Week 10 & 11: A Culture of Torture
My heart was broken when watching the file “Born into Brothels”. I felt a range of emotions from heart-break, sadness, to happiness and enlightenment. It is appalling that children in this age have to live like this. They are unable to go to school because they have to work till 11:00 at night and start again a 4:00 in the morning. They are slaves and are constantly in an environment where women are degraded. They see women violated by men, they see women fighting calling each other names like “slut” and “whore”. One of the girls in the beginning of the movie stated “one has to accept life as said and painful” another said “there is nothing called hope in my future”. For the girls they have no future, their future is the same as their mothers and grandmothers to be sex slaves. The boys are taught from early on that women are worthless. One of the girls stated how her brother beats her and she would not mind if they were separated. For them the photography was a vacation from reality, but what I saw when I looked into their eyes and pictures were pain, photography was the only happiness they had. This film was so eye-opening and disturbing at one point I could hardly bare to watch it anymore. Towards the end when Avijit was analyzing a picture he stated that “even though there is sadness in it, we must look at it because it is the truth” that statement hit hard. This little boy knows more about the world than most. We must look at films like this because it is the truth and in order to change the truth we must acknowledge it exists.
As we saw in the film I think this vicious never-ending cycle contributes to violence against girls and women. From the time the boys are little they see how males and females for that matter treat women. These boys see women as only being useful for sex, they see how the males beat the women and the girls and they take on that behavior as children when they beat their sisters, it is a vicious cycle. Many would probably say there is a fine line between culture and torture, because for cultures like these in India torture is their livelihood. I disagree, and believe it does not have to be like this any longer. What is holding them back is education. One of my favorite quotes is by Nelson Mandela where he states” Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” This is what will change the future for children like the ones in the red light district. Education offers them hope and a future away from the brothel. This culture of the brothel does not have to continue from generation of women to generation of women, education can end it. Culture is something to be proud of, it is values and goals, and torture is not an acceptable part of culture. At one time this culture was acceptable, but in today’s standards it is not.
It is also debatable if “outsiders” have the right to critique the cultural practices of others, but I believe when it comes to the safety and well-being of others we do. What we saw in this film was a culture of torture; these girls are being taught that they will never be more than a sex slave. These children have no voice, and so those who have a voice need to speak up for them. The same can be said about female genital mutilation. As the WHO states: “it reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes, and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women.” It is a violation of children’s rights as well a health rights, the same can be said about what is going on in brothels.
What if this was going on in America? (some might argue that this does, and it does to a certain extent, but not openly like in India). But, here in America if a mother made a child stay home from school that would be considered abuse and they child would be taken from them. In America it is unthinkable to sell your daughter into sex slavery. It is not acceptable in America, so I ask why is it acceptable anywhere else in the world?
As we saw in the film I think this vicious never-ending cycle contributes to violence against girls and women. From the time the boys are little they see how males and females for that matter treat women. These boys see women as only being useful for sex, they see how the males beat the women and the girls and they take on that behavior as children when they beat their sisters, it is a vicious cycle. Many would probably say there is a fine line between culture and torture, because for cultures like these in India torture is their livelihood. I disagree, and believe it does not have to be like this any longer. What is holding them back is education. One of my favorite quotes is by Nelson Mandela where he states” Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” This is what will change the future for children like the ones in the red light district. Education offers them hope and a future away from the brothel. This culture of the brothel does not have to continue from generation of women to generation of women, education can end it. Culture is something to be proud of, it is values and goals, and torture is not an acceptable part of culture. At one time this culture was acceptable, but in today’s standards it is not.
It is also debatable if “outsiders” have the right to critique the cultural practices of others, but I believe when it comes to the safety and well-being of others we do. What we saw in this film was a culture of torture; these girls are being taught that they will never be more than a sex slave. These children have no voice, and so those who have a voice need to speak up for them. The same can be said about female genital mutilation. As the WHO states: “it reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes, and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women.” It is a violation of children’s rights as well a health rights, the same can be said about what is going on in brothels.
What if this was going on in America? (some might argue that this does, and it does to a certain extent, but not openly like in India). But, here in America if a mother made a child stay home from school that would be considered abuse and they child would be taken from them. In America it is unthinkable to sell your daughter into sex slavery. It is not acceptable in America, so I ask why is it acceptable anywhere else in the world?
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