Every Woman Counts

            FACT: Every minute a woman dies during childbirth or pregnancy somewhere in the world.

Maternal mortality affects people worldwide. It is most common in developing countries, but it still occurs at alarming rates within disadvantaged populations in the United States and other developed countries. Over half a million women die each year, leaving over a million children motherless and vulnerable. Many privileged Americans have trouble relating to this issue, because here in America, the incidence of maternal mortality is relatively low. Most American women have the ability to drive to a nearby hospital when they go into labor. In most American hospitals, women are put up in a nice room, with round-the-clock medical care for both mother and child, as well as private bathrooms and televisions.

Now, flash to a pregnant woman in a developing country. She doesn’t have these luxuries. She is forced to give birth in a field by herself, with no medical help or tools to ensure her safety as well as the safety of her child. This doesn’t have to be the case. Through education and awareness, we can drastically reduce maternal mortality.

Many Americans are unfamiliar with the maternal mortality crisis. Maternal mortality refers to the death of a mother due to complications during pregnancy or child birth. While many people think that such deaths are unavoidable, the fact is that nearly all of the maternal mortality deaths are easily preventable. Most women die simply because they are not close to educated healthcare professionals who can assist them through the birthing process (WRA). 

A handful of organizations are working to address this issue. The White Ribbon Alliance is a leading organization that focuses on putting an end to maternal mortality globally. According to the WRA, “Pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death and disability for women in developing countries” (WRA). This is shocking when on considers that such deaths are so easily preventable. The victims usually come from underdeveloped countries throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In Niger, a woman has a 1 in 7 chance of dying due to birth related causes, while a woman in Sweden has a 1 in 17,000 chance of dying due to birth related causes (WRA).

When a mother dies giving birth to a child, she leaves that child and any others she may have without their primary caregiver.   Motherless children are more vulnerable to threats such as hunger and disease, and their chances of reaching adulthood decrease. Motherless children are 10 times more likely to die prematurely than children who have not lost their mothers. (UNFPA). Thus, the death of a mother affects the entire family, and can have a negative impacts that stretch for generations.

Maternal mortality can be addressed through the proper allocation of financial resources and medical expertise. As stated previously, death during childbirth occurs because of preventable and avoidable complications during pregnancy and labor. Ending  maternal mortality requires money in order to provide educated nurses, doctors, and midwifes to ensure safety of both mother and child during pregnancy (CARE). Medical complications such as uncontrolled bleeding, obstructed labor, infection, and high blood pressure can all be addressed with proper medical care.  But many of the women who are at risk lack the most basic medical facilities.  Some are forced to give birth in cornfields or beside roads, with no sanitary tools to assist in a safe delivery of the baby and safe and proper care of the mother (UNFPA). Many of the villages in which these women live are hours away from the closest hospital, so by the time a woman enters labor, the likelihood of reaching a hospital in time is slim to none. There are also various societal factors that contribute to women dying in childbirth. Many women face gender discrimination, cultural stigmas, legal and economic hurdles, and logistical barriers that prevent them from receiving lifesaving health care (WRA).

             In order to achieve a significant reduction in maternal mortality, there needs to be a commitment, both nationally and globally, to fight to end it. Resources must be dedicated to teach skilled health workers how to properly take care of the mother and child throughout the three stages of pregnancy: before, during and after. Young women across the world should be taught proper family planning strategies, to make sure that young girls postpone their first pregnancies until they have the resources to have their babies safely. It would only cost, on average, $1.50 to send an expectant mother in a developing country a maternal health services package, which would help her  deliver a her baby safely (Huffington Post). The United Nations Millennium Development program has sought to address maternal mortality, and has made their Goal #5: “to reduce maternal mortality by 75% and to achieve universal access to reproductive health services by 2015” (WRA). Unfortunately for the UN and for the victims of maternal mortality, this goal is still far being realized.

            Organizations such as White Ribbon Alliance and CARE have done tremendous work in creating awareness of the issue of maternal mortality, but far more remains to be done.  Maternal mortality is global problem that requires a global solution. According to the White Ribbon Alliance, the United States, with its vast resources, has the potential to make a tremendous impact on this issue.  Just as the U.S. has made great strides in combatting HIV/AIDS by placing the disease on the President’s Emergency Plan, the U.S. can play a key role in diminishing maternal mortality.  Every American can make a difference by becoming aware of the issue and pushing for change. By supporting this effort, you can save a woman’s life. You can prevent her death. You can be the change.

If you yourself want to help, you can donate to charities such as the White Ribbon Alliance that will use your money to promote awareness, provide the proper birthing tools and medical supplies, and educate nurses, doctors, and midwifes to ensure the safety of mothers throughout the world. (VIDA)

A Voice for All

             In a move he must have thought would strike an inspiring blow for freedom of speech, Orange County District Attorney Tony Wrackaukas filed criminal charges against eleven students for . . . speaking their mind and fighting for something they believed in.  The occasion for this outrage?  A speech in February 2010 by Israeli ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, which the eleven apparently disrupted. 

The District Attorney's actions are absurd.  Since when has expressing one's views become a crime in America? The prosecution of the students is an attack on the most precious of American liberties--the freedom of speech.  By silencing the protestors, we undermine the essential freedoms upon which our country was founded. 

In February of this year, eleven of the protestors were formally charged by the Orange County District Attorney for the misdemeanor crimes of conspiring to disrupt a meeting and actually disrupting a meeting. If convicted they could face fines and a jail sentence of up to six months. Their arrest and prosecution have sparked a debate in Orange County and beyond.

            District Attorney Wrackaukas’ decision reflects poorly on his office, Orange County, and the United States as a whole. Conspiring to disrupt a meeting and actually then disrupting the meeting should not be illegal and definitely not something one should end up in jail for; especially in a nation that has been founded upon free speech. The students were in fact trying to have their voices heard in a country that often tends not to listen to the Muslim perspective.

            According to District Attorney Wrackaukas, students deserve to be prosecuted for having prevented Ambassador Oren from having the opportunity to speak. "In our democratic society,"  Mr. Wrackaukas said with no sense of irony, "we cannot tolerate a deliberate, organized, repetitive and
collective effort to significantly disrupt a speaker who hundreds assemble to hear." 

When it comes to what Wrackaukas says, freedom of speech means ‘shut up and listen’.

This argument sounds thin to me, as it probably would have to our founding fathers. Would Mr. Wrackaukas have tolerated a “deliberate, organized and collective effort to” dump tea into the Boston Harbor? It seems likely that he would have prosecuted our founding fathers in the name of King George.

            Above all other freedoms, our four fathers value the freedom of assembly, and the freedom of speech. They recognize that these freedoms were essential for a democratic society. It is through free speech that abuses can be identified and grievances can be expressed peacefully. It seems that the Muslim students at UC Irvine have a better grasp of this fact than does the District Attorney.

            Freedom of speech is often most important when that speech is unpopular or threatening to the powers that are in place. With the ongoing wars between the United States and opposing forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and now Libya, many Americans are not receptive Muslim voices. In this post 9-11 era, many Americans feel threatened by Islam and would like to silence Muslim voices. They see Muslim voices as “un-American”, nothing could be farther from the truth.

As a nation of immigrants, America has continually been reinvigorated by waves of immigration from every corner of the world. Immigrants from Europe, from Asia, from Africa, and the Americas, have come to our country and brought their own perspectives and raised their voices to push America farther down the road of freedom and equality.

 We have in our nation more than six million Muslims, and they represent a large and growing percentage of the worlds population. Their perspective is valuable here in America, and its expression will help America to behave responsibly within the larger world community. To silence the Muslim voice in America will undermine our democratic society and our standing in the world.

            By respecting Muslim voices in America we will not be committing a radical departure from traditional American values, instead we will be returning to the values upon which our nation was built.

Free Speech

            The United States Supreme Court recently upheld the rights of members of a Baptist church to protest at the site of funerals of American soldiers. The justices ruled 8 to 1 that the protestors were allowed to shout statements such as  “Thank God for dead soldiers” and “AIDS cures fags”, based upon the First Amendment. While such statements may seem hateful and unjustified, enduring offensive speech is the sacrifice that we must make as members of a free society.  

            At first glance, the angry slogans of the Baptist church members may seem like the sort of vicious attack that should be outlawed in a civil society. After all, the soldiers who were being buried at these funerals were young men and women who had made the ultimate sacrifice in order to protect the freedom and values of their country. Their families had gathered to honor their sacrifice, and they did not deserve to have these ceremonies disrupted by vicious and bigoted attacks. However, had the Supreme Court banned the protester’s right to free speech, they would have jeopardized the very values for which these young soldiers died.

            Freedom of speech was so important to the founding father’s that they dedicated the First Amendment to its protection. The founding fathers lived much of their lives within a society that did not allow free -speech—a society in which members were persecuted for speaking against the tyranny of the British king. The founding fathers had the courage to speak against the king despite the risks, and eventually forged a new society in which citizens were allowed to speak their minds and have their voices heard without penalty. To ban free speech—even speech that may seem misguided and hateful—would be to break with the traditions upon which this nation was founded.

            It is in this light that we should view, with some skepticism, the passage of laws that bans “hate speech”. Laws against hate speech in the United States generally ban verbal or written statements that insight hatred or violence against individuals based upon their race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, etc. These sorts of laws put two of America’s core values into conflict; tolerance, and freedom.  America is a diverse country, composed of immigrants from all corners of the world.  It is important that we learn to respect our differences. But this tolerance may at times conflict with personal freedom. America has always prized individual freedom, granting citizens the right to free speech, free assembly, the pursuit of happiness etc. As a society, we must acknowledge that we cannot always have it both ways. If you have truly free speech, people may at times say harsh, intolerant things, and if we ban such statements, we limit the freedom of people to express themselves. Given this dilemma, it is best to follow the wisdom of our founding fathers and protect the First Amendment and the right to free speech.

            As traumatizing as it may be to listen to verbal attacks at the funerals of those who have fought for our country, it is the price that we all must pay as members of a free society. As Chief Justice John Roberts stated in the hearing, "Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and—as it did here—inflict great pain. On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker".  By tolerating hateful speech, we protect the liberty of every citizen to speak his or her mind.

Trafficked

In the world today, there are over 27 million people enslaved. The issue of human trafficking is a global issue, and it rears its ugly head in some surprising places.     I was shocked to learn that human trafficking is not a problem restricted to poverty-stricken areas in the developing world—it happens right here.   According to CAST (Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking), an estimated 10,000 women are being held in underground brothels in Los Angeles today. As a young woman living in Los Angeles, I find it horrifying that this is happening so close to where I live, and that so few people seem to know about it. Below is the story of a woman whom I met who experienced slavery first-hand.  Her story is unforgettable.

Konthi was 19, and had just finished high school in her home country of Sri Lanka. She was looking for a job through an agency in Singapore, and they found her one as a housekeeper.   Konthi’s mother was too sick to work, and her father was not making enough money as a carpenter to support the family. Her sister had been married off, and left her parents with no steady income.  Now it was up to Konthi to find work.

In 1996, she began working as a housekeeper for four adults at a house in Singapore. In 1998, she was asked to travel on vacation to Los Angeles with the couple for whom she had been working.  She was taken to the couple’s daughter’s home here, and told how to keep the house clean by a fellow housekeeper in the daughter’s home. Shortly after they arrived in Los Angeles, the couple from Singapore left to Canada and never returned, leaving Konthi at their daughter’s home.  Over the course of the following two years, during which time she was never paid,  Konthi she was forced to care for the children and pets, keep the home clean, wash the cars, endure the unpredictable temper of her boss, sew clothing, and, at times, clean the marble floors of the house with nothing but a toothbrush.  She was never allowed out of the house. Konthi asked daily for her pay, so she could send the money back to her family in Sri Lanka, but her boss gave her nothing.   When she was finally allowed to send her family a letter, she received a reply which stated that her father had passed away while she had been gone, leaving her mother alone. Konthi begged to be allowed to go home,  but her boss refused.

On May 15, 2000, Konthi’s luck changed. There was a knock on the door of her bosses’ home.   Just as they always did when company came, the family told Konthi to go upstairs and lock herself in the closet so no one would get suspicious.   Later, her boss came upstairs and told her that the IRS had come by, the she had not allowed them in.. When the IRS returned to the house several times, the boss put Konthi in one of her own nice dresses and told the IRS that Konthi was a visiting  niece. When the IRS asked for Konthi’s passport and learned that she didn’t have one, Konthi was immediately taken away by an immigration agent. That was Konthi’s lucky day.   She was introduced to a woman named Jenny who worked at the CAST offices, who took her to a safe house and had her tell her story in court.

Just when Konthi thought that she was safe from her boss, she noticed that when she was in court, the interpreter wasn’t telling the judge everything she was saying.  Konthi complained and told CAST that she felt like she wasn’t being represented properly.  She was right.  She later found out that the interpreter had been approached in the courthouse parking lot by Konthi’s boss, who told her what to say in court so that the boss would not get in trouble for mistreating Konthi.

Eventually, Konthi was able to tell the truth to the legal system, and she was given a TVISA, which allowed her to stay in the United States temporarily.   During this period, she was not allowed to travel out of the country, but she took the risk and went back to see her family in Sri Lanka. She was able to stay there and take care of her dying mother. 

In April 2002, Konthi moved into her own apartment and took nursing assistant courses.   She started working in a nursing home and is taking classes at a local college to get her RN degree. She sends money back to her sister in Sri Lanka and has paid for all of her nieces’ and nephews’ education. Konthi is a member of the CAST caucus and loves her role as advocate, telling her story to increase public awareness of the issue of human trafficking.

There are millions of more stories similar to Konthi’s. In my opinion, the government should make prosecuting human traffickers a higher priority. It is not only women that are trafficked—men are trafficked as well, and in some cases even young children. A recent report cited human trafficking as the third largest criminal industry in the world. More than 1.2 million young people are trafficked every year, and if we don’t stand up and demand something be done, the number will likely continue to rise. Last year the United Nations launched a petition that would encourage people to take a pledge towards preventing the trafficking of people. While acts like this are positive, it is up to law makers and government officials to create legislation to prevent trafficking. At the end of our conversation, I asked Konthi what she thought the solution was.  She said, “Education through prevention.” If there were one thing that Konthi could tell women in foreign countries, it would be that they have rights as human beings and do not have to be slaves.