tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53279528808892600402024-02-22T04:21:08.142-08:00Human Trafficking NewsProject Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.comBlogger92125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-10323979125047170562011-06-28T16:01:00.000-07:002011-06-28T16:01:59.545-07:00US government releases Trafficking in Persons Report for 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/images/06/27/t1larg.trafficking.map.cnn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/images/06/27/t1larg.trafficking.map.cnn.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A U.S. Government anti-slavery report published Monday throws the spotlight on countries it says are not meeting minimum anti-trafficking standards.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The U.S. State Department's Trafficking In Persons (TIP ) Report identifies countries that it says meet minimum standards, countries working towards them and countries that appear to be doing little to stop trafficking.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each country is put into one of four grades - Tier 1, Tier 2, Two Watch and Tier Three. The United States can impose sanctions on countries in the bottom tier. (See how the countries rank)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This year, the Dominican Republic was the only country to lift itself out of the bottom tier, and the Czech Republic was the only country to slip out of the top-ranked countries.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The TIP Report cited weak prevention efforts for labor trafficking and the lack of formal steps by the Czech government to reduce demand for commercial sex acts.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It said the Dominican Republic got a higher ranking for protecting more victims and making significant efforts to comply with the minimum standards laid down in the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the report was published, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: "This report is a tool and we are interested in working with countries around the world to get results."</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She said one focus will be countries where anti-trafficking laws are on the books but are rarely used to convict the traffickers. (Watch Clinton explain why trafficking is "unforgiveable")</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Africa, Nigeria and Mauritius kept their Tier 1 status - the only African nations in the top rank - while Algeria, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Libya, and Madagascar all dropped into Tier 3</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Asia, China stays on the Two Watch list while India moves off the Watch list and into Tier 2. The report credited India for law enforcement efforts but expressed concern over reports that corrupt officers facilitate sex trafficking.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CNN is seeking reaction of countries singled out for criticism. (See inside the TIP war room)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The report is compiled with the help of U.S. embassies, non-governmental organizations, aid groups and individuals who have submitted data or their own personal accounts.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It counts known cases of human trafficking in more than 175 countries, whether for commercial sex, bonded labor, child labor, involuntary domestic servitude or child soldiers.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And it tracks new legislation, prosecutions and convictions. (See how the report is compiled using 2010 figures)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tier 1 countries meet the minimum standards laid down in the TVPA but it does not also mean the country does not have trafficking issues or that it cannot improve beyond the minimum.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tier 2 countries don't fully comply with the minimum standards but are often seen as making significant progress.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tier 2 Watch countries have fallen short of the legislation's minimum standards despite making "significant efforts." It includes countries with high numbers of victims of severe forms of human trafficking.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tier 3 countries do not appear to be trying to reach the minimum standard - and they could face limited U.S. sanctions.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The report also honors as heroes 10 people around the world who are trying to stamp out human trafficking.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They include Amela Efendic, who works with trafficking victims in Bosnia-Herzegovina; Charimaya Tamang, a former sex slave who now runs an anti-trafficking organization in Nepal; and Dilcya Garcia, who has pioneered human trafficking prosecutions in Mexico.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/27/slavery-report-names-weak-link-nations/?hpt=hp_mid">Original article from CNN.</a></span>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-45432346178190639602011-01-03T14:54:00.000-08:002011-01-03T14:54:57.687-08:00Former Human Trafficking Victim Granted Clemency<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://change-production.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/wordpress_copies/criminaljustice/2011/01/00127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://change-production.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/wordpress_copies/criminaljustice/2011/01/00127.jpg" /></a></div>A woman who was 16 when she ambushed and killed her former pimp in a Southern California motel room has been granted clemency by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in his last full day in office.<br />
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Sara Kruzan, now 32, was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for the 1994 shooting death of George Gilbert Howard.<br />
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Prosecutors said Kruzan was no longer working for Howard when she killed him.<br />
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Calling her life sentence "excessive", Mr Schwarzenegger commuted Kruzan's sentence to 25 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole.<br />
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Her clemency petition cited years of abuse and psychiatric reports saying she suffered from battered women's syndrome.<br />
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Mr Schwarzenegger also commuted the manslaughter sentence of Esteban Nunez, the son of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez.<br />
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Saying that he thought the 16-year prison sentence Esteban Nunez was serving was "excessive" the governor reduced his sentence from 16 years to seven years.<br />
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Nunez pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon for his role in a fight that killed a 22-year-old man near San Diego State University in 2008.<br />
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Prosecutors said Nunez and friends went looking for a fight after they were refused entry to a fraternity party.<br />
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Original Article from: <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5g_dMAdNWfusutXI0CZD7YrcDJV-w?docId=N0429281294029509173A">Copyright © 2011 The Press Association. All rights reserved.</a>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-40983308146147164552010-09-30T14:55:00.000-07:002010-09-30T14:55:45.196-07:00CA Governor signs into law new anti-human trafficking legislation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://chrisstrangio.com/files/2010/03/gov_schwarzenegger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="197" src="http://chrisstrangio.com/files/2010/03/gov_schwarzenegger.jpg" width="200" /></span></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced today he has signed SB 657by Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) to help eliminate slavery and human trafficking from product supply chains.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">“Human trafficking is a terrible crime that goes against basic human rights and everything our country stands for,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “I am proud that in California, we have enacted some of the toughest laws to punish human traffickers and protect their victims. This legislation will increase transparency, allow consumers to make better, more informed choices and motivate businesses to ensure humane practices throughout the supply chain.”</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">SB 657 requires major retail sellers and manufacturers doing business in California to disclose their voluntary efforts to eradicate slavery and human trafficking from its direct supply chain for tangible goods offered for sale.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Governor has long been committed to eliminating the practice of human trafficking and providing protections for victims of illegal trafficking in California, including:</span></span><br />
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<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Signing AB 17 to increase financial penalties on those convicted of human trafficking by 400 percent and allow law enforcement to seize assets connected to traffickers, which can greatly increase the financial loss for traffickers. Half of what is collected in fines and seizures will also be made available to community-based organizations that serve underage victims of human trafficking.</span></span></li>
</ul><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Enacting legislation to establish human trafficking as a crime and increasing the severity of punishment for those that commit or benefit from this crime. One of the bills, AB 22, made human trafficking in California a felony punishable by up to eight years in state prison.</span></span></li>
</ul><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Signing legislation to grant further rights to victims of human trafficking and establishing a pilot program to provide standardized training curricula on the sexual exploitation of minors.</span></span></li>
</ul><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Enacting AB 1278 which prohibits contracts that siphon future wages in exchange for the costs of transporting an individual to the U.S.</span></span></li>
</ul><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Signing a joint statement in 2006 with then-Mexican President Vicente Fox committing to cooperate on border security solutions including combating human trafficking along the U.S.-Mexico border.</span></span></li>
</ul><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Signing SB 1569 to extend crucial support services like Medi-Cal and Healthy Families to victims of human trafficking. </span></span></li>
</ul><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Urging greater cooperation among U.S.-Mexico Border States at the XXVI Annual Border Governor’s Conference to put a stop to this human rights violation and increase awareness through a policy forum hosted by First Lady Maria Shriver, entitled "Human Trafficking...A Unified Call to Action." The forum featured experts from the U.S. and Mexico, including leaders in the fields of law enforcement, international human rights, victim assistance and human trafficking survivors who discussed the impact human trafficking has had on the border region and the collaborative solutions needed to fight it.</span></span></li>
</ul><div><a href="http://www.gov.ca.gov/press-release/16091/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Original Story from gov.ca.gov</span></span></a></div>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-59872848499490003662010-09-23T14:18:00.000-07:002010-09-23T14:18:04.306-07:00Chinese making huge strides in fighting human trafficking<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://21st-centurynetwork.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/chinesechildren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="http://21st-centurynetwork.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/chinesechildren.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Beijing – Chinese police freed as of 6 September 10,621 women and 5,896 children abducted for human trafficking since the Public Security Ministry launched a crackdown in April last year. Nationwide, police broke up 2,398 human trafficking gangs and arrested 15.673 suspects, state news agency Xinhua reported.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In order to make it easier to find victims and reunite them with their family, police also set up a database that collects DNA samples of victims and their parents. So far, the database has helped 813 children find their biological parents through DNA matching, the Ministry said.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">China’s zero tolerance policy has led to a heavy crackdown on traffickers. Between January and July, 1,238 people were sentenced to either death, life in prison or at least five years in prison, a spokesperson for the Supreme People's Court said. This is 75 per cent more than last year. However, media reports have not indicated how the crackdown has affected the overall problem.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In recent years, media have reported cases involving the abduction of children and the mentally disabled, eventually forced to work, especially in the brick making industry, after being abducted. Police have freed hundreds of such slaves and determined that their captivity was the result of collusion between businesses and local authorities.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Another widespread form of human trafficking is the buying and selling of newborn children, especially for young couples or childless older couples.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In August, Yang Dong, deputy chief of the Criminal Investigation Department, told that the China Daily that between 30,000 to 60,000 children are reported missing every year, but that it is hard to estimate how many of them are trafficking cases.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The situation is especially troubling for the children of migrant workers, who are often handed over to relatives when parents work far from home or even forced to live alone.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idCategory=33&idsub=128&id=40145&t=China:+++Human+trafficking:+Chinese+police+frees+17,000+children+and+women">Original Story from SperoNews.com</a></span></span>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-48795703273554088002010-08-20T14:07:00.000-07:002010-08-20T14:08:52.451-07:00Human trafficking ring busted in Los Angeles<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://media.trb.com/media/photo/2010-08/55656228.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://media.trb.com/media/photo/2010-08/55656228.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">BALDWIN PARK -- Police have arrested two men accused of human trafficking after 36 suspected illegal immigrants were found inside a Baldwin Park house believed to have been used as a holding cell.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">At around 7:00 p.m., officers form the Baldwin Park Police Department say they received a call from an alarmed man claiming to be an illegal immigrant being held against his will.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Arriving officers saw several suspects fleeing the home in the 5000 block of La Rica Road in Baldwin Park.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">After an investigation, officers discovered several men, women and one child being held inside the home.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Police believe they had been in the residence for up to one month.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">They were smuggled into the country illegally from Mexico and Central America and were being held until family members paid a certain sum of money, Lt. David Reynoso said.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-baldwin-park-drop-house,0,448830.story">Original Article from KTLA.com</a></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Image from KTLA.com showing officers outside of slave home</span></span></div>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-17418065378440740742010-08-19T11:46:00.000-07:002010-08-19T11:51:11.855-07:00Nail salons front for human trafficking in Ohio<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://media.namx.org/images/editorial/2010/07/0721/abuja_nails/abuja_nails_500x279.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 179px;" src="http://media.namx.org/images/editorial/2010/07/0721/abuja_nails/abuja_nails_500x279.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">What is described as a multimillion-dollar human-trafficking scheme is operating out of nail salons in Ohio, with immigrants from Southeast Asia - many of them illegal - being forced to work as "indentured servants" in exchange for passage to the U.S.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Kevin L. Miller, executive director of the Ohio Board of Cosmetology, said he expects "indictments and arrests" statewide in the next 60 days or so. State and local law-enforcement agencies, the FBI, Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are investigating, he said.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">The legal problems involve human trafficking, illegal immigration, identify theft, fraudulent license testing and potential national security threats, said Miller, who added that he could not provide specifics because of the ongoing investigation.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">The matter came up at yesterday's meeting of the Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission, convened by Attorney General Richard Cordray.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">"It's a huge concern in most jurisdictions around the state of Ohio," Cordray said.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">The cosmetology board annually licenses 145,000 people who work in nail shops, hair salons and tanning parlors.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">"We're talking just in the state of Ohio about thousands of people who have fraudulently got their licenses," Miller said.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">He told the commission that immigrants from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries, often brought illegally to the U.S. for a price, are given "laundered" false identities, including fake high-school diplomas, driver's licenses, immigration papers and other documents.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">The employee then becomes an "indentured servant," working for the employer for two years for little or sometimes no money to pay off their debt. Often, the employees are required to live on the premises. The agency documented one case where 16 licensees lived at the same address.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Neither Miller nor Cordray commented specifically about homeland security issues. However, in his report to the commission, Miller referred by means of background to Najibullah Zazi, an al-Qaida operative who plotted to blow up New York subway stations using chemicals found in nail polish remover and hair dye.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">The problem of illegal immigrants working in nail salons has cropped up in the past in Ohio and nationwide, but little has been done.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">"It's easy to hide in plain sight," Miller said. "If they can get a driver's license, an address, a place where they went to school, they're all set."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">The human-trafficking commission also discussed the need for more training for Ohio law-enforcement agencies. A majority of agencies which responded to a 2009 survey doubted their ability to recognize signs of human and labor trafficking; all wanted more training.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Lt. Matt Warren, head of the State Highway Patrol's criminal intelligence unit and a member of the human-trafficking panel, cited two cases in 2009 when training paid off in rescuing underage girls who were likely to become trafficking victims.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">He said a trooper stopped an Idaho trucker for speeding near Athens last year and was suspicious about the 17-year-old girl in the passenger seat. Trained to recognize the signs of human trafficking, the trooper began asking questions and found the trucker was a sex offender who met the mentally challenged teenager online, picked her up in Marion and was transporting her when he was stopped for the traffic violation.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Similarly, a seemingly routine stop rescued a 17-year-old Detroit girl who was being trafficked at truck stops in the Lima and Dayton areas.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">ajohnson@dispatch.com</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/08/19/copy/human-traffickers-supply-nail-salon-workers.html?adsec=politics&sid=101"><span class="Apple-style-span">Original Article from The Columbia Dispatch</span></a></span></div>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-46479700561365076052010-08-18T12:25:00.000-07:002010-08-18T12:27:10.350-07:00UK says 2,600 women trafficked to brothels<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/userpics/10004/prostitution.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 327px;" src="http://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/userpics/10004/prostitution.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >(Reuters) - Almost 10 percent of women working in brothels in England and Wales are migrants who are victims of human trafficking and come mainly from Asia, police said on Wednesday.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >A report by the Association of Chief Police Officers into the sexual exploitation of foreign nationals found that 17,000 of the 30,000 women who worked in brothels or other similar premises were migrants</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >Of these, 2,600 were deemed to have been trafficked, with 2,200 originally from Asia, mainly China. A further 9,200 women were considered to be vulnerable and who might be further victims of trafficking.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><span class="Apple-style-span" >The "Setting the Record" report was the result of a year-long study titled Project Acumen, commissioned by ACPO to discover the true extent of trafficking in "off-street prostitution."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >"It provides us with a more sophisticated and nuanced understanding of how migrant women are involved in prostitution -- how they are influenced, controlled, coerced, exploited and trafficked," said Deputy Chief Constable Chris Eyre.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >The government said that in order to tackle the issue it was important they had a better understanding of the problem.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >"Human trafficking is a brutal form of organised crime where people are traded as commodities and exploited for profit by criminal gangs," said Immigration Minister Damian Green</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >"Having any number of people trafficked into the UK is unacceptable, therefore it is vital that we use Acumen to re-focus our efforts both at targeting the criminal gangs that trade in this human misery and in helping victims escape and recover from their ordeal."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Steve Addison)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE67H20320100818"><span class="Apple-style-span" >Original Article from Reuters UK</span></a></span></div>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-41835663272503536312010-08-16T12:26:00.000-07:002010-08-16T12:28:07.142-07:00FBI busts human trafficking ring in Florida<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://infosecurity.us/images/fbi_feature_graphic.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://infosecurity.us/images/fbi_feature_graphic.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A 15-year-old Jacksonville runaway is safe and getting therapy after the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office says she spent a month as a sex slave.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Ian Sean Gordan and Melvin Eugene Friedman have been indicted on federal felony counts of selling the 15-year-old girl to customers between February 24 and March 31.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Three other men, Oris Alexander English, Alfredo Martinez Riquene and Phillip Anthony Aiken have been arrested for buying the victim from Gordan and Friedman.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A sixth man, Antonio Ford, is charged with having knowledge of the child exploitation and failing to report the felonies to authorities.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"Such trafficking in the nature of this operation was tanamount to slavery," Sheriff John Rutherford said at a Monday afternoon news conference announcing the indictments. "The victim was forced to engage in acts of prostitution in exchange for money, shelter and drugs." </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Police would not elaborate on how the girl became involved with the suspects, but say she was held against her will until she was able to escape and call her mother.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Officials from the FBI believe the girl was held in several different locations around Jacksonville during her month in captivity and say it's possible more arrests are made in connection with this case.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"We had a case some time ago involving juveniles that were trafficked down here from Virginia," Mike Williams with the Sheriff's Office Special Investigations Unit said. "But this is the first local case that we've put together that involves a local citizen. And it's important to point out that human trafficking is not just an international or national problem. It's a local problem. And that's why we're so committed to rooting it out."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://wokv.com/localnews/2010/08/jso-fbi-bust-human-trafficking.html">Original Article from WOKV.com</a></span></span></div>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-56963390991039361782010-07-14T16:35:00.000-07:002010-07-14T16:37:29.037-07:00Florida woman pleads guilty to charge of sex slavery<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.lauraagustin.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/salvationarmyantitraff1.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 200px;" src="http://www.lauraagustin.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/salvationarmyantitraff1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">LEE COUNTY: A Southwest Florida woman pled guilty to charges relating to sex slavery. NBC2's Stacey Deffenbaugh was the only reporter in court as the woman told the judge what happened.<br /><br />During the one hour hearing Tuesday, 31-year-old, Naomi Vasquez told the judge she and a co-defendant would give illegal drugs to the victims and make them perform acts of prostitution for money.<br /><br />Click the links in the "Related Stories" section at the right to read the original article on Vasquez as well other NBC2 articles on sex slavery and human trafficking.<br />A 19-page plea agreement gives specific details of what happened. Police arrested Vasquez and co-defendant Derek Ned after two undercover operations.<br /><br />The three victims - all Cape Coral women, ages 27, 25 and 20 - worked with police to set up undercover stings and at the La Quinta Inn in Fort Myers and another location in Bonita Springs.<br /><br />According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the defendants were involved in a sex slavery organization that utilized women of Haitian and American descent, forcing them to commit acts of prostitution by threatening the women with serious bodily injury if they did not prostitute themselves.<br /><br />In court Tuesday, prosecutors outlined the case, saying the women performed as many as 10 acts of prostitution a day.<br /><br />They received between $150 and $300 and investigators say Vasquez and Ned kept all the money.<br /><br />The women told police they were afraid to leave because they heard Ned say he was a murderer and he was willing to kill again.<br /><br />Vasquez is facing 20 years in prison. But in court, prosecutors said they will be recommending the low end the sentence guideline.<br /><br />As for Derek Ned, prosecutors believe he was the mastermind of the sex slavery business and they will ask for a longer sentence in his case.<br /><br />By Stacey Deffenbaugh</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.nbc-2.com/Global/story.asp?S=12800736">Original Article from NBC-2</a></span></span></div>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-10454418007424529272010-07-08T14:19:00.000-07:002010-07-08T14:21:52.875-07:00Anti-Human Trafficking Activists protest against Craigslist in San Francisco<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://sfappeal.com/alley/images/126878082-54311f8b62e31741d47c159ad11a7836.4c362738-scaled.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 250px;" src="http://sfappeal.com/alley/images/126878082-54311f8b62e31741d47c159ad11a7836.4c362738-scaled.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">A large group of protesters is gathering outside Craigslist headquarters in San Francisco today to protest what they say is the facilitation of sex trafficking by the popular classified-ad website.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Dozens of human rights and anti-trafficking organizations will participate in the protest, scheduled for noon outside 1381 Ninth Ave.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The groups will be asking Craigslist to remove its "Adult Services" section, which they say encourages sexual exploitation.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Norma Ramos, executive director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, said Craigslist has "defied and defeated" state attorneys general, a lawsuit, and members of Congress who have tried to take on the company.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">"Nothing seems to get the message to this company that they are contributing to human trafficking in a very significant way, so we are bringing this message to their doorstep," Ramos said.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">A spokesperson for Craigslist was not immediately available for comment.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Ramos said the protest will feature picket lines, signs and a handful of speakers, including authors Aaron Cohen and Victor Malarek, and actress Terria Joseph, who is the mother of singer Alicia Keys.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">She said she hopes the protest will convince the company to change its policy.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">"It's a very simple request: stop hosting these ads, which are being used to facilitate human trafficking," Ramos said.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">A group of sex workers is also headed to Craigslist headquarters today for a counterprotest, said Rachel West, a spokeswoman for the US PROStitutes Collective.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The human rights groups are asking for a change that West said would put more women in danger rather than save them from exploitation.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">"It's pushing prostitution underground and making women more vulnerable to rape, violence and arrest," she said. "By closing down ways for women to be able to advertise, and working more safely indoors, we'll put women in more vulnerable positions."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Craigslist gets more than 20 billion page views per month, the seventh-highest total worldwide among English-language sites, and has more than 50 million users in the U.S. alone, according to the company's website.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Photo of protest: Tweetpic by Greg Dewar (@njudah)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://sfappeal.com/alley/2010/07/anti-sex-trafficking-protest-sex-worker-counter-protest-at-craigslist.php">Original Story from sfappeal.com</a></span></span></div>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-75178285951377469162010-07-07T11:38:00.000-07:002010-07-07T11:42:03.454-07:005 Ukrainian brothers charged with human trafficking in Philly<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.dosfunnyfrogs.com/PHILLY.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 280px; height: 320px;" src="http://www.dosfunnyfrogs.com/PHILLY.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Four Ukrainian brothers are under arrest and a fifth is being sought on charges that for seven years they staffed their Philadelphia cleaning business with illegal immigrants kept in virtual bondage by threats, intimidation and rape.</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br />U.S. Attorney Zane Memeger said the brothers found the mostly male workers in their native Ukraine, and smuggled them in through Mexico with the promise of a legitimate job.<br /><br />Instead, they worked 16 hour days cleaning retail and grocery stores and were paid little, if anything. The crimes are alleged to have occurred between 2000 and 2007.<br /><br />Memeger described the brothers as "human smugglers" who kept the workers in "involuntary servitude."<br /><br />One smuggled immigrant, a woman, was repeatedly raped by the oldest brother "in order to keep her in control" said Memeger. He was identified as Moylan "Milo" Botsvynyuk, 51, who was arrested Wednesday in Germany on an Interpol warrant and will be returned to the United States.<br /><br />The Botsvynyuks brothers confiscated the victims travel documents, and housed them five or six to a room as they were shuttled between jobs in New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Washington D.C.<br /><br />Moylan Botsvynyuk ran work crews out of a residence on the 3200 block of Aramingo Avenue, in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia, court records say. The home, a former retail shop, is in a neighborhood of well-kept row houses. The brothers also housed work crews in other nearby houses.<br /><br />About 30 victims were brought into the country illegally. Eight of the victims - two women and six men - have been identified and are cooperating with investigators, Memeger said. They will likely be allowed to remain in the country legally.<br /><br />"They are all recovering from a very traumatizing experience," said FBI Special Agent Ned Conway.<br /><br />One brother, Stepan Botsvynyuk, 35, was arrested in Philadelphia and was ordered held without bail pending a hearing next week. The other brothers had left the country after 2007 when the cleaning business was closed.<br /><br />Two of them, Mykhaylo Botsvynyuk and Yaroslav "Slavko" Churuk, 41, were arrested by Canadian police. Dmytro Botsvynyuk is in Ukraine, which does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.<br /><br />All the brothers were unaware of the investigation until law enforcement officials in the three nations swept in and placed them under arrest, said FBI Assistant Special Agent-In-Charge Douglas E. Linquist.<br /><br />The cleaning business in Philadelphia operated under a variety of names, and provided night time work crews at large and small grocery stores, and chains including Target, KMart, Walmart and Safeway.<br /><br />Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel A. Velez said the large discounters did not hire the immigrants directly, and were likely unaware of their status.<br /><br />Many of the victims were fresh out of the Ukrainian military and looking for a better life overseas. But upon arrival, the workers were told they owed at least $10,000 to the Botsyynyuk brothers, and had to work for essentially no pay until that debt was considered paid off.<br /><br />After some workers escaped, the brothers "resorted to. . .threats to the workers families in Ukraine." One worker was told an eight-year-old daughter in the Ukraine would be forced into prostitution.<br /><br />The investigation was conducted by the U.S. attorney's office, the FBI, Immigration and Customers Enforcement and state and local police.<br /><br />The brothers had all entered this country on tourist visas, but overstayed the time limit, law enforcement officials said.<br /><br />Memeger and Lindquist said the investigation, which started in 2005 with a tip from overseas, was lengthy because of language barriers, fear, and a mistrust of American police after experiences with law enforcement in their homeland.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/97508149.html?cmpid=15585797">Original Article from Philly.com</a></span></span></div>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-27246729592291183652010-06-29T10:43:00.000-07:002010-06-29T10:45:59.920-07:00Human Trafficking in Europe a 2.4 Billion Euro Industry<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://michaelscomments.files.wordpress.com/2006/12/amsterdam-red-light-district.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 230px;" src="http://michaelscomments.files.wordpress.com/2006/12/amsterdam-red-light-district.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">In Europe, trafficking in humans is a 2.4 billion euro industry. This is according to a new report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">At any one time, over 140,000 victims are trapped in this vicious cycle of violence, abuse and degradation across Europe with no clear sign of the overall number of victims decreasing. There is a high turnover of 50 per cent of trafficking victims in Europe with up to 70,000 additional victims being exploited every year.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Eighty four per cent of the victims in Europe are trafficked for sexual exploitation. Up to one of every seven sex workers in Europe could be enslaved into prostitution through trafficking. Victims are generally duped, mislead or forced into the service of criminal businesses which subdue and coerce their victims trapping them in a "bubble" of suppression and abuse which is difficult to escape.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The vast majority of victims are generally young women who are subjected to rape, violence or the threat of violence, drugged, imprisoned, have debt imposed on them, have their passport confiscated, blackmailed, subjected to false promises of employment or become victims of feigned love.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">In Europe over half of the victims come from the Balkans (32 per cent) and the former Soviet Union (19 per cent), with 13 per cent originating in South America, seven per cent in Central Europe, five per cent in Africa and three per cent in East Asia. Although victims from Eastern Europe tend to be found throughout Europe, victims from South America tend to be concentrated in several European countries. East Asian victims have also been increasingly detected in many European countries and in some countries are the top group being exploited.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.undispatch.com/node/9998">Original Article from UNdispatch.com</a></span></span></div>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-47212915386928305732010-06-28T15:58:00.000-07:002010-06-28T16:00:50.007-07:00New Jersey man sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for human trafficking<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://media.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impact/photo/nj-human-traffickingjpg-0b38a35145f33fdf_large.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 200px;" src="http://media.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impact/photo/nj-human-traffickingjpg-0b38a35145f33fdf_large.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">A West African immigrant was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison today for helping his mother run a human trafficking ring that forced women to braid hair at salons in Newark and East Orange.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Dereck Hounakey, 33, from Togo, stood shackled in a yellow jail-issue jumpsuit as U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares said his crime inflicted untold physical and psychological damage to more than 20 girls and women from West Africa, some just 10 years old.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">"The women were forced not only to work for free but to turn over any tips," said Linares, who ordered Hounakey to give the victims $3.9 million in unpaid wages.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Hounakey was charged in 2007 along with three others in connection with the smuggling and forced labor ring run by his mother, Akouavi Kpade Afolabi. She was convicted in October after a trial in which her lawyer argued prosecutors’ mistook a West African-style apprenticeship program as slavery.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The once-prosperous jewelry and textile merchant recruited young women from impoverished villages in Ghana and Togo with the promise of a better life in America. But once they arrived, Afolabi, Hounakey and the others forced them to braid hair for up to 14 hours a day. She used beatings and threats of voodoo curses to intimidate them into surrendering every dollar — every 50-cent tip — they earned.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">"They lived off of the back of these young women," Assistant U.S. Attorney Shana W. Chen said.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Hounakey pleaded guilty in August and, like the others, has been custody since his arrest. He is a permanent legal resident of the United States and could be deported upon his release from prison.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Afolabi is scheduled to be sentenced in September and faces up to 20 years in prison. Her ex-husband, Lassissi Afolabi, and a fourth man, Geoffry Kouevi, both pleaded guilty and are scheduled to be sentenced in July.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><a href="http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/06/man_gets_four_years_in_new_jer.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Original Article from NJ.com</span></span></a></div>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-26586146280277915742010-06-24T11:43:00.000-07:002010-06-24T11:45:58.529-07:00India remains a major hub for human trafficking<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://media.nowpublic.net/images//5d/d/5dd58a70e731964847ad15bd50bc61a2.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 240px;" src="http://media.nowpublic.net/images//5d/d/5dd58a70e731964847ad15bd50bc61a2.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">India is a major hub of human trafficking in forced labor and sexual exploitation, especially of children, noted the U.S. State Department in a report released June 16.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">India’s major cities and towns with tourist attractions — including religious pilgrimage centers, such as Tirupati, Guruvayoor and Puri — continue to be focal points for child sex tourism, noted the Trafficking In Persons report, annually issued by the State Department. For the seventh year in a row, India remained on the Tier 2 Watch list, receiving one of the lowest rankings.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Nearby Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were also placed on the Tier 2 Watch list, while Pakistan received a Tier 2 ranking, indicating it was at least partially in compliance with the international Trafficking Victim’s Protection Act.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">“This report provides in-depth assessments and recommendations for 177 countries, some of whom are making great progress toward abolishing the illicit trade in human beings. Others are still doing too little to stem the tide,” said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, while releasing the report last week. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">“Behind these statistics on the pages are the struggles of real human beings, the tears of families who may never see their children again, the despair and indignity of those suffering under the worst forms of exploitation,” she said, adding, “Through this report we bear witness to their experience and commit ourselves to abolishing this horrible crime.”</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Citing reports by international agencies, the Web site DNA India notes that the trafficking of minor girls has become a $1 billion-a-year industry with a 30 percent increase from previous years; Mumbai has emerged as one of the leading markets. A fair-skinned minor — as young as eight — fetches about $2,500 per night, while a dusky-skinned child is sold for about $2,000 per night. Victims are denied food and water if they do not perform with the clients, notes DNA India, adding that beatings are a regular part of the child prostitute’s life.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Women and girls from Nepal and Bangladesh are also subjected to forced prostitution in India.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">In India forced labor constitutes the largest part of the trafficking problem. Men, women and children in debt bondage are forced to work in brick kilns, rice mills, embroidery factories or agriculture. Children are forced to work as factory laborers, especially in carpet factories where their tiny fingers are prized for the intricate weaving work, or as domestic servants and beggars.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Forced domestic work is particularly a problem in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Orissa.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">“The Indian government has not demonstrated sufficient progress in its law enforcement, protection or prevention efforts to address labor trafficking,” noted the TIP report, adding, however, that the country was making significant efforts to end sex trafficking, particularly in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and the Indian Embassy in Oman have begun to address the issue of migrant workers subjected to forced labor in other countries, noted the report.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">State and central governments must strengthen their law enforcement capacity against labor trafficking and limit traffickers’ opportunities for bail, noted the TIP report, adding that higher criminal penalties must be levied against traffickers and the “clients” of child prostitutes.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The involvement of public officials in human trafficking remains a problem in India, noted the report. Corrupt law enforcement officials protect brothels and brothel keepers. In several recent cases, lawyers representing pimps and brothel managers were able to obtain the release of child sex-trafficking victims from protective shelters. The girls were subsequently put back into prostitution.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The full TIP report can be viewed online at www.state.gov.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.indiawest.com/readmore.aspx?id=2312&sid=1#">Original Article from IndiaWest.com</a></span></span></div>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-12876478115687180732010-06-23T11:23:00.000-07:002010-06-23T11:25:53.675-07:00Portland man sentenced for sex trafficking of minor<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/stripper_081021_mn.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 220px; height: 180px;" src="http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/stripper_081021_mn.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">(Media-Newswire.com) - PORTLAND, OR—Donnico T. Johnson, 39, was sentenced to 188 months in prison on June 21, 2010 by U.S. District Judge Michael J. Mosman, after pleading guilty on March 11, 2010, to one count of a superseding indictment charging him with sex trafficking of a minor. Johnson was also sentenced to five years of supervised release.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The federal case arose in the fall of 2008 when a 15-year-old minor victim provided information to law enforcement about how she was recruited by an associate of Johnson’s and enticed to travel from Seattle, Washington to Portland, Oregon to engage in prostitution. Johnson, who regularly drove from Seattle and Portland to work female prostitutes, agreed to transport the minor to Portland.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">During her stay in Portland, Johnson drove the victim to stores where she could purchase a cell phone and lingerie. Later, he helped post commercial sex advertisements for her on Craigslist, and transport her to and from areas of high prostitution for dates with paying customers.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">This case was investigated by the Oregon Human Trafficking Task Force ( OHTTF ) and the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kemp L. Strickland.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The OHTTF was created in May of 2005. Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the task force provides a comprehensive collaborative approach to combat human trafficking through partnerships between federal, state, local law enforcement, social service providers, and other government and non-government agencies. For more information about OHTTF visit www.oregonoath.org. To provide a local tip on a human trafficking please call Multnomah County Sheriff Deputy Sgt. Keith Bickford at ( 503 ) 251-2479. You can also report human trafficking tips to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-373-7888 or NHTRC@PolarisProject.org.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://media-newswire.com/release_1121562.html">Original Article from Media-Newswire.com</a></span></span></div>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-4570335974539750822010-06-22T16:20:00.001-07:002010-06-22T16:23:50.446-07:00Human trafficking concerns regarding the World Cup alarmist?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.usafricaonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/South-Africa-2010-World-Cup-logo.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 240px;" src="http://www.usafricaonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/South-Africa-2010-World-Cup-logo.png" border="0" alt="" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">A new report from a South Africa university says warnings by NGO and church organizations there would be a massive increase in human trafficking in the country during the World Cup greatly exaggerated the problem.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Loren Landau, director of the Forced Migration Studies Program, tells VOA that warnings that tens of thousands would be trafficked during the World Cup were alarmist and not substantiated by the evidence. He adds that the evidence shows that during the 2006 World Cup in Germany a total of five people were trafficked - when predictions had suggested 40,000 would be.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">In its research, the program, based at Johannesburg University of the Witwatersrand, determined that the number of trafficked individuals in South Africa per year is around fifty. Landau tells VOA that exaggerating the problem is harmful in several ways, including that millions of dollars which could be spent on more serious problems, is going to a relatively small trafficking problem.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">"Not to say those [trafficked] people didn't need help, but in an area where there is massive sexual violence, where there is massive labor exploitation, where there is smuggling and exploitation on the [borders] that has nothing to do with trafficking, those are all issues where that money would be better spent," she said.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Landau says exaggerating the issue inevitably leads to criminalizing people who should be protected.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">"One I think it further criminalizes sex-work - there is a lot of sex-work in southern Africa undoubtedly, some of that is voluntary, in fact much of that is voluntarily and not all of it has to do with trafficking and exploitation. Second it criminalizes migrants, and it considers this issue as an issue of law enforcement rather than sort of an economic, normal kind of issue," said Landau.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Researchers found that migration for sex work is often merged with trafficking, and that in fact most foreign sex workers, whether legal or not, are in South Africa by choice. Landau says some may have become sex workers because other work was not available to them, and that many sex workers are exploited - but that most have not been trafficked.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Landau notes that there are many reasons why the issue of trafficking is so often exaggerated, and not the least of them is because of its emotive impact.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">"This is an issue as I've suggested that appeals to people's emotions - they are afraid of what is happening, it is obviously not a good thing; and it appeals I think to the savior mentality of a lot of western countries, and a lot of westerners about trying to fix the problems of the third world," she said.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Landau says if migration to South Africa was made easier and sex-work decriminalized it would greatly reduce the opportunities to exploit foreigners and ensure that in time they are able to contribute more to the economy.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www1.voanews.com/zimbabwe/news/sports/World-Cup-Human-Trafficking-Warnings-Exaggerated-96886959.html">Original Article from VOANews</a></span></span></div>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-72826564847945303162010-06-18T10:05:00.000-07:002010-06-18T10:08:37.015-07:00Italian and Romanian authorities bust major human trafficking ring<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://medias2.cafebabel.com/5210/thumb/355/-/finding-the-human-in-human-trafficking-finding-the-human-in-human-trafficking.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 280px;" src="http://medias2.cafebabel.com/5210/thumb/355/-/finding-the-human-in-human-trafficking-finding-the-human-in-human-trafficking.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">BUCHAREST - Italian and Romanian authorities have dismantled a human trafficking network which sexually exploited more than 150 women including minors in the peninsula, police said Friday.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"There was a joint action in Italy and Romania today" to detain "procuring and human trafficking suspects", a statement from the Romanian police said.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Authorities detained 14 people in several regions of Romania in response to European warrants issued by a court in Milan. Police identified a 15th suspect already imprisoned in another affair.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In Italy, 26 people were also held Friday, an Italian liaison officer said in Bucharest.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Fifty-seven people, most of them Romanians, were involved in the network. Several Italians, an Albanian and an Egyptian were also part of the gang, the officer added.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">According to authorities, the network had "recruited, transported and forced into prostitution" over 150 women in Monza, Milan and other Italian cities.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">People detained in Romania will be brought before the Appeal court in Bucharest, which must decide on their arrest, a spokeswoman for the Romanian police told AFP.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">© Copyright (c) AFP</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Romanian+Italian+police+dismantle+human+trafficking+gang/3170551/story.html">Original Article from The Gazette </a></span></div><div><br /></div>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-5446895482959038872010-06-17T09:15:00.000-07:002010-06-17T09:25:02.978-07:00Cuba denounces US criticism on human trafficking<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_p0Ky0eMmXNo/SzJvYoGXcWI/AAAAAAAAqTY/sOYlU7ncbxg/s400/cuban-flag.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 280px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_p0Ky0eMmXNo/SzJvYoGXcWI/AAAAAAAAqTY/sOYlU7ncbxg/s400/cuban-flag.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">HAVANA — Cuba reacted angrily Tuesday to its inclusion on a U.S. list of countries that could be sanctioned for failing to fight human and child trafficking, calling it a "shameful slander" and part of Washington's efforts to justify its trade embargo.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br />Cuba is one of 13 countries put on notice Monday that they are not complying with the minimum international standards to eliminate the trade in human beings and sexual slavery, and could face U.S. penalties.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br />Compiled by President Barack Obama's administration, the list also includes Iran, North Korea, and Myanmar. Another 58 countries were placed on a "watch list" that could lead to sanctions unless their records improve.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br />Cuba was singled out for allegedly not doing enough to prevent the trafficking of children who work as prostitutes on the island, mostly serving foreign tourists. It also said some Cuban doctors have complained that the government leases out their services to foreign countries as a way of canceling Cuba's debt.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br />"Cuba categorically rejects these allegations as false and disrespectful," Josefina Vidal Ferreiro, director of the Cuban Foreign Ministry's North American affairs office, said in a statement sent to the foreign news media Tuesday.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br />She said the allegations are all the more offensive because the communist government has concentrated its limited resources on protecting women and the young, providing far more for the most vulnerable members of society than most nations in the region.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br />While Cubans receive low wages, the island offers free education through college, free health care and heavily subsidized housing and transportation. Crime rates and drug usage are extremely low in a country where the state maintains near total control.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br />"These shameful slanders profoundly hurt the Cuban people. In Cuba, there is no sexual abuse against minors, but rather an exemplary effort to protect children, young people and women," Vidal Ferreiro said. She said Cuban laws "put us among the countries in the region with the most advanced norms and mechanisms for the prevention of abuse."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br />Cuba has been included as one of the worst offenders on the State Department human trafficking list since 2003. It is also on a separate list of countries that the U.S. deems to support terrorism.<br />The latest report notes that Cuban laws against trafficking appear stringent, but that the country has not provided enough evidence to show they are being enforced.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br />Interestingly, the report does not concentrate on Cubans seeking to emigrate to the United States, a diaspora which has meant vast profits for traffickers, who can charge thousands of dollars for illicit transportation to the U.S., often through Mexico.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br />It was not clear what sanctions, if any, Cuba could face. It is already the target of a 48-year trade embargo, which bans the sale of most American goods on the island. American tourists are not allowed to vacation in Cuba, depriving the Caribbean hotspot of what would likely be its top source of visitors.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br />Cuba refers to the embargo as a blockade, and rightly or wrongly blames it for most of its economic woes. While many countries criticize the country's treatment of political prisoners and lack of democracy, the embargo is rejected each year in a lopsided U.N. vote.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br />Many had hoped relations between the United States and Cuba would improve under Obama, but the two sides have made little progress. The relationship has soured most recently over the December arrest of a U.S. contractor whom Cuba accuses of spying. He has been held without charge for more than six months.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br />Vidal Ferreiro said Cuba's inclusion on the trafficking list is political.<br />"It can only be explained by the desperate need that the U.S. government has to justify, under whatever pretext, the persistence of its cruel blockade, which has been overwhelmingly rejected by the international community."<br />Cuba was not the only country in the region to react strongly to the report.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br />Guyana, which received slightly better marks than Cuba, said the report hurts its friendship with the United States. The Dominican Republic is also included on the list. The country's official in charge of monitoring human trafficking, Frank Soto, called the list "a lie with no merit."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iSq8ZWfjtZ22KMIRpAPlX1YqpcNAD9GBST386">Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.</a></span></span></div>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-28790830808291360882010-06-16T09:19:00.000-07:002010-06-16T09:21:04.064-07:00US includes itself in the annual Trafficking in Persons Report<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2010/01/29/image6153290g.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 244px; height: 183px;" src="http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2010/01/29/image6153290g.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">In the ornate Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room at the US State Department-before a standing-room-only crowd that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described as "one of the biggest we’ve had here”-Clinton recognized Laura Germino, the antislavery campaign coordinator for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), as an "anti-Trafficking Hero.” In the ten years that the award has been given to individuals who have shown an extraordinary commitment and leadership in the fight against slavery, Germino is the first US-based recipient. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The occasion was the release of the State Department’s 10th Annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. Clinton said the report provides "in-depth assessments and recommendations for 177 countries” on how to reach the goal of "abolishing the illicit trade in human beings.” In another first, the report includes an assessment of trafficking in the United States. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">It reads in part that "the United States is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor, debt bondage and forced prostitution. Trafficking occurs primarily for labor and most commonly in domestic servitude, agriculture, manufacturing, janitorial services, hotel services, construction, health and elder care, hair and nail salons, and strip club dancing…. More investigations and prosecutions have taken place for sex trafficking offenses than for labor trafficking offenses, but law enforcement identified a comparatively higher number of labor trafficking victims as such cases often involve more victims.” </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Clinton described the significance of including the United States in the TIP report. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">"This report sends a clear message to all of our countrymen and women: human trafficking is not someone else’s problem,” she said. "Involuntary servitude is not something we can ignore or hope doesn’t exist in our own community.” </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Ambassador-at-Large Luis CdeBaca, a longtime federal prosecutor and now director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking, agreed. "In our first Trafficking in Persons Report, we cited the US only as a destination or transit country, oblivious to the reality that we, too, are a source country for people held in servitude,” he said. “We have an involuntary servitude problem now just as we always have throughout history.” </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Which is exactly why Germino was honored along with eight other activists from Brazil, Burundi, Hungary, India, Jordan, Mauritania, Mongolia and Uzbekistan. Germino and her colleagues at CIW have helped the US Department of Justice prosecute seven slavery operations in Florida over the last fifteen years, resulting in the liberation of over 1,000 farmworkers, as the plaque presented to Germino attests. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">CdeBaca introduced Germino who spoke on behalf of all of the TIP Heroes. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">"In the early 1990s, Laura began to not just give a voice to escaped slaves, but traveled to Washington on her own dime to hold the federal government accountable to investigate and prosecute these cases. And when I say ‘federal government,’ I mean me,” he laughed. "There have been many cases exposing servitude for both sex and labor in Florida. And the Coalition of the Immokalee Workers and Laura Germino have always been there. They’ve been important partners and, more importantly, an independent and pressing voice as they uncover slavery rings, tap the power of the workers, and hold companies and governments accountable.” </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Holding companies accountable was a theme not only voiced by CdeBaca but also Clinton-and not just the primary perpetrators of slavery but the corporations that use those companies in their supply chains. That concept has been the driving force behind CIW’s Campaign for Fair Food, demanding that companies take responsibility for the conditions of their supply chain in order to alleviate the poverty and powerlessness at the root of the agriculture industry. It is the central argument CIW has waged in successfully obtaining pay raises and enforceable code of conduct agreements from the four largest fast food companies in the world, the two largest food service companies, and the largest organic grocer. (Watch out Publix and other grocers, you’re next.) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">So when the Secretary spoke these words-"It is everyone’s responsibility. Businesses that knowingly profit or exhibit reckless disregard about their supply chains…all of us have to speak out and act forcefully”-you could almost feel the chills traveling up the spines of the hundreds of activists from all over the world who packed the room. Some broke into grins, cameras flashed. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">“Now you have Secretary of State Clinton saying we need to have corporate responsibility in the supply chain,” Germino later told me. “That’s huge. We have to get to the point of prevention where slavery doesn’t happen anymore, and right now the most effective way to get that done is through market consequences. Any corporate buyer of fruits and vegetables who still is not willing to take ownership of this issue has no excuses left.” </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">When Germino took the stage she thanked the other award recipients for their “unflagging courage and grace and progress made under extremely difficult and dangerous circumstances in which you work overseas.” She pledged that together they would continue “our collective fight to wipe slavery off the face of this earth.” </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">She delivered a hopeful message in citing the progress that has already been made. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">“Twenty years ago, there was no State Department TIP Report. There was no Justice Department Anti-Trafficking Unit. There was no Trafficking Victims Protection Act, no freedom network of NGOs,” she said. “There was no admission yet by this great nation that the unbroken threat of slavery that has so tragically woven through our history, taking on different patterns, but always weaving the horrendous depravation of liberty-that it was a constant…. So when we struggle with our frustration at the pace of change, we remember those days and realize how far things have come in such a short time.” </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">With a nod to the Secretary, Germino offered that “it takes a village to raise a child; it takes a whole community to fight slavery.” </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Germino recognized her colleagues at CIW-and that wasn’t just lip service. In many years of working for and covering NGOs, I’ve never seen one that operates so efficiently as a collective-in the decisions they make, the actions they take, the wages they earn, and the shared credit for victories. CIW simply doesn’t distinguish its parts from the whole. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">I think that’s a key reason this community-based organization in tiny Immokalee, Florida is able to have such a powerful national impact. It’s why parked outside of the State Department during the ceremony-and on the National Mall today and tomorrow-was CIW’s Modern Day Slavery Museum. And it’s why one of CIW’s many heroes found herself standing in the Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room, hearing the central tenets of CIW’s fight against slavery echoed by the US Secretary of State. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">By Greg Kaufmann:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/15/opinion/main6586310.shtml">Original Article from CBS News via The Nation</a></span></span></div>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-63046523474883042712010-06-14T11:32:00.000-07:002010-06-14T11:35:42.792-07:00US warns nations failing in fight against human trafficking<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://media.voanews.com/images/300*450/AP_US_HumanTrafficking09_14JUN10.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 300px;" src="http://media.voanews.com/images/300*450/AP_US_HumanTrafficking09_14JUN10.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The United States is warning more than a dozen nations, including Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Burma, of possible sanctions for failing to meet minimum international standards to fight human trafficking. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In its annual report on human trafficking, the U.S. State Department designated 13 nations as "Tier 3," meaning their governments are not following international standards to fight trafficking and could face penalties if their records do not improve.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The report says 12.3 million adults and children around the world are currently victims of forced labor, bonded labor or forced prostitution. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the report is a "catalog of tragedies" the world cannot continue to accept. She said human trafficking crosses cultures and continents, and the entire world has a responsibility to bring these crimes to an end.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The report says trafficking in Burma remains a serious concern because the military allegedly engages in unlawful conscription of child soldiers and continues to be the main perpetrator of forced labor.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In North Korea, the report says the most common form of trafficking involves North Korean women and girls forced into marriages or prostitution in China. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The report also says women in Iran are trafficked for forced prostitution and forced marriages. It says Iranian and Afghan children living in Iran are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The 2010 report evaluated 175 countries and ranked them by their anti-trafficking efforts. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Other nations receiving the failing status for their lack of anti-trafficking efforts are the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Kuwait, Mauritania, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Zimbabwe.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">For the first time, the report, which is in its 10th year, also includes a ranking of U.S. anti-trafficking efforts. The report says most trafficking in the United States involves foreign victims trafficked primarily for labor. But it also says more U.S. citizens, both adults and children, are victims of sex trafficking.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><a href="http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/human-rights/US-Warns-Nations-Failing-to-Fight-Human-Trafficking-96302559.html">Original Article from VOA News. </a></span></span></div>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-50518751661255794192010-06-10T09:21:00.000-07:002010-06-10T09:38:21.715-07:00New penalties for John's who purchase sex with children<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2007/09/15/va1237267268344/Southern-Cross-5657546.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 180px;" src="http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2007/09/15/va1237267268344/Southern-Cross-5657546.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;color:#CCCCCC;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://s3.images.com/huge.2.13958.JPG"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:Georgia, serif;"></span></a><a href="http://s3.images.com/huge.2.13958.JPG"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">By LEVI PULKKINEN</span></span></a><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Before he was locked up, Dominque Davon Booker had a thing for guys who liked to buy sex from children.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Those were the guys that paid his girls -- at least one as young as 13 -- and his girls passed the money along to him. He still lived with his mom, at least according to the court records, but those johns' cash and those girls' bodies paid his bills.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Flanked by former U.S. Rep. Linda Smith, the mother of one of those girls demanded that the men who would pay to have sex with children like her child face some measure of justice.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Wednesday's gathering in a First Avenue parking lot adjacent to a downtown Seattle strip club was part protest and part celebration, a recognition that new penalties for johns caught "buying time" with kids were set to go into effect the following day.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Chris Gregoire in March, the new regulations are aimed at eliminating the "I thought she was 18" defense often offered by johns while dropping prison sentences on those caught by police.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The move comes as anti-human-trafficking activists continue to demand more resources for prostituted children -- only 80 beds exist at secure shelters nationwide, according to one expert's estimate -- and additional attention on the domestic sex trade.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Smith, a former Congresswoman from Vancouver and anti-sex-trafficking activist who advocated for the legislation, told a gaggle of reporters that the new penalties are a starting point. The test will come in seeing that they're enforced.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"This bill starts the process," said Smith, founder of Shared Hope International. "It simply cannot be tolerated to buy a child by the hour or by the act."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The legislation mandates significant increases in the penalties faced by those convicted of pimping children while preventing those accused of paying children for sex from simply claiming they thought the child was of age.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A crime that previously punished with a $550 fine and, at most, a jail sentence will soon carry a minimum 21 month prison term and a $5,000 fine. A john also gets to lose his car, due to new impoundment rules allowing police to seize a vehicle used in prostitution.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Pimps also face stiffer penalties for selling sex with a child. The minimum sentence under the new regime for promoting sexual abuse of a minor is nearly eight years, more than four times the previous penalty.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Other sections of the legislation require that child prostitutes not be criminally charged on their first arrest, and enable authorities to hold them as juveniles in need of services. There's also a mandate that the state Criminal Justice Training Commission create a model policy for law enforcement treatment of child prostitutes by December.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The change in law drew support from the Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs and Smith's organization, Shared Hope International. Also signing on was the Seattle Police Guild, whose members along with their King County counterparts and county prosecutors recently brought to a close the first case charged under the state's new human trafficking law.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">That conviction, against 19-year-old Deshawn Clark, carried a 17-year sentence in part because of the stiff penalty attached to the human trafficking statute. Clark's five co-defendants -- most also alleged to be members of a West Seattle gang, Westside Street Mobb -- fared slightly better, receiving single-digit sentences following guilty pleas.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Speaking after Clark's conviction, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said that, in his view, the sentences handed to pimps and others benefiting from child prostitution don't square with the harm done to prostituted girls and boys.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"We're talking about kids who were taken off the streets and made sex slaves," Satterberg said. "It's a very dark secret in our community that most people don't know about and don't want to know about. …</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"The demand for this is high, and the supply is being created by young girls."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Speaking during a recent visit to Seattle, Mark Lagon, former ambassador-at-large to the United Nations and director of the office to monitor and combat trafficking in persons, said stiffer penalties are useful, if enforced.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"If you only think of the sellers and what's being sold, you're never going to get your arms around the demand," said Lagon, who served as executive director of the anti-trafficking organization the Polaris Project after leaving the UN post.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"It's time that we stop saying boys will be boys."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">To succeed, though, communities need to create services that will help prostituted children leave those who've profited from the abuse, Lagon said. At present, he said, no more than 80 secure shelter beds exist for child prostitutes, far too few to offer help for the tens of thousands of prostituted boys and girls.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Smith said previously that the new Washington law clears the way for secure centers where the youths can be taken after they've been found prostituting. Doing so, she said, creates an opportunity to break the youths away from their pimps and make a fresh start.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Resources for prostituted children, like a pilot program currently in the works in Seattle, address the basic unfairness of arresting a child who is a victim of sex crimes, Smith said.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"In most states, they're arrested and the men who buy them walk," the former Congresswoman said Wednesday. "There are literally no safe places."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Laurie, mother of one of the girls pimped by Booker, said her daughter got some measure of safety recently when a Pierce County judge sentenced Booker to a 10-year prison term.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Her daughter disappeared with Booker at 13. Court records show he had the girls working streets and hotels in and around Seattle and Tacoma.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Booker beat the girls, threatened them. Laurie said her daughter is still crazy for him.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"She was brainwashed and trafficked by a pimp," she said. "She still thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The girl is home now. Hopefully, her mother said, she'll stay there this time.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Supporters of the new laws say they can keep johns away from the girls. They'll raise the stakes, Smith and others said, if they're enforced.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Speaking in an interview earlier this month, Lagon said assistance for trafficked individuals is needed. So, he said, is better behavior from businesses tangentially involved in the sex trade -- specifically Craigslist and online services like it, which serve to connect child prostitutes with willing buyers.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lagon said he takes heart in the unity shown on the issue by people of all political stripes.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"Even today in this time of nasty partisanship, there's still unity on battling what is essentially slavery," Lagon said, noting that he's seen radical feminists and Christian conservatives come together on the issue.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"We need to mobilize public outcry," he continued. "It's unconscionable, and it's not enough that there are laws on the books."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Follow Levi on Twitter at twitter.com/levipulk.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><a href="http://www.seattlepi.com/local/421481_prostitution09.html">© 1998-2010 Seattle Post-Intelligencer</a></span></span></div>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-52549488132430654952010-05-19T13:34:00.000-07:002010-05-19T13:39:31.606-07:00New Jersey pimped sentenced to 18 years for human trafficking<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mm.news-record.com/drupal/files/imagecache/nrcom_article_image_landscape/Images/Greensboro_police_investigate_a_scene_at_2000_E__Market_St__wher.jpeg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 200px;" src="http://mm.news-record.com/drupal/files/imagecache/nrcom_article_image_landscape/Images/Greensboro_police_investigate_a_scene_at_2000_E__Market_St__wher.jpeg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A pimp known as "Prince" received an 18-year prison sentence today for leading a Jersey City prostitution ring built on human trafficking, sex slavery and illegal drug use, New Jersey Attorney General Paula T. Dow said.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">For more than two decades, police say, Allen Brown lured girls into the sex trades with a mix of narcotics and, at times, pure coercion. The houses of prostitution he established in Jersey City were "stables" of strung-out girls, often locked into rooms and stripped of keys, cell phones and all forms of identity.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Brown, who in April pleaded guilty to racketeering and extortion, ran his operation with scores of girls he had brought from Camden, Philadelphia, Atlantic City and other communities.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“Allen Brown exploited vulnerable young women, imprisoning them in a life of prostitution and narcotics addiction,” said Dow. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“Now it is his turn to face prison, where he will not be able to harm any more women.” </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><a href="http://www.northjersey.com/news/crime_courts/051910_Jersey_City_pimp_sentenced_to_18_months_for_human_trafficking_prostitution_ring.html">Original Article from NorthJersey.com</a></span></span></div>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-10570191873253046092010-05-17T14:26:00.000-07:002010-05-17T14:28:37.610-07:00FBI and Birmingham Civil Rights Institute fighting human trafficking<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/04/large_Police%20recruits.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 197px;" src="http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/04/large_Police%20recruits.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC) - There are children in Birmingham right now who are being forced into prostitution and even sex slavery. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">That's the message the FBI and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute are trying to spread during a 2-day conference on human trafficking that started Sunday.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"We realized there were a lot of myths around human trafficking, the biggest being that it really doesn't affect people in Birmingham and Alabama," said Patricia Cooper, a staff member at the BCRI.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">FBI agents at the Institute Sunday said not only is human trafficking a problem in Birmingham and the state, it's one that is growing by the week.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"Agricultural regions are another area where labor trafficking is starting to raise its head," said FBI Special Agent Dana Gillis. "And you see a lot of trafficking in the sex industry in areas both rural and in the city."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Whether it's migrant workers in the country illegally or children forced to work as prostitutes, the FBI and Civil Rights Institute are trying to shine a light on the problem in the hope that more attention can get more action from the community.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"One of them is being aware and sensitive of the situation," Cooper said. "Does it seem right if someone seems as if they're being coerced, for young people if they're not living at home. Just those telltale signs and for us to at least be willing to inquire."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Here are some more warning signs that the FBI says could mean there is human trafficking going on in your neighborhood:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-If you see an unusually large number of people living in a single-family home</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-If you see individuals who go from home to work and straight back with no signs of any kind of social life</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-Frequent police activity at the home</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Cooper says those could all be signs that it is time to answer both of these questions: "What does it look like and then what do we do about it?"</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">If you see signs that someone in your area could be running a human trafficking ring, the FBI wants to hear from you at (205)326-6166.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A new state law was signed 2 weeks ago that makes human trafficking a felony in Alabama.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><a href="http://www.myfoxal.com/Global/story.asp?S=12491707">Copyright 2010 WBRC. All rights reserved.</a></span></span></div>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-27539015340572489602010-05-10T14:26:00.000-07:002010-05-10T14:30:01.446-07:00Human Trafficking in America: a different kind of “drug war”<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://nhop.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/humantrafficking.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 208px; height: 218px;" src="http://nhop.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/humantrafficking.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">By Sheryl Young<br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">It’s something Americans associate with a few European or third world countries. But the U.S. State Department’s 2009 “Trafficking in Humans” Report documents problems in 175 nations.<br />Girls, women, children and even teen boys are being deceived, kidnapped, trapped and shipped everywhere from America to Africa.<br />And it could be happening at our neighborhood mini-market.<br /><br />From California to New England, the problem is spreading within the United States. It’s becoming as uncontrollable as the drug war that has raged for decades, despite the government’s best efforts.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br />The estimated FBI numbers from sources as varied as ABC Primetime in 2006 to Christianity Today in 2010 show 100,000-300,000 teens and children under the age of 18 have been trafficked within the states per year.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br />It is harder to obtain statistics for adult victims, because of a finer line between “voluntary” and forced prostitution or sexual slavery.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br />In April 2010, the U.S. Attorney’s office brought sex trafficking charges against the Gambino family, notoriously reputed to be part of the elusive “mob” in America.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br />With the arrest of 14 people, the charges include trapping girls to sell for sex at high stakes poker games in the middle of busy Manhattan.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br />Engaging in human trafficking is a new low even for the mob, U.S. Attorney’s office representatives stated in a press conference covered by MSNBC.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br />Also in April, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement reported that human trafficking has become the biggest “invisible” crime in the state. Florida House Bill 633 and Senate Bill 966 are currently being proposed to help law enforcement push back against the sex slavery trade.<br />How can this happen in America?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br />The massive amounts of money to be made through human trafficking is a powerful aphrodisiac that has enticed more people, even women, to deal in such crimes. In the Gambino case, one of the people arrested was a woman known to be involved in luring the victims.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The process of obtaining victims for human trafficking:<br /></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">For most teen girls and women, if they are not outright kidnapped, they’re being enticed by the possibility of modeling or acting jobs. The Hollywood dream of obtaining fame and fortune at a young age through television and movies has become an obsession.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br />When they get to their destination, they are thrown into vehicles or locked in back bedrooms and sold to countless customers for sex acts, sexual abuse, and to appear in pornographic movies against their will.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br />They may be starved, drugged, verbally abused to the point of having no self-esteem, and threatened with death if they attempt to escape.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br />For girls and boys who do run away from home, criminals recognize their vulnerability, hunger and brokenness and are able to entice them into prostitution and porn films with the promise of money. The victim may receive tiny payments to keep them involved.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br />For children, it often starts with simple nabbing from neighborhoods.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">A U.S. Government grant helped reveal the child trafficking problem:<br /></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">In 2008, an organization called Shared Hope International (SHI) applied for and received a government grant to study the suspected nationwide crisis of child trafficking between states. Their resulting survey revealed that many of the children were often being misidentified as delinquents, and punished for crimes when they were actually victims.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br />Since then, the FBI and agencies such as the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children & Families have started training personnel to recognize when a person is a human trafficking victim instead of a runaway or criminal themselves (<a href="http://www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking/about/children_victims.html">HHS Fact Sheet here</a>).</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2010/05/human-trafficking-in-america-a-different-kind-of-drug-war-12056">Original Article from theundergroundsite.com</a><br /></span></span><br /></div></div>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5327952880889260040.post-25257949744695116022010-04-21T12:05:00.001-07:002010-04-21T12:07:23.957-07:00Egypt "rife" with human trafficking according to UN<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://jemblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Pyramids.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 280px; height: 260px;" src="http://jemblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Pyramids.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Cairo - A UN expert called on Wednesday for Egypt to take more action to combat human trafficking, laying out a list of social ills running from child labour to sexual exploitation.<br /><br />Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, the UN special rapporteur on trafficking in persons, was speaking as she wrapped up a 10-day visit to the country and talks with government officials and representatives of civil society.<br /><br />According to a statement, she "identified common forms of trafficking in persons in Egypt to include trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation of under-aged girls through 'seasonal/temporary' marriage, child labour, domestic servitude, other forms of sexual exploitation and prostitution".<br /><br />"There is a growing trend of sexual and economic exploitation of young Egyptian girls by their families and brokers... These types of marriage sometimes provide a smokescreen for providing sexual services to foreign men."<br /><br />Ngozi Ezeilo said there were "also indications that trafficking for forced marriages, forced labour, transplantation of human organs and body tissues may be much more than current estimates".<br /><br />She also said that while Egypt has been described as a transit country, "it might also be a source and a destination".<br /><br />Street children<br /><br />"The incidence of internal trafficking is much higher than transnational trafficking and the prevalence of street children increases their vulnerability to child trafficking," she said.<br /><br />Ngozi Ezeilo said the problem is not well-understood, and called on Egypt to "provide comprehensive training programmes to enhance knowledge and awareness of human trafficking" and to tackle "root causes of trafficking such as poverty, unemployment, education, gender discrimination".<br /><br />A parliamentary source said Egypt should soon pass a law criminalising human trafficking.<br /><br />In February, a law was adopted regulating organ transplants and was aimed primarily at combating trafficking.<br /><br />Every year, hundreds of poor Egyptians sell their kidneys, the World Health Organisation has said, making the country a focal point for trafficking.<br /><br />- SAPA</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Human-trafficking-rife-in-Egypt--20100421">Original Article from News24.com</a></span></span></div>Project Exodushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11033264220781531734noreply@blogger.com0