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From Forbes:

“What’s the biggest misconception about sexually trafficked women and girls in America?

I think the biggest misconception is that it’s a victimless crime. That it’s harmless. That girls and women are just (A) too lazy to get a job at McDonald’s, or (B) like having sex all the time. Some of the things that get said about women and girls in the sex industry are heinous.

The reality is that the vast majority of the girls who end up in the sex industry are coming from homes where there’s been sexual abuse, physical abuse, trauma and domestic violence. For children, the discussion of choice is a moot point. If we say children can’t choose to drive or to drink or to vote, how can children choose to be in the sex industry?

How big of a part of the American sex trade is comprised of underage girls or children?

It’s difficult to pinpoint. The most referred-to statistic says that 300,000 youths are at risk for being exploited by the sex industry. The challenges to more specific numbers are that are that the only way to do it would be to look at arrest records, but girls are often told to say that they’re older than they are so they end up being prosecuted as adults.

Also, it’s an underground issue and a transient population and this isn’t a group that’s coming forward to be counted or participate in studies. You don’t’ want to overestimate the number so it looks like hyperbole…

But it’s happening. As an indicator, we’ve served 330 girls and young women GEMS in just the last year. And the severity of the abuse and the trauma and what it being done to girls both by the men who are trafficking them—the pimps—and by the men who are buying them—the johns, the so-called “regular men”—is horrific…”

Read the full article at Forbes.

The WOV Helpdesk joins hands in support of the Million Moms Challenge. Photo: World Vision.

Last week in the Huffington Post, a senior producer at ABC News, Teri Whitcraft, recounted the milestones reached over the past year by the Million Moms Challenge, a campaign World Vision joined in partnership with the United Nations Foundation and others, to connect a million Americans with millions of mothers in the developing world — where giving birth can be the most dangerous thing a woman does. The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness on the dangers of pregnancy without the proper nutrition and healthcare, and to provide resources to change that reality for moms in developing nations.

An Indian child eats mid-day meals organised by the government of Andhra Pradesh at a shanty area in Hyderabad, India. Photograph: Mahesh Kumar A/AP

A growing body of global research is pointing India toward a solution for its child-malnutrition crisis, which rivals that of sub-Saharan Africa: Give women legal control of the land they farm with their husbands. “Women in India have a lower status and therefore less control over resources, both land and money, and consequently do not have the leverage to ensure that their children’s needs are met,” writes Renee Giovarelli, executive director of the Landesa Center for Women’s Land Rights. Read the article at The Guardian (London)/Poverty Matters blog.

Photo courtesy of Thomas Lee

From GOOD:

“When Connie Duckworth flew into Kabul for the first time in 2003, the city below “looked like Berlin after World War II,” she says. Since that visit with the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council—a non-partisan initiative tasked with supporting Afghan women—Duckworth has devoted her life and career to rebuilding Afghanistan, carpet by carpet. Duckworth founded ARZU, a nonprofit, artisanal rug company where every item produced and donation received helps pay the salary of local weavers and funds social programs to lift rural families out of crushing poverty.

Afghan women need all the help they can get. The combination of gender segregation, violence against women, limited access to health care, and extreme poverty make Afghanistan the worst place on earth to be a woman, according to a survey by the Thomson Reuters Foundation released this summer. And, lest we forget, it’s ground zero for a war that just turned 10 years old…”

“At end-November 2011, Somalia and the Central African Republic became the latest countries to commit to end the use of child soldiers – a move seen as “encouraging” by the UN, albeit with the proviso that the situation in both countries remains volatile.

All sides to the Somali conflict have reportedly been recruiting children. An official working with an NGO that monitors the state of children in the country told IRIN that although the exact number of child soldiers was unknown, his group suspected between 2,000 and 3,000 children were in different armed groups.

Up to 300,000 children are still involved in more than 30 conflicts worldwide, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF)…”

Read the rest of the article.

Photo: World Vision

In Dhaka, Bangladesh (the capital of this country and one of the most crowded cities  in the world) we visited two garbage dumps. There, thousands of people – including hundreds of children – collect empty medical bottles, plastic bottles, bones (yes bones!) and human hair to sell for approximately 30-50 cents a day. We met with seven young girls who do this every day after school for at least 4 hours each day.  They spoke in such a matter-of-fact manner about this job, describing what it is like to scavenge for such materials on a daily basis. We were shocked to discover that every one of them has malaria, lice and is hungry. Additionally, they have colds most of the time and often have jaundice. And yet, the pleasure they took in our simple visit was palpable. They were delighted to meet with us and talk to us. They were unanimous in their least favorite aspect of this job – the vile smell. Then 10 year old Champa asked a poignant question – she is the one looking at the camera in the picture:  “When can we stop working in the garbage dump?” It was a simple request to please help. And I wonder how World Vision can come alongside and help even more. The dignity and sweet nature of these young girls struck our team and we spent time praying for them. It is my hope and prayer that one day these girls can be freed from this work.

Women prepare food using a solar cooker in Mali. Photograph: Joerg Boethling/Alamy

Providing poor women and girls with access to modern sources of energy isn’t enough, in and of itself, to alleviate poverty and improve health, according to a study by the UN Development Program. “Energy services are often not affordable by the rural and urban poor, and on their own have little impact. The poor need support to generate income so that energy becomes affordable, which in turn will improve household living standards,” said Martin Krause, head of the UN agency’s climate and energy team for the Asia-Pacific region. Read the article at The Guardian (London).

Tuesday, January 24
4:00-5:00pm PST / 7:00-8:00pm EST

Women of Vision is delighted to announce our next conference call where you can dial in along with other women from all over the country. Friends are welcome! RSVP to reserve your spot now!

Cat-Dan Lai-Smith. Photo: World Vision

Cat-Dan was born in Saigon in Vietnam. In pursuit of freedom, her parents fled the country by boat when she was an infant. This traumatic journey led them to a Hong Kong refugee camp. From there, they were sponsored by a group of caring families to move to Canada, where they began new lives. As she grew up, Cat-Dan says her parents taught her never to forget their journey – they had only made it through the incredible support of the people who helped along the way. This experience has framed her motivation in life and means that having a purpose to what she does is paramount. As a result, she has aspired towards a career that would enable her to contribute positively and directly to the lives of others.

Join host Beth Yeager as she interviews Cat-Dan on January 24. You will be inspired by her story. Then, come to the Women of Vision National Conference and meet Cat-Dan in person as she shares more of her story!

Simply call our toll-free number at the scheduled time. RSVP to reserve your spot! 

Sajjad Hussain/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

A considerable drop in the number of girls in India as a result of sex-selective abortions and general neglect could, in fact, make women more valuable in accordance with the law of supply and demand. Not only could women begin to be paid better in relation to men, but their marriage value could rise, too, ostensibly reducing the burden of dowries on families.  Read more at The Wall Street Journal/India Real Time blog.