Skip to main content

iEmphasize: An Eye-Opening Experience

There are many Belle events that are lighthearted and fun. And then there are others that enable you to confront some of the grave injustices in our world. And I think it's critical that any service organization have both. That's why I am so grateful that one of the Women's Leadership events offered this Spring was a visit to the iEmpathize exhibit on the horrific realities of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, particularly of young women and girls. Although it was conveniently located on campus, stepping into the exhibit felt like I was stepping into another world.

The iEmpathize exhibit was really heavy, and was a lot to take in. I felt like, for the time I was there, I stepped out of my own bubble of worries and stepped into a much deeper problem. As the exhibit puts it, I truly empathized by stepping into another person's suffering. And there was so much suffering. I am familiar with trafficking, however, for some reason the combination of videos, photos and artifacts made everything so real to me. Hearing the stories of Cambodian, Eastern European, Mexican and American girls who were orphaned, trafficked, impoverished and brutally beaten made me physically sick and was incredibly disturbing. It just makes me think: "how can a human being or human beings create structures that so dehumanize and humiliate other humans, especially children?!" And what gives them the right to do that to another human being, to a child who knows nothing and looks up to adults as figures who will protect her? Only to have them sell her, beat her, abuse her, traffic her. I especially felt for the plight of Eastern European orphans who have no mother or father or family to protect them. And they're so young. The story of the Cambodian mother who tried to sell oral sex from her 6 year old daughter to the workers was among one of the more disturbing stories, as well as the woman who was beaten for 7 hours when she refused to be trafficked. How do you even live through that, and how do you find the hope to continue living when you've been so brutally abused and seen as trash?

Being exposed to all of that information, part of me felt like running and hiding from the awful world. Yet another part of me felt hope, looking at the work iEmpathize and countless others are doing to combat this. This is a movement that is much greater than myself, and I owe it to these human beings who are experiencing compensated rape to do something, anything. I guess it starts with awareness, and I also took pamphlets at the end on resources. It also made me feel so overwhelmingly grateful that I didn't know what to do...grateful for parents who love me and care, grateful for my home, my opportunities, my beloved family and friends, being treated with respect and dignity...so much.

I am still processing. And still so thankful that I am part of an organization that can celebrate what is beautiful and good in the world while also bravely facing and working to combat what is truly unjust and horrible in the world, if only through educating it's members on those issues.

Maryam Nouh
Distinguished Belle
Fourth Year Bruin Belle

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What I Didn't Know

  What I didn't know The morning after I got the highly anticipated call that I got into Bruin Belles, I found this bell (figure 1) on my dorm door: a door belle…get it? I can still very clearly remember the few weeks surrounding this moment. I wanted it SO BADLY! When I saw the Belles tri-fold at the enormous activities fair, I knew immediately that I needed to be a part of that community. On paper, it sounded like everything I wanted: a group of likeminded passionate women who did community service together and other social events. I worked tirelessly on my application and was so nervous for my interview that I signed up for the very first slot (Monday at 8am… yikes). I got the long-awaited call late on a Friday night. Yashvi, the public relations director at the time, told me that I had gotten in, and while still on the phone I screamed “I GOT IN!” to my roommate. My heart was beating so fast. However, I think if I had known what was to come, my heart would have beat so fast it

Finding My Home

  My time as a Bruin Belle has been incredibly transformative. This exceptional group of empowered women has not only enriched my college experience but also inspired me to make a lasting impact on the world. Entering UCLA, I was eager to find a community that aligned with my passion for service and personal growth. Joining the Bruin Belles provided that and more—a warm embrace within the vast UCLA landscape. At the core of our experience is our dedication to service, from local volunteer work to impactful fundraisers. We take action, build connections, and create change within our community. Being a Belle has given me the opportunity to volunteer for initiatives such as dog adoption, environmental activism, food insecurity, education advocacy, and houselessness. Through volunteering in various areas of our community, I have found purpose and a newfound passion for advocacy. Additionally, BBSA is more than a service organization to me; we are a sisterhood that fosters leadership. The s

Stepping Outside my Comfort Zone

Spring Retreat 2023 was by far one of the highlights of my BBSA experience, for reasons I never expected. Throughout my second year in Belles I served as a Social DB, and for this retreat, was tasked with the job of heading the Activities Committee. A couple months of planning and preparation later, I was wracked with anxiety about being so in charge– what if nobody had fun? What if we planned too much? Too little? What if someone gets hurt, what if I screw up as a host, what if quite literally anything negative happens? It was a very rigid, unforgiving feeling, and I was then left with the personal expectation that I was going to get there and not be able to enjoy myself because of this pressure. I was terrified of letting anyone down, especially so because this was the first weekend retreat Belles has hosted in years. If anything went awry, I felt fully unprepared to handle it, but at least I could say I had considered the worst. I tried to take solace in that semblance of control,