A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power

by Jimmy Carter

  It seems remarkable that such violence is occurring in a Hindu society in which there are many female deities and in which the Sanskrit saying “Mata, Pita, Guru, Deva” (Mother, Father, Teacher, God) emphasizes how prominent are mothers in the life of a Hindu family. In August 2013 the New York Times ran an intriguing article by Vinita Bharadwaj, an Indian journalist now based in Dubai who described her life in India as being subject to “stares, glares, whistles, hoots, shout-outs, songs, ‘accidental’ brushing-past, intentional grabbing, groping and pinching” by men. In addition to enforcement of the existing laws by police and the courts, she writes, “what India desperately needs is a women’s revolution, led by men—fathers, sons, grandfathers, brothers, uncles, nephews, boyfriends, husbands, and lovers who are comfortable with the rise of their women. It’s a change that must begin in our homes.”

  In 1994 the world witnessed the terrible slaughter by extremist Hutus in Rwanda of an estimated 500,000 ethnic Tutsis and thousands of Hutus who opposed the killing campaign. Retribution came quickly as Tutsi-led rebel forces routed the Hutu government forces causing an evacuation of the country by Hutus fearing further retribution. A million Hutus fled across the border into eastern Zaire, many to a massive refugee camp in the city of Goma. Large numbers also fled east to Tanzania. All the nations of the Great Lakes region (Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Zaire, Rwanda, and Burundi) suffered greatly from the upheaval and violence. Former Hutu soldiers in the refugee camps rearmed and began raiding across the Zaire-Rwanda border.

  When United Nations efforts to bring about a regional peace conference collapsed in 1995, the leaders of the Great Lakes region reached out to me and The Carter Center. We explored what needed to be done. Rosalynn and I visited the enormous refugee camp in Goma, where large numbers of people moved in and out, and the small staff made it clear that very little order could be maintained. Rape and abuse of women were rampant. The Carter Center launched a major effort to bring peace. We brought together all the presidents of the region in Cairo in November 1995 and in Tunis in March 1996. Agreements were reached that should have moved the region forward. However, international support was not forthcoming and the agreements were not implemented.

  The ramifications included a terrible civil war in Zaire. The victor, Laurent-Désiré Kabila, named himself president and changed the name of the country back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Kabila was assassinated in 2001 and was succeeded by his son Joseph.

  The Carter Center has continued its interest in the DRC, and we have monitored two nationwide elections since then. The 2006 election was well run and relatively free and fair, but the election five years later was marred by misconduct and resulted in a crisis of legitimacy for the reelected President Kabila. Throughout this time the Rwandan government has supported militia forces in eastern Congo in order to promote its interests there, including the transfer of Congo’s bountiful precious minerals to overseas markets.

  The terrible aftermath of these military and political events has been one of the worst epidemics of rape in history, as Tutsi, Hutu, and Congolese militiamen surge back and forth in control of disputed territory and systematically and brazenly abuse women in the areas they control. In addition to sexual gratification, the soldiers use bottles, sticks, and even bayonets to torture the women and to declare their masculine supremacy. They treat this practice as a prerogative of warfare. In November 2012 Congolese troops trained by the U.S. government perpetrated a mass rape of 135 women and girls in the eastern town of Minova, which received little response from the international community. The Congo has become known as the “world capital of rape.” Despite this terrible sexual carnage, neither the secretary-general nor the UN Security Council has chosen to make these crimes a top priority.

  There is a remarkable incidence of rape in the region of southern Africa, as recorded by the South African Medical Research Council in 2009 and by the Lancet Global Health journal in 2013. Interviews of thousands of men revealed that more than 20 percent in Tanzania, 26 percent in South Africa, and 34 percent in eastern Congo had “forced a woman not [their] wife or girlfriend to have sex.” In most other developing nations, only 2 to 4 percent of men gave this response, and the level was lower in the industrialized world. The basic causes for this sexual abuse against women and girls were determined to be the combination of a strongly patriarchal society, tribal divisions, minimal law enforcement, and extreme poverty. Official condemnation by the UN Security Council and enforcement of the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) and other laws are the only potential remedies for this plague of violence. As will be seen, there is encouraging progress in this area being made by a British diplomat and a Hollywood actress.

  The blame for sexual abuse is often placed on the victim. We have 776 citizens living in Plains, and there are usually between seventy-five and a hundred Hispanics; almost all have legal work permits and jobs in local companies, but only a few are American citizens. Our small church has a regular ministry among the most deprived families of all races, using funds from the sale of audio and video tapes of my Bible lessons. Rosalynn participates in the monthly visits to about thirty homes at a time. The Hispanic workers are especially dedicated to their jobs and are extremely careful not to violate any laws because they do not wish to be deported. Under Georgia’s oppressive legislation, they are not permitted to obtain a driver’s license and therefore have to walk or ride a bicycle to their job or to do their shopping. They send as much of their income as possible back to their families in Latin America, and occasionally some will make a bus trip to visit their home country.

  Recently one of our church friends returned to Mexico, leaving his wife and children in Plains. A man broke into their home, threatened the children, and raped their mother. She called our pastor, who reported the crime to the local police and also to her husband. The rapist evaded the authorities, and the husband blamed his wife for the rape and refused to return. The wife and children feared for their safety and moved to another town about thirty miles away to live with an aunt. Blaming the victim, even among my neighbors, is all too common.

  Myanmar (formerly Burma) suffered under a despotic military dictatorship for more than fifty years, but the election of 2011 resulted in legitimately chosen leaders, almost all former high military officers who initiated a remarkable transformation toward freedom and democracy. As the country moves toward its next election in 2015, The Carter Center will maintain a permanent presence to observe the electoral process and to assist as requested in overcoming the many challenges still facing the different ethnic and religious groups that are learning to live together in a more liberated society. One of the most formidable problems is the conflict that has erupted as the overwhelming Buddhist majority dominates the minority Muslims in Rakhine State near Bangladesh and Christians who are concentrated mostly in Kachin State on the border with China.

  A related challenge is to formulate cease-fire agreements between the central government and more than a dozen regional ethnic groups and then to write a permanent constitution that will guarantee political, economic, and social equity among them.

  I have visited Myanmar twice while writing this book and have learned from multiple sources how women and girls are bearing the brunt of the existing conflict and discrimination. I met with leaders of religious groups who are Roman Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist and found them compatible with each other. When I asked them about the status of women, almost all responded that within their religious group “women are treated as equals—but considered to be either separate or different.” This reminded me of my childhood days, when black people were legally considered “separate but equal.” They were kept largely separate and certainly not treated as equals.

  Still existing in Myanmar are camps for internally displaced persons who have been forced from their homes by strife or prejudice. I was given the results of a scholarly study conducted in Kachin State of the special problems of women and girls amon
g this group. It is particularly interesting because it is the only study I have found that describes the situation that likely prevails in most camps for displaced persons and refugees in the world. With very few separate facilities for toilets, sleeping, or bathing, all sexual encounters are fraught with violence and danger, and the consumption of alcohol and drugs aggravates the situation. There are no doors to separate living areas, but only flaps of canvas and cloth. Children of all ages are in danger when left alone by their parents, and spousal abuse is common when wives object to a lack of privacy during sex or are fearful of pregnancy because no birth control is available. Women claim that it is fruitless to report sexual abuse because the administrators are usually men and frequently among the worst culprits, and their response to the women is most often laughter or a wave of dismissal. Any remaining restraints are ignored when a cease-fire is broken and armed troops of another tribe or religion invade the area. These abused and fearful women and girls can only pray for a time of peace and law enforcement.

  The military is still dominant in Myanmar, with their half-century accumulation of wealth, property, and influence, and also with the right of the top commanding officer to appoint (and peremptorily remove) 25 percent of the members of the Parliament. When I met with him on two visits he extolled the performance of his troops in maintaining order and assisting (but not interfering with) the local police. He said that the only role for women in the military is to serve in the medical corps and that he had never appointed any women to parliamentary seats, but he promised to consider this option in the future. (In January 2014, I was informed that two female officers have been chosen as legislators.)

  In areas of conflict between armed combatants or where displaced persons have no homes and are crowded into camps, the prevailing atmosphere of violence is combined with the loss of normal family privacy and mutual protection. Women, children, and other defenseless people become especially vulnerable to abuse. All too often, this tragic situation is condoned by local officials and ignored by the international community.

  12 | SLAVERY AND PROSTITUTION

  The world experienced a gigantic political, economic, and military struggle during the nineteenth century to end the blight of trafficking in human beings, primarily from Africa to the New World in ships owned by Europeans. During the three and a half centuries of the transatlantic slave trade, it is estimated that 12.5 million slaves were taken from Africa to the Americas. This was a terrible and unforgivable example of abuse of people.

  My great-great-grandfather, Wiley Carter, owned several dozen slaves when he died during the last year of the War Between the States. Family records show that when they were freed soon thereafter, his estate lost two-thirds of its monetary value. As I write, we are commemorating the 150th anniversary of the decisive Battle of Gettysburg, where my great-grandfather and his two brothers fought under General Robert E. Lee. The Civil War was the most deadly single event in our nation’s history, and there was, at least eventually, a sigh of relief from both sides that the time of slavery was over.

  Although there is no longer any legal slavery in the world, the Global Slavery Index report released in October 2013 estimates that 29.8 million people remain enslaved today. Using a broader definition of slavery, this includes those living in bondage as forced laborers, those in marriages against their will, and prostitutes engaged involuntarily in the sexual trade. The UN International Labor Organization reports that there are now approximately 20.9 million people engaged in forced labor. Foreign Affairs magazine observes, “Slavery and the global slave trade continue to thrive to this day; in fact, it is likely that more people are being trafficked across borders against their will now than at any point in the past.”

  Modern slavery generates approximately $32 billion in profits each year, about half of which goes to rich industrialized nations such as our own. The Global Slavery Index listed the United States as currently having almost sixty thousand people in bondage, while Mauritania ranks highest in the percentage of its citizens who are slaves (about 4 percent). When I first visited its capital, Nouakchott, in 1994 and raised the subject, the president and other top officials claimed that they had passed laws to prohibit the crime but admitted that the practice was so ingrained in the culture of some regions that it was impossible to control. More than 1.1 percent of India’s citizens are living in bondage, a total of 13,956,010, by far the highest of any nation, with China second at 2,949,243.

  Many books have been written about the modern slave trade. The author of one of the most definitive and thoroughly researched is Siddharth Kara, who was born in Tennessee but spent much of his youth in India. He is a former investment banker, business executive, lawyer, and director of Free the Slaves, an organization devoted to exposing and abolishing slavery. He has spent several years of his life traveling to the nations most deeply involved in the procurement, movement, and exploitation of slaves and has conducted thousands of interviews with people living in slavery. Kara has used his business training to estimate the illicit profits derived from these criminal activities within individual regions and countries. Using the same definition as the Slavery Index, he agrees that there are about 30 million people in the world who are living unwillingly under the domination of their masters.

  Kara estimates that those who own and operate brothels can acquire a slave prostitute for less than $1,000 in Asia and from $2,000 to $8,000 in Western Europe and North America, with a worldwide average price of $1,900. The annual net profit to the slave’s owner is about $29,000. Even in comparison with crime cartels engaged in the drug trade this is an attractive business; whereas cocaine or opium can be consumed only once, the sexual services of a woman can be sold thousands of times each year. Police and other local officials who condone or even participate in prostitution are at much less risk than those assigned to deal with the trade in illicit drugs, and by claiming that the prostitutes are selling their favors freely they can rationalize their complicity in the women’s brutal duress. Kara concludes that the best way to combat the sex trade in young women and girls who have been seduced or abducted into forced prostitution is to concentrate on the male customers, who provide the enormous financial profits that keep the slave masters and brothel owners in business.

  The U.S. State Department estimates that about 800,000 people are traded across international borders each year, and 80 percent of these victims are women and girls. More than three-fourths of them are sold into the sex trade. During our recent Human Rights Defenders Forum at The Carter Center, it was reported that between two hundred and three hundred children are sold in Atlanta alone each month! Our city is considered to be one of the preeminent human trafficking centers in the United States, perhaps because we have the busiest airport in the world and because, until recently, the penalty for someone convicted of selling another human being was only a $50 fine. A much heavier penalty of up to twenty years’ imprisonment can be imposed by the federal government, but only if there is proof that the trafficking took place across state lines.

  An analysis by Atlanta social workers found that 42 percent of the sexual exchanges they investigated were in brothels and hotel rooms in the most affluent areas of the city, while only 9 percent were in the poorer neighborhoods in the vicinity of the airport. Like Kara, they too conclude that the primary culprits are the men who buy sexual favors and the male pimps and brothel owners who control the women and garner most of the financial gains. Lax law enforcement, from top political officials to police on the street, is always a crucial element in the sex trade.

  Modern social media have resulted in an interesting and tragic development in the field of prostitution in America: housewives and others who sell themselves for sexual purposes through the Internet. Although there are some apparent advantages to the women in eliminating the control of pimps and brothel owners and retaining their entire fee, there can be tragic consequences to operating in an environment that is not familiar to them and without having anyone to provide a m
odicum of protection. Since their activities are illegal and embarrassing if revealed, they are also unlikely to report brutality or sexual abuse to law enforcement officials.

  In July 2013 the New York Times ran a feature story entitled “The New Prostitutes” that described the experiences of ten of these women, all of whom had advertised their services on Craigslist, Backpage, TheEroticReview, or one of the hundreds of other available websites. The women met their temporary partners in their own home or in a rented apartment or hotel room. Their rates ranged from $250 to $400 per hour, and they often made as much as $2,000 on a busy night. The bodies of all ten women were found buried in sand dunes or alongside highways on Long Island. Economist Scott Cunningham, at Baylor University, surveyed the sex market in New York City in 2009 and found that an average of 1,690 sex-worker ads were posted online every day.

  It is known that teenage girls are sold by pimps and placed in brothels in all large American cities, almost invariably with the local police being complicit or waiting for “more important” things to command their attention. There was no comprehensive law to prosecute domestic or international traffickers in the United States prior to October 2000, when the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) was enacted. President George W. Bush announced that the TVPA was designed to (1) prevent human trafficking at home and overseas, (2) protect victims and support them in rebuilding their lives in the United States, and (3) prosecute the traffickers. The law also allows victims of international trafficking to become temporary U.S. residents and avoid immediate deportation. It was strengthened three years later, when $200 million was authorized to combat human trafficking.

  It is hard to know how many women and girls are trafficked in India, but the U.S. State Department, the United Nations, and India’s Human Rights Commission have identified that country as a major hub in the international sex trade. Poverty is a major factor. Many desperate parents are enticed by promises of training and employment of their daughters, and sell them to traffickers who promise that a portion of the girls’ earnings will be returned to them. Rapid urbanization and the migration of large numbers of men into India’s growing cities create a market for commercial sex, as does the gender imbalance resulting from sex-selective abortion practices that has created a generation of young men who have little hope of finding a female partner. The relative affluence in some communities is also a factor, luring foreign women into the sex trade. The caste system compounds the problem; many victims of sex trafficking come disproportionately from disadvantaged segments of India’s society.