Nordstrom

As I’m reading Nordstrom’s article Visible Wars and Invisible Girls, I feel very thankful to feel safe.  It is so disturbing to think of the black-marketing of women and children, or that in war, as many children are tortured as adults and more children die in war than soldiers.  As depressing as this is, I more upset by the fact that we are taught to ‘not-see’ the issues involved in violence and war.  It is very difficult for me to imagine what it is like for someone who is constantly living in fear with his or her home as a battlefield.  Even now amidst the war on terrorism, if you do not have someone you know fighting there, you forget that it is going on.  Besides for forgetting that we are fighting a war, we are also unaware of the other effects of the war on the women and children in the Middle East.  This article brought to my attention the real numbers that we should be seeing:  the number of women and children raped, tortured, and killed. 

            The stories that Nordstrom shares are about three girls in Mozambique are quite startling, but they are something that more people need to be aware of.  These girls were stripped of their innocence and in the third girl’s case her life.  I was always under the impression that women and children were the ones to be protected, but this completely goes against that notion.  I like to think that the people who are fighting for our country are doing so protect our freedoms, and us and I would hope that they do so with honor.  After reading this article, I begin to question the integrity of soldiers.  I guess that it is a war tactic in many cases, but I still find it hard to believe that people can be so heartless. 

            Another frightening statistic was the one produced from the US Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect.  Abuse and neglect in the home are the leading causes of death in children, resulting in 2,000 deaths and 140,000 injuries per year.  Incidents like the one mentioned where the parent uses a raw lamp wire and socket to stop a child from wetting the bed reaffirm the fact that some people should not reproduce, as far as I am concerned.  Some people are just awful.  I feel that after reading this article, I lost some respect for society.