Somaly Mam Foundation

In exploring The Huffington Post's coverage of International Women's Day (today!), I stumbled across an organization I had not heard of previously. It is called Somaly Mam Foundation, and it was started by the foundation's namesake, herself a former victim of trafficking, rape, and violence. Their umbrella goals are action, advocacy, and awareness - these are accomplished through rescue and recovery, education, reintegration, and global awareness.

I am inspired by the sheer number of organizations and individuals working for this human rights issue!

From their website:
Founded in 2007 by trafficking survivor, Somaly Mam, the Foundation is dedicated to ending sex slavery around the world with a results-oriented, three-step approach: Action, Advocacy & Awareness.
The common thread woven through all of our programs is the collective voice of the survivors. We model our vision after Somaly’s inspiring life, ensuring that survivors take charge in reclaiming their lives, fighting back against their former oppressors, and refusing to turn their backs on those who remain behind.

Visit Somaly Mam Foundation's website at: http://www.somaly.org/programs

Somaly Mam also wrote a book chronicling her journey from oppression to advocacy. Find her book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Road-Lost-Innocence-Cambodian-heroine/dp/0385526210

It's International Women's Day!

Today, March 8, is not only Women's Day, but it is the 100th anniversary of Women's Day. Women's rights are intimately tied with the issues of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. There are so many ways the average person can call attention to these social justice issues!

I am presenting this blog in class tomorrow and I will have a letter and petition for my classmates to sign going to Congressman Jim McDermott (7th district which includes Seattle, Vashon Island, and portions of Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Tukwila, SeaTac, and Burien). The letter details how critical it is that the United States supports policy that helps the millions of women around the world with poverty, education, and health.

Here are some other ideas to honor International Women's Day:

• "Join Me on the Bridge" Event:

The largest events are taking place on the Brookyn Bridge in New York, the Millenium Bridge in London, and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, but there are over 100 grassroots events on other bridges around the globe. You can use google street view to virtually attend any of these events.

From the video below: Women do 2/3 of the world's work and produce 1/2 of the world's food, yet only make 10% of the world's income and own 1% of the property.

Event site: https://sites.google.com/site/internationalwomensday2011/

• International women's organization CARE is celebrating Women's Day with a TwitChange auction on Ebay. Twitter lovers can bid to have a celebrity follow them or re-tweet them. Proceeds support CARE's programs to help impoverished women around the world!

Auction site: http://stores.ebay.com/twitchangeauction

CARE's site: http://www.care.org/index.asp

• Test your knowledge about women's rights history and violence against women advocacy:

Quiz site: http://www.saynotoviolence.org/quiz

• For $65 (less than $0.20 a day!) you can educate a young girl for an entire year. Research overwhelmingly tells us that education is one of the primary vehicles for lifting oppression and improving the lives of girls and women around the world (it also makes them less vulnerable to sexual exploitation and trafficking!).

To donate $65 (provides books, education, teacher training and other vitals) please go to:
http://www.savethechildren.org/c.cvKSIeO0IjJ4H/b.6231309/site/apps/ka/ec/Product.asp?ProductID=852915

Or visit the Save the Children website to find other ways to get involved:
http://www.savethechildren.org/

• Finally, VISIT THE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY OFFICIAL WEBSITE:

http://www.internationalwomensday.com/default.asp

Cheers!

Sign the Body Shop Petition to End Human Trafficking!

"

2008 Trafficking in Persons Report

The 2008 Trafficking in Persons Report on 170 countries is the most comprehensive worldwide report on the efforts of governments to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons. Its findings will raise global awareness and spur countries to take effective actions to counter trafficking in persons.

The annual Trafficking in Persons Report serves as the primary diplomatic tool through which the U.S. Government encourages partnership and increased determination in the fight against forced labor, sexual exploitation, and modern-day slavery.

Tier 1 (Full compliance with the minimum standards of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA))   Tier 2 (Significant efforts to comply with TVPA)   Tier 2 Watch List (Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards AND a) The absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant or is significantly increasing; or b) There is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year; or c) The determination that a country is making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with minimum standards was based on commitments by the country to take additional future steps over the next year)   Tier 3 (No efforts to comply with TVPA)   No data/Special

The Tier Rankings for countries of interest to http://HumanTrafficking.org are:

» Australia: Tier 1
» Burma: Tier 3
» Cambodia: Tier 2
» China: Tier 2 Watch List
» Hong Kong SAR: Tier 1
» Indonesia: Tier 2
» Japan: Tier 2
» Lao PDR: Tier 2
» Malaysia: Tier 2 Watch List
» Mongolia: Tier 2
» New Zealand: Tier 1 
» Philippines: Tier 2
» Singapore: Tier 2
» South Korea: Tier 1
» Taiwan: Tier 2
» Thailand: Tier 2
» Vietnam: Tier 2

To download the full Trafficking in Persons Report, visit: http://www.state.gov/g/tip

"We are pleased that in the seven years since the creation of the Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, the United States and our friends and allies have made important strides in confronting the reality that human beings continue to be bought and sold in the twenty-first century. It has been gratifying to witness the determined governments, human rights and women’s groups, faith-based organizations, and many brave individuals who are dedicated to advancing human dignity worldwide. Trafficking and exploitation plague all nations, and no country, even ours, is immune."
    --Secretary Rice, June 4, 2008

Sweatshop Hall of Shame 2010

Although this blog primarily focuses on human trafficking with specific focus on child sexual exploitation, a peripheral issue is unjust labor practices and exploitation of all kinds. 

Find out more from the International Labor Rights Forum. 

The Sweatshop Hall of Shame 2010 highlights apparel and textile companies that use sweatshops in their global production. Hall of Shame inductees are responsible for evading fair labor standards and often are slow to respond or provide no response at all to any attempts by the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), workers, or others to improve working conditions. 

  

The official inductees of the 2010 Sweatshop Hall of Shame are: Abercrombie and Fitch, Gymboree, Hanes, Ikea, Kohl’s, LL Bean, Pier 1 Imports, Propper International, and Walmart.  This list also includes an Honorable Mention to the American Apparel and Footwear Association, a national trade association representing apparel and footwear companies.  This association has exhibited a flagrant disregard for workers’ rights by primarily focusing on maintaining trade with Honduras in the middle of a military coup.

The alleviation of sex traffic through a social work lens

Summary: These articles address the alleviation of the child sex trade from a social worker's point of view. As a future educator, I find this extremely helpful, as every employee of a school district also acts as a social worker from time to time. The breakdown the author provides for the "script" of exploitation follows the generally accepted elements: recruitment, extraction, control, violence, and exploitation (this is not necessarily linear - violence, in particular, continues to factor in and is a means of control).




Sexual trafficking in the United States: a domestic problem with transnational dimensions (Social Work)

Hodge DR

Abstract: The trafficking of young women and children for prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation is one of the most significant human rights abuses in contemporary society. In keeping with the social work profession's commitment to social justice, this article examines the issue of sexual trafficking in the United States. The transnational scope of the problem is discussed along with the means that traffickers use to recruit, transport, and initiate victims from around the world into the sex industry in the United States. Some legislative responses to the problem are discussed, and a number of suggestions are offered to help social workers advocate on behalf of some of the most vulnerable and oppressed people in the global community.

Human Rights
Prostitution -- United States

To purchase full article, go to:

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/40544893/Sexual-Trafficking-in-the-United-States-A-Domestic-Problem-with-Transnational-Dimensions

Young People Abused through Prostitution: Some Observations for Practice - Practice (Social Work in Action)

Author: Margaret Melrose

Abstract This paper discusses the situation of young people sexually exploited through prostitution noting the semantic and practical shifts that have occurred in relation to this issue as it has risen up the political agenda in recent years. It explores what we know about the context in which the commercial sexual exploitation of young people occurs, the scale of the problem and the processes through which young people become involved. The paper then considers what these young people might need in terms of practice responses if they are to be supported out of prostitution.

Keywords: young people; commercial sexual exploitation; prostitution; child abuse To purchase full article, go to: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a713665954~frm=abslink?words=young,people,abused,through,prostitution,some,observations,practice

Sex Trafficking Into The United States: A Literature Review (Criminal Justice Review)

(This article is an excellent primer and introduction to the issue of the domestic sex trade)

Edward J. Schauer and

1. Elizabeth M. Wheaton

1. ¹Prairie View A&M University
2. ²Temple University

Abstract

This study is an investigation of the literature relating to the trafficking of women and children into the United States for sexual exploitation. The intent is to discover the extent and complexity of the problem, the cost in both human and economic terms, and research directions toward the development of probable political, legal, economic, and social solutions. A subject rife with research possibilities and probable solutions, trafficking is poorly defined, differentially and intermittently quantified, and handicapped by obsolete legal codes and a sexist prostitution enforcement paradigm. Recommended are state statute creation, police training and paradigm change, and increased/broadened victims’ services.

• sex trafficking
 
• economics
 
• sex work
 
• feminism
 
• United States

• To purchase full article, go to:

• http://cjr.sagepub.com/content/31/2/146.abstract

Girl, woman, lover, mother: towards a new understanding of child prostitution among young Devadasis in rural Karnataka, India (Social Science & Medicine)

Summary/Commentary of article: While I cannot say that I agree with the author's assertions, they certainly place the sexual exploitation of children into a completely new framework that is interesting to consider. The author argues that in some parts of India, prostitution can give girls from certain castes more social weight and provide them with a vocation and identity they would not otherwise have been able to achieve. I parallel this to the contemporary argument for legalization of adult prostitution in westernized countries. Through my research, I have come to believe that, while it can be done in a way where no adults are marginalized, it has been proven time after time that child prostitutes are easier to find in places that have legal adult prostitution. The black market thrives where laws are lenient (http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/about/slavery/). 

Girl, woman, lover, mother: towards a new understanding of child prostitution among young Devadasis in rural Karnataka, India (Social Science & Medicine)


Treena Rae Orchard

Abstract:

The emotive issue of child prostitution is at the heart of international debates over ‘trafficking’ in women and girls, the “new slave trade”, and how these phenomena are linked with globalization, sex tourism, and expanding transnational economies. However, young sex workers, particularly those in the ‘third world’, are often represented through tropes of victimization, poverty, and “backwards” cultural traditions, constructions that rarely capture the complexity of the girls’ experiences and the role that prostitution plays in their lives. Based on ethnographic fieldwork with girls and young women who are part of the Devadasi (servant/slave of the God) system of sex work in India, this paper introduces an alternative example of child prostitution. Demonstrating the ways in which this practice is socially, economically, and culturally embedded in certain regions of rural south India underlies this new perspective. I argue that this embeddedness works to create, inform, and give meaning to these girls as they grow up in this particular context, not to isolate and produce totally different experiences of family, gender identity, and moral character as popular accounts of child prostitution contend. Data pertaining to socialization, ‘positive’ aspects of being a young sex worker in this context, political economy, HIV/AIDS, and changes in the Devadasi tradition are used to support my position. Taken together, this alternative example presents a more complex understanding of the micro- and macro-forces that impact child prostitution as well as the many factors that affect the girls’ ideas of what they do and who they are as people, not just sex workers.

Keywords: Child prostitution; Sex work; Devadasis; India; Social construction of adolescence; Gender; HIV/AIDS

To purchase full article, go to:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VBF-4NF2HPJ-2&_user=10&_coverDate=06%2F30%2F2007&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=gateway&_origin=gateway&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1666525231&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=733fcbf22d756a1fae32dad7aa11b41c&searchtype=a

A Vocabulary Lesson

A program on KUOW's Weekday back in January discussed the ways in which modern vernacular has neutralized terms such as pimp and john. They made suggestions for substitutions so that it is clear that these are not glamorous or desirable things to be. Not only did it make me want to share this new, more appropriate vocabulary, I thought it a good opportunity to clarify other terms as well.

Pimp = Exploiter

John = Predator

Child Prostitute = Victim (children have not reached the age of consent, therefore cannot sell their bodies)

Commercial Sex Act = any sexual act for which something of value is given or received; this includes, but is not limited to, prostitution, stripping, survival sex (sex in exchange for a play to stay, food, etc.), and pornography

Human Trafficking = This term often refers specifically to individuals being coerced, kidnapped, or mislead into crossing state, national, and international borders (where they are difficult to track). But this term is a blanket term for any time an individual is bought and sold as property

The Problem with Prosecution

In the United States of America The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, enhances pre-existing criminal penalties in other related laws, affords new protections to trafficking victims and makes available certain benefits and services to victims of severe forms of trafficking. Under this law, one option that has become available to for some victims who assist in the prosecution of their traffickers is the "T-Visa" that allows the victim to remain in the United States of America.

Due to the highly clandestine nature of the crime of human trafficking, the great majority of human trafficking cases go unreported and culprits remain at large. There are reports that many human traffickers are associated with international criminal organizations and are, therefore, highly mobile and difficult to prosecute. Sometimes members of the local law enforcement agencies are involved in the lucrative business of illegal exportation or importation of human beings. Prosecution is further complicated by victims of trafficking being afraid to testify against traffickers out of fear for their and their family members' lives.

In order to combat the globalization of this criminal behavior, international policies and practices that encourage civil participation and cooperation with trafficking victims in the prosecution of traffickers have to be developed. Human trafficking laws must provide serious penalties against traffickers, including provisions for the confiscation of property and compensation for victims. At the same time, training is needed to ensure that an insensitive investigation and prosecution process does not further traumatize trafficking victims.

Technical cooperation among countries and international law enforcement agencies is essential for investigating the extent and forms of trafficking and documenting activities of international criminal organizations. Special training is needed to develop the skills of local law enforcement agencies in the area of investigation and prosecution.

Source, transit, and destination countries should provide support mechanisms for trafficking victims involved in judicial activities. These would include extended witness protection services and opportunities to institute criminal and civil proceedings against traffickers. Destination countries should have a system of social support for victims and consider residency permission on humanitarian grounds for trafficking victims who cannot return home and/or cooperate with prosecutors.

It is also important that the police, prosecutors, and courts ensure that their efforts to punish traffickers are implemented within a system that is quick and respects and safeguards the rights of the victims to privacy, dignity, and safety.

(Courtesy of: Advocates for Abandoned Adolescents (http://advocatesforabandonedadolescents.com) Human Trafficking Organization (http.//www.humantrafficking.org), United States Victims Protection Act (www.state.gov/documents/organization/10492.pdf))

Children as Chattel of the State: Deconstructing the Concept of Sex Trafficking (The International Journal of Human Rights)

(This article is an excellent introduction to a topic I am extremely interested in: using age of consent laws to decriminalize child prostitution). 


Author: Sonja Grover

Abstract International human rights law protects against child prostitution and commercial child sexual trafficking. However, age of sexual consent laws in most jurisdictions permit the non-commercial sexual exploitation of children. Age of consent for prostitution is generally set higher than the general age of sexual consent or is banned as is commercial child sex trafficking. Many countries do not permit marriage for children to whom adults yet have broad, lawful sexual access outside of marriage. The more vigorous opposition to commercial as opposed to non-commercial adult-child sex demonstrates the State's concern with its own and not the child's best interest. Through the misappropriation of children's rights discourse, States have sought to rationalise their current age of sexual consent laws. The latter, however, engages the State, in effect, in domestic sexual trafficking of children. Children from vulnerable groups are especially at risk as the law frequently renders children as chattel of the State. To purchase full article, go to: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a780978302~frm=abslink?words=children,chattel,state,deconstructing,concept,sex,trafficking