Women are often the most vulnerable among the vulnerable
Preliminary results from a report published by UN Women / World Tourism Organization reveal that, under some circumstances, women are able to leverage opportunities provided by tourism to gain agency and improve their and their families' wellbeing.
Have we done enough to understand the causes and consequences of women's oppression? Have we done enough to understand which circumstances can make tourism a factor for gender equality and women's empowerment?
I don't think we have done nearly enough to combat with inequality for women across the globe. In some places like India they still believe in a caste-system which shuns upon the lower class and looks away from the nightmares of brothels that kidnap and trap women and very young girls and forces them to have sex. These women can't go to the police in fear of getting raped and being sent back to the brothels for worse torture. When Nick asked about the borders being on alert for human trafficking the border guard laughed at it and thought it was a hopeless cause to try and stop it and he thought it was a more serious crime to find stolen goods than stolen children. One man's excuse was that there needs to be some sacrifice from lower class so that the middle and upper class can remain pure and wholesome. We as a society have to become not only aware of the obvious inequalities for these women but we also have to act on it and understand with a first hand experience. Congressmen have heard of the terrible stories about women in other countries so they try to fight it by putting a embargo on a country to try and put them out of business. The only problem with that is that these women who work in the factories are put to the curb with no other skills so they are forced into prostitution as a means for providing for their families. Some programs have been a success where kids actually visit a country like Cambodia and can see up close and personal the horrors of poverty, especially in women.
ReplyDeleteNick has helped women by donating money to two former sex slaves so they can set up a meat and grocery stand. These women had all the right intentions but they had to combat with the difficulties of their society. The lady who opened the grocery stand would constantly have her inventory raided by family and other villagers because they knew they could take advantage of her without consequences. These poorer countries have set up their societies by making the women dependent on the man and this makes it hard for Westerners to understand if they can't actually be their first hand. We think by throwing money to some organization we our solving the problem but in some cases we are making it worse.
Education is key for the empowerment of women. Usha is a perfect example who stood up to the village thug and ended up starting a small rebellion which changed the way a village looked at women. She understood that the most vulnerable people to be taken advantage of are uneducated women. If these women could have an opportunity to be educated and learn new talents and see how other women live around the world then it can open the doors for them to succeed. If they could learn different skills, get a better understanding of the surroundings and what they're capable of then they can grow and attain jobs that they never thought of like a historian, tour guide, hotel manager (Usha's original aspiration), or even a politician who could make the world aware of the challenges women face everyday.
I don't believe the world as a whole appreciates the importance of women's empowerment either on a social level or at the political level. The abuses addressed in the first few chapters of "Half The Sky" are distant facts that those in developed countries rarely think about, if they hear about them at all. Most of the acts discussed are in war torn developing countries, or extremely poor, rural areas. These areas are rarely represented on a governmental level, nor do they have the education necessary to be heard.
ReplyDeleteI'm still unsure as to how tourism in these areas could help women gain a voice. It is possible that the economic growth that comes to an area through tourism would provide opportunities, especially if introduced correctly. Getting out and speaking to women in the community would help to provide a better understanding of what they need most, and what they can provide. The cases I've seen in the past that seemed most straight forward were teaching women how to create crafts, and then linking them with a source to sell their wares, such a tourists.
It seems to me that the causes for women’s oppression are very unclear, yet we are aware of the consequences to a certain degree. I believe we know the fact regarding women’s oppression that women in a variety of countries are looked down upon and treated extremely unequal compared to men. What I don’t understand is how women ever came to be so degraded to begin with, although this issue has gone on for hundreds of years it’s hard to see where the issue originated. In Half the Sky, there was one comment made from an Indian officer regarding this unfair role in society that women have saying, “These girls are sacrificed so that we can have harmony in society. So that good girls can be safe.” This comment made absolutely no sense to me because I don’t understand how sex trafficking can be considered harmony in the first place, second- why can’t a society be in peace without sex trafficking, and third- just because the so-called “good girls” are educated doesn’t mean that the “bad girls” should suffer and not be able to become educated as well.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the largest issue that I see, especially after beginning to read Half the Sky, is not women’s oppression, but how it can be resolved to the point where men and women are seen as equals. I believe that fair amounts of people around the world are aware of the consequences of women’s oppression, but most people only understand these consequences to a certain degree. For example, sex trafficking and forced prostitution are issues that I knew a lot of women in the world had to face, but it wasn’t until like depicted in Half the Sky that I realized to the extent of how detrimental and terrible these issues really are, and I believe many others like me don’t understand these issues clearly until they see visuals or hear many detailed stories like I just did.
Furthermore, I think the understanding of which circumstances can make tourism beneficial to the empowerment of women is slowly evolving, but it definitely has not been researched enough yet. Earlier in Half the Sky it was brought up that after Srey Rath escaped the Thai brothel she was able to start selling souvenirs and other items to travelers with the help of an aid group. I think this is a good example of a circumstance where the tourism industry can have a positive effect on women like Srey and an area like Cambodia, itself. However, there are many other circumstances in tourism that could have a positive impact on women and society, but not enough has been fully implemented and tried.
I think that we as a society have not done enough to understand the causes and consequences of women's oppression. I believe that we can never fully understand the depth of the struggles that some women around the world face. I think that Kristof and Wudunn have done a great social service to society by researching and publishing this book and the stories of the women within it. It has been a great tool to those who want to learn about the oppression of women worldwide and what they can do to help battle it.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we have done enough worldwide to understand circumstances that can make tourism a factor for gender equality and women's empowerment. To do this I feel like we must first understand the the struggles that these women across the globe must face on a daily basis, which has been aided by the book Half the Sky. We also must work to improve the livelihood of these women around the globe, which seems to be in progress but could use further work.
I agree with many that we have not done enough to understand the issue of women's oppression around the world. However, I believe that we have done a much better job of understanding women's oppression in our own country. Women now have more rights than they have ever had in history and are now beginning to gain jobs in primarily male dominated sectors such as in sports and the media. Consequently I believe that we have also been able to allow women to improve their lives through the tourism industry.
ReplyDeleteOnce again this is only speaking of terms of the situation in America. I do not think we know near as much as we should about the oppression women face around the world. Yes we know of the major problems such as sex trafficking and how they are treated in the middle east, but I believe to truly understand how to help them we must understand their daily troubles so we can build a solid foundation like we have in the US. While Half The Sky so far has provided some insight to how tourism can help oppressed women improve their lives, I still believe that women will have fight for day to day rights to improve their quality of life overall. Considering in many places tourism is seasonal and will not assist in the oppression of women on a year around basis.
Kelly Price
ReplyDelete9/12/2011
I don't think that we have done enough with women's oppression. During the first few chapters of the book it talks about the hardship of women in other countries. One of the main problems addressed is the selling of women into prostitution not willingly. If the women do manage to escape and go to the police, they either ignore them or sell them right back into the trade. In China more girls die than boys because the parents do not give girls the correct medical attention. In other cultures women are tortured if they are seen as unfit wives. Half the Sky does a good job of capturing all of these hardships and publishing what different women who have experienced these things have to say.
I don't necessarily see what tourism could do to help the women in these areas. Until the culture has evolved enough to empower women I do not think that tourism could help them. I doubt the different government's or men in the families would allow for women to work on their own or have an industry that directly gives them the money. I do however think that people going to visit these areas benefit these women. The more people that see what these women go through and their struggles the more likely people are going to do something about it.
While women in America have a come a long way since the early days of our beloved country; women throughout the world are still suffering in many ways. Thanks to "Half the Sky" and other research projects, the rest of the world can get a glimpse of how life really is for women in third world countries. Women in America are allowed to vote, own property, and simply...make their own decisions. However, women in India or other countries do not have the same freedoms. I think the freedoms we as Americans have (which we take for granted), are the same ones that could solve a lot of the problems the rest of the world faces. For example, I think freedom of religion would help out tremendously. Some of the Middle Eastern and Eastern religions take a firm stance on the place of a woman in society. I think these stances, in turn, give men the power to abuse women. I think if more people really cared about this issue, and traveled to these places to see it with their own eyes, change would work its way in over time. The people of these countries may have never even heard of other religions, or pondered life without their own religion...but travelers from the west could open their eyes to new ways of thinking. I think it's still a work in progress, but the fact that the world is talking about it is definitely a step in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteIt is shocking to read about the extent that women are still being oppressed all over the world. In the U.S. the consequences of women's oppression are small but still visible, such as the small percentage of female CEO's and the large percentage of single mothers receiving welfare. In other countries the consequences of oppression include the sex trafficking and enslavement we read about in the first few chapters of Half the Sky. This oppression has gone on so long that the reason and cause has been lost. I think that understanding how far reaching the consequences of women's oppression reach is the most important step in ending it.
ReplyDeleteI think that progress has been made in understanding how tourism can make a difference in women's equality and empowerment. For example, the trip that was made by the students of the Overlake School inspired them to really invest in women's rights for members of the community they visited. Seeing the effects first-hand by volunteer tourism can inform people and give them a reason to take action. The benefits of tourism on the local economy can help women in developing countries, but without assistance from aid groups or government agencies that money may never go to benefit the oppressed women of the community.
I do not believe that we have taken the issue of women’s oppression as serious as it should be taken. The people who are informed about the gravity of the issue are passionate about it but many still do know about what is happening to women around the world. One can not believe such issues are happening around the world until they are shown it themselves. Most often I believe the reality of women's rape, murder, forced prostitution, and other forms of oppression have been thought of as taboo. Until everyone can talk about the issues facing women around the world, nothing can be completely resolved. People writing books on the issue, such as Kristof and WuDunn’s “Half the Sky”, helps with the education on the reality of these issues and get dialogues started amongst people who can help make a difference.
ReplyDeleteOne way to help women is by empowerment providing freedoms for those who are oppressed to choose the kind of life that they desire. Empowerment reawakens abilities and provides opportunities that have been stolen from them women through oppression. For example, in chapter three of “Half the Sky” when the women finally came out from under their fear and stood up to Akku Yadav after being empowered by Usha. This empowerment can come from employment in the tourism industry around the world.Women need be seen as assets to the tourism industry whether by working in hotels, selling goods, or providing entertainment in some capacity. If these women can be given jobs they can have their lives changed forever. It will give them pride, skills, and money to help their families. Giving women the opportunity to thrive can change the world because their children will be able to do anything.