In the NYT: “Raiding a Brothel in India”

After eight years at JWI, reading and hearing countless stories of abuse and survival, I tend not to get outwardly emotional about these things. But Nicholas D. Kristof’s op-ed in the New York Times yesterday, about the rescue of several young girls from sexual slavery in India, brought me nearly to tears.

Kristof joined the International Justice Mission in a raid to retrieve one teenage girl from a brothel in Kolkata; they came out with five. His account captures both the scope of the issue and the terror of a child threatened with harm – to herself or her family – if she attempts to escape.

India probably has more modern slaves than any country in the world. It has millions of women and girls in its brothels, often held captive for their first few years until they grow resigned to their fate… India’s brothels are also unusually violent, with ferocious beatings common and pimps sometimes even killing girls who are uncooperative.

Read the story. Then find out what you can do about it.

Doctors Could Face Barriers to Abortion Training

House members are voting today on controversial language, introduced by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), that would prevent the use of federal funds for training medical residents on abortion procedures.

The Hill’s Floor Action Blog quotes Foxx as saying, “This amendment ensures that the grants being provided to teaching health centers are not being used to perform elective abortion, makes it crystal clear that taxpayer money is not being used to train healthcare providers to perform abortion procedures.”

As Margaret Hartmann points out at Jezebel (emphasis mine), “Quite a few Republicans believe abortion should be allowed in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother’s life is in danger, but those women would become casualties of the conservative effort to punish women who choose to have an abortion.”

See reports on the impending vote at Jezebel and The Hill, and also check out this fact sheet from Medical Students for Choice on the lack of abortion training for doctors and nurses in the U.S.

“Honor” Killing

In today’s Jerusalem Post:

Brutal murder stirs Palestinian debate on women’s rights

A slain Palestinian woman, murdered by her uncle and three other men for disgracing the family, has evoked widespread public debate on the age-old practice of honor killings.

Aaya Barad’iyya, 21, a student from the village of Surif near Hebron, was drowned in a well near her home in April 2010 by her male relative, who disapproved of a marriage proposal she had received. Her body was only discovered 11 days ago, more than a year after the murder…

read the full story at the Jerusalem Post

Teacher, writer, joke teller Bel Kaufman turns 100

In yesterday’s New York Times, Joseph Berger profiles Bel Kaufman – New York City teacher, granddaughter of the great Yiddish storyteller Sholem Aleichem, and author of the 1965 bestseller “Up the Down Staircase.” Kaufman, the consummate jokester, has just celebrated her 100^th birthday. She also recently took a position teaching a Jewish humor course at Hunter College.

Berger writes that Kaufman fast-tracked her education after emigrating from the Soviet Union at age 12.

Ms. Kaufman’s hard work and the watchful eye of a demanding father led to a master’s degree in literature from Columbia and teaching jobs at a series of public high schools. Her 20-year odyssey became the springboard out of her grandfather’s shadow. In 1965, she published “Up the Down Staircase,” a novel about a new teacher very much like Ms. Kaufman who struggles to keep up her spirits in a school crowded with more than a few hopeful but ornery students and where memo-happy principals issue rules like not walking “up the down staircase.”

Berger reports that Kaufman is presently recovering from a broken rib – though it’s not keeping her for long from her favorite hobby, dancing mambos and tangos.

Read the article. Have a laugh. Be inspired. And pray that you should look so good when you’re not even close to her age.

Opening a New Library: Pieces of Gold

by Jonathan Strausberg

Last week, I returned to Baltimore to celebrate the opening of the National Library Initiative‘s 36^th children’s library at CHANA, the domestic violence agency for Baltimore’s Jewish community.  This library’s opening had special meaning to me since I know so many people in the Baltimore Jewish community and the leaders of CHANA.  To be a part of the opening of their new offices and giving the gift of a library was a wonderful feeling, and it got me thinking.

An article I recently saw discussed  that children living in poverty or homelessness, such as many of the children escaping domestic violence situations, have almost no access to books – either their own or those of a library.  Access and ownership of books has critical impact on academic achievement and literacy.  That’s why opening a new children’s library is so important.

This all made me remember my home and my access to books.  All of my life I’ve been surrounded by books, whether in my room as a child or in the basement where my parents had shelf upon shelf of books, admittedly mostly adult books, but nonetheless the love of books and reading was imbued in me at a very young age.  I can’t even tell you how many times my parents, grandmothers, or aunts and uncles gave my sister and me books as presents.  Collectively they gave us the gift of reading.  On weekends we would invariably go to the local library or a bookstore, it was almost a family ritual.  It seemed like everywhere we went there were books to open, read, and through which we could explore the world.

Suffice it to say, my sister and I did not want for books.

The result today is that my sister and I love reading.  My wife and I have a room that is almost entirely covered in bookshelves that are so full that we have to stack books on tables.  Books are an essential part of my daily life.

(l-r) Judge Chaya Friedman (Past Chair, CHANA), Susan W. Turnbull (Board Chair, JWI), and Nancy Aiken (Director, CHANA) pose by the plaque dedicating the new library.

A Jewish scholar once wrote, “If you drop gold and books, pick up the books first, then the gold.”  Each book in each library that we open is more valuable than a single piece of gold, and collectively they are among the most precious gifts in the world.  We are giving the gift of learning, of imagination, and of the opportunity to build a brighter future.

In the coming year we plan to open at least seven new libraries around the country.  Each one will be full of books and décor that create a warm and inviting environment in the shelter, making it a special place for children to relax and find comfort.  It will be exciting to see each one open and the faces of the children who will benefit from the libraries.

JWI Condemns the Passage of HR 3

Jewish Women International condemns the passing of HR 3 by the House of Representatives, which imposes significant restrictions on a woman’s right to an abortion even when her own life is at risk.  If this bill becomes law, it enacts a range of taxes and increased costs on all private insurance plans that cover abortion, as well as putting a permanent ban on all abortion coverage for women who depend on our government for their health care.  It puts the health and well-being of millions of women at risk.

HR 3 is the latest in a barrage of attacks on women’s health and reproductive choice.  It is JWI’s long-held belief that women and their families have the right to make their own decisions about pregnancy and health care, and that these decisions must remain a private matter.  This bill could mean an end to all private insurance coverage for abortion services. Eroding longstanding exemptions for abortion coverage when the life of a woman is in danger as well as increasing the tax burden on individuals and small businesses are irresponsible attacks on these services.

As this bill moves on to the Senate, JWI will continue to push for its defeat.  We urge the Senate to stand up for women and stop the insidious efforts to restrict reproductive freedom.

It’s a Boy!

I’m a new mom! I’ve already told you a bit about my three girls. Just over a month ago, after years of trying, we added a boy to our family – a healthy, beautiful 13-year-old boy.

Two years ago my husband and I started the process to adopt a child from foster care. It was a harrowing process. But we made it through unscathed and licensed to adopt. I could go on a tirade about the process… the selecting, the waiting, the not getting picked… the long terrible process. Meanwhile children are hurting, living without any permanency….

But a rant about the foster care system is not my purpose here.

In January, our social worker told us about The Boy (hereafter referred to as such for privacy and all that). In March, he moved in with us. We don’t know all the details about how The Boy wound up in the foster care system, and honestly, it’s not important that we know. What’s important is that we feed him, shelter him, keep him safe, and embrace him into our family.

With what he’s been through – taken from his parents, moving foster homes, changing schools, and all the disappointment and heartbreak that goes along with it – he’s still a vibrant, funny, smart young man. He’s living by our house rules (with some resistance). He’s accepting the girls as his sisters (and vice versa). He wants to do well in school and he wants to join in outside activities like sports and scouting. He’s really a good kid who’s been handed a bad deal. But he’s trying to rise above it – he’s not using it as an excuse to get sympathy or to accept less from his life, but as motivation to be more.

It’s not always rainbows and butterflies… There are bad days. The terrible teenager rears its ugly head and gets angry and stomps off and slams doors, usually in response to a “stupid rule” or crazy teenage drama or just distress from the situation he’s in. And on those terrible days, I feel scared, frustrated, overwhelmed.

But most days are good days. And when he smiles and laughs and his big blue eyes sparkle and he calls me “Mom,” all I feel is love.