A good friend of mine, Heather, is in Athens right now working with an organization that helps women get out of prostitution. We can have discussions about feminism, sexuality, and libertarianism if you’d like, but the fact is that prostitution is mostly an ugly business. We were just having a conversation the other day about how many of the women in Athens are trafficked into the business (they estimate about 70% of women in brothels, probably more who are on the street) and then I ran across this article in the New York Times by Nickolas Kristof. Forgive me for spoiling the punch line, but…
“Glance at Pross from her left, and she looks like a normal, fun-loving girl, with a pretty face and a joyous smile. Then move around, and you see where her brothel owner gouged out her right eye.”
Injustices like human trafficking are difficult to read about. For me, several thoughts scramble around in my brain. How could humans treat each other like this? Why isn’t more being done to stop this? What can I do? Attrocities like this happen all over the globe, there’s too much to be done. There are other problems to focus on. There are problems that hit closer to home. I’ll just depress myself by focusing on tragedy, why not focus on making life happy for me and my friends? Someone has to live a happy life or else what are we fighting for?
It doesn’t take long anymore to talk myself into a state of inaction. I only say so because my guess is that many of us do the same thing.Even if you decide to act, there’s a whole new set of decisions to make. Where can you be the most effective? Is it better to help monetarily or by volunteering? Which issues are more important?
I haven’t come up with good answers to these questions myself. For now, I think I can offer two suggestions.
- Take time to read and think about the injustice you see around you in the world. Learn about what works on a personal and global level rather than just depending on the ideals you’ve picked up over the years. Knowing helps.
- Pick some organization that you can trust and send them $5-10 a month (several watchdog groups rate charities for their effectiveness and honesty). It’s not much commitment, but you’re helping and reminding yourself that there are people out there who are in trouble.
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