International Women's Day and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Well, International Women’s Day 2015 has come and gone. I wanted to write a post to mark the occasion, but obviously it did not happen. I had eye surgery this past week and the preparation for it, and a more painful than normal recovery, sidelined my good intentions. Happily, we at Bijlmer Bridge2Hope were able to attend two events on the Friday preceding International Women’s Day.  The conferences, The Power of Entrepreneurial Women Worldwide and Women’s Business Initiative International (WBII) were informative and motivating. We enjoyed the speakers (including our very own Madeline van der Steege), connected with other women, and spoke to as many people as possible about the Bijlmer Bridge2Hope project.

So, I hope you are wondering what International Woman’s Day has to do with Maslow?  Not much at first glance, but they are connected. Most people are familiar with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs towards self-actualization. Psychologist Abraham Maslow postulated his theory of human motivation in 1943. His well-known premise outlines the fundamental levels of needs that people have. Maslow sees each level as a type of step, with the needs particular to each level being fulfilled before one can move up to next. There are five levels in his theory, ending with self-actualization. It is almost always shown as a pyramid that looks like this:

Here is the extremely simplified crash course on Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Maslow believed that four fundamental needs must be met before a person can begin to focus on the subsequent steps towards self actualization. He designated the first level of needs, physiological. These needs consist of very basic items such as air, water, food, clothing and shelter -- needs that all have just in order to survive. After these are met, one can move to the next level, which is termed safety. On this level a person is able to begin thinking about what they need to be personally and financially safe, and take the actions required for their individualized security. The third level of human need, as seen by Maslow, is love and belonging. This acceptance among social, peer and family groups is needed to move towards the fourth level, esteem. All humans have the need to respect themselves and others. Esteem includes a personal sense of dignity and value, as well as a need for respect from others. Once the four fundamental needs (physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem) are met, then one is able to work on self-actualization. Self-actualization is unique for each person and is the realization of his or her full potential. This potential may be expressed in diverse ways. 

It is safe to say that most of us do not know many people who are on the bottom levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Most individuals we encounter in our day-to-day lives have their basic needs met. They have more food than they need, they have a large, safe shelter to live in, and they have a closet, full of clothing ,which is often added to when they decide that they need something new. Most of us are more fortunate than we realize – some of us might even say that we have reached the level of self-actualization. Certainly the majority of us are not concerned with our basic psychological needs and safety being met.

But there are women who are at the bottom level, where their fundamental needs are not even being fulfilled. Imagine being in a position where you would sacrifice your safety to have the basics such as food, drink and shelter. Our participants have symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder after years of being trafficked. They have been exploited, raped, tortured, stripped of their dignity and had their basic needs withheld from them for years. Fortunately, now that they are free from their traffickers, our participants are able to start making their way up to the next level. At Bijlmer Bridge2Hope we are equipping them with the skills needed to succeed and reach their own individual potential. Food, drinks and necessities are provided. We meet several times a week in a safe environment. There is love, acceptance and belonging for each of them in the group, and the vocational and language skills they are learning weekly help to build their self-esteem. It is encouraging to see their increased self-confidence, witness their personal victories, and see their beautiful smiles as they begin to make changes.

So yes, International Women’s Day has come and gone, but we do not need a specific day to remember the needs of women who are at the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The theme of International Woman’s Day 2015 was “Make It Happen”. Today, think of what you can do to make it happen for women who are not as fortunate as you. As women, we have come a long way towards equality, but some females still have yet to reach the next basic level. Let’s give a hand to these women who need support, help to provide them the skills to go to the next level, help them become the best that they can be. Every woman deserves the opportunities and tools required to transform.

"The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights" Gloria Steinem

Making the best of it!

What do you do when you arrive at your meeting destination and there is no furniture, the table is gone, the chairs are gone, even the garbage can is gone…well... today we made the best of it! 

The venue that we normally use is going through a restructuring process.  To make a long story short, when we arrived today there was nothing in the rooms at all!  The cleaners were cleaning the building and almost everything was moved out.  We did not quite know what to do at first, the restructuring is happening without much notice…but resilience, creativity and a good attitude are always needed in life and we were able to put all three into action today. So what if we have no table to work on…we can make do without a whiteboard for lessons…we can still have tea, they left the kettle…we will just sit on the windowsill and floor!  

Currently we are going through a module on health, nutrition and exercise.  What a great opportunity to learn some new exercises and try them out -- there was nothing in the room to get in our way!  We used the floor space to do some glute bridges and crunches.  We used the walls to do wall pushups and wall-sits, doing a workout for both our upper and lower bodies.  After this we shared some tea and fruit while sitting on the window ledge and floor and enjoyed conversing with each other.

The day might not have been what I had planned in my lesson book, but we definitely were able to make the best of it, and learn some new things along the way. 

Human trafficking: where you live

The Netherlands is renowned for many wonderful attractions, tulips, canals, art, architecture, and cheese (yum!).  Amsterdam is additionally famous for it’s Red Light District where prostitution is legal. Whenever I had heard of the Red Light District in Canada, or even when I first moved to the Netherlands, I was under the impression that the women working as prostitutes in the Red Light District did so out of their free will, as a chosen career. This assumption does hold true for some of the women who have freely chosen to work there, but it is too simplistic of a view, one that does not fit everyone working under the red lights.

Regrettably, many of the women working in the Red Light District are victims of human trafficking. Each of the women we work with at Bijlmer Bridge2Hope are former victims of human trafficking - right here in the Netherlands! It was shocking for me to realize that human trafficking does not just occur in third world or developing countries.  It is prevalent right where you live.  The nations in Western Europe, Canada, the United States and Australia have just as much of an issue with human trafficking as do the countries of Thailand, or the Philippines, where we tend to hear of the issue more often.  Human trafficking is a global problem that affects the lives of millions of people worldwide and its victims can be found in every country the world over. 

Traffickers are skilled in deception, tricking women and children (men as well) into sexual exploitation or labour bondage. The traffickers can be either male or female, and they prey on the vulnerable and lonely. Often, traffickers will scout for women who are in need of money to support themselves and their families.  They befriend them, and their family, gain their trust, and offer them a job abroad…a dream for most individuals in desperate situations. Imagine the excitement at a chance to live in Europe or North America, with a steady income that can support both them and their families back home!  Sadly, what they are promised is a lie.  As soon as they sign the papers and leave their home their nightmare begins.  A video that was made in 2001 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime portrays this well.  Watch it below:

Once the women are taken, they are passed through multiple traffickers and countries, forced to work in each new place.  For example, one of the women in our program was trafficked and forced to work in various African countries, then she was moved into Europe and forced to work in Spain and Italy before coming to the Netherlands.  The women are raped by their traffickers, tortured, physically and mentally degraded, have threats made against their families, and forced to work to repay the “debts” that they incurred coming to their new “job”.  They are also charged additional fines or fees that are determined by the traffickers requiring them to work longer to pay off their debts, with added interest, keeping them in bondage.

It is typical for the traffickers to confiscate the victim’s passport, legal papers, and personal belongings.  This increases their dependence on the traffickers, especially because they are in the country illegally.   Added to this is the fact that the women are likely to be in a place where they do not understand the language and culture, adding additional stress on them and ensuring that it is even more difficult for them to contact any authorities.  The traffickers rape or torture the women frequently, often just before being sent to service clients, helping to reinforce the cycle of abuse and degradation, and to ensure that they know not to ask any clients for help. 

Many trafficked women end up in the Netherlands, working either in the Red Light District, in private brothels, or on the street.  They have no way of escape, and little help.  There is, however, hope for these women, and that is what this blog will portray.  The six individuals currently involved in the Bijlmer Bridge2Hope project have managed to escape their traffickers and are actively engaged in bettering their lives.  Over the next few posts we will meet the women and hear their personal stories.  It is important to know the women and what they went through, both to understand the obstacles that they have overcome, and to be able to see their progress and successes as we blog about our sessions. 

In closing, here is another video that was shot in the Red Light District of Amsterdam in 2013.  It also highlights the issue of human trafficking that is occurring right here where you live.