A monthlong special report
from Spokesmanreview.com
A monthlong special report
from Spokesmanreview.com
|
Shadan Mohajerin's blog is called Women's Rights Around the World. But the rights of women are just half of her focus. As the Spokane attorney points out, women's rights and the health and growth of children are tightly entwined.
The blog is a personal passion of Mohajerin, a Gonzaga University law school graduate and state Court of Appeals law clerk. It's her forum to discuss the issues of slavery, trafficking and social justice.
It's just one blog, but her goal is to change the world, one reader at a time.
The 28-year-old Mohajerin plans to leave her Spokane job in August and move to Washington, D.C., to continue working on human rights and women's and children's issues.
"When I began writing the blog, I wanted to write more than just about my daily life," she said. "So I decided to write about something I feel passionate about and something I continue learning from."
The project started after she completed a Fulbright fellowship at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C. While there she took courses in international relations, law and journalism.
The intent is basic: "My hope is to increase awareness about what is happening to millions of voiceless women and children around the world, to lift that veil of silence and secrecy, and help people understand that this affects all of us. Until the problem is fully understood, how are we expected to make any progress?"
The blog allows her to identify what others are doing to deal with women's rights concerns across the globe. One blog entry quotes Rachel Bonham-Carter, a researcher for UNICEF, saying: "Empowering women saves children's lives – and the impact is too important to ignore." As one example, Bonham-Carter cited a study by the International Food Policy Research Institute that found there would be 13.4 million fewer undernourished children in South Asia if men and women there had equal influence in decision-making.
Through her work, Mohajerin began to understand that global trafficking of women and children is tied to forced prostitution and sweatshop labor.
And it occurs in the United States as well, she said, though the level of the activity is difficult to determine exactly. "It's so shrouded in secrecy that it's impossible to measure," she said.
Her blog, which is primarily journalistic, hopes that added attention to the problem of trafficking can change laws and eliminate the abuses. She noted that U.S. media began focusing on trafficking in the late 1990s, and that led to the federal government, in 2000, passing the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
"Once that veil of secrecy is lifted through awareness, you begin to see changes, often pressure from the outside world. Laws begin to pass, women begin to have more rights. Lives are changed."
In 2006, the U.S. Justice Department charged 111 individuals and obtained 98 convictions (including cases initiated in previous fiscal years), according to data collected at www.state.gov/g/tip.
Mohajerin's path to these issues was not a direct one. She grew up in Spokane, earned a degree in philosophy from Eastern Washington University in 1999, studied medicine for two years in Utah, then transferred to Gonzaga law school, graduating in 2005.
Her interest in women's rights was fanned by two United Nations internships in 2003 and 2004. During the second one, in Washington, D.C., she developed a commitment to women's and children's issues.
When she moves back to Washington, D.C., this summer, her plans are to land a job working with a government or nonprofit agency addressing those concerns.
Mohajerin has no idea how many people read her blog. She does receive comments from readers from around the world. "People have contacted me telling me that they had no idea (about the issue), and asking me where I found this information," she said.
"The information is out there – it often does not trickle to the masses – where it needs to be."
Sotoudeh Mohajerin, Shadan's mother, played a key role in her daughter's decision to pursue the move.
"She's been my emotional support," Shadan Mohajerin said. "She grew up in Iran and she saw and witnessed discrimination. She's seen it, and she's given me that emotional connection to something I've only learned about through research," she added.
"She's my inspiration and my emotional connection to these issues as well," she said.
"Ultimately, my goal is to help connect others to these issues and give these women a voice that has been lost."
Spokane, Wash., Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and the Inland Northwest • ©Copyright 2009, The Spokesman-Review
