Art Display Draws Attention to Trafficking of Women
Eight etchings and prints about the illegal trafficking of women around the world are currently on display in the corridor that connects the Kresge and FXB buildings. Sponsored by the International Student Association for Health and Human Rights at HSPH, the artwork was mounted in honor of International Women's Day, March 8, to raise awareness of the plight of women sold into sexual slavery or prostitution.
According
to the United Nations, the trafficking of women is the fastest growing
illegal business in the world, netting about $7 billion annually. The
word “women” is misleading; young girls and teens are often
also targeted.
On display is the artwork of local artist and social worker Myrna Balk, who spent time teaching in Kathmandu, Nepal. There she met women who were returned to their villages after being sold into slavery. The women, Balk explains in her display, had been kidnapped and taken to India where they worked as sex slaves until they became infected with HIV and returned. Their stories inspired Balk to produce the etchings.
Each piece addresses a dimension of the business of trafficking of women. Captions explain the topic and give statistical data.
The
originals of the work were shown last June at the United Nations in New
York at an international art exhibition sponsored by the United Nations
Development Fund for Women. The current exhibit will be shown for a month
and then followed by a display of drawings by the Nepali women Balk interviewed.
The second exhibit will run until the end of May.
For more information about the display, contact Josh Bloom at jbloom@hsph.harvard.edu.
Balk's work can also be seen at www.zing.com/album/?id=4293277833
