International Human Trafficking and Migration
Will 2010 Olympics and World Cup Boost Forced Prostitution?
Published July 14, 2009 @ 12:00PM PT
Next year promises to be a big one for sports fans, with the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada and the World Cup in South Africa. But will those same events make it a big year for pimps and traffickers as well? Do major sporting events boost forced prostitution?
There are competing answers, with both sides using statistics from former world-wide sporting events to support their position. The Future Group recently released a report stating that there was a significant risk of increased trafficking into prostitution in Vancouver during the upcoming Olympics. They cite the comparison of the 2004 Athens Olympics, during which the number of trafficking victims identified in Greece doubled. On the other hand, a different report from Vancouver's Sex Worker Safety Action group says that there will be no significant increase in women forced into prostitution during the Olympics. They cite the 2006 World Cup in Germany, which had no significant increase in the number of trafficking victims identified, despite the high estimates from advocacy groups. It seems very little data is available from the 2008 Beijing games, due to the Chinese government's data censorship.
The logical basis behind the argument that major sporting events pose a threat to increase trafficking of women and children into commercial sex is that these events draw massive numbers of men into one place. Sometimes these men are single, traveling without their families, or in a group of friends; sometimes they are drinking. It stands to reason that some of these men might demand commercial sex as entertainment during their trip, and traffickers will supply the women to meet that increased demand.
It's logical, yes, but does it happen? Athens saw a spike in human trafficking, but Germany did not. Was the difference the prevention campaigns which were conducted in Germany? Was the Olympics perceived as more profitable by the traffickers than the World Cup? Were men at the World Cup in Germany less interested in buying sex than the men in Greece? We may not know for sure, at least not until we have better information.
Both Vancouver and South Africa, as well as a number of international organizations, are preparing for the possible increase in human trafficking in 2010. I hope that other groups are also preparing to collect better data at these events as well, so we can continue to better understand what sorts of events motivate traffickers to force women into prostitution and how we can prevent them from doing so in the future. It would be a true celebration if 2010 were known only for excellence in athletics, and not in exploitation.
NYC Teens Tackle Child Sex Trafficking Via Digital Film
Published July 01, 2009 @ 07:30AM PT
What do you get when you combine a group of New York City teens, digital animation, and a passion for ending child sex trafficking? You get Discovered, a machinima (digital animation created by filming video games) film on child sex trafficking, produced entirely by high school students. You also get a group of teens who know what it means to put the "act" in activism.
"We picked child sex trafficking because it wasn't as popular, people don't talk about it as much," said Megan Butcher, 17, one of the filmmakers. "We want more people to be aware of this problem and we hope it will end soon."
Discovered was created as part of the Virtual Video Project, a project of Global Kids, which works to transform urban youth into successful students and global and community leaders by engaging them in socially dynamic, content-rich learning experiences. This past weekend, the filmmakers presented their work at the first annual (o.o) Festival on digital media. The youth project fair featured a wide variety of digital media, including digital comics, serious game designs, animated movies, assistive technology projects, and do-it-yourself tech support. But it was the Global Kids Youth Leaders who innovatively used digital animation and design to educate their peers about issues of human trafficking.
"I hope when people watch this movie, they will feel that there is a problem, that this can happen to anyone easily," says Evin Cruz, 16, of his film. "Now they are aware of this, they can help. I hope people can be more aware of what goes on, and I hope the government can play a stronger role in what's happening to end the suffering."
You can watch Discovered below. It tells the story of a young girl who is lured from her home in Mexico to America, the abuses she suffers while in the U.S., and the challenges the government faces in combating human trafficking. It is eloquently written, creative, and mature; I would not have ordinarily guessed it had been created by young people. Then again, these are obviously extraordinary young people.
Human Trafficking and International Marriage Brokers
Published June 24, 2009 @ 12:00PM PT
Editor's Note: Special thanks to the Tahirih Justice Center, experts on the potential for abuse and exploitation through the international marriage broker industry, for providing the background information for my comments here. You can read more about their great work protecting women and girls at www.tahirih.org.
Recently, Change.org community members rallied together and successfully asked Diners Club to stop financing mail order brides. This was a great victory because of the incredible potential of abuse and trafficking of women through international marriage broker (IMB) and mail order bride agencies. A woman recruited by an IMB is particularly susceptible to abuse for many reasons: she has less opportunity to get to know her future husband personally, she may not know her rights, she may not speak much English, her husband may expect her to be submissive, her husband may feel like her owns her since he paid for her, and her dependence on her husband for immigration status and financial support may keep her trapped in a violent relationship.
Fortunately, in 2006, we got the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA) to help protect women who use IMBs from becoming trapped in trafficking or domestic violence. IMBRA provides foreign fiancés/spouses with information about the violent criminal history of their American fiancés/spouses and the rights and resources available to domestic violence victims to help them make informed decisions. It also prevents IMBs from advertising minors. What IMBRA doesn't prevent is law-abiding people from marrying whomever they choose; it instead empowers women to make informed choices and prevents serial predators from using international marriage as a way to lure victims.
IMBRA doesn't regulate even-playing-field services like Match.com, because IMBs' profit model and marketing practices uniquely place women at greater risk for abuse. The economic motivation to satisfy the American male who is the paying client, without regard for the safety of the non-paying foreign female recruit, who is typically from a poor or economically depressed country, simply does not exist with other types of services that do not profit from the satisfaction of only one party.
One of the things I find most upsetting about these IMBs is the blatant objectification and racism that they use to sell women. Many frame women as objects, using phrases like "satisfaction guaranteed", "add Olga to my order", and compare the process to "ordering a pizza." Here are some examples of racist quotes from real websites:
"Women from Asia are feminine. They are normally petite and slender with delicate bone structure...Women from Asia value marriage. They do not believe in divorce. They marry for life... Husband and children never take second place to her career." (http://www.heart-of-asia.com/gen/whyasia.html)
"[Russian women] are much more patient and can tolerate things that Western women will never be able to bear. ... Another important difference is that Russian women (and Russians in general) have very low self-esteem." (http://www.womenrussia.com/faq.htm#husbands)
To say that all Asian women choose family over their career is racist and unfair to the many hardworking, career-focused Asian women in the world trying to be recognized for their achievements. And to market a woman as "having low self-esteem"? That to me is nauseating and unacceptable. IMBs pose not only a danger to individual women who use them, but they objectify and degrade women as a whole.
Image from current.com
Is Hershey's Secret Ingredient Child Slavery?
Published June 23, 2009 @ 08:24AM PT
What do you think is the secret ingredient of a Hershey bar? Sugar, milk, or cocoa? What about the slave labor of thousands of children? Across Western Africa, and especially in the Ivory Coast, children are held in slavery and exploitative labor situations. And it's all in the name of chocolate produced by the world's leading corporations.
Children enslaved and abused in the cocoa industry are made to work excruciatingly long days, and are often beaten if they try and leave or refuse to work. Many have been forced to pick cocoa with open wounds, or covered in their own excrement. The cocoa farms of the Ivory Coast where some of the worst cases of child slavery and labor exploitation have been found are also the world's largest supplier of cocoa, making up 40% of the global market. The Hershey Company, on their website, specifically mentions sourcing cocoa from the Ivory Coast and Western Africa.
Right now, there is something you and the Hershey Company can do to help ensure that child slavery isn't the secret ingredient in a Hershey Bar. Ask Hershey to end child slavery and go fair trade. The best way to end child slavery in the chocolate industry is for major chocolate companies like Hershey to buy Fair Trade Certified cocoa. Other large chocolate companies like Cadbury and Mars have recently made a commitment to ending child slavery in Africa by buying Fair Trade. However, Hershey has not agreed to any third-party certification programs for their cocoa supply. In fact, Hershey since owns the license to produce Cadbury products in the US, Hershey could become a global leader in Fair Trade cocoa sourcing. But the Hershey Company needs to know that we want an end to child slavery in our chocolate! We want our cocoa to be to be Fair Trade certified!
Please, take five minutes to tell Hershey how important it is for them to help end child slavery in Africa by calling them today at 1-800-468-1714 as part of the International Labor Rights Forum's call-in campaign, or by sending a letter to the Vice President of Marketing and Vice President of Global Sourcing for the Hershey Company here.
Together, we can help end child slavery in cocoa. Because exploitation should never be the secret ingredient.
Neon Robo-Ferret Identifies Trafficked Persons
Published June 18, 2009 @ 12:00PM PT
If you asked me to guess the five technological developments this year that will help end human trafficking, a neon robotic cargo-sniffing ferret would not have been on that list. But that's exactly what the UK-based Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has developed as a way to identify trafficking victims being smuggled into the country.
This new machine can apparently identify not just humans, but also guns and drugs being moved illegally. The technology is a pretty far leap ahead of what has existed, since it will allow border patrol officials to identify what substance something is made out of (i.e. human flesh, wood, powder, etc.) as opposed to only the density. Very cool technology, but I'm at a loss as to why they call it a ferret. It looks more like three thread spools designed in 1986 connected by Legos. The last ferret I saw in person was at a 6th grade show-an-tell and it was significantly furrier (and smellier) than the one pictured here. So what about this machine could possibly be ferret-like? Well, according to developer Dr. Tony Todd,
"The ferret will be able to drop small probes down through the cargo and so pinpoint exactly where contraband is concealed."
Back in 6th grade, we referred to what a ferret would drop as "ferret-pellets", but I see this research team has gone with the more scientific "probes." And while we grown-up and educated scientists and activists may see the distinct difference, a 6th grader reading this story will come to a simpler and wiser conclusion: that the future of anti-trafficking technology is robot poop. In this field, I never cease to be surprised.
And for those of you who thought this blog was too high-minded for the occasional poop joke, I hope you never cease to be either.
U.S., Europe Tackle Diplomats as Traffickers
Published June 18, 2009 @ 06:05AM PT
A few years ago, a Tanzanian man living in Maryland enslaved a girl in his home, forcing her to work for no pay in horrid conditions, including forcing her to shovel snow in her bare feet. Was this man a war lord? A career criminal or mob boss? No. He was a diplomat.
While it may seem shocking that diplomats can be traffickers, it is not at all uncommon. It's usual for a diplomat or his family to bring over someone from their home country (usually female) to work (usually in the home). However, the trafficking begins when that working situation becomes exploitative- the worker cannot leave, wages are withheld, beatings administered, sexual advances made, etc.
The U.S., France, and Belgium are all focusing on developing strategies to identify and bring to justice this particularly slippery brand of trafficker. Why are they so difficult to hold accountable? Diplomats enjoy something called "diplomatic immunity", which basically means they can't be sued or prosecuted while doing their jobs. There are more complex laws regarding what under what circumstances a diplomat can be held accountable legally, but immunity makes diplomats much harder to prosecute than average citizens. It's a great protection for diplomats doing their jobs in conflict zones, but also unfortunately for diplomats who traffic workers.
It's an uphill battle, but there are ways to better protect diplomats' workers. The U.S. is building a database to better track diplomats' workers, while France is working to improve victim identification in this population. Belgium has started prosecuting diplomatic offenders. Hopefully, the example set by these three countries will lead others to recognize that diplomat-traffickers are a real issue, and that not some traffickers will appear to upstanding citizens on the outside. To know the truth, we must look beneath the surface.
Image from upload.wikimedia.org
