day 10 - black and white (and gray)

Up until now, we’ve focused specifically on women’s education and the changes it can make, not only in the lives of the women themselves, but also on a community and even global level.

We’re going to start discussing some of the problems that women in developing nations face, such as sex trafficking, honor killings, and maternal mortality. Some of the topics might get a little intense, but I think that it’s necessary to understanding the importance of women’s education. We may be content with viewing the world through rose-tinted glasses, conveniently ignoring the most serious problems that plague our world. But seriously, what good does this do? 

I want people to understand that, yes, women’s education is a powerful catalyst to improving global issues; but also to understand the severity and extent of the problems that we seek to change.

The first problem we’ll cover: Sex trafficking and prostitution. In developing nations, a high number of women often resort to selling their bodies to have a means with which they can support themselves and their families. But of these, there may be women that were coerced or sold into prostitution, as well as those that choose that work of their own accord. The issue is not simply in “black or white”, a clearly delineated issue; there is a lot of gray area with regard to women that are forced into the sex trade and those that choose it voluntarily. For example, a woman may become trafficked against her will; but once she is broken by her traffickers, she may accept this as her fate. She may voluntarily prostitute herself because she knows no other opportunities outside of the brothel; she is also stigmatized by society.

Argument exists between those who perceive prostitution as slavery, and others, as a manifestation of female rights and liberation. I do not want to play the part of imperialist by saying we should save prostituted women so that they don’t have to live that sort of life, because for some, it is a conscious, voluntary decision. But when we discuss sex trafficking in these upcoming days, the argument will primarily focus on those that were coerced or sold into the sex trade.

I hope to show the conditions to which women in developing nations are subjected; but also the power of education in offering them a better life they might never have known.

Janna