Category Archives: International Women’s Rights

Pregnant girls enslaved, forced full term

It’s the stuff you see in horror films. Women kidnapped, forced to become pregnant, their babies harvested for body parts or slavery.

But that’s exactly what is happening in today’s world, and specifically, in Abia, Nigeria. A so-called “baby farm” was just raided by Nigerian police, where 32 pregnant teenage girls were found. The girls carried unwanted pregnancies, and were either lured in with the promise of money or kidnapped. Either way, the girls were locked up and forced to go full term and give birth. The babies were then trafficked or sold for body parts for witchcraft rituals.

While another “baby farm” was found in Nigeria in 2008, and human trafficking is a huge problem for Nigeria, somehow the U.S. government has given Nigeria a Tier 1 rating for human trafficking, which basically means they are meeting all the standards of the US’s Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Yet here we are, with the second mass enslavement of young pregnant girls found within 3 years.

Why do these activities even occur? Looking at Nigeria, we have to look at the value of a woman. Few and far between are reproductive health care clinics; abortion is illegal and highly stigmatized; maternal mortality is high; add all this to a mixture of early marriage and early pregnancies and you have a recipe for a slaughter of women’s rights.

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Education and What it means for the Women in India

Picture of Bina Walker and the women in her family

Indian Women in Sarees

The labor force participation rate for women is lower than their male counterparts. There are many factors that influence whether a girl will attend primary school. For example, if the conditions of the roads are poor, children are less likely to attend school. Because of these distinct factors, this also influences higher education. This in turn affects whether or not women will attain high paying employment and even be considered for permanent employment. For further reading, read “Education Attainment in India: What it Means to Participate in the Labor Force.”

-Bina Walker

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POEM “U.S.”

U.S.

Color

Where is your color

Am I your friend

Your friend of color

Do I satisfy a need

Why must I be your person

Will you always run to me

Count them on your hand

One, two , three

How many white

How many like you

Where is your diversity

Color stays within

Color is discriminated

Color is not your icon

Color is not your hero

Where is your diversity

I am sick

I am tired

I am brown

A color different from you

I am a color

I am not your color

-Bina Rachael Walker

This poem generated from someone generalizing the United States and stating that there was diversity everywhere. This person also said that they lived in the same area as I did and they could list all of their ‘diverse’ friends. This person did not understand that saying that a list could be provided defeated the purpose of actual diversity. I am a woman of color and I do not want to be put on a list. I am human being. Not an object.

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