The last six months of my melancholy life were spent operating a machine. I was responsible for making sure the reactors were working smoothly, so most of my time at work was spent slowly noticing the horrid conditions of the room that escaped my immediate glances. Thick, black smoke covered its pipes and reactors while a pungent scent of sweat and gasoline permeated the dark facility. I could sometimes not tell the difference between a wall and the standing silhouette of a worker on break.

Making my descent down my apartment complex’s ancient creaky stairs, I noticed a door open and then a girl emerge. Her appearance was a novelty to say the least due to her long, green hair that curled to her sides and a fair complexion that contrasted the color of her hair. I would have considered her more strange than beautiful if it weren’t for the soft green in her rounded eyes.

I introduced myself with a “Good morning, ma’am.”

She threw me a grave stare.

“I’m sorry for interrupting you, but I just moved here,” I nervously uttered.

“This place is mine” was all she croaked as she abruptly retreated back into her apartment and slammed the door.

In that split second, I saw that her floor was covered with live grass while vines and tree branches protruded their way out of the deep fissures of her walls. I was already very perplexed by this woman’s odd complexion, and her unique room only added to my confusion.

The day’s results from processing Earth’s resources were extremely beneficial. But I could not end the sudden anxiousness that churned in the pit of my stomach. I felt the presence of something dreadful. I assumed it was the hours spent in labor while inhaling massive amounts of smoke, but the pay was far too great to quit.

Upon my return home, the feeling grew stronger. The loud thumping of my heart roared with each step I took through my apartment. One step … thump … two steps … thump … three steps … and it ceased. I found myself standing in front of my closed, oak bedroom door. I concentrated. Had I locked the door? Had I closed all the windows? I stood there. Part of me tried to rationalize my lack of action with not wanting to face whatever thing my mind was trying to conjure.

As if I were a juvenile, I tried to summon enough courage to open the door and face “it.” Since my feet remained stationary, I tried to summon annoyance, then anger. I finally forced my hand onto the glossy, dark doorknob and braced myself. The thumping returned and was more rapid than it was previously. Before I convinced myself to remain still for longer, I quickly turned and pushed the door open.

I looked up and scouted out my empty room. What was odd was my six-foot mirror and my reflection staring back at me. For a moment, I almost laughed at myself while trying to rationalize how I had somehow moved the mirror in my fatigued state this morning. However, my slightly whimsical mood changed immediately once I saw the pile of dirt that the mirror stood upon.

Logic couldn’t explain what I saw, but neither could my fear. Had someone put the mirror here, and if so, why? What was it supposed to mean? I simply cleaned the dark brown pile of dirt from the floor and put the mirror back next to my bed.

The next day was even more odd. In the pit of my stomach, I felt like there was something absolutely wrong. Despite the praise I received from both my bosses and my coworkers, I felt like I was committing homicide. And the harder I worked, the more it made itself present. My thoughts still periodically pondered upon the events of the night before. Logic proved to me the undeniable truth that I was being targeted. The scariest part was trying to figure out who was after me, and I was further mystified by the fact that I had only arrived in this town months ago. I also could not comprehend why dirt was being used too. I then thought about the girl with the green hair and her earthy apartment.

I had to gain some confirmation somehow, and direct confrontation was the only way I saw fit. I sternly knocked on what I expected to be a rigid wooden door, but instead my hand crashed through its oily oak. I recoiled at the sight of the hole I had created until I noticed the inside of the apartment. The walls were caked with brown mud while deep red veins protruded the walls. I couldn’t tell if my mind deceived me, but I could have sworn that the walls throbbed in a rhythmic fashion. Suddenly a lady, I’m not even sure if its characteristics could grant it that title, appeared at the end of the hallway. Its oily, green hair sat tangled on its shoulders, and its red eyes glowed with a certain vengeance that I couldn’t describe. Its mouth was forever shut by the vines that stitched her lips together. The red of its body was entangled in branches and twigs, while its fingers twisted in opposing directions. Its lips forced the vines apart and its gaping mouth widened into a sickening smile. And inside the abyss, I saw the reflection of myself with a sinister grin.

My legs carried me to the only place where I felt secure. I locked my bedroom door, and I stared at its old oak while anxiously anticipating that Thing’s forced entry. Sometimes, my gaze shifted towards the mirror and my peripheral vision captured a glimpse of what I thought was the Thing, until I saw my slicked black hair. I’ve sat here for six hours I can’t seem to remember if my walls were yellow or gray. I inhale, and in comes the smell of rotten grass. I exhale, and out comes black smoke. I cry, and out comes a thick black drop. I scream, and out comes the mocking roar of machinery. But as I look into the sky and see it turn black, I realize that it is too late.

Where oaks once grew.

Power plants displace our cornfields

On that lovely land.

The breeze roughly sidles and bends

Over the purling brooks,

And all the mockingbirds hush

As the day droops.

Wailing moans heard everywhere

By countless orphans of the east,

Longing for a lofty peace,

Never knowing what fate conceives.

Neither chilly blizzards

Nor scorching sun,

Can lay a trap under its debris.

For those who learned too late, perhaps,

How to defy the pull of the sand.

Global traffickers in humans bring people from underdeveloped or developing countries, enticing them with the promise of work or a better life, to developed countries, where there is an immense demand for labor. These people are forced to work painstakingly long shifts at unskilled and demeaning jobs; for example, men are forced to do dangerous tasks that require physical strength, often working without any safety precautions. Minors are forced to work in less labor-intensive jobs, but again for extremely long hours without any proper training. Women are forced to work in socially degrading and debasing jobs, which in some areas are no different from slavery, and the worst, they are used in prostitution.

Nowadays there is a global sector abusing minors and women for these vicious purposes. On the other hand, the acquisition of the global dimensions of TH can be seen to be an outcome of poverty and the misery that results from the poor socio-economical situation of third world countries. Most international trafficking in humans is from poor countries to developed countries. It has also been witnessed that this problem is aggravated by the peculiar traits of prosperous societies.

What is Trafficking in Humans?

In most countries where TH is committed, there are no conceptual or legal precautions taken to protect against such abuses. Within the classical conception, TH is usually defined as the abuse of people in actual physical slavery. Yet today, since the problem has become so widespread as to be global, and as TH is committed for the sake of contemptible purposes, this narrow-scoped definition is no longer sufficient. Thus, the United Nations felt the need to define TH in a broader context.(1)

The ultimate goal of TH is to force people to work in oppressive and exploitative situations in a way that will benefit the organized human traffickers. These conditions include the coercion of men to work in the most menial and labor-intensive jobs, women and girls to partake in debasing activities, servanthood, counterfeit marriages and adoptions, even prostitution, with secret contracts that are in no way legal, forcing them to work under harsh conditions.(2)

The Factors that Nourish TH

For the most part, human traffickers utilize new technological tools of transportation, communication, and media to accomplish their goals. The Internet is a commonly used tool. Some matchmaking companies in developed countries work outside of legal boundaries. Not only do they put ads in the national newspapers, they also put the c.v. and photographs of women and girls who are willing to marry rich men onto the Internet.(3)

This evil marketing approach illegally prospers under the guise of matchmaking and is generally ignored by the countries from where it originates. This, in part, stems from the mutual benefit of the involved parties (for example, bribing officials while transporting people across borders.)(4)

TH is also related to what is called “pleasure tourism.” Third world countries that depend heavily on tourism revenue tend to neglect the conditions that contribute to such problems. For example, Kenya has overlooked TH in order to support tourism. In order to please the increasing number of tourists, women are even brought from neighboring countries, like Uganda.(5)

Undoubtedly, the International Development Banks as well as multinational financial institutions are also responsible for TH by supporting the countries involved and ignoring the socio-ethic consequences. Among developed countries, according to Focus, the Germany is the country most involved in tourism for base purposes. Between 200,000 and 400,000 Germans travel to Far Eastern countries, mostly Thailand and the Philippines, for this purpose each year. In Thailand, among the 1.5 million women employed in such demeaning jobs as prostitution, 800,000 of them are minors. In the Philippines, the minors involved number between 30 and 60,000. In such countries, diseases like AIDS are widespread. For instance 80% of women working in such forms of employment in Thailand are infected with HIV. According to data from the World Health Organization, there will be over 40 million AIDS patients in a couple of years.(6) Lately, there have been reports that after the Tsunami in the Far East, TH has increased in the victimized regions where children now have even less protection.

The multinational organized crime groups who commit TH usually employ two methods. One is to bring women and minors who are already in an abusive situation to developed countries. The other is to promise good wages, work conditions, and prospects to desperately poor people and then to force them to undertake unthinkable actions. For example, as the demand in the evil practice of TH for prostitution increasingly turns to younger and younger girls, due to concerns about AIDS, the second form of TH is frequently committed. As a result, there is an increasing demand for foreign women and girls in developed societies, where marriage has become something to be put off, or perhaps altogether avoided.(7) According to UN data, one million minors are traded in the global TH market.(8)

Although TH is one of the most heinous crimes and something that requires serious punishment, the victims of TH face many discouraging impediments if they try to seek their rights. Most of the time, suspects manage to get away with a very light punishment, if any, as the victims cannot prove their case. Thus, although the judicial system protects women in theory, in practice TH is easier to commit than most people think and remains unpunished. It would be useful to give the example of a trial that lasted eleven months here. At the end of the trial, which was brought to court by Thai women who were promised work in pubs as waitresses in Germany, the criminals were found guilty of “encouraging prostitution” rather than TH; the former carries a much lighter punishment. In the hearings, the women said that they were forced to marry German nationals in Denmark so that they could enter Germany legally and attain a work permit. But later, they were forced to engage in prostitution “to pay for the expenses.”(9) The abuse of women sometimes can be hidden behind a legal disguise. For example, in Berlin a female computer programmer had been laid off from work, and was on unemployment benefit. When a brothel owner saw her c.v. on a database of job seekers and offered her a position, she refused on moral grounds. The government then threatened to cut her unemployment benefits, as she had refused a job. Surprisingly, brothels were legalized two years ago in Germany, and now are considered to be just “another workplace.”(10)

Final Remarks

The people who are forced to work underground or in demeaning jobs know neither the language nor the laws of the country to which they have been brought with fake documents. As the dependents or guardians of these people are paid in advance, it is even more difficult for these people to return to their families as long as their financial dependence continues. On the other hand, if they notify the authorities, they will face deportation and be arrested, as they are not legally residing in that country.

TH can be said to be modern slavery from the perspective of the methods used, the purposes it serves, and the exertion of physical and psychological oppression on the victims. Hence, it is necessary to protect people who are victims of TH wherever they live through the law, and to severely punish the human traffickers. 

References

1. The declaration of UN-General Secretary about “Trafficking in Women and Girls,” number A/50/369. date:08/24/1995.
2. The decision of UN-General Committee, number: 49/166, date:12/23/1994.
3. Bundesministerium fur Familie, Senioren, Frauen, und Jugend (BMFJ) (Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women, and Youth). Materialen zur Frauenpolitik (Materials of Women Politics). Nr.63. Bonn 1997. p.20.
4. Marjan, Wiyers and Lin Lap, Chew; Trafficking in Women; Forced Labor and Slavery-Like Practices in Marriage, Domestic Labor and Prostitution, Utrecht. 1996, p45.
5. BMFJ, same issue.
6. Focus, Nr. 2; 1995. pp 111-114.
7. Licia, Brussa. Survey of Prostitution, Migration and Traffic in Women: History and Current Situation; EU, EG/Prost (91) 2; p.42.
8. Der Spiegel. Nr. 35, 1996, p.31.
9. Elvira, Niesner et al. A woman’s Dignity is Inviolable: A Trial on Trafficking in Women, Forschungsprojekt im Auftrag des BMFJ (Research Project on behalf of BMFJ); Frankfurter Institut fur Frauendforschung (Frankfurt Institute for Women Research). Frankfurt; 1991.
10. The world at a glance…The Week, volume 5, issue 196, February 25, 2005. 

Life in Utopia

In More’s classless society, everyone does the same work, is equal, has the same rights, and must work at least 6 hours every day at whatever they do best. As Utopia is an agricultural society, all people work the land. This creates the same conditions for everyone and ensures ample supplies to suppress the animal fear of want.

All clothing is plain, simple, and designed for utility and practicality. Finer material would give no better protection from the cold or make people appear better dressed. To prevent ostentation, Utopians exchange homes every 10 years and eat in mess halls. Hereditary distinctions are unknown, for children move from household to household, depending on which skill they want to learn. Since there is little distinction in occupation, dress, lodging, riches, or use of free time, pride is almost non-existent.

Utopia’s collective agriculture displays the division of labor. Everyone learns the rudiments of agriculture to better serve the common good. “No one will have to do this hard work against his will for more than two years, but many of them ask to stay longer because they take a natural delight in farm life.”(1) This ensures Utopia’s food supply and gives everyone access to civilized life. If an excessive surplus is produced, a holiday is declared so that no one works without purpose.

Utopia’s separate groups (e.g., magistrates and the prince, priests and intellectuals) are not a social or economic class. The syphogrants and the prince are elected autocrats. Their power derives from-and can be removed by-the people. Specialists are not isolated, but rather leaders in an institution in which all can participate. Learning is valued and respected as a means of fully developing one’s specific capacities, not as an indication of social standing.

Why Is Utopia Desirable?

One of More’s reasons for suggesting a Utopia was to end exploitation. More was most likely revolted by the luxury of sixteenth-century Europe’s ruling class, which he saw as a result of the peasantry’s impoverishment. If poverty were to be excluded from Utopia, luxury must suffer the same fate. More saw no benefit to the common good if peasant labor benefited only a very small minority.

As a classless society cannot have pride, Utopians consider it a social vice and pass this view on to their children at an early age. As Hythloday says: “Men and animals alike are greedy and rapacious from fear of want. Only human pride glories in surpassing others in conspicuous consumption. For this kind of vice there is no room whatsoever in the Utopian way of life.”(2) Lack of pride rids Utopia of class and potential social discord, for a commonwealth without pride is like a single united family.

An even division of labor and a lack of pride clears the way for life’s pleasures. There can be no better good than striving for the maximum happiness of all, at the least cost or disadvantage to oneself and society. More believes that money, a symbolic capital that people desire, is the problem, and so Utopia has no money or capital. Thus freed from worrying about food, bills, and other necessities, they enjoy such physical pleasures as fine dining, eating, drinking, and merrymaking (though without alcohol). There is music, a pleasure to the mind and body. For similar reasons, each house has a large garden into which much love and leisure time goes. Their desire to have the best garden, the most pleasing sanctuary, is perhaps the only competition among families.

Pride is replaced by spiritual fulfillment. They pursue philosophy and religion in their quest for virtue and contemplation of the truth, respectively. Their society’s primary virtue is natural reason: the reasons for humanity’s creation. For them, living according to nature is to be humanitarian. More mentions this: “As nature bids us mutually to make our lives merry and delightful, so she also bids again and again not to destroy or diminish other people’s pleasure in seeking our own.”(3)

Religion gives great satisfaction to most Utopians. This is unique to More, for neither Plato nor Marx accept religion. Utopia’s king decreed that all citizens should believe in at least two things: the soul’s immortality and the existence of rewards and punishments in the next life. In religion, Utopians find peace and contemplation of the truth. As education is the most efficient way to overcome corruption and crime, it is entrusted to priests. As a result, few laws are needed and existing ones require only the most obvious and easiest interpretation.

Utopia’s government consists of magistrates and a prince who handle the country’s affairs. This does not contradict communism, as government’s sole purpose is to maintain the status quo and prevent idleness. The government is designed in the most responsible way. All matters must be considered for a day and cannot be passed without 3 days of contemplation. It is a capital offense to consult together on public affairs outside the senate or the people’s assembly. Raphael says: “They take care to deliberate wisely rather than speedily … considering the public good.”(4)

Conclusion

More’s Utopia has a major failing: it is static and unchanging, instead of evolving, and allows no place for growth and development. Thus only a miracle or a prince gifted with a measure of divine power could bring it into existence. More understood that his Utopia was not a possible solution, but had no idea of the historical process that might lead to a future socialism.

Utopia is only put forward so that readers will understand that Utopian values are really the fundamental values of human nature, and that the world is imperfect. As Hythloday says at the end: “I must confess that there are many things in the Utopian Commonwealth that I wish rather than expect to see among our citizens.”(5)

More does not call for a revolution, nor is he a leader of the proletariat who wants to overthrow the bourgeoisie. Instead, More is like his Utopians, simply contemplating what would be nice, a daydream maybe. While More’s Utopia anticipates the characteristics of a modern classless society, he proposes no means by which to obtain this blissful paradise.

Footnotes

1. Thomas More, Utopia, ed./trans. H.V.S. Ogden (Illinois: ARM, 1949), 29.
2. Ibid., 38.
3. Ibid., 48.
4. Ibid., 33.
5. Ibid., 83.

WHAT MAKES THE BABY CALM IN HIS MOTHER’S ARMS?

According to some researchers, the rhythmic heartbeat of parents is one of the main factors that influence baby’s feelings. Several experiments have been performed based upon this hypothesis. Some babies who were crying for food were taken to a room where pre-recorded heartbeats and lullabies were playing. It was observed that the crying babies became silent and fell asleep in a short while. The researchers came up to the conclusion that, during pregnancy, babies become accustomed to the heartbeats of the mother in her womb. After the baby is born, this familiar sound becomes a sort of music that relieves the baby.

Most mothers unintentionally lean her babies on their left arms during breast-feeding and over their hearts when trying to lull them. This instinctive behavior leads researchers to focus on the impact of the heartbeats upon babies’ feelings.

Associate Professor of the College of Nursing at Marmara University, Nuran Komurcu, is a distinguished person who has dedicated herself to medical science and takes her inspiration from small details. She had even tried proving the truthfulness of her hypothesis that musical therapy was effective during the delivery of a baby. Dr. Komurcu had continued most of her studies in Bakirkoy Yenimahalle Maternity hospital. She usually used the beautiful sounds of nature such as the babbling sound of water and a mystic wind instrument, ney, which is used to perform Sufi music, for her experiments. She divided her patients into two groups and placed them in two different rooms. One room was prepared for patients who would listen to the kind of music mentioned above, and the other room was for the group who would not listen to any music. Meanwhile, one question raised from her mind, “what if the babies fall asleep in the mothers’ womb before labor?”

Dr. Komurcu then selected her patients among those who would most probably give birth to their babies first and made them listen to music just a couple of hours before delivery. Being treated in a very comfortable room, the patients almost did not have any fear of the delivery.

First, the patients who were regarded as experimental and the control group, were asked whether they liked music or not, what kind of music they listened to, and other questions concerning their personalities. Then, their blood pressure was measured. The measurement of the blood pressure was essential for the assessment of the experiment because it led to more accurate results among the other tests which are conducted for the determination of the effects of music, in terms of pain relieving, mood enhancing, and delivery stress. She hoped to see the stimulating muscle contractions caused by the ney, which is proved by former research. Her patients listened to the music at 20-minute intervals before the labor time. It was observed that the pain during the labor time became more frequent. This showed that the music decreased the labor period.

Music therapy is playing an important role to help patients gain self- confidence and subsequently overcome labor pain. The results state that the patients who listened to music during delivery were less tense and nervous than the other group. The determination of differences of blood pressure among the groups is assumed to be caused by the efficiency of music therapy on the blood circulation, respiration, and muscle physiology.

Having hypothesized that music could ease delivery, Dr. Komurcu has reported the beneficial effects of music therapy from her research. However, she emphasized that it would not just be enough to apply music therapy when women are in labor. It is recommended that music therapy be started at least 3 months before the expected delivery time in order to get full advantage of it.

International companies around the world have used most of the child labor for years. For example, one famous worldwide shoe company in the United States employs five thousand people in the United States and employs ninety five thousand people in Far Eastern Asian countries. Therefore, most of the production by this company has been made in the factories in Far East Asia. The company, however, has been using children as work power, while paying them only $1.5 per month. Just this example shows how difficult the working children’s situation is in the world, and makes people shudder. Although the situation is very serious, there have not been important efforts to protect children from working in unsuitable places. While we see children labor in developed countries, the situation is even worse in developing countries.

THESE CHILDREN BELONG TO US

Children have been being worked at places that need less technology. In industries, many heavy jobs require cheap labor; therefore, children are the best workers for this kind of jobs. There are many reasons why even small aged group children have been pushed to work at unsuitable workplaces. Over population, poverty, migration from rural to urban areas, the education level of the parents, etc. are the main causes for working children. Especially in developing countries, when families migrate to cities, most of the time they live at a ghetto without a healthy environment and well-paying job. Therefore, every member of the family is a potential worker to bring food and money to the home. Many times, children are the most suitable workers for this kind of situation because parents do not have qualified work eligibility; therefore, it is hard for these parents to earn good money. Some cultural misconceptions also put children in work places. For example, in some cultures some families think their children should he taught to get ready for future life. This thinking sometimes force children to work at small ages to see how difficult life is. While child labor is a part of the daily life in third world countries, the problem has not been solved in developed countries either. Because children are considered the free work power, they are the only source of money for poor families. Even today, child labor problems are still a big problem in Spain, Portugal, Turkey, and some other countries. The income anomalies, poverty, high unemployment rate, low school finishing rate, etc. are the main reasons why child labor has been used in Turkey, a developing country with high young population rate.

WORKING CHILDREN; PROBLEMATIC CHILDREN

If children at early ages are allowed to work at dangerous places, without good meals, with unsafe health environments, poor education, and neglect, we have to accept that these children will bring big problems to our society. Yet these children have the rights to receive a good education, security, a secure place to work, and the ability to join social activities. They need to be provided with all of their needs. When children stay away from their family’s control, and especially children who work on the street, will automatically be put in some risk from the streets and be vulnerable to exploitation. Any kind of drug uses, sexual abuses, and harassment are the main risks that children may come across in a short time on the streets.

CHILD LABOR AND CHILDREN RIGHTS IN THE WORLD

Though the exact number of children workers in the world is not known, according to the United Nation International Children Fund’s estimation (UNICEF), the number of working children are more than two hundred million. According to International Labor Organization’s report, more than eighteen percent of the 14-18 age group of children are working in developing countries (Latin America, Asia, and Africa). In other words, children laborer is eight percent of the world’s potential 2.4 billions work power.

Today, not only most of the children’s future are in danger, but also their health and life are under threat around the world. It is possible to see working children continuous in history because the labor is cheap, and they are unable to protect their rights; especially industrial capitalists, factories, mining companies exploited children a lot. At that time, a generation was forced to pay the bill of Western Industrialization. Days and Nights from children to elderly people, everybody has worked. The first studies for children’s legal rights and protection started around the 1880s. The first applications to protect children and give them security by government began in 1802 in England. With this law, children were forbidden to work between 9.00 p.a. and 6.00 a.m. during nights. For the first time in 1890, the working children rights were discussed internationally at Berlin Conference in Germany. Children from both sex groups were prohibited to work unless they turned a specific age and finished their primary school education. The first international documents on children rights was signed with the Zurich Children Right Announcement in 1923. In addition, the United Nation Children Rights report was accepted in 1959.

DEVELOPED COUNTRIES ARE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THE SITUATION

ILO, the main international children organization, was working to prevent child labor with classic methods. That is, the main methods used by them were prohibiting children under a specific age and punished companies that allowed children to work. This classic method started to change in the 1990s. Under the United Nations umbrella role, ILO and some other children organizations began to develop new strategies and projects to protect children. For example, Germany founded the IPEC project. However, there are still some obstacles that need to be solved. Children from developing countries have been used as a study case, which brought some doubts about the success of the project.

Child labor is cheap, yet this is a disadvantage for developed countries. Some developed countries argue that it is not fair to compete with developing countries because they allow working children as cheap work forces while developed countries can not. Therefore, the G-7 (the most developed seven countries in the world), and 24 countries have taken some actions at the ILO and OECD level in order to stop this acting unjustly competition. Here is a typical example from Germany: Germany has been importing carpets and rugs from India for years. German people started protesting these products from India because children produced these carpets and rugs. Finally, India agreed that they would send an official certificate to Germany showing that the products were not made by children.

Some experts think that labor by children is not productive. According to Jean Maurie Derrien, an expert at ILO, children work power is a vicious circle and does not make nations rich, but only causes poverty. The reason is because if children work, the level of education, qualified work power or profession, and the rate of earning will get lower. The lack of healthy food, poor housing and lack of immunization from diseases brings low working capabilities and, thus, poverty. All of these unsuitable working conditions have many impacts on children for the rest of their lives. In order to solve these problems, ILO started a program called IPEC in developing countries, such as Turkey, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Kenya, etc. which includes serial conferences, seminars, and other activities. The program is still continuing, therefore, the results are yet to come.