A Cycle of Hope?
The article that I read today tells the story of an French journalist writing a piece for Glamour Magazine. Mariane Pearl spent a year in Cambodia writing about the sex trade there. In Cambodia she met a woman named Somaly, a former prostitute, who started an organization in 1996 to help other women get out of the prostitution system. So far the organization has saved 3,000 girls, although, Pearl does not define “saved” in her article. Even if women are rescued from brothels, many women are likely to return to prostitution because they either have no skills and education to pursue anything else, their family ties have all been broken up (keep in mind many women are sold by family members or trafficked across international borders making the return home impossible), and/or they are stigmatized by society.
Pearl’s article does reveal some tradgedies, such as the little girl who was sold for the equivalent of $10 by her own mother and another girl who was drugged, caged, and forced to service up to 30 customers per day. However, the article paints a hopeful perspective for Cambodia. If women like Somaly, who helped others out of prostitution, would become more common in Cambodia, then society would begin to change. Instead of a cycle of prostitution, they would be creating a cycle of liberation and healing. Pearl ends the article on this hopeful note.
Here is the piece that she wrote: http://www.glamour.com/news/feature/articles/2006/07/31/globaldiary06sep?currentPage=1
I strongly encourange people to take in part in rebuild and support the idea of helping people to get out and recover from prostitution life. A life as a prostitute is very challenging and tragic. As a young male, my view is quite similar to those of femalez that prostitution should not exist in our society. I believe that not every women in this society wants to pursue prostitution as job or career but it is a result due to lack of financial circumstances and family condition that led them fall into this path.
Prostitution is the oldest profession. I don’t know if trying to get rid of it is best, or if it would be best to have it super-controlled by laws. If it were controlled tightly, I think many of the problems with it would go away. Maybe I’m wrong, tell me why.