In Episode 63 of Amerisogyny, we discuss the profound impact of advocacy on mental health and human rights. Amerisogyny's mission is to give a voice to the voiceless and shed light on the common threads that bind us all. This episode takes you on a compelling journey across different countries, highlighting the struggles and triumphs of individuals who have faced insurmountable odds.
We begin in Papua New Guinea, where systemic corruption and gender-based violence plague the lives of many women. Despite the enactment of the Family Protection Act, the battle for justice remains an uphill struggle.
Next, we travel to India to hear the inspiring story of a former child bride who turned her life around through education and became a powerful advocate against child marriage. Her journey underscores the transformative power of support and education.
Our third stop is the Philippines, where international investigators are tirelessly working to combat the heinous crime of child sexual exploitation. We highlight the global efforts of police to protect vulnerable children from abuse.
In South Korea, we explore a unique parental education program that simulates solitary confinement to help parents understand the emotional isolation experienced by their socially withdrawn children.
Finally, we arrive in Japan, where the Supreme Court has ruled against the country's historical eugenics practices, and where older women, driven by loneliness, commit nonviolent crimes and are unjustly imprisoned. We'll also discuss the need for better mental health and social services to support these vulnerable populations.
Join us as we uncover these powerful stories of advocacy, resilience, and justice, and learn how collective action can make a difference in the lives of those who need it most.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Music. Welcome back to Amerisogyny! I'm your host, Hannah Blue.
(00:15):
You're listening to episode 63, Transforming Lives Through Advocacy.
Advocacy. That's the topic of today's episode. But I want to make something clear.
Advocacy is the foundation of this show. Now, this is a podcast about mental
health, but we're different.
(00:36):
I've said before, you're not going to find deep breathing techniques or nice
music to calm your nerves on this show.
The number one mission of Amerisogyny is to advocate for the underdogs of the
world. To speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.
To amplify voices that would otherwise be silenced.
(00:59):
The second goal is to find common links in mental health that bind all of us.
No matter where you live in the world, we are all connected by mental health.
There's so much focus on differences. Too much.
And so I choose to focus on what people have in common.
(01:21):
And that is the mind. If you're a human being, you have a brain.
If you have a brain, you have a mind. And if you have a mind,
you're affected by mental health one way or another.
I was talking to a good friend of mine last week. and she said,
you know, I can't listen to you sometimes.
(01:44):
Some of the things you talk about are so heavy and I'm dealing with my own mental health.
But then she said, I believe in what you're doing, the advocacy you do.
It's powerful and a lot of people can't and don't do it. You got to keep going with that.
And I will. I'm going to keep going.
(02:07):
And you know, I get it. the subject matter I bring sometimes isn't wine and
roses but that's exactly how I want it. That's how I think.
When I think of mental health, I don't think, okay, today we're going to work on this.
There are hundreds of podcasts just like that, and I'm not trying to copy any of them.
(02:29):
This way, we have our own flow.
On Amerisogyny, we focus on the mental health of people who cannot stand up
for themselves, and we send calls of action to you, the listeners, to help others.
It starts with one person helping another. You don't have to live in someone
(02:50):
else's country to care about them.
All you have to do is be inspired to advocate.
We are in a generation of mindless scrolling.
Now, 20 or 30 years ago, reading was placed on a pedestal, and it deserved to be.
Now, there are politicians in this country who want books to be banned.
(03:12):
Conservatives don't want people to read.
They don't want them to be educated. They call it being woke,
as if woke is a dirty word.
Well, what's the opposite of woke?
Uh-huh, you're right.
Asleep. This nation just celebrated July 4th yesterday.
(03:33):
We have people who believe in their guns and freedom.
Now, let me ask you something. If someone is trying to break into your house
and rob you of something precious, is it better to be awake or asleep?
Your mind is a home.
It has many precious things in it. But if your mind is kept in darkness, how will you see them?
(03:58):
Education is the light.
Enlightenment is illuminating. The more you read, the more you know.
And when you know better, you do better.
Not just for yourself, for others.
I'll let you think about that for a minute. While we get ready for our first
stop, this is a country I would love to see pop up on our radar.
(04:22):
Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea is corrupt and very, very violent.
Looking on the bright side, It has a lot of beautiful, melanated people.
Well, Papua New Guinea has crossed our path, and we're going to shed some light on them today.
It's been said, if you're a girl or a woman, Papua New Guinea is no place for you to be.
(04:46):
Although the Family Protection Act was birthed in 2013, very few woman beaters
are held accountable for their actions.
And why? In 2016, their government still wasn't using it.
It's estimated 70% of women are raped or assaulted during their lifetime.
And the government's solutions for domestic violence?
(05:09):
Mediation. Compensation.
It's been said a woman is beaten every 30 seconds, and more than 1.5 million
are victims of violence every year.
Their police are corrupt.
Would you believe in the 2000s? Women and girls are accused of being witches
(05:29):
and are beaten by mobs of men.
Witches. Witch hunts. Now, where have we as Americans heard that?
1692, Salem Village, Massachusetts.
Over 160 people were accused of being witches and 19 people were hung.
(05:54):
This happened in the U.S. in 1692 and it's happening in Papua New Guinea right now.
This is why I say you need to know history, not just your own,
the history of others. because if we don't know history, we're doomed to repeat it.
In May 2015, a group of men in a secluded part of the Enga province killed a
(06:21):
woman after she was accused of sorcery.
Listeners, I have no doubt you're intelligent. Now, do you think they were held
accountable for their actions?
Mm-hmm, you guessed right. And she wasn't the only one men attacked.
At least five other women were beaten after they were accused of sorcery, but she died.
(06:42):
Also in 2015, Prime Minister Peter O'Neill starved his country's anti-corruption agency of funding.
And what happened when Chief Magistrate Nerrie Eliakim tried to intervene?
The government wanted to suspend her for issuing an arrest warrant for Prime Minister O'Neill.
(07:04):
This is what happens when your country is
corrupt. And the shenanigans didn't stop
there. On September 3rd 2021 three
men were released from prison after being accused of murdering a 31 year old
woman Imelda Tupi Tiamanda and she was married to one of the men. This happened
(07:26):
in Mount Hagen. The magistrate dismissed the charges saying there was a lack of evidence.
And get this, Imelda's body was found wrapped in tarp in the back of her husband's car.
Once questioned by the police, allegedly, he confessed to the murder.
Now, what do you mean lack of evidence?
(07:48):
A dead body is the last three-pointer in an NBA championship game.
The work for the prosecution was done. They could have easily won this case,
and they still dropped the ball.
COVID-19 didn't do women any favors. Under the pandemic, domestic violence and
accusations of sorcery increased.
(08:08):
In 2020, 15,444 cases of domestic violence were reported, but only 250 people
were prosecuted and less than 100 people were convicted.
The police said they didn't have enough resources to keep women and children
safe. And all their government is a joke.
(08:30):
And the women and children of Papua New Guinea deserve much better.
Better husbands, a better government.
There are a lot of strong, independent women out there.
But women who are supported by strong men, who are kind and of sound mind,
not only are in a position to help themselves, they open doors for others.
(08:52):
As in this next story, on our next stop, India.
Anuradha is a former child bride who advocates against child marriage in India.
At 13, she wanted to finish school and be a teacher.
She vividly remembers the day her dreams were put on hold.
(09:13):
She said, Dawn had just broken and the skies began to turn bright.
My mother, rather hurriedly, woke me up saying, Anuradha, wake up.
You need to do a lot of chores and get ready. While my body resisted waking
up, my inner voice screamed loudly.
There is school today. Wake up. It did not take a second longer for me to wake
(09:36):
up and rush out of the bed.
For the next two hours, I did all the household chores along with my mother.
Washing dishes, washing clothes, milking the buffaloes, and a lot of other things.
Just when I was going to get my school uniform, my mother yelled to me,
wear the new dress that we bought for you.
But the teacher will shout at me for wearing that dress, I corrected her.
(10:00):
Little did I know that my mother wanted me to dress for an event that was going to change my life.
Anuradha married her husband Krishna and within a year, she became a mother.
Now, unlike the dreadful woman beaters in Papua New Guinea, Krishna was very supportive of her.
He encouraged her to study until the 10th standard.
(10:23):
But when she was about to take the final 10th grade exams, she was eight months
pregnant with her second child.
And due to stress being unsafe for her pregnancy, her family convinced her to
miss the exams and she dropped out of school.
She said she attended a session that changed her life. It was on maternal,
(10:45):
newborn and child health.
And she learned the importance of providing newborn babies with nutritious and healthy food.
She says, ever since that program, I began attending all the programs conducted
by World Vision in my community because I felt empowered by the knowledge I was acquiring.
After she attended a training on child rights, she learned about the right to
(11:10):
an education, and she was encouraged to retake her 10th grade exams through open schooling.
Her husband Krishna is a good, strong man. He said...When Sunil came and spoke to us about helping Anuradha complete her education, I felt it was unjust to ask her to quit school. So I took the initiative to enroll her into the tenth grade to complete schooling. Now this is a man who wanted his wife to do better. He didn't beat her. He didn't kill her.
(11:50):
He provided the way for her to finish her education he could have easily said no. And that would
have been that. But he believed in her and watched what happens next.
Anuradha joined World Vision India as a volunteer and began training children
on education and child rights.
She went door to door in her village to get parents familiar with these ideas
and worked to ensure that all children in her village were enrolled in school.
(12:15):
She said, earlier I used to be known as Krishna's wife, but now everyone calls me Anuradha.
Anuradha also soon realized that child marriage was cutting short the dreams
of many girls in her village.
In 2016, she joined the Child Protection Unit formed by World Vision India in her village.
(12:38):
The members were trained about child protection issues and how to tackle them.
They were also made aware of agencies like Childline, who helped legally deal
with cases of child abuse and child marriage.
One 14-year-old girl found Anuradha and shared that her family was secretly forcing her to marry.
Anuradha helped the girl report the case. When Childline visited the village,
(13:03):
they counseled the family and stopped the child marriage.
Within two years, she reported four other cases to Childline.
Not only did they stop the marriages, they also conducted large-scale trainings
on the consequences of child marriage.
In 2017, Anuradha was recognized by the District Collector with a Bravery Award for her work. She says (13:19):
I know the difficulties of being married off at such a young age and I don’t want other girls to endure this,” says Anuradha.
So what is Anuradha up to now?
(13:39):
She works as a local news channel host where she speaks passionately about child
rights and the rights of women.
She is now completing her higher education and hopes to pursue a degree in education
and finally become a teacher.
I just told you when strong men support strong women, they're able to open the
(14:00):
door for others. Listen to this.
A girl whose marriage she stopped, completed her schooling and studied for a bachelor's degree.
Anuradha says, My life has changed. Ever since I was educated about my rights,
I've left no stone unturned.
At first, I was very angry about my marriage, but now I have left the regret
(14:23):
behind and I'm determined to make the lives of other girls in my community secure.
I feel extremely proud when girls come and thank me for stopping their marriage.
Now that is an awesome story about advocacy, support, and caring about your
fellow human beings.
(14:43):
Had Anuradha married the wrong man, her mental health would have suffered,
and so would the mental health of many girls in her village.
But even though she was given no choice in marrying at 13, she was able to stand
up and empower girls in her village because she was empowered through education.
(15:04):
Anuradha and Krishna have three beautiful boys, and they're proud parents.
But not every child has great parents.
And that leads me to our next story on our next stop, the Philippines.
Now, police in Papua New Guinea might be corrupt, but investigators from 10
other countries, including the UK,
(15:25):
the US, France and Germany, launched an investigation against almost 200 pedophiles
for paying to watch live streamed sexual abuse of children.
One sexual abuse investigator called it rape by proxy.
Pedophiles pay very little money to traffickers in the Philippines.
(15:45):
And at times, these sick animals often use their own kids to make the live content.
And what's heartbreaking, traffickers exploit the extreme poverty of people in the Philippines.
But for 12 years, investigators all over the world have been tenacious.
Every time a pedophile or a trafficker is arrested, their digital footprint,
(16:08):
such as chats, financial data, locations, and IP addresses are used to generate more leads.
In 2022 alone, almost 500,000 Filipino children were trafficked to produce new child sexual content.
Many of the victims were between age 3 and 12.
(16:29):
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the U.S.,
that's our country, received more than 32 million reports of child sexual abuse
material from around the world.
That is an 87% increase since 2019.
I have no sympathy for pedophiles. I think they all should be castrated.
(16:50):
And you heard me right. I said what I said. There is nothing,
and I mean absolutely nothing, sexy about a child.
I applaud all of these investigators for advocating for these children.
If some of their own parents won't protect them, somebody has to.
Well, not all parents are trash, and thank God for that.
(17:12):
A group of parents are locking themselves in cells to better understand their
children, and it's all going down on our next stop, South Korea.
The cells are no bigger than a store cupboard.
No phones or laptops are allowed inside, and there are only bare walls for the parents to look at.
(17:32):
The parents wear blue prison uniforms, but they're not inmates.
At the Happiness Factory, they're participating in a confinement experience.
Most of the participants have a child who has withdrawn from society,
and they've come to learn for themselves how it feels to be cut off from the world.
(17:53):
Hikikomori was a term that was coined in Japan in the 1990s,
and it describes severe social withdrawal among teens and young adults.
In 2023, a survey was conducted. The study group consisted of people from 19 to 34 years old.
More than 5% of respondents were isolating themselves.
(18:17):
The confinement experience is a 13-week parental education program.
It's funded by the Korea Youth Foundation and the Blue Well Recovery Center.
The goal is to teach people how to communicate better with their children.
For three days, the participants spend time in a room that replicates a solitary confinement cell.
(18:39):
The hope is isolation will offer parents a deeper understanding of their children.
Jin Young-hae, this is not her real name, has a son who has been isolating himself
in his bedroom for three years.
But since being in confinement herself, Ms. Jin understands her 24-year-old's
emotional prison a little better.
(19:00):
She said, I've been wondering what I did wrong. It's painful to think about.
But as I started reflecting, I gained some clarity.
According to Ms. Jin, her son has always been talented and she and his father
had high expectations of him, but he was often ill and struggled to maintain friendships.
(19:21):
He also developed an eating disorder and that made going to school difficult.
When her son began college, he seemed to be doing well for a term,
but one day he totally withdrew.
Seeing him locked in his room, neglecting personal hygiene and meals, broke her heart.
According to Ms. Jin, her son has faced many challenges, anxiety,
(19:44):
problematic relationships with family and friends, and not being accepted into a top university.
She says all of these things may have affected her son, but he's reluctant to
talk to her about what really is going on.
When Ms. Jin came to the happiness factory, she read notes written by other isolated young people.
(20:05):
And she said, reading those notes made me realize, ah, he's protecting himself
with silence because no one understands him.
According to research by the South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare,
there are many factors that cause young people to cut themselves off from the world.
Some of the most common reasons are problems finding a job, issues with interpersonal
(20:30):
personal relationships, family problems, and health issues.
In a previous episode, I told you that South Korea has some of the highest suicide
rates in the world and its government introduced a five-year plan to address mental health issues.
As a result, there'll be state-funded mental health checkups for people aged 20 to 34 every two years.
(20:55):
Now, sometimes your past definitely affects your future because the young people
who isolated themselves in the 90s are now middle-aged and are dependent on their elderly parents.
But Hikikomori isn't the only issue Japan is facing. Now let's get ready for our last stop.
(21:16):
Japan. In a previous episode, we talked about eugenics in the U.S. and Nazi Germany.
Well, it looks like Japan also used to sterilize people with disabilities,
and this happened from 1948 to 1996.
The eugenic protection law allowed authorities to forcibly sterilize people
(21:41):
with disabilities, including those with mental disorders, hereditary diseases,
seizes, or physical deformities and leprosy.
It also allowed forced abortions if either parent had those conditions.
Well now, Japan's Supreme Court has ordered the government to pay damages to
people who were forcibly sterilized.
(22:02):
Japan's Supreme Court has ruled the practice unconstitutional and state it violated rights.
The eugenic protection law was aimed to prevent the increase of the inferior
descendants from the eugenic point of view, and to protect the life and health of the mother as well.
About 25,000 people were sterilized without their consent.
(22:25):
In 2019, the government offered to compensate each victim 3.2 million yen,
that's about $19,800, but the victims argued that wasn't enough.
The plaintiffs filed lawsuits, and as a result,
the government has been ordered to pay 16.5 million yen, that is about $102,000
(22:51):
to the plaintiffs, and 2.2 million yen, that's 13,000, to their spouses.
Judge Saburo Tokura said the legislative intent of the former eugenic protection
law cannot be justified in light of the social conditions of the time.
Now, here's what made me smile.
Plaintiffs outside the court, elderly men and women, many in wheelchairs,
(23:15):
celebrated with their lawyers and supporters, holding up banners that read, victory.
That is a victory indeed, and I'm so glad they fought for their rights.
The last story I want to bring you out of Japan...some women are being severely abused in prison.
Some mothers are separated from their babies and are never told they can legally
(23:38):
request to be with their babies under a year old inside prison,
if they have the permission of the prison ward.
However, between 2011 and 2017, only three female inmates who had given birth
while in prison were allowed to be with their babies behind prison walls.
Separation at birth can be traumatizing for both the mother and the baby and
(24:03):
can interfere with breastfeeding and parent-child bonding.
And here's what's so sad to me. We already know that Japan is aging,
but some older women continue to commit nonviolent crimes like shoplifting because
of social isolation and loneliness.
If you've ever seen the Shawshank Redemption, there was a prisoner named Crooks.
(24:27):
He had been in prison for a long time, and by the time he was paroled, he was an old man.
Well, when Crooks found out he was getting out, he wasn't happy.
In fact, he got upset. He didn't want to leave prison because he had been institutionalized.
He had come to depend on the environment and the friends that he made there.
(24:50):
After Crooks was released, he got a job and an apartment, but his happiness didn't last long.
Before he took his life, he wrote a letter to Andy and Red explaining why he
decided to leave the world. He was lonely.
So yeah, I can understand these women committing these crimes out of loneliness.
(25:12):
The abuse that goes on inside these Japanese prisons are atrocious.
Some use solitary confinement as punishment for prolonged periods.
Other inmates are verbally abused by prison guards, and they have inadequate
access to health and mental health services.
Some recommendations were revised to the Ministry of Justice to end the
(25:36):
use of solitary confinement for imprisoned people with disabilities and end
the excessive use of solitary confinement of any imprisoned person.
Also, set clear policies and rules that ensure all imprisoned people receive
appropriate medical care in a timely manner.
Also, to enforce the Ministry of Justice's 2014 notice that prohibits officials
(26:02):
from shackling imprisoned persons while they're giving birth.
And finally, advocate to increase access to alternatives to prison for older
people, pregnant people, parenting mothers, people with disabilities,
or serious medical conditions.
In a previous episode, we talked about how services in the community would better
(26:25):
impact people with mental health issues and substance abuse disorders.
Those are all good recommendations in my book.
Well, folks, I've enjoyed sitting here talking to you, and I do hope you've
enjoyed this episode on advocacy.
And sadly, all good things must come to an end, at least for this week, because I'm out of time.
(26:49):
If you learned anything in today's episode, feel free to follow me...by now you know where.
Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Samsung, Spotify, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and many more.
The weekend is here, people.
I want you to be good to yourselves and remember to advocate for others.
(27:13):
I will be back with more stories.
Be easy. Have a good weekend. Take care of yourselves and as always....God...bless.
Music.
Music. Welcome back to Amerisogyny! I'm your host, Hannah Blue.
(00:15):
You're listening to episode 63, Transforming Lives Through Advocacy.
Advocacy. That's the topic of today's episode. But I want to make something clear.
Advocacy is the foundation of this show. Now, this is a podcast about mental
health, but we're different.
(00:36):
I've said before, you're not going to find deep breathing techniques or nice
music to calm your nerves on this show.
The number one mission of Amerisogyny is to advocate for the underdogs of the
world. To speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.
To amplify voices that would otherwise be silenced.
(00:59):
The second goal is to find common links in mental health that bind all of us.
No matter where you live in the world, we are all connected by mental health.
There's so much focus on differences. Too much.
And so I choose to focus on what people have in common.
(01:21):
And that is the mind. If you're a human being, you have a brain.
If you have a brain, you have a mind. And if you have a mind,
you're affected by mental health one way or another.
I was talking to a good friend of mine last week. and she said,
you know, I can't listen to you sometimes.
(01:44):
Some of the things you talk about are so heavy and I'm dealing with my own mental health.
But then she said, I believe in what you're doing, the advocacy you do.
It's powerful and a lot of people can't and don't do it. You got to keep going with that.
And I will. I'm going to keep going.
(02:07):
And you know, I get it. the subject matter I bring sometimes isn't wine and
roses but that's exactly how I want it. That's how I think.
When I think of mental health, I don't think, okay, today we're going to work on this.
There are hundreds of podcasts just like that, and I'm not trying to copy any of them.
(02:29):
This way, we have our own flow.
On Amerisogyny, we focus on the mental health of people who cannot stand up
for themselves, and we send calls of action to you, the listeners, to help others.
It starts with one person helping another. You don't have to live in someone
(02:50):
else's country to care about them.
All you have to do is be inspired to advocate.
We are in a generation of mindless scrolling.
Now, 20 or 30 years ago, reading was placed on a pedestal, and it deserved to be.
Now, there are politicians in this country who want books to be banned.
(03:12):
Conservatives don't want people to read.
They don't want them to be educated. They call it being woke,
as if woke is a dirty word.
Well, what's the opposite of woke?
Uh-huh, you're right.
Asleep. This nation just celebrated July 4th yesterday.
(03:33):
We have people who believe in their guns and freedom.
Now, let me ask you something. If someone is trying to break into your house
and rob you of something precious, is it better to be awake or asleep?
Your mind is a home.
It has many precious things in it. But if your mind is kept in darkness, how will you see them?
(03:58):
Education is the light.
Enlightenment is illuminating. The more you read, the more you know.
And when you know better, you do better.
Not just for yourself, for others.
I'll let you think about that for a minute. While we get ready for our first
stop, this is a country I would love to see pop up on our radar.
(04:22):
Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea is corrupt and very, very violent.
Looking on the bright side, It has a lot of beautiful, melanated people.
Well, Papua New Guinea has crossed our path, and we're going to shed some light on them today.
It's been said, if you're a girl or a woman, Papua New Guinea is no place for you to be.
(04:46):
Although the Family Protection Act was birthed in 2013, very few woman beaters
are held accountable for their actions.
And why? In 2016, their government still wasn't using it.
It's estimated 70% of women are raped or assaulted during their lifetime.
And the government's solutions for domestic violence?
(05:09):
Mediation. Compensation.
It's been said a woman is beaten every 30 seconds, and more than 1.5 million
are victims of violence every year.
Their police are corrupt.
Would you believe in the 2000s? Women and girls are accused of being witches
(05:29):
and are beaten by mobs of men.
Witches. Witch hunts. Now, where have we as Americans heard that?
1692, Salem Village, Massachusetts.
Over 160 people were accused of being witches and 19 people were hung.
(05:54):
This happened in the U.S. in 1692 and it's happening in Papua New Guinea right now.
This is why I say you need to know history, not just your own,
the history of others. because if we don't know history, we're doomed to repeat it.
In May 2015, a group of men in a secluded part of the Enga province killed a
(06:21):
woman after she was accused of sorcery.
Listeners, I have no doubt you're intelligent. Now, do you think they were held
accountable for their actions?
Mm-hmm, you guessed right. And she wasn't the only one men attacked.
At least five other women were beaten after they were accused of sorcery, but she died.
(06:42):
Also in 2015, Prime Minister Peter O'Neill starved his country's anti-corruption agency of funding.
And what happened when Chief Magistrate Nerrie Eliakim tried to intervene?
The government wanted to suspend her for issuing an arrest warrant for Prime Minister O'Neill.
(07:04):
This is what happens when your country is
corrupt. And the shenanigans didn't stop
there. On September 3rd 2021 three
men were released from prison after being accused of murdering a 31 year old
woman Imelda Tupi Tiamanda and she was married to one of the men. This happened
(07:26):
in Mount Hagen. The magistrate dismissed the charges saying there was a lack of evidence.
And get this, Imelda's body was found wrapped in tarp in the back of her husband's car.
Once questioned by the police, allegedly, he confessed to the murder.
Now, what do you mean lack of evidence?
(07:48):
A dead body is the last three-pointer in an NBA championship game.
The work for the prosecution was done. They could have easily won this case,
and they still dropped the ball.
COVID-19 didn't do women any favors. Under the pandemic, domestic violence and
accusations of sorcery increased.
(08:08):
In 2020, 15,444 cases of domestic violence were reported, but only 250 people
were prosecuted and less than 100 people were convicted.
The police said they didn't have enough resources to keep women and children
safe. And all their government is a joke.
(08:30):
And the women and children of Papua New Guinea deserve much better.
Better husbands, a better government.
There are a lot of strong, independent women out there.
But women who are supported by strong men, who are kind and of sound mind,
not only are in a position to help themselves, they open doors for others.
(08:52):
As in this next story, on our next stop, India.
Anuradha is a former child bride who advocates against child marriage in India.
At 13, she wanted to finish school and be a teacher.
She vividly remembers the day her dreams were put on hold.
(09:13):
She said, Dawn had just broken and the skies began to turn bright.
My mother, rather hurriedly, woke me up saying, Anuradha, wake up.
You need to do a lot of chores and get ready. While my body resisted waking
up, my inner voice screamed loudly.
There is school today. Wake up. It did not take a second longer for me to wake
(09:36):
up and rush out of the bed.
For the next two hours, I did all the household chores along with my mother.
Washing dishes, washing clothes, milking the buffaloes, and a lot of other things.
Just when I was going to get my school uniform, my mother yelled to me,
wear the new dress that we bought for you.
But the teacher will shout at me for wearing that dress, I corrected her.
(10:00):
Little did I know that my mother wanted me to dress for an event that was going to change my life.
Anuradha married her husband Krishna and within a year, she became a mother.
Now, unlike the dreadful woman beaters in Papua New Guinea, Krishna was very supportive of her.
He encouraged her to study until the 10th standard.
(10:23):
But when she was about to take the final 10th grade exams, she was eight months
pregnant with her second child.
And due to stress being unsafe for her pregnancy, her family convinced her to
miss the exams and she dropped out of school.
She said she attended a session that changed her life. It was on maternal,
(10:45):
newborn and child health.
And she learned the importance of providing newborn babies with nutritious and healthy food.
She says, ever since that program, I began attending all the programs conducted
by World Vision in my community because I felt empowered by the knowledge I was acquiring.
After she attended a training on child rights, she learned about the right to
(11:10):
an education, and she was encouraged to retake her 10th grade exams through open schooling.
Her husband Krishna is a good, strong man. He said...When Sunil came and spoke to us about helping Anuradha complete her education, I felt it was unjust to ask her to quit school. So I took the initiative to enroll her into the tenth grade to complete schooling. Now this is a man who wanted his wife to do better. He didn't beat her. He didn't kill her.
(11:50):
He provided the way for her to finish her education he could have easily said no. And that would
have been that. But he believed in her and watched what happens next.
Anuradha joined World Vision India as a volunteer and began training children
on education and child rights.
She went door to door in her village to get parents familiar with these ideas
and worked to ensure that all children in her village were enrolled in school.
(12:15):
She said, earlier I used to be known as Krishna's wife, but now everyone calls me Anuradha.
Anuradha also soon realized that child marriage was cutting short the dreams
of many girls in her village.
In 2016, she joined the Child Protection Unit formed by World Vision India in her village.
(12:38):
The members were trained about child protection issues and how to tackle them.
They were also made aware of agencies like Childline, who helped legally deal
with cases of child abuse and child marriage.
One 14-year-old girl found Anuradha and shared that her family was secretly forcing her to marry.
Anuradha helped the girl report the case. When Childline visited the village,
(13:03):
they counseled the family and stopped the child marriage.
Within two years, she reported four other cases to Childline.
Not only did they stop the marriages, they also conducted large-scale trainings
on the consequences of child marriage.
In 2017, Anuradha was recognized by the District Collector with a Bravery Award for her work. She says (13:19):
I know the difficulties of being married off at such a young age and I don’t want other girls to endure this,” says Anuradha.
So what is Anuradha up to now?
(13:39):
She works as a local news channel host where she speaks passionately about child
rights and the rights of women.
She is now completing her higher education and hopes to pursue a degree in education
and finally become a teacher.
I just told you when strong men support strong women, they're able to open the
(14:00):
door for others. Listen to this.
A girl whose marriage she stopped, completed her schooling and studied for a bachelor's degree.
Anuradha says, My life has changed. Ever since I was educated about my rights,
I've left no stone unturned.
At first, I was very angry about my marriage, but now I have left the regret
(14:23):
behind and I'm determined to make the lives of other girls in my community secure.
I feel extremely proud when girls come and thank me for stopping their marriage.
Now that is an awesome story about advocacy, support, and caring about your
fellow human beings.
(14:43):
Had Anuradha married the wrong man, her mental health would have suffered,
and so would the mental health of many girls in her village.
But even though she was given no choice in marrying at 13, she was able to stand
up and empower girls in her village because she was empowered through education.
(15:04):
Anuradha and Krishna have three beautiful boys, and they're proud parents.
But not every child has great parents.
And that leads me to our next story on our next stop, the Philippines.
Now, police in Papua New Guinea might be corrupt, but investigators from 10
other countries, including the UK,
(15:25):
the US, France and Germany, launched an investigation against almost 200 pedophiles
for paying to watch live streamed sexual abuse of children.
One sexual abuse investigator called it rape by proxy.
Pedophiles pay very little money to traffickers in the Philippines.
(15:45):
And at times, these sick animals often use their own kids to make the live content.
And what's heartbreaking, traffickers exploit the extreme poverty of people in the Philippines.
But for 12 years, investigators all over the world have been tenacious.
Every time a pedophile or a trafficker is arrested, their digital footprint,
(16:08):
such as chats, financial data, locations, and IP addresses are used to generate more leads.
In 2022 alone, almost 500,000 Filipino children were trafficked to produce new child sexual content.
Many of the victims were between age 3 and 12.
(16:29):
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the U.S.,
that's our country, received more than 32 million reports of child sexual abuse
material from around the world.
That is an 87% increase since 2019.
I have no sympathy for pedophiles. I think they all should be castrated.
(16:50):
And you heard me right. I said what I said. There is nothing,
and I mean absolutely nothing, sexy about a child.
I applaud all of these investigators for advocating for these children.
If some of their own parents won't protect them, somebody has to.
Well, not all parents are trash, and thank God for that.
(17:12):
A group of parents are locking themselves in cells to better understand their
children, and it's all going down on our next stop, South Korea.
The cells are no bigger than a store cupboard.
No phones or laptops are allowed inside, and there are only bare walls for the parents to look at.
(17:32):
The parents wear blue prison uniforms, but they're not inmates.
At the Happiness Factory, they're participating in a confinement experience.
Most of the participants have a child who has withdrawn from society,
and they've come to learn for themselves how it feels to be cut off from the world.
(17:53):
Hikikomori was a term that was coined in Japan in the 1990s,
and it describes severe social withdrawal among teens and young adults.
In 2023, a survey was conducted. The study group consisted of people from 19 to 34 years old.
More than 5% of respondents were isolating themselves.
(18:17):
The confinement experience is a 13-week parental education program.
It's funded by the Korea Youth Foundation and the Blue Well Recovery Center.
The goal is to teach people how to communicate better with their children.
For three days, the participants spend time in a room that replicates a solitary confinement cell.
(18:39):
The hope is isolation will offer parents a deeper understanding of their children.
Jin Young-hae, this is not her real name, has a son who has been isolating himself
in his bedroom for three years.
But since being in confinement herself, Ms. Jin understands her 24-year-old's
emotional prison a little better.
(19:00):
She said, I've been wondering what I did wrong. It's painful to think about.
But as I started reflecting, I gained some clarity.
According to Ms. Jin, her son has always been talented and she and his father
had high expectations of him, but he was often ill and struggled to maintain friendships.
(19:21):
He also developed an eating disorder and that made going to school difficult.
When her son began college, he seemed to be doing well for a term,
but one day he totally withdrew.
Seeing him locked in his room, neglecting personal hygiene and meals, broke her heart.
According to Ms. Jin, her son has faced many challenges, anxiety,
(19:44):
problematic relationships with family and friends, and not being accepted into a top university.
She says all of these things may have affected her son, but he's reluctant to
talk to her about what really is going on.
When Ms. Jin came to the happiness factory, she read notes written by other isolated young people.
(20:05):
And she said, reading those notes made me realize, ah, he's protecting himself
with silence because no one understands him.
According to research by the South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare,
there are many factors that cause young people to cut themselves off from the world.
Some of the most common reasons are problems finding a job, issues with interpersonal
(20:30):
personal relationships, family problems, and health issues.
In a previous episode, I told you that South Korea has some of the highest suicide
rates in the world and its government introduced a five-year plan to address mental health issues.
As a result, there'll be state-funded mental health checkups for people aged 20 to 34 every two years.
(20:55):
Now, sometimes your past definitely affects your future because the young people
who isolated themselves in the 90s are now middle-aged and are dependent on their elderly parents.
But Hikikomori isn't the only issue Japan is facing. Now let's get ready for our last stop.
(21:16):
Japan. In a previous episode, we talked about eugenics in the U.S. and Nazi Germany.
Well, it looks like Japan also used to sterilize people with disabilities,
and this happened from 1948 to 1996.
The eugenic protection law allowed authorities to forcibly sterilize people
(21:41):
with disabilities, including those with mental disorders, hereditary diseases,
seizes, or physical deformities and leprosy.
It also allowed forced abortions if either parent had those conditions.
Well now, Japan's Supreme Court has ordered the government to pay damages to
people who were forcibly sterilized.
(22:02):
Japan's Supreme Court has ruled the practice unconstitutional and state it violated rights.
The eugenic protection law was aimed to prevent the increase of the inferior
descendants from the eugenic point of view, and to protect the life and health of the mother as well.
About 25,000 people were sterilized without their consent.
(22:25):
In 2019, the government offered to compensate each victim 3.2 million yen,
that's about $19,800, but the victims argued that wasn't enough.
The plaintiffs filed lawsuits, and as a result,
the government has been ordered to pay 16.5 million yen, that is about $102,000
(22:51):
to the plaintiffs, and 2.2 million yen, that's 13,000, to their spouses.
Judge Saburo Tokura said the legislative intent of the former eugenic protection
law cannot be justified in light of the social conditions of the time.
Now, here's what made me smile.
Plaintiffs outside the court, elderly men and women, many in wheelchairs,
(23:15):
celebrated with their lawyers and supporters, holding up banners that read, victory.
That is a victory indeed, and I'm so glad they fought for their rights.
The last story I want to bring you out of Japan...some women are being severely abused in prison.
Some mothers are separated from their babies and are never told they can legally
(23:38):
request to be with their babies under a year old inside prison,
if they have the permission of the prison ward.
However, between 2011 and 2017, only three female inmates who had given birth
while in prison were allowed to be with their babies behind prison walls.
Separation at birth can be traumatizing for both the mother and the baby and
(24:03):
can interfere with breastfeeding and parent-child bonding.
And here's what's so sad to me. We already know that Japan is aging,
but some older women continue to commit nonviolent crimes like shoplifting because
of social isolation and loneliness.
If you've ever seen the Shawshank Redemption, there was a prisoner named Crooks.
(24:27):
He had been in prison for a long time, and by the time he was paroled, he was an old man.
Well, when Crooks found out he was getting out, he wasn't happy.
In fact, he got upset. He didn't want to leave prison because he had been institutionalized.
He had come to depend on the environment and the friends that he made there.
(24:50):
After Crooks was released, he got a job and an apartment, but his happiness didn't last long.
Before he took his life, he wrote a letter to Andy and Red explaining why he
decided to leave the world. He was lonely.
So yeah, I can understand these women committing these crimes out of loneliness.
(25:12):
The abuse that goes on inside these Japanese prisons are atrocious.
Some use solitary confinement as punishment for prolonged periods.
Other inmates are verbally abused by prison guards, and they have inadequate
access to health and mental health services.
Some recommendations were revised to the Ministry of Justice to end the
(25:36):
use of solitary confinement for imprisoned people with disabilities and end
the excessive use of solitary confinement of any imprisoned person.
Also, set clear policies and rules that ensure all imprisoned people receive
appropriate medical care in a timely manner.
Also, to enforce the Ministry of Justice's 2014 notice that prohibits officials
(26:02):
from shackling imprisoned persons while they're giving birth.
And finally, advocate to increase access to alternatives to prison for older
people, pregnant people, parenting mothers, people with disabilities,
or serious medical conditions.
In a previous episode, we talked about how services in the community would better
(26:25):
impact people with mental health issues and substance abuse disorders.
Those are all good recommendations in my book.
Well, folks, I've enjoyed sitting here talking to you, and I do hope you've
enjoyed this episode on advocacy.
And sadly, all good things must come to an end, at least for this week, because I'm out of time.
(26:49):
If you learned anything in today's episode, feel free to follow me...by now you know where.
Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Samsung, Spotify, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and many more.
The weekend is here, people.
I want you to be good to yourselves and remember to advocate for others.
(27:13):
I will be back with more stories.
Be easy. Have a good weekend. Take care of yourselves and as always....God...bless.
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