Chapter 3-5 Blog Post #2

Reading chapters 3-5 in “Half the Sky” was particularly difficult for me. Forced prostitution is a difficult subject and this book goes into explicit details about people’s real life experiences. Part of the reason that so many girls are forced into prostitution and sex trafficking is because they grin and bear it. A lot of the times it isn’t their fault their pimps get them addicted to drugs to either make them adjust to their new lives, or if they manage to escape from the brothels they will likely return so they can get “their fix.” A particularly horrifying story was that of a mobster called “Kasturba Nagar”, he preyed upon people, murdered, raped, tortured, and killed. The police did nothing they accepted cash bribes from the mobster and the horror continued. The woman eventually retaliated against the monster when the woman were in court for stabbing the guy and cutting off his penis the courts couldn’t tell who had actually stabbed him. All the woman took credit they said “We all killed him, arrest us all.” In South Africa rape has become so common that a medical technician invented a device that can be inserted like a tampon with barbs inside, this device is called “rapex.” If a man tried to rape a woman while she has a rapex inside her he will be forced to go to the hospital for treatment. “When critics complained that it was a medieval punishment, Ethers responded tersely, a medieval device for a medieval deed.” Another very common practice done by people is killing “in the name of god.” This is usually done when a woman doesn’t bleed on her wedding night. Even though a woman’s hymen can break from other activities other than sex during everyday life it is proper to kill her usually by stoning her to death. The woman is slandered and embarrassed cruelly and publically. It is called “The shame of honor.” A lot happened in these three chapters that still stuns me that they are actually real, and it’s terrible I believe that we need to do more to help these people, because they deserve a better life than they are receiving.