Sherry Mariea was a forceful and passionate speaker which made her talk easy to engage with. She had strong examples from her personal life and research from around the world. Her statistics on femicide were soul-crushing. The thought that innocent little girls would be killed in droves for “economic gain” is despicable, and to think that trafficking happens here in Columbia on a large scale is horrible.
One of the biggest examples of how devalued women are in the U.S. is how the public treats professional athletes who rape or beat women and kids. Countless high-profile athletes make millions of dollars and consistently mistreat women. Despite the record that some of these athletes have, they continue to get paid millions of dollars to play a game. Teams, colleges and lawyers go to great lengths to cover up foul play and pretend that just throwing money at the women will solve the emotional damage that accompanies this mistreatment.
The fact that these athletes get paid that much is absurd and another conversation in itself, but the public needs to take a stand against these athletes. They should never be allowed to play again. A simple suspension from games doesn’t teach anything; they should be incarcerated. The public needs to stop treating “elites” like they are above the law. It harms innocent lives and continues to support a culture that oppresses around half of the population.
Nick Monaco was an interesting speaker, too. He wasn’t as engaging or forceful, but he was very knowledgeable, and the topic that he broached was important for the current culture and political climate. As a journalism student, it’s terrifying to see how easily things can be manipulated and disseminated. Journalists are susceptible to mistakes by themselves, and if bots or trolls are creators of false information at inhuman rates, it seems nearly impossible to keep up with and correct the tide before it overwhelms everyone.
One of the best ways to combat this then would be to educate everyone on what signs to look for. Journalists need to help equip people to be more discerning and critical of the information that they’re fed on social media. My personal experience with social media is limited. I’ve never had a Facebook or an Instagram. I was forced to get a Twitter for class but never look at it. There is a somewhat popular belief that for as great the new era of connection has been through social media, it also has been detrimental by enabling things like false information, bullying and the ability to recruit for evil causes. Social media can be just as dangerous as it can be helpful; it depends on how it is used.
I knew about the poverty and the human trafficking in Moldova, but it’s never easy to see how pronounced it is. While I was over there, I heard people say over and over, “This is a dark place.” The common person seemed powerless to get ahead or do anything about the human rights violations going on around them. It seemed a completely hopeless situation, and that’s why the NGO I researched was such a positive for me; it offers hope in such a “dark” country.
What I didn’t know is that the country had suffered deep-seated corruption at its highest level. The country’s president was a part of a scheme that stole 12% of the GDP. The mastermind of the scheme is currently in office, and the money hasn’t been restored. Despite aid from the EU, there’s no knowing how much of the aid actually gets to the people that need it. As Russia closes in, it doesn’t appear that the corruption is anywhere near an end.
Globalization 3510W 