Research Questions for Human Trafficking

Research for Question for Human Trafficking:

(possibilities):

Is the human trafficking industry more successful than industries such as the drug trade? --> what makes it more or as successful? (why/how?)

If the US is indeed one of the main countries that is greatly involved in human trafficking, why is it not a more prominent issue?
Where is human trafficking most prominent in the US?

To answer these questions, I will need to research human trafficking in the US. Where does the people come from? How do they get into the US? Where do they go? I will also need to know the financial side of human trafficking, for example how much a human would cost from a certain country.

I will most likely be using sources such as new articles and websites. I would also possibly like to look for a first hand account from a person that had been sold in human trafficking, I think that would be a very valuable source.

Online Media Presentation on Made in India

I made my presentation on prezi.com! I hope you enjoy it, you just have to click through in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, there is not an auto-play button, but click through at your leisure!

Made In India on Prezi

Possibble Ideas for Human Rights Presentation

I am interested in researching the situation of Afghan women. How they have been lighting themselves on fire in order to escape their abusive families.  I am also interested in researching sex trafficking.

This book and article seem helpful/interesting:

http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-13960-1/sex-trafficking/reviews

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/world/asia/08burn.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=afghan%20burning&st=cse

Why do the Afghan women not try to get help? Why can't they go to the hospitals before they light themselves on fire?

I have not begun to research sex trafficking, but why has it become so prominent in the recent years?

Post Genocide Question

1. In what ways did genocide impact the development of this “developing” country?

The genocide made the UN and foreign governments more apt to help in the future, made them feel guilty and more concerned. The development stunted their growth as a country because they lost so many people during the genocide. Due to the mass killings and the tattered government system, Rwanda's development has been put on hold because they are trying to rebuild Rwanda to what it used to be first before they can move forward.

2. Where does the rebuilding of a country shattered by genocide begin? What can the people do? What can the government do? What can the international community do?


It begins with having closure through justice. The people that went through the genocide need closure through the trials of the people that committed the genocide. The government then should focus on making Rwanda a better and safer place for the people living there. They need to focus on getting the population of Rwanda back to what it was before the genocide. The international community can show that they will be willing to help if a genocide is to every occur again. They would need to take actions that would show that they have concern for Rwanda and won't just leave them out to dry.

3. How can justice be found in post-genocide Rwanda?
The trials of all the people that are still being held in prisons in Rwanda need to be processed. These people have been waiting in prison for over ten years and instead of just leaving them in prison to rot, they need to tried and then sentenced.

4. Which can bring justice to the people of Rwanda more effectively – international courts or community courts? Explain.
Cooperation between both international and community courts would bring about effective justice. To bring criminals back to the place where they committed horrible crimes and to have them tried in that area would have a powerful effect on their guilt. On the other hand, the international courts have much more power and control of a larger scale.

Thoughts after Maus II Disucssion

An image that emotionally shocked me is the bottom block on pg. 72 of Maus II. Spiegelman depicts the Jews burning in either one of the crematoriums or a cremation pit. The caption above says, "Prisoners what worked there poured gasoline over the live ones and the dead ones". This terrifies me because the prisoners were forced to help on, or essentially kill the other prisoners. They were forced to pour gasoline on them! When really those prisoners that were pouring the gasoline would be the next to die. It is unthinkable what the prisoners were forced to do. The lower text box says, "And the fat from the burning bodies they scooped and poured again so everyone could burn better". This is really shows the frankness Speigelman writes with. It is almost as if he is being sarcastic about the way they would re-use the fat to help the other bodies burn more easily. Perhaps Speigelman is not using sarcasm, but more along the lines of complete and utter truth and therefore it comes out in a way that one is not sure to take it so seriously.

Reflection on Human Rights Activity

A statement that where I noticed my thinking changed was: It is wrong to torture another person. I feel like before I really thought about this statement, I felt that if someone committed a horrible crime, they deserved to be tortured for it. But once I heard Kelly say that out loud, it did not make sense. It seemed a bit silly actually. That actually led me to realize that, in my opinion, in most cases it is wrong to torture another person. When Olen and Sarah were talking about how a life is still a life, what is torturing going to accomplish? People will say anything to make the pain stop. Also, torturing someone will not cause them to realize the extreme, horrific nature of their crime. This also swayed me toward my opinion. However I did start to lean toward it is always wrong to torture another person because like Olen pointed out: a person will say anything to get the pain to stop. So if the CIA, for example, is torturing someone for information, the person could give them fake information to make the torturing stop, but then the CIA will have achieved nothing and received no important, helpful information. I am not quite sure what this reflects about the type of person I am.

Current Events in the Democratic Republic of Congo

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/04/world/africa/04congo.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&sq=the%20democratic%20republic%20of%20congo&st=cse&scp=1

This article is from the New York Times, written by Jeffrey Gettlemen. The title is Frenzy of Rape in Congo Reveals U.N. Weakness. Gettlemen discusses the raid which took place on October 3 by rebel forces. They came into a village and raped at least 200 women. There were dozens of UN peace keepers stationed up the rode, but failed to respond. The peace keepers said the responsibility to respond was left to the Congolese Army. The questions this article brought up for me were: If the UN has invested so much money in the Congo, why are they struggling so much to keep peace? With over 1,500 peace keepers in the Congo, why can they not protect the citizens? It is very disturbing to me that with so much outside influence from the UN, the Congo is still very unsafe and the citizens are in terror. I do not know how the UN should continue or pursue a course of action in order to take the Congo in the right direction.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11469140

This article is from the BBC, there was no author. The article is title DR Congo: Joseph Kabila critic's 'suicide' doubted. The article addresses the man that threw a stone a President Joseph Kabila's convoy had committed suicide in prison. It was said that he was arrested and then taken to prison. In the prison, he killed himself by using a pillow case. Jacob Baluish of the Congolese Observatory of Human Rights told the AFP news agency suspects fowl play! How could he have committed suicide by a pillowcase when we all know there was no pillowcase!? This article brought up the questions: Why are the Congolese officials trying to cover up this instance? Why are they trying to make it seem like the man committed suicide? Did they kill him just because he threw the rock or was there more involved? This is makes me think, if a man is killed for simply throwing a rock in the Congo, what other simple things are people being punished for?

Idea that Stuck!

Question #5: There were many comparisons made between the Belgian colonizers in the Congo and the Nazis in Auschwitz. What are the similarities and differences between the two events?

The idea that monsters really do exist. The Europeans would justify what they were doing by saying the Congolese were uncivilized and sub-human so they deserved it or it did not matter what they did to them. The Nazis vs. The Force Publique Soldiers. The Nazis considered the Jews sub-human and they were considered that way because of they were Jewish. The Europeans were the same way with the Africans. They just felt they were uncivilized and needed enlightenment.

Pg. 33-60 KLG reading #2. Quotes

Leopold:

"But there was something fox-like about the manner in which this constitutional monarch of a small, increasingly democratic country became the totalitarian ruler of a vast empire on another continent"(34).
-This quote is foreshadowing of King Leopolds empire in the Congo and in what manners he rules it.

"Stanley's journey solved another geographical mystery...the Congo begins and ends below the equator, but the top part of its great half-circle lies above the equator"(53).
-This shows that Stanley not only was completely engulfed in exploring Africa, but he also was dedicated to bringing back his findings to prove he was not as illigitiate as his birth.

Challenge/Affirm
"At last his long-dream-of production could reach the stage, and Stanley would be its star"(57).
-I would challenge this statement from Hochschild because how, after Leopold's dreaming was he able to know that Stanley was the key to his success?

Pg. 1-32 KLG Reading #1

          During this reading I found that I was more drawn in during the parts of the reading where Hochschild discussed the gruesome parts of the slave trade. I think it is because I find it interesting how the Europeans thought that they were superior beings so they could just do whatever they wanted, not to mention how greedy they were. Also it did not help that the Africans as well wanted to new goods so they were willing to trade slaves to the Europeans to get these little trinkets and knick-knacks which were abundant in Europe. This particularity drew me in because I cannot even fathom the condition these slaves were in. How they were transported all the way across the Atlantic in chains! I read a statistic once that the conditions became so bad that at one point almost a third of every slave convoy died before reaching port. These slaves were literally treated like objects! I supposed this draws me in because I cannot believe that one human would treat another, unknown, foreign human in that way. If anything the Europeans should have been trying to please the Africans.


Discussion Questions:
Why was Affonso so eager to become more like the Europeans? Why did he feel like he needed to be more like them?

Why did the Europeans automatically think they were better than the Africans?

Practice News Article

In the news article: Taliban poison attack or mass hysteria? Chaos hits another Kabul girls' school, poisonous gas attacks to prevent girls from attending school is being discussed. This most recent event happened at about 10:30 August 25 2010. Some questions that would help this story make more sense would be: have the scientist found if it was a gas attack or not? Do the schools have any military help or protection to help prevent these attacks? To be able to report on this even I would need to learn more about the history of the Taliban vs. girls' education. I understand they do not like girls being educated, but why? Also I would need more history on previous attacks on other schools.

On August 25 at about 10:30 am multiple girls in the Totia High School of Kabul began fainting, feeling dizzy, or nauseas. The girls began to panic. The order came to evacuate the school and hundreds of girls ran out with handkerchiefs pressed to their mouths or their head scarves. A total of 46 students and nine teachers were treated in the hospital after what was an "apparent poisoning attack". Many girls after being treated quickly recovered, but some stayed unconscious for several hours. There were also other girls that were feeling the effects long after they went home and changed out of their school clothes. The opinion of whether this was a poisonous gas attack or mass hysteria is split. Most believe that it was a gas attack because "in the largely Pashtun neighborhood in a rough area of eastern Kabul no one one believed the incident was anything other than a chemcial attack by people who object to female education".While others say that it could just be mass hysteria which has been used as to cause physical illness before.

News Worthy Events I Remember

Which news worthy events do you remember from your lifetime? (about 3). Why do you remember it?

Two news worthy events that I distinctly remember are 9/11 and the election of President Obama. I remember 9/11 because I had gone to school that day like any other day and I didn't notice anything different about the day. I didn't notice if the teachers were acting different. I got picked up by my nanny and went home with my sisters. When we got home, all I remember is that I walked into the tv room and Ana, my sister, was watching the news channel and there were these burning buildings. I didn't know what was going on and why Ana was watching the news. Ana told me that two planes had crashed into the twin towers. She said it was a terrorist attack. We watched the tv for the rest of the night. I remember this so well because it was such a surprise once I finally understood what was going on.
I remember the election of President Obama because we did the mock election at school and I remember I had a doctors appointment that morning and I didn't get to vote! Then when I got to school and the results were shown to the school, they said there was a tie! I could have made that difference! I was so angry. Then after the results were shown and we watched President Obama's inauguration speech. I remember this so well because I was just convinced I could have made a difference.

Events that are really memorable for my mom were when JFK was shot and 9/11. When JFK was shot she was in the 5th grade and sitting in class and it was in the afternoon. She was hot and sweaty. Someone came to the doorway, they had just gotten back from lunch, and noon recess. They were about ready to start, someone came to the door, and then her teacher started crying. She said, "The President has been shot and we don't know if he is dead or alive. We need to watch this and see". They went to the library and watched tv, which was a big deal. Getting to leave the classroom to go to the library and watch tv with a lot of kids was a huge deal. When she got home the president was declared dead. She was excused from school to watch his funeral.
On 9/11 she was working in Bloomington, IN at the hospital. She was reading films early in the morning. Some one came into her office and said "Oh my God turn on the tv! A Plane just ran into the world trade center!" My mom turned on the tv just in time to see the second plane crash. She saw both towers go down. She couldn't believe that it was happening in the US and that it was real. The tv talked about the other planes and how one crashed into the Pentagon and the other had been intended for the White House. She couldn't believe everything that happened.