Lois’s answer to “How did Barryar not have a population crisis after the time of isolation with scads more women esc…” > Likes and Comments
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In that case I speculate that Simon Illyan made a deal with the criminal element running women off planet for prostitution and mail order brides that the Imperial Military Services will overlook their ships in Barrayaran space and every woman will be a potential ImpSec sleeper agent and active ImpSec agents can be planted with the other women at any time.
I'd suspect that, though Barrayar can be a tough, hostile place, it would also be home and some of the Vor attitude would have trickled down to even the lowest levels of society. Throw in some basic cultural conditioning and you'd see plenty of reasons women would stay. After all, it takes famine and such to get women to approach the referenced levels in the former Soviet block. We have lots of places were women stay in their quiet life of fear and frustration rather than risk leaving as long as they are past their first level of Maslow's Hierarchy. I still meet people in the US that carry ideals that could run in lockstep with those of Time of Isolation Barrayar but we don't have women leaving in droves... yet.
From the glimpses we've seen of wider galactic society, the "mail order bride/prostitute" aspect would only really be viable for an escape to Jackson's Whole, which would hardly be viewed as a better life to Barrayaran women in such straits. At least on Barrayar, even if forced into such a lifestyle, it's in a place familiar to them.
Not to mention that any human trafficking from Barrayar would have to not only leap through the hurdle of getting through security *on* Barrayar, but then probably go through it again on Komarr.
I also want to point out two things - life on Barrayar might not have been as harsh as it was in the Soviet bloc states, and its discovery would have provided not only the means described by the OP for escape but also huge opportunities for improvement in quality of life. If things are rough, but they're better than they ever were, the fear of the unknown (it's been generations of non-contact with Earth and the other colonies) will keep most at home. Some of both genders will have itchy feet, no doubt, but most will find that they are more comfortable than they've ever been with the influx of outside medicine and goods and see no reason to leave.
It's mentioned in Komarr that a large percentage of Barrayaran women who move to Komarr for higher education do not return, and this has caused alarmed Barrayaran men to submit a petition to deny them exit visas.
@Celestia: Sure, and that makes a lot of sense. My comment was aimed at the timeframe mentioned by the OP regarding the end of the time of isolation. But to your point - they have to escape _first_ in order to find out that it's better elsewhere, they aren't leaving because they know it's better. And they're leaving to find a better education, which means that they are free to leave, yet don't - implying that living conditions for them are not nearly as bad as those in the former Soviet bloc. For example, they have food and shelter and a way of living that they are comfortable in, or at least not so desperately unhappy or uncomfortable that they'll take any escape.
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In that case I speculate that Simon Illyan made a deal with the criminal element running women off planet for prostitution and mail order brides that the Imperial Military Services will overlook their ships in Barrayaran space and every woman will be a potential ImpSec sleeper agent and active ImpSec agents can be planted with the other women at any time.
I'd suspect that, though Barrayar can be a tough, hostile place, it would also be home and some of the Vor attitude would have trickled down to even the lowest levels of society. Throw in some basic cultural conditioning and you'd see plenty of reasons women would stay. After all, it takes famine and such to get women to approach the referenced levels in the former Soviet block. We have lots of places were women stay in their quiet life of fear and frustration rather than risk leaving as long as they are past their first level of Maslow's Hierarchy. I still meet people in the US that carry ideals that could run in lockstep with those of Time of Isolation Barrayar but we don't have women leaving in droves... yet.
From the glimpses we've seen of wider galactic society, the "mail order bride/prostitute" aspect would only really be viable for an escape to Jackson's Whole, which would hardly be viewed as a better life to Barrayaran women in such straits. At least on Barrayar, even if forced into such a lifestyle, it's in a place familiar to them.Not to mention that any human trafficking from Barrayar would have to not only leap through the hurdle of getting through security *on* Barrayar, but then probably go through it again on Komarr.
I also want to point out two things - life on Barrayar might not have been as harsh as it was in the Soviet bloc states, and its discovery would have provided not only the means described by the OP for escape but also huge opportunities for improvement in quality of life. If things are rough, but they're better than they ever were, the fear of the unknown (it's been generations of non-contact with Earth and the other colonies) will keep most at home. Some of both genders will have itchy feet, no doubt, but most will find that they are more comfortable than they've ever been with the influx of outside medicine and goods and see no reason to leave.
It's mentioned in Komarr that a large percentage of Barrayaran women who move to Komarr for higher education do not return, and this has caused alarmed Barrayaran men to submit a petition to deny them exit visas.
@Celestia: Sure, and that makes a lot of sense. My comment was aimed at the timeframe mentioned by the OP regarding the end of the time of isolation. But to your point - they have to escape _first_ in order to find out that it's better elsewhere, they aren't leaving because they know it's better. And they're leaving to find a better education, which means that they are free to leave, yet don't - implying that living conditions for them are not nearly as bad as those in the former Soviet bloc. For example, they have food and shelter and a way of living that they are comfortable in, or at least not so desperately unhappy or uncomfortable that they'll take any escape.
*covets*