This falls into the category of - YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! If this weren’t being reported by the Associated Press, I’d consider it a hoax. I fail to understand how any sane adult could make this argument.
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A bill modifying Hungary’s penal code could allow pornographic material involving 14- to 17-year-olds to be made and kept for personal use.
The Justice Ministry said the draft proposal, presented last month by Hungarian Justice Minister Jozsef Petretei, was in line with European Union norms which give members states the right to regulate the issue at national level.
But Opposition lawmakers attacked the proposal as “legalized pedophilia” and a family welfare group described it as “the waiting room of prostitution.”
Petretei said Monday that the proposal had taken into account the age in Hungary — 14 — at which consensual sexual relations are allowed.
“If we consider people 14 years of age to be mature enough to consent to sexual acts, then the chance to make picture recordings of this … can also be allowed,” Petretei told lawmakers in parliament.
The minister added that if deputies felt the issue offended their “moral sensitivity,” they could propose changes to the bill.
This is a long but informative paper from Human Rights Watch that details the scope of the bonded child labor problem in India. The report is entitled, “The Small Hands Of Slavery.” I urge you, if you are reading this right now, to open your eyes to the truth of what is happening to children all over this planet.
Dr. John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, made a plea from the pulpit this past Sunday. His plea was for the leaders in Uganda to “redouble efforts to put an end to the suffering and misery of people in the North.” He was referring to the child soldiers and the attrocities the LRA rebels are inflicting on the people of the region.
I know I’m naive about the political issues surrounding child slavery. I’m admiting that openly before asking this question: Why do we have to beg? Why do we have to plead? Except for the monsters in the LRA, is there truly anyone who views this as optional?
I’m dumbfounded by the lunacy of it all. I don’t have a place to put my emotions on this topic.
Most of the modern slavery stories I find searching around the net are stories from third world countries. This morning I ran across a story about SlaveBritain, an exhibition at London’s St Paul’s Cathedral. It’s an expose of human trafficking throughout Britain. (press release)
In one case a 15-year-old Lithuanian girl was sold seven times in eight weeks and moved between addresses in Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester and Sheffield, where she was repeatedly raped and forced into prostitution.
An article on Netscape popped up in my newly established slavery rss feed today. It appears to be an article that was published in December, so I’m not sure why it popped up today. But I’m glad it did. The full article can be found here.
“Until last year, hundreds of children were recruited into the centuries-old Arab sport of camel racing because of their low weight and height, which meant the camels could run faster.”
“However, in June 2005 the UAE issued a law banning the use of children under the age of 18 from racing camels. Violators face jail terms of up to three years and/or a fine of 50,000 dirhams (US $13,670). To date, 1,077 child jockeys have been repatriated, mainly to Pakistan. Other source countries for camel jockeys in the UAE included Bangladesh, Mauritania and Sudan.”
Now word comes that these new “robot jockeys” are all the rage.
“The robot is cheaper. It costs between 500 and 2,000 dirhams [US $136 to $545] and there are no other costs like salary, food and clothes,” said Abdullah Moubarek al-Muhairi, head of the camel racing association at Watbah, the main camel racing track in the capital, Abu Dhabi.
“There is also no danger. Before, some of the children used to fall off and injure themselves, but now we don’t have this worry,” al-Muhairi told IRIN at the track.
You can’t get far in an internet search without running into reputable sources that detail amazing number of slaves still being traded in the world today. The numbers are so overwhelming that, at first, I wanted to refute them. How could this be? 27 million slaves? This is obviously an estimate, but it’s an estimate that is touted by the best sources.
“There are more slaves today than were seized from Africa in four centuries of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The modern commerce in humans rivals illegal drug trafficking in it’s global reach - and in the destruction of lives.” - Andrew Cockburn, National Geographic Magazine
This interactive map, from National Geographic, shows the scope of slave trafficking throughout the world.
“Though many complain, the power of shame has stirred many to action and sparked unprecendented reforms. Defeating human trafficking is a great moral calling and we will never subjugate it to the narrow demands of the day.”
Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000: Trafficking in Persons Report
Click hereto read the full report in html format or to download the PDF document from the U.S. Department of State website. The report is the most recent government sponsored report on human traffficking.
There are an estimated 27 million people living in slavery in the world today and half of them are children. The number makes my skin crawl. No one should be for sale, least of all a child.
Posted by Jeff Turner (@respres)
This is a long but informative paper from 
Posted by Jeff Turner (@respres)
Posted by Jeff Turner (@respres)
