Human Trafficking

Traffickers lure victims in a number of ways, but one common technique is to promise a job opportunity, often abroad.  Sometimes, that job turns out to be slavery in the industry the promised job was in, and sometimes that job is forced prostitution.  This is the story of Karin, from the U.S. Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

Karin, a young mother of two, was looking for a job in Sri Lanka when a man befriended her and convinced her that she could land a better job in Singapore as a waitress. He arranged and paid for her travel. A Sri Lankan woman met Karin upon arrival in Singapore, confiscated her passport, and took her to a hotel. The woman made it clear that Karin had to submit to prostitution to pay back the money it cost for her to be flown into Singapore. Karin was taken to an open space for sale in the sex market where she joined women from Indonesia, Thailand, India, and China to be inspected and purchased by men from Pakistan, India, China, Indonesia, and Africa. The men would take the women to nearby hotels and rape them. Karin was forced to have sex with an average of 15 men a day. She developed a serious illness and three months after her arrival was arrested by the Singaporean police during a raid on the brothel. She was deported to Sri Lanka.

Sadly, not many stories of trafficking end happily, or even with the victim getting needed services.  Karin’s story illustrates the vast work which needs to still be done.

Vince Shlomi, the guy who hocks the ShamWow and Slap Chop on infomercials and the Internet had a violent altercation with a prostitute in a Miami hotel room, a 26-year-old named Sasha Harris, as The Smoking Gun mentioned over the weekend.

Shlomi claims in his affidavit that when he kissed Harris, she bit his tongue.  According to the Smoking Gun,

Shlomi then punched Harris several times until she released his tongue… during the 4 AM fight Harris sustained facial fractures and lacerations all over her face.

This story, sadly, is not out of the ordinary.  It has only gotten a lot of press because it features a quasi-celebrity who sells cooking and cleaning products in a memorable and annoying way.  

It is important to note while that no indications have been made in any media coverage that the woman was in prostitution against her will, she was still violently beaten as a result.  No woman deserves to be brutalized, regardless of her occupation.  Commercial sex is still a very dangerous industry, even for those who enter it willingly with their eyes wide open.  And a woman does not need to be trafficked into prostitution to suffer many of the ill effects of the industry- depression, higher drug and alcohol use and abuse, higher suicide and homicide rates, increased risk of STDs, and increased risk of rape and battery.

We knew this guy was obnoxious.  Now we know he’s also abusive.  What I want to know is how we can help the woman, and the many women like her who are victimized through prostitution.

Image from honestinfomercialreviews.com

Because abolition + coolfunstuff = awesomeness, each week I will bring you a Red Light Special, one cool gift, bobble or goodie you can feel good about buying, because the money you spend somehow benefits trafficking victims, people at-risk of trafficking or anti-trafficking programs. It’s guilt-FREE shopping for freedom!

This Week’s Red Light Special…..The Road of Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam

Somaly Mam is a human trafficking survivor-turned-activist who recounts the experiences of her early life and tells the story of her awakening as an activist and her harrowing and brave fight against the powerful and corrupt forces that steal the lives of these girls.  The Road of Lost Innocence is unflinching in its reality and courage to tell the truth behind trafficking.  It is a must-read for any activist.

You can buy this item from the link above, or at http://www.somaly.org/store/

If you know of an organization or business which you’d like to see financially rewarded for helping trafficking victims, let me know!

A mob of people are sitting together dissecting the lyrics to 50 Cent’s P.I.M.P. and growing angry and disillusioned.  Are these suburban mothers? Conservative crusaders?  No, it’s a high school history class at Coolidge High in Washington, DC.   

This discussion is part of an effort by the non-profit Fair Fund to educate young people about the dangers of sex trafficking and prostitution.  Among other things, the class discussed the degradation of women and the glamorization of pimps and prostitutes in several hip-hop songs.  Finally, a debate long held by adult policymakers is now being held by the people it affects: youth. 

When thousands of children a year are trafficked into commercial sex globally, we want something to blame.  But does hip-hop’s glamorization of pimp and ho culture make it easier for pimps to lure young girls into sex slavery?  Can we really lay this heavy burden on 50 Cent and his colleagues?  Or are hip-hop artists and other artists like Radiohead the key to effectively educating youth about the dangers of human trafficking?   

Whether or not you find that mainstream hip-hop has some blame for the glamorization of pimp and ho culture in America, there are alternatives.  When we listen to positive hip-hop, buy those songs, and go to those concerts, we financially reward artists who embrace values like empowering and respecting women.  You can start with the Positive Hip-Hop Podcast.  It’s free and available on iTunes, and all that empowering energy is worth a lot more than 50 cents. 

Each week, I will be bringing you a new interview with a formerly-active activist or abolitionist, that is, someone now deceased.  I’ll be talking to the men and women who paved the way for the abolitionists of today and getting their thoughts on the problems and solutions of modern-day slavery.  How do I contact not just the dead, but the famous and dead?  Every good blogger must have her secrets!

This week… Jacques Pierre Brissot

How’s the afterlife treating you?

Cest magnifique! Here, we all are able to govern ourselves.

For those non-biography readers out there, how about you tell me a little about yourself.

I was one of the leaders of the French abolitionist movement.  In the years leading up to the revolution, I founded later the Paris-based anti-slavery group Society of the Friends of the Blacks, and served as president during 1790 and 1791.  I was also a Girondist.

What do you think is the biggest problem in the modern-day abolitionist movement?

There is no appreciation for the use of propaganda in the cause of social justice.  The other side uses propaganda to lure trafficking victims into slavery and keep them there, and they have language and techniques to downplay the issue.  Why cannot we develop propaganda for our cause?

If you were alive, what would you do to fight slavery?

I would mount an awarenss campaign using viral techiniques in current media, which I wish I’d had back in my day.  I would use the same propaganda techniques the other side is using to promote the cause of freedom and the importance of human trafficking as an issue.

Any last thoughts for our readers?

Here, we all eat cake!

Looking for a way to boost your anti-trafficking resume?  Interested in spending a few months across the pond in the UK?  Well, then it’s a good day for you!

STOP THE TRAFFIK are offering a 4 month  internship in their London office, starting in May.  This could be a good opporunity for recent graduates looking for a resume building experience.

According to their website:

The internship is a great opportunity to gain experience working for a dynamic, non-profit organisation and to learn about campaigning on a major global issue. The successful candidate will be a motivated individual who has previous administration experience and a passion for human rights / anti-trafficking issues.

They will work closely with the Community Action and Resource Officer with the following areas of responsibility and specific duties:

• Record and acknowledge donations, merchandise sales and orders
• Manage and respond to general enquiries (phone, e-mail, letters)
• Research and maintain an up to date record of trafficking headlines to provide the International Team
• Participate and assist at STOP THE TRAFFIK events, including public speaking and running stalls

For more information and an application form, please email info@stopthetraffik.org.

Applications must be submitted by 13^th April

‘Tis the season for March Madness and Hoops Hysteria (for NCAA Women), which for many people, is also the season for raking in the cash.  In case you don’t follow the NCAA Tournament, here’s a quick list of the people who can expect to make money this year, and how much they stand to earn:

• CBS ($6oo million) 
• NCAA ($6 million)
• College basketball programs (at least new uniforms)
• The City of Las Vegas ($100 bazillion in gambling revenue)
• Brent (from my bracket pool), if UConn doesn’t pull out some better skills. ($50)

In case you didn’t catch the glaring omission from this list of high earners, it’s the players!  As David Zirin says, the student-athletes who make this tournament possible receive

Not a dime to reflect a season’s worth of hard work, weeks of additional labor in the tournament, risks of injury and – most of all – millions of dollars in revenue that they and only they make possible.

Is it fair that we expect these students to play for the love of the game when they generate almost as much wealth for networks and teams as professional athletes do? NCAA President Myles Brand has vocally spoken out against compensation for student athletes, claiming

“Student-athletes should not be commercially exploited, because they are students, not professionals.”

But what is more exploitative?  Is it commercializing student athletes by providing them some form of compensation for the very hard work they do?  Or is it preventing these adults from getting even a small portion of the vast amount of wealth they generate?

Perhaps those who oversee and manage this tournament every year should ask themselves what would happen if the student athletes formed a union.  Or worse, if they went on strike.  Now that would be March Madness.

Go UConn!

Image from tvworthwatching.com

Well, it’s Friday afternoon, and that means the weekend is almost here!  W00t! Perhaps you’re reading this blog because you’re bored at work or school and you’re thinking about what you want to do this weekend.  How about spending part of your weekend fighting slavery?  Each week I’ll profile a different anti-trafficking nonprofit who you can connect with to help free slaves and prevent slavery around the world.  So, spend a couple hours this weekend getting to know this nonprofit through their website, and then get involved!

This Week’s Profile: Ahava Kids

The Bottom Line: Ahava Kids is dedicated to the rescue and care of human trafficking victims in the United States and throughout the world, through coordinated efforts of Intervention, Care and Prevention.

What They Do: Ahava Kids has programs focused on intervention, including CyberVention; care, such as safe houses in New England and Georgia and emergency rescue services; and prevention and training programs.

What Can I Do?: Their website has tons of suggestions for ways to get involved and raise awareness in your community, including tools for planning events.  They also have an online wishlist and an opportunity for you to donate through their website.

Why They Rock: If you want to be touched and inspired, read the success stories on their website.  They are providing incredibly crucial immediate care to child trafficking victims in the U.S., and helping them move forward with free, safe, and healthy lives. 

So now that you’ve got some basic information on Ahava Kids, visit their websitethis weekend and get involved.  And on Monday morning when everyone else is talking about sleeping in and watching tv over the weekend, you can say, “What did I do this weekend?  Oh, just the usual- abolition of slavery.”

Do you have a favorite nonprofit you’d like to see featured here?  If so, let me know!

The director of public prosecutions has dropped the murder charge against an Australian teen accused of killing her stepfather after he had repeatedly raped and abused her for four years.  According to the details of the case which were released to the press, the girl’s father held her captive from the time she was 14 until she was 18, at which point she shot him with his own shot gun.

In addition to abusing his daughter, the stepfather made proflic amounts of pornography, including

Almost 10,000 images of sexual intercourse and sex acts, taken by the man on a digital camera, were found by police on discs and memory sticks after her arrest.

This case is sad and disturbing on so many counts, but it bring up a very important point: sometimes, the first contact trafficking and abuse victims may have with the justice system are as offenders, not victims.  While this case of murder is extreme (though not unheard of), human trafficking victims are often arrested for drug or immigration violations related to their trafficking.  In some cases, the trafficker forced the victim to commit a criminal act, such as pimps who force their victims to sell drugs in addition to themselves.  But in a lot of other cases, victim’s may commit the act as a direct result of the trafficking.  For example, a trafficking victim may use drugs to self-medicate or end up in a situation without proper immigration documents because of his or her trafficking experience.  Either way, an offense does not nullify their experience as a trafficking victim. 

It’s important to keep in mind the complexity of many of these cases, and than some victims may not look like victims at first glance.