Women of Kashmir and Drug Addiction

Recently, the Inter Press Service reported on the female drug addicts of Kashmir. Very little help is available for these women. Torn between international politics and local customs, women in Kashmir have become the victims of badly administered policy. As a result, their social standing, psychological welfare, and general health have greatly suffered as have their communities.

Many Westerners think of Kashmir as somewhere near Pakistan and Afghanistan where a bunch of terrorists may hide as they force their
women into hijabs. Although this image has been imposed onto Kashmiri women, their ancestry shows a different face -- and, for me, a very personal one.

My paternal grandmother was from Kashmir, but she didn’t grown up there. Along with the rest of my family, my great grandparents on both sides emigrated to Kenya mainly through forced British displacement when labor was needed for imperialist colonies. However, my great grandmother brought her customs with her and relatives of mine always reminisce of Kashmir being the Switzerland of Northern India. The women of Kashmir had equal rights with men and over 100 years ago they also had equal decree to land rights. This was sophistication heaven, so women like my grandmother were connoisseurs of perfume, with the Kashmiris adopting Persian methods of pressing roses for face oil and perfume. Different types of brewed teas were standard in most households. Many people, literate and illiterate, recited poetry in mixed gender settings. There has always been an influence of types of medicinal drug use. My grandmother talked about seeing men smoke hookas as a relaxing ritual. Herbs such as opiates were also used medicinally, and she talked about squeezing poppy seeds for the milk, which would then be boiled and used as a remedy to ease aching joints. When did ritual turn into the hardcore drug use found throughout Kashmir today?

Rich Country, Poor Children

The other night I watched a disturbing report on 60 Minutes about newly homeless children in Florida who were living in vans and cheap motels, studying by candlelight, and getting ready for school in public bathrooms. A large segment of these children were living with parents who made a comfortable living and owned homes just two, three, or even one year ago.

Now I am not a naïve U.S. citizen -- I know that the poverty rates in the wealthiest nation are at record highs, and the middle class is disappearing. Women, once employed at a higher rate than their male counterparts, are now facing the same unemployment rates as men. According to a recent story in the New York Times, the portion of American women at work declined to 53 percent in February, the lowest levels since 1988.

I have accepted that the jobless rate may remain the same, or possibly rise as projected, for a few more years. But I cannot accept the fact that our children are starving as our economy is booming and our bankers are reaching record profits.

According to the 60 Minutes report:

The government considers a family of four to be impoverished if they take in less than $22,000 a year. Based on that standard, and government projections of unemployment, it is estimated the poverty rate for kids in this country will soon hit 25 percent. Those children would be the largest American generation to be raised in hard times since the Great Depression.

I then discovered something greatly disappointing about my country: since its inception in 1989, only two countries have not ratified UNICEF's Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) -- the U.S. and Somalia.

On the presidential campaign trail, candidate Obama expressed a strong interest in ratifying the global initiative; in 2009, his administration then claimed the U.S. would sign on. That was two years ago, and we now have a rising poverty rate that will affect 1 in every 4 children.

Can our policy makers at the very least begin the process of attaining higher standards of living for our children and future generations?

According to UNICEF's site, the CRC:

"...highlights the unalienable rights of children. It establishes that governments will, to the best of their ability, ensure that all children have adequate shelter and a safe living environment, nutritious food, clean water, health care, and education. It grants children the opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns. In essence, the CRC requires governments to protect the humanity and value the potential of all children."

The Obama administration has a lot of policy decisions on the agenda that are surely taking a precedence over the CRC. But without prioritizing the millions of voiceless children suffering right now, the country is not prioritizing its own future. To tell your legislators to ratify the CRC, sign this petition.

MAKE CHANGE: On Human Rights Day Help Pass the Child Marriage Act

All over the world December 10 celebrates Human Rights Day in ode to the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris in 1948. Yet, even as the achievement of basic human rights for all has yet to be reached, advocates and organizations work toward policies that move humanity closer to that goal. Recently, the U.S. Senate passed the Child Marriage Act which according to the organization CARE, "ensures that child marriage is recognized as a human rights violation, develops a comprehensive strategy to prevent child marriage and empower young girls, integrates child marriage prevention approaches throughout U.S. foreign assistance programs and scales-up proven approaches and programs to end the practice."

As per Forbes blog, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was a surprise guest recently at the TEDWomen Conference in Washington, D.C. where she shared, "Women’s and girl’s rights are a prosperity issue and a peace issue. That is why we need to integrate women’s issues into discussions at the highest level. Not just because I have a personal commitment or President Obama does, but because it is in the vital interests of the U.S."

However, even though the legislation passed in the Senate, now the goal is to pass it through the House of Representatives. Why so important?

The Girl Effect cites there are 600 million adolescent girls in the developing world. As their brilliant video illustrates, when an adolescent girl is "educated through secondary school, she’ll bring 25% more income into her family. When she’s healthy, her community’s health will improve as maternal mortality and child malnutrition drop, and HIV rates decline. She will drive 70% of agricultural production. She is an unrealized economic force, accelerating growth and progress in every sector."

Yet, if she is married at a young age her chances fade fast. According to CARE's action page, "Child brides have a diminished chance of completing their education, resulting in limited opportunities and income-earning potential later in life. These girls also are twice as likely to be beaten or threatened with violence by their husbands compared to girls who marry later in life. In addition, child marriage is usually accompanied by early child bearing, placing young girls at risk for complications during and after childbirth."

Take action here.

Photo credit: The Girl Effect