Ram:Unbelievable. According to you these innocent young girls are actually safer working and sleeping in the homes of strangers than they are in their own parents home!….- Yes, it is………..You may scream out loud in disbelief, but that does not change the facts. None of your surveys and articles can change my view built on own personal experience regarding this matter

Typically callous and irrational desi. Bongo thinks his extremely limited personal experience should be extrapolated to all the millions of bangladeshi girls working as domestic servants. We must believe that they are all safe from sexual abuse and are even sent to schools by their employers, just because Bongo says so. What a noble people the bangladeshis are! Unfortunately for your illogic Bangladesh is a lot more than just your household:

http://us.oneworld.net/node/89706

According to the Unicef, about 300,000 children, mostly girls, work as domestic helpers in Dhaka alone, exposing them to the risks of sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking. “Millions of girls are trapped in poorly paid jobs as domestic servants,” says Unicef executive director Carol Bellamy, adding, “Not only are these children forced to work long, hard hours but they are at increased risk of sexual abuse and of being trafficked within and across borders.”

http://www.popline.org/docs/1231/130119.html

Concern is increasing in Bangladesh over child abuse, neglect, and exploitation……Many girls aged 8-16 are employed as live-in domestic servants, and many suffer sexual as well as emotional abuse.

http://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/children_356.htm

An estimated 6.9 million children aged 5-14 years (12.9 per cent of the total labour force) are working and are exposed to hazardous and risky conditions, especially in metropolitan cities. Young girls are always in danger of abuse and exploitation. Inter- and intra-border trafficking of children and women constitutes a serious problem.

• Yes, it is. When parents pop kids like Nadia Suleman- which they clearly cannot afford, it is sometimes a better option for them. You have to be there to believe their living condition at own home. I grew up with a few such girls who were hired as domestic help. Once again, I have never personally seen any such kid on ‘bonded labor’ at any household- they left when they/their parents decided. These girls even went to school for the number of years they stayed at our home which their parents wouldn’t have done. You may scream out loud in disbelief, but that does not change the facts. None of your surveys and articles can change my view built on own personal experience regarding this matter.

I missed this part when I posted. But my point still hasn’t changed because I never said anything about race. Even if you take a person who isn’t racially Indian. If you took an American and presented them with the same economic incentives and power disparities do you think Americans would, on average, behave any differently?

It is a pretty simple question and it follows directly from the premises of your argument.

I had a second question too if you recall and that was what exactly do you mean by “Indian culture?”

You’re the one making the claim that India tops the list. Why don’t you produce the study to back it up?

But you’re still dodging my question. It was a simple one. If you say culture is the causative factor and not poverty then what you’re saying is that a non-Indian in the same situation would behave more nobly simply by virtue of not being Indian. Is this what you’re saying? Yes or no?

According to you these innocent young girls are actually safer working and sleeping in the homes of strangers than they are in their own parents home!……When the parents’ “home” consists of 3 tin walls and a straw roof how safe is any child going to be in there?

You seem to be hell bent on justifying child slavery and sexual abuse regardless of facts or logic. Show us any data that backs up your claim that girls are safer living and working as bonded servants in the homes of India’s urban middle class than in the huts of their parents. What part of The measure came after pressure from international and Indian groups alarmed by evidence of widespread physical and sexual abuse of children working as maids in the homes of India’s urban middle classes couldn’t you understand?

Your reasoning is twisted, both morally and logically. If the widespread inhumane abuse of children had not been acceptable in India do you really think it would be so prevalent? Dont try to make the amoral claim that poverty justifies cruelty. There is no excuse for what goes on in India.…….I feel like I am trying to pin jello to a wall. If you recall, your initial claim was that “Indian culture is the reason for these abuses.” I made the counter claim that culture has nothing to do with it, rather it is the effect of widespread poverty and the power disparities that come with it.

Culture has everything to do with it. Show us any other nation in the 21st century that has such a huge percentage of its children working as bonded slaves. Or suffering from chronic hunger.

The indian govt passes child labor laws to appease western sensibilities. But those laws are not enforced. Why? Because indian cultural sensibilities are not offended by these inhumane practices.……….Name a law that is systematically enforced.

Your attempt to justify abusive child slavery in India is so wrong on so many counts. First, it is a brazen lie to claim that India is incapable of enforcing laws. Second, its the urban middle class, even those living in the Indian capital itself right under the nose of the govt, that take in these children as domestic servants and then proceed to abuse them inhumanely. And this is going on in the 21st century.

As long as there are poor and desperate people in India exploitation will happen.

What a morally bankrupt cop out. A culture that values humans would not tolerate the inhumanity that is so rampant in India, regardless of how poor it is. There is no denying that it is the culture that is to blame, and you are representing the callous heartlessness of that culture.

My entire point was these things happen when there is poverty and lack of education.

You are stubbornly ignoring the fact that the educated indian urban middle class is also guilty of these crimes against humanity.

, you still have not answered my first two questions. One, if you attribute these evils to “Indian culture” then that would mean that if we had non-Indians the exact same situations they would behave more honorably. Do you really believe that?

You are confusing race with culture. Other races have behaved dishonorably as well in their history, when their cultures weren’t as enlightened as they are today. But in the 21st century there is no culture as brazenly callous and inhumane as indian culture.

When the parents’ “home” consists of 3 tin walls and a straw roof how safe is any child going to be in there?

You still haven’t answered my question old chap. For your claim that Indian culture is to blame to hold true you would have to be saying that a non-Indian in the same situation would be better. Do you have any evidence for this claim or are you going to admit that the causal factor is poverty rather than “culture?” All I want is a simple answer to a simple question.

Ram: Why are 10-12 year old girls in such demand by urban middle class households if not for sexual abuse by the males of the household?–I can at least tell you the reason behind this particular preference which is rather innocent – sorry to disappoint you! I grew up in Bangladesh and usually girls after 14-15 are considered ‘marriageable’ by their family in the village. Besides, when they reach 14-15, usually it’s hard to ‘protect’ these girls from young boys of the neighborhood or even own household. That’s why they bring in girls at a young age, she works till she becomes marriageable [again, around age 15- by their family standard] and then usually married off.

Unbelievable. According to you these innocent young girls are actually safer working and sleeping in the homes of strangers than they are in their own parents home!

The fact that sexual and physical abuse of these girl maids is so widespread in south asia makes a cruel mockery of your justification for their servitutude. For shame.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F07E1D81330F933A25753C1A9609C8B63

A tighter ban on child labor comes into force today, and bars the hiring of children under 14 to work in private homes as maids or in restaurants and hotels as low-paid waiters. The measure came after pressure from international and Indian groups alarmed by evidence of widespread physical and sexual abuse of children working as maids in the homes of India’s urban middle classes.