Photo: soaringbird

The reality for many women living in the 21st century is not that different from 50, 100, or hundreds of years ago.

Their main option for survival is to sell their bodies. It doesn’t matter what they look like, their age, their color, their beliefs or practices – they are simply seen as a commodity.

This video at VBS.TV tells the story of the women who live at Casa Xochiquetzal, a safe haven for elderly prostitutes in Mexico City.

I have no doubt you’ll be shocked at the age of most of these women, some of who still work right outside the protected walls of the house:

I’m not here to wonder politically or socially what we can do to change the landscape of women’s rights throughout the world. A topic always worthy of discussion, but not my point today. Instead, I wonder in what ways we all are impacted by the continued oppression and disempowerment of women on a global scale.

Given, I’m a woman, so I take it straight in my heart and gut when I see videos like these, or read about the high rate of violent attacks and rapes happening in Haiti.

But I also wonder about how the butterfly effect comes into play. More than just a movie, the idea behind this phenomenon is that something small happening in one part of a system (in this case, the system of humanity) can effect the whole system in undetermined – possibly/probably negative – ways.

How are each of us that are lucky enough to live a privileged life, in this case basic safety and security being a given, actually impacted by what these women face every single day?

I have no real answer. I believe a lot of pain is created for our collective unconscious, and we might act that pain out in ways we’re not proud of in our daily life. I also think the opposite might be true – we are driven from some deep, unseen force to travel, to get our ass in gear, to help others.

So maybe the reality is both positives and negatives can stem from violence. But imagine how much each of us, men and women, might be healed if somehow, someway, our mothers, sisters, daughters and friends could simply be safe and secure.

What do you think the global impacts are of women’s disempowerment? Share your thoughts below.