Stop Child Slavery

May 18 2009

60 Seconds On Child Trafficking

This is a 60 second excerpt from my hour long conversation with Partrick Trueman, former Chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Criminal Division, U. S. Department of Justice. Mr. Trueman was kind enough to drive in to Washington D.C. to meet with me last week.

I will be breaking up the hour long recording into smaller portions, but wanted to get this one up as way of announcing the upcoming segments. The recording was done in the restaurant of the Washington Marriott, so please excuse the sound quality. This segment is his response to the question, “How big is the problem of child sex trafficking in the United States.”

The number is staggering.

Mobile post sent by ResPres using Utterli. mp3

May 09 2009

6 Comments

Child Sex Trafficking, Stories, United States

Child Prostitutes Are Committing A Crime?

Making my way through the hundreds and hundreds of stories in my human trafficking feeds, I found this – “Human trafficking a modern scourge.“

The humans being trafficked and forced to work as prostitutes in New Jersey were from Mexico and Honduras. They were either promised marriage or decent wages if they moved to America, but instead they were forced into a life of prostitution. These are young girls, children by definition. And let me repeat, they were FORCED into this life, into a form of modern slavery we call sex trafficking. They were brutally exploited for the sake of profits. That is what makes this next quote so hard to to understand.

“These cases are tough,” Brian Hayes, an FBI agent in Atlantic City said. “They are tough because the victims in child prostitution cases by definition are committing a crime. And they have a distrust of law enforcement. Just as illegal immigrants distrust law-enforcement, prostitutes distrust law-enforcement because they don’t want to get arrested.”

Read that again: “Victims in CHILD prostitution cases by definition are committing a crime.” I’ve read this over and over and I can’t reconcile this in my mind. They call the CHILD a VICTIM and then say the VICTIM is committing a crime?

No wonder we have a problem. Child sex traffickig is one of the most evil forms of modern slavery. It would be more accurate to call it “rape for profit.” The pimps are slave owners and the clients are pedophiles. And the brutalized, exploited CHILD VICTIM is committing a crime?

I want to scream.

Tagged child prostitution, human trafficking, sex trafficking

May 06 2009

11 Comments

United States

The Fight Against Human Trafficking In Chicago, Illinois

May 16-21, 2009, Traffickfree.org is organizing a city-wide Stop Traffick praxis project in Chicago. Stop Traffick is an initiative “to end human trafficking in Chicago.” The video linked to the image below shows the general lack of understanding that exists around human trafficking in the USA. It’s more real and more pervasive than any of us would choose to admit.

If you’re in Chicago, take a look and see if this is something you could be a part of.

Tagged chicago, human trafficking, sex trafficking, slavery, trafficking

May 03 2009

1 Comment

Child Sex Trafficking

Fighting Child Sexual Slavery

The scope and magnitude of human trafficking is growing to epidemic proportions. Efforts directed at public awareness campaigns and victim support are useful, but they don’t address the source of the problem: The Demand. – Global Centurion

This is the worst form of child slavery. Global Centurion is “dedicated to eliminating child sex slavery by focusing on investigation, arrest, prosecution, and conviction of the predators and perpetrators.” Please go visit their website to learn more about this non-profit organization.

Tagged child prostitution, child slavery, sex trafficking

May 02 2009

A Powerful Statement

Weak children need strong laws. – The International News

And if the laws are to be changed to defend those who can’t defend themselves, our voices must be clear and loud in support of ending forced child labour, slavery and trafficking.

Tagged child slavery, forced child labor, slave labor

Apr 17 2009

2 Comments

child slavery, Visit These Sites

Moved by Love146

This is a video you simply must watch from Love146.org.

Read the Love146 Blog.

Tagged child slavery, love146, traficking

Mar 17 2009

6 Comments

Stories

Rug And Carpet Industry Battles Child Labor Abuse

Seven North American rug companies recently joined RugMark to help put an end to exploitive child labor in the handmade rug industry. Read More…

RugMark is making an impact. Perhaps the main reason why they may be leaving such a big mark is their single-minded mission. Rugmark is “devoted to building schools, programs and opportunities that give children back their childhoods by ending child labor in the handmade carpet industry in South Asia.”

That’s the kind of focus required to bring an end to child slavery and child labor abuses. Do your part. Purchase only RugMark certified carpets and rugs.

Tagged carpet, child labor, child slavery, rugmark, rugs

Mar 05 2009

Child Slavery Today On Twitter

I found a couple of tweets today that linked to stories about child labor and trafficking in Africa. They are just two more pieces of evidence that indicate the problem is pervasive and widespread.

@theirc : IRC’s Emily Holland story/photos on Huffington Post: fighting child labor and trafficking in Liberia http://twurl.nl/ydehxh

Excerpt: In Liberia, it is common for children to be illegally adopted and bought and sold for forced labor and sexual exploitation. Children are trafficked for other dark purposes, including ritual killing.

@rekouche : The exploitation of Africa’s land and people. Firestone used child labor illegally for years, other corp. atrocities: http://bit.ly/aSTAP