Sex Trafficking

Some families decide it's more lucrative to send their daughters to a nearby town or city to get jobs that usually involve hard labor and little pay. That desperate need for income leaves girls easy prey to sex traffickers, particularly in Southeast Asia, where international tourism gorges the illegal industry. In Thailand, the sex trade has swelled without check into a main sector of the national economy. Families in small villages along the Chinese border are regularly approached by recruiters called "aunties" who ask for their daughters in exchange for six years' wages. Most Thai farmers earn only $150 a year. The offer can be too tempting to refuse.

The girls who are forced into prostitution to support their families often feel their burden deeply. "When I was at work, 50 percent of me hated what I was doing," said one 14-year-old girl, who felt conflicted about being taken out of a brothel in Chiang Mai, Thailand. "But the other 50 percent wanted to stay so that I could earn money for my parents. My father cannot work. He is very old and I must support the family. It is my job."

It's estimated that 1 million children around the world are involved in the sex trade; a third of all sex workers in Southeast Asia are between the ages of 12 and 17.

Girls' Education: Breaking the Pattern of Gender Discrimination

Education is the tool that can help break the pattern of gender discrimination and bring lasting change for women in developing countries.

Educated women are essential to ending gender bias, starting by reducing the poverty that makes discrimination even worse in the developing world. The most basic skills in literacy and arithmetic open up opportunities for better-paying jobs for women. Uneducated women in rural areas of Zambia, for instance, are twice as likely to live in poverty as those who have had eight or more years of education. The longer a girl is able to stay in school, the greater her chances to pursue worthwhile employment, higher education, and a life without the hazards of extreme poverty.

Women who have had some schooling are more likely to get married later, survive childbirth, have fewer and healthier children, and make sure their own children complete school. They also understand hygiene and nutrition better and are more likely to prevent disease by visiting health care facilities. The UN estimates that for every year a woman spends in primary school, the risk of her child dying prematurely is reduced by 8 percent.

Girls' education also means comprehensive change for a society. As women get the opportunity to go to school and obtain higher-level jobs, they gain status in their communities. Status translates into the power to influence their families and societies.

Even bigger changes become possible as girls' education becomes the cultural norm. Women can't defend themselves against physical and sexual abuse until they have the authority to speak against it without fear. Knowledge gives that authority. Women who have been educated are half as likely to undergo harmful cultural practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM) and four times as likely to protect their daughters from it. The Global Campaign for Education also states that a primary education defends women against HIV/AIDS infection—disproportionately high for women in developing countries—by giving "the most marginalized groups in society—notably young women—the status and confidence needed to act on information and refuse unsafe sex."

FGM and HIV/AIDS are too large to adequately address in this article, but they represent desperate challenges to the basic health and well-being of women in developing countries. Click here to learn more about FGM, HIV/AIDS, and women in the developing world.

How to Help

You can help pull down the barriers that keep girls from attending school and begin to bring change for women in developing countries. The most direct way is by easing the financial need that forces families to take their children out of school in the first place.

Dozens of international organizations are working to improve the livelihood of impoverished people. By building infrastructure and providing aid, vocational training, and education programs, they give families in developing countries resources to create healthy and stable lives. That takes the burden of mere survival off young women and gives them the time to get an education. With practical help and encouragement, girls are more likely to enroll and stay in school. UNICEF is encouraging all international organizations to come up with strategies for girls' education as part of their initial development plans. It has also started a movement to monitor school materials, facilities, and teachers to ensure that girls get a quality education that promotes appropriate perceptions of women, and that female students are given the same privileges as male students. All UNICEF and other reputable organizations need now are the resources to fund their efforts.You can help begin to change the lives of women around the world by making a financial gift or raising awareness about girls in the developing world today. Children In Need offers internships and volunteer opportunities to people who want to help raise awareness of the issues tha impact children. You can support Amnesty International, UNICEF, UNIFEM and INSTRAW. Or find another organization you’d like to support through Interaction. The need is clear, and though the obstacles to ending gender discrimination are high, they are not insurmountable.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14