Sofia Wildvine - post #2

After reading terrible and disturbing disruptions of rape, I started to wonder how many STDs and pregnancies occur in these disturbing "Happiness Houses". On page 128, no longer innocent Lakshmi describes a scene when Shahanna offers her a condom. "Dont let Mumtaz see this,' she whispers. 'What is is?' I ask. She checks to make sure no one can hear. 'A condom....Ask men to use it, so that you don't get a disease.' she says. 'Most of them say no; they will threaten to go somewhere else if you insist.' This made me despise what these girls have to go through even more. The men are so arrogant and power-hungry that they do not even consider for a second what they might give the girls, not only shame, but a chance of pregnancy or disease. They are steeling their innocence along with their health. According to "Tiny Hands- Sex Trafficking in Nepal", these girls are forced to have unsafe abortions since many of the men refuse to use condoms. HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases are also very common. After the girls are found to have HIV, they are "kicked out", or rather, allowed to go back home. If they return to their villages, they face being ostracized because of what they have been—because of what was done to them. Many times their families will not take them back. Those who don’t die of AIDS, most end up back on the street, selling themselves. I can not imagine a worst life; where there is absolutely no hope.