Ableism in the Age of the Coronavirus Pandemic

What is Ableism?

“Ableism is the discrimination of and social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior.” Ableism rears its ugly head in our society every day through large discriminatory practices such as the eugenics movement as well as minor ableism that is utilized when assuming someone’s disability must be visible for it to be a disability. On a day-to-day basis people with disabilities (or disabled people as some in the community prefer to use identity-first language) endure ableism and now during the COVID-19 pandemic they are facing ableist rationing practices.

Triage and It’s Ableist Undercurrents

Disability activists have been speaking up about how many of the guidelines and criteria for triage during the COVID-19 pandemic are proving to be ableist. As Elliot Kukla puts it, “This is not an unusual triage decision to make in wartime or pandemics; our lives are considered, quite literally, more disposable.” Various states are under fire for their ableist triaging policies, with many of them receiving federal complaints from a coalition of national disability advocates including the Center for Public Representation, The Arc of the United States, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, and University of Michigan law professor Samuel Bagenstos. In Alabama, the state’s policy (which has since been retracted following retaliation from disability advocates) conceded that “individuals may be excluded under Tier 1 with … functional domains include cognitive, neurological, and psychosocial. For example, persons with severe mental retardation, advanced dementia or severe traumatic brain injury may be poor candidates for ventilator support.” In New York, where the virus hit the hardest in the U.S., a doctor made the decision to take a non-COVID and terminally ill patient off a ventilator to save another patient with COVID. This disregards the fact that many disabled people are already living with the use of a ventilator. 

Statements and Solutions from the Disability Community

In an op-ed from The New York Times, disability rights activist and author Ari Ne’eman says that, “While many disabled people need ongoing medical care, many doctors view life with certain disabilities as unworthy of living. Disabled people who require ongoing ventilator care and other forms of expensive lifelong assistance are used to being asked by medical professionals if they would rather abandon life-sustaining treatment — often with the clear implication that ‘yes’ is the right answer.” These experiences are not an anomaly among the disabled community, as disability activist Alice Wong argues that, “Eugenics isn’t a relic from World War II; it’s alive today, embedded in our culture, policies, and practices. It is imperative that experts and decision-makers include and collaborate with communities disproportionately impacted by systemic medical racism, ageism and ableism, among other biases.” 

Others such as Joseph Stramondo, a philosophy professor at San Diego State University, are focusing on creating a paradigm shift in the way professional bioethicists respond to the coronavirus pandemic. He advises against using deeply biased quality of life judgment due to there being “a significant body of empirical evidence showing that there is a substantial gap between a disabled person’s self-assessment and how their quality of life is judged by folks that have never experienced their disability.” He furthers the discourse by highlighting Shelley Tremain, a feminist philosopher who studies disabilities and hopes to push the conversation away from just fixing triaging protocols. “The primary object of our analysis seems to sanction the idea that these hard choices are inevitabilities,” Tremain writes of triage practices. Instead, bioethicists “should be putting our energy behind efforts to reduce the need to make such choices at all.” 

Hanna Ditinsky

is a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is majoring in English and minoring in Economics. She was born and raised in New York City and is passionate about human rights and the future of progressivism.

Animal Activists Celebrate as More of Asia Bans Dog Meat Consumption

The eating of dog meat, though not widespread anymore, is still practiced today in countries such as South Korea, China, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. 30 million dogs are killed for consumption every year in Asia, motivating animal rights activists to speak up and call for change. Many have pushed back against the practice, finding success in the last few weeks as the first Cambodian province and India’s Nagaland state ban the selling, trading and consumption of dog meat. This marks a crucial turning point for animal rights activists across the world. 

Siem Reap - The “Hub” of Dog Meat

While only about 12% of Cambodians eat dog meat on a regular basis, the province of Siem Reap has been identified as a “hot spot” for the trading and consumption of dog meat in wet markets. Tea Kimsoth, head of Siem Reap province’s agriculture, forestry and fisheries department, stated that “dog meat has been a lot more popular following the arrivals of foreigners, especially among the South Koreans.” On July 8, Siem Reap became the first province in Cambodia to mark the practice as illegal. Consequences of defying the ban include up to five years in prison and $12,200 in fines. The implementation of the law banning dog meat consumption marks a victory for the Humane Society International (HSI), which hopes that Siem Reap will serve as a model for the rest of the country to save the lives of millions of dogs. 

Nagaland, India - Following Suit 

After pictures of “dogs bound in sacks at wet markets” circulated online, the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations called for change and headed a campaign to stop the illegal trading and slaughtering of the animals. However, many civil rights activists retaliated against the ban, calling it “an attack on food customs in the state.” While illegal in some parts of India, dog meat is still considered a delicacy by some in the northeastern areas of the country. The government has not revealed how it plans to enforce the ban, but it announced that it would also ban commercial importation, trading and dog markets in general. This comes as a relief to HSI, which has been campaigning for years to stop the consumption and slaughtering of dogs. 

The Movement Continued

These victories come in light of the decision by Shenzhen, China, to ban the eating of both dogs and cats. This makes Shenzhen the first Chinese city to do so, after beginning to enforce the decision on May 1. Ultimately, the eating of dog meat is not common in China, only practiced by a few with the majority stating they have never tried it and never will. This comes after the city government released a statement saying that “dogs and cats have established a much closer relationship with humans than all other animals.” The city followed suit after Hong Kong and Taiwan banned the practice. 

In the meantime, organizations such as the Humane Society International and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are celebrating their success while working constantly to target other countries where the practice is still prevalent.

Elizabeth Misnick

is a Professional Writing and Rhetoric major at Baylor University. She grew up in a military family and lived in Europe for almost half her life, traveling and living in different countries. She hopes to continue writing professionally throughout her career and publish her writing in the future.

The Impact of the Coronavirus on Efforts to End Child Marriage

The coronavirus pandemic has negatively impacted the world, creating unforeseen challenges and serving to highlight and deepen racial disparities and global inequalities. Since the start of the pandemic, many countries have enacted mandatory quarantines in order to slow the spread of the virus, while a few countries are now in the process of easing, and in some cases lifting, restrictions. In addition to the coronavirus’s effects around the world, the pandemic is also having lasting impacts on the lives of women and girls across the globe—from school closures to a rise in domestic abuse to a loss of access to health care and community programs. In particular, COVID-19 is setting back efforts to end child marriage as it causes delays in programs around the world that are dedicated to ending child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM). According to the World Health Organization, more than 3 million girls are at risk for FGM every year. According to UNICEF, there are approximately 15 million child marriages annually.

Researchers at the United Nations Population Fund predict that there “could be an extra 13 million child marriages and another 2 million cases of FGM in the next decade as the pandemic stymies global efforts to end both practices,” according to a report from Reuters. As more families face economic struggles caused by a global recession in the wake of the pandemic, “parents may marry off girls as a way to reduce the number of children they have to support or to access dowries,” according to the World Economic Forum. The risks of child marriage and FGM are also increasing during the pandemic because schools are closed and many organizations are finding it difficult to operate under lockdown. Schools help protect children, particularly girls, and when the schools shut down, organizations found it difficult to reach the girls and communities they support, according to Girls Not Brides, a global organization dedicated to ending child marriage.

The Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) said that “some girls are prioritizing marriage and children over education” and “in Malawi, some people are saying, ‘Schools won’t reopen, so just marry,’” according to Voice of America. Malawi has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, according to UNICEF. In Malawi, 42% “of girls are married before the age of 18 and almost one in 10 are married before their 15th birthday,” according to a 2016 study.

The Centre for Social Concern and Development (CESOCODE) is one group that is trying to continue its work despite the challenges of COVID-19 restrictions. The programs director for CESOCODE, Ephraim Chimwaza, said, “When girls are forced to stay at home or within their communities rather than attending school, they are at far greater risk of experiencing gender-based violence and are more vulnerable to child marriage. The difficulty of the lockdown means that they cannot report anything that does happen to them, as they are much more isolated,” according to Girls Not Brides. CESOCODE utilized technology to keep in touch with the girls, using social media and a Bluetooth messaging service to check in with them and to promote domestic violence prevention and public health. They have also developed a podcast about domestic violence against girls, and for communities without access to technology the organization is handing out flyers and brochures to educate and spread advice on how to keep safe.

In Somalia, the coronavirus lockdown led to a huge increase in FGM. The country has the world’s highest FGM rate “with about 98% of women having been cut,” according to Reuters. The practice is “traditionally carried out during school holidays in urban settings or during the rainy season in rural areas,” according to Plan International, a girls’ and children’s rights charity. According to Plan International, Somali girls are being subjected to FGM from door-to-door circumcisers who are using the lockdown as an opportunity to carry out FGM since the girls are not in school. Since the period that girls are off of school is longer than other years, there is already an increase in FGM cases.

Girls and young women who were already at risk before the pandemic are now left unprotected, and as such, Sadia Allin, Plan International’s head of mission in Somalia, says, “Measures to address increased risk of gender-based violence and harmful practices, including FGM, should be included in response and recovery plans and these should be gender and age responsive. Girls and young women should be involved in the development of response and recovery plans to ensure their unique needs are met.”

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Asiya Haouchine

Asiya is an Algerian-American writer who graduated from the University of Connecticut in May 2016, earning a BA in journalism and English. She was an editorial intern and contributing writer for Warscapes magazine and the online/blog editor for Long River Review. She is currently studying for her Master’s in Library and Information Science. @AsiyaHaou

Elections Strive to Avoid Contributing to Upticks in Coronavirus

The coronavirus is one of democracy’s newest adversaries, especially when it comes to running elections. Although each country is subject to its own set of laws and customs during this formalized process, no one wants to let voting become another opportunity for virus numbers to spike. With governments dissuading large public gatherings and social distancing still being a critical asset to the prevention of COVID-19 across the globe, democratic countries need to organize upcoming voting events with new considerations in mind. 

COVID-19 has been labeled by the World Health Organization as a pandemic since March 11, and many voting events have since come and gone. Although elections across the world have been postponed, there are some countries that have pursued the process anyway. The elections that have occurred are on both national and local scales and have been met with varying levels of success. The Council on Foreign Relations released a short video on the optimal way to have an election; although this organization is American and focuses on United States elections, the suggestions are broad enough to be applicable in most democratic countries and include an emphasis on mail-in ballots, careful fund management and safe-in person voting procedures. One of the best examples was South Korea, which on April 15 became the first country to attempt a national election. The country had the highest voter turnout for a parliamentary election in 28 years, with 66.2% of about 44 million registered voters casting ballots. 

Prior to April 15, the country came out with a set of election guidelines that all voters and polling places would need to follow. This included the downloading of a self-quarantine app so voters’ movements could be tracked and social distancing at the voting stations. Voters had their temperatures taken on location, wore masks, and had gloves and hand sanitizer at their disposal. South Korea also made sure to account for people in quarantine and active COVID-19 patients, all of whom had to abide by additional voting guidelines. Despite all of these extra precautionary steps, one person reported that it took them less than 10 minutes to go through the whole voting process. When asked about why South Korea was so successful, many citizens said they had a lot of trust in the country’s actions involving the health care system. South Korea has recorded over 13,300 cases of the virus, but the number of new cases has not exceeded 80 since early April. Although an early voter in the city of Busan tested positive some time later, contact tracing later determined that only one person they came into contact with on Election Day had contracted the virus as well. 

Other places have also attempted to hold large-scale voting events, although none of them quite as successfully as in South Korea. For example, Croatia ran a presidential election with a 46% voter turnout (average of 53%), and Japan ran multiple elections as well. Tokyo’s election for governor resulted in about 52% of eligible people coming out, just above the average gubernatorial election turnout rate of 48%. In Poland, the presidential election was originally scheduled to occur in early May and would have been Europe’s first try at a presidential election since the pandemic. The country attempted to modify the voting standards beforehand (it wanted to offer more remote voting options so that there would be less crowding at polling places) but long-established laws prevented the country from making major changes to the process less than six months before the scheduled election. There was some conflict between the parties about the timing of the election—the incumbent party wanted a quick, on-time election while the challenging candidates asked for a delay—that ultimately resulted in the vote being postponed to June 28 and done with a larger number of postal ballots than the country had seen before. 

With a string of elections still on the horizon for this year, now-completed elections offer a template to copy or learn from, ultimately proving that safe voting is doable despite the pandemic. There are ways to work around the dangers of congested polling stations and there is considerable value in encouraging people to vote remotely (if the laws allow for it). While online voting is still very vulnerable to potential cyberattacks and other security concerns, postal ballots are an effective alternative. Safe and sanitary in-person voting is potentially the greatest universal asset for elections going forward. Although there are a multitude of factors that must be addressed when organizing elections, it is clear that ultimately, with sufficient and well-allocated resources, voter turnout does not necessarily have to suffer during this pandemic.

Phoebe Jacoby

is a Media Studies major and Studio Art minor at Vassar College who believes in the importance of sharing stories with others. Phoebe likes to spend her free time reading, drawing, and writing letters. She hopes to continue developing her skills as a writer and create work that will have a positive outward effect.

25 Years On, Bosnia Mourns Victims of the Srebrenica Massacre

On July 11, mourners gathered for a memorial service at the Srebrenica Genocide Memorial in Potocari, Bosnia, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre. The service, which included the burial of nine recently identified victims, comes as many Bosnians continue to mourn the loss of loved ones during the massacre.

The commemoration was not limited to the region around Srebrenica. Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina, played sirens throughout the city at noon on July 11 in memory of the victims of the massacre.

Serge Brammertz, chief prosecutor of the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia until its shutdown in 2017, spoke on the importance of honoring the massacre’s victims - and of labeling the event as a genocide, something many Serbs refuse to acknowledge.

“To truly honor the memory of those lost 25 years ago, and to recognize the victims and survivors with us today, it is our responsibility to keep fighting for justice and truth and to call what happened in Srebrenica by its name, genocide,” Brammertz said.

The Srebrenica massacre was the killing of more than 8,000 majority-Muslim Bosniak men and the mass deportation of Bosniak women and children from the area around the town of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War in 1995. Units of the Bosnian Serb army led by Gen. Ratko Mladic carried out the atrocities. The massacre was formally classified as a genocide by the United Nations in 2004.

In the 25 years that have followed, not all who call Srebrenica home have felt like the racial tensions which brought about the massacre have been addressed. According to a 2018 poll, 66% of Serbs in Republika Srpska, Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Serb-run entity, deny the genocide.

Almasa Salihovic, a survivor of the massacre, discussed in an interview with Al-Jazeera about how there are those within the community who celebrate July 11 as “the day of liberation of Srebrenica” from the Bosniaks.

“That's what scares me the most,” Salihovic said. “Even if we don't have incidents in Srebrenica like physical fights, we still have these hidden attacks which is far more worse … You have people who would still do the same thing tomorrow if they have the chance and if we don't speak even more loudly than we do now, then I'm really not sure where this is going.”

This misinterpretation of the genocide is not limited to the massacre’s sympathizers in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Shortly after the commemoration events began throughout the country, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic publicly referred to the genocide as one of several “misunderstandings from the past.” The Serbian government has previously apologized for the massacre, but has not yet recognized the event as a genocide.

For the time being, Bosnia-Herzegovina continues to urge the international community to counter any denial of genocide. The European Union, the United States and a number of other countries have officially recognized the massacre as a genocide, while Russia, notably, denies the event’s scale. Additionally, efforts to identify victims of the massacre within Bosnia-Herzegovina and abroad are ongoing.

Jacob Sutherland

is a recent graduate from the University of California San Diego where he majored in Political Science and minored in Spanish Language Studies. He previously served as the News Editor for The UCSD Guardian, and hopes to shed light on social justice issues in his work.

The World Shuts Its Doors to US Travelers

As countries around the world continue to maintain flattened curves of COVID-19 cases and begin the process of reopening their borders to visitors, many have enacted restrictions and bans on entry for all United States citizens. The U.S., a country which has not flattened the curve, has seen its number of COVID-19 cases increase to over 3 million as of July 8, the highest in the world for any country.

The European Union and the non-EU nations of Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein began the process of allowing foreign visitors into their respective borders on July 1. This initial list of 15 countries highlights the cautious standards set by the EU to limit the spread of the virus by foreign travelers arriving from countries experiencing surges of COVID-19 cases.

According to the Council of the EU, a country that is to be considered for the travel restrictions to be lifted must include: “[the] number of new COVID-19 cases over the last 14 days and per 100,000 inhabitants [be] close to or below the [June 15] EU average, stable or decreasing trend of new cases over this period in comparison to the previous 14 days, [and the country’s] overall response to COVID-19 taking into account available information.”

These travel restrictions do not apply to travelers with “an essential function or need” in Europe. Likewise, the EU will review the situation every two weeks and may add or remove countries from the list of those whose travelers are permitted to enter the aforementioned European countries.

While the EU is the latest governing body to bar U.S. citizens from travel to the region, others have had similar restrictions in place for a much longer duration of the ongoing pandemic. Cuba, a country which notably shut its borders to all non-Cuban citizens on March 20 and flattened its curve early on, extended its suspension of all international flights to August 1.

New Zealand, a country which has virtually eradicated COVID-19 within its borders, imposed similar travel restrictions to those of Cuba. The nation essentially barred all foreign travelers from entering the country at the beginning of the pandemic, and will continue to uphold these restrictions for the foreseeable future.

China, where the COVID-19 outbreak began, has not imposed an official ban on U.S. travelers entering the country. However, all international travelers entering China are subject to COVID-19 screening upon entry and a mandatory 14-day quarantine at either a government-selected facility or hotel at the traveler’s expense.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs continues to update its travel database daily with any new information in regard to travel restrictions and COVID-19 cases around the globe. While the Trump administration has not officially restricted U.S. citizens from traveling abroad, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discourages any form of nonessential travel.

Jacob Sutherland

is a recent graduate from the University of California San Diego where he majored in Political Science and minored in Spanish Language Studies. He previously served as the News Editor for The UCSD Guardian, and hopes to shed light on social justice issues in his work.

4 Little-Known Facts About Rural Thailand

Thailand is a country known for its beautiful landscape, beaches and ornate Buddhist temples. Its largest exports include technology such as computers and automobiles, and it is also the world’s largest producer of rubber and second largest of rice and sugar. People from all around the world come to visit the cities and experience the cuisine and culture that Thailand offers. However, beyond city life, the rural parts of Thailand are like a whole different country. 

Outside of the big cities, rural Thailand takes up most of the country while holding many of the historical pieces of Thailand. Villages and towns such as Kanchanaburi are found near the border with Myanmar and are surrounded by mountains. Sitting right next to the River Kwai, it houses the “Bridge on the River Kwai,” the Death Railway, wartime cemeteries and museums. In Thailand’s northeastern village of Ban Na Ton Chan, people make textile fabrics to sell by softening them with mud and boiling them in salt water to produce soft and naturally dyed textiles. You may have heard of Chiang Mai - the largest city in northern Thailand - but just an hour north is Mae Kampong, a beautiful village nestled within a bright green forest with jungles nearby. Finally, if you go further south, you’ll find Baan Bang Plub, where they harvest and cultivate coconuts to sell and are quick to teach the curious traveler about it. In short, going into the north of Thailand you are sure to find mountains, wartime villages and rivers that flow with historic importance. If you’re looking to find a more quaint village, going further south you will find more waterfront villages with basket weaving, boats, jungles and lush forests. 

Regardless, if you’re looking to master the skill of basket weaving or hope to visit wartime museums, rural Thailand offers a completely different experience than any city in the country. Here are some facts you should know before visiting. 

Lost Tourists Find Unmatched Hospitality 

Thai farmer. Eric Bagchus. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Visitors traveling to see the landscape of foreign countries often find themselves lost with no signal, no travel plans and no surefire way to communicate with locals. However, in Thailand the local farmers are known for being incredibly hospitable. Often, many take in lost travelers, give them food and a place to rest and help them on their way. Chittiya, a native Thai who immigrated to the United States, stated, “they’re the nicest people you’ll ever meet. You never have to worry about getting lost because there will always be someone to help you along the way and make sure you have food and water to get there.” Ultimately, if you find yourself lost along the way and pass through a village, ask someone for help and they will most likely go out of their way to help you or find someone who can.

Rural Villages: The Simple Life 

Chiang Mai harvest. Ol’ Pete. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

When moving from the large, bustling cities to the villages in rural Thailand, one might feel as though they’ve entered a completely different country – or even moment in time. Many in the villages like to hold to the old, simple way of life that was prevalent before Thailand’s industrial development truly took off. Farmers are dependent on the turn of the seasons, growing their own crops and raising their own animals, hoping to sell them at local markets and in the cities. During the off-season, most young people travel into the city for temporary labor work until the monsoons end. They then head back to join the family farm and help tend to the animals and crops and the cycle continues.

 Men’s Duty to Give Back

Thai monks. Carl Parkes. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

More traditional Thais observe Buddhism and spend their lives trying to live well and do good according to their religion. Many men believe it is their duty to help pave the way for their parents and ancestors to reach nirvana or have a better life after their reincarnation. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for young men to feel obligated to spend around three to four months at a monastery to truly understand their duty, and what their purpose is. These men spend a lot of time praying, giving up worldly material things and staying celibate during this period. 

The Negative Impact from Technology

On the road in rural Thailand. Lee Craker. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Finally, the impact of technology has started to create negative consequences for farmers. When living the simple rural life, materialism is not prevalent. However, now with developing technology, views such as “everyone needs to have a car” are common and many have become more materialistic. Problems with debt have been on the rise as farmers lack credit but still want to buy more – even though their current lifestyle cannot support it. A lot of cars get repossessed or taken back when the period to pay them back passes. In the old days, rice farmers kept some to feed their families and sold the rest of the rice to buy what they could not produce themselves. However, nowadays everyone wants cars and gadgets even when they do not need them. The problem is that the nature of their livelihood depends on unreliable seasons that mean they cannot always pay back their debt. Additionally, in today’s age many young people have lost interest in continuing the family farms. Most grow up and move into the cities and work corporate jobs, leaving their families to take care of the farms themselves or ultimately selling them. 

Thailand is a beautiful place to visit, and the culture that hides in the rural, more obscure countryside is almost an entirely different one from the cities. In the past and even into the present there has been tension between city people and village people, and many crimes or issues that take place are usually one side pitted against the other. Taking the time to understand both the city people and farmers is important in getting a full picture of Thai culture. 

Elizabeth Misnick

is a Professional Writing and Rhetoric major at Baylor University. She grew up in a military family and lived in Europe for almost half her life, traveling and living in different countries. She hopes to continue writing professionally throughout her career and publish her writing in the future.

The Amazon Rainforest Was and Still Is On Fire

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the dangers that threaten the Amazon rainforest

The Amazon rainforest during “fire season.” diversityphotos. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

There are a multitude of dangers ranging from climate change to human destruction that threaten the fragility of the Amazon rainforest. The destruction of the Amazon is largely attributed to consumerism and the extraction of natural resources. Without the existence of the Amazon, the world loses a crucial contender in the fight against climate change along with the likely deaths of many Indignenous people and already endangered species.

Reports from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research recorded 2,248 fires last month, a 13-year high and a 20% increase over the norm. Last year around this time, there were about 1,880 fires. However, the worst is likely yet to come as burnings in the Amazon tend to increase until September, the end of “fire season.” 

In 2019, the greatest destruction of the fires correlated with the peak of fire season. The increase in the number of fires was likely fueled by President Jair Bolsonaro’s decision to decrease the fines for environmental violations. It gave more leeway for commercial groups and loggers to disregard regulations that help preserve the Amazon. Bolsonaro has been nicknamed “Captain Chainsaw” for his policies that prioritize development over conservation. In an interview, Bolsonaro stated that “the Amazon belongs to Brazil,” so it can do as it wishes with it. As a result, it was estimated last year that every minute, a portion of the Amazon equal to the size of a soccer field was lost due to deforestation. 

The process of deforestation results from loggers trying to clear land as quickly as possible. That includes the use of chainsaws to cut down lumber for manufacturing and development. Then, farmers burn the downed trees that remain to make room for crops and pastures. Fire season, then,is the mark of when farmers begin to set these fires. It is important to acknowledge this is not a new practice, but an unending cycle of extracting from the land without replenishing it. 

Another sign of deforestation in the Amazon. rosamariavidal. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

A similar phenomenon is occurring this year due to the lack of authority in the Amazon. Just as with last year, many of the fires started so far have been due to illegal loggers. For instance, in the first four months of 2020, deforestation rose by 55% due to a lack of governmental enforcement as Brazil’s attention focused on combating COVID-19.

The spread of COVID-19 also caused many activists and field agents to pull out of the region. As a consequence of the lack of protection by field agents and thin numbers of police, loggers and miners have been able to overtake the Amazon. To show the magnitude of this problem, April’s extent of deforestation was 64% higher than that in April 2019. 

Due to international outcry last year over the fires, President Bolsonaro was forced to deploy enforcement to help monitor the fires and enforce regulations. Most new enforcement agents were unable to be deployed for this year’s fire season, though, due to COVID-19. And to make matters worse, the authority of troops currently in the Amazon expired on June 10, so there is currently no one monitoring fire conditions. 

Eva Ashbaugh

is a Political Science and Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies double major at the University of Pittsburgh. As a political science major concentrating on International Relations, she is passionate about human rights, foreign policy, and fighting for equality. She hopes to one day travel and help educate people to make the world a better place.

The Continued Abuse of Australia’s ‘Stolen Generation’

The term “Stolen Generation” was coined after deeply discriminatory government policies were passed in Australia between 1910 and 1970. This was due to the fact that many Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their homes under the pretense of “assimilation” into “white society.” Assimilation was based on the “assumption of Black inferiority and white superiority, which proposed the Indigenous people should be allowed to ‘die out’ through a process of natural elimination or, where possible, assimilation into the white community.” This tragedy led to children being torn from their families, taught to reject their culture, forced to not speak their native languages and required to adopt white culture in new white families they were brought into. 

Aboriginal people of white parentage, known at the time by the derogatory term “half-castes,” were most at risk of being removed from their homes since it was thought they would be easier to assimilate into white culture because of their lighter skin. Many were abused and neglected, and they received minimal education due to the assumption that the highest they would go was indentured servitude or work as manual laborers. The ensuing trauma has caused both the children and families mental trauma while the continued societal abuse such as stolen wages and racial discrimination was and still is prevalent. This is especially evident in statistics such as incarceration numbers and yearly wages. After George Floyd’s death, “debate raged about Australia’s own history.” By looking into the Australian national statistics, it was revealed the distrimination from back in the early 1900s has continued into the present. 

Stolen Wages Still Prevalent Today

“Back in the early 1970s, Aboriginal people living in remote areas were being paid as little as 19% of the non-Aborginial population.” The average Indigenous income is roughly only 44% of the median non-Indigenous income, though the gap is starting to close for the 37% of the Indigenous population living in Australia’s major cities. 20% of the Indigenous population living in cities is still living in poverty, though, along with more than half of those living in rural areas. Even more concerning, “about 10% of the Indigenous population also received no income at all and that includes government payments. It is unclear how these people survive.”

Largest Incarcerated Population in the World 

An even more shocking statistic was found in 2018 that “100% of children being held in youth detention in the (Northern) Territory are Aborginal.” They are currently the most incarcerated people in the world - not always for committing crimes. Tanya Day was arrested for sleeping on a train, later dying from repeated head injuries in jail. Additionally, a woman named Ms. Dhu was found dead in jail due to untreated injuries caused by prior family violence and abuse. The coroner said her medical care was “deficient” since the police refused to treat her, believing she was “faking it.” There have been serious concerns about racial profiling that have been directly correlated to arrests made - and the arrests not made. It was found that “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up about 2% of the general population but represent 28% of those in prison.” It has been estimated that in the last 29 years, one Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island person has died every three weeks in jail. 

Higher Levels of Domestic Violence, Abuse and Poverty

Another impact of Aboriginals being forced to assimilate into white communities is a staggering amount of domestic violence and abuse. Aboriginal women are 34 times more likely to be hospitalized from domestic abuse; however, when Aboriginal women try to call police for help, they are often arrested instead for defending themselves. This has also led to the statistic that Indigenous people have a lower life expectancy than the average non-Indigenous person, by an estimated 9 years. This has been blamed on factors such as poverty, poor health care, lack of healthy food, low living standards and more. 

The reality of today’s society in Australia is the hidden discrimination that started in the early 1900s and prevails even today. With the recent global reaction to racial discrimination and slavery, a closer look into Australia’s history has revealed these revelations that have often been covered up and disputed. Efforts to increase awareness of the current state of affairs in the country have been underway and protests continue despite an absence of widespread media coverage.

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Elizabeth Misnick

Elizabeth is a Professional Writing and Rhetoric major at Baylor University. She grew up in a military family and lived in Europe for almost half her life, traveling and living in different countries. She hopes to continue writing professionally throughout her career and publish her writing in the future.

Outrage Mounts as Colombian Soldiers Admit to Rape of an Indigenous Girl

On June 25, seven soldiers of the Colombian army confessed to raping a 13-year-old Indigenous girl from the Embera tribe. She was discovered at a nearby school after having gone missing from her home in the department of Risaralda on June 21. Upon seeing that the young girl could barely walk, she was sent to a hospital and then forensic services along with receiving assistance from the Organization of Indigenous Nations of Colombia (ONIC). Luis Fernando Arias, senior adviser for ONIC, told CNN that the girl “was kidnapped and raped for a period of 17 hours.” The Embera community requested that the soldiers be tried under their own laws along with ONIC “demanding that they be tried under Indigenous law, arguing that it's their jurisdiction since the alleged crime was against an Indigenous person, on Indigenous land.” 

Since the alleged rape, the seven men accused were fired along with three of their superiors. The country’s attorney general, Francisco Barbosa, stated that if found guilty the men could face 16 to 30 years in prison, but Colombian President Ivan Duque urged a life sentence for the accused soldiers. He stated that, “If we have to inaugurate the life in prison penalty with them, we're going to do it with them. And we are going to use it so that these bandits and scoundrels get a lesson.” Although many are asking for the imprisonment of the soldiers, Gimena Sanchez, Andes director of the think tank Washington Office on Latin America, believes that, “There needs to be education and consciousness raising within the armed forces on how to treat and how to engage with ethnic minorities. Not just with Indigenous but also Afro-Colombians.” 

The country’s response was that of fury, albeit bereft of shock due to the long-standing systemic issue of soldiers' abuse and violence against Indigenous women and girls in Colombia. On July 2, after pressure mounted and Indigenous groups held protests against the gender-based violence of Indigenous women, Colombian Army Commander General Eduardo Zapateiro publicly disclosed that 118 soldiers had been investigated due to incidents of sexual violence against minors since 2016, and of those only 45 have been fired. Despite these statistics, Zapateiro stated that, “These abuses are not systemic conduct. Understand that we are 241,000 men, who every day give everything for the Colombian people.” His argument is that this is not a systemic issue but since the reporting of this story, other cases of sexual violence against Indigenous girls have emerged. One case that was not widely reported until now reveals that a 15-year-old girl from the Nukak Maku Indigenous tribe was kidnapped, tortured and raped in the military barracks of troops in the southern Guaviare department. 

Colombia is not exempt from the pandemic of sexual violence that affects women all over the globe but following a vote against a peace referendum to end the conflict in Colombia, women are disproportionately enduring violence on a systemic level. Colombia has the 10th highest rate of femicide in the world, according to U.N. data. The Colombian Femicide Foundation documented that “8,532 women and girls reported that they had experienced sexual violence in the first five months of this year. More than 5,800 were under the age of 18.” The outcome of this case may bring hope to those who want to see justice in the form of imprisonment, but the culture that normalized violence toward women remains. 

Hanna Ditinsky

is a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is majoring in English and minoring in Economics. She was born and raised in New York City and is passionate about human rights and the future of progressivism.

Record Heat Waves in Siberia Act as a Reminder of Global Warming’s Threat

In Siberia, one of the world's coldest regions, record high temperatures have been reported as a weeks long heat wave precipitates wildfires. On June 20, Verkhoyansk, a town north of the Arctic Circle, reached 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit. This possible record-breaking number has yet to be confirmed by the World Meteorological Organization, but stands to be the hottest temperature ever recorded above the Arctic Circle.  

Natalia Lapteva, a resident of Verkhoyansk, told Al-Jazeera that, “every day our family comes here to swim in our beloved river.” While residents of Verkhoyansk happily flee to their local river to bathe in the heat, many climate scientists are heeding the record numbers as warnings of accelerating global warming. In an interview, climate analyst Peter Pfleiderer recieved a question of whether the coronavirus lockdowns and its effect of reducing carbon dioxide emissions has already had a positive impact on the Arctic. He responded, “it's a reduction of emissions which means that we still emit greenhouse gases, so we are still warming the climate at the moment; it’s just a bit slower than we warmed it before. So for positive effect...we would really need to drop these emissions to zero and this is actually the only way to protect the sensitive environment of the Arctic.” 

The sensitive environment that Pfleiderer refers to is the melting away of permafrost in Russia, which could release “as much as 240 billion tons of carbon by 2100” according to a group of scientists convened by the United Nations. This phenomenon, known as “arctic amplification,” is “a critical reason why the Arctic has warmed at more than twice the rate of the global mean since the mid-1990s.”

 Not only does the thawing of permafrost leave a hefty impact on global warming, but it also leads to the erosion and destabilization of infrastructure and environmental habitats. “Officials [in Russia] say it was the reason a fuel tank collapsed in the northern city of Norilsk in May. More than 20,000 tons of diesel fuel soaked into the soil and flooded a river that feeds the Arctic Ocean,” according to Al-Jazeera. Repercussions for humans and wildlife alike can be felt following a spill to this degree. According to Sergey Verkhovets, the Russian coordinator for Arctic projects of the World Wildlife Fund, "the consequences of such accidents, especially in the north, reverberate for a long time. It means the death of fish, the contamination of birds' feathers and the poisoning of animals.”

These concerns also come with the news of extreme wildfires that are ravaging Siberia. “Russia’s forest fire aerial protection service says forest fires in Siberia have grown nearly fivefold over the past week,” according to The Associated Press. The consequential wildfires had burned about 7,900 square miles of Siberian territory as of June 25 compared to 6,800 square miles as of the same date a year ago. A culmination of these events in the Arctic further corroborates that the accelerated warming of our Earth has major ramifications for infrastructure, biodiversity and human life.

Hanna Ditinsky

is a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is majoring in English and minoring in Economics. She was born and raised in New York City and is passionate about human rights and the future of progressivism.

10 Places to Honor Black History and Culture

Through artwork, literature, music and history, these institutions amplify Black voices and address race relations in America.  

George Floyd protests in Charlotte, North Carolina. Clay Banks. Unsplash.

Amid global protests against racial injustice, a growing number of people are educating themselves on systemic racism and white privilege.

1. Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park - Atlanta, Georgia

Martin Luther King Jr. locating civil rights protests. Thomas Hawk. CC BY-NC 2.0

Located in one of Atlanta’s historic districts, the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park honors the activist who strove for racial equality. The site includes a museum chronicling the American civil rights movement, as well as Dr. King’s childhood home, garden and gravesite. With 185 varieties of roses, the “I Have a Dream” World Peace Rose Garden promotes peace between diverse world communities. Each year, students from the greater Atlanta area write poems that express the ideals of MLK, such as using civil disobedience to reach seemingly impossible goals. These “Inspirational Messages of Peace” are exhibited among the flowers and are read by thousands of visitors each year. Directly across the street is the final resting place of Dr. King and Coretta Scott King, his wife, surrounded by a reflection pool. 

Until his assassination in 1968, King preached at Ebenezer Baptist Church, known as “America’s Freedom Church.” The church has continued to serve the Atlanta community since his death, vowing to “feed the poor, liberate the oppressed, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked and visit those who are sick or imprisoned.” While sitting in the pews, visitors hear prerecorded sermons and speeches from Martin Luther King Jr. Most recently, the funeral of Rayshard Brooks, a Black man fatally shot by police, was held at the church, with hundreds of prominent pastors, elected officials and activists in attendance. 

2. National Museum of African American History and Culture - Washington, D.C.

A student at the NMAAHC uses an interactive learning tool. U.S. Department of Education. CC BY 2.0

The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is the only museum devoted exclusively to African American life, history and culture. In the words of Lonnie Bunch III, founding director of the NMAAHC, “The African American experience is the lens through which we understand what it is to be an American.” From slavery to the civil rights movement, the museum aims to preserve and document Black experiences in America. With the launch of the Many Lenses initiative, students will gain a greater understanding of African American history by studying museum artifacts and discussing cultural perspectives alongside scholars, curators and community educators. Through the Talking About Race program, the museum provides tools and guidance to empower people of color and inspire conversations about racial injustice. 

3. Black Writers Museum - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Langston Hughes, a famous writer featured at the BWM, signs autographs. Washington Area Spark. CC BY-NC 2.0

Built in 1803, the historic Vernon House includes the Black Writers Museum (BWM), the first museum in the country to exhibit classic and contemporary Black literature. The BWM celebrates Black authors, like Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, who documented the resilience and resistance of African Americans throughout history. Supreme D. Dow, founder and executive director of the Black Writers Museum, noted, “There was a time in American history when Black people were denied the human right to read or write. But, because of the innate drive to satisfy the unquenchable thirst for self determination, our ancestors taught themselves how to read and write in righteous defiance of the law, and in the face of fatal repercussions.” Through books, newspapers, journals and magazines, the museum honors the Black narrators of history. The BWM also strives to inspire future African American authors with community activities like poetry readings, cultural arts festivals and book signings. 

4. Tubman Museum - Macon, Georgia

Artwork depicting Harriet Tubman on the Underground Railroad. UGArdener. CC BY-NC 2.0

Named after Harriet Tubman, the “Black Moses” who led hundreds of slaves to freedom, the Tubman Museum has become a key educational and cultural center for the entire American Southeast. Through artwork and artifacts, the main exhibits recount the struggles and triumphs of Tubman, a former slave, abolitionist and spy. The “From the Minds of African Americans” Gallery displays inventions from Black inventors, scientists and entrepreneurs, such as Madam C.J. Walker and George Washington Carver. The Tubman Museum also actively contributes to the Macon, Georgia, community. The Arts & History Outreach program takes Black history beyond museum walls. Local African American artists and teachers bring museum resources into the classroom, promoting hands-on learning. Due to COVID-19, the museum recently launched a distance learning program to provide people at home with a deeper understanding of the African American experience. 

5. Museum of the African Diaspora - San Francisco, California

Contemporary art by Kehinde Wiley exhibited at the MoAD. Garret Ziegler. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD), a contemporary art museum, celebrates Black culture from the perspective of African diaspora. Focused exclusively on African migration throughout history, the museum presents artwork, photography and artifacts related to the themes of origin, movement, adaptation and transformation. Currently, MoAD is featuring various exhibitions from emerging artists that explore ancestral memory and Black visibility. As active members of the San Francisco community, museum curators offer various programs like public film screenings, artist talks and musical performances. In response to worldwide protests, the museum created a guide with resources to support Black Americans, as well as a video series that promotes community resilience. Monetta White, MoAD’s executive director, announced, “Now more than ever, we affirm that Museums are Not Neutral. As humanitarian educators and forums for conversation, museums are a space to confront some of the most uncomfortable conversations in human history.”

6. National Museum of African American Music - Nashville, Tennessee

Jimi Hendrix, a featured musician at the NMAAM. Clausule. Public Domain.

Scheduled to open its doors for the first time on Sept. 5, the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) will be the first museum in the world to showcase African American influence on various genres of music, such as classical, country, jazz and hip-hop. NMAAM will integrate history and interactive technology to share music through the lens of Black Americans. “African American music has long been a reflection of American culture. Additionally, African American musicians often used their art as a ‘safe’ way to express the way they felt about the turbulent times our country faced,” said Kim Johnson, director of programs at the museum. NMAAM will also support the Nashville community through various outreach programs. From Nothing to Something explores the music that early African Americans created using tools like spoons, banjos, cigar box guitars and washtub basins. Children receive their own instruments, learning how simple resources influenced future music genres. Another program, Music Legends and Heroes, promotes leadership, teamwork and creativity in young adults. Students work together to produce a musical showcase in honor of Black musicians. In 2015, student guitarists paid tribute to Jimi Hendrix, the rock icon. “This opportunity gave them a real-life connection to an artist they had only seen in their textbooks or online,” said Hope Hall, librarian at the Nashville School of the Arts.

7. The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration - Montgomery, Alabama

Exterior of the Legacy Museum. Sonia Kapadia. CC BY-SA 4.0

The Legacy Museum is located in a former slave auction warehouse, where thousands of Black people were trafficked during the domestic slave trade. The museum employs unique technology to portray the enslavement of African Americans, the evolution of racial terror lynchings, legalized racial segregation and racial hierarchy in America. Visitors encounter replicas of slave pens and hear first-person accounts of enslaved people, along with looking at photographs and videos from the Jim Crow laws, which segregated Black Americans until 1965. The Legacy Museum also explores contemporary issues of inequality, like mass incarceration and police violence. As part of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), the museum is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, with proceeds going toward marginalized communities. “Our hope is that by telling the history of the African American experience in this country, we expose the narratives that have allowed us to tolerate suffering and injustice among people of color,” says Sia Sanneh, member of EJI. 

8. African American Military History Museum - Hattiesburg, Mississippi 

Circa 1942, the Tuskegee Airmen pose in front of their aircraft. Signaleer. Public Domain.

The African American Military History Museum educates the public about African American contributions to the United States’ military. During World War II, the building functioned as a segregated club for African American soldiers. Transformed in 2009, the museum now commemorates the courage and patriotism of Black soldiers, who have served in every American conflict since the Revolutionary War. Artifacts, photographs and medals tell the story of how African Americans overcame racial boundaries to serve their country. For instance, the World War II exhibit features the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American soldiers to successfully enter the Army Air Corps. 

9. National Voting Rights Museum and Institute - Selma, Alabama 

The 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery for the right to vote. Abernathy Family. Public Domain.

In the historic district of Selma, Alabama, the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute honors the movement to end voter discrimination. With memorabilia and documentation, the museum illustrates the struggle of Black Americans to obtain voting rights. In 1965, nearly 600 civil rights marchers crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, hoping to reach Montgomery. However, the day became known as “Bloody Sunday” as local law enforcement attacked peaceful protesters with clubs and tear gas. While the Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed voting practices that disenfranchised African Americans, many believe voter suppression still exists through strict photo ID laws for voters, a failure to provide bilingual ballots, and ex-felon disenfranchisement laws. By educating the public, the museum hopes to forever dismantle the barriers of voting in the United States. 

10. National Underground Railroad Freedom Center - Cincinnati, Ohio

On the banks of the Ohio River, a statue depicts a mother and her child escaping slavery. Living-Learning Programs. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Near the Ohio River, where thousands of slaves traveled in search of freedom, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center reveals the ongoing struggle for autonomy. From the historical vantage point of the Underground Railroad, the museum promotes the modern abolition of slavery. Due to widespread human trafficking, nearly 40 million people are currently enslaved around the world. As stated on the museum’s website, “Despite the triumphant prose of our American history books, slavery didn’t fully end 150 years ago. Today and throughout time, people around the world have struggled for their freedom. Yet, as forms of slavery evolve, so do the imaginations of those fighting for freedom.” Through artifacts, photographs and first-person accounts, the museum introduces the men and women who have resisted slavery. “Invisible: Slavery Today” is the world's first permanent exhibition on the subjects of modern-day slavery and human trafficking, challenging and inspiring visitors to promote freedom today. 

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Shannon Moran

is a Journalism major at the University of Georgia, minoring in English and Spanish. As a fluent Spanish speaker, she is passionate about languages, cultural immersion, and human rights activism. She has visited seven countries and thirty states and hopes to continue traveling the world in pursuit of compelling stories.

COVID-19 Further Complicates Kenya’s Health Care System

Kenya is facing a double burden of communicable and noncommunicable diseases. Clustering of infections, such as HIV and tuberculosis, and noncommunicable diseases, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, renders Kenyans vulnerable to COVID-19. This has pressured an already overstretched health care system.

Hospital entrance sign in Kenya’s Rift Valley province. Melanie K Reed. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

In mid-March, shortly after Kenya’s first confirmed COVID-19 case, the word “corona” began circulating around western Kenya’s villages. Young people used the word as a novelty, and the overall population remained preoccupied with existing illnesses. “This is a disease for whites,” said Sylvanus, a local father of seven. When calling after white people on the street, children replaced their traditional “mzungu!” (white person) with “coronavirus!” At this point, Europe was the pandemic’s epicenter. Kenyans felt that this foreign virus was removed from their world. 

However, Kenya’s high prevalence of preexisting health conditions renders a significant portion of the population immunocompromised and therefore vulnerable to the coronavirus. In a country experiencing health issues such as HIV, tuberculosis, diabetes and malaria, the pandemic has posed a threat to an already fragmented health care system. Although less than 4% of Africa’s population is over the age of 65, countries such as Kenya have seen high coronavirus mortality rates. 

Global evidence shows that people with underlying medical conditions are at a greater risk from COVID-19. In 2019, half a million Kenyans were living with diabetes, and over half of accounted deaths were associated with noncommunicable diseases. Currently, Kenya’s health care system is structured to manage individual diseases, rather than multiple ones. Because patients frequently carry more than one health condition, the health care system has been overstretched and inadequate. HIV, tuberculosis and malaria treatments are easily accessible, but noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes and cancer often go undiagnosed, and care is costly. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these shortcomings, as social distancing restrictions prevent Kenyans from accessing medical resources, and a surge of coronavirus cases imposes a double burden of disease. Additionally, front-line workers with undiagnosed, chronic illnesses have critically compromised their health, and hospitals have dealt with equipment shortages. 

Transcontinental travel has heavily contributed to the increase in COVID-19 cases across Africa. In order to minimize Kenya’s number of infections, President Uhuru Kenyatta stopped all flights from Europe. Kenyatta also imposed a national curfew and restricted movement between populated areas. Domestically, middle-class, urban dwellers have carried the virus into rural areas. On Kenyan television, villagers have urged educated, urban residents to remain in the city, instead of threatening the lives of others. 

In African countries, lockdowns are nearly impossible to implement because they would spur social and economic crises. Many people rely on cash earned daily to sustain themselves and their families. A strict lockdown would result in poverty and starvation. Kinship systems also play a crucial role in social welfare, as relatives care for one another. For people already barely getting by, cutting these social ties would be dangerous. Finally, a lockdown would interrupt the supply chains of essential drugs, preventing access to tuberculosis, HIV and malaria treatments. 

According to several African presidents, developed countries are failing to fulfill their pledges of financial support and debt relief. Throughout the pandemic, outside aid has not met the continent’s needs. While wealthy countries in the global north have funneled trillions of dollars into their own stimulus packages and health initiatives, the global south cannot afford such measures. With limited testing capacity, Africa has not confirmed many of the world’s COVID-19 cases, but the continent has been grossly affected by the economic crisis and global trade disruptions. Furthermore, the global shortage of testing kits, hygienic material and personal protective equipment has left developed countries vying for their own supplies, without consideration for underdeveloped nations. 

Anna Wood

is an Anthropology major and Global Health/Spanish double minor at Middlebury College. As an anthropology major with a focus in public health, she studies the intersection of health and sociocultural elements. She is also passionate about food systems and endurance sports.

Even Antarctica Is Impacted by COVID-19

Antarctica is the only continent without any reported cases of COVID-19. As lucky as Antarctica’s temporary residents might consider themselves, they know that a single diagnosed case could be devastating for the 5,000 people living there. Not only is there a lack of medical equipment, but also of resources because nearly all of them have to be brought from elsewhere in the world. The continent has already had a few close calls with the virus thanks to cruise ships coming to visit. The most alarming incident occurred when almost 60% of the passengers on board the Greg Mortimer, an Antarctica-bound cruise liner, tested positive for the virus in late March.

Isolation is, in many ways, already an innate aspect of living in Antarctica. Nevertheless, those on the continent are still taking precautions against the virus. Rob McKay, director of the Antarctic Research Centre in Wellington, New Zealand, summed up the situation: “Antarctica's an isolated environment - if you had a medical emergency with a high number of people sick, you just don't have the capacity to deal with it. And with close-quarter, confined environments, it's kind of like living on a cruise ship down there.” Many researchers and scientists currently stationed on the continent have been forced to reassess their travel plans as well as their research. As the Antarctic winter approaches and the world wrestles with COVID-19, residents are growing increasingly concerned. 

Life in Antarctica

There are over 80 bases established across Antarctica, each of which has its own community and is adjusting to COVID-19 independently from its neighbors. Although the bases are run by a multitude of countries and organizations, there is a universal understanding that the virus cannot reach Antarctic shores. If it does, there are plans for the virus to be dealt with immediately with methods such as isolation and contact tracing. Multiple organizations have announced that their priorities lie in keeping the stations safe for inhabitants and in continuing to operate the various base locations, even if it means redirecting resources. This reorganization means that construction and many major research projects have been canceled or postponed, leaving scores of researchers potentially cut off from a trip to the region. 

For some stations, day-to-day life has continued mostly as normal. Davis Station, a research base between Australia and Africa, is home to 23 researchers who are still enjoying communicable luxuries such as a shared gym, sauna and bar. Fortunately, people who are living in Antarctica were trained before going there and taught how to live an isolated lifestyle. Nevertheless, the age of COVID-19 has brought isolation to a new level and even the smallest connections are being cut off. At the Bharati base, one of the more remote research outposts, residents say that although they typically get “regular visits” from nearby expeditions and bases, they have not seen anyone from another facility since the beginning of March. Australia has stopped shuttling people between its three Antarctic bases because they typically make stops at other nations’ places. Even in a place with no cases of COVID-19, there is a fear of inadvertently spreading the virus; people are wary of cross-continental travel, even if it's with residents who have been in Antarctica for months. 

People in Antarctica have been watching the virus unfold from a distance. Some are struggling to conceptualize what a quarantined world looks like and wonder if they should practice social distancing to create good habits in anticipation of their return home. Everyone is worried about their loved ones, all of whom are at the very least 774 miles away. 

Coming Home

Penguins on a stony beach on the Antarctic Peninsula while an expedition ship transfers passengers in the background. Derek Oyen. Unsplash

Beyond setting high levels of restriction in order to enter Antarctica, isolation policies in the rest of the world have affected people’s ability to leave the continent as well. Many organizations wishing to bring people back are encountering closed borders, forcing travelers to reroute. Out of anyone to face these problems, however, Antarctic researchers seem to be the best suited. Despite running into major barriers about a month ago, organizations have been working to resolve this problem and have determined various ways of getting people out of Antarctica, especially in anticipation of the Antarctic winter. As one researcher said, “...that's the kind of the thing that we have to deal with. We have to be completely adaptable because working in Antarctica is like that - conditions change, the weather changes. So, we have to be ready.”

Phoebe Jacoby

is a Media Studies major and Studio Art minor at Vassar College who believes in the importance of sharing stories with others. Phoebe likes to spend her free time reading, drawing, and writing letters. She hopes to continue developing her skills as a writer and create work that will have a positive outward effect.

Colorism Shows its Face through India’s Skin Whitening Creams

Since 1975, India has had a market advertising products that can achieve being “fair and lovely” by whitening the skin, but what effect has this had on Indian society?

People on the street in India. Craig J Bethany. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

On June 26, Unilever made the decision to remove the word “fair” from its whitening creams sold throughout India and parts of Asia. It is assumed that the decision to rename the product was due to the global response to the death of George Floyd and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. For Indians, skin lightening is a painful reminder of their colonized past.

Commercials for whitening creams have advertised the products as the solution to all of life’s troubles. Along with that, they have carried the notion that having darker skin is harmful and will set you back in life. It only perpetuates colorism, when people within the same race discriminate against skin colors. Often, colorism takes on the form of favoritism toward lighter skin shades over darker ones. 

Colorism is a byproduct of colonization. From 1858 to 1947, India was under British rule in hopes of extracting the resources that were making India so profitable through the East India Company. Britain took advantage of the wealth by imposing strict policies and limiting government representation across India. However, those that had lighter complexion were favored and often offered more better jobs than those with darker complexions. Britain maintained its control over India until the country’s independence after World War II. 

Thus, in 1975, Unilever’s “Fair & Lovely” cream first debuted. Despite a decadeslong appeal toward fair skin, this “luxurious” type of cream would not become popular until the 1990s, when it became more accessible in the form of cosmetic products such as deodorants, creams and at-home treatments. Even though it is a more recent trend, skin lightening still reflects and enforces the mindset of British colonizers. Bollywood even joined the trend by selecting lighter-skinned actors who can “better represent Indian life.” Since the first release of Unilever’s product, the skin lightening industry has become a multimillion dollar market, with some estimates around $4 billion globally, due to the high demands to meet the beauty standards. The highest usage is across Asia and Africa.

Typical usage for skin lightening creams, also known as skin bleaching, is to help reduce the appearance of scars or age spots. In India, though, the products are also used to reduce the melanin levels in one’s skin. Most products must be applied over the course of six weeks to see results. Often, there is a combination of different steroids or chemicals used to help change skin tone.

Research by the World Health Organization has found that mercury is often an active ingredient. Even though it is banned for use in the U.S., other countries do not have much regulation over mercury’s usage. Mercury can cause a range of problems, from neurological to fertility in nature. 1 in 4 skin lightening products made in Asia has been found to contain mercury. Other risks include skin cancer, premature aging of skin, skin thinning and allergic reactions.

Skin lightening treatments at a convenience store. Sophia Kristina. CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0

Additionally, the color of one’s skin in India is critical when it comes to arranged marriages. Often, parents place advertisements in newspapers known as matrimonial ads in order to find potential spouses for their children. Often in these ads, there are descriptions of the child’s skin tone ranging from “fair” to “wheatish,” with “fair” individuals pursued the most. Along those lines, many dating websites for arranged marriages, such as Shaadi.com, allow users to select preferences based on skin tone. However, Shaadi.com representatives did announce earlier this month they were removing the search option.

This is not to say that the skin lightening industry is to blame for colorism today. It has become a deeply-rooted mechanism, with discrimination and racism existing in Indian society since the 1850s. Activists have encouraged the stop of these products’ production, as organizations such as Women of Worth have found that skin lightening practices cause a sharp decrease in self esteem for brown girls.

Eva Ashbaugh

is a Political Science and Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies double major at the University of Pittsburgh. As a political science major concentrating on International Relations, she is passionate about human rights, foreign policy, and fighting for equality. She hopes to one day travel and help educate people to make the world a better place.

Ugandan Company Transforms Water Bottles into COVID-19 Face Shields

In Uganda, the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down nearly all operations. One essential business that has remained open is Takataka Plastics, a social enterprise in Gulu focusing on recycling plastic waste. Paige Balcom, a Fulbright scholar from the University of California, Berkeley, who is studying for a doctorate in mechanical engineering, and Peter Okwoko, a Ugandan environmental and community activist, teamed up to create the company. Initially, it was founded to tackle Gulu’s extreme waste problem as the nearest recycling center was six hours away. They started by creating building materials such as roofing tiles and pavers in 2019, but in March they turned their efforts to supplying face shields for Uganda’s doctors.

Peter Okwoko and Paige Balcom, the co-founders of Takataka Plastics, in front of recyclable waste. Stanford ENERGY. YouTube.

Mask-making process  

To create the masks, the only materials needed are plastic water bottles, two days and an adjustable strap. First they sort through the plastic, shred it, melt it and shape the liquid plastic into face shields and frames, using locally made molds to do so. The plastic cools and sets, and the masks are ready to distribute. Balcom and Okwoko were able to create a prototype in three days that they sent to a local hospital, and the product quickly received approval with only small adjustments needed.This simple process gives Takataka Plastics the capacity to produce 400 units of the badly needed personal protective equipment each day, and orders from local hospitals have already flooded the business. 

Protecting a community 

Takataka Plastics’ face shield is a momentous invention in a time when personal protective equipment for hospitals is being rationed and reused. They have created a simple, cost-effective product that can be widely distributed. The handmade face shields from their center cost just 80 cents, but they have not stopped trying to lower the cost. As they receive multitudes of orders from local hospitals, Balcom and Okwoko have since ordered machinery that will allow for the manufacturing of 400 shields per day at a cost of only 25 cents each. With an abundance of plastic waste to create the shields, hospitals in Uganda will soon be equipped with proper protections thanks to Takataka Plastics. 

Members of the Takataka Plastics team give face shields to Pakwach District’s COVID-19 task force. Takataka Plastics. Instagram.

More than face shields  

This plastic recycling company has made great strides since shifting production in March. Upon releasing the prototype, Takataka Plastics has received incredibly high demand for their shields. Because of the disruption of personal protective equipment supplies, Ugandan hospitals need these recycled masks more than ever. While accomplishing this feat, the company has also allowed the community to come together in a very special way. 

Upon her first visit to Uganda four years ago, Balcom noticed how deeply ravaged the country was from the presence of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan rebel group led by Joseph Kony. Starting in 1987, his group waged a deadly, almost 20-year campaign against the Ugandan government. Often, the LRA would abduct children children for the army, forcing them to work as child soldiers, porters and “wives,” sex slaves and LRA fighters. She and Okwoko knew their company could provide a safe place for healing, so they opened their doors to volunteers and workers of any kind. They have five full-time staff members and employ individuals from the community in order to allow them a space for healing from the trauma brought on by the LRA. 

According to Takataka Plastics’ website, the company plans to continue its work and expand into a “full-scale plastic processing operation that will create jobs and a cleaner, healthier environment in Gulu.”

Renee Richardson

is currently an English student at The University of Georgia. She lives in Ellijay, Georgia, a small mountain town in the middle of Appalachia. A passionate writer, she is inspired often by her hikes along the Appalachian trail and her efforts to fight for equality across all spectrums. She hopes to further her passion as a writer into a flourishing career that positively impacts others.

Iran Fights for its Future as its Population Dwindles

After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran’s population reached 55 million people as the government encouraged its citizens to have larger families. However, from the 1980s to 2012, Iran witnessed its fastest and largest fertility drop ever. This was largely due to Iran’s former supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini who feared “the economy could not support a growing population after Iran’s war with Iraq.” Currently, if it continues on this trend, Iran will become the oldest country in the world by 2050 with a third of the population over 60 years old. This trend is due to government-imposed family planning strategies and economic issues which have led to a lower number of marriages. 

Family Planning Implemented 50 Years Ago

Before the Islamic Revolution, the government pushed for families to increase the number of children they had. This led to an average of seven children per family, but after the 1980s and the post-Islamic revolution  increased family planning policies, this dropped to what is now an average of 1.7 children. This was due to fears that the economy would not be able to handle the rapidly growing population after the Islamic Revolution. The government implemented a nationwide campaign with more sex education, free condoms, cheap contraceptives and slogans such as “fewer kids, better life,” along with the advice to wait three to five years to have more children.  People suddenly had very easy access to sexual sterilization procedures in public hospitals at affordable prices and now women had more time to go to university, even outnumbering men there. Consequently, women had more time to focus on their own interests while men did not have to support quite as large a family. 

Economic Issues Led to Fewer Marriages

Iran’s war with Iraq led to issues that were largely due to both countries taking out the other’s oil industry. Research shows that “the loss of oil exporting capacity in both countries was by far the most devastating economic blow of the war.” Other economic hardships arose from decreased amounts of imports and several cities were bombed, damaging major infrastructures and impacting normal life for citizens. These factors led Iran’s annual population growth rate to drop below 1% as of this year, while just two years ago the rate was 1.4%. About a decade ago, Iran’s government reversed course and began encouraging families after realizing they were headed toward  a population decline. Economic challenges have led to fewer marriages, with the rate dropping 40% in a decade. In response, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei offered incentives such as increasing paid maternity leave for men and women and in 2015, two laws were passed restricting contraceptives and sterilization procedures. 

 What Now?

With the daunting current situation, Iran has focused on almost doubling its population to 150 million. Additionally, “vasectomies will no longer be carried out by state-run medical centers and contraceptives will only be offered to women who are at risk.” Of course, the option is still available at private hospitals, but the easy access the country has had to procedures and contraceptives has come to an end. This has met with some resistance from human rights groups such as Amnesty International, which stated that “women are not baby-making machines.” Ultimately, though, the previous family planning policies have started to reverse and action has been taken to increase Iran’s annual population growth rate. The government’s focus now is to change its headlines from a rapidly aging country to a young, fast-growing one.

Elizabeth Misnick

is a Professional Writing and Rhetoric major at Baylor University. She grew up in a military family and lived in Europe for almost half her life, traveling and living in different countries. She hopes to continue writing professionally throughout her career and publish her writing in the future.

U.N. Drops Saudi Arabia-Led Coalition From Blacklist Despite Recent Killings of Children

With no evidence that children are safe, the U.N. decided to remove the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen off a blacklist for violations of children’s rights. 

Child in Yemen among the rubble. Carl’s eye. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

On June 17, the U.N. made the decision to remove the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia from one of its blacklists. The significance of this specific list, which focuses on children in armed conflict, is to shame groups that are guilty of violating the rights of children. Anyone can be placed on the list for a multitude of violations ranging from killing children to the recruitment of children for war. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that the coalition’s removal was decided by efforts made to reduce the number of deaths and decrease the airstrikes that caused the killings over the previous three years.

However, there is a discrepancy in the decision. According to data released by the U.N., 222 children were hospitalized or killed as a result of these attacks last year. In addition, several hours after the U.N. announced its decision to remove the coalition, four children were killed in an attack in northwest Yemen.           

The war in Yemen can be traced back to 2011. Following the Arab Spring, there has been unrest due to a failed political transition that led to terrorist attacks, a separatist movement and corruption. However, in 2014 a rebel group known as the Houthis, backed by Iran, ousted the government. What started out as a civil war transitioned into a conflict with neighboring countries as the Saudi Arabia-led coalition stepped in, attempting to help restore the government and defeat the Houthis.  

Child of Yemen. Carl’s eye. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

As of March 2020, it is estimated that 7,700 civilians have died in the war, largely due to airstrikes from the coalition. However, these are only verified deaths. Some statistics estimate it to be as high as 100,000 fatalities. On top of the conflict, Yemen has been experiencing one of the worst famines it has seen in over 100 years. The country is considered the poorest Arab nation, and the war has ruined the economy to the extent that many people, especially children, are considered malnourished.                                                            

There has been backlash over the U.N.’s decision to remove the coalition from the blacklist. From a video posted by Al Jazeera, protests have taken to the streets outside of the U.N. headquarters in Yemen to speak of their disapproval. The main concern is that the removal could leave children vulnerable to future attacks, as voiced by groups like Save the Children. Observers are also questioning the integrity of the blacklist itself, including Iran which said that “the U.N. is giving a free pass.” Iran claims that the Houthis and the Yemeni government have been responsible for the same number of deaths yet only the Houthis remain on the list.

Guterres has said that U.N. would monitor the coalition’s activity over the next year. If there is an increase in children’s casualties, the coalition would be placed back on the list.

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Eva Ashbaugh

Eva is a Political Science and Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies double major at the University of Pittsburgh. As a political science major concentrating on International Relations, she is passionate about human rights, foreign policy, and fighting for equality. She hopes to one day travel and help educate people to make the world a better place.