Honor Killings

In his New York Times  column recently Nicholas Kristoff tells about Saba, a young woman who was shot in the head by her father.  Why?  Because she had disobeyed him by falling in love and  marrying without her father’s permission.  It is estimated that over 1000 honor killings take place in Pakistan every year, but very few perpetrators are brought to justice. Courageously, Saba attempted to have her father arrested, but . . . .

You’ll meet Saba herself in A Girl in the River,  nominated for the Oscars’ short documentary award.  Kistoff says whether or not it wins the nomination, it is worth viewing.  This travesty against young women must stop. (I confess I didn’t watch the Oscars)

Pakistan is far away and probably doesn’t seem like an issue in this country.  But I just read Hiding in the Light by Rifqa Bary who faced the threat of death because she dared to . . .  become a Christian.  She was able to keep her faith secret for several years, but when her father found out, he threatened to send her to Sri Lanka to marry an old Muslim man, and the local mosque stood by him . In fact, they are still threatening to sue the American family who protected sixteen-year-old Rifqa when she ran away from home.

Whether it’s honor killing, trafficking, limiting education to boys first or  killing new born girls—the treatment of women and girls in many countries calls us to compassion and action.  I’ve spent over five years writing a biographical fiction about Katharine Bushnell, MD, a Christian activist who investigated and exposed the sex trade in the US and India at the end of the nineteenth century. Lighthouse Publishing tells me the book will be released by December 1, 2016.

 

woman and men created equal

As I finish editing Boundless, the story of Dr. Katharine Bushnell, I’m overwhelmed at the persistence and bravery of this nineteenth century woman. She spent her life exposing sexual slavery and calling on legislators to pass laws to raise the age of consent and outlaw White Slavery (trafficking then.) She was passionate to serve God and to teach about the value He placed on all humanity. The Bible compelled her, at great personal cost, to fight against those who devalued women in her day. And little has changed – I was heart-sick to read about little girls SOLD BY THEIR PARENTS for as little as $10US dollars. Read on. . .

Asia—2014– In Nepal and India, extreme poverty results in malnutrition, disease, illiteracy, and often deep spiritual depravity.
Little value is placed on women and girls in these countries where they are sold into sex slavery by members of their own families for as little as $10 USD, depending on their age and beauty.

They refer to themselves as “the walking dead” for they are without hope. Girls as young as 7 have been sold into slavery. These women and girls are confined in a room called “the cage” where they are beaten, starved, and raped until their will is broken. Then they are forced to service customers to repay their debt–a debt that incurs more in interest than they are paid for their services. those brothels, conditions are filthy and sickness is rampant. Girls who succumb to infection are turned out on the streets to die. (Just like infected girls were turned out of the brothels in the British military cantonments in India in the 1890’s)

Vision Beyond Borders launched its Vision for Women to answer the growing crisis. The safe house they helped fund just 6 months ago is full, and more women are ready to come out of the industry.
Adapted from Mission Network News by Joan Kramer

At least today exposing trafficking does not depend on a lone woman here and there to fight against the evil. The Bible teaches that men and women were created equal in God’s sight, and equal to work side by side: “God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female created he them. So God blessed them and told them, ‘Multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters over the fish and birds and all the animals’ . . . Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was excellent in every way”. Genesis 1: 27-29, 31.

Is there a solution?

One hundred ten years ago Dr.Kate Bushnell([see more under “about the books”} finally figured out that trafficking, a word unknown until a few decades ago,would never end until the hearts of men and women changed. And little has changed– young trafficked girls are like a chocolate bar at the checkout counter. Chocoholics can’t resist the temptation until they’ve changed their lifestyle and diet. Sexual addicts will always find a place to find available girls, until their moral and ethical values change.It’s like the drug traffic. America would be free of drugs if there were no buyers!

Read about a brave young girl in Guatemala who managed to stop a trafficker– in another way.

Guatemala (MNN) — An estimated 90% of sexual abuse cases go unreported in Guatemala. If a case is brought to court, the likelihood that the abuser will not be punished is also 90%. That’s what makes a recent trial so special for a girl in the Oasis program. Courtney, a 14-year-old girl had to testify against the man who prostituted her for several years.

“She really had a tough time in court but stood up to it extremely well,” says Corbey Dukes of the Oasis program, who acted as the girl’s legal representative.

“The defense attorney really tried to wear her down; she had over an hour of testimony. But at the end of it, he just threw his hands up and said, ‘No more questions’ and sat down. And he was the guy who was defeated.”

According to the U.S. State Department’s 2013 Trafficking In Persons (TIP) Report, Guatemalan women and children are “exploited in sex trafficking within the country, as well as in Mexico, the United States, and Belize.

“Foreign child sex tourists–predominantly from Canada, the United States, and Western Europe–as well as Guatemalan men exploit children in prostitution.”

Courtney was prostituted for approximately 60-cents per visit, says Dukes. And she wasn’t the only one, he adds. “She has two cousins here; one is two years younger than her and one is five or six years younger than her,” says Dukes. “They were all exploited in the same way.”

All three of the young women are involved in the Oasis program and taking strides toward a better future. The Oasis is a Christian safe haven for girls who have been forced into child labor, experienced physical and sexual abuse (often all three), and have either been abandoned or have fled for their safety and lives.

Adapted from Mission Network News

End Gendercide Now

I’m sure Dr. Katharine Bushnell(1855-1946) would have been involved in this campaign. As she worked, first in China where women’s feet were mangled so they could never walk easily again, to her heartbreaking exposures of trafficking both at home and abroad — she saw it all as breaking the design and will of God, that men and women were created equal. Female gendercide just takes these evils another step further.
A message from the campaign
End Gendercide Now!

Take a stand against gendercide
October 11 is the second UN International Day of the Girl Child. This day is meant to promote girls’ rights and highlight gender inequalities that remain between girls and boys.
To coincide with this important day, we are releasing It’s a Girl on even more platforms worldwide: Google Play, X-Box, Vudu (and it’s still available on iTunes!)
The DVD, which includes a printed 22-page Discussion + Action Guide and hours of Special Features, is also available now though Amazon as well as the official movie website.

Take Action on the International Day of the Girl Child
On this day to focus on the fundamental human rights of the girl child, we are drawing attention to the It’s a Girl Action Campaign.
Gendercide may well be the most serious human rights violation and form of discrimination against girls and women happening on earth today. Please use today to highlight gendercide and its impact on the girl child by sharing this action campaign video.

Watch the It’s a Girl Action Campaign Video
As many as 200 million girls are missing because of gendercide. Now is the time to stand up for girls and women everywhere!
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