Reflective Tag:

Throughout this course of artifacts, there have been numerous discussions on cultures and their ramifications for different genders in these societies.  The Film entitled Half the Sky delves into these issues in some of the harshest representations of each and present the issues in detail, then tells possible solutions to the problems.  The film deals with subjects such as maternal mortality, inter-generational prostitution, sex trafficking, gender-based violence, and more.

HALF THE SKY

half-the-sky

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It’s no secret that some fairly extreme problems for women exist within this world in multiple countries and all of these problems have a slightly different nature.  In the film Half the Sky these problems are exposed in great detail with the inclusion of first hand experiences from all around the world.  This first hand view on the multiple problems that exist help to provide a context into why exactly the rest of the world should care.  The things that some of these women have to endure on a regular basis is simply not acceptable.  One topic that is covered in the film to begin is that of gender-based violence in Sierra Leone.  There are multiple conditions in Sierra Leone that help to contribute to this violence such as the civil war as well as mass poverty in the country.  Both of these factors and more have lead to a culture of violence and rape toward women and unfortunately that tradition has carried on as a norm and a standard practice.  As the film makes clear, a big problem that carries with this already horrible practice is that of 90% of rapes of women carry fairly serious STD’s with them.  This has big implications for the country.  The men who carry out these actions are generally not punished for their crimes either, and the victim is usually viewed as the one at fault for causing a problem.  I believe that the film covers this particular topic fairly well and sheds light on the core of the problems in the country of Sierra Leone.  Another issue that the film brings up is that of sex trafficking in Cambodia.  This is a huge problem in Cambodia.  There are a large amount of girls taken each year and some of them are of a surprisingly young age.  These girls are taken and put to work in brothels and abused to a high level.  This practice is very prevalent and there are some organizations attempting to combat it, but there is a long fight ahead.  Following this, the film goes over inter-generational prostitution in India as well.  To put it quite simply, India is a big mess.  The women in that culture are abused on a very high level and have virtually no ability to get away from it.  It is expected by families of certain castes as a norm for the daughters to become prostitutes, it becomes a normal thing… there are girls sold off at young ages a lot of the times in India as well, and they are put into brothels and abused as well.  Another issue that the film covers is that of maternal mortality in Somaliland. This issue is very prevalent in many parts of Africa.  There are very poor health conditions and many factors such as un-sterile traditional birthing techniques and equipment as well as female circumcision that prove to be difficult factors.  There are also far to few hospitals and midwives as well as discouragement of going to them by the villages.  The film covers these issues fairly well too.  Overall the film gives branching and overarching solutions to these problems such as awareness and education as some of the big ones.  This will allow the doors to be opened and the cultures to gradually stop the bad things that they are doing.  This is not as simple as a problem that it might seem and it will take a long time for solutions to build, but in the long run solutions like these will help advance the respective regions as a whole and bring them out of the dark.

 

Works Cited:

Class material/notes

Half the Sky