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“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.

A recent survey across America suggests that roughly 2-3% of Americans suffer from OCD. (Citation) Thats approximately over 5 million people. Until recently OCD was considered a rare illness and little was known about how people coped with the sometimes completely debilitating symptoms. Today it has been recognized as one of the most common disorders in our society, and it is likely that it remained unrecognized for so long because of the fear individuals had of being thought of as “crazy”. In some cases, these individuals modified their lifestyles to mask their symptoms, some so well as to even keep them secret from their spouses for decades.

Thesis:

OCD effects a wide range of people. One out of every forty people are effected by OCD.(Citation) There is no certain race or gender of people that are affected by OCD, but it is more common in urban areas. This may be due to the fact that there is a higher concentration of people in urban areas than in rural areas. OCD is more prevalent in people with less education or people in poverty. This may be due to the fact that treatment is less available for them or their income is not sufficient for the treatment. OCD is more common in adolescents to young adults. One percent of people affected by OCD are in elementary school. Stress and psychological factors seem to help accelerate the development of OCD in adolescents. Men generally start showing symptoms at an earlier age than women. OCD can effect family members. If a family member has OCD, there is a twenty-five percent chance that another member of the family will also develop it.

Obsessive compulsive disorder has been so widespread throughout recent years that we are now entering a cycle for which this condition is present and doesn’t discriminate different class systems. We can point out that an increase in the number of OCD patients has risen because of its newly discovered branches which include and are not limited to washers and cleaners, eating disorders, fear with homosexuality, anxiety disorders, rituals, etcaˆ¦ With so many cases, one can only imagine falling within a category.

“OCD is a neurobiological anxiety disorder. It equally affects men, women and children of all races, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds. OCD is the fourth most common psychiatric disorder, after phobias, substance abuse and major depression, affecting about one in 40 adults and one in 100 school-aged children..”-OCDChicago.org

Since anybody can be affected by OCD it is not limited to one specific group in American Society. OCD can range from poor people to the richest people in the world, it doesn’t matter how much status you have obtained throughout your life or what class you are categorized in. For poor people it would be harder to pay for the medicine needed to help cope with OCD. This condition is a complicated disease that affects the person who has it mentally and emotionally. It also affects their social life, their love life, their friends, and occupations. OCD can completely affect a person desire to maintain any sort of social life as the become embarrassed and insecure about their illness and fear the symptoms would surface while interacting with others.

People whom have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder are protected by laws in which are tied into the educational system in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (section 504) and The Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Education Act (IDEA). These laws were set in place to protect the children that are in the educational system in ways that keep them able to perform in the “normal” school system even thought they have a mental illness that hinders their ability to learn. These laws have proven to be helpful to students; however, there are also people with OCD that are suffering to survive in society. These people are being pressured in the labor force and some of these people are also represented in the present celebrity world. An example of this pressure in the work force is represented in the case of Humphrey v. Memorial Hospitals Association, 2001 WL 118432 F.3d – CA, when a woman whose employment was terminated because of her mental illness that hindered her ability to arrive to work on time and complete her tasks.

People with OCD constantly have issues at the work place. Although it is illegal to discriminate against people due to medical conditions, they are indirectly discriminated against. The majority of people who have OCD do not tell their companies that they have this mental disorder because they do not want to be pitied and feel special. When people do let everybody know that they have OCD, they are treated differently by their co workers and boss, forcing them to become uncomfortable in their work environment. There is also an issue with getting a job. In today’s economy, people are becoming unemployed at great rates, including those who are qualified and have college degrees. This puts people who have OCD at a disadvantage if they choose to disclose this disease. Managers will know that once hired, these people have the tendency to miss work and they will be unable to terminate them because of this mental condition. This leads to discrimination against people with OCD if they choose to let people know that they have the disease. It is very direct discrimination because if it is disclosed, the companies look at the negativities which come along with the disease and choose not to hire these people. Ocd.about.com tells people to “Try and get a sense of what your employer’s track record is in accommodating OCD patients.” But to be able to do this, people would have to disclose that they have OCD and a majority of the companies would choose not to hire these people, and finding an understanding employer is rare. One personal story from www.neuroticplanet.com was put up by an employee who was recently terminated. He kept going to the bathroom to wash his hands because he was a washer and cleaner. When questioned about his constant breaks, the employee had no choice but to tell that he had the disorder. Upon finding out, the employer gave him a bunch of new tasks in which he could not handle and laid him off because he could not “keep up” with the company. Many people who try to deal with OCD at work end up being discriminated against. Although there are rights stating that employees cannot be fired based upon mental illnesses, it is hard to prove that they were fired for this cause when employers find different ways to deal with it.

Biases do exist against people with OCD, mainly cultural biases. Although they are legally protected, there are many ways around these issues. Hoarders are one group of people who are culturally biased against. They are seen as odd people because their houses are full of junk that normal people would not collect. These hoarders are legally biased against because people have to keep their house clean and orderly. If a person were to have a yard that looks like a junkyard, the city would force them to clean up or set rules against them. Some people hoard animals, and this goes against many legal issues. There are legal biases against these people because they are seen as animal abuses and unsanitary to a point where it has become a health issue. They own many animals to the point where they are unable to maintain them, and feces are all over the house. Eventually, they are legally forced to get rid of their animals and clean up after themselves.

An example of cultural biases is against the obsessional OCD group. They do things which society sees ad weird such as repeating words, counting, or constantly praying to themselves. We have been taught that the norm is for people to think in their heads, not out loud in society, so these people are culturally incorrect. For somebody to be sitting in a corner and mumbling to them self is seen as deviance. Checkers are also culturally biased against. When people see their daily ritual of running back and forth to their door and making sure they are locked, it is seen as incorrect.

C. How is the inequality of this group being addressed by law, policy, social movements?

Today, resources, information and support organizations have changed the stigma of individuals with OCD and has opened opportunities for a healthier lifestyle that allows these people to better manage their illness. Improved educational, career, and treatment opportunities are greater than ever. It was not long ago that the benefits of advanced communication strategies via technology, was not as far reaching as it is today. Only a few decades ago individuals with OCD in more rural areas faced the challenge of accessing information about their particular illness and where they could find the help they needed. They were left unaware, uneducated, and untreated and did not have an equal opportunity to benefit from early diagnosis by a professional.

Modern communication technologies, primarily like that of the world wide web, have huge impacts in the availability and access to the latest research about Obsessive Compulsive Disorders. Access to these sources of information is elevating levels of awareness that had never existed before. Today, people can access resources that allow them to respond to questionnaires, surveys, and or simply review symptoms of OCD in order to help them detect the illness in its earlier stages. Access to this information can improve the likelihood of seeking treatment. For example, at the website of The Westwood Institute of Anxiety Disorders, concerned individuals can review the “OCD Symptoms Checklist” which guide them through a questionnaire describing symptoms they might be experiencing. After all the questions are reviewed, an individual might then consider a treatment plan where otherwise they may have simply disregarded their initial concerns and attempt to manage their illness alone.

Charitable organizations have also played a huge role in influencing social movements towards the further awareness and treatment strategies of OCD, and helping to bring effective influence to those who have the illness. At the Awareness Foundation for OCD and Related Disorders, an online resource that provides brochures and links to professional associations and locations and contact information to various treatment facilities. They have made it their mission to educate and guide families of individuals with OCD. They offer links about educational seminars, public speaking events, and other educational brochures and pamphlets. These support groups have led to dramatic changes in the stigma and challenges individuals with OCD face as they try to live a normal life and encourage the support of immediate family of people with OCD as it impacts their entire families.

One of the social institutions that has made great efforts to meet the needs of OCD challenged individuals, is that of public education. Often times at an early age the signs of OCD are not as apparent and educators and parents are unable to distinguish between disruptive behavior and the early signs of OCD. This is a difficult challenge to school personnel and can even have a greater negative impact on the confidence of the child. This major issue has been tackled head on by organizations such as The OCD Education Station, an organization that specializes in providing various resources for school personnel. The OCD Education Station educates school personnel on issues such as; helping teachers and counselors recognize OCD symptoms, helps them learn how to communicate to the parents of children that are suspected of having the illness, and also provide tools and programs, such as custom curriculum’s that are tailored to meet the educational needs of children with OCD.

The workplace has also been a difficult challenge and concern in maintaining a normal lifestyle with OCD. Different levels of severity and types of OCD directly impact on an individuals effectiveness at the workplace. It can reduce levels of productivity, attendance, judgement, and even their ability to work with others. In the workplace it is ever more important for employees and employers to recognize the symptoms of OCD early in an individuals career. It is important that these individuals are honest with employers and have the security of securing their employment without any unnecessary discrimination.

One of the most difficult challenges for people with OCD, is overcoming their fear of losing their jobs as they might be seen as unfit to handle the responsibilities should the boss and other employers learn of their illness. As described earlier, there have been many instances in which employees have been inappropriately dismissed from their employment.

Fortunately, with the growing support of OCD organizations, laws and policies a protect the employment rights of individuals with OCD. Once an individual has sought treatment they can then disclose their illness to their employer. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects these individuals from discrimination and requests that the employer make slight accommodations to meet the needs of the individual with an illness, such as eliminating tasks that trigger the symptoms, offering flexible schedules, and making job expectations as clear as possible. (VZ-Life).

Today charity events by various support organizations are leading the advancement for future treatment programs by helpign raise the funds needed to conduct the necessary research. The list of current treatment provided today is a long one, a few include; counseling, cognitive-behavior therapy, psychosurgery, and even deep brain stimulation. Future treatments are expected to be less evasive and more effective than ever. In an recent article, “St. John’s Wort: Future Treatment for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?”, posted by The Herb Research Foundation, Nancy Hoegler suggests that after a study conducted using St. Johns’s Wort, significantly reduced the levels of anxiety and other symptoms of OCD.

Research for new treatment programs requires lots of funding, today more and more organizations are surfacing and becoming effective in rasing money for these types of projects. In 2011, what is commonly recognizez as The London Marathon, will be hosted by the OCD-UK, the leading United Kingdom charity for people with obsessive compulsive disorders. OCD-UK is the nations leading charity and works with and for individuals with Obsessive Disorders. The organization was founded in November 2003 by two OCD sufferers, former IT consultant Ashley Fulwood and businessman Steve Sharpe. Both felt that OCD was still not widely recognised and that a more proactive approach was needed to bring the problems faced by people suffering with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder into the public spotlight. On the 14th of April 2004, OCD-UK became an officially registered charity.

Today, the organization continues to grow with volunteers and participants at their fundraising events. They continue to provide support to over 4000 people with OCD through telephone information lines, email support services, and facilitated support groups through fully moderated online discussion forums. OCD-UK continues to respond to hundreds of requests for support and information, which they provide free of charge.

Summary and Conclusion:
-what did we identify as the answers to each question we were asked
-What is the future of OCD patients outlook
-Close with a quote or interesting description of the latest and innovative treatment for OCD, maybe it is expected to be cured.

Female feticide is a process of aborting female fetuses after about 18 weeks of gestation or we can say that killing or murdering a female child with in womb of mother. Female feticide is a violation of human right; the female children in the wombs are not only denied the right to live but are robbed to their right to born. More than a hundred millions women are missing because their parents wanted a son. There is no question that female feticide is not just unethical but it downright cruel as well.

Ten years back where to alter the gender composition of children is also the crudest i.e., female infanticide. The method relies on the set of procedure to kill girls within the few days after their birth. At this time there is no awareness about such technology to determine the sex the child before birth. But this practice distress the women who are widowed or single pregnancy and they also go for suicide. With the increase in practice of female infanticide government imposed strict actions against it. Thereby it reduces but with the technology it is converted into the new form, today what we call is female feticide.

Causes

The root of this problem was started by government itself in 1970s, when there is problem for increasing population, they said the people that don’t give birth to so many to get the one boy child then “government asked them what you want a boy child?” we will give u only one or two boy child. After that in the government hospitals new technologies are introduced to check sex of the child, but this was opposed by some social activities then government banned these activities but at that time people were aware of the technology and doctors also, so doctors open their private clinics and made their occupation. After that ultrasound machine came and these activities spread like virus.

Today there are many methods to select the sex of the child prior to birth such as sperm sorting (sperms that is sorted by sex and then used in artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization) and pre implantation genetic diagnosis. Sex determination has also undergone constant progress, one of the latest method is “fetal DNA testing” in which blood of the pregnant mother is known to contain the DNA of her baby after six weeks of gestation, a sample of this blood can be tested to identify the sex of embryo. But this wasn’t the main reason the main reason is the people mentality and this society.

In our society many people think that boy child will bring happiness and status in their life, where girl child only bring the tensions about their studies and then give to her to the other family with lot of money. Today in the 21st century where the world coming with new ideas and thoughts and everyone is given equal freedom and mentality of the people changed but still these kinds of pointless thoughts that girl is miserable for us, she bring nothing but only sorrow in people minds are awful. They changed their dressing style, living style, living standard but they don’t know that life is the very precious which can’t compared with anything and they don’t have right to the anyone life. I think there are two main reasons that most of the people think in this society,

Education: why one should spend so much money on the schools and colleges because she has to go another family and what is benefit of her knowledge to us, even if she start earning then we don’t get any money from her.

Dowry system: which is going on from past 50 years but today it became worse, people demand so much money that girl family can’t fulfill it, and even there are some cases where bride is tortured to get money from her family. This system is more rigid in the northern India.

Gender discrimination: The bias against females in India is grounded in cultural, economic and religious roots. Sons are expected to work in the fields; they provide greater income and look after parents in old age. In this way, sons are considered as a type of insurance. In addition, in a patriarchal society, sons are responsible for “preservation” of the family name. Also, as per Hindu belief, lighting the funeral pyre by a son is considered necessary for salvation of the spirit. This strong preference for sons which results in a life-endangering deprivation of daughters is not considered abhorrent culturally and socially.

Despite making pre-natal sex determination is penal offence, doctors and parents alike rampantly violet this law. Even after the regular raids by the government in the private clinics and the hospitals and imposing a huge fine these kind of cruel things are still prevailing in the society.

In India, where many measures taken by the government like empowerment of the women, free education to girl child, reservation in parliament, women rights and other progressive initiative, do not make sense when we look at the cases of female feticide. There are only 940 females for every 1000 males in India according to the 2011 census.

Effects

Female feticide has very long term effects in the human diversity such as declination in the sex ratio. The child sex ratio is calculated as the number of girls per 1000 boys in the 0-6 year’s age group and has consistently declined from 976 girls per 1000 boys in 1961 to 945 in 1991 and 914 in the 2011 census. Even in India, the child sex ratio is not uniform across states. States like Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat and union territory of Chandigarh, the ratio has declined to less than 900 girls per 1000 boys. Haryana child sex ratio 830 and Punjab child sex ratio 846 are worst hit by the child sex ratio. In India’s capital Delhi, the sex ratio has declined from 915 in 1991 to 866 in 2011.

If this ratio is used to decline at this rate, then those days are not far when there is no bride. People will move from here to there into the parts of the country looking for the girls, then there will be market for the girls that pay and take the girl and this leads to the more social deprivation of the girls.

Strategies to curb female feticide

Although there are many facilities are given by the government and steps taken to improve the status of the women in the society. They are provided with greater opportunities in education, employment and in matter of governance that is their seats are reserved in the school, colleges and even the parliament. They are provided with almost free education, loans with zero percent interest and many other things that make the parents less burdened. As there are many laws against the female feticide such as huge fine, cancellation of license and many jail terms but they are not implemented in a good way because there are number of private clinics in the every corner of the city to be searched and moreover our take these things lightly for example in Korea, government cancelled all the license of doctors permanently and put them into jails the who are indulged in these activities, as a result there is significant increase in girls to boys sex ratio with in the year. Therefore first and foremost steps are strict actions against doctors and keep monitoring the advanced machines which are used by various doctors.

Most of people think that this kind of practice is more among the villagers or the one who are not educated but they are wrong. These are more in the large cities and the people who are well educated.

Intensive information, Education and Communication campaigns for raising awareness: the government launched so many programs one of them is “Save the Girl Child Campaign” which have main objectives to highlight the achievements of the young girls. To achieve the long-term vision efforts are made to create an environment where sons and daughter are equally valued. There is a need of mass media in promoting a positive image of women. School and colleges should be the target audience. Various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) played an active role in this area. However the root causes of gender bias need to be tackled first and then steps towards women empowerment must be strengthened.

Women empowerment: Education is the powerful tool for women to improve self-image, acceptance of family planning and their empowerment. NGOs may be encouraged to promote formation of self-help groups, provide non-formal education for adult females, create employment opportunities for women as well as provide counseling and support services to newly married and pregnant women to discourage them from undergoing sex-selective abortion.

Role of medical colleges and professional bodies: there are many medical practitioners who joined campaigns against the misuse of these technologies, but some of them are supporters of sex-selective abortions emphasizing that it is the family’s personal decision to determine the sex of their children. Hence the role of medical colleges and professional bodies such as Indian Medical Association (IMA), Federation of Obstetric and Gynecological Societies of India (FOGSI) and association of radiologists, in countering this burning issue needs to be given due importance. This may include

Realizing the medical students regarding the adverse ratio while stressing upon the ethical issues involved in female feticide.

Conduct regular workshops to reiterate the importance of this problem in the country.

Organize awareness campaigns infield practice areas.

India has yet a long way to go in her fight against pre-birth elimination of females. Time is quickly ticking away. A shortage of girls would lead to a shortage of eligible brides thus making the girl a “scarce commodity”. According to UNFPA projection, by the year 2025 a significant share of men above 30 would still be single, and that many will never be able to marry at all. Men in the states of Haryana and Punjab are already experiencing a nearly 20% deficit of marriageable women. A concerted effort by the medical fraternity, the law, political leaders, NGOs, media, teachers and the community itself is the need of the hour.