secrets are the dirty little secrets <3
Mittwoch, 18. Februar 2015
Samstag, 28. Januar 2012
Snow :))
... yes we finally got some snow and the kids are having fun with their sleighs :)) I am at work and no customer has found its way to me ;-) That is rather boring .... and time goes by so slow then :-( Well I won't give up hope ... ;-)
Nothing new so far ... my mood is quite good and so I got nothing to complain about ;-)
Donnerstag, 26. Januar 2012
Lazy ....
.... yes that's what I have been .... not really due to my decision, but due to my not so good health right now :-( ... but I hope it will improve soon :-) This afternoon I will go out walking with the kids and feed the swans and ducks nearby :-) The sun is out, it is cold and therefore the perfect weather for it :-)
What's on my mind? Well nothing really *lol* .... not so much in the mood for writing I guess ;-) Should find me another subject in my english papers and talk about .... but that can wait :))
What's on my mind? Well nothing really *lol* .... not so much in the mood for writing I guess ;-) Should find me another subject in my english papers and talk about .... but that can wait :))
Here is something for you all to try and it really is amazing ;-)
Montag, 23. Januar 2012
forced marriages
.... ok here comes my abridged version of the article that we have been working in class for quite some time ;-)
Forced marriages is a big problem among the indian population in England and Jasvinder Sanghera has written 3 books about this!
Four of her older sisters were taken to India and forced to marry men they have never seen before. All were caught up in domestic abuse and one of them even comited suicide! She ran away in the age of 15 to escape the same fate, then set up the charity "Karma Nirvana" to help women and men and to bring this subject into the media. She herself has faced public abuse and death threats in doing so! Her family broke with her and if it wouldn't have been, that her daughter got engaged to an Sikh, whose mother brought up her children to be independent and respectful to different values, .... she would have never been encouraged to travel to India. Sanghera was welcomed with open arms by the family of her daughters fiancè and that gave her enough strength and inspiration to seek out a long-lost half-sister of hers in India. This half-sister, as the only one in her family, welcomed her and even invited her to attend her wedding as to make up for all the family members that turned their head away when they see her.
By the way, Sanghera herself converted to Christianity but still honors the identity of the Sikhs. This can be seen by the typical steel bracelet that she is still wearing.
She wrote her 1st book in 2007 to expose rape, domestic abuse, honor killings and suicides among forced marriages. It was a bestseller and brought the issue into the media and even if the 400 survivors of forced marriages, that are being brought back by the foreign office of the UK are still just the tip of the iceberg!
She says, the average victims are girls aged 14 to 19 and the most dangerous time for them is usually the summer holidays, where they are being sent to India to be forced to marry. Or another example she tells about this 14 year old girl, that has called the hotline for help. This girl wasn't allowed to do anything with her friends and was threatened to be sent to Pakistan to "sort her out" .... as it was done with her sister! This sister was then forced to marry and afterwards brought back home. Some girls then have to sponsor the application for visa for their husbands to come and stay in the UK. Those girls are being raped, beat up, etc. etc. ... and don't get any help from their families .... and even if they die in those marriages - this is their duty! They have no way out or it would dishonour their families! What is also incredible, it is not only an issue of the poor and uneducated indian people in England ... no it is among ALL of them and if they escape and get caught, they even have to fear death .... and if they survive, it is hard for them to receive proper help. Lots of authorities in the UK don't know of the powers they have, to protect victims. For instance, Courts can take the passports from family members that fear to be taken abroad to be forced to marry. Between 11.2008 and 02.2011, 293 orders were made to protect girls from this fate and over half of them were under the age of 16 .... some as young as eight! So in May 2011 it at least was recommended that forced marriages becomes a criminal offence and even if hardly a family member would prosecute his/her own family, it is definetely a progress in prosecuting domestice violence especially if the victim withdraws its complaint....! So if the victims will realize that they have done nothing wrong, they may will be encouraged enough to follow Sanghera's lead, tell their stories and help other victims.
As Sanghera says, she does not agree that forced marriage and honour killings are cultural issues and that cultural acceptance does not mean one has to accept "honour violence" in any way and that in no culture abuse should be accepted!
My rèsumè: I did not know that forced marriage was such a big issue in England ... in the asian world, yes ... - but one wouldn't expect it to be as big in the eastern world. However it reminds me of the turkish population over here in Germany and those honour killings that are on the news ever so often! In my opinion, no one should be forced to get married - in no country and domestic abuse should always considered as a crime - no matter which culture one has! There should never be an acceptance of rape, family violence, death treaths or honour killings. Neither should any person be abused by people that are supposed to be loving, trustworthy and caring ..... like family!
Forced marriages is a big problem among the indian population in England and Jasvinder Sanghera has written 3 books about this!
Four of her older sisters were taken to India and forced to marry men they have never seen before. All were caught up in domestic abuse and one of them even comited suicide! She ran away in the age of 15 to escape the same fate, then set up the charity "Karma Nirvana" to help women and men and to bring this subject into the media. She herself has faced public abuse and death threats in doing so! Her family broke with her and if it wouldn't have been, that her daughter got engaged to an Sikh, whose mother brought up her children to be independent and respectful to different values, .... she would have never been encouraged to travel to India. Sanghera was welcomed with open arms by the family of her daughters fiancè and that gave her enough strength and inspiration to seek out a long-lost half-sister of hers in India. This half-sister, as the only one in her family, welcomed her and even invited her to attend her wedding as to make up for all the family members that turned their head away when they see her.
By the way, Sanghera herself converted to Christianity but still honors the identity of the Sikhs. This can be seen by the typical steel bracelet that she is still wearing.
She wrote her 1st book in 2007 to expose rape, domestic abuse, honor killings and suicides among forced marriages. It was a bestseller and brought the issue into the media and even if the 400 survivors of forced marriages, that are being brought back by the foreign office of the UK are still just the tip of the iceberg!
She says, the average victims are girls aged 14 to 19 and the most dangerous time for them is usually the summer holidays, where they are being sent to India to be forced to marry. Or another example she tells about this 14 year old girl, that has called the hotline for help. This girl wasn't allowed to do anything with her friends and was threatened to be sent to Pakistan to "sort her out" .... as it was done with her sister! This sister was then forced to marry and afterwards brought back home. Some girls then have to sponsor the application for visa for their husbands to come and stay in the UK. Those girls are being raped, beat up, etc. etc. ... and don't get any help from their families .... and even if they die in those marriages - this is their duty! They have no way out or it would dishonour their families! What is also incredible, it is not only an issue of the poor and uneducated indian people in England ... no it is among ALL of them and if they escape and get caught, they even have to fear death .... and if they survive, it is hard for them to receive proper help. Lots of authorities in the UK don't know of the powers they have, to protect victims. For instance, Courts can take the passports from family members that fear to be taken abroad to be forced to marry. Between 11.2008 and 02.2011, 293 orders were made to protect girls from this fate and over half of them were under the age of 16 .... some as young as eight! So in May 2011 it at least was recommended that forced marriages becomes a criminal offence and even if hardly a family member would prosecute his/her own family, it is definetely a progress in prosecuting domestice violence especially if the victim withdraws its complaint....! So if the victims will realize that they have done nothing wrong, they may will be encouraged enough to follow Sanghera's lead, tell their stories and help other victims.
As Sanghera says, she does not agree that forced marriage and honour killings are cultural issues and that cultural acceptance does not mean one has to accept "honour violence" in any way and that in no culture abuse should be accepted!
My rèsumè: I did not know that forced marriage was such a big issue in England ... in the asian world, yes ... - but one wouldn't expect it to be as big in the eastern world. However it reminds me of the turkish population over here in Germany and those honour killings that are on the news ever so often! In my opinion, no one should be forced to get married - in no country and domestic abuse should always considered as a crime - no matter which culture one has! There should never be an acceptance of rape, family violence, death treaths or honour killings. Neither should any person be abused by people that are supposed to be loving, trustworthy and caring ..... like family!
Mondays .....
oh how I hate them ;-) Well, I hate to get up so early in the morning, after a weekend of sleeping in ;-) Well a few more weeks and the kids have "carneval-break" and will be off school for a week ;-) The kids are tired too every morning and even Roxy doesn't want to get up *lol*
Today I had english class again and I miss my "old" teacher .... :-) Guess I will not go to the second course .... less people will join and therefore it will get much more expensive to the ones, that would continue! My english also isn't as bad, as to where the course would do me that much good to spend over 100.- Euros on it! Well I'll see next monday, how many people will join and then make up my mind :-)
So whats new .... guess, not much ... I'm hanging in there ;-) Gonna do a little english homework and then the laundry *lol*
Today I had english class again and I miss my "old" teacher .... :-) Guess I will not go to the second course .... less people will join and therefore it will get much more expensive to the ones, that would continue! My english also isn't as bad, as to where the course would do me that much good to spend over 100.- Euros on it! Well I'll see next monday, how many people will join and then make up my mind :-)
So whats new .... guess, not much ... I'm hanging in there ;-) Gonna do a little english homework and then the laundry *lol*
Freitag, 20. Januar 2012
Yes ...
I' m feeling better today ... my mood has improved for some reason, I don't know ;-) At least we are getting a little snow now and thats something I love :-) Other than that ... nothing new, nothing on my mind, maybe next week I will have something to write about ;-)
Donnerstag, 19. Januar 2012
Where ....
.... is the sun or the snow .... but leave me alone with this stormy, rainy weather!!! I hate it - I get weather depressions from it ;-) Let it be frosty and sunny and I will be happy .... I am not asking for spring yet ... no, I would be totally satisfied with SUN and "icy temperatures" ;-) Yes, the snow should crunch under my feet ..... "cry" ... I want SNOW !!!!!Not much going on in my mind .... guess, cause I am not in such a great mood ... so today only this small blog post .... as soon as I feel better, I will post more ;-)
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