2008 Woodie Awards
Campus group helps women in need
By Greg Reedy
Rocket Editor-in-Chief
Issue date: 12/9/05 Section: Life
Sex trafficking happens frequently in countries such as Nepal and India. Thousands of miles away, Slippery Rock students are doing something about it.
The main catalyst behind this movement is Gina Stalma, who is a senior anthropology and French major. She is the president of the SRU chapter of Women and Men Taking Action (WAMTA), an organization that helps save women and children from sex trafficking by raising funds. An article was published in a December issue of Marie Claire about this and Stalma was interviewed in the article.
"The women are trafficked from Nepal and India," Stalma said. "These women are kept in really bad conditions."
The sex trafficking consists of the people being lured out of their country by the promises of jobs that can get them financially stable. Usually those jobs promised entail working at carpet factories in and around Kathmandu. Instead, the promise is broken, as these people are taken to brothels and tortured while being kept in unsanitary conditions. They are thrown on the streets after being infected with AIDS, making them useless to the brothel.
WAMTA works with an organization called the Rescue Foundation, an organization designed to shut down the brothel and toss the keepers into prison.
The Rescue Foundation is a Government Registered Non-Governmental Social Organization (NGO) that is actively involved in the rescues of children who have been trafficked. This organization started in 1996 and in the first three years the group rescued 31 girls. After being recognized as an NGO in 1999, the foundation rescued 209 girls. As of today, the group has rescued more than 400 girls from torture.
To raise money to help the situation, Stalma said the SRU chapter of WAMTA sold magazine subscriptions. According to the group's Web site, they are selling 650 magazines for 85 percent less than newsstand prices. Forty percent of the purchase will go toward the cause. Stalma said she got interested in the organization through the women's committee of WAMTA and wanted to get involved.
The main catalyst behind this movement is Gina Stalma, who is a senior anthropology and French major. She is the president of the SRU chapter of Women and Men Taking Action (WAMTA), an organization that helps save women and children from sex trafficking by raising funds. An article was published in a December issue of Marie Claire about this and Stalma was interviewed in the article.
"The women are trafficked from Nepal and India," Stalma said. "These women are kept in really bad conditions."
The sex trafficking consists of the people being lured out of their country by the promises of jobs that can get them financially stable. Usually those jobs promised entail working at carpet factories in and around Kathmandu. Instead, the promise is broken, as these people are taken to brothels and tortured while being kept in unsanitary conditions. They are thrown on the streets after being infected with AIDS, making them useless to the brothel.
WAMTA works with an organization called the Rescue Foundation, an organization designed to shut down the brothel and toss the keepers into prison.
The Rescue Foundation is a Government Registered Non-Governmental Social Organization (NGO) that is actively involved in the rescues of children who have been trafficked. This organization started in 1996 and in the first three years the group rescued 31 girls. After being recognized as an NGO in 1999, the foundation rescued 209 girls. As of today, the group has rescued more than 400 girls from torture.
To raise money to help the situation, Stalma said the SRU chapter of WAMTA sold magazine subscriptions. According to the group's Web site, they are selling 650 magazines for 85 percent less than newsstand prices. Forty percent of the purchase will go toward the cause. Stalma said she got interested in the organization through the women's committee of WAMTA and wanted to get involved.
