An Indian Handmaid's Tale

The Handmaid's Tale (Everyman's Library)
When we picture Margaret Atwood’s dystopian fiction ‘A Handmaid’s Tale,’ a vision of a baby farm materializes. But how far is fiction from reality? Inside India’s international baby farm, an image of 50 expecting mothers catering for a foreign market is readily apparent. Since 2003, 167 surrogate mothers have successfully given birth to 216 babies at the Akanksha Infertility Clinic in Gujurat, run by Dr Nayana Patel and her husband, Hitesh. However, we have to question the moral ethics- after all ‘A Handmaid’s Tale’ is not a utopian novel.

In 2002, the Indian Parliament passed a law declaring that “surrogacy is legal in India.” And already by some estimates, Indian surrogacy is a £290m-a-year business, so how are these women not being commodified for the purposes of their wombs? Akanksha Infertility Clinic claim that they “are not in the business of ‘renting wombs,’” as they allegedly ensure that the surrogate mother’s needs are all met during the nine months of their pregnancy. Yet, the 50 pregnant women at the clinic are mainly of lower caste and from impoverished nearby villages. Is this just another example of western foreigners exploiting the world’s poorest women?

The reasons behind making a decision to be a surrogate mother range from acute poverty, to wanting a healthier existence for their families. It raises various other debates regarding developing countries; are the west truly helping the poverty-stricken by paying money towards these endeavours or just continually driving exploitation of the East such as the child labour issue. Even more so, how much are these struggling women able to make an educated decision with the lack of choices presented to them?

In February of this year, an article in the Indian Express reveals that some of the ‘professional’ surrogates are paid between one and two lakh (between £1400 and £3000) but with clinics being paid triple that amount, it seems unfair that the women receive the bare minimum. A woman featured on that article says that “‘we earn anywhere between four to five thousand in 20 days’ time. Where will we earn money so quickly without doing anything immoral,’’ queries Geeta (name changed), one of the would-be surrogate mothers.

Atwood’s novel presents a similar narrative, the protagonist character Offred is one of a class of individuals kept as a concubine ("handmaid") for reproductive purposes by the ruling class. The complex laws play a key role in imposing social control within the new society and serve to distinguish people by sex, occupation, and caste. Are we recreating this dystopia within our modern-day society?

2012 Olympics: The Rise of Tourist Trafficking

As South Africa braces itself for the 2010 World Cup, along with football fans; South Africa's Drug Central Authority estimates 40,000 sex workers will trickle in for the event as well. A reflection of what to anticipate for the 2012 Olympics held in London. Despite the negative outlook that South Africa promotes itself as a country that encourages sex tourism and prostitution, the Serious Organised Crime Agency SOCA expects similar circumstances in two years time.

The government has already expressed fear that the 2012 London Olympics could become a magnet for human traffickers bringing in prostitutes and illegal workers, according to the BBC. The Home Office's action plan says: "There is little doubt that there will be many who will seek to prosper from the Olympics being held in London...Criminal elements are expected to exploit the situation by establishing themselves in London from now on."

The Home Office estimates that there are between 6,000 and 18,000 trafficked women and girls being forced to work as prostitutes in the UK. But the statistics are erratic and it could be more in the region of 25,000 ranging from Eastern Europe, South East Asia and West Africa as reported by the Poppy Project.

With the expected rise in crime, the government are pressing ahead with a building programme which will create an extra 8,000 spaces by 2012. As stated in a 2010 publication, Tessa Jowell former minister for the Olympics: “Major sporting events can be a magnet for the global sex and trafficking industry, this is wholly unacceptable... collectively we are developing a comprehensive plan of action which will build on the considerable expertise the UK has in tackling human trafficking.”

However already, the number of prostitutes working near the main Olympic site in Stratford, east London, has reportedly doubled already since work began on the stadium. And figures from the time of the 2004 Athens Olympics show an increase of 95 per cent in prostitution, with the number of trafficked women increasing from 93 to 181. After the Games the figures in relation to both prostitutes and trafficking remained higher than before. And with an estimated 80,000 people involved in prostitution in the UK, anticipate an unyielding increase for the Olympics.

India's Economic Segregation

As India continues to emerge as a superpower, we have to address how far has the country come in terms of aiding its rising population. As a recent Guardian article highlights that “the subcontinent’s elite have a huge market all to themselves – and a vast gap is opening up between rich and poor,” referring to India’s booming mobile telephone and energy markets planted on the FTSE 100 index.

Essar Energy now owned by the Ruias family, one of India’s most powerful dynasties is another name that prominently appears on the league tables of the wealthiest people on the planet. With a country that possesses 47 billionaires compared to 35 in Britain, it would be hoped that the entire population were reaping the benefits of India’s economic boom.

On the contrary, as West Bengal props up as a prime example; ruled as the world's longest-running democratically elected communist government by Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPM, a significant part of the state is still economically backward. West Bengal has the third largest economy (2003–2004) in India, Kolkata being a major hub for the Information Technology Industry; however, the rapid industrialisation process has given rise to debate over land acquisition for industry in this agrarian state.

This has resulted in a greater amount of exports, having a first-come first-serve system catering to the West’s agricultural provision requirements whilst a rise in prices for locals on products that is regionally grown. Consequently, the already destitute can hardly afford food grown locally thus poverty rapidly increases; a little contradictory for a communist state-run government. More than three-quarters of the country's 1.2 billion people have to get by on less than £1.30 a day, double the level of poverty seen in China.

Kolkata’s skyline now fashions an uncomfortable and quite obviously discriminatory image. With the rise of property purchases by the elite in West Bengal, there comes a growth of shopping malls, high rise apartments and even English-styled complexes that are safeguarded from the ailing poverty that resides outside the barriers. The government have not stopped the construction of this new mangled city, despite riots occurring in recent years to protest it.

So the fact that India is a key member of the ostensible "BRIC" nations – representing Brazil, Russia, India and China as emerging superpowers according to Goldman Sachs – we shudder to think how much further can the rich get wealthier and the currently deprived become even more impoverished?