Parched Homes: Domestic violence against women in China

Olga Stefatou
Olga Stefatou

“A wife is like a horse; you can ride and beat her”.  A local Chinese proverb
Domestic violence erodes the moral and ethical fiber of society at large. Between a quarter and two thirds of women in China are subject to domestic violence in one form or another, according to the Anti-Domestic Violence Network in China. While domestic violence afflicts the whole of society, and can affect any member of a family, it often targets the most vulnerable; women and children.

Olga Stefatou
Olga Stefatou

[Parched homes] is an attempt  bring together women  experienced by domestic violence, allowing them to share their thoughts, feelings and opinions in the hope their testimony will help raise awareness of this endemic problem. 

http://www.parchedhomes.com

„Parched Homes“, my multimedia work on domestic violence against women in China is supported by the UNFPA of China. The 16 multimedia short films are going to be uploaded on the UNFPA Youku channel in order to alert the Chinese audience. (Words and Videos by Olga Stefatou)

http://www.youku.com/playlist_show/id_23625813.html

The Lives of Female Sex Workers in Bangladesh’s Daulatdia Brothel

Still from  “Sex, Slavery, and Drugs in Bangladesh" | Photo Credit: Phil Caller/Vice News
Still from “Sex, Slavery, and Drugs in Bangladesh“ | Photo Credit: Phil Caller/Vice News

According to Action Aid, there are about 200,000 female sex workers in Bangladesh–one of the few largely Islamic countries where prostitution is legal and so are brothels.

The largest Bangladeshi brothel and the largest bordello in the world, Daulatdia, has more than 1,300 sex workers and services more than 3,000 men daily. It is one of the 20 officially sanctioned brothels in Bangladesh, which opened around 1988, although it had unofficially been operating for decades prior to its legality.

While the average age of consent for new sex workers in Daulatdia is 14, many are younger and are sold into sex work for about £200 ($300), an amount they are then indebted to pay to their pimps, who are mostly older women. The cycle of work perpetuates, as boys born and raised in the brothels tend to become pimps and girls continue in their mothers’ profession.

Journalist Tania Rashid’s latest documentary production with Vice News, “Sex, Slavery, and Drugs in Bangladesh,“ gives appalling insight into Daulatdia’s daily happenings. In conversation with Rashid, she reveals how she chose to embark on an often precarious path to uncover injustice.

http://www.india.com/lifestyle/tania-rashid-speaks-up-for-the-silenced-the-lives-of-female-sex-workers-in-bangladeshs-daulatdia-brothel-336930/

Published on http://www.india.com – Produced by VICE News

Shiho Fukada wins 3rd prize at World Press Photo Multimedia Award 2015

 

Pulitzer Center grantee Shiho Fukada won 3rd Prize Long Feature in the World Press Photo’s 2015 Multimedia Contest for „Net Cafe Refugees,“ a chapter from Japan’s Disposable Workers, her multimedia documentary supported by the Pulitzer Center and MediaStorm.

http://www.worldpressphoto.org/multimedia-gallery/2015/net-cafe-refugees?gallery=2918986