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To survive horrors of childhood – True story of a young girl
Story of Aniiyah Jackson
a girl who could overcomes her obstacle and she can be a lesson for others
Aniiyah Jackson
“As a child, I was abused and molested by my birth father. He would abuse my mother physically and verbally. There were times I was always going to the hospital to get surgery done to my face from all the deep wounds and bruises I had. Later on my two twin brothers were born. My birth father would abuse them also. He always used the metal belt buckle to hurt us more than his hands. We all moved out of New York and lived in Virginia. It wasn’t long before my birth father started abusing us again. I remember how I would have night terrors and was always afraid of going to sleep because he would come in at night. He always punched me in the face, broke my nose a few times. The very last time I saw my birth father was when he beat up my mother very badly before my brothers and I went to school. At that time we had a family member stay with us, she hit him from the back to stop him from hurting my mother. He got a knife out the kitchen draw and tried to kill my mother and cousin in front of us. We were so scared. When the police came, he took off.
After the incident with my birth father, my mother, brothers, and I moved again to a different part of Virginia. My mother started dating this guy and every night he would rape her. My brothers and I were terrified of what was going on. We could never sleep hearing the sounds of my mom saying stop. After they broke up, we moved again. My mom dated another guy who was always in and out of jail. She got pregnant with him the first time and had my other brother and the next year she had my sister. Our house was broken into and they stole everything. My mom believes still to this day that it was her boyfriend’s family or friend who did it. My mother and the five of us children became homeless; we were always on the street or living in a hotel. One day, when we were in the hotel, a man walked in with my mother and she said this is our new daddy. If we called him by his first name, we would get a beating.
Daddy, been with us for a long time. He took care of us for awhile. Sometimes my mother and he fought and he would leave then come back. When I was seven, he came in the room I shared with my siblings every night and touched me inappropriately. I started elementary and told some kids about what he did and they told the teachers. We had social workers come to the house and talk to the family. My mother didn’t believe me. She beat me because she said I was lying. Then we end up moving again. My mother had the last child, my brother. She went to get her tubes tied and decided to not have any more kids; now there was six of us. I would catch daddy, always being around my sister to closely. He always woke her up between 2am-4am and took her a bath.
My mother started getting sick with different types of medical conditions. My mother has diabetes, lupus, fibromyalgia, and etc. My mother was in and out of hospitals and always taking medication. After my mother would take her medicine, the medicine puts her to sleep. When my mother is sleep, that when he would go in my sister’s room. While dealing with everything at home, school was very bad for me. I always been an honor roll student, but I was always bullied. Never really had friends, I was more of the quiet type. When my family moved again, he and my mother got married and he became my step father. Started going to another new school, and because I wanted to fit in, I decided to change my personality on being more open and fun. I didn’t drink or do drugs, but just became someone else.
Now that my step father is now my step father, everything changed. My mother stopped listening to her children and let him take control of everything. He would beat us and punish us for no reason. He and my mother have always fought and that made it harder for my siblings and me. I was raped at the age of thirteen and got pregnant with twins, but end up getting a miscarriage. My parents didn’t help me or get me counseling. My step father didn’t care at all. When I was sexually assaulted in high school by a boy who I thought was my friend, my parents thought I was lying. I was tortured by his friends and bullied. No one believed me because he was popular. I had no one to turn to but my grandmother and my great grandmother.
I got my first job and when I got my first pay check, my step father was taking my money, including my mother. My parents are very strict. I wasn’t able to have a social life, never got to hang out or go to movies. My step father almost got me fired from my job because he kicked me out once I told the truth about what he has done to me and my siblings. I called my job and quit because I didn’t have transportation to get there nor have anywhere to live. I was living on the streets from time to time; moving around and living in different people’s houses. I moved to Petersburg, Virginia and lived with my grandmother for 4 months. I graduated from Petersburg High School. During that summer, a man broke in my grandmother’s apartment and tried to snatch me. The police was looking for him but couldn’t find him. Few weeks later he raped me. I was pregnant and then when I went to the hospital, I found out the rapist gave with genital herpes, which killed the baby.
I was forced to live back with my parents. My step father was telling people that I was a hoe and a slut and I was never raped. I was depressed and had suicidal thoughts. My mother started getting sick and found out my step father gave her cervical cancer. He has been having sex with someone who had a STD or something. My mother doesn’t want to leave him because he supports her and my siblings. My step father kicked me out again and I had no place to go. My parents wouldn’t give me my clothes, shoes, or important documents I need. I walked around for hours trying to get help. An old friend let me spend the night at his house and his mom drove me back to Petersburg to my boyfriend’s house. I currently live with him and his aunt and uncle. My grandmother was also living by the school and always checks on me. When she got sick, I went with her to the hospital. She stayed in the hospital for a long time because she had blood clots. She was moved to another hospital in Richmond, Virginia for surgery. I found out later that she has stage 4 cancer.
Because a lot of my family does not want to help or be involved with me is that my parents lie and don’t want any more to know the truth of what’s going on in the home. Everyone in the family has gotten to see my grandmother in the hospital, no one wanted to help get me to go see her. She was released to my parents and is now there under their care. My parents changed their number so I won’t be able to talk to her or my siblings. They still won’t give me my belongings. All I have is four pairs of outfits, one pair of boots, and one pair of sneakers. Even though my family is broken, I still try to achieve my dreams. I am very determined. I’m tired of living in the past, I want a bright future. I want to see myself having a good job and having my own home. I want to help others because I experienced too much pain at a young age. I want to inspire people who are in any bad situation and show them that no matter what happened in their past, good things will come.
I’m only nineteen years old and I been through so much. The only thing that makes me happy is music and writing. Music and writing is my passion. I started singing at the age of four, wrote my first song at ten years old, and been signed to record labels and talent agencies. Currently I have my own record label; still in progress. All I want now is to be happy and be successful. I want to prove to everyone who has ever doubted me or went against. I want to show them and the entire world that I am somebody. Even after feeling like I was already in hell, my fate in God and the hard work I’ve done lead me to become stronger. I’m not going to let anyone stand in the way of reaching my goals.
I may remember the past, but I’m not going to let my past determine my future.”
- Aniiyah Jackson -
Luxury goods at the expense mental and physical humiliation
Bangladesh is one of the world’s poorest countries. People live on fishing and agriculture but many of them work in textile and leather factories. These workers are forced to work in extremely underdeveloped technology every day. They make luxury shoes, bags and coats for 50 cent per day salary to the world…
The complete lack of civilization, only suffering and robots.| Photo credit for Femina
In recent years, Bangladesh has become the world’s main supplier of clothing. That caused the rising wages in China. In China wages of textile industry are about $150-250, in India about $87 per month while the workers in Bangladesh are only about 43 dollars per month take home. 60 percent of the world’s clothing needs are made by about 100 workers throughout Asia. But they only get 3 percent of the retail price. In addition, they scarcely get something: in the most countries, there is no pension, social and health care for workers. And most of the countries prohibit the establishment of trade unions.
Regular mental and physical humiliation
The most common means of the employers to hold their workers under the pressure of circumstances. Those who have not voluntarily undertake overtime, or complain about the salary, soon find themselves on the street. Women sometimes have physical and mental humiliation more times than men. Regular, that pregnant women spend half-days on production lines without stop.
Bangladeshi workers clean tannery waste which will be processed for poultry the Buriganga River in Dhaka | Photo by A.M. Ahad
In Hazaribagh district of Dhaka (capital of Bangladesh) there are more than 100 tanneries, where they produce the most of leathers for export. Bangladesh every year about $240 million worth raw leather exports to the world, which mostly get European, Japanese and Chinese fashion houses where luxury shoes, handbags and another accessories made by them. This is a world made by leather. Barefoot kids collect leather strips, babies play with leather, chickens have leather nests. Even for cooking fuel, leather what is used, which is treated with chromium and toxic aldehyde. Tens of thousands of people work, live and breathe lethal mixture of hundreds of chemicals which get to the air by tanneries there.
Barefoot kids collect leather strips and these are their only toys as well | Photo credit for Femina
Social welfare vs Public health
Leather tanneries are rapidly increasing branch of industry in Bangladesh and throughout South Asia. Asian governments wait with open arms the western leather buying up companies while turn a blind eye to the lack of safety measures above. Opinion of the Government of Bangladesh, the most important industrial sector of the country is the leather manufacturing: it make thousands of jobs and bring extremly revenue for the state.
A woman crosses a bridge next to a tannery factory by the river Buriganga at Hazaribagh | Photo by Andrew Biraj
Hazaribagh tanneries responsible are for impurity of the city’s rivers and serious poisoning of tens of thousands people. From the tanneries blue color slop water flows and in open channels under the neighboring slum houses, mercury, acids and corrosive hazardous, foaming mixture roll on and runs straight into the Burgiganga which is the main river of Dhaka. Under way out of slop water pipe of the tanneries – along the river - live the Bader community who are famous for their fishing and snake catching in dilapidated boathouses. The river is their home and it was their only sources of income.
Poverty is huge, fate of children is heart-rending | Photo credit for Femina
First, they were witness the destruction of the river, then they gradually came to realize the destruction of their livelihoods, now they live in poverty. They have no choice, they have to wash their clothes and bath in the dirty river. To be sure, there are toxic chemicals in the crops and vegetables which are grow in the river and in the fish as well.
Leather hunger of the world realizes dreams of the Bangladesh’s tanneries and traders of fashion meanwhile nightmares of thousands of Hazaribagh has been continuing…
Written by Ilona Kaszanyi
Heart-rending child fates II. – Sold off young girls
People who live in democracy and the equal rights are natural for them, tend to believe that the violence, male dominance, physical or emotional cruelty over children are only in underdeveloped and poor countries. This is not true! Sad fact that the child prostitution is increasing in law-abiding and civilized countries. As those children long for hand of help, they suffer of the heart rending.
Photo by Josh Meltzer
Here some countries where in principle there is democracy but they can’t get control over the violence against young girls who are forced to prostitution by their own families.
Abused Ukrainian young prostitute who worked in the suburbs of Tel Aviv | Photo credit for therearenosunglasses
Ukraine
The Eastern European states, which in 1991 got independence from the Soviet Union, was once a rich industrial center, but the historical changes as the Chernobyl disaster or ethnic fighting, many people were pushed to the border of poverty. The dramatic deterioration of living standard is one of the reasons of the child trafficking and the child prostitution to be increased. The Ukrainian girls – who call simply only “Natasha” – are very popular in Israel, Turkey and the overseas as well. In these countries, the rich customers look at them as exotic blond plaything. Thousands of young girls and women have been shipped from Ukraine to Israel to work as prostitutes since 1991 and the government of Ukraine is unable to do anything to liberate them. The traffickers take advantage of every possibility to collect them. Most of the time they abduct them in the street or in front of the schools. Another way is when they simply buy them from their families, or false promises to entice them. There is very few chances for these young girls to escape , they need help. There are 3% of the sold off Ukrainian girls are not of age 12 in the USA. However in the last three years some young Ukrainian girls were rescued there. But they are only a portion of kidnapped girls who are looking for by their desperate families. The Ukrainian government made strict rules against the girls trafficking six years ago, but unfortunately there isn’t visible result till now.
Thousand of Nepalese young girls are force to prostitution in India | Photo by Sarika Misha
Nepal
In the South Asian countries, male dominance is always there. The women are subordinated to men. Because of this hierarchy, the hunger and disease are much more afflict the young girls than the boys. The mothers also prefer their sons. They bring up their daughters for humility, suffering and superhuman capacity for work. But these things look small beside the young girls’s sexual vulnerability. A daughter only burden the families who live in poverty. So they want to get rid from her the fastest by getting her married. Girl who gets married as a teenager is lucky because in this way she escapes from the sell off. Often their parents are who sell of them for traffickers who transport them to the capital, Kathmandu where they are forced for prostitution or sell them to the neighboring India. These humiliated girls, especially the youngster virgins are very marketable. The traffickers got lots of money from the customers. According to international data about 200 thousand Nepalese young girls, under 14 years are sold to Indian red light districts each years. In the beginning of the two thousands, the Nepalese government realized the exploitation of girls and they achieved some improvement with strict rules. Since then opened a door from a wider part of girls for a humane life, but there are lots of families – especially who live based of old tribes traditions as Pshari or Newar – where the girls positions are unchangeable still.
10-12 years old young Haitian girls become sexual slavers in the Dominican Republic | Photo credit for Stephen Lendman
Dominican Republic
The Carribean island state has great beaches, exotic cuisine and fascinating creol music art, but not all inhabitants are able to enjoy these circumstances. Each year we hear shocking news about the Dominican Republic and Haiti child trafficking. The country gained its independence from Haiti in 1844 but they keep a close relationship. This is not problem, but the trade of Haitian children in Dominica became daily and natural action. 10-12 years old young girls become sexual slavers. But the similar ages Haitian boys are in danger too. They become slaves who are forced with starving and beating to hard physical works in Dominica. While earlier, the most young girls were kidnapped now, after the big Haitian earthquake they were sold off by their own families and they don’t believe they are sending their daughters to the hell. According to different international child rescue organizations, each year 4,000-4,500 young Haitian girls become victims of traffickers and the most of them were forced to prostitution in the Dominican Republic. These young girls only can believe in the help of foreign organizations because the authorities of the Dominican Republic turn a blind eye to this business.
The child prostitution is the most serious in Thailand where every third young girls become victims of the sex business. In Vietnam the numbers of child prostitutes increased with about 15-20% recent years. In the Philippines about 60 thousands children work in brothels. In Korea, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and China many young girls got prey to the Asian sex tourism.
The sexual exploitation is the most condemnation and worst forms of the child labor . Obligatory schooling, strengthening of the child protection, more strict rules and keep the relevant rights of UNICEF in international level would be mean a solve to winding up the child prostitution.
Written by Ilona Kaszanyi
Heart-rending child fates III. – I want to go to school
Worldwide there are about 774 million adults – so every fifth – who can’t read and write and two-third of it women still. Every year, more than 140 million children start to learn in school. However about 77 million primary school age children haven’t possibility to learn and more than half of them are girls.
“I’m glad because my son needn’t go too much far. As long as there isn’t snow he only walks only 1,5 hours to the school…” – says Lobsang’s mother. In Nepal, country of the Himalaya where everything happens differently even time, this isn’t distance. Lobsang is about 6 years-old, his mother doesn’t know exactly…
From his village, Ngawal only one road leads down from the mountain. On the other side of valley there is the Annapurna II., Ngawal surrounded by some of the world’s highest mountains. In eyes of west visitor this is a beautiful village but the inhabitants often ask themselves what strangers want here in a poor, windy and cold place. Life here is difficult and tiring. The almost 3,700 meters above sea level the air is rare. In the rocky land almost nothing produces.
Children collect woods. Across Nepal, every year nearly one million children are not in school | Photo credit for Himalayan’s children
Lobsang doesn’t suspect that he is a very lucky boy. The Lophelling School in Humde isn’t a customary school like the others in Nepal. The school was founded for Tibetan refugees but it is open for Nepalese families also who have Tibetan roots. It has foreign supporters and it matters a sample project. In Nepal to go to school isn’t self-evident. Across the country, every year nearly one million children are not in school. Many of students leave school within short time, average of about two years. According to educational statistics Nepal is the fourth country – after Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan – where children go to school fro the shortest time. In Nepal every second people is illiterate. However there is compulsory education, but only in paper. In the mountains many children even haven’t birth certificate and their names aren’t in the record offices. When they will be 6 year-old their parents decide that they will go to school or no. Some years ago Nepal started a schooling campaign. State officials went village by village and tried to convince parents of importance of school. It wasn’t successful. Families with many children often need the girls to keep the household while the parents work in the fields. The rules are different in the mountains…
Even the simplest of Education also helps to overcome poverty and epidemics. Anyone who went to school only a few years, it is less exploited, and can earn more. Regrettable position of the education isn’t just symptom of poverty but at the same time can cause this. It has several reasons. In the former colonial countries there are permanent crisis situations. In these countries, several decades after independence the political leadership still doesn’t develop services like education. In some countries wars are hinder development of the education system. Children who live in war areas learn how to hide, escape or use guns. For them this is to ensure survival, this is their alphabet. In many countires the lack of money is the invincible obstacle.
School in North Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo | Photo by Peter Biro
Besides in developing countries the quality of education is also disquieting. In Afghanistan a teacher has to teach more than 100 children, in Congo 83 students has one teacher. In Malawi every third teacher can’t teach because they are AIDS. In order for 2015 primary school education will be accessible to all, an additional 18 million teachers need around the world.
Written by Ilona Kaszanyi
Ten years in my father’s captivity
This story started with Love of a German woman and a Pakistani man…Maria and Muhztfahr got married, their daughter got the name ‘Nasima‘ which means ‘Gentle breeze‘ in Urdu. They have lived in Germany. Nasima was three when she first visited her grandparents in Pakistan. After this Nasima and her father spent almost every Christmas in Pakistan. A few years later Muhztfahr got married again but his German wife unsuspected nothing about it. Nasima was nine when Muhztfahr decided that now he counts as a rich man in his country and he settles with his new wife and daughter there. Nasima was nine and she didn’t understand why they go back to Germany after Christmas. Few months later she got the answer: “Where there is father’s home there is his daughter’s home as well. We never go back to Germany, we stay here forever. And if you will ask about it again I will beat you…” From this day she had to call her father ‘Abu Jan‘. Abu means father and Jan literally means life but the word Jan is use for a dearest one. So in this way she gave to him more respect than if she called him simply ‘father or dad’.
First Nasrin – second wife of Muhztfahr – was kind with Nasima but within few month Nasrin changed. She became disgusting and not only with Nasima but with parents of Muhztfahr also. Nasima was very sad, she wanted her mother. She has written letters to her every week, but she didn’t get an answer. She thought her mother forgot her but didn’t think that her father hidden letters of Maria. And the weeks went by…
A traditional morning secen of Sindhi village, Pakistan. Photo by Sm Rafiq©
Maria has not received any news of her daughter. She was sure that something bad happened but didn’t think that her husband kidnapped Nasima. Few month ago Maria and Nasima watched a movie together – Not without my Daughter- is a film released in 1991 depicting the escape of American citizen Betty Mahmoody and her daughter from her husband in Iran. They agreed that Muhztfahr wouldn’t be able to do similar. Nasima loved her grandparents. Her grandmother tried to convince Muhztfahr to let his daughter goes back to her mother. And her grandfather also said that if he was Muhztfahr he couldn’t do this with his daughter. But on this point their son was adamant. In Germany Maria desperately tried to find solution how can she get back her daughter. The German Embassy didn’t promise her anything good. Fact Nasima was a German citizen and she had German but she was with father in Pakistan and according to laws of Pakistan she lived there as a Pakistan citizen and exclusively supervision of her father. The German Embassy only could help if Nasima could able to escape from her father and could able to go to the Embassy in Pakistan. But it was impossible… They lived in a small village very far from the capital. And for a little girl hadn’t possible to escape alone.
Women in blue burqas – Tribal Areas, Pakistan. Photo by Alastair Nevin
Muhztfahr consented hard that Nasima go to school. Nasima didn’t like this school but she was happy because in the school she could take off her veil from her face and she was able to leave her home for a short time. When she was younger she loved wear burqa for fun sometimes, she liked their colors. Since age of 11 she had to wear burqa, she didn’t like this…Muhztfahr allowed that Maria visited Nasima in Pakistan. She felt helpless herself when see saw how much Nasima suffers. They lived very bad circumstances in a small house where there wasn’t bathroom and toilet. Mary begged in vain, her husband didn’t allow to take away Nasima to Germany. While Maria was there Muhztfahr didn’t let them alone, he threatened, at nights he slept in front the door on the floor with his gun. She had to go back without her daughter. And the months went by…
Maria didn’t acquiesce in their fate, she took out loan from a bank, hired two detectives and she travelled back to Pakistan. But attempted escape was unsuccessful, finally Maria again without her daughter returned home on the financial edge of bankruptcy. From this day Nasima’s life really became hell. Muhztfahr built a house in the village for his second wife and they moved there. Nasrin hated Nasima. She had to do all of housework, care of children. In addition Nasrin always told a lie about her like she has a loving or she stolen Nasrin’s gold jewels. Muhztfahr believed in Nasrin and at such time he gave Nasima a good thrashing. And the years went by…
Nasima many times wanted to give up and thought of death. “If I had known that I would never return to Germany, I would have died. Only hope of return home have kept me alive.”
“Throw out this, please. I don’t need it anymore…”
Nasima took her own destiny. She known a young photographer man, Zahid. He taken pictures about Nasima when she was a little girl, so he knew her face and he also knew her story, he liked Nasima. When she became 18, according to laws of Pakistan she would have to choose where she wants to live but her father still keeping her in his captivity and he decided that she had to got married with one of her nephews. Nasima asked help from Zahid, they could write to each other in secret and sometimes they could to speak on phone also. And within short time they felt in love with each other. Zahid decided that he help Nasima to escape from Pakistan. They left in a night of October together and with this started a nerve-racking persecution of Nasima for three months across Pakistan. Some of friends of Zahid and his parents helped them but Muhztfahr was always on their trail. His daughter escaped and it was one of the biggest shame for him. He bribed people, among them one of Zahir’s friend, so he always known where is Nasima. Zahid and Nasima got married so there wasn’t obstacle that they live together but Muhztfahr had thirst for revenge, he wanted to get back his daughter. One day Zahid and Nasima realized which friend of their is the traitor but they didn’t mention this. They shared with him that Nasima will go to Germany on the next day from Islamabad with the Pakistan International Airlines.
On the next day Nasima waited in the Airport with Zahid but he mustn’t go with her because Muhztfahr immediately would have recognize him. Her father thought there will be escort next to Nasima. He was in the ticket office of Pakistan International Airlines with his three friends when Nasima entered to the building. He was such nervous and looked for Nasima with his eyes. Nasima was 20 metres from him in the ticket office of the Saudi Airlines but he didn’t notice this old woman who wears black burqa and limped. When Nasima walked away next to Muhztfahr she felt all of his anger, hate and also felt his disappointment and despair.
On the board of the Saudi Airlines Nasima taken off the burqa and gave it to a stewardess: “Throw out this, please. I don’t need it anymore…”
Zahid left his home and his family because of his love and he started a new life in a new country. He had to learn a new language but more important that he had to accept that there women don’t obliged obedient to their husbands.
Written by Ilona Kaszanyi
/This article written by based on book of Maria Nazar and Nasima Nazar: Gefangen im Land des Vaters/
Life between two worlds – True story of a Bedouin woman
Bedouin women have to wear mask on their face | Photo by Eric Lafforgue ©
“Why it is a problem if a hairdresser combs my hair ?” – asks Fatema Abdulla Hadroom Aleghfeli. “Devil of the allurement lives in every women’s hair, so foreign man mustn’t see and mustn’t touch it.” – instilled it into Fatema in her childhood. Fatema is one of the few who rebelled against traditions of clothing. Already in her childhood she queried rules which were irrefutable. “Why men define everything?” “Why only the Muslims can get into the Paradise?” “Why have to observe fasting?” “Why women have to wear shayla?” She always got this answer: “Because the religion and the tradition wishes.” At the age of twelve she always let that her scarf slide down until at a flag raising ceremony of the school her teacher put her to shame when she gave a slap to her. She was 23 when she left her shayla and she was 26 when she definitely left her abaya as well.
Fatema often thinks of her father. He was illiterate, but he knew poems. He lived in a Bedouin tent all of his life, he was a camel breeder. When he died, Fatema was inconsolable. She was 16 and shortly before her family wanted that she get married with one of her cousins, but she refused it. It was her first, real release action. Now she can’t stay in her paternal home which there is on the edge of desert more than two or three days when she goes to visit. Because she has got lots bad memories. A picture about her eldest brother above the door means a real threat for her. They were real soul mates but when their father died, her brother became head of family. Then he limited her with more and more rules. He wanted to obtain that Fatema gets driving licence. He forbidded that she accepts job in a bank because in that way she has contact with foreign men. He punished her when she was talking with her friend and her cousin in a cafe. She not only feels pain when she remembers these things, she feels fury also which forced her to resist his orders. Now she thinks her brother had doubts also. Mohamed as the eldest respects the traditions but she can’t forgive him. Her brother always leaves home when she goes for a visit.
Fatema lives in Dubai where she never wears shayla or abaya, she lives alone in her apartment, she meets with her friends. Her family suspect lots about her life but rather they don’t speak about it. Her family shame some things. For example she is more than 30 and she hasn’t husband and she hasn’t children. But they proud of one thing, she is a financial manager in a French company.
A single woman who lives alone has dubious repute even if she lives in the ultra modern Dubai. If she gets married with a foreigner man she would be equal with him. But in this case she needs for a permission by the Divan (cabinet council). But basically she likes to share her life with a man who has same culture as her, but she knows its difficulties as well.
Written by Ilona Kaszanyi – It based on report of Élet két világ között (Carmen Butta)
Heart-rending child fates I. – Child soldiers
“The death there was everywhere. We had to kill because we didn’t want to die and we did it for fun as well. We killed our mates too. If somebody couldn’t to march longer, was exhausted or was ill we shot his head…If somebody came to us we shot without thinking. Especially if he was young, even if he was a civil...” – told about his “heroism” Jean-Stephane Sauvaire, a child soldier in the Johny Mad Dog movie.
Photo by Franco Pagetti
It is estimated that there are 300 thousand children around the world in various militias, guerrilla organizations, military units, private armies or members of government or of the opposition in military service, every second of them is in black African countries. However the expression ‘child soldier‘ not only concerns these fighters, spies, porters or heralds, but concerns sexual slavers as well who ‘amuse’ the adult fighters. The average age of the child soldiers in Africa is 13 years old, which means that some of them already take up gun at the age of eight or ten.
Why children? The reasons are shocking. Economical because of the cheap fed, satisfied with a Chinese-made AK-47 as an equipment (in Uganda is the price of a chicken), also satisfied with an uniform which the adults wear out and some narotic drugs or some loose cash are enough as soldier’s pay for them. At the same time, however, the child soldiers are real killers, because most of them think the war is a normal state and it’s only a game. They accustomed to the everydays violence. In these African countries the life isn’t more important than in a video game or in a movie. Their cruelty is increases by the drugs. The bloodiest years of the Sierra Leone Civil War such ‘young monsters’ fought through who became real bloodthirsty by the also known brown-brown which is a mixture of heroin and gunpowder or they got ‘busta’ drug from mixture of gin, heroin and water. During the military operations these children almost without thinking obeyed the commands of their leader. The deserters or cowards who disobedient are killed ruthlessly by their mates, while the most courageous had possibilities to pillage more than the others. Their leader who was the magician and the drug dealer of the group gave to them ‘shoot-proof talisman’ and drugs to increase their courage.
Photo by Jan Grarup
Although many international organizations working to help integrate the freed child soldiers back into society, but in practice this is rarely successful. These children because of the accumulated horrors and stress will be aggressive and deviant. Most of them return to the drugs to drive away their nightmares. And because of the society sometimes doesn’t accept them they become criminal or victims of prostitution. The hyperactivity, the depression and the apathy are typical of them. In addition these child soldiers because of their experience of handling of weapons are valuable in the eyes of the rebel groups, so no wonder that sometimes they forced to fight again.
It should be added, however the child soldiers aren’t only African occurrence. For example the territory of the ancient Palestine in the Middle-East was mention as country of Canaan by the story writers, but since 1947 because of the regional conflicts, wars and religious fanaticism this area became to hell. Extremist Islamists teach already children of kindergarten age to hatred with ideological educations. Important to know that the Islamism isn’t same with the Islam! The Islam is a religion and a civilization, but the Islamism is a political category. Followers of Islamism fundamentalist are susceptible to racial hatred and they don’t shy away from acts of violence when they spread their ideologies.
In many countries is a huge dilemma and legal problems to establish that the child soldiers are victims or rather executioners. These children have been kidnapped, got drugs, morally and physically abused. Because of these horrors they become victims. But when they keep a weapon in their hand again and they notice a target they become killer monsters…
Written by Ilona Kaszanyi
Meaningless rules against women
In vain we live in the 21st century, there are parts of the world where still a lots of meaningless religious and moral laws, which only afflict the women. In many countries strict rules forbid discrimination between the genders however some places still mud underfoot the rights of women.
Brazilian woman with her baby. Photo from Femina
Where the abortion is bigger sin than the rape – Brazil
The Samba and the Carnival in Rio, two things which sure come to mind for everybody about Brazil. However less people know that in this deeply religious country still strictly forbid the abortion – independently of age, circumstances of the become pregnant and also the expectant mother able to bring up the child. Thus, the Brazilian women have to find other solutions, but in consequence of these hundreds of women lose their lives in every year. Many women ask help from charlatans, who work in very bad hygiene circumstances. Many women ask help from charlatans, who work in very bad hygiene circumstances. The luckier women have enough money to leave the country to find a specialist. There is a Dutch abortion ship, which put into port at coast of countries where there are similar rights against the abortion. On the ship there are sexual educations and specialist help to decide, for example when ascertainable that the baby has something illness within the uterus. Women, who don’t want the baby, because they are victims of rape or don’t want to bring up an illness child have possibility for abortion on the ship. In this case the ship put out to the international sea where the qualified doctors do the operations.
Survivor of honour killing. Rawa photo
Killings of honour
“Women are not given the right to instigate divorce because they are prone to emotional and irrational decision making. A husband, however, can divorce his wife at any time he so wishes.” Ayatollah Ali Moghtadai. In some countries rule of the family as a community is so strong that they able to kill their family members to restore the reputation of family in the case of a slander. Most often women are victims of these brutal traditions. Their punishment is the death because of their ‘rebellious’ behavior, but often for nothing. Sometimes just set down a refusal of man against these unfortunate women and girls as a crime. For example they refuse the marriage, or they want to divorce or they fall in love with another man. The adulteress or the raped women are condemn by themselves families and sometimes they kill them also. They do it in the name of morals and they think this is right. Last year the UNICEF published shocking information about these killings of honour. In India every year 5,000 women are killed by family members, but this cruel treatment happened in many countries already, including Albania, Brazil, Iraq or Israel. In Germany, England, Canada and the USA had happened before, the most common among the immigrants.
This Kyrgyz woman maintains that bride kidnapping is part of the Kyrgyz culture and that many women in her village, herself included, have been abductioned. Photo by Petr Lom
Wife abduction
The abduction of women is a tradition in some parts of Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. In these Central Asian countries family of the young man choose a fiancée for him so that they abduction the young girl and they force her to get married. First days women members of the fiancé family try to break resistance of the unfortunate fiancée with locking up. Sometimes the family of the girl is part of the abduction. Mainly when the marriage is advantageous for them too. Some girls able to escape and nowadays in some places these terrible abductions became playful fiancée elopement when the young couple love each other. But unfortunately lot of girls will be a victim of it still. The wife abduction has followers in Ethiopia and Rwanda also. Not rarely in these countries when the men members of the fiancé family rape the abducted girl. They make the fiancée pregnant then they force her to get married. If the pregnant fiancée escapes, she hasn’t possibility to start a new life or get married with another man, because the society condemn them.
Maltese women in traditional dresses. Photo by Habeeb Sallou.
Where there isn’t job and forbid to divorce for women – Malta
Malta is an enchantingly beautiful member of the European Union where 4 % of the population are priests, nuns or monks, so no wonder that there are catholic church almost in every square kilometre of the island. Because of conservative rules the employment of women is extraordinary low, less than 10%, which is very unusual in the European Union countries. These conservative rules there are in the private life of couples too. These conservative rules against women there are in the private life of couples too. In Malta the women mustn’t divorce and also forbid the abortion for them. Only in this state – within EU – forbid to live together before marriage and wear topless at the beaches. Malta is a special member of the EU. Because of protest of Malta the member-states can’t to make a uniform rule which regulate the divorce between couple from different EU countries.
Written by Ilona Kaszanyi
To buy a child within ten hours
Human trafficking – such as child trafficking as well – a kind of modern slavery, where happen exploitation of young people and children who live in dire circumstances, outside countries borders and within them as well.
China is a booming market of child trafficking. Most of customer need slaves or just want another child. One of the largest network of children’s traffic is in the Northwest China’s Xinjiang Province. The child traffickers abduct or buy babies from their parents. They entice away with false job offers the 10-18 years old childrens, who then forced to do pick-pocketing and other minor crimes big cities. Recently, two child trafficking network is uncovered by the authorities in China. According to the official statement 608 suspects were arrested and 178 children released from the captivity. 49 children were bought during 4 years by a gang of 23 members. They bought them from Yunnan Province and were sold in other provinces. They bought the boys for about $200 and sold them more than $600, while price of girls were $150 and sold them for about $300. One of them – as it turned out – with his brother also once kidnapped and forced into marriage in North China. He entrusted to sell his younger brother and two babies. Later – as he told – he “understood” that this is a “great business”, so he launched his own business.
Before the terrible earthquake of 2010 in Haiti nearly 2,000 children abducted each year, however since the tragedy this number – it is estimated that – quadrupled. Traffickers are waiting with cash in hand that the desperate parents to sell their children. They reassure them with false promises that lovely families wait for their children in America or Europe. Mostly, however these children go to the Dominican Republic, where prostitution or other labor forced. Some parents give their children away in hope for a better life for them. But they never see their children again and a few money what they got just enough for a few weeks. A 38-year-old woman, for example sold her four children for $1,5 apiece.
In 2008, Dan Harris, ABC News reporter has made an attempt how long it would take to get a child in Haiti illegally. He left New York in the morning, and he met with a child trafficker in Haiti in early afternoon. Harris told him he wants to buy a 10-11 years old child. The trafficker offered Harris $300. He bargained till it was down to $150 and he could buy a young girl whose life was valued at $150. Harris was able to buy a child less then 10 hours. While he was in Haiti he knew another girl too, she was 8 years old and there was fear in her eyes. She missed her family and she was beaten. Her dreams were to go to school, receive an education and learn how to drive a car.
Romania is a major supplier of Western Europe in terms child trafficking, several hundred children are sold abroad. Child trafficking in Romania in terms of outlets in Western Europe is a major supplier of counts, The majority of children forced to begging, burglary or become victims of prostitution. A 17 year old girl escaped her from Austria, where she was forced into prostitution in a guest house. Her boyfriend lured to Austria and promised to her lots money for easy work. The victims are naive teenage girls who live in humble circumstances, and payments can be influenced them and attract to foreign countries, but they often force them into sexual slavery.
Last year, hundreds of children were forced into prostitution in Europe by Nigerian traffickers. Young girls are recruited in Nigeria, and promised to them seek asylum in the Netherlands. They got false papers. The traffickers voodoo practices resorted to intimidate their victims, put pressure on them. A few drops of their blood was taken, and cut their nails themselves were a few pieces. They had to promise grateful to a voodoo priest, because they can to travel to Europe. When the police found them, some girls only refused to confess against their traffickers till a real Nigerian priest assured them not to fear from voodoo curse.
The trafficked children are often forced to do work from the minute they wake up to the minute they are allowed to go to sleep. Usually these children are beaten, underfed, and sexually exploited. In every 26th seconds a child sold by child traffickers in the World…
Written by Ilona Kaszanyi
War, sorrow, escape – True Story of a Somali woman
“Nadifa, my daughter is now eleven years old. I could not bring her with me when I escaped from Somalia.” – says Oba, the young woman.
Their house ruined by a bomb in Mogadishu. Her husband and her two youngest children were under the rubble and they died. The woman and her daughter escaped to the countryside to her parents. Oba’s parents live in a small village a few hundred kilometers from the capital of Somalia, where there wasn’t civil war. There was peace, but other than that not much at all. Five brothers of Oba lived there too with their families, but only one of her brothers worked. The schools were not working, the kids were home all day with them. The young widow heard about more and more to tens of thousands trying to to apply for asylum in neighboring countries or in Europe. “I wanted peace, and to find a country where I can get a job as a woman.” After lengthy consideration her family adopted her decision. A friend of her father gave money for the journey. But she had to leave her daughter.
Escape from Somalia to Hungary with broken ankle
Oba’s journey from Somalia to Hungary through several countries kept one and half month with some break. First she got a visa to Russia. She went to Moscow via Dubai. From Moscow an unknown driver carried her to Romania for 500 USD with some Afghans and Somalis who shared her the car. Because always there is warmth in Somalia, she didn’t know the winter weather. She fell on the icy road and broke her ankle. She had to relax in an empty flat in a Romanian town until her pains became quiet. When finally she was able to stand up again, some Romanian men carried her together with others to the green border of Hungary. She had to pay 400 USD for it.
“It was night and very cold when we arrived to a forest on the border. We were very tired and hungry. But it wasn’t important for me, I just wanted to come somewhere to get shelter.” – remebers the woman. The weary refugees came from the forest to a road and walked to a nearly city. They stopped a car and said to the driver that they are refugees and they need help. The driver called the border police. At the office of border police they got to drink and eat. The early morning of the next day, arrived a Somali interpreter, who helped pick up their data and drafted the application for asylum. “ I will never forget that everyone was humane and helpful with us.” Next day she went to the Refugee reception station Of Debrecen, where her ankle got treatment. Just over a month later, after she got the refugee status, transferred to another town, where she started to learn Hungarian and to find a job.
Beginning of a new life
She started studying nursery. In addition, she started working at a Clinic’s child department. One of the most happiest moment in her life was when she received her first payment. “It was fantastic! In Somalia, I thought I will never work, but here it does not get the money like an assistance from others but I was working for it.” – she said with a beaming smile.
Oba has only one purpose: She would like to bring her daughter to Hungary. She hopes she will get the Hungarian citizenship soon, and she will back home with Hungarian passport to arrange Nadifa’s paper and they will back to Hungary together. “Hungary became my second homeland.”
Her true name – according to her wish – didn’t mention and the pictures are illustrations.
Written by Ilona Kaszanyi
/Reference: UNHCR Hungary/
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