It's a hundred pages later and I am sickened beyond expression by Lakshmi's reality. She began in desperate poverty, but life is drastically worse now and I wish so strongly that she could go back to the way it was. Lakshmi was sold by her stepfather, believing she would go to live in the city and work as a house maid to earn money for her family. Completely deceived, Lakshmi finds herself in the "Happiness House" where she soon learns she has been sold as a child prostitute. She is starved, beaten, drugged and forced to submit to every man who comes into her room. Things only get worse when she is no longer a virgin (not worth as much money) and must persuade the men herself to come and sleep with her if she wants to ever make enough money to leave. Even my best attempt to describe her pain and hopelessness would be a giant understatement. Really, I almost wish she would kill herself.
Here are some parts that shocked me as I read...not including many of the most obscene images:
"...no matter how often I wash
and scrub
and wash
and scrub,
I cannot seem to rinse the men from my body." (p. 129)
"'[Mumtaz] knows that once the women have children, they cannot leave. They will do whatever she asks, or be thrown out in the street.'
...The younger [children], like Jeena, are given special medicine so they can sleep under the bed while their mothers are with customers." (p. 145)
"Do whatever the customer asks of you, Shahanna says.
Otherwise he will beat you senseless.
Then he will do whatever he likes and leave without paying.
Always wash yourself with a wet rag after the man is finished...
...This will keep you from getting a disease...
...The Americans will try to trick you into running away, says Anita. Don't be fooled. They will shame you and make you walk naked through the streets.
If an old man is at the door, bat your eyelashes and act the part of a little girl, says Pushpa. He will pay extra for this...
...That new girl, the one in your old room, she says.
Yesterday morning Mumtaz found her hanging from the rafters." (p. 141 - 143)
I can hardly bear to read Lakshmi's story, just as she is hardly sure it is not just an impossible nightmare. One of the most difficult parts to read is seeing the way her misery and torture gradually becomes normal. She learns how to block out certain parts and talks about her experience objectively, as if it is all part of daily life. Rapes and whippings should not ever be part of anyone's schedule, but it is life for Lakshmi every day. I had to skim over the most graphic scenes and eventually set the book down, actually feeling a bit depressed.
Again, I am struck by how real Lakshmi's story is. Since beginning the book, I have done a bit of research to understand the human sex-trafficking in the world today. According to www.uri.edu, "The brothels of India hold between 100,000 and 160,000 Nepalese women and girls, 35 percent were taken on the false pretext of marriage or a good job." I am absolutely disgusted that such horrors occur in such enormous numbers. Even more shocking are the numbers of sex slavery in the United States. I knew that some prostitution went on here in the U.S., but I was not aware of what a large-scale business it is. As stated on Wikipedia (yes, go check out the sources yourself if you don't trust wikipedia), "The United States State Department estimates that 50,000 to 100,000 women and girls are trafficked each year in the United States...anywhere from 100,000 up to 300,000 American children are at risk of commercial sexual exploitation at any given time."
Though emotionally difficult to read, I so appreciate the value of "Sold" as an eye-opener to me. I am a safe, healthy, wealthy, naive girl in the suburbs of the 'Sha. I have an immensely limited ability to understand Lakshmi and hundreds of thousands of other girls' situations as child prostitutes. "Sold" has given me a tiny peek into their lives and a new compassion for and interest in their situations.
This is a link to "Not For Sale," a campaign to end human trafficking around the world. I think it offers some helpful information and maybe a few ideas on how to move from compassion to action:
http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/about/slavery/#rs_8
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