty was 43,545, these figures indicate that the minimum number of paid sexual encounters in the state-regulated brothel far exceeds the number of adult men on the island.

- What, if any, effect does this have of the women and the trade?

In Haiti, as in Curacao, white European women form the elite group in the sex trade while Afro-Carribbean women are concentrated among the lowest-paid street workers.

- What role do women play in creating inequality in the sex trade?

Marriage can facilitate a woman’s entrance into prostitution, but marriage ‘to the right man’ can also put an end to sex work.

- No question, just interesting.

Questions

Just in case I don't get back into town with enough time to do my 3rd question by 7...Here are 2 of them.
 

"Taking all these aspects into account, sex work can be equated with any other human activity which contributes to the production and reproduction of capital and labor." Do you agree with that?

"That sex industries today depend upon the eroticization of hte ethnic and cultural Other suggests that we are witnessing a contemporary form of exoticism which sustains post-colonial and post-cold war relations of power and dominance." Does prostitution further these racial tensions and provide a venue through which one seeks to conquer antoher and if so, does it not also further gender discrimination and domination?

Ghana - Formal Banking Takes a Page from the Informal Sector's Playbook

In one of our readings this week, there was mention of the formal sector harnessing ideas/business models from the informal sector. In Ghana, this has happened fairly recently.

"Susu" is the general term for all informal savings/credit schemes in Ghana. Some of these practices are ancient, and have become an irreplaceable part of many Ghanaians' socioeconomic existence. Here's more information.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5391/is_200608/ai_n21396714/

GIRL UP!

Girl Up, a campaign of the United Nations Foundation, gives American girls the opportunity to channel their energy and compassion to raise awareness and funds for programs of the United Nations that help some of the world’s hardest-to-reach adolescent girls. Through Girl Up’s support, girls have the opportunity to become educated, healthy, safe, counted, and positioned to be the next generation of leaders.

Global Girl Power - article in Times Magazine today!

To Fight Poverty, Invest in Girls
"There are countless reasons rescuing girls is the right thing to do. It's also the smart thing to do. Consider the virtuous circle: An extra year of primary school boosts girls' eventual wages by 10% to 20%. An extra year of secondary school adds 15% to 25%. Girls who stay in school for seven or more years typically marry four years later and have two fewer children than girls who drop out. Fewer dependents per worker allows for greater economic growth. And the World Food Programme has found that when girls and women earn income, they reinvest 90% of it in their families. They buy books, medicine, bed nets. For men, that figure is more like 30% to 40%. "Investment in girls' education may well be the highest-return investment available in the developing world," Larry Summers wrote when he was chief economist at the World Bank. Of such cycles are real revolutions born."


"Roughly 9 of 10 youth programs are aimed at boys. One reason for this is that when it comes to lifting up girls, we don't know as much about how to do it. We have to start by listening to girls, which much of the world is not culturally disposed to do. Development experts say the solutions need to be holistic, providing access to safe spaces, schools and health clinics with programs designed specifically for girls' needs. Success depends on infrastructure, on making fuel and water more available so girls don't have to spend as many as 15 hours a day fetching them. It requires enlisting whole communities — mothers, fathers, teachers, religious leaders — in helping girls realize their potential instead of seeing them as dispensable or, worse, as prey."


Read the whole article.

Grameen Bank

Grameen Bank was founded by Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh. Yunus and the Grameen Bank are frequently known as the pioneers of microcredit and the Grammen model has been replicated by many microcredit inititiaves around the globe.

Microcredit in Bangladesh 'helped 10 million'

Microcredit in Bangladesh 'helped 10 million' is a BBC article that commends the positive work of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh despite current microcredit skepticism.

Microfinance Questions (Week 5)

1. How is microfinance similiar in its purpose and process to the kut rotating savings circles in Malaysia? How is it different?

2. Do you agree with the statement "empowerment itself is not a Western concept" from the UNIFEM article? Why or why not?

3. In Half the Sky, they write "what matters to the children's well-being isn't so much the level of the family's wealth as whether it is controlled by the mother or father." Is this a fair assessment to make? Why or why not?

Week 5 Discussion Qs

1) Dr. Jaggar and the UNIFEM article this week, among probably many other experts and organizations, have mentioned the "feminization of global poverty." Is this really what's happening? Is this a misrepresentation of a problem that has always existed (namely, women being highly represented among the global poor) that is simply only now being recognized?

2) Several of the articles mention peer support. According to the UNIFEM article, institutions that target women are more likely to rely on clients to hold each other accountable rather than imposing monitoring procedures. Why are women considered more capable of self-monitoring? Why are social pressures more effective/important among women?

3) All-women rotating savings groups, as we know, save money for various reasons. One of the more prominent reasons, though, is to protect their families/themselves against disasters/emergencies/big expenditures. My question is why should women be expected to do this? Does the man contribute anything if his daughter is getting married? If a storm destroyed the family home? If someone was unexpectedly injured? Does the man have any responsibilities (financial or otherwise) in these situations?

Questions for Week 5

1) If men typically control business and do not allow women to handle money to begin with, is it practical to have just a micro-savings initiative in the name of a woman, without pairing it with a micro-loan initiative? They need to come into contact with money before they can start to save it, right?
2) In what ways are matched-savings programs attractive to the sources of  funding? Do you agree that only the government can fund the programs effectively or can the funding come from somewhere else?
3) Because women typically save for the benefit of the whole household, should most development initiatives be established through the woman? In its own way, is that furthering a gender bias?

KIVA Fellows

http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/


I didn't know that Kiva had a Fellowship but they do and there are tons of blogposts written by Kiva Fellows all over the world. I kept getting absorbed as I was skipping from country to country, reading about all that they are doing.

United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

UN Women Official Website

A New Era Begins at UN Women

by Anne-christine d'Adesky  |  February 4, 2011

Once sidelined, women are now gaining momentum within the UN system. UN Women opened it's doors in January—and with it the doors to women's leadership at the global level.

"...Kavita Ramdas says that UN Women must define a new role and agenda at the UN—taking gender demands into new spheres. Up to now, she feels, the creation of women's agencies has somewhat siloed them—and allowed other agencies off the hook for gender reform. UN Women should continue building upon the bricks put in place by UNIFEM and its sister agencies to support women's programs, but it needs to redefine the problems. “It's not, 'Oh, here is your money to fund a few nice women's projects,'” she says. UN Women, especially with powerhouse Bachelet in charge, “has the chance to engage in a different way.” She points to sexual violence as an example. “I think one of the things the women's movement is trying to show are the deep links of sexual violence to structures of militarism and violence institutionally, on a wide society level, and what is directed against women.” She wants UN Women to “sit in on Security Council decisions on war and peace. It's very important for agencies to take part in deliberations when you are negotiating peace settlements.” Whenever there are major critical political questions or crises like Sudan, nuclear stand-down in North or South Korea”—she ticks off examples—“this agency is at the table. That is a very different role for the agency.”

...

War, peace, migration, disasters, global warming—these may not be thought of as 'women's issues', but UN Women can bring analysis of how these issues overlap and run along gender lines to the negotiating table; how war may impact women differently, leading to mass rape in the Congo, for example. It can build on powerful policy tools like Security Council Resolution 1325, which was adopted to strengthen women's roles in the UN's peace and security efforts. It can tackle thorny social issues like reproductive rights and the gaps between religious laws and international laws. And it can help reframe a national, political reponse to gender crimes."

...

Ritu Sharma is eyeing more concrete goals that would spell immediate improvement in women's lives. On her wish-list: “Getting every woman and girl child a birth certificate. Without that, [they] do not exist, have no rights, and can't get many services like education.”

...

Stephen Lewis, ever the outspoken feminist, minces no words: “Men have one role above all others in the pursuit of gender equality and the empowerment of women,” he says, “and that is to relinquish our power so that women can assume the share that is rightfully theirs.” If they do, Ramdas feels, they will gain, too. “I hope it will be a new decade for gender equality and I hope it not be narrowly defined, but a world in which men will be free too. Ideally this should be an agency that is passionate and that shows by liberating women, you liberate men too.”

 

Read the whole article here.

More from that Paper on Trafficking

Women and girls are more vulnerable to being trafficked because of:  

• unequal access to education that limits women’s opportunities, to increase their earnings in more skilled occupations;
•  lack of legitimate and fulfilling employment opportunities particularly in rural communities;
•  sex-selective migration policies and restrictive emigration policies/laws, instituted often as a “protective” measure, limit women’s legitimate migration. Most legal channels of migration offer opportunities in typically male-dominated sectors (construction and agriculture work);
• less access to information on migration/job opportunities, recruitment channels, and a greater lack of awareness of the risks of migration compared to men;
• disruption of support systems due to natural and human created catastrophes;
• traditional community attitudes and practices, which tolerate violence against women.
• women’s perceived suitability for work in labour-intensive production and the growing informal sector which is characterized by low wages, casual employment, hazardous work conditions and the absence of collective bargaining mechanisms;
• the increasing demand for foreign workers for domestic and care-giving roles, and lack of adequate regulatory frameworks to support this; 
• the growth of the billion-dollar sex and entertainment industry, tolerated as a ‘necessary evil’ while women in prostitution are criminalized and discriminated against; 
• the low risk-high profit nature of trafficking encouraged by a lack of will on the part of enforcement agencies to prosecute traffickers (which includes owners/managers of institutions into which persons are trafficked); 
• the ease in controlling and manipulating vulnerable women; 
• lack of access to legal redress or remedies, for victims of traffickers;
• devaluation of women and children’s human rights.