Abolitionist Profile: Myrna BalkEmpowering Nepali women to speak for themselves — Boston printmaker works with former sex slaves and raises awareness Celebrated Boston printmaker Myrna Balk Myrna Balk is a well-known Boston printmaker who has devoted herself to raising awareness about sex trafficking. She first learned about this problem while visiting Nepal in 1998. Stories from survivors of forced prostitution inspired Myrna to create artwork on the subject. She has exhibited the resulting etchings throughout the Boston area, at the United Nations, and in Nepal and India. In 2000 and 2001, she returned to Nepal and met with over ninety women and girls to draw with them. These Nepali women hoped to tell their stories in pictures to inform the world about their lives. Drawing empowered the women and helped them to overcome their traumas.  "Captive Prey" / Myrna Balk In June 2000, Myrna was invited to an international art show at the United Nations. She presented her series of etchings, called "One is Too Many" - a response to sex trafficking. Her work has been highly effective in informing others about the plight of Nepali women and has inspired others to become activists. Bonnie Abaunza, Director of Artists Relations of Amnesty International commented: "Myrna Balk's work captures the anguish of women and children whose rights have been violated. Ms. Balk's art challenges the world to acknowledge the imperative need for all of us to champion and promote human rights."  "Passport Out of Reach" / Myrna Balk When Myrna returned to Nepal in 2000 and 2001, she visted several NGO shelters for former sex slaves. Most of these girls and women had been rescued from brothels in India during government raids. Myrna was introduced as an American social worker and artist concerned about Nepali women and the problems they face. She supplied oil pastels and rice paper, and invited participants to draw about anything they wanted. Each group of women drew for two ninety-minute sessions.  "Send them Home to Die" / Myrna Balk Myrna was astonished by the results of the art sessions. The women were extremely proud of their work and delighted in their sense of accomplishment. The participants also wanted Myrna to exhibit the drawings. They explained that they had found a voice through drawing. One woman, speaking for others, said: "We want to thank you for coming here and teaching us something new." The following images are some of the drawings by these women.  By Tara, age 32 Tara explained to Myrna: "In this picture, a man is showing a woman his home. He says he wants to marry her but he really plans to take her to a brothel in India. I was sent away from my home because I had not given birth to a son. I took my husband to court for support, but lost the case. I have three daughters, ages 5, 9, and 11. I came to Nav Jyoti [a shelter for former sex slaves] for training. I look forward to going home and telling women in my village about the rights of children and about justice." Downtrodden by oppressive village social structures, Nepali girls and women are all too ready to believe the traffickers' false promises. Instead of having better lives as domestics or factory workers, almost all of the women find themselves locked in brothels.  By Bina, age 21 Bina was facing a desperate domestic situation when she was tricked into sex slavery in India. She told Myrna:"I was told I had to marry a man older than my father. I did not like that and left the village with a lady who promised me a job doing domestic work. This job was so bad I ran away when the woman of the house died. The lady who took me to the city found me and offered me a better job. I was sent to a brothel in India. While I was working in the brothel and crying, a customer took pity on me and gave me money to return to Kathmandu."  By Kuml, age 20Kuml told Myrna about her drawing: "The parents are depressed because a broker took their child away from them. It shows a place where girls are taken and given cruel treatment. Letters are drawn on the right side of the picture because now the girl is learning to read." This 20-year-old woman explained that she had no chance to go to school. She wants to study but she thinks she is too old. She loves the experience of learning to read. In 1996, Kuml was brought back to Nepal from India, where she was a held captive in a brothel. She immediately returned home, but was ostracized by her village. She then went to ABC Nepal, an NGO that shelters former sex slaves. ABC Nepal is working to educate the village, in the hope that they will take her back.  By Gona, age 22Gona explained her drawing: "One day a lady from the brothel network came to the village offering jobs in a carpet factory. My parents sent me with the woman. My parents were given the first month's wages. I was there a month, working very long hours doing hard work. The same lady came back and offered to get me a better job. I was then sold into a brothel in Bombay. As soon as I got there I knew what it was. Everyone cried. The owner was a lady. I was there three years before the Indian government raided the place and sent the girls back home to Nepal."  By Kamala, age 18 Kamala's drawing reinforces the fact that oppressive social structures in Nepal are a major reason why women are vulnerable to trafficking. She explained that her drawing is a message about society and family: "A ten-year-old child is shown in this picture; she is required to marry a man of 35 to 40. The square around the figure symbolically represents the nation of Nepal, the people of the village, and their customs and traditions. The girl is always restricted and kept inside, deprived of everything. From the day of birth, family and society deprive the girl child. She marries and life is still bad." Before her leadership training at a shelter, Kamala said that she felt powerless. But now she hopes to organize women in the village and further community development. In 1998, Myrna Balk was invited by SAATHI, a non-governmental organization in Nepal, to consult on domestic violence. While there, she also taught at St. Xavier's College, School of Social Work, and visited women's shelters. In Kathmandu, she spent a great deal of time with Nepali women and girls who had been forced, for a variety of reasons, into sexual slavery. When she left Nepal in April, Myrna at first did not realize the extent to which her life had changed. She went to her studio and created a series of eight etchings that expressed her outrage toward sex trafficking. She also bound the etchings into a book, hoping to explain the art and to enter into a dialogue with the viewer. In the introduction to the work, she wrote: "I hope that these monotypes/etchings will alert people to the atrocities, and they will add their voices to the protest."  "HIV City - All Are Welcome" / Myrna Balk After printing the eight etchings, Myrna decided that she wanted to know more about the women with whom she had spoken. She had questions about the women's earlier experiences and the effects of rehabilitation on victimized women. Moreover, she wondered, is trafficking the symptom or the problem? As both an artist and social worker, Myrna was interested in issues of resilience and rehabilitation, and she hoped that, by bearing witness, her work could convey a vivid sense of these women. In her second and third trips to Nepal in 2000 and 2001, Myrna visited several shelters for former sex slaves. Most of these girls and women have been victims of abuse and neglect and/or rescued from sex traffickers. The shelters provide a variety of services. One, for example, caters to HIV-positive trafficking victims; another offers a six-month leadership-training program for the women. Myrna was also invited by a college student to a village in the area of Gorkha. The student wanted Myrna to help tell the story of the Dalit, or low-caste, women.  "We Are All Responsible" / Myrna Balk Social workers often rely on interviews to gain knowledge about culture, people, and situations. Myrna, however, felt interviews alone would not suffice. She also wanted to draw with the women. Knowing many of the women were illiterate and not accustomed putting their thoughts into words—especially when speaking to strangers— Myrna hoped drawing images would allow them to express themselves more easily.  "One is Too Many" / Myrna Balk Myrna writes about involving the women in drawing: "Art can have a curative, self-expressive purpose, particularly when there are no words to express the feelings. Art can also create a 'safe' mode of expression, as the work is not necessarily identified as autobiographical, thereby permitting anonymity and distance." Confirming Myrna's hypothesis, the art sessions had a transformative effect. Most of the women had never drawn before and were initially self-conscious. They chose to begin with plain paper and pencils, which felt familiar to them. But after a few minutes, the women felt freer to use the rice paper and oil pastels. They seemed to feel honored and nurtured by the process. Myrna hoped that the participants would tell her about the finished work, and they did so through an interpreter after each session. The participants reported finding a voice through the drawing experience, and they wanted Myrna to share their drawings with others. Local Exhibitions "Locked in a Room" / Myrna Balk In 1995, Myrna attended the UN World Conference on Women in Beijing. Her work was exhibited at the conference and, later, in a traveling show around the world. In June of 2000, Myrna's series on trafficking was shown in conjunction with the UN meetings of Beijing Plus 5, in the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) sponsored show called "The Progress of Women." Myrna's work was recently shown at the Boston Public Library, the Cambridge Center for Adult Education, and several other venues in greater Boston. It was also shown in Nepal, at the 2001 Reebok Human Rights Award Ceremony. In addition, Myrna regularly displays her sculptures at the Artists Open Studio in Brookline, MA. These sculpture installations relate to her etchings. Once piece entitled "A Shambles?" is a series of old chairs that cannot be sat upon. Myrna discusses the work's significance to human rights: "We can see what is missing from these objects, but our perception is often blinded when we do not want to know. The topics are awful and difficult, but my work is not ugly." Myrna would like to show her work on college campuses. For more on Myrna and her work, visit MyrnaBalk.com. NGOs in Nepal "Bring Me your Women, Girls, Children" / Myrna Balk The following are the NGOs which help abused and trafficked women in Nepal:
|
Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Printer-Friendly | Normal View