Category: Free Essays

Amazons of the animal world: the complex matrilineal social structure of spotted hyenas. The spotted hyena, Crocuta crocuta? has evolved a matrilineal society in which the females are more dominant and aggressive than males within the clans. Female and male behaviors come together to form a complex societal structure that promotes variability and reproductive success. This species is an exceptional example of matrilineal hierarchy and social organization as opposed to the regular male-dominant societal structure present in the case of most mammals. Scientists continue to study the spotted hyena for its remarkably sophisticated social behavior, which may be comparable to that of some primates and possibly even human beings (Jenks et al., 1995; Drea et al., 2002; Engh et al., 2002; East et al., 2003).

The spotted hyena, Crocuta crocuta, is a very intelligent animal that organizes itself into large clans of 50-80 members (Engh et al., 2002). While most mammals exhibit a male-dominant society where males fight for rank and the right to reproduce, the spotted hyena has developed a matrilineal society (Jenks et al., 1995). Females are more dominant and aggressive than males and pass on their rank to their offspring (Jenks et al., 1995; Engh et al., 2002). They are responsible for reproductive choice due to their dominant status (East et al., 2003). Males regularly travel to clans outside their natal society, despite the cost of access to food, for the chance of higher reproductive success (Engh et al., 2002). They also engage in specific favorable behaviors to entice females to choose to mate with them (East et al., 2003). All of these sophisticated behaviors have evolved to promote variability and overall success for the spotted hyena. Even more amazingly, the same social structure and behaviors of dominant-submissive interactions emerged within an isolated group of spotted hyenas raised in captivity (Jenks et al., 1995). The spotted hyena is definitely a very unique case of societal arrangement (Engh et al., 2002). With further study, the evolution of this remarkable case of sex-role reversal and complex hierarchy may soon be fully understood. It may provide further insight into similar social arrangements seen with other animals such as primates (Jenks et al., 1995). The study of spotted hyenas may even provide insight into more primitive stages of human societal structure, especially where there are matrilineal cultures.

Females are without question the more dominant gender within spotted hyena clans and they exercise this dominance when it comes to reproduction (Engh et al., 2002; East et al., 2003). They are on average larger, more aggressive, and more violent than males within the clan (Engh et al., 2002). Their special anatomy – an enlarged clitoris through which copulation occurs – gives them full control over sexual activities and partners (East et al., 2003). There is no chance for forced copulation simply because the male hyena needs the female’s full cooperation for proper coitus to occur (East et al., 2003). Theories for the evolution of this physical characteristic include (a) counter-evolution in the presence of high rates of forced copulation and (b) selection for overall more dominant and aggressive individuals resulting in masculinization (Drea et al., 2002). Since more dominant and aggressive females also attain a higher rank within the clan, they tend to be more successful in raising a larger number of young. A higher rank correlates to greater access to food and thus higher chances of survival for both mother and offspring (Engh et al., 2002).

Female spotted hyenas have multiple criteria for choosing mates. They prefer immigrant males to natal males, those born within the community – a possible measure for prevention of inbreeding (Engh et al., 2002). Even more amazingly, females generally prefer males of similar age, preventing sexual interactions with fathers or sons (East et al., 20023). Females also show preference for more submissive, less aggressive males (East et al., 2003). This selection for less aggressive males further emphasizes the sexual dimorphism, both in behavior and physical characteristics, present in this species. Females copulate with several males when in heat, possibly to dissuade males from infanticide (East et al., 2003). This behavior further increases variability – it is quite common to see single litters whose cubs can be traced to different fathers (Engh et al., 2002). It serves to confuse males and dissuade them from killing cubs that may or may not be their own – a complex behavior that shows foresight and intelligent thought (East et al., 2003). Female choice for less aggressive males and behavior to prevent infanticide may have evolved to counter the extremely high-risk pregnancies these animals go through due to their anatomy (Drea et al., 2002).

In a study conducted by Engh and colleagues (2002), the reproductive skew among male hyenas was investigated. One of the major discoveries was that immigrant males had an immense advantage over natal males. Over the 10-year period that one clan of hyenas was observed, it was found that immigrant males sired 97% of the cubs, while natal males only sired 3% (Engh et al., 2002). This explains the males’ behavior of leaving natal clans and immigrating elsewhere: the cost of rank and access to food are highly outweighed by the reproductive benefits in a non-natal clan (Engh et al., 2002). Within the group of immigrant males, it was found that rank did not have a statistically significant effect on a male’s reproductive success. In fact, males a few ranks below the highest ranking immigrant had the most success in terms of cubs sired (Engh et al., 2002). In general, tenure – the measure of how long an immigrant male had been in the clan – was found to be a better indicator of reproductive success. The immigrant males’ rates of producing cubs increased significantly the longer they remained in the clan, showing a strong correlation between tenure and reproductive success (Engh et al., 2002).

Male spotted hyenas are also observed to exhibit behaviors to make themselves more attractive to females. As found in a recent study by East and colleagues (2003), there was no reproductive advantage to harassing, shadowing, or defending females from other competition. In fact, males exhibiting these behaviors were often attacked or chased away by females and other clan members. Instead, males found significantly more reproductive success by fostering relationships with females over longer periods of time – a surprisingly complex behavior very close to that of humans (East et al., 2003). Having these friendly relationships also were seen to solidify the males’ places within the clan hierarchy – once again, a very complex sociological behavior, especially when seen outside the order of primates (East et al., 2003).

The sophisticated system of hierarchy was even recreated in captivity by a group of previously unranked hyenas collected at infancy (Jenks et al., 1995). Amazingly, these young hyenas grouped themselves in a matrilineal hierarchy, as observed over the course of two generations (Jenks et al., 1995). This structuring occurred despite the lack of maternal input for the first generation, showing that social organization is programmed into the spotted hyena’s behavioral patterns (Jenks et al., 1995). While the first generation had little to no maternal interaction to help rank them within the clan, they went on to influence their own offspring’s place in the clan hierarchy, just as observed in wild clans (Jenks et al., 1995). The only significant difference between the experimental clan and wild clans was the speed at which the cubs’ ranks stabilized within the community. Experimental group cubs solidified their place much faster than those in the wild, possibly due to smaller numbers and less movement within the clan (Jenks et al., 1995).

The spotted hyena is a remarkable animal. It shows extremely complex behavior that leads to sophisticated social structure – something that is rarely seen in mammals outside of primates (Jenks et al., 1995). In fact, the matrilineal group structure of hyena clans is very similar to that of Old World primates (Jenks et al., 1995). The sense of organization in this manner is so strong within the hyena’s evolved behavioral patterns that matrilineal structure is even seen to spontaneously emerge in isolated hyenas raised in captivity (Jenks et al., 1995). Complex sexual behaviors, such as the female’s choice of partner based on immigrant status, tenure, and age, seem to promote the creation of this social structure (Engh et al., 2002; East et al., 2003). Carefully nurtured relationships between same- and opposite-sex individuals show the multifaceted interactions between clan members that also contribute to the development of matrilineal organization (East et al., 2003). Female dominance is even supported by biological mechanisms and the altered anatomy of this species (Drea et al., 2002). With further study, the circumstances that led to the evolution of this unique system may soon be uncovered. This will provide insight not only into the spotted hyena’s sociological history, but also into that of Old World primates and possibly even that of human beings. It is an exciting prospect that will hopefully emerge within the years to come.

This paper analyzes the social issues surrounding homeless families and describes the extent of the problem within the U. S. community, while comparing the U.S. community to other communities in other parts of the global system. Causes listed in this paper include unemployment, mental illness, drug or alcohol abuse, and lack of affordable housing. Three theoretical models guide the analysis: social systems theory, functionalist theory and conflict theory. The data come from statistics of homeless families in the U.S. and global communities. These results deliver some evidence for current explanations for homeless transitions, and they propose probable avenues for additional research on the dynamics of homelessness.

Macro Community Analysis

Homelessness is a significant concern within the U. S. and global community. This situation arises when its individuals are poverty stricken and do not have regular access to affordable housing. In the U. S. in the early 1980s, families with young children became one of the fastest growing segments of the homeless population and now consist of 34% of the homeless population, which includes 23% children and 11% adults (Burt et al., 1999). The issues of homelessness have always been a problem around the world, even though it varies greatly, it has been considered to be one of the oldest social dilemmas in the world. Any day, no less than 800,000 individuals are homeless in the U.S., including about 200,000 homeless families. Most homeless families have incomes below 50% of the federal poverty level that makes it nearly impossible for them to find rental property within their means. To make matters worse, as many as 70% of homeless people struggle with serious health problems, mental and physical disabilities, and/or substance abuse problems (Burt, 2001). Countries have different ways of reporting homelessness, dissimilar measures with which to define homelessness. Some countries have no policy regarding this condition at all and for that reason are unable to report on the statistics.

Causes and Effects of Homelessness

As mentioned, homeless is also a global issue and not a problem specific to the U.S. It is

estimated to be around 3 million homeless individuals in 15 countries of the European Union.

Philip Alston, Chairperson of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights since

1991 states that “on any given night, three quarters of a million people in the United States are

homeless; in Toronto, Canada’s largest city, 6,500 people stayed in emergency shelters on a

typical night in late 1997, a two-thirds increase in just one year” (Unicef, 1998).

Furthermore, abuse and assault appear to be silent characteristics of homelessness. Studies have frequently found, in the histories of both individuals and families who are homeless, high rates of sexual and physical abuse in childhood, frequent foster care and other out of-home placements, and a variation of other family disruptions. Those that are always getting assaulted by their families might choose to run away and seek shelter in the streets than consent to a life of day-to-day abuse from beatings and molestation. The most significant reasons why people become homeless may be due to the inaccessibility of affordable housing for low income people. Studies show that people are likely to become homeless out of unavoidable situations. There are people who do work but they earn too little to pay for rent, electric, gas, and other housing utilities and expenses. If a person becomes unemployed, they will be unable to pay for anything at all.

Homeless Families Demographics

Although homelessness is a difficult number to measure, one way to analyze the extent of the problem is through demographics. According to The National Center on Family Homelessness (2008), the typical sheltered homeless family is comprised of a mother in her late twenties with two children.

Eighty-four percent of families experiencing homelessness are female-headed. This is due to number of factors:

Most single-parent families are female-headed (71%). Single-parent families are among the poorest in the nation and as such, are extremely vulnerable to homelessness

Several family shelters do not take men into their programs, causing families to separate when they become homeless

Families of color are overrepresented in the homeless population. Nationally:

Forty-three percent are African-American

Fifteen percent are Hispanic

Thirty-eight percent are White, non-Hispanic

Three percent are Native American

Families experiencing homelessness frequently have limited education:

Fifty-three percent of homeless mothers do not have a high school diploma

Twenty-nine percent of adults in homeless families are working

Forty-two percent of children in homeless families are under age six (The National Center on Family Homelessness, 2008).

The lack of reasonable housing has led to high rent payments for families that already struggle to pay their living expenses. These issues force many families to become homeless each day. A solution would be to lower the cost of housing, provide more support for those that are in need, and for the government to recognize that homelessness is a large scale problem.

Application of Theory
Social Systems Theory

Social inequality is shown all over the world stemming from situations of race, gender, and age. An individual’s social environment includes all situations a person comes into contact with on a day-to-day basis such as the individual’s home, job, and income level, and the social rules that govern them. Person-in-environment refers to interaction between an individual and the multiple systems surrounding that individual, and adaptation refers to one’s capability to change in order to adjust to new situations. In order to endure, an individual must be able to function effectively within their social environments (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2002).

The important factor behind the social selection model is that homelessness signifies the final point in a process characterized by the slow reduction of an individual’s social and economic resources. As an individual’s substance use escalates, the person’s financial reserves are exhausted as they sustain an increasingly expensive ”habit.” They either fall into rent debts that leads to eviction (Bessant et al., 2002), or family relationships break down leading to homelessness (Coumans & Spreen, 2003). Fountain and Howes found that 63% of their sample of homeless people in Britain named drug or alcohol use as a reason for first becoming homeless. The researchers decided that ”drug use is traditionally seen as one of the major routes into homelessness, and this was borne out by our survey” (Fountain & Howes, 2002, p. 10). This compares to the above U.S. percentages that have reported drug and alcohol abuse as one of the causes of homelessness.

Functionalist Theory

Homelessness can be explained by functionalism, a theory developed by Durkheim. Poverty is best understood from a mixed perspective involving conflict, by Karl Marx and functionalist, by Emile Durkheim. Since poverty certainly plays a role in a homelessness community, this theory certainly applies. In my opinion, functionalist theory explains that our country does actually help those in need but occasionally we can be unsuccessful. This theory continues to remind us to live practically and tells us that the social order does essentially work (Meyerhoff 2006).

Regrettably, at this time, scientific studies of family homelessness have been unable to instantaneously reflect all of these probable risk factors. Most of the research can be divided into those studies that present family homelessness as the product of separate faces or of community conditions, without examining both factors together (Shlay & Rossi, 1992).

Conflict Theory

Conflict theory, which is significant to the analysis of the homeless condition, is the belief that the means of mental capability and mental achievement plays a role in the determination of what interests will be articulated effectively. Conflict theory studies the macro level of our society, its structures and organizations. While functionalists dispute that society is held together norms, values, and a common morality, conflict theorists consider how society is held together by power and coercion for the advantage of those in power (Ritzer, 2000).

Though individuals and groups appreciating great wealth, prestige, and power have the resources needed to impose their values on others with fewer resources, Max Weber, a theorist viewed a range of class divisions in society as normal, inevitable, and acceptable, as do many contemporary conflict theorists (Curran & Renzetti, 2001). Weber’s theory separated the class of individuals into bourgeoisie and proletariat. Bourgeoisie are those capitalist who possess the means of production while the proletariat is deemed as the working class; they are the ones who sell their own labor power. These groupings show how people are classified according to their status in life. It basically defines the society’s state of inequality that is stabilized and reproduced through cultural ideology (Meyerhoff 2006).

Social Ill within Turley Homelessness

Poverty and inequality continues to afflict many residents in Turley, Oklahoma. The best theory that explains the social ill in Turley, Oklahoma, is conflict theory. One of the conflicts impacting Turley residents is the lack of transportation and close health care facilities. Without access to transportation, residents cannot get to work or to doctors or hospitals easily. Weber’s theory separated the class of individuals into bourgeoisie the “haves”, and the “have-nots” were called proletariat. It would be ideal if Marx’s idea of constructing a fundamentally “equal” society where there is no competition for wealth and power (Meyerhoff, 2006). It is known that several of Turley residents have less than other communities. One of the social ills within the Turley community is the many houses that are abandoned, boarded up, falling down or even burned-out by vandalism, which results in minimal to no housing for Turley residents. Also, from low income or unemployment, this may be caused by lack of transportation. This can result in individuals becoming depressed and utilizing drugs or alcohol as a coping mechanism. Prolonged use of drugs or alcohol may result in a mental disorder. People who have complicated life issues related to mental illness and of drug or alcohol use are the most common people who tend to be homeless. There is a common perception that substance abuse and homelessness are linked, but there is considerable contention about the direction of the relationship (Kemp, Neale, & Robertson, 2006; Mallett, Rosenthal, & Keys, 2005; Neale, 2001; Snow & Anderson, 1993).

Many people in Turley, Oklahoma are homeless due to lack of affordable housing and lack of access to health care facilities, both of which makes life worse for residents with mental illness or substance abuse problems. Severe mental illnesses may be caused from substance abuse and affect people’s ability to carry out vital stages of everyday life, such as retaining a job, household management or even self-care. Mental illnesses may also prevent people from forming and maintaining stable relationships or cause them to misconstrue assistance from others’ and react in an angry manner. This often results in pushing away family, friends and caregivers who may be the force keeping that person from becoming homeless. Some studies indicate that substance abuse is a risk factor for homelessness, whereas others suggest that homelessness ”induces drug use” (Neale, 2001, p. 354).

Summary

In summary, when comparing the U. S. to other global communities, the causes of homelessness were similar, with poverty being the leading cause. To effectively address homelessness, communities need a clear understanding of the problem and realize that it could affect anyone at any given time. Homelessness continues to be an increasing problem and requires social action to overcome the injustice that those people suffer. A change can be made by building or offering affordable housing units to people with low or very minimal income, as well as shielding families from the abuse they may get exposed to and trying to help guide them in the right path. Finally, through helping communities with programs that assist addicted individuals to overcome their addiction as well as people with mental illness by providing affordable health care programs, the homeless have an opportunity to rise above their current situation.

As a Child Welfare Supervisor, I selected this particular social justice issue because several of the children that come into OKDHS custody will age out of the system without a permanent home or family, which results in most of them becoming homeless; this was learned in our Child Welfare Trainings. I wanted to learn more about this ongoing problem and feel it is very important that we help homeless people obtain a better life.

“The commercial sexual exploitation of children is a fundamental violation of children’s rights. The child is treated as a sexual object and as a commercial object. The commercial sexual exploitation of children constitutes a form of coercion and violence against children, and amounts to forced labor and a contemporary form of slavery.”1 Child Sex Tourism is part of the global phenomenon of commercial sexual exploitation of children. It involves the sexual abuse exploitation of both male and female children, usually – but not always, in tourism destinations. Several studies have attempted to understand the extent and severity of the phenomenon, emphasizing different aspects thereof: be it travel trade, psychological, socioeconomic facets. The factors that push children into sexual exploitation are numerous for example: family disintegration, inequitable socio-economic structure, harmful and religious practices which undermines fulfilment of the basic need of the children. By treating the child as a commodity which can be purchased, hired sold or thrown away is no longer a question of poverty, but rather one of values, in particular the values of consumerism.

According to NHRC Report on Trafficking in Women and Children, in India the population of women and children in sex work in India is stated to be between70, 000 and 1 million of these, 30% are 20 years of age. Nearly 15% began sex work when they were below 15 and 25% entered between 15 and 18 years (Mukherjee & Das 1996). In public view child sex tourism is not considered a major social issue in India, partly because of the perception that the problem is not as acute as in some countries of South East Asia and partly because the problem is largely associated only with poverty. Every hour, four women and girls in India enter prostitution, three of them against their will. Here when a women or a children are forced for such things then Are these not a concern related to ethics? This paper will discuss the causes of the problem of child prostitution for sexual needs in India.

Sex tourism refers to an organized tour whose primary purpose is the

commercial-sexual relationship with an individual from the country that he or she is visiting. There are three major categories of sexual exploitations that occur within sex tourism. These are prostitution, pornography and trafficking for sexual purpose. Recently, the trend of sex tourism is to provide sex tourists a wider number of children as opposed to older and more mature women. In fact, the commercial sexual exploitation of minors by international tourists today is considered as

a human tragedy occurring in a grand scale with virtually no consequences for those who practice this. The World Tourism Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, defines sex tourism as “trips organized from within the tourism sector, or from outside this sector but using its structures and networks, with the primary purpose of effecting a commercial sexual relationship by the tourist with residents at the destination”. But it also refers to business people, transport industry workers or military personnel. Attractions for sex tourists can include reduced costs for services in the destination country, along with either legal prostitution or weak law enforcement and access to child prostitution.

More than 2.4 million tourists visit India every year and growth of the tourism industry in the country has contributed to an increase in the sexual exploitation of children by tourists. Child sex tourism is prevalent in Goa, North Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, West Bengal and in Rajasthan. Mumbai is believed to be the ‘biggest centre for pedophilic commerce in India’. Child sex tourism involves hotels, travel agencies and tour operators and some companies openly advertise availability of child prostitutes. They have contacts with adult sex workers, rickshaw pullers; petty traders who make contact with street or other vulnerable children and bring them to tourist hotels and lodges. Children are often promised better jobs and then ‘forced’ into sex and in many cases moneylenders force parents to sell their children to repay debts. A traveler may not intend to engage in sex with children while he is away from home, but he does so because a child is made easily available to him. Opportunistic exploitation, then, along with organized child sex tourism, is a critical factor compounding the complex socio-economic factors that push children into local prostitution industries.

Here are some of the prominent facts about child sex tourism in India:

India has the largest number of children (375 million) in the world, nearly 40% of its population

69% of Indian children are victims of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse (or read it as every 2 out of 3)

New Delhi, the nation’s capital, has an abuse rate of over 83%

89% of the crimes are perpetrated by family members

Boys face more abuse (>72%) than girls (65%)

More than 70% of cases go unreported and unshared even with parents/family

There are many factors that make children vulnerable to sex tourism. They may also be called as a ‘Push factor’ for them in child sex. Let us discuss some of them.

Organised prostitution: It is known that child prostitution is the sexual exploitation of the child for remuneration in cash or in kind, usually but not always organized by an intermediary (parents, family members, procurers, etc.). Many children, particularly girls, are abused within brothels that are frequented by both, local, regional and foreign child abusers. Some research suggests that girls enter the sex industry as a direct result of coercion or an unspoken expectation by other family members, including sisters or mothers already in the industry. Many of the girls are from the States of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra and often the daughters of migrant women involved in the sex industry.

Poverty and economic insecurity: The majority of the children, both migrant and local, come from poor backgrounds and have little or no access to education. The parents are unskilled workers from neighbouring States who need to migrate to various regions in search of employment. As a result, many of the children are also compelled to work and can be found around beach and resorts areas, often working as vendors. The nature of their work requires them to be friendly to tourists and therefore leaves them open to offers by sex tourists.

Weak family structure: Family breakdown is seen as an important aspect leading to children being exposed to abuse. Many children have run away from home and live on the streets due to problems at home ranging from drug abuse, alcoholism or physical or mental illness. Like all children who suffer from violence and abuse, they may be physically, mentally injured. They are at high risk of: long-lasting physical, social, and psychological damage, disease (including HIV) or unwanted pregnancy and forced abortions.

Lack of parental supervision: Many of the abused are migrant workers’ children who are unsupervised and alone on the streets while their parents take up casual or daily wage work in Goa. These children often end up wandering on the streets and are vulnerable to the lures of sex tourists.

Trafficking: Trafficking of children is a worldwide phenomenon affecting large numbers of boys and girls every day. Children and their families are often lured by the promise of better employment and a more prosperous life far from their homes. Others are kidnapped and sold. Trafficking violates a child’s right to grow up in a family environment and exposes him or her to a range of dangers, including violence and sexual abuse. There is also some evidence to suggest that children are being trafficked to Goa from other parts of the country or even from other countries for purposes of sexual exploitation. Children are also sold by poor families from different regions and then forced into working in the sex industry or other labour around coastal areas where they are at risk from sex offenders. It appears that some families sexually exploit their own children by either selling them to traffickers or by forcing them into prostitution. Such families prize material benefits at the cost of any abuse to their child.

Pornography: Pornography is like a media in sex tourism. Child prostitution is somehow connected with child pornography. It refers to the visual or audio depiction of the child for the sexual gratification of the use, and involves the production, distribution and or use of such material. Pornographic images of children are often copied multiple times and may remain in circulation for many years; the victim continues to be subjected to humiliation long after the image has been made.

Discrimination: Many prostitutes in India are victims of the Devadasis (temple prostitute) system and have been ‘dedicated’ to the Goddess Yellamma (around 10,000 girls in India are dedicated annually). Goa is no different and many of the girls in its red light districts are victims of this system.

After knowing all the factors which push children into such vulnerable situation, one thing which comes instantly into mind is that all contrary to the principles of ‘Integrity’ and ‘Fairness’. It is always questionable that ‘Are these children not a human being?’ ‘How a parent can do such pitiful things with their own child?’Every child has its own integrity and has the right to live a life of respectful human being. The exploitation of human beings dehumanizes the individuals who are trafficked, rewards the inhumanity of the traffickers, and weakens the moral and social fabric of society at large. Restoring dignity to persons who have been exploited is not easy, and the danger of paternalizing trafficked victims in the name of aiding them must be kept in view. Traffickers and parents who expose their children need to be stopped and held accountable, but they also need those who will help them to a transformation of heart and mind.

Sex tourism is the dark side of the global phenomenon of tourism. Every day we read about the benefits of tourism, its income and employment potential, its ability to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor, its potential to overcome uneven development in backward regions of the world Asks why sex tourism is being condoned and wonders why more voices are not raised in protest against its continuance. It often raises a concern for the Indian society but why only India society, child sex tourism is the part of every country whether in Asia or Europe or America. Do societies and Government need not to show ‘Concern and Respect’ towards these children. Children are the future and some even call them ‘Gift of God’.

Travellers who travel to some less developed country think that they have all the rights to use people as they want. The methods that sex offenders use to lure children into abusive situations range from offering them money or gifts, convincing parents that the child will enjoy a better life and providing children with shelter and employment. Such grooming methods are the hallmark of the preferential sex offender whereas the opportunistic ones exploit the children they meet on the street or are offered by pimps.

The justifications that sex tourists offer for their abuse of children include the perception that they are helping the children monetarily and also giving children the ‘love’ that they appear to crave. Many travel agencies, hotels and others are all involved in this whole process. These people think that it is part of their job and they are rendering their services to these travellers. But are their not any ‘Code of Ethics’ in tourism industry. Develop an ethical policy regarding trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children. Providing information to tourists on CST and request them to help dealing with the problem by informing if they see any doubtful behaviour of tourists who accompany children. To provide information to travellers by means of catalogues, brochures, in-flight films, ticket-slips, home pages, etc.

The study calls for specific national, regional and local actions to safeguard children who are being sexually exploited, or are at-risk of sexual exploitation. Recommendations include the Ministry of Tourism creating a National Plan of Action to Counter Child Abuse in Tourism and for businesses in the tourism industry to shoulder more responsibility for this problem by, for example, joining the Code of Conduct (www.thecode.org). It was recommended that state and central tourism departments report annually on the status of child abuse cases, set up mechanisms along with other bodies for the protection of children, and to demonstrate a clear stand against any form of child sex abuse. The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) are also called on to create a comprehensive Act that imposes severe punishment of offenders, including extradition laws (through the Ministry of Home Affairs). The report also calls for child sex tourism cases to be treated as non-bailable offences. Training on child rights laws and how to handle child abuse cases for Police was also recommended, along with sensitization training and mandatory reporting of child abuse (including adults traveling with children under suspicious circumstances) both by Police and by airport and railway authorities. More in-depth study on the commercial sexual exploitation of children is also necessary to inform policy, protection mechanisms and campaigns. What can we do? Here are my thoughts: Educate our children about sex. If you are not parents yourselves, but know and care about other families of friends and relatives, open up this topic for discussion and encourage the parents to do what is right. If you think talking about sex is difficult for you, don’t just be embarrassed, shrug it off, and give it up. Many parents don’t know their children are victims, and live in a fantasy world of “nothing like that would ever happen to my child”. Talk to your parents in order to understand what difficulties they had to face culturally when bringing you up. That may give clues to how to overcome cultural taboos. Finally, spread the word. Spread the awareness. We owe it to the next generation. With the knowledge that our children know the basic facts to safeguard themselves, we can at least hope to hold our heads high once again. With the economic growth… more tourism… increased salaries… limited family lifeaˆ¦ more luxury lifeaˆ¦ money being spent for temporary pleasure going highaˆ¦ all kind of un-social activities will be going high. It is the real form of terrorism. Let the policy maker and the party in power and the opposition party see that this is the new form of suicide bomb.

After centuries of being shoved under the carpet, the truth is out. And we, as Indians, should stop, hold our breath, drop our heads in shame, and introspect. In the fight against trafficking government organizations, non-governmental organizations, civil society, pressure groups, international bodies, all have to play an important role. Law cannot be the only instrument to take care of all problems.

Notes

A statement from The Declaration and the Agenda for Action from the First World Congress against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, held in Stockholm, 1996

The book, “Code of The Street”, by Yale Professor Elijah Anderson puts in light the various issues that are common in the city today. The street codes majorly affect the actions and behavior of many youths in the inner city. In the inner city, Anderson shows that there are many social evils like high rates of unemployment, teenage pregnancy. The main force contributing to these street codes according to him is racism though that kind of behavior is accelerated by the existing economic and political commands in the city (Anderson 34).

The Code of Street applies to the behavior for the public and is a norm for the community which is alienated (Anderson 69) .if these codes of conducts within the street are not fully immersed into the lives of the young they tend to switch to the behaviors that they find on the street, Learning of the street code starts early in one’s life from his or her parents to the street families who introduce them to such codes. Parents don’t take role in tending their children leaving them to do it themselves (Anderson 49).

The code of the street is worrying according to the sociologist Anderson as it is attributed to ills like increased rate of crime, stress, drug trafficking and all forms of violence with ultimate result of death. The urban life within the ghettos majorly contributed to the street codes. He brings out clearly the issue of respect .According to Anderson, the codes of the street is majorly affected by the poor dwellings the youth live in .In addition to the environment they live in (Anderson 50).

The inner city is seems to be morally decayed as it lacks role models to be copied by the youth and the economy favors few people. With the relocation of the creators of employment to oversee leaving the youth idle within the inner city .Comparing the middle class and the lower class males of the lower class are involved in rebellious acts. Another factor is frustration of the disadvantaged youth led s to adaptation of the street codes. The inner city families were described to be decent with good values while the street families excluded themselves from the greater society Apart from the two types of families being distinct they greatly interact on the streets. Also in the schools, open public’s areas are other places where these people interact. (Anderson 54).

The major determining factor of how people behaved lied on the families values one is brought up with those brought up in the decent homes have proper street codes ,while those of the street families were viewed as those found like drug to commit ills like drug trafficking and all negativities of the neighborhoods like murder and violence .People fought and even shot each other to acquire respect .Lack of respect could render one to be tried by his or her peers and to the extreme the strangers. Respect was used as a measure of one’s credibility within the streets. Ethics of hard work, appreciating religion and achievements in the academics were considered as respectable action within the streets. (Anderson 45).

According to Anderson, teens became pregnant because they don’t know the implication of having sex. For the adolescents, they became pregnant knowingly or sometimes not knowingly. The males portray a behavior of escapism of responsibilities’ and most times the females are left to take care of their children without father figure or sometimes get a helping hand from their family members. Many men or fathers deny the fatherhood to their children especially if they doubt their fatherhood to that child or the character of the mother may cause this. Anderson conducted ethnography study in Philadelphia in 1990 where he studied African Americans in certain classes within the city coupled with his observation (Anderson 43).

According to Anderson (2000), the people in the mainstream society have proper values that don’t allow them to retaliate after an attack rather they move away from the areas of fight. This makes them uphold their self esteem (Anderson 34) .This is a show of respect. Their counter parts on the other hand cant suffer the humiliation of walking away all in all they have nothing to lose as their status is low .Those from the low status communities want to uphold their respect even though it calls for the fighting to show how they are they can attack their counterparts

The methods used in this research include survey whereby various households were sampled and the youth in those families who were capable of being interviewed were interviewed to gather information from them. This could help in giving the data collector an insight on the youth violence. The youth by the time they are teen, they learnt these codes, make them part and parcel of their life’s and thus the survey conducted on the youth in their adolescence is valid (Anderson 83).

In the society classes i.e. middle and lower classes, Anderson interviews the subjects of target whom are faced with the daily decadency of the urban ills ranging from teens pregnancy, child delinquency and family disagreement. Anderson the code of street heroes is those that overcome the streets temptations to have a brighter tomorrow for the future people

Findings according to Anderson show that peer aggression, having been a victim of violence and type of parenting are associated with the following and obeying the street code related to beliefs. Those who have ever been victims of a circumstance tend to refrain from the bad codes. Also anger is a contributing factor to the adherence of these codes. Though being involved in prior victimization might be seen as a factor towards the adherence of the codes, it isn’t. Instead it makes the victim learn from the prior experience (Anderson 70).

Several matters have made the scope of this study to be limited .First; the subculture thesis assessment according to Anderson is not dealt in depth. There is dire need to do in-depth investigation on this thesis. Anderson just gave a highlight .more need to be added especially on the code switching, how the people take their authorities that instill these behaviors. To add on that, the role of race in bringing out the belief related codes and the contributing to the youth violence is not clearly brought out. The youth violence is not only attributed to the blacks even the other races are victims of it.

Also other factors like poverty coupled with the few opportunities could still contribute to this. Finally, the findings are more side lined on male youth violence. To the male youth, even some cliques of inner city girls are found to incite the infighting (Anderson 92). At this juncture, gender role in not clearly brought out in the contribution to the youth violence.

In conclusion from the studies, it shown that the beliefs in our traditional subcultures contribute a lot in the violent behavior among the youth. Violence is more prevalent with those follow those beliefs that are in agreement with the street codes. Though it is not possible to get the etiology of these code beliefs but it is seen that the way one is socialized, the role models one looks up to and the parental upbringing matters (Anderson 97).

Those youth who claim lack of future for them and had prior victimized tend to acquire the aggressive behavior in future. Also the way of parenting is also a factor where by those parents who are aggressive to their children tend to acquire violent behaviors from them. Then they will be the pioneers of all the crimes, violence in the society. Thus provision of future opportunity to our youth is of great importance as well as personal protection especially parent to their children (Anderson 120).

Work Cited

Anderson, Elijah. Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City. New York: W.W. Norton, 2000.

As Peter Ustinov says:” Parents are the bones on which children sharpen their teeth”; in other words, family as an invisible rope binds the family members together. Family is a group blood- related people living under one roof. That is a family including members as grandparents, parents and children. However, with the rapid development of society nowadays, the family structures are more and more becoming multiform and complicated than the past; however, the family structures as a whole still have four main types of families based on the family structure.

The first group consists of more than parents and children though extended by the addition of other relatives of the parents, for instance grandparents, uncles, aunts who are living in a house together; it called extended family. In the past, it can be seemed the most popular type of families, specially in the countryside where has spacious land. The advantage of being a member of a large family is that there are many members they help to train each other. The older ones, who have received some discipline and education, show the younger ones, by precept and example, how to behave, and so relieve the parents or grandparents of a lot of trouble. In addition, one advantage of being a member of extended family over the other families is that more hands make less work. In such a family, it is not uncommon for everyone to do his or her share of the work. It may simply be to wash the dishes, to sweep the floor, to care the younger ones or even to cook. These daily chores are actually useful for through them, they learn to be more independent and self-reliant. They gain confidence, too, knowing that there are many things that they can do. When their parents or grandparents are away, they will have to share the burden of keeping house in order to cook for themselves. In this way, they learn cooperate and to contribute them share of work. Through sharing they learn not to be selfish and not to think only of themselves. However, it also has the advantage that there is more quarrelling. A large family is not always a united family; and it may split up into factions. A quarrel between brothers is often worse than one between friends or acquaintances. Another signal disadvantage of a large family is that the facilities for self-improvement or for recreation may be less available for its members. There may be less privacy too, because rooms would have to be shared.

The second group includes nuclear family, which consists of parents and their child or children. They don’t want or have to live apart from the grandparents or the other relatives. This type of family can be arranged the best type in modern life. Life as a member of a nuclear family has its own advantages as well as disadvantages. The first point appears in the mind of a person is privacy of life. The parents can get their privacy in their own house in nuclear families whereas they cannot get their privacy in extended family. People can live their own way and can do whatever they want in their life without the elders restrict. The other and the strongest points in the nuclear family is financial stability. There is the less number of people in the family so the expenses will also less. People cannot have a strong financial stability if they are the only person who is earning in extended family. On the other hand, there are certain disadvantages. The parents cannot give so much individual attention to their child or children if they are working and the child or children get any small or big disease, so one has to deal with it alone because they lack of elders and other family members to take care of. They tend to feel lonely or even sicker when they see no one around. Moreover, if the child is small and need a special care, it will be become a big trouble as they have no other family members who can take care of the child while they have to do their work. The security and safety is one another in the nuclear family. There are so many cases of robbery and murders; many of them are from the nuclear family. It is dangerous for those who lives alone in house or with less number of people

The single-parent family belongs to the next group, which refers to only one parent in the house raising the child or children. The number of single-parent families have become more common in recent years. It can be a result of separation, divorce or death of the parent. Being a child or children in single-parent family, they nearly lack of a quality proceeding from feelings of father’s love or mother’s love. Children were taken by single mom or single dad will easy to suffer from psychological and behavioral problem. They tend to easy way to get anger, noncompliance, rule violations. School achievement also can suffer. For example: they can be sneered by their friends because they don’t have mother or father or they can feel lonely when the other friends have parents. Besides, a single parent have to work harder to earn money and they have to be both mother and father to give more care, attention to their child or children at the same time. Nevertheless, there are also advantages that the children will enjoy full love from their parent. The child can be provided with better nutritious and well-balanced food or they can have better clothing of good materials and new fashions. Additionally, they will have more opportunities to develop responsibility. They have to face with all problems in life when their parent is away.

Single member accounts for the last category and usually don’t have family or tend to live without family. They are usually students or workers who live far away from home to have more and better job opportunities or higher educational opportunities. The first, and also a very common, that they have to face is that once they start a life away from home, they always get homesick. They usually miss the moments that they share with their family, such as sitting together in a couch watching TV shows, or having a dinner together and telling about their day during family meals. The other is once they live far away from home, they have to learn how to do things by themselves. They have to get used to a life full of duties. Now they have to worry about every aspects of their life, from bigger such as manage their budget to smaller tasks like cleaning rooms, cooking their meals, doing their washing up, etc. The best thing about living away from home is that people have more freedom. They can set their rules, stay up late, or do anything they want without being afraid of disturbing any family members. The other advantage that they will have more opportunities to experience life by themselves and explore other’s cultures

In short, each person can choose for theme one of in four kinds of these types: extended family, nuclear family, single-parent family and singe member. Whatever your particular family structures, it will have tremendous influence upon your happiness, development and future; therefore, people need to decide what is the best one for theme in the future to build and make a happy family.

The Sri Lankan civil war by definition started in 1983 when two pronounced groups began to rival, the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam, a separatist group that was formed seeking to represent the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka (Clarance, 2002). However civil war on an emotional level between the two ethnic groups, Sinhalese and Tamils started in 1948, when Sri Lanka was granted independence from the British (Clarance, 2002).

Sri Lanka first encountered colonialism in 1505 when the Portuguese arrived in search of valuable natural resources such as cinnamon, tea, and the most valuable, land (Clarance, 2002). The Portuguese conquered regions of Kotte, Sitavaka and Jaffna. They also aimed to conquer Kandy as well but failed through several attempts (Clarance, 2002). Next were the Dutch, in 1638 King Rajsinha who ruled Kandy at that time turned to the Dutch to fight over the Portuguese, the Dutch conquered everything except Kandy (Clarance, 2002). Last to colonize Sri Lanka was the British, they set foot in 1796 when the Dutch rule gave away to the British (Clarance, 2002). The British conquered the entire island, and built coffee and tea plantations and imported laborers from India mainly Tamils to work in these plantations (Clarance, 2002). In 1947 Sri Lanka requested to become an independent nation, and in 1948 Sri Lanka gained independence (Clarance, 2002). On the surface, colonialism can be viewed as harmless and in most areas beneficial as it guided Sri Lanka into development. Even though colonialism brought forth an identity for Sri Lanka in relation to trade and international exporting, it also brought separation, discrimination, and a hunger for dominance amongst the citizens of Sri Lanka.

Being a Canadian born Sri Lankan Tamil this topic brings great importance and relevance to me. My Canadian birth is a result of this civil war in which my parents found the desperate need to emigrate from their greatly loved motherland. This topic is extremely important to me because I believe in peace and safety for the innocent and vulnerable, violence and death for the individuals who choose to fight is equally remorseful however inevitable. I lost both my grandfathers as innocent civilians to the civil war in Sri Lanka likewise many Sinhalese families were destroyed. All due to the separation caused by language, as everything else between a Tamil and a Sinhalese was identical.

There are great faults on both sides, with regards to the actions of both opposition parties. However when pinpointed, the foundation for this violent desire for domination, can be seen as colonization as the main cause if not the only cause for this fight for power and equality.

Theoretical Backing:

Colonialism has given Sri Lanka a negative impact rather than the positive outcomes it has provided the global north with. Through what can be seen as an immature rivalry between European states to gain land, and other valued goods, it is proven that lack of structure and democracy when granting independence to a colony can shatter an entire nation. The development theory that supports the argument of colonialism being the main cause of the civil war in Sri Lanka would be the post-development theory. The post-development theory believes that only with relation to the global south, colonialism has been destructive on several levels: culturally, economically, socially, and psychologically. Sri Lanka is not the only former European colony that is facing the aftermaths of colonialism; several other countries in Asia have been robbed of their full potential to run as a developed nation, especially in the Middle East. Another prime example would be in Africa, where even in the present day, systems that were brought in by the European states are still being used, such as monarchy. Another more specific theory that would back up this argument would be the postcolonial theory, the postcolonial theory investigates the effective and legacy of European invasion on global south. Postcolonial theorist, Franz Fanon states “And it is clear that in the colonial countries the peasants alone are revolutionary, for they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The starving peasant, outside the class system is the first among the exploited to discover that only violence pays. For him there is no compromise, no possible coming to terms; colonization and decolonization a simply a question of relative strength.” Fanon pinpoints the exact fate that Sri Lanka has overcome with its decades long civil war, the need for violence to achieve goals, in this case justice and equality.

Research and Analysis:

Colonialism is the leading cause for the now silent, yet on-going civil war in Sri Lanka. When the British left Sri Lanka in 1948, they built a government and left power to mainly the wealthy Sinhalese landowners (Lange, 2009). These powerful Sinhalese landowners had nothing in common with the rural areas or the minorities in Sri Lanka. Thus, taking rule and advantage of the nation to their liking. They made Sinhala as the official national language and also making Buddhism as the official national religion in Sri Lanka. This created great tension amongst the Tamil community as opportunities were not made equal, Tamils were not permitted nor able to obtain a higher level education or work for the government due to the fact they were not able to speak the national language (Lange, 2009). This created massive riots and rage throughout the Tamil community, which eventually ended in the creation of a separatist group the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam seeking to gain land separate from the Sinhalese population for the Tamils called Tamil Eelam. This was the beginning of a two-decade civil war for the Tamils to both gain equal rights and dignity or to gain a separate Tamil region.

Histories of Sri Lanka prior to British colonization are important aspects when examining cause of conflict, in this case the cause of civil war in Sri Lanka. According to research of DeVotta (2000) archeological analysis can prove that Sri Lanka was physically part of India, and was separated through plate movement caused by slow, natural causes. The southern regions of India, specifically Tamil Nadu, are concentrated with a Tamil population, and the northern regions of Sri Lanka are also concentrated with Tamils. Such relations and connections cannot only be seen through language but also through religion and way of life. Clarance (2002) states that reoccurring enslavement caused by colonialism creates a need for finally holding the dominant, leading post. Both the Tamils and the Sinhalese were faced with great amounts of mental and physical damage when the Portuguese, Dutch, and the British colonized Sri Lanka, however the Sinhalese were faced with a greater level of damage because it was mainly Sinhalese regions that were fought for, such as Katte, Kandy, Sitavaka, Colombo and Anuradhapura (Clarance, 2002). Therefore the Sinhalese psychologically developed the need for control, power, domination (Duncan, 2002). Wickramasinghe (2006) expands on the roles that each colonizing groups had. The Portuguese conquered Colombo on arrival which caused the Sinhalese population to move into the Kandy region of Sri Lanka. The Portuguese also forced religious conversion, Christianity, Buddhists and Moors a term used for Sri Lankan Muslims were impeached. Wickramasinghe (2006) argues that such invasion of the Sinhalese caused them to make Buddhism as their national religion when independence was gained. Clarance (2002) makes a diverse point in stating that with the colonization of the Dutch it was greatly the fault of the Sinhalese. Rajasinghe II who was the king of Kandy in 1638 requested the help of the Dutch to fight against the Portuguese, the Dutch however defeated the Portuguese and overruled what Portuguese had conquered and everything else on the island except Kandy. They also promoted protestant views and demoted Catholicism, and to keep their legacy they mixed themselves with the Sinhalese, now known as Burgher peoples’. This later on was a another major cause of great discrimination and violence.

The British were the last rulers in Sri Lanka they take the majority of the blame for the current effects of colonization and the civil war in Sri Lanka today. According to Lange (2009) the Tamils and the Sinhalese were in peace living together, reason being that different regions were ruled by Kings that were associated with the citizens of that particular region, therefore conflict with other regions were minimal. When the British entered Sri Lanka in fear of the French gaining power of Sri Lanka in 1796, they started off by merely occupying the coastal areas, to remove the Dutch from the picture, through the Treaty of Amiens, the Dutch ruled areas of Sri Lanka was conceded to the British. Since the Dutch had conquered the entire island excluding the Kandy region, the British only had to fight for Kandy. Jones (2008) states that there were two Kandyan wars in which both were defeated by the Kandy. Jones (2008) clarifies that this was the real cause of independence in Sri Lanka, lack of British gaining the most resourceful region in Sri Lanka. However Duncan (2002) elaborates on the beneficial aspects of the British rule in Sri Lanka, the British despite failing to conquer Kandy, built massive, national standard plantations for coffee which later became tea production, which was the money making resource in Sri Lanka at the time. The Sinhalese were reluctant to work on tea plantation as they were used to the working on the paddy farm. Wanting to expand the industry thousands of Tamils were shipped from India into Sri Lanka to work on these plantations. Duncan (2002) states that this was also a great cause in the separation between the Tamils and the Sinhalese. As working on a plantation was considered a job of the members of the lower castes, because the desperate and the poor were eager to gain a job at the these plantations for a fraction of what was considered a minimum wage back then. And since thousands of Tamils were imported from India by the British, this caste was automatically generalized for the Tamils, creating a hierarchy between the Tamils and the Sinhalese. Winslow (2001) expands on the final gestures of the British that caused a long term effect on the future of the nation. When Sri Lanka was granted independence the British unconcerned and naively transferred most if not all the power to the Sinhalese, maybe not intentionally by ethnicity but intentionally by who held the most power, the Sinhalese at the time had most of the island’s land, business, and wealth, in comparison to the Tamils. According to Erritiouni (2010) it was this particular “mistake” that is until today the leading cause of the civil war between the Tamils and the Sinhalese.

Effects of colonialism in Sri Lanka still take in effect today. Errotiouni (2010) proceeds to state the following occurrences that fed this hunger for war. When the Sinhalese gained power for the entire island they omitted the existence and importance of the Tamils, they made the Sinhala the national language of Sri Lanka, and they made Buddhism the national religion of Sri Lanka. This as a result lead to the discrimination of the Tamil population, not being granted access to a higher level of education such as university or college, and not being granted to opportunity to hold a government job, therefore forbidden to gain a position in the government to have a say in the rights that Tamils are given. Jacoby (2006) elaborates on the separatist group Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam that was formed, as a result of discrimination this group that represented a majority but not the entire Tamil population demanded a separate region for the Tamils, namely, Tamil Eelam. The quest for Tamil Eelam was at a cost of hundreds of thousands of lives over the past two and a half decades. A member of the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam was the convicted suicide bomber in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, India’s Prime Minister at the time, in a deadly, sinful quest to gain international attention on India’s partnership with Sri Lanka’s war against the Tamil’s. Sri Lanka has lost a great deal as result of this war, the most important, innocent lives.

Effects of colonialism are causing major issues in the present time. The recent crisis that occurred in Egypt where nearly the entire population of Egypt protested against the presidency of former President Mubarak. The fight to start a democratic government, and to end a monarch government (“Pakistan article warns against ‘struggle for power’ after Egypt unrest”, 2011). According to Burke (1998) Europeans set up boundaries around Africa that split up tribal areas and groups of Africans, so Africans who spoke the same dialect or practiced the same traditions would be split between two different European territories. This also was the cause of monarchies that continue today within countries in Africa. This has caused many civil wars across Africa, and more importantly the mass level of poverty that was caused that even until this day is unsolvable.

Power is a vital tool that needs to be transferred and received wisely. Colonialism is a prime example of how power should not be gained and withdrawn from. Sri Lanka has been greatly victimized by colonialism and has been ripped from its great potential as a nation. Through the unprofessional use of power by the European states power was distributed unequally to the people in Sri Lanka at the time of decolonization, which has caused a great deal of destruction and death for tens of thousands of people. Hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians lost their lives due to the crossfire between the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan government, they were slaughtered, shot, molested, violated, and tortured solely because they were born either Tamil or Sinhalese. As there were positive effects to colonization in Sri Lanka, they will never out weight the negative effects that have caused a greatly unstable nation even today. Power at any level is a position with immeasurable value especially when it is in relation to people. The Europeans help immense power, but childishly overthrew that power to distribute power in a nation. They thought for the better of themselves and failed to think for the better good of the nation’s people. Their decisions that were made carelessly have caused great damage and will continue to cause difficulty in the far future.

Introduction

“The commercial sexual exploitation of children is a fundamental violation of children’s rights. The child is treated as a sexual object and as a commercial object. The commercial sexual exploitation of children constitutes a form of coercion and violence against children, and amounts to forced labor and a contemporary form of slavery.”1 Child Sex Tourism is part of the global phenomenon of commercial sexual exploitation of children. It involves the sexual abuse exploitation of both male and female children, usually – but not always, in tourism destinations. Several studies have attempted to understand the extent and severity of the phenomenon, emphasizing different aspects thereof: be it travel trade, psychological, socioeconomic facets. The factors that push children into sexual exploitation are numerous for example: family disintegration, inequitable socio-economic structure, harmful and religious practices which undermines fulfilment of the basic need of the children. By treating the child as a commodity which can be purchased, hired sold or thrown away is no longer a question of poverty, but rather one of values, in particular the values of consumerism.

According to NHRC Report on Trafficking in Women and Children, in India the population of women and children in sex work in India is stated to be between70, 000 and 1 million of these, 30% are 20 years of age. Nearly 15% began sex work when they were below 15 and 25% entered between 15 and 18 years (Mukherjee & Das 1996). In public view child sex tourism is not considered a major social issue in India, partly because of the perception that the problem is not as acute as in some countries of South East Asia and partly because the problem is largely associated only with poverty. Every hour, four women and girls in India enter prostitution, three of them against their will. Here when a women or a children are forced for such things then Are these not a concern related to ethics? This paper will discuss the causes of the problem of child prostitution for sexual needs in India.

Sex tourism refers to an organized tour whose primary purpose is the

commercial-sexual relationship with an individual from the country that he or she is visiting. There are three major categories of sexual exploitations that occur within sex tourism. These are prostitution, pornography and trafficking for sexual purpose. Recently, the trend of sex tourism is to provide sex tourists a wider number of children as opposed to older and more mature women. In fact, the commercial sexual exploitation of minors by international tourists today is considered as

a human tragedy occurring in a grand scale with virtually no consequences for those who practice this. The World Tourism Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, defines sex tourism as “trips organized from within the tourism sector, or from outside this sector but using its structures and networks, with the primary purpose of effecting a commercial sexual relationship by the tourist with residents at the destination”. But it also refers to business people, transport industry workers or military personnel. Attractions for sex tourists can include reduced costs for services in the destination country, along with either legal prostitution or weak law enforcement and access to child prostitution.

More than 2.4 million tourists visit India every year and growth of the tourism industry in the country has contributed to an increase in the sexual exploitation of children by tourists. Child sex tourism is prevalent in Goa, North Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, West Bengal and in Rajasthan. Mumbai is believed to be the ‘biggest centre for pedophilic commerce in India’. Child sex tourism involves hotels, travel agencies and tour operators and some companies openly advertise availability of child prostitutes. They have contacts with adult sex workers, rickshaw pullers; petty traders who make contact with street or other vulnerable children and bring them to tourist hotels and lodges. Children are often promised better jobs and then ‘forced’ into sex and in many cases moneylenders force parents to sell their children to repay debts. A traveler may not intend to engage in sex with children while he is away from home, but he does so because a child is made easily available to him. Opportunistic exploitation, then, along with organized child sex tourism, is a critical factor compounding the complex socio-economic factors that push children into local prostitution industries.

Here are some of the prominent facts about child sex tourism in India:

India has the largest number of children (375 million) in the world, nearly 40% of its population

69% of Indian children are victims of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse (or read it as every 2 out of 3)

New Delhi, the nation’s capital, has an abuse rate of over 83%

89% of the crimes are perpetrated by family members

Boys face more abuse (>72%) than girls (65%)

More than 70% of cases go unreported and unshared even with parents/family

There are many factors that make children vulnerable to sex tourism. They may also be called as a ‘Push factor’ for them in child sex. Let us discuss some of them.

Organised prostitution: It is known that child prostitution is the sexual exploitation of the child for remuneration in cash or in kind, usually but not always organized by an intermediary (parents, family members, procurers, etc.). Many children, particularly girls, are abused within brothels that are frequented by both, local, regional and foreign child abusers. Some research suggests that girls enter the sex industry as a direct result of coercion or an unspoken expectation by other family members, including sisters or mothers already in the industry. Many of the girls are from the States of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra and often the daughters of migrant women involved in the sex industry.

Poverty and economic insecurity: The majority of the children, both migrant and local, come from poor backgrounds and have little or no access to education. The parents are unskilled workers from neighbouring States who need to migrate to various regions in search of employment. As a result, many of the children are also compelled to work and can be found around beach and resorts areas, often working as vendors. The nature of their work requires them to be friendly to tourists and therefore leaves them open to offers by sex tourists.

Weak family structure: Family breakdown is seen as an important aspect leading to children being exposed to abuse. Many children have run away from home and live on the streets due to problems at home ranging from drug abuse, alcoholism or physical or mental illness. Like all children who suffer from violence and abuse, they may be physically, mentally injured. They are at high risk of: long-lasting physical, social, and psychological damage, disease (including HIV) or unwanted pregnancy and forced abortions.

Lack of parental supervision: Many of the abused are migrant workers’ children who are unsupervised and alone on the streets while their parents take up casual or daily wage work in Goa. These children often end up wandering on the streets and are vulnerable to the lures of sex tourists.

Trafficking: Trafficking of children is a worldwide phenomenon affecting large numbers of boys and girls every day. Children and their families are often lured by the promise of better employment and a more prosperous life far from their homes. Others are kidnapped and sold. Trafficking violates a child’s right to grow up in a family environment and exposes him or her to a range of dangers, including violence and sexual abuse. There is also some evidence to suggest that children are being trafficked to Goa from other parts of the country or even from other countries for purposes of sexual exploitation. Children are also sold by poor families from different regions and then forced into working in the sex industry or other labour around coastal areas where they are at risk from sex offenders. It appears that some families sexually exploit their own children by either selling them to traffickers or by forcing them into prostitution. Such families prize material benefits at the cost of any abuse to their child.

Pornography: Pornography is like a media in sex tourism. Child prostitution is somehow connected with child pornography. It refers to the visual or audio depiction of the child for the sexual gratification of the use, and involves the production, distribution and or use of such material. Pornographic images of children are often copied multiple times and may remain in circulation for many years; the victim continues to be subjected to humiliation long after the image has been made.

Discrimination: Many prostitutes in India are victims of the Devadasis (temple prostitute) system and have been ‘dedicated’ to the Goddess Yellamma (around 10,000 girls in India are dedicated annually). Goa is no different and many of the girls in its red light districts are victims of this system.

After knowing all the factors which push children into such vulnerable situation, one thing which comes instantly into mind is that all contrary to the principles of ‘Integrity’ and ‘Fairness’. It is always questionable that ‘Are these children not a human being?’ ‘How a parent can do such pitiful things with their own child?’Every child has its own integrity and has the right to live a life of respectful human being. The exploitation of human beings dehumanizes the individuals who are trafficked, rewards the inhumanity of the traffickers, and weakens the moral and social fabric of society at large. Restoring dignity to persons who have been exploited is not easy, and the danger of paternalizing trafficked victims in the name of aiding them must be kept in view. Traffickers and parents who expose their children need to be stopped and held accountable, but they also need those who will help them to a transformation of heart and mind.

Sex tourism is the dark side of the global phenomenon of tourism. Every day we read about the benefits of tourism, its income and employment potential, its ability to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor, its potential to overcome uneven development in backward regions of the world Asks why sex tourism is being condoned and wonders why more voices are not raised in protest against its continuance. It often raises a concern for the Indian society but why only India society, child sex tourism is the part of every country whether in Asia or Europe or America. Do societies and Government need not to show ‘Concern and Respect’ towards these children. Children are the future and some even call them ‘Gift of God’.

Travellers who travel to some less developed country think that they have all the rights to use people as they want. The methods that sex offenders use to lure children into abusive situations range from offering them money or gifts, convincing parents that the child will enjoy a better life and providing children with shelter and employment. Such grooming methods are the hallmark of the preferential sex offender whereas the opportunistic ones exploit the children they meet on the street or are offered by pimps.

The justifications that sex tourists offer for their abuse of children include the perception that they are helping the children monetarily and also giving children the ‘love’ that they appear to crave. Many travel agencies, hotels and others are all involved in this whole process. These people think that it is part of their job and they are rendering their services to these travellers. But are their not any ‘Code of Ethics’ in tourism industry. Develop an ethical policy regarding trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children. Providing information to tourists on CST and request them to help dealing with the problem by informing if they see any doubtful behaviour of tourists who accompany children. To provide information to travellers by means of catalogues, brochures, in-flight films, ticket-slips, home pages, etc.

The study calls for specific national, regional and local actions to safeguard children who are being sexually exploited, or are at-risk of sexual exploitation. Recommendations include the Ministry of Tourism creating a National Plan of Action to Counter Child Abuse in Tourism and for businesses in the tourism industry to shoulder more responsibility for this problem by, for example, joining the Code of Conduct (www.thecode.org). It was recommended that state and central tourism departments report annually on the status of child abuse cases, set up mechanisms along with other bodies for the protection of children, and to demonstrate a clear stand against any form of child sex abuse. The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) are also called on to create a comprehensive Act that imposes severe punishment of offenders, including extradition laws (through the Ministry of Home Affairs). The report also calls for child sex tourism cases to be treated as non-bailable offences. Training on child rights laws and how to handle child abuse cases for Police was also recommended, along with sensitization training and mandatory reporting of child abuse (including adults traveling with children under suspicious circumstances) both by Police and by airport and railway authorities. More in-depth study on the commercial sexual exploitation of children is also necessary to inform policy, protection mechanisms and campaigns. What can we do? Here are my thoughts: Educate our children about sex. If you are not parents yourselves, but know and care about other families of friends and relatives, open up this topic for discussion and encourage the parents to do what is right. If you think talking about sex is difficult for you, don’t just be embarrassed, shrug it off, and give it up. Many parents don’t know their children are victims, and live in a fantasy world of “nothing like that would ever happen to my child”. Talk to your parents in order to understand what difficulties they had to face culturally when bringing you up. That may give clues to how to overcome cultural taboos. Finally, spread the word. Spread the awareness. We owe it to the next generation. With the knowledge that our children know the basic facts to safeguard themselves, we can at least hope to hold our heads high once again. With the economic growth… more tourism… increased salaries… limited family lifeaˆ¦ more luxury lifeaˆ¦ money being spent for temporary pleasure going highaˆ¦ all kind of un-social activities will be going high. It is the real form of terrorism. Let the policy maker and the party in power and the opposition party see that this is the new form of suicide bomb.

After centuries of being shoved under the carpet, the truth is out. And we, as Indians, should stop, hold our breath, drop our heads in shame, and introspect. In the fight against trafficking government organizations, non-governmental organizations, civil society, pressure groups, international bodies, all have to play an important role. Law cannot be the only instrument to take care of all problems.

Notes

A statement from The Declaration and the Agenda for Action from the First World Congress against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, held in Stockholm, 1996

Gender inequality is one of the enormous puzzles of contemporary society. In last several decades, a significant alteration has happened in higher education throughout much of the industrialized world. For the first time in history, females are completing their educational studies more than males are. However, the university majors are still highly gender separated. Nonetheless, the creation of women’s studies programs at university level helps women to reach the gender equality. Also women have to overcome many restrictions connected with the business issues. Despite the fact, that in general, women participation in the Fortune 500 board seats has grown, on the average, the rate of increase is quite slow. Moreover the wage gap and the glass ceiling issues are still exist. Furthermore gender disparity in family remains an issue, despite the fact that the inequality has shifted and became less pronounced in the family life.

Keywords: gender inequality in education, college majors, women’s studies, sex disparity in business, Fortune 500, wage gap, glass ceiling, gender inequality in family, households, children’s gender, child custody.

Gender Inequality: The Changing Role of Women throughout the Last 30 Years in U.S.

Gender inequality is one of the enormous puzzles of contemporary society. Gender inequality refers to the unequal perceptions of individuals according to their gender. Males and females are unequal in every possible way in infinite circs, both immediate and enduring, by both objective aspect and subjective practice. Thus, what we can count as gender inequality? Can we describe it in methods that let us surely and fairly assess when there is more or less of it?

Gender disparity occurs in the all areas of modern world. Education, business and family evoke the enormous amount of controversy in terms of gender disparity. Gender inequality in education has received significant consideration during recent years from researchers and educators. There are three main points that describe the gender inequality in education: preponderance of women who graduate from university compared to number of men, gender gap in terms of college majors and creation of women’s studies. Although women overcame many restrictions connected with the business issues, however the gender gap in the managing positions, wage gap and glass ceiling are still exist. Moreover, gender disparity within the family remains an issue. Despite the fact, that women and men try to share all households, eventually females still doing more than males. Also the sex disparity appears in the perception of child’s gender. In addition, the decision-making that refers to children’s custody after divorce shows the changing tendency that connected with gender inequality. Gender roles: are they really changing?

Gender inequality in education

In last several decades, a significant alteration has happened in higher education throughout much of the industrialized world. For the first time in history, females are completing their educational studies more than males are. Up until the 1990’s, men have surpassed women in the number of undergraduate and graduate degrees that were completed in US. Since the 1990’s, women have begun to attain greater equality with men and, in many cases, have exceeded men in regards to their educational achievement. According to a recent study by the U.S. Congress, females are now prospering as well as, or better than, males on many of the indicators of educational achievement. Interestingly, the huge gaps in educational achievement between males and females that once prevailed have been generally eradicated. In the United States, women currently earn 67 percent of all bachelor’s degrees. In a recent study McDaniel(2010) found that the demographics were that 61 percent Hispanics, 61 percent Native Americans, 54 percent Asians, and 57 percent White females attained college. Changing educational achievement rates for men and women could reinforce gender gaps in salary, the involvement of women in the labor force, and a huge variety of other labor market issues. The increasing ratio of college-educated women compared to men could change social tendencies in marriage: more women delay marriage, divorce or completely deny marriage. As we can see now, the traditional roles of woman are being altered because of the impact of educational access for women.

The tendency for increasing numbers of women in higher education should explain not only how females have caught up to males in graduating from college, but also why the female percentage of the population surpassed and continues to increase as compared to the male rate for college graduation. Researchers have looked at sociological and economic ways that the study of educational achievement has evolved. The significance of women increasing their educational opportunities shows in changes in the labor market, where women need to have a higher degree than men to have an equal wage, or the goal to develop their special skills and talents. The second determinant of educational achievement is access to resources. The numerous studies confirmed that family-based financial, social, and cultural resources all play an important role in educational attainment (McDaniel, 2010).

Research has begun to concentrate on a female’s advantage in education in the United States, but it is necessary to emphasize that women’s rising tendency of graduation does not mean that the parity in the area of education has finally been reached. University majors are still highly gender separated. In most cases, women choose fields of study which usually bring in less money. The fields that are predominated by men are engineering, law, medicine, natural science and mathematics. The majors that are predominated by women are nursing, social science, teaching, and the humanities. The variety in choices of university majors between males and females is highly striking. In 2007-2009, among recipients of bachelor’s degrees in the United States, 13% of women majored in education compared to 4% of men, and only 4% of women majored in engineering compared to 14% of men (Evertsson et al., 2009).

Unfortunately, in different “men’s majors” women face the problem of gender inequality that connected with the gender perception. The sex differences in choice of major have recently been at the top of disputes on the reasons behind women’s under-representation in science and engineering (Evertsson et al., 2009). Females are still considered as being less capable in succeeding in mathematics and natural sciences than males. However, the gender gap in math and science achievement tests is quite insignificant. It is also known that the gender gap has been declining over the past 20 years.

One more important change that is connected to gender inequality in education is the creation of women’s studies programs at university level. Since the first women’s studies program was founded in the 1969-1970 academic year, over 600 schools have established programs (Carell, Page, & West, 2010). Undoubtedly, the number of women’s studies courses has continued to increase, from 449 in 1984, to 626 in 1994. Colleges and universities now offer about 2,000 women’s studies programs (Carell et al., 2010). Today, women’s studies are offered in many countries, though the extension of its institutionalization varies widely. The researchers state that the rise in high rate of women’s studies has occurred due to the fact that women were always treated as a minority in the society, whose rights have been violated. So now it is considered as a great opportunity to learn about women.

An appraisal of the disciplinary impact of women’s studies will necessarily be continuous process, as women’s studies and associated academic fields further develop. The researchers state that women’s studies majors help females to enhance their feminist consciousness and personal self-esteem. Some researchers also point out that females who take part into women’s studies changed their attitude towards the perception of men. Women became more likely to compete with men, despite the existing gender disparity. It’s important to expand end develop women’s studies in order to displace the harsh oppression often made regarding women and reduce the gender inequality.

Gender disparity in business

One substantial indicator that a society has achieved gender equality would be the existence of approximately equal number of males and females in executive positions. Despite the fact that in Western countries females have far more access to management positions than at any other period in history, equal picture is surely not present. Nonetheless, in recent decades the number of women entering the executive, managerial, or professional ranks in the U.S. has increased. However, these females are concentrated at lower levels of management. Across all economic areas, compared to males, females rarely occupy positions conferring major decision-making authority and the ability to affect others’ salary or preferment (Duehr & Bono, 2006).

During the last fifteen years, progression wasn’t fast for females in the boards of the largest 500 US firms. The Fortune 500 is the rating of the top 500 United States publicly traded companies as measured by their gross incomes and is complied per annum by Fortune magazine. Women held 9.6 per cent of the Fortune boards seats in 1995, though by 2011 women held 19 per cent seats (Van Der Lippe, De Ruijter, & Raub, 2011). Despite the fact that in general, women participation in the Fortune 500 board seats has grown, on the average, the rate of increase is quite slow. According to this rate of increase, it may need at least 70 years for women to attain equity with men on Fortune 500 boards. Females’ actions can encounter with greater examinations and their performance may be more sharply judged as long as women are not well represented on the board.

In spite of the progression women have made, gender pay parity in the workplace is still a problem. In 1990 women earned only 60 cents for every dollar that men earned, implying a “gender pay gap” of 40 cents (or 40 percent). Although the gender pay gap had stood at roughly that level for decades, the 1995 a striking thing happened: the “raw” pay gap shrunk rapidly, and it has continued to shrink to this day ( Dey & Hill, 2007). Economists analyze the gender wage gap using wage regressions-that is, statistical analyses specifying the relationship between wages and productivity- related characteristics for men and women (Hoque, DuBois, & Fox- Cardamone, 2010).

The survey concludes that some of the raw wage gap is due to varieties in the measured characteristics of males and females. The gender pay gap has become an essential attribute of the U.S. workstation and is so wide spread that many people believe that it is normal. In most fields college-educated females still earn less than their male co-workers earn, despite the equal working conditions that connected with hours, occupation, parenthood, and other factors that are normally associated with payment system. Women tend to work in the nonprofit and local government areas, where salaries are statistically lower than those in the for-profit and federal government areas (Hoque et al., 2010). The pay parity is particularly a question of fairness. Women don’t have enough resources to provide themselves and feed their families, when they are paid less compared to men for equal work. A lot of women experience deficiency is terms of savings as a result of the wage gap, especially when they retire (Van Der Lippe et al., 2011). The pay inequality is an obstacle for females’ opportunity to negotiate in the workstation. Most couples tend to prioritize the higher-earning husband’s well-being in child care, selection of residence, and other household decisions, because women earn less.

The term ‘glass ceiling’ was used in 1984 by the author of the ‘Corporate Woman’ column in The Wall Street Journal to describe the process in the work area in USA and other countries. This author reported that an invisible obstacle serves to prevent all but a disproportionately few females from reaching the highest levels of the corporate hierarchy, oblivious of their achievement and merits ( KepHeart & Schumacher, 2005). Researchers state that the glass ceiling in corporate America shows a few cracks now, but it is still firmly in place. The point is that the glass ceiling is not a hurdle for a person based on an individual’s failure to cope with a higher-level job. It refers to females as a group who are kept from promoting because they are women. Unfortunately, many women who plan their promotion and expect high work positions may not be promoted not because they can’t handle the higher-level job, but because they are women. This refers to a special kind of gender discrimination connected with the working area. Many researchers also report that despite the ‘glass ceiling’ there is one more hurdle for female leaders today. That is the peculiar wall that exists at the top, in other words when women succeed in the process of the destruction of strong ‘glass ceiling’, then she face another barrier, which is the brick wall between their success and the traditional male hierarchies on the other side. Sometimes as a result, women are choosing to leave the workplace on their own consent, to participate only in family matters, or because they do not want the burden of the leader positions.

Actually, women choose to leave corporate America, not so much because of the obvious obstacles previously outlined, but because they choose to establish their own businesses. In fact, the foundation of the owning a business is a very prosperous way of avoiding the “glass ceiling” concepts. Researchers state that 23% of the women interviewed providing disillusionment with the “glass ceiling” as the incentive for establishing their own businesses, also between 1997 and 2008, the number of women-owned companies increased by 19 % nationally, in addition, since 1999 there has been a 190 % increase in construction businesses and a 130 % increase in manufacturing businesses started by women ( Terjesen, Sealy, & Sinqh, 2009). Moreover, over 2.46 trillion dollars in commerce are generated from female owned businesses. Females are also owners of 12.6 million privately held and majority owned corporations (Terjesen et al., 2009). It’s impressive that women serve as employers to 19.5 million employees; it means that the quarter of all employees work for a woman entrepreneur. These indexes prove the tremendous shift in direction of women entrepreneurism as the chosen approach to crack through the ‘glass ceiling’.

Sex inequality within family

During the last decades women’s responsibilities within the family have changed a lot. Therefore, gender inequality acquired a new form due to participation of women in the labor force. The researchers claim that women’s employment leads to more equal participation regarding households. Presently, females don’t have enough free time to participate in a household as before. Thus, gender inequality has shifted and became less pronounced in the family life.

Actually, it took a lot of efforts for women to acquire the same status as men have today. There are two aspects that underlie this change. The first aspect is connected to the women’s position of power that she reached as a result of getting independent income. Women now have access to money resources, the opportunity to negotiate the allocation of responsibilities and tasks and became an important and reputable participant in the process of the decision making within the household (Minques, 2012). The second one refers to the female’s limitation of free time that led to the increase of men’s participation in child care and other activities connected with the household. However, researchers state that the disproportional share of the burden of household still exists. Females are assigned more labor-intensive and time-consuming chores. Despite the increase of male’s participation in a household, men tend to be responsible for familial obligations that take less time and concentration (Minques,2012). It means that in spite of the fact that men share the households with their spouses, women still spend a lot of time doing their domestic duties.

Another factor that shows the gender inequality within the family is connected to the gender of children. In spite of the statement that the contemporary families are less concerned about gender of their children and tend to have one child of each sex parents still have some preferences. Dahl and Moretti (as sited in Raley and Bianchi, 2006) argues that a number of pieces of evidences suggests that there continues to be a preference for sons, at least among fathers in the United States. For instance, they investigated that couples with two daughters proceed to a third birth than those with two sons. The researchers consider this finding as consistent with a preference for boys over girls.

Whether or not parents have a preference in terms of gender of their child, they subconsciously set more hopes on boys than girls. Given past gender differences in adul?µ economic achievements, parents may assume that one gender, most often sons, will have higher economic achievement in adulthood (Raley & Bianchi, 2006). In spite of the fact that a lot of couples emphasize that girls will be caregivers for them in the future, parents also suppose that their sons will help them financially, while daughters will spend most of the time in their own families doing households and taking care of children. The presumption that girls will devote the life to their own families as caregivers leads to another area in which couples seem to differentiate the involvement in house-work activities by sex ( Raley & Bianchi, 2006). Although parents state that they allocate chores equally, girls do more household work overall. Because girls do more feminine households like cooking and cleaning and boys do more masculine chores as household repairs and outdoor works, it’s obvious that daughters will do more chores, because cleaning and cooking is a kind of everyday activity, what we can’t say about repair.

It is an obvious fact that during the long time in US gender inequality in terms of custody of children after parent’s divorce was in favor of women. However, that tendency has endured a huge surge of changes 25 years ago. National estimates in the 1970’s and 80’s indicated that women had sole custody of the children approximately 85% of the time, and men retained sole custody 10% of the time, with the remaining 5% spread over a variety of custody arrangements, including grandparent, split or joint custody ( Kalmijn, 2007). The rights of males in this issue has increased and changed for the better over time. Affected by fathers’ complaints of gender discrimination in custody decisions, constitutional concerns for parity protection, the feminist movement, and the entry of large numbers of females into the labor market, most states had replaced the standards that were based on the gender.

Women lost one of their few benefits that refer to gender inequality. The researchers state that the fact that women became more independent and anxious about their career played not a good role for child custody decision-making. In 1980, 2.9 million mothers got sole custody of their children; by 1995 that situation had almost tripled. Nevertheless, by 2007 the number of fathers with sole custody increased by 4 times, while the number of mothers who got the sole custody decreased (DeGermo, Patras, & Eap, 2008). Although the number of mothers who have the sole custody substantially prevails, the number of fathers who get the sole custody of children unceasingly grows.

Despite all the changes and reforms, gender inequality still exists. Women are trying to avoid many obstacles that they face on their way to success and power. Unfortunately, women need to prove their capabilities in all areas much harder than men do and it does not matter if it is an education, or business, or family scope. Today women still face the gender inequality in terms of leadership positions, pay gap and glass ceiling. They also are unequal with men in area of different college majors and family responsibilities. Nevertheless, due to tremendous efforts, the gender disparity gave a crack in point of women’s attendance to college and establishment of women’s studies programs. It is well known that the modernity is a time of change and it is obvious that change in gender inequality will continue. But the question is how much time and efforts it will take and will we be satisfied with the results that we will finally receive?

The structure of the family has changed drastically in Ireland and many Western countries has seen a major change in the nature and structure of the family in recent times. In recent years due to a change in demographic trends in terms of marriage patterns, occupational structures, fertility and pre- determined socially constructed norms. According to Galliagan (1998, cited in Tovey & Share 2003) there has been a change of structure in Irish society due to modernisation, secularisation of society due to the church not being dominant anymore and woman becoming dominant in society in terms of roles and family planning. There are arguments that these issues have occurred for better or worse in terms of making Ireland a modern society (Tovey & Share 2007).

The concept of the family has changed from being of an extended family in pre-industrial society which contained two or more generations living under one roof. The role of the family was primarily a unit of production and reproduction which revolved around the farm. In comparison in industrial societies the nuclear family consists of two adults living together with children. This type of family structure was referred as the “stem” family. A new type of family has evolved due to separation known as the blended family which consists of two previously married people who co-habit with their respective children (McDonald 2009). This is conveyed by Russell (2004 cited in Tovey & Share 2007) that half of all couples in Ireland were dual earners. Family patterns have changed dramatically over the past several decades. This is justified by anthropologists Arensberg and Kimball who identified the family as being a typical traditional family with several generations living together. This type of structure had an patriarchal approach which resulted in gender roles as the male being the breadwinners and females being the homemaker (Hillard 2007).

As a result of modernisation and industrialisation it has led to changeable demographic trends in terms of marriage , fertility, divorce, gender roles, one parent family’s and contraception. Galligan (1998 cited in Tovey & Share 2003) points out that from the 1930’s to the 1960’s woman suffered legal discrimination in terms of employment, property rights, family law and social welfare. This is highlighted by Tovey & Share (2003) which states woman who previously worked in the public service from 1932 to 1973 had to give up their job when married due to the marriage bar. However this has changed significantly in recent times due to demographic studies which shows that woman’s participation rate in the workforce was 54 per cent in 1996 compared to 28 per cent in 1971 (Tovey & Share 2003). This has been mainly achieved through feminism which enabled woman to have a say in how society is operated which occurred in the late twentieth century (Hillard 2007). They argued that there was unequal power relationships within the family and highlighted that woman should have important roles in society in terms of carers and decision making (McDonald 2009).

The Central Statistics Office 2006 shows that the trend in contemporary Irish society of family patterns has resulted in six types of family units which consists of husband and wife (225,773), cohabiting couples (77,781), husband and wife and children (516,404), cohabiting couple and children (43,982), lone mother and children (162,551), lone father and children (26,689) (CSO 2006). Due to these trends in the family there is now a huge amount of diversity in terms of what a family can be defined in terms of. Tovey and Share (2003) highlights key trends due to the changing phenomena of the family caused by a marked decline in marriage, birth and fertility rates and people remaining single. This is conveyed that in 2001 births outside marriage made up nearly a third of all births in Ireland which shows that there has been changing attitudes towards social values in terms of the family.

There has been a change in the typical related marriage and living arrangement patterns. Previously if a man and woman lived together without being married they were said to be living in sin (Hunt 2005). Since the 1960’s due to approaches of egalitarianism and individualism in Western society it has led to change (Hillard 2007). Due to secularisation peoples views on this subject has changed drastically in the last century. The 2006 census shows that there was 77,782 cohabiting couples without children and 43,937 cohabiting couples with children (Hillard 2007). The International Survey Programme (ISSP) shows changing attitudes in Irish society. This is shown as in 1988, 83 per cent of people surveyed believed that people who want children should have to get married. While in 2002 the figure dropped to 53 per cent. There is now a considerable amount of people having civil marriages as 3,683 in 2002 were married in a non- church setting (Hillard 2007). Due to contraception being introduced it has led woman to be in control of family planning due to birth control. This has resulted in families having smaller amounts of children. According to Galligan (1998 cited in Tovey & Share 2003) this has reflected modernisation of Irish society which was once prohibited due to Catholic acts in 1929.

Attitudes relating to marriage has changed dramatically since the introduction of divorce in 1997 by the Family Law Act. Divorces was the fastest growing martial since 1996 (Mc Donald 2009). The 2006 census justifies this statement with there being 59,500 divorced compared to 9,800 in 1996 (CSO 2006). According to Hetherington (1991 cited in Hunt 2005) in terms of gender men are less capable of coping with divorce than woman which leads to deteriorating levels of physical and mental health. Another reason is due to longer life expectancy this is shown as life expectancy at birth has risen from 57.9 years for both sexes in 1926 t0 80.3 years for women and 75.1 years for men in 2002 (Fahey 2007). Due to changes in cultural attitudes which once saw marriage as a sacred and spiritual union between two people. Marriage is now viewed as a personal and practical commitments which can be ended by divorce if there is breakdown in the relationship (Hunt 2005). As a result there has been a significant increase in the number of one parent families in recent times. The 2006 census states that there was 189,200 lone parent families an increase of 23 per cent on the 2002 census. There is a vast gender difference in terms of lone parent families with nearly 86 per cent of them being female (McDonald 2009). Therefore the role men play in society has been diminished.

In terms of gender roles in the family setting these stereotypes have changed dramatically in attitudes. The woman’s role in the family was previously being the homemaker whose job it was to rear the children , do the housework and prepare the meals. This is shown as in 1971 there was only 8 per cent of married woman in the labour force. While in 2006 52.4 per cent of married woman were in the workforce (Hillard 2007). However now there is a more egalitarian approach to gender roles due to woman participating in the workforce which has enabled them to an income, power and status which they previously never had. Beale (1998 cited in Tovey & Share 2003, p255) states “Irish society has industrialised and urbanised, and as traditional values and ways have been challenged and questioned, every aspect of women’s lives has been to scrutiny and change.” Tovey and Share (2003) suggest that there are three common viewpoints about how gender differences have changed in Ireland over the last three decades. One view is that there has been positive progress in woman’s involvement in the workforce. The second view is that there has been little change and woman are still being discriminated in terms of employment and social life. The third view is that gender inequality is changing and that now it is men that are at a disadvantage.

A new phenomena called the symmetrical family has emerged. The segregated roles of gender such as a “mans job” and “woman’s job” has demised into more integrated roles. This has resulted in improved rights and status for woman. Previously traditional functions of the family involved the mother looking after the children full time. However due to woman becoming more dominant in modern society there has been a shift in childcare to other social institutions. This involves sending children to nurseries, crA?ches and pre-schools while both parents are working. However this results in high costs and shows a shift in the structure of the family in modern society (McDonald 2009).

Due to society becoming more diverse family arrangements will continue to change. The changing phenomena of the family is evident and is expected to bring more changes ” For example, a rise in numbers of single people; considerably smaller families; the rise of one child families; increasing levels of lone parenthood; more gay and lesbian couples; and more voluntarily childfree people” are predicted to happen (Tovey & Share 2007, p259). This leads to the family being complex due to issues relating to divorce, marriage patterns, cohabitation and single parent families. There are questions on how modernisation has influenced society “Whether such changes can be described as a good thing or a bad thing in the Irish context remain very much open to debate, research and analysis”. (Tovey & Share 2003, p247). The family is regarded as one of the most basic and important institutions in society and is under constant evolution due to the changing patterns in society and will continue to do so for some time (McDonald 2009).

In virtually all cultures, the family is considered the basic societal unit, however the nature of the ‘typical’ family has changed over the decades. Families are no longer comprised of the same number of individuals as they used to be and it is thought that this is due to the impact of contemporary social forces upon individuals and their consequential effect on family structure. There are a number of different psychoanalytic hypotheses which address the possible causes of this change in family nature however it appears that all of these hypotheses emphasize the effects of social factors upon individuation and autonomy. The literature seems to hold several propositions for change in the family dynamic and nature. Schmidt has explored this changing nature in relation to adolescence in a totalitarian society; Chasseguet-Smirgel described a heightened and pathological self-sufficiency which can be related to the breakdown of family structure; and Chodorow considered the difficulty that women encountered, in a society where many choices were open to them, in consolidating a generative maternal identity freed from impingement by early relationships with mother and siblings. [1]

Chasseguet-Smirgel was of the opinion that drug and alcohol addiction, eating disorders and certain kinds of sexual conduct could all be classified as behavioral changes which have enabled individuals to become more independent in nature and as such, have led individuals to have the ability to do without family members through an acquisition of control over their own lives in another sense. In a study conducted by Chasseguet-Smirgel, a description of two male patients, of which both were alcoholics, was described. These men’s dependency on alcohol had replaced come about as a substituted for the nurturance, which they had not received in childhood.

Patients with eating disorders were also described and these were seen as a representation of a refusal to enter the biological order of female development. It has been suggested that for an anorexic woman, restriction of food intake could be seen to represent a triumph over the need for the food whereas for bulimic individuals, binging and purging re-enactment of a self-sufficient cycle whereby ingested food was felt to represent the bulimic’s own faeces. From this point of view, sexuality could be viewed upon as a process which involved a dehumanisation of the object as a defense against intimacy, dependency and loss and as a consequence of this view point, all individuals with such mindsets, as described, would be all likely to have multiple partners and in some cases, multiple children. Thus, this would ultimately led to a large change in the dynamics of these families which would be the result of the multiple partners, as one male could not possibly reside in a home, which would encompass the traditional family household: one male, one female and two children. [1]

Thus, this hypothesis of the changing nature of the family highlights the effect that pathological disorders, which have come about as part of contemporary society, have had on the family structure and nature. This has been thought to have been brought about via the development of technology which has enabled individuals to gain more control over their body and their image, so that they have been ‘set free’ from the powers of nature, leading one to believe that ‘anything is possible’ and most likely would have brought with it the feeling of ill-contentment with other elements of ones life, [2] such as their possible spouse or family, leading to a disruption of a likely family home and the formation of more single-parent families or multiple partners. (Wood et al, 2000)

The blurring of parental roles and the breakdown of paternal function can also be viewed as another change in the nature of the family. [3] Father no longer fill the same paternal role which would have traditionally been seen and thus, this could be seen that children are no longer disciplined as fully as they might have been in the past.

Chodorow explored the interplay of cultural forces, which have lead to the failure of some contemporary women to wish to conceive children. In the literature, According to Lafarge11, Chodorow mentioned three beliefs which were supported by contemporary culture and where thought to reinforce and mask women’s unconscious ambivalence towards motherhood. These were the idea that motherhood and professional life were in- compatible; the sense that the women’ s own mothers had been trapped and passive and that they themselves should only become mothers if they could negotiate entirely different and egalitarian partnerships with men. Finally, the concept of remaining youthful led to a disavowal of natural ageing processes and declining fertility. Thus, these The cultural themes could be seen to be pivotal in the fact that a number of women no longer have children, and as such, the ‘family’ home would have comprised of a male and a female without any children or of no companion at all, and instead, simply a male or female living alone. Within modern day society, the passage of time, and the fact that women are more likely to have careers and thus have children later on in their life, changed the family dynamic and nature in itself. Furthermore, the unconscious denial of the passage of time can be seen to act to enable individuals to miss the time to have children and thus not have any children or, indeed have children very late on in their lives, which ultimately would lead to a lower number of children being born to one couple, reducing the number or the traditional family to one child from two (or, in more early times, more than two children.) [4]

Schmidt presented the results of a research project in which adolescents from a former communist society were compared with those from a Western capitalist democracy. Eight adolescents from each country were interviewed. The findings of this study showed that there were features which were typical to only some of the members of those interviewed and nott to others. For example, features in the Russian adolescents which were associated with growing up in a communist society were witnessed. These adolescents tended to put forward an unchallenging conformist identity which assured their safety within a totalitarian regime. Individual wishes, criticisms and disruptive feelings were denied or projected; the adolescents appeared somewhat frozen, unable to compare present, past and future, or to work through painful experiences. It was thought that the ‘ impersonal self ‘ which these individuals projected arose both as a direct effect of the totalitarian society upon individual development and as an indirect effect, mediated by the effect of the society upon the family. It was thought that Western societies valued private life and the continuity of personal and family identity and that this was different to the values observed within other regimes.

For example, in communist societies, the individual and the family were less privileged, and were subordinated to the needs of the state. Even if the child’s earliest development took place within the individualizing setting of a nurturing family, the state quickly assumed responsibility for the child and placed a collective stamp upon his development. Furthermore, the literature presents the findings that in the totalitarian state this eroded the family structure, and in particular this damaged the paternal functioning. [1] It has been noted that the father receded into the background in most of the Russian adolescents. In such individuals, the boys tended to have a stronger personality and this has been thought to effect the way in which the individuals would act as part of the family and would alter the nature of the family in this setting.

Thus, from an assessment of the literature, social structure, family structure and personality structure stand in a complex relation to one another. Adult development does not give women sufficient social changes that they encounter before they encounter the limits of their fertility and this has lead to a decrease in the number of members found within a typical family in contemporary society. Hence, factors such as social change, changing family structure and the fantasies and personality structures that are linked to them may all be responsible for the changing nature of the family which can be seen within today’s society.