Saving women victims of human trafficking - Just Trust

This news article and interview with Just Trust founder Mr. Jebaraj caught my eye. The Indian pledge states, "all Indians are my brothers and sisters", but it seems thousands of sisters are exceptions, and forced into flesh trade in well organized human trafficking. It is noteworthy that Mr. Jebaraj has truly been a great brother to hundreds of sisters that he has helped rescue from human trafficking. Especially, his commitment to this cause has been since 1980.

On a parallel note, a school teacher friend of mine in San Jose, who had seen Slumdog Millionaire, was asking me about how I felt about the movie showing how children and women in India are victimized. I just replied it was reality and the challenge is enormous with the large poor population and the difficulty in getting the system to work well. She went on to add that right here in silicon valley, there is exploitation of women - some of her academically challenged students' moms are single and claim they also have to work at nights. Probing a bit further, she explained they happen to be prostitutes trying to make ends meet. Many are from a particular ethnic group, and there are likely immigrant women exploited due to their visa situation. If this is happening in stock options rich silicon valley, it should not be surprising that developing countries are struggling with the trafficking problem.

Just writing to spread awareness - the least I can do.

Dowry Law - Chief Justice admits misuse

I blogged at length on dowry law fallacies in India. Now, the Chief Justice of India admits the law is misused (newslink). This is all good, but change is too slow.

Girija Vyas, the chairperson for National Commission for Women thinks it's not misuse, but "...lack of awareness amongst people that is exploited by lawyers and police...". It is unfortunate that such an influential person in authority doesn't realize that laws, no matter what, will be exploited by lawyers and police when possible, interpreted in different ways at different times, and such things are sometimes costly in terms of precious resource use such as police and courts, derail careers that impact the economy, can produce unjust outcomes and some laws may not accomplish the intended purpose.

This is why Marriage & Divorce laws must be carefully thought out, offer clear and predictable guidelines, and allow for win-win situations. Ms. Vyas should realize that she holds a very responsible position that controls the destiny of so many men and women, and not get caught up in the identity of "women". Her charter is empowerment and development of women as a section of society that currently needs attention, not so much as an association with identity of "women" (similar to "human rights" or "minority" commission), and if policies are devastating in certain ways, she would come out stronger by advocating changes, rather than being defensive. Else, people will lose faith in her and the commission, branding it with the identity of "women" or worse as "feminist". I think she would like to be remembered in history like Lord William Bentinck or Raja Rammohan Roy, who also fought for women's rights and made a difference, and not as a feminist - I hope she can help it. As well, she should note they didn't react to every problem by creating a law!

More on divorce - India and Spain

Two news items that caught my eye last week: 1) Parents in Spain faking divorce so their kids can get extra points to get into favorite schools (click here for news article) 2) The national commission for women in India wants to "save marriages" through conselling, now that they have strengthened major laws related to women (The Hindu 11 Apr 2008) .

If you have read my blog that divorce laws are poles apart you might find these interesting as well. Apparently in Spain, there is fast track divorce - you can apply for one and get it in 5 weeks! To fix some single parent issues, the government gives extra points to such kids, so they end up in the better schools. Now, parents who are together are using this scheme to get the best for their kid - apply for divorce, get the extra points for their kid, and then go for counseling. I don't agree with the approach, but it is amazing how different people are.

Now, across continents in India, they want to "save marriages" that are broken. The belief is only in extreme situations couples must divorce, young couples are breaking up over trivial issues, and women suffered in most cases. So, the police, the state and some third party mediators are being sensitized so tha laws are properly implemented, couples who have undergone domestic violence get into conciliation and settlement. My belief is that's a lot to chew for the government of a billion+ population. Spain, incidentally had pretty tough divorce laws until recently due to conservative christian culture, and now it all changed - the goal is to "save individuals" or "save individual freedoms", so even single parents can effectively bring up kids, single women can lead an individual and respectable lives on their own, instead of reconciling with domestic violence, settle and save the marriage.

Hope someone points out Spain to the Indian law makers.