The woman's role in abuse part 2

I read recently that around 60% of people involved in the human trafficking industry are women. By this I don't mean the victims, I mean the culprits.

Oddly this seems to fit with what we are seeing in Kuwait. Many of the people involved in maid recruitment agencies are women. Most of the pimps who work in plain sight in Kuwait City are women. Many of those who abuse maids in the home are again women. Is it mere coincidence that Kuwait seems to agree with international figures?

See for me, as a male, it's hard to understand why a woman, who has probably already experienced gender inequality throughout her life (regardless of nationality) would then turn around and attack her fellow women. Yet this is what seems to be happening. If anybody has any clue as to why this might be, please do share your views.

So far I am running on what I believe to be partly true. Many of these 'pimps' and 'abusers' are just the victims of pimping and abuse, promoted to a higher level. Several international studies show that in the human trafficking industry many of the women in charge are those who were victims of trafficking themselves, risen through the ranks. For some reason going through a horrible situation seems to make people harder, not softer.

And when I think about it, I guess it is the same for us men. We drag each other down in spite of the fact that we should be more understanding because of our own horrible experiences. For some reason with us humans, man or woman, we tend to repeat our own histories. Even with something like parenting we can sometimes carry on the mistakes of our own parents.

So how are we to handle our own bad experiences in a way that does not cause them to multiply in the lives of others around us?

Good news - finally

If you've read the papers recently, then you know that Kuwait is cracking down big time on the human trafficking situation here. I just glanced at the headlines and it said that hundreds of companies and the ppl behind them have been discovered - bringing labourers into Kuwait under false premises.

This is fantastic news. But I must admit, the numbers scare me a bit. Geographically, and population wise, we're such a small country. I didn't think we had the space or manpower for so many 'slave trading' companies. The paper gave an estimate of more than 300 found. That makes it possible for thousands of lives to be ruined every year -- both workers and their families.

So I thank God for the efforts of all those in authority who are taking care of this problem. Because as we begin development and progress, we need to bear in mind that a country's image to the world is not just defined by its high rise buildings, and colourful skyline. Especially if the skyline is built on the backs of slaves.

Being modern and progressive means that our thinking also changes. Otherwise we would be nothing more than mindless, stone-age barbarians, who have discovered that fancy clothing and nice cars make us look more civilised than we are.