All research is specific, whether you conduct ethnographic or questionnaire research, the first thing you do is describe a process or investigate a relationship among some variables in a population. To get from description to
theory is a big leap and involves asking " What causes the phenomenon in the first place?" The question I posed fellow students is; how far can we take the Freedom of Speech? And what is child pornography?

My purpose is also to show you the danger of using children as sex objects, and the general apathy or acceptance American and Dutch culture has toward these sexual portrayals of children through literature, art, and erotica. Art is not the core issue of my research, but this is a way to soften public resolve. Sexual portrayals of children are common in bookstores, sex shops, video stores, and in private collections, even museums, which may at times be described as art and thus legal. Because of the liberal stand the Netherlands takes on matters of sexual issues, as described later, there could be questionable material concerning young children and adolescents sold directly to anybody in sex shops or video stores anywhere in the country, or on the Internet, internationally, affecting all of us and our children.

It was important to see what was being done in the country about this subject because of its international impact on child sex trade. There was some questions raised to me about the validity of this research because a non-government organization (NGO) is not ‘scientific”. In fact I found that they are the one of the only sources that take an active role in combating the child sex trade, whether it be in a democratic “Western” country or poor country and their resources are based upon fact, and detailed research. As a student doing this solo research project in two countries I also faced obstacles such as funding, and professors willing to work with me on this subject.

Permission was granted by Dutch International NGO’s to conduct interviews, but was denied by GWAK, a new special police force in the Netherlands to combat child sexual exploitation, although I did interview a new special Child Pornography Unit on the telephone. The NGO’s that I have interviewed from were; ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and Trafficking in Children for Sexual Purposes), Defense for Children International, Terres des Hommes, ChildRight, and a government supported scientific institute in the Netherlands; the Verwey Jonker Instituute. Almost all of these groups are a part of international organizations that work along with the United Nations as well as the Ministry of Justice in the Netherlands, and especially with the Convention of the Rights of the Child. I think it is very important how each of these NGO’s look into the problem of child exploitation, namely child pornography in the Netherlands.


Feelings about the Subject

I have found in doing research many uninformed democratic citizens believe in the idea child pornography is protected by the Freedom of Speech. Child pornography is not protected by the Freedom of Speech, as children must deal with the permanency, longevity, and circulation of the record of the crime long after the act (106th Congress, 1996). This I also feel is true as in one case, that is close to me, the charges were dropped and the thousands were never found of one "collector" pedophile, who was never held in jail for using 4 female children for his own purposes.

In cultural anthropology, unobtrusive observation includes all methods for studying behavior where informants don't know that they are being studied. My methods involve unobtrusive questions or observations of American students and Dutch students at New Mexico State University, and in the Netherlands at Leiden University from August 1997 through May 2001.

Student reporter, Sylvia Carlson asked New Mexico State University students how they felt about child pornography on the internet and the accessibility of it. Some students felt aggression and anger and formed a group to block “censorship.” About five hundred students, the President of NMSU, and the Board of Regents openly expressed how they supported the accessibility of child pornography on the internet at NMSU.

Although my questions aimed at Dutch students were not printed in a school journal, their answers I feel remain important. Do Dutch citizens believe the number of children used in exploitation in Holland is a small number, and is this an important subject to them? When I moved to the Netherlands, my new Dutch housemates and I exchanged ideas about the problem of human rights that are violated in their country, namely child pornography. What follows is a summary of a heated discussion between us that provides an example of a typical social reaction about this subject;
Many of my housemates asked, “Why did you decide to come to the Netherlands?” My answer was, “Well, two years ago while doing research about the problem of child pornography in the United States, I discovered there was an amazing amount of child pornography coming from the Netherlands”.

My roommates replied, “You have been misinformed! There is no one in the Netherlands that is interested in child pornography. It is illegal here! You won’t find any child pornography here if you tried. You are wrong. Now don’t go back to the United States and print lies about our country”. Not to mention violence and aggression, on their part. They felt targeted.

During many discussions with fellow students and professors and while reading academic research in the United States and the Netherlands, I discovered several interesting opinions from democratic students/citizens besides persons with empathy for victims, I would like to share with you:

 The person researching the nature and extent of child pornography is actually interested in it for himself/herself!

 Children cannot be harmed by child pornography, it can actually benefit their sex life later as adults! "What about PTSD, depression, suicide, and the like?"

 Why didn’t I study in Belgium or Thailand? It is not a problem in the Netherlands. "Doesn't happen in my backyard?!Only a third world problem?"

 NGO work is not scientifically proven research and therefore not acceptable to use as a resource in an acedemic paper. "Hmm, really? Then get some scientists to work on it."


 Child pornography is not an acceptable topic to discuss and there are no classes that teach students about this topic. "Thats why there are 6 million images on the internet, because no one has a clue. Why can't we talk about it? Fear, anger, apathy?"

 If the Dutch were to make a hard rule about child pornography, the people actually interested in the material would riot and cause too many problems for the government.
"What about the victims? Don't you think they suffer? Don't they deserve justice?"

 People interested in child porno are the same as the people interested in members of the same sex (homosexuals or lesbians)! "Says, what official source?"

 The child pornography that is available now has not been recently made, but it is from the 1960's. "Then why does the Department of Justice say there are 6 million images of child pornography online today? People just stopped after 1969? Not in the cases I have read about and personally am affected by."

 Child pornography is protected by the Freedom of Speech. "Oh really. Tragically many people believe this. The sad case is trying to be made that child pornography is a human right of certain folks who "need" such things to keep them sane. Very dangerous thinking, indeed."


The nature and extent of child pornography is difficult to understand due to the lack of scientific data.Due to the lack of scientific data about the extent of child pornography in the Netherlands, or we may use the term, the commercial sexual exploitation of children, all of the complexities about this issue cannot be answered. This could also be said for the United States.

You may ask yourself if you stumble upon something questionable; is the photo is this child pornography, or adolescent pornography? Did this adolescent make a mature decision about her employment? Could she have been manipulated? Is this legal? I discovered typical photos found in the advertising sections of a popular adult magazine and teenage porn sold in magazine shops in the train stations in the Netherlands. My purpose will be to show the nature of erotica and child pornography and how difficult it is to define.

The United States also needs to take an example from the Netherlands and sign the Convention of the Rights of the Child. For such a large country there are such few places to report child pornography, and few police organizations that work specifically on the issue, as well as research centers for students who like myself, want to end this crime against our children and children's children.

When Jeremy fell through the ice,
George put a gun to his head,
Erica overdosed a floor above me,
Darrin lay in my arms with white lips,
It could have been me.

Full of moot,
It could have been me, dead,
long ago.


The phonecalls, the threats,
the fists, and heavy voices.
Intimidations,
loose doorknobs and moot,
It could have been me.

Am I ready?
I don't know when I will go,
or where it will be,
full of moot
because it could have been me.

*m.t.*

World's Children's Prize for the Rights of the Child (WCPRC)
Honouring three individuals or organisations for outstanding contributions on behalf of the rights of the child. The election of finalists is structured as a worldwide educational and empowerment process for the rights of the child and democracy and gives the world's children an opportunity to present the prizes that are awarded for outstanding contributions on behalf of the rights of the child.

Deadline: 1 March 2009
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/13120

World Summit Youth Award
Recognising youth-led projects that encourage the active participation of young people in the emerging information society. The World Summit Youth Award (WSYA) is intended to be a global 'youth for youth' initiative for selecting and promoting best practice in e-content and technological creativity, demonstrating young people's potential to create digital opportunities. The WSYA lies within the framework of the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS); the winners will be celebrated at the World Summit Award Gala at the WSIS.

Deadline: 28 February 2009
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/12900



[Source: The Communication Initiative Network]

فقر عبارت از ناتوانی انسان درفراهم آوردن نیازهای بنیادی خود جهت رسیدن به یک زندگی آبرومندانه وشایسته می باشد.
این تعریف به مفهوم عبارت ((آبرومندانه وشایسته )) بستگی دارد ، زیرا این مفهوم را فقط می توان درقالب قضاوتهای فردی و محیطی شناسائی کرد و تردیدی نیست که درهر اجتماع و از هردیدگاه تعریف متفاوتی ازآن را می توان ارائه داد . این تعریف برداشتی کلی ازمفهوم فقر را به دست می دهد . لیکن فقر را می توان از دو دیدگاه مطلق ونسبی مورد ارزیابی قرار داد .
تحقیقات رونتری(Rowntree) ، پایه اصلی بررسیهای فقر مطلق را نشان می دهد . تعریف او از فقر مطلق عبارت است از: خانوارهای مبتلا به فقر اولیه آن قدر درآمد ندارند که بتوانند حد اقل نیازهای تغذیه را برحسب ارزانترین انواع مواد انرژی زا تامین نمایند.
یکی از معروفترین محققین فقر نسبی ، تاون سند(Townsend) است . اوبه نقش افراد دردرون اجتماع وبه ارتباط بین آنها و سایرین اهمیت می داد . به گفته او ، افراد درصورتی فقیر شمرده می شوند که نتوانند درزندگی مشترک جامعه ای که درآن زندگی می کنند مشارکت داشته باشند. با این تعریف درهرجامعه با درنظر گرفتن معیارهای متفاوت می توان فقر را تعریف کرد وپائین بودن نسبی سطح زندگی مردم را درمقایسه با سطح زندگی متعارف جامعه برآورد ومحاسبه نمود. دراین حالت ، درجه محرومیت نسبی جامعه مطرح می شود وازاین طریق است که می توان فقرای هرجامعه را شناسائی کرد.

● خط فقر چیست؟
خط فقر ارتباطی بین فقر ونابرابری نسبی دارد. این خط پائین ترین حد درآمد لازم برای حفظ زندگی درحد اقل معیشت را نشان می دهد .
دراین تعریف ، ((حفظ زندگی ))، به قضاوتهای فردی ومعیارهای اجتماعی بستگی می یابدبا توجه به اینکه فقر مطلق ویا فقر نسبی را مورد نظر قرار دهیم خطوط فقر متفاوتی خواهیم داشت.
با تعاریف متفاوتی که ازفقر وجود دارد ، برآوردهای مختلفی نیز ازخط فقر می توان انجام داد . تعدادی از روشهای موجود از این برآوردها عبارتند از:
- محاسبه خط فقر براساس حداقل معیشت.
- محاسبه خط فقر براساس تامین مواد غذائی درحد نرمال.
- محاسبه خط فقر براساس کالری مورد نیاز روزانه.
- برآورد خانوارهای آسیب پذیر بر اساس نماگرهای رفاه.

تست فيلتر سه گانه!

در يونان باستان ، سقراط تا حد زيادي به دانشمندي اشتهار داشت. روزي يكي از آشنايان فيلسوف بزرگ به ديدارش آمد و گفت : مي داني درباره دوستت چه شنيده ام ؟

سقراط جواب داد : يك دقيقه صبر كن ، قبل از اينكه چيزي بگويي مي خواهم امتحان كوچكي را بگذراني كه به آن تست فيلتر سه گانه مي گويند.

آشنا پرسيد: فيلتر سه گانه ؟

سقراط ادامه داد: قبل از اينكه با من درباره دوستم صحبت كني، شايد بد نباشد كه چند لحظه صبر كني و چيزهايي را كه مي خواهي بگويي فيلتر كني . به همين خاطر به اين امتحان، تست فيلتر سه گانه مي گويم.

اولين فيلتر، حقيقت است. تو كاملا مطمئني مطالبي كه مي خواهي به من بگويي حقيقت دارد؟ مرد گفت : نه، درحقيقت من همين الان درباره اش شنيدم و...

سقراط گفت : بسيار خوب، پس تو واقعا نمي داني كه حقيقت دارد يا خير.

حالا دومين فيلتر را امتحان مي كنيم، دومين فيلتر نيكي است. چيزي كه مي خواهي راجع به دوست من بگويي، مطلب خوبي است؟

مرد جواب داد: نه، كاملا برعكس .... .

سقراط ادامه داد: خُب، پس تو مي خواهي به من راجع به او چيز بدي بگويي اما دقيقا از درستي آن مطمئن نيستي. هنوز بايد امتحان را ادامه دهي چون هنوز يك فيلتر باقي مانده: فيلتر فايده. مطلبي كه مي خواهي راجع به دوستم به من بگويي، فايده اي براي من دارد؟ مرد جواب داد: نه، نه واقعاً.
سقراط نتيجه گيري كرد : اگر چيزي كه مي خواهي به من بگويي نه حقيقت است نه خوبي دارد و نه فايده اي دارد، پس چرا اصلاً بگويي ؟؟؟

-2. فقر
معضل فقر يكي از مسائل و مشکلات مهم زندگي بشري بوده است كه در گذشته و حال مورد توجه محققين و انديشمندان اقتصادي، اجتماعي، سياسي، و فرهنگي است.
سير تاريخي مطالعه و بررسي موضوع فقر به نظريه ها و تئوري هايي چند در اين خصوص اشاره دارد؛ بر اساس تئوري گذار جغرافيايي که در سال 1979 ميلادي و توسط فاندرتاک و همکارانش مطرح گرديد، به موازات آنکه جوامع توسعه يافته مي شوند، نخست نرخ مرگ و مير در آنها کاهش مي يابد و سپس نرخ زاد و ولد کم مي شود؛ که در نتيجه ميزان جمعيت با نرخ مشخصي شروع به کاهش کرده و يا ثابت مي ماند. از سوي ديگر، تئوري توسعه روستو پيشنهاد مي کند که جوامع از فاز هاي اقتصاد امرارمعاش گونه که يک مرحله گذار و شرايطي است که به واسطه تخصص، مازاد براي تجارت وجود دارد، به فاز جهش براي بلوغ مي رسند که ناشي از تنوع، مصرف انبوه و بخش خدماتي حاکم است.
اما هنگامي که جوامع توسعه مي يابند، تمايل دارند تا از منابع خود بيش از پيش بهره برداري کنند، در نتيجه پايه و اساس منابعي را که از آن تغذيه و استفاده مي کرده اند، نابود مي سازند. تئوري محيط کونزنتز کرو بحث مي کند که همين که جوامع از يک سطح درآمد سرانه بحراني عبور مي کنند، به نسبت درآمدشان، کمتر محيط را آلوده مي کنند.
تئوري هاي فوق اين اميد را ايجاد مي کنند که به موازات توسعه جوامع، موسسات نيز توسعه يافته، ميزان جمعيت رو به ثبات رفته و ميزان فقر و گرسنگي کاهش مي يابد؛ همچنين، نيازهاي اوليه افراد بهتر برآورده شده و آموزش و سلامت افزايش مي يابد.
با اين همه، شواهد تجربي از پنجاه سال گذشته حاکي از آن است که نوعي واگرايي رو به افزايش ميان سطح درآمد طبقات فقير و ثروتمند در حال شکل گيري است؛ تا آنجا که کشورهاي با جمعيت بالا و دچار مشکل گرسنگي، در يک چرخه جميعيتي-گرسنگي گرفتار شده و کشورهاي با درآمد کم، در چرخه فقر به دام افتاده اند (Gupta, 2004, p. 407).
اکنون، متأسفانه بيش از 980 ميليون نفر که 19 درصد از جمعيت کشورهاي در حال توسعه را تشکيل مي دهند، با درآمدي کمتر از يک دلار در روز، در فقر کامل به¬سر مي برند (United Nationsb, 2007, p. 6). اين آمار فقط به فقر درآمدي اشاره دارد و چنانچه فقر قابليتي را نيز در نظر بگيريم (Mahmoudi, 2006; McKinley, 2006, p. 1)، تعداد افراد فقير اين کشورها تا حد زيادي افزايش مي يابد. بر پايه گزارشي ديگر، در شرايطي که 900 ميليون نفر از مردم در کشورهاي در حال توسعه در فقر درآمدي به سر مي برند، 1.6 ميليارد نفر آنان دچار فقر قابليتي هستند (HDR, 1996) و اين روند ممکن است افزايش يافته و پيچيده تر گردد.

Dear Mr. John Flanagan,

'Children are like that one beautiful woman who men pursue in order to deface' and that is why i am here. Since 1997, I have looked into the nature and extent of commercial sexualization of children, in other words, child pornography and child trafficking. On a positive note; it is great to have met such good people around the world that have offered encouraging words that have kept the fire burning. The goals of my project are: 1) find and seek information that the public and victims need in order to combat child porn more effectively. 2) find and seek present attitudes about the commercial sexual exploitation of children 3) find others to work with, as well as victims to interview, that want to work on this issue 4) discover the differences of how each country combats child porn, in their NGO work and legal codes, for future change and collaboration.

Yes, I write, and quite often most often in books that I keep on my shelf. Mr. John Flanagan, your title does not appeal to me. You call yourself a judge, but you are nothing to me, nothing but another animal on this planet, after his own selfish intentions. You ask me lists and lists of questions which I answer for you, honestly. I traveled quite a distance to talk openly about a subject which is very important to me, which deserves attention and that is child pornography.

You work for yourself and my opinion I think you do not like what I have to say. You may think that because you are a judge, you are somehow better that everyone else, that you can slide documents under the rug. You are mistaken. LIght shines upon everything that is hid, eventually. Even if you try to hide something, it will be revealed.

I am glad that you asked me to come and speak with you, and that you came and talked with me. Your purposes are still unclear, even though I believe that it is only to keep me from speaking, only when a person like you tells me no, it only makes me do the opposite. So keep saying no. I am sitting here smiling. As a child victim and a witness, wouldn't my words be of interest to you?

Do you know what Social Anthropology is? You say I have abandoned the topic of archaeology. Clearly you have read nothing that I have sent you. I want to see what how people handle this subject in the courts today, in countries today, yes in the past, in the arts, and in the arts now, but how are we handling things now, how do we protect our children now? You are a unfair judge and no matter what you say, I will write about child pornography as long as possible, and tell the only story I know.

Goodday, judge...professor...whatever you are.

Hi friends,

International Youth Day gives the world an opportunity to recognize the potential of youth, to celebrate their achievements, and plan for ways to better engage young people to successfully take action in the development of their societies. It presents a unique opportunity for all stakeholders to rally together to ensure that young people are included in decision-making at all levels.

Juts a short message to say "Happy International Youth Day" to you all!

Wishing you the very bests!

regards,
Mostafa Nejati

Hi all,

Today I had a workshop in Kalachai, a city in the east of Guilan Province, Iran, for a group of around 30 students & teachers.

The workshop was called "Think Globally, Act Locally" and covered the following subjects:

- Introducing Think Globally, Act Locally Concept
- Youth Participation Role
- Process for getting involved (Raising awareness, Capacity building, Taking action)
- Organizations & campaigns to start with
- iEARN (www.iearn.org)
- TakingITGlobal (www.takingitglobal.org)
- Youth Action Portal (YAP) (http://yap.ioksp.com)
- First Step
- Q & A session

I showed the First Step Video clip that was created and showed in the CIVICUS Youth Assembly 2008, as well.

I am glad to say that the participants were interested to get involved more in the youth projects and programs.

Hopefully, some of them will join more actively one of the four introduced organizations and campaigns.

By the way, if anyone is interested to receive and have a look at the my presentation files, please let me know and I will then email it to you.

Regards,
Mostafa Nejati - IRAN
------------------------------------------------------------------
Email: mostafa.nejati@gmail.com
Skype: mostafa.nejati

CIVICUS Youth Assembly 2008 closing ceremony

was yesterday.
During the last 2 days, approximately 250

youth from over 74 countries came together in

Glasgow, Scotland to work together on how to

youth can take a bigger role in policy making

and heklp to achieve the Millennium

Development Goals.

The four main topics discussed in this year assembly have been:

- Poverty
- Healthcare
- Climate Change
- Equality

BESTS,
MOSTAFA NEJATI
IRAN

CIVICUS Youth Assembly 2008 closing ceremony

was yesterday.
During the last 2 days, approximately 250

youth from over 74 countries came together in

Glasgow, Scotland to work together on how to

youth can take a bigger role in policy making

and heklp to achieve the Millennium

Development Goals.

The four main topics discussed in this year assembly have been:

- Poverty
- Healthcare
- Climate Change
- Equality

BESTS,
MOSTAFA NEJATI
IRAN

CIVICUS Youth Assembly 2008 closing ceremony

was yesterday.
During the last 2 days, approximately 250

youth from over 74 countries came together in

Glasgow, Scotland to work together on how to

youth can take a bigger role in policy making

and heklp to achieve the Millennium

Development Goals.

The four main topics discussed in this year

assembly have been:
- Poverty
- Healthcare
- Climate Change
- Equality

BESTS,
MOSTAFA NEJATI
IRAN