The Children and the Departure

Women Talking

The women debate how to protect children while confronting the pain of leaving some loved ones behind.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Child’s Injury A Child’s Injury from "Women Talking". Miep’s Need for Care Denied Treatment Salome Friesen’s three-year-old daughter Miep has been assaulted and is ill.

A Child’s Injury from "Women Talking". Miep’s Need for Care Denied Treatment Salome Friesen’s three-year-old daughter Miep has been assaulted and is ill.

Miep’s Need for Care Denied Treatment Salome Friesen’s three-year-old daughter Miep has been assaulted and is ill. Peters has refused medical care for fear that outsiders will learn of the abuse. A Mother’s Response Salome walks to another colony to obtain antibiotics. Her practical defiance exposes how institutions fail children and how caregiving becomes resistance.

Miep Seeks Her Mother Miep Seeks Her Mother from "Women Talking". Distress Enters the Loft A Frightened Child Miep climbs to the women’s meeting and asks Salome to change her diaper.

Miep Seeks Her Mother from "Women Talking". Distress Enters the Loft A Frightened Child Miep climbs to the women’s meeting and asks Salome to change her diaper.

Distress Enters the Loft A Frightened Child Miep climbs to the women’s meeting and asks Salome to change her diaper. Her return to diapers reflects fear following the assaults. Care in Public Salome comforts her while Ona Friesen and other women support them. The meeting’s abstract arguments become inseparable from the immediate work of protecting a child.

The Question of Boys The Question of Boys from "Women Talking". Who May Accompany Them Age as a Boundary The women debate whether boys aged thirteen and fourteen should leave with them.

The Question of Boys from "Women Talking". Who May Accompany Them Age as a Boundary The women debate whether boys aged thirteen and fourteen should leave with them.

Who May Accompany Them Age as a Boundary The women debate whether boys aged thirteen and fourteen should leave with them. August Epp says they can pose risks but are still children capable of learning. A Wider Duty The debate challenges a simple division between men as threats and women as protectors. The women consider how to protect girls without abandoning boys to the same system.

Aaron’s Refusal Aaron’s Refusal from "Women Talking". A Son Is Missing A Mother’s Alarm Salome Friesen learns that Aaron has not joined the children and suspects he may refuse to leave.

Aaron’s Refusal from "Women Talking". A Son Is Missing A Mother’s Alarm Salome Friesen learns that Aaron has not joined the children and suspects he may refuse to leave.

A Son Is Missing A Mother’s Alarm Salome Friesen learns that Aaron has not joined the children and suspects he may refuse to leave. Her readiness to depart collapses into urgent maternal concern. The Choice Becomes Concrete The group waits while Salome searches for him. The departure now involves not only collective ideals but the possibility of losing a beloved child to the colony.

A Child Carried Away A Child Carried Away from "Women Talking". Protection Without Consent The Decision Salome finds Aaron but he does not agree to leave.

A Child Carried Away from "Women Talking". Protection Without Consent The Decision Salome finds Aaron but he does not agree to leave.

Protection Without Consent The Decision Salome finds Aaron but he does not agree to leave. She uses anesthetic spray and carries him into the departure, calling it like removing a sleeping child from a burning house. The Moral Cost Her choice protects him from the colony’s future but denies his expressed wishes. The act leaves the women’s protective purpose entangled with coercion.

June 6, 2009, during the first meeting

June 6, 2009, during the afternoon meeting

June 6, 2009, late in the meeting

June 7, 2009, just before departure

June 7, 2009, after Salome finds Aaron