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Post by tiphphy on Dec 30, 2008 20:13:56 GMT -5
I read this article and was out raged. To take advantage of a child like that! She started off working in this home at the age of 9. When they moved to the USA the neighbor sat and watched Shyima through the window do the dishes. It took them years to get her out of this situation, and by the time the cops showed up the "parents" and their children already knew what to say if someone asked about her. She told the police what they had told her to say over and over again. She thought because she lived with in four steady walls and had a roof that didn't leak she was better off. She lived in the garage and when the light burnt out in that garage they didn't change it.
Shyima is now living in another home with a family that adopted her. The "parents" were charged, had to pay the min wage she would have made for the years she worked, and spent time in jail. The sad thing.... when the woman who got the lesser sentence got out.... She was seen walking into her home, a little 9 year old following behind her with bags. The child wasn't one of her own. *rolls eyes* People never learn....
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Post by Ravyn Crescent on Dec 30, 2008 20:30:43 GMT -5
*HUGS* Thank you for doing this article!
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Post by tiphphy on Dec 31, 2008 11:36:46 GMT -5
Welcome, I would have done it sooner but I didn't get a free moment to read the article until then
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Post by trikari on Jan 1, 2009 15:32:00 GMT -5
Thanks, and you're right, people never learn, but did she get caught again because you said that it was in an article it meant somebody saw her and told someone so shouldn't the woman be found soon? and get the punishment, again?
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Post by Ravyn Crescent on Jan 1, 2009 21:26:28 GMT -5
No, because in Egypt it's still LEGAL! There need to be harsher laws here, is what it proves. The woman was only in jail for 2 years! Then she's free to go back to doing as she likes. She should have had her kids taken away forever and made to pay Shyima much, much more than what she would have earned through minimum wage. There is so much that should have been done, and this is why I press for people to always alert the authorities when they see something weird. If you have neighbors, pay attention to if they have kids and who those kids are! If you see another child there at night, alert someone! If it's a friend of one of the kids there, they shouldn't be doing chores. And pay attention to if the child goes to school or not. Quite often, slaves do attend school. They'll even have jobs outside the house. If they do not attend school, you can get them help much easier, which is why many traffickers do have their younger victims in school, it gives the impression that they are being cared for.
I tell people to call if they see a maid working for a house if that maid doesn't appear to leave or if they don't speak English. There are so, so, so, so many slaves in England, America, Australia... that are just overlooked!
And then there are people like Shyima... was her situation better there than it was in Egypt? No. Her housing was cleaner, but she was hated and that can often be worse abuse than if she were physically wounded. You see her mother's house and, yes, it was tiny and yes it was 'average' for their area and, yes, it was dirty... but so what? Shyima was tortured simply because her family was poor and because in Egypt these practices are not uncommon, since there is no government programs enforcing schooling and poverty aid... which needs to change.
What really gets me, is how many people are saying that what happened to Shyima was no big deal since "it's legal where she was born! Her parents shouldn't have had kids they couldn't afford!"
... The point is, Shyima was in America, the land of the Free and that treatment is not right, regardless of it's what her culture was used to or not. It still hurt her, it still causes her pain! Things are different there, they are bad there, but these children are denied love and care and safety in a country where everyone is supposed to have that. Her parents shouldn't have so many kids when they cannot afford them, no, but they cannot afford birth control which is a major issue in Africa.
Shyima means a lot to me... because even though everyone kept telling her to stop fighting since it could be worse, she still fought back... because it wasn't right what she went through. That's why I begged people to care about this issue, too. I went through the same thing when I started trying to get free... being told to just shut up and back down because it could be worse, by people who have no idea what it was like! Shyima is a brave soul and she deserves honor.
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munchinmonster
Moderator
Winner of the 08 Halloween Story Contest![M:3200]
Non timetis messor
Posts: 450
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Post by munchinmonster on Jan 6, 2009 17:00:55 GMT -5
Before the door closed behind her, a little girl slipped in carrying grocery bags. She wore a shabby T-shirt. Her small feet slapped the floor in loose flip-flops. Her eyes were trained on the ground.
22 months was not long enough, she has come out and then this, it is the same as it was for Shyima, but in Egypt she can get away with it. It is sad that it is legal to have slaves in some countries, some of these countries may try to hide or glamorize it by calling it something else but that doesn't change the fact that it is the same.
What Shyima said when Amal pleaded not to be seperated from her children is spot on. How can she even have the balls to plead that after what she had done.
Reading how she is doing now, it is good that she has been able to move on and have a normal life but it doesn't change the fact that what she went through was wrong.
But they are not the only ones to blame. Her parents sold her to the family for money, money she never saw. She worked those long hours and all her mother did was come and collect a pay check. Personally I think that is the most sickening thing in this whole story.
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Post by trikari on Jan 6, 2009 20:15:51 GMT -5
I would say it's sickening not even to be able to protest! Or not have the will! I had to do a debate on why there shouldn't be slaves. I was telling of the horrible cruel things and then, turns out, I lost. They said I was getting off track. But the point was, some people delight in torture! Why?! How would they like it done to them?! Personally, if we were cruel enough, we would've tortured them but then we'd be doing the same thing as them. It's a never ending cycle.
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Post by Ravyn Crescent on Jan 6, 2009 22:30:41 GMT -5
That is why people say Americans take America for granted. We can protest these things, and we should! It is why I wrote PTP, as a protest to slavery!
Next time you do any sort of debate or report on slavery, post here that you need to! I have tons of info and have studied this for years, been involved with it, and am used to giving reports on it. This forum is full of people who do the same, we will be able to help you!
The problem with saying "people like slavery" is that it offends the crowd. Also, it's not always true. People did not develop slavery because they liked torture, most of it was a money thing or a religious thing. Why pay if you can get it for free, is a common theory.
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