A Game of Russian Roulette.

The backdrop is Russia; it is war-time, early 20^th century.  Feeling the loss of their status, money, family and country; a group of aristocrat soldiers play a lethal game, perhaps to display their bravery, perhaps to commit suicide.  One of them picks a revolver, places a cartridge in one of the several chambers of this revolver.  They spin the cylinder so that the location of the cartridge is not known.  The aristocrat points the revolver to his head and pulls the trigger. Bang!

Obviously, many aristocrats died. Others were lucky, they walked away alive, unharmed and celebrated.  While many Africans living in Europe would not dare play the game of Russian roulette, no matter how much money they were offered, many are caught up in a riskier form of a similar game. There are few chances here; it is a ‘no-win’ situation.  Young undocumented Africans, eking out a living in the big cities of Europe, find themselves alone in a foreign land. Many gamble with high risk sex, playing a game of  Russian roulette as it were.

For the young African woman especially, illegality is a challenge.  She is placed in a vulnerable position. She may view being undocumented as having no rights, no shelter, no access to medical care, no money, no food, no peace. If she is not well informed or protected, she falls into the trap of selling her body. In the big European cities, female migrants are caught up in a fast growing endemic of promiscuity, for no other reason than being illegal. On one hand, these may be women who are fleeing dangerous situations in their countries, where men have raped women as a weapon of war. Others have undergone traumatic and often brutal genital mutilations.  Yet when these same women arrive in Europe, only to find their applications to stay in the country rejected, and out on the streets, the harsh reality begins to set in and sex becomes a strategy for survival.

Research done by SOA-Aids Netherlands in October 2006 among the heterosexual Black community, established that sex was used as a salient exchange commodity by women. Men gave them money, and women in return took care of all their needs. When money begins to flow and the women are past survival, they find themselves at a point of no return and trapped in a life on the fast lane. Free-lance writer Zack Bigalke from Portland, Oregon writes that, “Women smarter than ever, have learned that their bodies are money-generating machines which can easily draw much larger pay-checks than most other jobs.’   

And that is the main problem, sex does sell, and many African migrant women get addicted to the business of having myriads of sexual partners. Where does the pull to hang in there come from? A combination of factors; bad company, a lack of social skills, a low-level of education and the rush to make big bucks quick. Many women unwittingly encourage others to join them.  Money comes easy in this business, they say. So there’s the attraction of the ‘invincible Euro,’ the demands of relatives back home, the desire to mirror the lifestyles, dress and mannerisms of the characters played out by the beautiful West African actresses of Nollywood; keeping up with the latest designer fashions, smelling like a queen, and owning the latest gizmos at the drop of a hat.’  All at a risk of catching a Sexually Transmitted Infection (S.T.I).

Despite the fact that most men initiate and control sex, paying for it with their greater wealth; given that a woman’s body is structured to receive, a woman is eight times more likely to become infected from a single sexual act with an infected man than a man is likely to become infected from a single sexual act with an infected woman, states Arthur J. Amman, President of Global Strategies for HIV prevention, San Francisco. Not only is the likelihood for infection for women greater, but also infection can be present in and spread by them when they do not have any symptoms of the disease. It becomes a silent killer. African migrant women should be empowered and educated about their sexual health and reproductive rights. They need to have good social skills that include the ability to negotiate safe sex, a better understanding on the working of their bodies and the risks of a promiscuous lifestyle. Global agencies, international policy makers, African leaders and civil societies should push to make education for the Girl-Child in Africa free at all levels; such an action would encourage society in Africa to send their female children to school. Migrant churches and faith-based organizations in Europe need to address sexuality and behavior change among both men and women. 

The Bodyworlds exhibition: “Macabre freak circus or exploration of the human anatomy?”

Within my community as in many African communities, death is seen as a great and irredeemable tragedy even when such death occurs in old age.  This despite the fact that as Paul Mboya says, “as soon as one is born, his death is also planned.”  The reverence with which the Luo people view their ancestors is observed in the “performance of a series of rituals and many feasts for the dead because of their strong fear and respect for the dead.”  They perform more than ten kinds of different rituals for the deceased, largely held in their rural homeland in the face of ongoing modernization and urbanization in overall Kenya.  The Luos in this regard are generally known in Kenya as a people who are seriously concerned with their burial place, far more than any other ethnic group.  The Luo attitude towards their burial place evidently shows how much they fear and respect the deceased ancestors whom they call upon to bless their homes.    The community holds the strong belief that if these rituals are not performed and if burial does not occur in a designated place which is normally on the ancestral land, then chira (curse or bad luck) will follow the family left behind.  

Due to advances in medical science, there is the thirst for more knowledge and the prolongation of human life.  In many instances increased knowledge can be gotten from cadavers of people who once lived but now are no more, before they are given a burial.  However, Dr Gunther Von Hagens from Germany has exclusively developed a system whereby cadavers are plastinated; frozen for all time and transported from one part of the world to the other, for display and awareness – not only for the medical student, but for the amateur, the curious and shocked onlooker.  The anatomy and physiology exhibit developed by Dr Gunther von Hagens features more than 200 real, preserved human specimens, including entire bodies as well as individual organs, body parts and transparent body slices.  The exhibits have toured Europe and Asia from 1995-2004, and has been viewed by over 15 million people.  The most fascinating thing about the exhibits are that real bodies are plastinated in everyday poses, this is as well what makes it most controversial.  There is the basketballer in flight, a ballerina pair, the poker playing trio, the archer or the runner and even a pregnant lady lying down.  The plastinates are displayed in the context of science, health and medical education, and create an “atmosphere” of respect.  The key motive of the exhibition is described in the Body’s World’s catalog, “For the medical enlightenment and appreciation of lay people.” 

It’s amazing to see different body organs in glass cases, and to view the differences between healthy organs and sick organs; there are startling differences for example between a healthy lung and the lung of a smoker which is darkened by tar.  The demographics of the viewers is conspicuous; barely a handful of people with African heritage, but crowds of Caucasians milling around.  Pieter Gorcsum from Surinam tells me he’s studying to be a nurse, and his school paid for him to attend the exhibition for learning purposes.  He is certain that if it was not compulsory to attend, most likely he wouldn’t have come.

By use of the plastination technique, Dr Von Hagens has irrevocably changed the traditional field of anatomy and its’ audience, he notes that “The purpose of plastination from its’ inception was a scientific one: to educate medical students.” However, the interest of lay people in the plastinated specimens inspired him to think of public exhibitions, which was followed by the realisation that he had to offer a heightened sense of aesthetics to avoid shocking the public and to capture their imagination. Prof. Dr Hans-Martin Sass of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University states that “This exhibit gives the public an opportunity usually reserved for medical professionals.  Viewers get a chance to look inside their own bodies and experience the wonder and respect for what it means to be human.” Dr Gunther von Hagens invented plastination in 1977 at the University of Heidelberg, Germany and has continuously developed it since then.  Plastination is a technique that stops the decomposition of the dead body and produces solid, odourless and durable anatomical specimens for scientific and medical training. 

Many questions fill the minds of those gazing upon these bodies and body parts; the biggest being “Where exactly are the bodies from?”  There have been murmers and concerns that these bodies may have been those of political prisoners from China, whose bodies were unidentified and thus made use of in this way without their explicit consent.  Yvonne de Vries of BodyWorlds Amsterdam affirmatively states that all the bodies on display are of people from whom consent has been obtained and expressed their wishes to further the knowledge of others through voluntarily donating their bodies for this purpose.  However, the BodyWorlds catalogue indeed states that “though the full-body plastinates and the majority of the specimens are from these body donors; some specific specimens that show unusual conditions come from old anatomical collections and morphological institutes.”  How about ethical issues? How right is it to keep bodies unburied and preserved for all time in this fashion? Are the souls of these ones having no rest but in continual wanderings?  The BodyWorlds website explicitely states that “Before the North American premiere of BODY WORLDS, a distinguished committee of theologians, ethicists, academics and medical luminaries conducted an independent ethics review.” The website continues to state that “In the case of exhibits of plastinated human bodies or organs, a special review has to verify that bodies and organs have been donated with full and informed consent of the donors.  It as well needs the guarantee that exhibitions are in compliance with laws and regulations, in particular when cultural, ethical or religious controversies can be expected.  These recommendations are based on our concern for human and civil right, our high respect for personal choice, and our understanding that sensitive issues such as the public display of plastinated human bodies and organs will cause cultural and ethical debates.  Such debates however, are an essential part of science education and of evaluating the role of science and technology in society.” 

 It is the hope of Dr Gunther von Hagens and his wife, Dr Angelina Whalley that as they travel worldwide, The Body Worlds Exhibition, will inspire visitors towards heart-centred and heart-healthy living.

The God-debate...

In August 2007, CNN Chief Correspondent Christiane Amanpour brought to the world a four-day special entitled “God’s warriors.” This was the culmination of eight-months of work, world-wide travel and investigative-reporting focusing on the world’s three major religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam; with the sole aim of investigating who they were, what they wanted and why they believed it’s a battle they cannot afford to lose.  Christiane begun her powerful presentation with the words “For the last thirty years, religion has exploded as a powerful force, with an army of followers who share a deep dissatisfaction with modern secular society and a fierce determination to bring God and religion back into the seat of power. We call them “God’s Warriors.”  

In most cases, the warriors were fighting for a specific cause, and in a way the Holy War concept was variously interpreted as a spiritual war, “wars fought on earth for purposes made in heaven.”

While some people have a belief in God so strong that they call themselves His warriors, there is a group that stands on the other end of the spectrum; those who view God as a myth, believing that there is no God, neither are there supreme beings; there is no heaven, there is no hell.  They identify themselves as atheists. The term atheism comes from the Greek word atheos meaning godless.  Atheos is derived from a meaning “without” and theos meaning deity.  Atheists are largely closeted, meaning that because they do not ascribe to any religion, they remain silent on “God- issues” viewing them as fairytales.  When a billboard featuring a silhouette of a traditional nativity scene with manger, donkey and Three Wise Men was unveiled early December 2010 on a bridge tunnel in New York with the message, “You know it’s a Myth, This Season celebrate REASON,” it caused quite a storm.  Some who thought of themselves as “closet atheists” were encouraged by the billboard, but many who believe in God were miffed by it.  Arguments for atheism are cast in both negative and positive terms.  Negative arguments fall into two categories; the first – argues against proofs for God’s existence; the second argues against God’s existence.   In conversations with atheists, you realize they offer what they consider to be sufficient reasons for believing in the non-existence of God; they state the presence of so much evil in the world today – natural disasters, disease and wars.  They argue as well about the random occurrences in the universe today and finally they quote the first Law of Thermodynamics, that “energy can be transformed, changed from one form to another but can neither be created nor destroyed” concluding thus that the universe is eternal and hence, had no need for a Creator.  The scientific “thermodynamic argument” gives hard-core atheists solid ground to justify their claims which were hitherto watery.

One of the most brilliant physicists in the world, Dr Stephen Hawking in a book titled, The Grand Design, declared that “Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing.  Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the Universe exists, why we exist.”  He surmises the statement with the bold announcement that “God did not create the universe.”  This is a far cry from what he recorded in his first best-selling book, A Brief History of Time in which he did not dismiss the possibility that God had a hand in the creation of the world.  He wrote in the 1988 book, “If we discover a complete theory, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason – for then we should know the mind of God.”  The change of heart on his part is representative of the contradictions that many scientists make when trying to discuss God – His presence or absence in the affairs of the universe.  

Scientists confess that science is a continuing journey with fresh discoveries occurring almost on a daily basis; however, they tend to make rash conclusions about the existence of God despite the fact that they haven’t solved many of the world’s mysteries or found cures to many of the diseases in the world today.  They fail to realize that spirituality is a world apart and that God can neither be measured nor contained by them or their instruments.  While experiments for example have been able to establish the “Big Bang theory,” scientists have not been able to explain what came before the universe, so there is space for God’s existence and handiwork in an organized universe which came into being by the disorganized “Big Bang.”

In an interview with Diane Sawyer in 2010, Hawking said of God, “What could define God (is thinking of God) as the embodiment of the laws of nature.  However, this is not what most people would think of that God,” he continues, “They made a human-like being with whom one can have a personal relationship.  When you look at the vast size of the universe and how insignificant and accidental human life is in it that seems most impossible.”  God created man in His image and created Him to have a relationship with God.  So while Hawking is still asking questions like, “Why the universe exists? Why there is something rather than nothing? The Bible has answered those questions, by stating “In the beginning God…and that man was created as part of God’s magnificent creation, in His image to glorify God and have dominion over other creatures.  Trying to put God out of the whole puzzle makes it more difficult to solve, God is indeed the “missing link” to the whole “scientific-atheist” quagmire.

Dallas Willard wrote that, “The misunderstanding of true spirituality has caused immense damage to the human race.  Spirituality wrongly understood or pursued is a major source of human misery and rebellion against God.  Believers state that their belief in the existence of God does not come from scientific evidence first and foremost, it comes from the belief that God spoke the universe into being and revealed Himself supremely in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Pascal's wager, “I would rather live my life as if there is a God, and die to find out there isn’t, than live my life as if there isn’t and die to find out there is…"

The pitfalls of legalizing prostitution in Amsterdam

 Over a year ago, most Kenyans were taken aback when there came a report that prostitution would be legalized in Kenya. There was a huge outcry, saying that it would greatly contribute to the moral decadence of society and that our girls would be given a bad example and would no longer have the morale to attend school.  However, there were a few of those who felt that prostitution was going on albeit illegally in Kenya, and it indeed had a huge patronage whom included the cream of society; lawyers, politicians, ministers and so forth.  With that in mind reasons were pushed forward why it should be legalized, even going so far as to quote the Netherlands as a country which has controlled prostitution and has had a measure of “success.” Obviously, outsiders have little knowledge about how the country, most especially the City of Amsterdam is grappling with the issue having been a decade since it was legalized.

Prostitution may be touted as the world's oldest profession, yet in many nations it is shunned. In Holland, it is a different matter; prostitution is considered liberal here having been legalized in the year 2000. With every pursuit of freedom and liberalism however; come bondage, crime and the issue of human trafficking. Prostitution is two-faced in Amsterdam; on the one hand the prostitutes of the Red-Light District, the ones licensed to do what they do, the ones so visible as they stand under red neon lights, in skimpy lingerie behind windows like live mannequins on display. On the other hand you have invisible undocumented women, young Africans trafficked into the Netherlands and tucked away in rooms and houses in the Bijlmer, South East of Amsterdam; women for whom prostitution has become a way of life.  Jaap van der Wijk has lived and worked in the Red Light District for many years. In his experience as a probation officer with the Ministry of Justice, he blogs that, “It is safe to say that most of these women became prostitutes because they needed the money, either to survive or to maintain or pursue a certain lifestyle.” He continues to say that, “Most prostitutes came from broken homes with a poor social background, and most of them grew up in institutional/correctional facilities.” But he admits that “Not every prostitute I know spent her childhood in an institution, but I have never met a prostitute who had a happy childhood, and if they spent their childhood with their parents, it was either too many rules or a complete lack of rules that made them feel unloved.” He adds that, “At least 30% of the prostitutes I talked with, were sexually abused in their childhood, usually by a relative, or men they thought they could trust, like a neighbor, or a friend of the family.” Nonetheless, this may not necessarily be the profile that fits all the prostitutes found in the Red-Light District or Amsterdam in general. For the most part, their stories are about seeking greener pastures, being trafficked and finding themselves sold into sex slavery.

Beulah (not her real name) from Ghana was once happily married, she looked healthier unlike her present gaunt state, I observe as she passes over some pictures of herself in her younger days. Her fiance brought her to Holland, married her and ensured she had a resident permit. A few years into their marriage, her husband became her pimp and begun making arrangements for her to go to the streets every night. “He used me”, she laments, “We made roughly 1000 Euros a month, but he kept all the money.” When she was arrested and put behind bars, her husband became busy in a new relationship. She was released after ten months and to her astonishment; her husband had vanished with their child. She was due to get her Dutch passport in a few months; but because her husband who was her sponsor had left the country, her permission to stay was invalid and she became illegal. She felt the only way she could live on was to do prostitution. “I like fine clothes and fine living, and I get too tired to do house-cleaning,” she states in reference to the other alternative there is for undocumented women. She has been careless many times, she confesses. “I’ve had 16 abortions,” she says, shrugging off the memory. There are other issues, today she is HIV+ and an alcoholic.

Aurelia (not her real name) is from Sierra Leone. She remembers good times and the large family she left behind. “My dad was polygamous and had three wives,” she says. “We siblings never coped with our step-brothers and sisters”, she adds, “But when dad passed away, we all became friends to date.” Her huge family is scattered all over Holland and in other parts of Europe. Her big sister paid a lot of money for a smuggler to bring her to the Netherlands so that she could earn money by going out with men. Aurelia never had plans to do so, and decided to part ways with her sister on arrival in the Netherlands. She recounts terrible memories of the civil war in Sierra Leone, “The soldiers would rip open the bellies of pregnant women and pull the fetuses out,” “they would ask people whether they wanted a long sleeve or short sleeve,” in reference to the severing of limbs either at the elbows or at the wrist. She recalls the forcible circumcision as a child and despite revealing all to the immigration department, her application for asylum was rejected. Out on the streets, alone and estranged from her sister; the harsh reality set in and paradoxically, she chose sex with men just to survive.

Strolling in the Red-Light District, I am aware of a sense of security. Security guards act as a buffer to the sex industry here, and the prostitutes are protected by the police. It is not difficult to bump into policemen who patrol the area in pairs every few hours and on a daily basis. The safety however, seems like a mirage; for in the undercurrents, criminal activity and human trafficking is very present. Amsterdam Councilor Karina Schaapman Content, herself a former prostitute is quoted by Radio Netherlands as saying, “There are people who are really proud of the Red Light district as a tourist attraction. It’s supposed to be such a wonderful, cheery place that shows just what a free city we are. But I think it’s a cesspit. There’s a lot of serious criminality. There is a lot of exploitation of women and a lot of social distress. That’s nothing to be proud of.” A former trafficking victim from the Czech Republic (name withheld) testifies that, “These people put me in the window and told me what I had to say, how much money I have to ask, how much money I have to pay every day.  If I don’t do it they will just kill me or my daughter.  I wouldn’t talk to anybody about the situation and these people tell me that they were watching me every day.  And it’s true because I was working in a window upstairs and downstairs are walking men every day and every night so he (pimp) could tell how many men go upstairs so I can’t get some money for me, ever.  He knows everything and I was working like this for almost a year.  The clients.. men..police, lawyers..everything and you don’t get help from these people.  You don’t have to tell these people because they know and some of these people have been in touch with my boss, my pimp…”  

The legalization of prostitution has had a counter effect, as officials at Amsterdam’s City Council now discover. The ten-year period since prostitution was legalized, has concurrently been the period that the European Union (EU) enlargement has taken place. As a consequence there has been free movement across borders, and the high unemployment figures in Eastern Europe means that many women looking for greener pastures fall into the hands of traffickers.  In countries such as Moldova, Hungary or even Russia; job advertisements for dancers and waitresses turn out to be traffickers manipulating them into prostitution.  When these women cross over, they find themselves sold into sex slavery to pimps or lover boys who enslave and house them, forcing them to pay “debts” by working overtime as prostitutes.  It would take singular bravado for a young woman to break out and begin to tell their story.

The 1012 project, launched by the Amsterdam municipal council about four years ago and named after the red light district’s postcode, has been shutting down brothels and other businesses conducive to crimes while bringing in fashion designers, fancy restaurants and art shops.  Lodewijk Asscher, deputy mayor of Amsterdam is determined to further advance the on-going renovation project aimed at discouraging crimes and upgrading tourism in the city’s well-known red light district.  More than 120 brothels have been closed so far, midway towards the city council’s goal of reducing its’ number by 40 percent.  For sex workers who want to quit, the city council also has a special program with an annual budget of 500,000 euros to help them start a new life, but it is proving to be a difficult task as most sex workers working in the district come from outside the Netherlands and often travel across Europe.  Toos Hemskerk from Not For Sale, Amsterdam feels that investing in business in Eastern Europe is the key to creating new futures.  She shares why, “Here any woman from Romania and Bulgaria can work as a self-employed prostitute, but due to visa restrictions, cannot work in other industries. Their options are limited.  Stay in prostitution , or go home and face unemployment. The creation of new jobs will give hope to those who otherwise feel hopeless.”  According to the city council, the 1012 project will last for 10 or 15 years. New laws on prostitution were passed last summer, under which the minimum eligible age for prostitution was raised from 18 to 21.

In a rare interview, Metje Blaak, herself a former prostitute and heading the information centre, The Red Thread bemoans the lot of prostitution in these current times; she complains that there are indeed big problems with the government. “There are too many rules, I feel that there is coming a time when it will be illegal to solicit a prostitute, we are heading in that direction,” she says when I ask her about the challenges with the Amsterdam City Council. “Legislation was a great idea for the girls, they are free to work, but there are challenges with the rules, there are too many rules; rules about registration, about taxes. There is a lot of regulation and the girls are going out of business.”  While The Red Thread is very prominent in Amsterdam’s Red Light District; acting as an information center with a mission that includes “empowering sex workers by helping them to inform, identify, investigate, advise and connect,” you have organizations at the opposite end of the spectrum that acts as enabling mechanisms for those who want to escape the clutches of prostitution.  Organizations like The Scarlet Cord, Not for Sale and CoMensha work closely with prostitutes revealing human trafficking cases and enabling the women flee from that lifestyle, in essence giving them other options; room to recover and rehabilitate to normalcy.