What is Peace?

In past posts, I have chosen to write about uncommon issues that have become prevelant in these third-world countries dealing with the occurrence or aftermath of war.Todays post is going to be discussing a very harsh and scary issue that is rampant,child prostitution in Liberia.

I was reading many articles and stories about this problem and one caught my eye.It was about an eleven year old girl that the DailyBeast had featured an article about.I've decided to make every character,every person that I write about,anonymous.I've chosen to write them anonymously because these issues effect everyone in these areas.There's thousands of girls who never get to write about their life story and what theyve gone through,and in a way I feel like putting a name down would be impersonal.

This young girl was just eleven when she left home,away from her mother and three siblings.She felt like a burden to her single mother so she decided to escape and move in with an older friend.This older friend introduced her to the world of street prostitution.Her first experience left her for dead,bleeding on the streets outside a nightclub.But that first time didn't stop her from going back.She went back night after night,"hustling" on the streets, in order to support her mom and siblings at home.One time,she was forced to participate in sexual acts with a police officer after he helped her retrieve money from a guy who ran without payment.

This is just a way of life for thousands of young girls who are encouraged by family and peers to participate in these acts to support their families back home.There's no way to continue an education if there's no income by the parents,and infrequent meals are a common occurrence.For many,prostituion is more of a necessity.Though prostitution is illegal,the law is rarely enforced.These issues seem to have stem from many different things.One could be Liberia's civil war that ended over a decade ago.Young girls became "girlfriends" to men in different fighting factions as a way to secure food and other material items.With the increasing economic hardships,and a culture that does not value women,no wonder this issue has continued to increase in recent years.

There will never be a proper time to discuss these issues.These issues will not magically disappear. But the impact that they leave on people who read their stories are everlasting.It's hard to imagine an area that is so impoverished and aids-ridden and in such suffering,as Liberia.So many issues effect this area and it's children, that it is hard to just focus on one specifically.This is an area that is not currently battling with war but has in only a few years back.The aftermath has created a toil on its people,and the children are the one's facing the hardships the most.We can only hope that one day peace will finally come to Liberia's people.