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Stigma!

One of the news items on CNN, that I read on a daily basis along with BBC and some local Pakistani newspapers, that has created an uproar is that a mother made her 16 year old daughter to dance in a compromising situation, clad in bare minimum clothes, at a hooker party, thrown by her. Shocking? No! Not for me because only News, shocks, something that you don't know about and something extreme. Level of 'shock value' increases the more you know.

I read this book, 'Dancing girls of Lahore' last year about the red light area in Lahore where husbands, fathers, uncles, sons, brothers work as agents for the women in their homes. In the absence of men, mothers and grand mothers took over this role for the younger women in the family. It is not a secret, we know this is happening and whereas we do not miss any opportunity to look down upon our tinsel town and the silver screen actresses, many of whom hail from this area, how many of us actually consider and empathize with their situation? And what has our media done? It has done nothing to bring attention to their plight. These are voiceless people on the fringes of humanity, who are not totally human. What kind of life can that be? It is hard for us even to imagine. Tuberculosis is common among the residents because they don't get proper nutrition and live in dark and damp homes. Actresses or models, from that area or background are actually the lucky ones who can, because of their economic independence choose, to some degree, their destiny. But born thus, what else can they do? In a country where hypocrisy rules, what chances does a child born in such a place have to live a respectable life? Where if someone cannot fill the fathers name space in forms, they might as well not be existing. Let alone a respectable life, they have no chance of a life!

These things at least come out in the media in the US and others parts of Western world and are discussed by the pundits, there is an enforceable law which punishes those who get underage children involved in these kind of activities and above all provides counselling and schooling so that these children can make a fresh start in life. What do children in similar situation have in our country? Only Stigma!

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