AIRYN LENTIJA ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Last year Airyn was one of several writers and poets asked to draft a suitable letter and poem which would be forwarded to President Obama. Airyn duly submitted the draft and poem and did not hear anything else. Yesterday she discovered that her work had been used and published in the Women Thrive Worldwide website after being forwarded to President Obama, the First Lady, Vice President Biden, Secretary Hillary Clinton and others.

The website may be seen at: http://www.womenthrive.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1015&Itemid=28

I am reproducing the letter and poem here for your information.

Thank you,

JS S


AIRYN LENTIJA ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
On November 29, 2010 Airyn Lentija of the Philippines submitted the following letter to the Obama administration in support of the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA).
Dear President Obama, First Lady, Vice President Biden, Secretary Hillary Clinton and the members of US Government:

I am honored to be given this rare opportunity to take over the platform and speak with you about the pains behind the tears I have and felt of the abused young girls, teenage girls and women. With the approach of the IVAWA vote, I am asking you to sign this legislation for the women of the world.

Everyday countless women suffered from Domestic Violence. While it is usually physical violence many people forget that mental abuse can be equally traumatic and far more long lasting. In addition to this every year, women in some parts of the world become victims of acid attacks and while a brilliant reconstructive surgeon might restore their damage skin tissue they will never be free from the horror of what they have suffered, of the pain and anguish they have experienced and the deep underlying knowledge that they will never, ever, be the same woman.

There are teenage girls, forced to marry at a very young age. Some are exploited, sold to be used as sex slaves, farmer labourers and worst they will be killed slowly by the harvesting of their organs. There are women also will suffer and die from the after effects of female genital mutilation, stoning and other forms of brutal, barbaric acts.

As a Domestic Worker, I have seen and reported on stories that happen around the world to my fellow women; victims of illegal recruiters, abused, raped and killed and disappeared....conveniently forgotten.

The worst is the fast rising number of women, teenage girls and young girls as young as five who are trafficked and exploited. Sex tourism is one of the major problems of my country, the Philippines and of the world were women form the greater percentage of victims.

Young girls were usually the target of child pornography. I have read The Diary of a Sex Slave where You Mi described the life she had gone through as flesh seller. How she coordinated with US Goverment and testify to shut some of the brothels in the US. How many You Mi's still exist and live and work like animals?

THE YOUNG VICTIM OF SEX TRADE


While the world is busy

Rotating madly on its axis

They were stacked in a half-dozen high,

Concrete cages,
Waiting for their turn

To be exploited,

Tainted,

Trafficked,

Sold...

Innocent girls as young as five

Trapped on the blockade of no-more dreams
Where their blood-curdling screams

Were persecuted inside them

Deprived..

Of being heard...

Behind those walls are painful cries

Pleas (for education),
Fears (for self worth),
Traumas (for AIDS...for Alienation)

Have you seen/heard/felt them?

They were there...

Somewhere...

God knows what they feel...
The trembling of their knees

The first time the lining of their dreams

Were sliced evilly...

Lacerated...

The nipples of their hopes

Brutally clawed by the beast

Of different races

In less than ten hours


They were there...

Somewhere...
Paining...

Penning their blues in the wind

The words behind their silent weeping

In every excruciating night
Nights and days of drowning

In the language of the sex trade

And not a ghost of a chance

The eons of light invade

Their infant lamenting souls

God knows what they feel

They were there...

Somewhere

Now I am asking for your kind heart to please sign the I-VAWA. Women deserves to be loved and respected. Please endorse and sign I-VAWA and help free the abused women from injustice.

Thank you,


Airyn Rano Lentija