“Half the Sky”

Kristof and Prostitution in Nepal

Kristof wrote the poem “Half the Sky.” In this review, I’ll concentrate on chapter two, which addresses Prohibition and Prostitution in detail. Kristof seems to have crossed into Nepal from India after visiting Bihar in Chapter 2 of “Half the Sky.” Kristof was scheduled to finish some paperwork at the border office. Officers were busy looking for pirates and criminals, but they failed to look for sex slaves. The author explicitly notes that there are means that can be used in fighting sex trafficking as well as modern-day slavery but no political will can be used to employ them. The writer also points out that the primary customers for prostitution are the local men while the other percentage is made up of Western men from Sri Lanka, Philippines, and Thailand.

The Abolitionist Movement and its Challenges

WuDunn and Kristof suggest that the main reason that results in small success for abolitionist movement is the troublesome means of prostitution (WuDunn, Sheryl and Nicholas 36). The right and left politicians were able to pass a protection act of 2000 back in the 1990’s. The law resulted in rising of international awareness regarding sex trading. From the story, Kristoff and WuDunn lay out three teachings. The first one is that it is a composite mission to rescue young girls from the brothels. Secondly, the mission of rescue should never be limited by any difficulties (WuDunn, Sheryl and Nicholas 42). Finally, even when a problem is challenging, then it should never be eliminated through the mitigation of its worth. The two finalize by the use of a Hawaiian parable where a boy at the beach tosses some washed up starfish and gets them back to the ocean. A man standing nearby suggests that there are several starfish and that he will not make any difference. The boy later says that “washing up the starfish to the ocean made a significant difference.”

Works Cited

WuDunn, Sheryl, and Nicholas D. Kristof. half the sky. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2009.