It's been an interesting day of being confronted by something 'normal' to me where we've been living the past few years in a different context. Well, I don't think the exploitation of women is 'normal,' but it's something I've grown accustomed to--but not comfortable with--being around.
Today I've been horrified by a terrible Facebook hack of someone I know who is not in a first world nation. I don't think she has a computer at home so it will probably be some days before she discovers the horrible pornographic photos put up on her wall and even as her cover photo on her page. She probably used an internet cafe computer and left her page open. She'll be absolutely mortified and feel victimized when she discovers what's happened.
But what about the girls in the photos to start with? No woman suddenly just wakes up one day and decides to take her clothes off for a camera. They're victims, too........
Aaron's here for his mid-term break (and medical appointments). The boys have been wanting to go to an army surplus store to browse so we took them to one in Auckland today. Prostitution is legal in New Zealand and it turns out that the store was on a street with a lot of brothels on it. There was nothing going on on the street, unlike our usual neighborhood, but it was disturbing to see the signs and blatant advertisement of what goes on behind the closed doors.
We were at a function a while back where I sat by a lady who had worked as a social worker who checked up on the well being of women in the trade in Auckland. She obviously thought it was well within the girls' 'rights' to sell themselves, but when I asked her opinion of how they got there to start with she replied, "Well, obviously there's a strong connection between past abuse and women who chose the lifestyle." Huh? But it's OK????
I think not.
It's a big, bad, fallen world..........everywhere.
