Kelly Cronen has worked on counter-trafficking projects for around nine years, including time working with victims directly. She explains who is most at risk, how a recruitment agency works, and where trafficking is the biggest problem. What are some common misconceptions about human trafficking? Too frequently, human trafficking is seen as an extreme evil perpetrated against women (in the case of sex trafficking), perpetrated against the poor (in the case of labor trafficking), perpetrated against ethnic minorities (in the case of slavery), and so on. While trafficking is an evil committed against these groups, we frequently misunderstand the core essence of trafficking. Any time that one group of humans has power over another group, and when there are inequalities between two groups there is going to be exploitation and abuse. Sometimes this will take the form of trafficking, sometimes this will take the form of gender based violence, and sometimes this will take the form of systematic exclusion and marginalization of a group. How inequality leads to exploitation is dependent on the time and context but it is why integrating measures to promote equality and inclusion are so essential to development programming. I’ve always felt that one of the things that allows exploitation, such as trafficking, to occur is the problem of conditional sympathy. What I mean by that is the dangerous notion that everyone should be treated fairly and have access to opportunities - except a certain group of people (migrants, women, homeless persons, other minority groups, etc). We have sympathy towards trafficking victims because we understand that since they didn’t have access to education, income-earning opportunities, or justice structures, they were exploited and abused. But then we think of other groups – let’s say commercial sex workers, or migrant laborers from Latin America, or members of the homeless population in any major city. All of these groups also face exploitation and abuse, lack access to education and income-earning opportunities, don’t typically have access to justice structures, but we don’t feel the same sympathy for them because “well, sex workers/migrants/homeless deserve the position they’re in because that’s just how that group is.” That is conditional sympathy, the social narrative that tells us that one group of people deserves to be in a difficult position because how that group is or because that’s what happens to people in that particular group. How do recruitment agencies work? In my field work, I didn’t encounter any trafficking cases that were done through a recruitment agency. The way recruitment happens will be very specific to the country context and the type of trafficking – it takes advantage of what is culturally acceptable and preys on the things that people want most. In Albania for example, women were “recruited” into trafficking through a boyfriend, fiancé or husband. Usually the boyfriend said they were going overseas to have a better life and when they’d get there, the women would learn that (1) the man they were with was not their boyfriend/fiancé/husband and that (2) they’d just been sold into trafficking. But in other Balkan countries, women were recruited into trafficking typically through false job offers to be a nanny, waitress, etc. and then when they’d arrive, their ID documents would be confiscated, they would owe a huge debt to the ‘recruiter,’ they weren’t able to speak the local language nor did they know much about the country, and would ultimately be trafficked. What are some moments in dealing with this issue that have stayed with you? This is probably the most difficult question for me to answer because in total I spent about nine years working on counter-trafficking programs. I’ve seen many angles of trafficking and counter-trafficking efforts. While there are a couple of cases that have stuck with me over the years, a couple of issues stand out for me the most. First, while not all trafficking cases use violence to coerce and force people into exploitation, many of the survivors I met had endured high levels of violence. I was always surprised at what humans will do to one another – and even more surprised that bystanders either didn’t see the violence or choose to ignore it. For example, there was one survivor I knew who had been held captive for five years. When the police finally found her, they deported her back to Albania without providing medical or psycho-social support. When I met her, her hands, arms, knees and ankles were covered in knife marks and deep pock-marked scars from when her trafficker had drilled a screwdriver into her hands, arms, knees and ankles. Like so many of the other women I met, I was dumbfounded that other people hadn’t seen the scars and asked if maybe there was something going on. I think it’s the problem of conditional sympathy that makes us or allows us to ignore times when we see other people in pain. Another thing that stands out for me is that the traffickers themselves don’t stand out – they don’t have little devil’s horns, they don’t look like a movie super villain, they look like normal people. I went to court once with a survivor and I knew her trafficker would be there. He was extremely violent and well-connected but when I saw him, he was wearing a nice suit, was slightly pudgy, had his wavy hair cut and styled well, and smiled at everyone. Not how I expected him to look or behave. Another thing that stands out for me, amongst people who work in the counter-trafficking field, is that while some professionals (social workers, lawyers, etc.) have met and worked closely with survivors, most of the professionals who do programming and policy work actually have very little experience talking to survivors. As a result programs are not survivor driven or necessarily responsive to the needs of survivors. This has to change. Survivors know their lives, their needs, their capabilities better than we do and they need to be at the front of shaping how programs are designed and what services are available to them. Is trafficking a problem in the US or is this mainly an issue overseas? Human trafficking is a problem everywhere but it manifests differently in each location. There is both labor trafficking and sex trafficking in the U.S. – victims in this country are both U.S.-born American citizens as well as foreign-born migrants. The State Department’s Trafficking in Persons report provides information on trafficking cases as well as efforts to combat trafficking in every country of the world, including in the United States. The 2014 report, http://go.usa.gov/FtYW is a good source of information to learn more about what is happening in different countries. Who is most at risk for human trafficking? And in what country is it the biggest problem? The profile of who is most at risk varies by country and context. But usually they have a couple of things in common: potential victims want a better life for themselves and/or their family members, are excluded from formal societal structures that would give them a better life (i.e. access to education and employment opportunities) and do not have access to formal or informal justice mechanisms. In some instances, potential victims come from strong families but the external circumstances are such that there aren’t enough opportunities in their community. In other instances potential victims may have issues in their family that they are trying to get away from. Trafficking is a problem everywhere. But regions which are undergoing or have undergone some kind of major transition (natural disaster, economic crisis, conflict, political transition, etc.) are likely to have more people who feel like their opportunities have been constrained and are willing to take on more risk in order to have a better life. What are some signs that someone is a victim of human trafficking? In Albania, most victims were identified at the border point when they were coming back into the country. Many victims were deported back to Albania as illegal migrants because many of the hosting countries treated victims as just another illegal eastern European immigrant and didn’t do thorough screening for victims. In 2007 there were rumors of girls who were being returned to Albania and just disappearing from the borders. A colleague of mine from the [American] Embassy and I started doing random checks at the border control points to make sure the police were screening for victims (and referring them to social services when necessary) and not just handing the victims back over to their traffickers. I could usually tell within a minute who was likely a victim of trafficking – someone who wouldn’t make eye contact with others, was nervous and withdrawn around the passengers, afraid to speak with officials at the border control, and provided vague or inconsistent information about what they were doing overseas when they were being screened. Most of the women didn’t have any scars on their faces, but almost all had scars from cigarettes, knives, etc. on their hands or arms. In that setting we were actively looking for potential victims, in other settings it may be harder to identify a victim especially if you’re not actively looking. The Department of Homeland Security has a list of indicators that someone may be trafficked and provides information on how to respond if you suspect a case of trafficking: http://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/indicators-human-trafficking What do you do, and how did you get into your line of work? Currently I am the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Practice Director at Chemonics International. In this role I help projects at every stage think about how they are being inclusive and not perpetuating inequalities between women and men, between majority and minority groups, etc. Through this position, I am also helping Chemonics design our compliance plan to certify that in no way do any of our projects support any form of human trafficking, in accordance with U.S. federal laws and requirements. Prior my current position, I worked on counter-trafficking projects for about nine years. I was the Chief of Party on a DC based project that supported USAID to design counter-trafficking programs, was a Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) for USAID/Albania where I oversaw one of the agency’s largest counter-trafficking portfolios, and was a Peace Corps volunteer where I worked part time in a shelter for victims of trafficking. I’ve always been interested in women’s issues and particularly issues related to women and migration. In 2003 I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Vlora, Albania, which at the time was a big transit hub for trafficking in persons and other illicit goods. One of the largest shelters for trafficked women, Vatra, was located in Vlora and I worked at Vatra about 3 days per week. I taught English, social skills and helped organize social events for women in the shelter. During that time I also started an anti-trafficking committee for Peace Corps volunteers in Albania who were doing similar work on counter trafficking. In my two years working at the shelter, about 300 women were repatriated back into Albania through the shelter and I got to know several of the women quite well. I learned about trafficking not from classroom lectures, but by listening to the women’s stories about their lives. In the summer of 2005, the last year of my Peace Corps service, one of the women from the shelter was murdered, another was re-trafficked and a third, who I was rather close to, just disappeared one day. Even though a lot was being done in Albania to address trafficking, there were several gaps in the ability to address the issue – mainly because the anti-trafficking community and particularly the donors, weren’t doing enough to really listen to the needs and experiences of the women who had been trafficked. When I finished my Peace Corps service, I was lucky to get a position with USAID/Albania as the Anti-Trafficking Advisor and was able to start addressing some of the issues I had encountered with the Peace Corps. While I am not engaged directly in counter-trafficking work in my current position, promoting equality and inclusion in development programs is essential to addressing the root causes of trafficking. When development programs address issues of inequality, we help communities stop perpetuating the power imbalances that create vulnerability to exploitation and abuse. Interview by Suzette McLoone Lohmeyer
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Miro Kang - a young artist from Korea studying in the U.S. who just finished showing her work at the exhibit Multilane, H.O.V. - explains what inspires her works and the process of how she creates art. What inspires your work? My works usually contain personal feelings and emotions, which come from the interpersonal relationships in my life. I draw on the emotion of relationships to create sculpture in an abstract form. The emotions that the sculpture portrays are conveyed through spatial forms. This space is called “the room of emotions,” where I hope that the audience can discuss and relate to the complex emotions presented. At what point did you realize art was your passion and life's work? Is there anyone else in your family with the same talent? I remember that my childhood was always filled with art. I always loved to draw, and especially enjoyed drawing with paper that was larger than sketchbooks, such as the back of calendars, wrapping paper, or boxes - anything. My consistent interest and passion in art as I grew resulted in me attending both middle school and high school that specialized in the arts. It was very natural for me to dream to be a developing artist in that professional art environment. My sister majored in visual arts in Parsons. After she graduated, she went back to Korea and worked in a fashion advertising company. Though her major field is a bit different than the field of fine arts, she is my most important advisor and the person who can share and understand my thoughts and values of works of art. Do you have a system that you follow when you are creating a piece of art? And how do you know when a piece is finished? My drawings have always been the starting point of my sculpture, laying the foundations of the idea process that precedes the artwork. In a way, it is a personal journal I keep, except I never log actual objects or events. It is rather a record of reconstructed scenery of the spontaneous mind that takes form of surreal landscapes or a collection of abstract geometries. Spatial ambiguity runs as a prominent common thread throughout my work—even the most abstract figures, are always situated within unspecified space. Within the log of countless emotions, I realized the inseparable tie between the figure and its space, and the space thus becomes an essential part of the work. A sculpture embodies emotions, and the emotions are passed onto space. The space, paired with the sculpture, becomes “A Room of Emotions.” The room becomes an artwork within which the emotions are shared by and communicated to the audience. Is there something you wish people know about you before they view your works? We encounter numerous emotions within multifarious relationships as we live our lives. Emotions defined by countless vocabularies—happiness, sadness, anger, remorse, loss, despair, pleasure, loneliness. These emotions turn into actions and words, time to time affecting others as well as our selves. We carefully control our emotions and remain reluctant to expose our very naked minds since we understand that display of emotion entails its consequences. I long to remain truthful at all times, however, through continuous sharing and dialogue, refraining from concealment and tolerance. It’s not a loud voice, a piece of eloquent writing, nor a daring action, but my artwork becomes a language of the mind, and therefore the best messenger of emotion. Who is your favorite artist(s)? KiKi Smith, Louise Bourgeois, and Eva Hesse are my favorite female sculptors. I am not a feminist but I love their thoughts and values. I like how they are capable of expressing with their unique styles and interpretations to their own artworks. By Suzette McLoone Lohmeyer We are all in the middle of trying to keep our New Year’s resolutions, and many of those include healthier eating. Mai Trinh, nutritionist, and busy mom of 3, explains how to navigate the latest super foods, fasting fads, and the biggest mistakes people make when they are trying to change over to a healthier lifestyle. It's the New Year and there are a lot of resolutions flying around - especially when it comes to nutrition. What are the biggest mistakes women who are ready to take the plunge into better diets and fitness routines make? The biggest mistakes I see over and over are subscribing to extreme fad diets and not getting enough sleep, which wreaks havoc on your metabolism. Going from one extreme to the other is seldom sustainable. Instead of doing a 7 day no food and only liquid detox cleanse which I would never recommend – why not start slowly like cutting all soda and sweet drinks out for a week and then build on that small, but profound step. Studies show time and time again that a majority of Americans drink a bulk of their calorie intake through sweet drinks. Curbing the daily Starbucks run and limiting the daily wine intake to 1 drink per day maximum is a great start for a one week lifestyle shift to build upon other lifestyle shifts. As for fitness, working in a group and getting support builds confidence. I belong to a mommy boot camp that has been meeting for years. I have only been a member for the last year and a half. Also, I invested in a personal trainer for 30 minutes a week. If that isn’t in your budget or lifestyle- stick to classes you think you will enjoy like Zumba or getting a friend to speed walk with you during lunch. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. The first step could simply be using a pedometer and aiming for 10,000 steps a day. However, exercise without cleaning up your diet defeats your health goals. There seems to be a new super food every week and it is hard to figure out which is best for whom. What are your go-to super foods for women and do they vary by age? I try to stay away from fad diets and tell my clients that if your great-grandmother didn’t recognize it as food, don’t eat it, it’s probably not food. As far as everyday superfoods – one gauge is how long has it been around the food chain. My favorite whole food super foods include spinach, mushrooms, blueberries, garlic, onion, turmeric, cinnamon, wild caught salmon, sweet potatoes and my exotic superfood includes goji berries. Everything on my list is anti-inflammatory and helps boost your immune system. These are cancer fighting goodies that keep your system in check and wild caught salmon is chockfull of Omega-3 acids which is great brain food. Our brain is comprised of 60% fat and is the fattiest tissue in our entire body. We need good fats to think clearly so the no fat diet has been debunked. As far as varying by age, that's a great question! Every 7 years, every single cell in our skeleton is replaced. It's important to know that foods that worked for you a decade ago, may not work for you now. Adults develop food allergies to things that they were able to digest years before. So, the question of do foods vary by age - it does. Kids that are four years and below often have a difficult time digesting raw leafy veggies until their digestive tract matures. Every gut is unique like every finger print is unique. There is not a one size fits all answer. In my nutrition studies, I found the idea of bio-individuality to be key in leading my clients to the right lifestyle that fits their health. People need to experiment with different super foods to see what alleviates their energy. There are universal truths though- that smoking, abusing alcohol, eating a diet full of high sodium, saturated fat and processed sugar and lack of exercise will significantly raise your chances of cancer, stroke, diabetes and heart disease You have three kids and a busy life. How do you get your family to eat healthy snacks and dinners on the run? I’m a single mom, widow, small business owner and I continue to take graduate level courses in public health so my plate is quite full. What I’ve learned from juggling so many acts is to plan ahead not only with my schedule, but with nourishing food. I am constantly scanning the web for easy, fast and nutritious vegetable heavy dishes. I’m a big fan of both one pot meals and the crock pot. Family snacks include clementines, nuts and trek mix. I also make easy energy apple balls that consist of pitted dates, dehydrated apples and oats. Some days, I slather organic peanut butter on an apple. When I’m really in a crunch, I boil organic eggs, use frozen organic veggie mix, add a dash of Braggs Amino Acid with a pat of organic butter and mix it with quinoa or whole wheat cous cous. This is my idea of fast food. In short, I keep my snacks and dinners to simple whole foods that can be prepped quickly. Instead of going to the fast food joint, I will often have a rotisserie chicken in the fridge, I’ll put it in the crock pot on warm and by dinner time, I will sautee veggies and voila, dinner is served. I keep my meals simple and whole. A few women (and men) I know would love to cook healthier food at home, but feel like it isn't well received. How important is it getting your partner and/or kids on board when you want to move to a healthier lifestyle? It is vital to have everyone on board if you want to make lasting change for your health overall. The first question I ask when talking to clients is: Will your spouse be supportive of this change? Numerous studies show that the people closest to you heavily influence your health. If your spouse is resistant to change- I suggest getting your significant other hyped for homemade fruit smoothies in the weekend. Small steps are profound. What I found with families is kids emulate their parents. If they see their mom taking better care of herself, they start to take her lead. Another big thing to incorporate healthier eating habits is to include kids in cooking the healthier meal. Also, giving dishes blockbuster names like Suzy’s Incredible Hulk Power Smoothie. It’s simple, but studies have shown, it works for kids and school cafeterias. What does a typical session with a Health Counselor or Nutritional Consultant entail? I’m a certified health counselor and I teach nutrition and preventative health seminars to Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. I’m also on the Speakers Bureau at Kaiser Permanente Health Works program so my reach is not limited to what Registered Dieticians have to subscribe to – which are USDA standards. In my work, I teach groups and individuals health promoting foods and preventative care. My first step is to spend 50 minutes on a health history to gather information about my client to gage what their goals are and what their family history looks like. During this time, I also ask what obstacles have been in their way of reaching their health goals. I find that a majority of the time, people know exactly what they need to do for their health, but don’t have the support or they self-sabotage their goals due to emotional blocks. I teach people to modify their health goals in small and sustainable steps. Did you grow up in a healthy eating environment? And how much does how we eat when we are kids affect what we eat as adults? I grew up in a mixed environment. My step-dad was on the macrobiotic diet [based on whole grains, vegetables and beans] in the early 1990s and I would help prepare his meals. My mom did not practice a healthy diet and subsequently, suffered from health issues in her 40s. I grew up seeing both sides of the dietary spectrum. What we eat as kids can lead us into bad habits especially when it comes to leaning toward comfort foods. However, the human spirit is remarkable when it is motivated and supported for change. In my 20s, I had a terrible diet of soda, McDonald’s and vending machine food. I was always getting sick and suffering from rashes. At 29, I drastically changed my lifestyle and I can honestly say, I feel more energetic now than I did in my 20s and I’m 40 years old! How often do you see clients who use food as an emotional crutch and what are the signs of that? In my seminars and my private practice, the way we eat is linked to how we feel, what we crave, our stress levels and how much we sleep. Sleep deprivation leads us to eat salt, sugar and high caloric foods. Everything is tied into what we decide or mindlessly put in our mouth. I see food used as filling an empty void all the time. Signs of emotional eating are eating mindlessly, eating out of boredom, intense cravings for foods that you know aren’t healthy for you. Reframing daily habits takes around 3 to 6 months for permanent change. One question I often ask clients is what does food mean to you? Draw a picture. It’s a very powerful tool to gauge if you see food as nourishing or is it wrought with guilt and punishment? And now, for the down and dirty: Do you ever sneak in a trip to McDonald's? I guess what I'm asking is do you ever break the rules and is that ok? Two things you will never see me eat are McDonald’s and soda. I haven’t eaten McDonald’s or used a microwave for over 8 years. However, in my daily life – I keep a 80/20 rule. 80 percent of the time, I keep a clean diet and 20% of the time, when I’m out – I allow myself to indulge. I love pizza so at home, we make our own, but if I’m out—I will indulge at a kid birthday party. It is okay to break the rules, but keep it minimal. If you are under an austere lifestyle – you can rarely maintain that kind of oppressive lifestyle and it makes living a bit joyless. I do help clients wean away from soda permanently because there is a seldom an upside to drinking processed chemicals. Instead, I help them learn to substitute – half sparkling water with a splash of 100% juice. Juice is still sugar, but if you dilute it with sparkling water, it is still less caloric than soda. By Suzette McLoone Lohmeyer As someone who has volunteered at shelters before for maybe an hour or two a month, I know that for those who work there, it isn’t exactly the kind of job you can slack off from if you got a bad night sleep or if you have a headache – even around the holidays.
Gina Ranfone and Kimberly Brown, coordinators at Doorways, a non-profit that provides separate shelters for homeless families (Kimberly) and domestic violence victims (Gina), explain what they do, who is a typical client, why most people have the wrong idea about homeless families and domestic violence victims, and how some shelters make an effort not to be doom and gloom around the holidays. What is your job at Doorways and describe a regular day? Gina: I am the Daytime Home Coordinator at the Safehouse. A regular day for me includes answering the hotline, writing cab vouchers for clients on occasions where Doorways pays for transportation for example, when a client enters/exits the program, if a client does not feel safe taking the bus (because their abusive partner takes the same bus), to transport kids to school, etc., interacting with clients when they need or want to talk about something (could range from how to begin looking for jobs to discussing their experiences in DV relationships), and making sure the house is fully stocked on essentials such as toilet paper and paper towels. Kimberly: As the Weekend Overnight Home Coordinator; this shift tends to be less active than the daytime shifts, but my role is the same. I come onto my shift, check emails and communications from previous shifts and colleagues. I will greet any residents that are still up and perform my facility walk through. I am checking messages, following up on tasks that weren't completed earlier in the day. The late hours do not prevent me from working with clients, who may only have the late evening to work on job searches or other goal related activities. It is also an excellent opportunity for clients to talk with me and share the events of their day. What is the typical profile of a client who comes to your shelter? Can you give some statistics? Gina: I’m not sure of the specific statistics, but many of our clients are minorities, particularly African American and Hispanic. We also see a lot of immigrants who come through the shelter, who are from Central America and East Africa. The ages of clients are pretty diverse, some being very young (late teens to early 20s), some being middle aged, and some being much older. Many of our clients have children they either bring to the shelter with them, or they find a relative/trusted friend the children can stay with until mom finds a safe place for everyone to live. Kimberly: The typical client is a single parent, usually mother with young children. Over the last few years, the trend has been that our clients are getting younger. Do you think the general public has the correct impression of who comes to your shelter? Gina: I think the general public tends to forget that domestic violence does not discriminate! Society likes to think that something as tragic as domestic violence “doesn’t happen in my neighborhood,” but the fact is, DV can affect everyone. Kimberly: I believe that most people do not understand the multi-faceted reasons a family may find themselves in shelter. Most of our clients are currently working or were working within the last year. These adults love their child or children and are doing the best they can. When a family just cannot make ends meet, they can easily find themselves one lost situation, which tips the scales. Rent, transportation and childcare are some of the biggest contributors to homelessness. Why did you get into this line of work? Have you ever gotten to a point where you thought you couldn't do it anymore? Gina: I began working for Doorways because as a recent graduate with a degree in Psychology and Criminal Justice, I wanted hands-on experience with a vulnerable population. I have always been interested in why offenders offend, but getting to see the other side of how survivors are affected has been a very eye-opening experience. From January-September 2014 I worked the evening shift, which is arguably the busiest shift because typically all the clients are at home and everyone generally needs something from me whether it is an item from storage or to vent about something, and I am the only staff present. During this time I got to meet a very diverse group of women and children, many of whom, had horrific stories. Being not only my first job right out of college, but also the first shelter I had ever worked in, I often ended up not being able to turn my brain off when I would get home from work at night, and I would find myself lying awake for hours thinking about our clients. Even when I did fall asleep I was frequently having dreams that involved a client or was similar to a client’s story. Before I learned to compartmentalize and decompress after work, I did wonder if I wasn’t “cut out” for this type of work. But seeing a family successfully move into their own house always makes it worth it in the end. I have to see them at their lowest lows, but I also get to see them at their highest highs, and without a doubt the highs are worth it. Kimberly: I have worked with clients and families in crisis my entire professional career. I have worked in Housing for the past 16 years. I have worked with Housing Authorities assisting families that are receiving rental subsidies either through Public Housing or the Housing Choice Voucher program. I decided that I wanted to share my knowledge and skills with people who are striving to break cycles of homelessness or are working toward goals to reestablish stable housing for themselves and their families. Is there a particular case or situation that will always stay with you? Can you describe what happened? Gina: The first intake I ever did was a family of two, a mother and her four year old daughter. I was only working for Doorways as a part-time employee, but I completed their intake and soon after was hired full-time. Since mom was not allowed to work and the daughter was not going to school, they were usually at home throughout my entire shift, so I would play with the daughter a lot and talk to mom. They ended up staying in shelter for four months, and during those months I really bonded with the daughter and got along really well with mom. Mom was always doing everything she could to minimize their stay in the shelter - when staff would tell her about an Employment Center workshop she would go, she never forgot about any meetings she set up with Doorways’ Financial Counselor, she got her daughter into school - and I really admired her for working so hard despite the tough situation she was in. Kimberly: There is no one particular family or situation that rises to that level for me. All of the families that I've met over the years have impacted me in some way and my hope is that I am someone they remember as well. I believe that every family that has come through the Family Home has taught me something about myself. Every family has shown a unique brand of strength that many do not realize they possess. Nothing is more significant to me than seeing a parent reclaim their power and move toward self-sufficiency. What is it like for children at the shelter? How do they feel about being there? Are they able to go to school regularly? Gina: Children must go to school regularly if they are of age; if they are too young we can help mom find affordable childcare so that she can obtain a regular job. Children are very resilient; sometimes they seem to be totally unaffected by what was going on in their homes. Other times they identify with the abuser, and display abusive behaviors towards mom, a sibling, other children in the shelter, or even staff. How a child feels about being in the shelter really depends on the child’s disposition. We have a Children’s Counselor who comes to the shelter during the week and meets with the families together, the children individually, and moms individually in order to assess the child’s behavior and make a plan to decide the best course of action for each child. Kimberly: Every child is different, but what I have noticed is that our children acclimate very well and fairly quickly to communal living. Some children have expressed that they are confused at first, but then they come to like it at the house. All of our children attend school regularly. What is a typical Christmas/holiday season at the shelter? Gina: I was not here for Christmas last year, but this year the staff are very excited for what we have planned for our clients! The donations that the Safehouse gets come to the shelter and get set up in stations in our staff office; one station may be labeled for Toiletries, another station may just say Take Two!, etc. Clients are invited to move through the stations and pick out things for themselves and their children. Kimberly: At the Family Home, the house is very festive. There is a Christmas tree and items reflective of other cultural traditions. There are gift and food donations and families are encouraged to cook and share their own cultural and food traditions with others. The spirit in the home is filled with the excitement and hope that this time of year engenders. It is hard to be downtrodden when the house is filled with children who are excited about the holiday. I have found that most families whom are with us at the holidays have expressed that they enjoyed their holiday. By Suzette McLoone Lohmeyer What’s the holdup getting more girls excited about running for political office? It’s a boys’ game, say most tweens and teens, according to a new study by the Girl Scouts of America. Girls Running for Change, found that although the majority of girls felt they are smart enough for a political career (84 percent) and are generally interested in politics, only a low percentage of them believe society is behind them when it comes to pursuing a run for office (just 32 percent). But this is 2014. Parents, aren’t you encouraging your girls to get involved in student governments? Didn’t you tell your daughter she should consider congresswoman, senator or president as a career? I polled my own 6-year-old daughter asking, “Would you like to be president some day?” Her answer was, “Can a lady really be president?” Sigh. But it isn’t just parents’ fault. Teachers, who are with kids for a large part of each weekday, don’t seem to be stepping up either or at least girls aren’t getting the message. Just 38 percent of the 1,088 girls polled said they had received encouragement from a teacher to run for office. Many of the girls (57 percent) felt that schools overall could offer more programs to support and teach girls about politics. What else would help? More than not, girls say a word or two of support from female politicians would give them confidence to get them on their political way. “Sixty-five percent of girls feel more mentoring for girls and young women from current politicians would encourage more girls to pursue a career in politics.” This might be one of the most important factors considering of the 1,088 polled, 74 percent felt that even if they made it into politics, they would, “Have to work harder than a man to be taken seriously.” Not that working harder would do much good in the media’s eyes, according to the girls. Sixty-two percent of the girls believe that female politicians are depicted by the media as, “more motivated by their emotions” than male politicians. The frustrating part for those that want to see more women in politics, is that most girls are motivated to make change, with 93 percent involved in some sort of political, civic, or leadership activity. But for those girls, student government is the least popular. Girls don’t seem to see politics as a successful path for them to make a difference. And it is no wonder, if they also believe society and the media aren’t there to support them. And while the good news is the majority of girls see female and male politicians as equal in most qualities, there is still a significant portion that do not. “Female and male politicians are seen by girls as equally capable (81%), intelligent (80%), confident (72%), brave (71%), resilient (71%), competent as a leader (71%), likely to make a difference in the world (69%), visionary (66%), and honest/trustworthy (60%). Starting out thinking your not as good will make it tough to overcome the rest of the obstacles. What is the takeaway from all this? No one person or group is to blame for how few women are running for political office today. It might actually be easier if there was one place to point. What is important to note is that girls are getting discouraged early on (the girls polled were ages 11-17) and don’t ever seem to come back to it as an option. Maybe tonight talk to your daughters, granddaughters, and nieces about how they can be president too. And have the poster board and markers on hand just in case they go for it. Note from study: The national sample consists of Girl Scouts and non-Girl Scouts. Racial/ethnic breakdown is as follows: 62% White, 19% Hispanic, 18% African American, 7% Asian, and 2% “Other”. AWBF does not endorse any specific organizations nor research. By Suzette McLoone Lohmeyer |
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