India's Sex Problem

The scenes at the transit home for girls in the Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh, India, are horrible. Girls as young as 13 are brought here for temporary reflief after they have been rescued from sex traffickers and brothels in big cities. Each has suffered varying degrees of abuse, torture, slavery and inhumane treatment.

According to police estimates, 300,000 women and girls have been trafficked for exploitative sex work from Andhra Pradesh; of these just 3,000 have been rescued so far. The state, Andhra Pradesh, is relatively prosperous but is also has some of the poorest people in the country.

Organized sex trafficking is so entrenched that traffickers have penetrated the remotest villages, preying on vulnerable young girls from impoverished households and pushing them into sex work and slavery across the country. Promises of marriage, employment and even food are used to lure girls from their homes, only for them to find themselves forced into the sex trade. It is not surprising that when rescued girls are referred to the transit home their minds and bodies are in deep trauma

In 2005, India's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) estimated that 44,000 children go missing in the country every year. Of these, 11,000 are never traced. A 1998 report noted that children constituted more than 40% of those trafficked into sexual exploitation in the country.One study in India found more than three in 10 trafficked children suffered from HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections and other problems.

The overwhelming majority of girls pushed into exploitative sex work come from rural pockets of India hit by extreme poverty. Social structures and deep-rooted gender bias mean they are the poorest, most disadvantaged people even within their own communities. Girls usually drop out of school long before their brothers; they are assigned household chores and often look after their siblings while their parents go out to work.

In many cases, girls are simply abandoned to the care of neighbors by migrant parents who leave for seasonal work in the cities.  The charity is supporting the recovery and rehabilitation of rescued girls in transit homes. They are encouraged to continue their education and are offered training to secure decent employment or set up their own business. For a few moments, the girls can forget their circumstances, and revert to being playful youngsters. Some are hopeful it could mean a new life.

Often unwanted and unwelcome, victims find themselves trapped in life-long destitution and slavery. Sometimes the only option is to return to their traffickers. Nearly eight out of 10 victims are forced back on to the streets and into brothels after being rehabilitated, according to Andhra Pradesh police. Meanwhile, their traffickers go mostly unpunished, keeping up a thriving sex trade. Although hundreds of girls are rescued from brothels every year, police say the conviction rate of perpetrators under the national Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act is low.

This leaves many sex workers helpless and lonely, and for the most there is no way to break the cycle. Most do not even exist on official records, leaving them without identity papers and excluding them from the little welfare support the state can afford, such as discounted food rations. The rehabilitation support for sex workers is virtually non-existent and most are either unable to access it or have rejoined the sex trade by the time any support becomes available. Only sex workers with HIV/AIDS are entitled to a monthly financial support of less than $4 provided by the state government. But even those who qualify rarely get it. Challenges like these make the task of organizations like Plan International and its partner grassroot NGOs extremely challenging.

http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/10/indias-sex-slaves-face-lifelong-cycle-of-abuse/?hpt=wo_t4

Child Brides

http://fstoppers.com/powerful-photos-of-child-brides

These are just some pictures of child brides. Photographer Stephanie Sinclair took many pictures on her many trips to more than 40 countries around the world. Each of these countries either has no law, or ignores the law, and allows child marriage.

Sinclair is one of the most honored photojournalists today. She documented an 11 year olds wedding day in the outskirts of Gondar, Ethiopia, in 2008 as a part of her project on child marriage. Sinclair returned to Gondar in 2012 to check up on the now 15 year old mother.

Sinclair has spent nearly a decade investigating child marriage in India, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nepal and Ethiopia. Today, the United Nations Population Fund and Sinclair are celebrating the first ever International Day of the Girl Child with the launch of Too Young to Wed, a campaign against child marriage with a multimedia site featuring Sinclair and other documentarians’ works.

In 2010, about 67 million women 20 to 24 years old, had been married before they were 18, according to the Population Fund. Child marriage is found in all regions of the world but is most common in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Ethiopia has particularly high rates of child marriage: 41% of Ethiopian women between 20 and 24 were married underage.

It is most likely that a young mother will end up having approximately six risky pregnancies and live births because of the high infant mortality rate, according to a Population Fund representative. Complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the greatest cause of death and disability among girls 15 to 19. Ethiopian people are exposed to the global community and have aid programs to prevent child marriage.

““Even though I’ve been working on this for a decade, I feel like there’s much more to do,” Sinclair said. “I believe every girl deserves a childhood.””



http://cnnphotos.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/11/trading-childhood-for-marriage/?hpt=wo_t3

Abortion Yacht

Moroccan police last Thursday escorted a small yacht carrying women's rights activists claiming to be able to perform abortions on board, after anti-abortion protesters yelled at them on land. The Dutch group, Women on Waves, sailed the boat around the Moroccan harbor with banners advertising an information hotline about abortion, which is illegal in that country. A day earlier, the group had said that they can provide "safe, legal, medical abortions" up until 6.5 weeks of pregnancy aboard the ship. The ship was on its way from the Netherlands. Medical professionals have traveled before to European nations to raise awareness. The group's founder said that abortions had been performed aboard ship before in waters off of Poland.

The trip in the Mediterranean coastal town of Smir, was the abortion rights group's first event in the country. Abortion in Morocco is illegal, except in rare cases, where the mother's life is threatened. It is also illegal to give out information about abortions. Moroccan officials had said the boat would not be allowed in to the harbor and police sealed the port.

In the afternoon, volunteers from Women on Waves said they already had stationed a sailboat in the harbor several days ago. The boat took off around the harbor, about an hour after the group's founder approached crowds of protesters on the ground, trying to hand out fliers on abortion in Arabic and French to them. Police then boarded the Dutch-flagged yacht and escorted it out of the marina. No one was charged.

"We launched a hotline that gives information to women here in Morocco, because the ship can never solve the problem here for everyone," said Rebecca Gomperts, the Women on Wave's founder. There were about 200 protesters in Smir outside the gates of the harbor. The Women on Waves boat was invited to Morocco by a local women's rights organization seeking the legalization of abortion in Morocco. Founded in 1999, Women on Waves aims to spread information about safe medical abortions induced by medication. The group traveled to Ireland in 2001, Poland in 2003 and Spain, and was banned from entering Portugal's waters in 2004.

This is so wrong. Why would you go to a country that has banned your group, and just hover in the international waters where everything is legal? That is just wrong. People need to be doing the right thing here.

http://news.yahoo.com/abortion-rights-yacht-sails-around-moroccan-port-170516620.html;_ylt=Al1VkKC5BBLePEQx3cFGUc1vaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTNmdTVtczNzBG1pdAMEcGtnAzRiNTJhMjk0LTgyYjYtMzYwYS05MjdkLWE2Y2FiZDU2ZmJmMwRwb3MDMQRzZWMDbG5fTWlkRWFzdF9nYWwEdmVyA2YxNmNmYzQxLTBlNDUtMTFlMi1hNjc3LWY3N2U0MmNlNjc4NA--;_ylv=3

New Technology to Save Lives?

Genome sequencing is rapidly changing modern medicine and a new study shows its potential impact on very ill newborn babies. New research published in the journal Science Translational Medicine helps prove a  two-day whole-genome sequencing for newborns in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to help find out what’s wrong with them(the babies).
“After 50 hours, the test delivers to doctors a wealth of information about what could be causing newborns’ life-threatening illnesses. This would allow them to more efficiently and quickly tailor therapies to the babies, when possible, and identify problematic genetic variants that multiple family members may share.” ““We think this is going to transform the world of neonatology, by allowing neonatologists to practice medicine that’s influenced by genomes,” said Stephen Kingsmore, the study's senior author and director.” “There are more than 3,500 diseases caused by a mutation in a single gene, Kingsmore said, and only about 500 have treatments. About one in 20 babies born in the United States annually gets admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit” he said. This study shows how two software programs, called SAGA and RUNE, work together to help physicians pinpoint the genes that could be causing problems in the babies. The company Illumina developed this rapid genome sequencing device that incorporates the programs.

The test extends beyond the ill baby; genome sequencing can also identify genetic traits in multiple family members, the researchers said.
While some children will still die from incurable genetic disorders after being tested for them, the knowledge about diagnosis and likely outcomes for future children is beneficial for parents, experts say. “Knowing the marker or defect may provide some information regarding the prognosis so the family knows what to expect,” Saunders said. "Importantly, it also allows them to have accurate genetic counseling regarding their risk to have another affected baby, and to make informed decisions about their reproductive future.” The test costs roughly $13,500, but experts believe a $1,000 test is not far away.

This is simply remarkable. I cannot believe that the have the technology to this. How many lives could this save? This is just amazing. This benefits everyone, and I mean everyone. This would especially help any parents who think that they did something wrong in their pregnancy. Even if the doctors wouldn't be able to fix the problem, it would still give parents the time to prepare for the worst.

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/04/newborns-may-benefit-from-fast-genetic-test/

Should we worry?

In the United States, births fell for the fourth year in a row. In the report, it stated that there was a steep declines in Hispanic birth rates and a new low in teen births. Hispanic births have been affected by the economy and teen birth rates have been falling for at least 20 years now. A falling birth rate is a big surprise in this country. Births had been on the rise since the 1990's and hit an all-time high of  4.3 million in 2007. Fewer than 4 million births were counted last year , the lowest number since 1998.There is a theory that many women or couples who are out of work, underemployed or have other money problems think that they can't afford to start a family or add to it.

The report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a view  at the 2011 birth certificate data from state health departments.

“Highlights of the report include:

• The birth rate for single women fell for the third straight year, dropping by 3 percent from 2010 to 2011. The birth rate for married women, however, rose 1 percent. In most cases, married women are older and more financially secure.
• The birth rate for Hispanic women dropped a whopping 6 percent. But it declined only 2 percent for black women, stayed the same for whites and actually rose a bit for Asian-American and Pacific Islanders.
• Birth rates fell again for women in their early 20's, down 5 percent from 2010 — the lowest mark for women in that age group since 1940, when comprehensive national birth records were first compiled. For women in their late 20's, birth rates fell 1 percent.
• But birth rates held steady for women in their early 30's, and rose for moms ages 35 and older. Experts say that's not surprising: Older women generally have better jobs or financial security, and are more sensitive to the ticking away of their biological clocks.
• Birth rates for teen moms have been falling since 1991 and hit another historic low. The number of teen births last year — about 330,000 — was the fewest in one year since 1946. The teen birth rate fell 8 percent, and at 31 per 1,000 girls ages 15 through 19 was the lowest recorded in more than seven decades.”

Many people are astounded with the continued decline in the teen birth rate.

The new report also noted a fourth straight decline in how many children women have over their lifetimes. The current rate is a little more than 2 children per woman.  The U.S. rate last year was below 1.9. The United States C-section rate peaked at just fewer than 33 percent. Cesarean deliveries are sometimes medically necessary. But health officials have worried that many C-sections are done out of convenience or unwarranted caution. In the 1980's the government set a goal of keeping the national C-section rate at 15 percent.

I personally don't think that we should be worried at all about this. Having a stable birth rate is good, it keeps the country going. It is a good thing that women are deciding to have children when their older so they are wiser and don't make stupid decisions about it. They are more financially and emotionally available at the older age. It is a very good thing that teen birth rate is going down, i wouldn't have even guessed that. me, being a teen mom myself, seem to notice a lot more teen births actually. Oh well, as long as this country is continuing to thrive with life, I don't think we have much to worry about.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501367_162-57524932/baby-bust-continues-us-births-down-for-4th-year/

Low IQ

High blood pressure in mothers while they are pregnant can lead to negative effects in her child's thinking skills which may carry through until they are much older. High blood pressure and related conditions such as preeclampsia complicate about 10 percent of all pregnancies and can affect a baby's environment in the womb. The study suggests that even declines in thinking abilities in old age could have originated during the prenatal period when the majority of the development of brain structure and function occurs. During the study, medical histories of 398 men's mothers' blood pressure were analyzed. All of the men were born to the women between the years 1934 and 1944. At the age of 20, the men had their thinking skills examined, and once again when they were around the age of 69. They examined the men’s math reasoning, visual and spatial relationships, and language skills. According to the report, the men whose moms had high blood pressure when they were pregnant received scores that were 4.36 points less on thinking ability tests when they were 69 years than those whose mothers did not have high blood pressure. The men whose mothers had high blood pressure also scored lower when they were 20 years old, and had a greater decline in their scores over the years than the individuals whose mothers had not been hypertensive. The experts looked into whether premature birth at all influenced these results and determined that it did not. The babies' fathers professions - anywhere from a manual laborer to an office worker - also did not alter the findings.

 

So this study has come to the conclusion that women who are pregnant with high blood pressure have a higher tendency to give birth the boys with lower learning capabilities.  The men have lower scores in math, language, and visual skills. All I know is since learning this, I will hopefully not want to have high blood pressure or preeclampsia is future pregnancies.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/251151.php

Causes of Obesity.

Women have been giving birth for centuries, without the help of electronic equipment. In fact advocates of natural child birth are quick to point out that the stress and disruption caused to the mothers emotional state by rushing her around, and subjecting her to bright lights and multiple examinations in an emergency medical type environment, can be responsible for shutting down the birth process.According to Dr. Huh´s research, the mothers who delivered by c-section on average weighed more than those delivering vaginally, and the birth weight for gestational age of their babies also tended to be higher. The C-section mothers also had a tendency to breastfeed their babies for a shorter period.

Furthermore, around 16% of children delivered via c-section were obese by the age of three compared with only 7.5% of those born naturally. Setting aside the birth weight and after taking into account the BMI, a cesarean section delivery was associated with a doubling in the odds of obesity by the time the child was three years old. The c-section children also had a higher BMI, as well as a higher skin fold thickness.Researchers are not sure exactly why the c-section causes the changes, but others have noted possible behavioral issues with children born by c-section. Perhaps it is simply the abrupt entry into the world, or a simpler issue that could be adjusted for mothers and babies that simply cannot avoid the C. Huh and others before her put forward the idea that is supported by scientific data, that the problem is associated with bacterial flora the child gains from its mother. This is something that could be treated in a newborn. If the study is 100% positive.

 

Basically, this study in Massachusetts has proven that when you give birth naturally, your child had a lower chance of becoming obese. There is just something that happens when the baby comes out that it benefits it and helps prevent obesity. This study was conducted over three and a half years, from when the mother was 22 weeks pregnant, until the child was three years old.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/245814.php