Demand Change: Everyone Can Work To End Modern Slavery

From the U.S. Dept. of State Official Blog
By Ambassador Luis CdeBaca

Last week, a court in New York sentenced a client of a prostituted child. So often, such a crime goes uncharged, or if an arrest is made, the case is unnoticed, unreported. But because the defendant was NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor, not an anonymous "john," the case was heavily covered. The pimp who allegedly provided the sixteen year-old girl to Taylor is under indictment as well, on federal sex trafficking charges. A successful outcome? To some degree, but it was certainly tarnished after the sentencing, when the child victim told her side of the story and media outlets used that as excuse to print her name.

This episode made me reflect about how easy it can be to regard the protection of survivors as the responsibility of the court system or victim advocates, while at the same time the media exploits and sensationalizes a crime and the public watches passively or even revels in the scandal. But just as this is not a victimless crime, this is also a crime in which the solution lies with all of us.

Read the full post here

Ambassador Luis CdeBaca serves as Director of the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State.

No More Dirty Gold

Change.org recently reported on the child labor in the gold industry of Peru. Peru, since the beginning of colonialism in South America, has been exploited for their vast amounts of precious metals hidden in the mountains of the Andes. After the fall of the Incan empire, the Spanish conquistadors were hungry for more wealth and used native people as slaves to mine silver in order to further enrich their empire.

Today precious metals and slavery continue to have an enduring relationship. The Peruvian Sierra region, the main source of gold in the country, is the focus of Change.org's campaign to stop the exploitation of men, women and children who are forced to work in treacherous, inhumane conditions everyday so that we, Americans, can buy cheap bracelets and earrings from our favorite air-conditioned retail stores.

"Children as young as five have been found working in gold mines, and children under 14 are regularly forced to handle dangerous chemicals and perform backbreaking labor," explains the Change.org campaign. In addition to being exposed to toxic chemicals like cyanide, children often are expected to handle dynamite to extract the gold from the mountains.

Peru is not the only country known for slave labor in their gold industries. 17 other countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America force young children and adults to spend hours upon hours mining for gold that is in turn sold to companies in the United States. According to Change.org, gold was "the most frequently named commodity appearing on the US Department of Labor's List of Good Produced by Child or Forced Labor."

As a result, Earthworks organized a campaign called "No Dirty Gold" which encouraged companies to buy gold from sources that do not use child labor or slavery, or cause significant environmental damage. Change.org says that "70 national and international jewelry retailers have signed onto (the campaign)." However, Target has refused to agree to these terms. Interestingly enough their chief rival (and usually a major laggard in human rights issues), Wal-Mart, has already pledged to source their gold from cruelty-free producers.

After "tens of thousands" of letters from Change.org members, Target has publicly agreed to "consider" joining Earthworks' campaign. As we all know, this is a weak statement and another way to avoid changing their routine to buy products that are slave labor free.

Sign the petition and tell Target that you don't support child labor and slavery.

For more information about the "No Dirty Gold" campaign, visit Earthworks: No Dirty Gold.

If we don't act, Target won't either. Each dollar we spend at a corporation like Target is vote in agreement of their practices. The people of Peru deserve better, and we must demand more of our companies and their products.

Action Steps from the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation

Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE) recently presented at a national human trafficking conference on effective ways for citizens to Demand Change! This post will highlight steps for you to demand change on international sex trafficking and the commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC). Each action results in a reaction, each reaction hopefully leads to a discussion on ways to end human trafficking. Add your voice to the Demand for Change.

1) Keep Informed: Read up on international sex trafficking on websites such as www.notforsale.org; www.love146.org, www.polarisproject.org, Read blogs on the issues. Knowledge is power. Equip yourself with the power to end human trafficking.

2) Raise awareness. Visit the “Restore and Rescue” campaign for resources to share with your community. (http://www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking).

3) Fundraise for a trusted organization fighting human trafficking. Events could include a benefit concert, movie night, or a 5k marathon to engage the local community. Potential movies include Playground, Very Young Girls, Lilya 4-Ever, or Born into Brothels.

4) Volunteer! Take time to volunteer at a local organization aimed at the abolition of human trafficking. Or donate money to an anti-trafficking organization.

5) Advocate! Be the voice of the estimated 600,000-800,000 individuals trafficked internationally each year.

a) Lobby for international airlines to train their employees on identifying human trafficking victims. A free manual is provided at www.innocentatrisk.org.

b) Ask your representative to support the Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act. (HR5575).

6) Add the Human Trafficking Hotline number to your phone. Take out your phone right now and add 1-888-3737-888. Phone to “report a tip; to connect with anti-trafficking services in your area; or to request training and technical assistance, general information, or specific anti-trafficking resources” (Polaris Project)

The steps outlined are just a foray into the ways YOU can make a difference and make your voice heard!

Posted on behalf of Laura Convery.

First US Recipient of State Department's Anti-Trafficking Hero Award to Be Given This Year

From the Coalition of Immokalee Workers:

Great news out of Washington, DC: U.S. State Department to recognize CIW Anti-Slavery Coordinator Laura Germino as 2010 "Anti-Trafficking Hero"!

CIW Modern-Day Slavery Museum headed to DC to serve as backdrop for the ceremony. Germino (above, leading Sec. of Labor Solis on recent tour of museum) to be first US recipient of State Department "Hero" recognition...

As part of the annual TIP report release, the State Department recognizes the efforts of a handful of individuals from around the world who have shown extraordinary commitment and leadership in the fight against slavery, TIP "Heroes" as the State Department calls them.

This year, Laura Germino, the CIW's Anti-Slavery Campaign Coordinator, has been chosen to receive this terrific distinction, and when she does, she will be the first U.S.-based recipient to receive the recognition.

We are extremely proud of Laura, whose untiring work fighting forced labor in Florida -- beginning in the early 1990's -- helped launch today's anti-slavery movement in the U.S. Nearly twenty years later, Laura continues to investigate slavery operations, work in partnership with the Department of Justice to prosecute slavers, and train state and local law enforcement, community service organizations, and FBI personnel in how to identify and combat forced labor across the Southeast.

We are also very proud that the State Department has requested that the CIW's Modern-Day Slavery Museum serve as the backdrop for the 2010 TIP report ceremony. The museum will begin its way up 95 tomorrow with the goal of making it there in one piece for Monday's ceremony in Washington, DC!

The museum, housed in an actual cargo truck outfitted as a replica of the trucks involved in a recent slavery operation (U.S. v. Navarrete, 2008), may or may not make it there for the ceremony, so, just in case it doesn't, we're including here a great video on the museum and its tour earlier this year across the state of Florida. The video is set to, "Captain, Don't You Kill Old Bob," a work song performed by Fred Lee Fox, a 20-year-old turpentine worker, in 1939. The song was recorded by Stetson Kennedy, Florida's foremost folklorist and a renown human rights activist, at a labor camp outside Cross City, Dixie County, Florida.

Enjoy, and check back soon for more details on Monday's ceremony in Washington!

My personal exposure to the work of this organization leaves me with great happiness that this award is being given to Laura Germino. From the direct service they provide to farmworkers and their Anti-Slavery Campaign to their work on the demand side of labor exploitation and trafficking with the Campaign for Fair Food, this is definitely an organization worth following and supporting. You can gain information from their website on the statistics concerning farmworkers. You can read about their efforts in The Slave Next Door. You can explore their Take Action page to find out how you can help. Hopefully this recognition will also lead to greater attention to the slavery, abuse and exploitation that happens in our fields every day.

Please follow the release of this year's report this Monday, June 14th.

Congratulations to Laura Germino and the CIW!

"Real Men Don't Buy Sex": Spotlight on The Defenders USA

The Defenders USA is a unique campaign of males speaking out against sex trafficking and the demand that is created for it by the commercial sex industry. The Defenders' National Coordinator, Tomas Perez, kindly agreed to share more information about his organization and the intriguing concept behind it. Below is a campaign video from The Defenders USA website, followed by the interview.



How was The Defenders USA started, and who runs it?

In the spring of 2006 a handful of men were attending a series of meetings on human trafficking. The group was led by Vern Smith, husband of Shared Hope International founder, Linda Smith. These men had spent the day listening to numerous presentations by undercover officers, FBI, Homeland Security and others. Shared Hope had been commissioned to co-host the U.S. Mid-Term Review on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) in America. The data presented on the subject was staggering, but the tipping point for the men was witnessing via hidden camera the actual sale of a 15 -year old girl for $400…and it wasn’t in some exotic foreign land. It was in Atlanta! This experience was the genesis for The Defenders USA. These men looked at each other and determined that it was imperative to impede demand by defending and protecting all men’s daughters. The Defenders USA is a national project run by Shared Hope International. As of this May, I’ve taken over as the National Coordinator for the Defender Project.

What is the concept behind the Defenders?

The concept behind the Defenders is relatively simple: since men create the demand for prostituted children, better men have to stop it. Practically speaking, this means mobilizing men across the country that are committed to personal integrity. This is manifested in a refusal to patronize the commercial sex industry (in any of its forms) because this is the primary force driving demand. Being a Defender also means being informed about the many factors surrounding this issue. And finally, it means being purposefully engaged in the fight to protect innocence on the local, state and national levels. Currently we have just over 1000 members across the nation.

What is the Truck Stop Campaign and in your mind, has it been effective?

Truck Stop Campaigns are simple, respectful demonstrations designed to draw the public’s attention to one of the most common trafficking markets. Research has shown that the interstate highway systems are the conduit for the flow of trafficked kids. Truck stops are among the easiest and most profitable places for pimps to do business. The campaigns have done a great job of drawing the public’s attention to this reality. And I think it's also given the truck stop owners and trucking companies that oppose trafficking a voice too.

What is The Defenders Ride?

The Defenders Ride is a new concept. Like the Truck Stop Campaign, our goal is to make noise and draw attention. But unlike the truck stops, this is a moving protest that follows known trafficking routes. Our first ride is July 10. We’ll travel Interstate 5 from Portland to Seattle. Our hope is to have a couple hundred riders from all walks of life. A local Harley Davidson dealership and a couple local businesses have partnered with us and we’ve also been given a semi truck to serve as our lead vehicle; a 50 foot rolling billboard that will carry a simple sign: “Kids are NOT for sale!”

Are there other Defenders activities that men can get involved in?

The short answer to this question is “yes.” Over the course of this summer, the Defenders USA will be rolling out a tool box of activities and initiatives that can be scaled and tailored to specific regions and cities. This will include the resources already available for the truck stop campaign as well as Defenders Rides, sponsoring events like triathlons and 10k runs and even materials and directions for hosting tailgate parties at sporting events. In addition to public awareness activities, we’re developing a mobile web and social media strategy that will further support and enhance communication and provide an efficient way to keep men current on what’s happening locally, and nationally.

Why do you think that sex trafficking is as prevalent as it is?

My answer is simple but not easy; I think the prevalence of sex trafficking is due to an inherent moral weakness common to every man combined with what one research study calls a “pornified culture.” It's a perfect storm of variables that’s creating and sustaining this problem; in America we now have generations of men (all of whom are flawed and vulnerable) that have been raised in a society that has seen an ever-increasing toleration for unrestrained sexual expression in the name of “freedom.” The sick irony is that the pursuit of that freedom for some is leading to the enslavement of others…at least 100,000 children each year according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

What do you think are the biggest problems facing the anti-human trafficking movement?

One problem is ignorance. So many men I talk to have no idea how big and how close this problem is. We tend to think the problem exists in far away, exotic places like Thailand. It does happen there and that’s tragic enough, but so many of the men I’m talking to have no idea its happening in their own cities. Linda Smith’s book “Renting Lacy,” opened my eyes to this reality.

Another problem is indifference. Sad to say, a lot of people don’t care. And the current cultural language surrounding this issue perpetuates the indifference. The word “prostitute” conveys the idea of willing participation in an immoral act. And even when you call someone a “child-prostitute,” the stigma remains. If you followed the recent arrest of NFL Hall of Fame player Lawrence Taylor you’ll see what I mean. Calling anyone a prostitute criminalizes that person, but how can you call a 12 year old girl, who is forcibly raped and beaten by her pimp and then turned out on the street to sell her body for sex, a “criminal?” She’s a victim and we have to change our understanding and language in order for things to change. The best term I’ve heard to describe these kids is “prostituted child.” It puts the blame where it belongs; on the buyer and seller and preserves the dignity of the victim.

I also think the prevalence of trafficking is due to the commercial sex industry. Globally, porn is a 97 billion dollar annual business that respects no border and is largely unregulated in any sense. And it's just a click away 24 hours a day.

What can men do within their own communities to fight sex trafficking?

Seriously, I would say join us! Join the Defenders USA movement. Be a man who is committed, informed and engaged. There are dozens if not hundreds of great organizations around the country that are working on the rescue and restoration of women and children, but few are focused (as we are) on the demand side of the equation. I mentioned earlier that at least 100,000 kids are caught up in this mess each year. Our goal is to mobilize at least 100,000 men between now and the end of 2012; that’s one Defender for every child. I don’t think we will have solved the problem by then, but 100,000 committed, informed and engaged men could probably do some serious damage…to the pimping business that is.

Upcoming Workshop in New York

This is some information about an upcoming workshop being held by UNANIMA. For more complete information, please go to this link.

Workshop on Stopping the Demand forTrafficking in Women and Children

UNANIMA International seeks 28-30 individuals between the ages of 18 and 25 from the English-speaking world who seek an end to human slavery and affirm that pornography, prostitution, and sex trafficking are acts of violence against women.

Our workshop provides as an exciting opportunity for new and old activists alike to learn, speak, and act for a just world. From panel discussions to group brainstorming, we hope that participants will make new friends and mobilize their ideas into collective action.

Our workshop is free. All participants are entitled to room and board, transportation (all air, train, and bus fares), and any visa expenses (if applicable) that are related to the workshop. Souvenirs, sightseeing, extended stays (other than a UNANIMA-planned UN experience, and other personal expenses will not be covered.

To apply:

1.Fill out the following application form.

2.If necessary, attach your signed letter of permission.

3.Complete the personal statement (page 4).

4.Send UNANIMA your completed application form, letter of permission (if applicable), and personal statement via email (workshop@unanima-international.org) or mail –UNANIMA International211 East 43rd Street, Room 1207New York, NY 10017USA

Applications will be considered on a rolling-basis until 5 March 2010. Accepted applicants will be notified via email by 19 March 2010 with further details, including travel arrangements. Please feel free to email (workshop@unanima-international.org) or call 1-212-370-0075 if you have any questions.

About UNANIMA:

UNANIMA International is an NGO (nongovernmental organization) committed to work for justice at the international level in harmony with the charter of the United Nations for the economic and social advancement of all peoples.

The coalition was founded in 2002 by representatives from 7 congregations of women religious with a vision that by our united action we can make a difference in our world.

Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery

In his book Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Slavery, author Siddharth Kara presents a business and economic analysis of sex trafficking. Though such a study may seem heartless or dehumanizing, Kara argues that analyzing sexual slavery through the lens of economics can reveal short- and long-term solutions to end trafficking, and that, in fact, without this type of analysis intervention attempts may do more harm than good.

Kara, a former investment banker with an MBA from Columbia University, left his corporate career to pursue anti-slavery research and work. He is a board member of Free the Slaves. In his book, he argues that ending sex slavery will necessitate ending the demand for sex slavery, and that the most effective way to decrease demand is to increase risk. He presents suggested ways to increase the risk/cost of slavery to traffickers, and uses basic economic concepts, such as elasticity of demand, to evaluate the effectiveness of anti-trafficking efforts.

Many of Kara's findings are more suggestive than conclusive, which he readily acknowledges. For example, he argues that increasing the costs of using sex slaves will dramatically decrease the demand for these slaves due to the elasticity of demand for commercial sex. Though his conclusion aligns with my own beliefs and the beliefs of many NGOs, the analysis is based on an extremely small sample size that may not be representative. While this example points to some of the challenges in conducting research on human trafficking and its causes, it also points to the need for more research and data.

Kara extensively researched sex trafficking around the world, and he contextualizes his economic analysis within his firsthand interviews with sex trafficking victims and survivors, and his experiences with the market for sex slaves. While many of the most compelling parts of his books spring from these experiences, his analysis of slavery in the United States is somewhat anemic and does not discuss the sex trafficking of US citizens.

Throughout the book, Kara discusses the role that globalization has played in creating situations rife for exploitation and slavery. He demonstrates the ways that governmental policies and corrupt greed help perpetuate human rights abuses and poverty. He argues that vulnerability to trafficking can often be traced to unequal distributions of power and wealth that are only increasing as a result of globalization.

Though his book focuses mainly on sex trafficking, Kara does touch on labor trafficking issues and acknowledges the need for a similar analysis of the business of labor trafficking. Many of his insights about the economic factors that contribute to the demand for slavery and the need to increase the economic costs of slavery for producers and consumers will prove useful in such an analysis. At the same time, the causes of labor trafficking and the factors that fuel its demand are different from sex trafficking, and more research on this form of trafficking is vitally needed.

Kara's research and analysis provide a useful foundation for further efforts to effectively end slavery that is grounded in an understanding of the economic and business realities that fuel this crime.

Behind the myth of the "happy hooker"

HTP Community Comment:

The so-called "nation wide survey" referred to here was conducted by Melissa Farley, IIRC, and has severe methodological problems. To put not too fine a point on it, Farley mostly interviewed prostitutes who were in rescue organizations. A similar analogy would be studying marriage by only interviewing women who were in shelters for battered women.

Prostitution is, in many ways, a bad job. It is NOT, however, synonymous with slavery or trafficking as the author of the above article makes out. Bad and tenacious science which greatly exaggerates the dangers of prostitution does nothing to help us to stop trafficking as it reroutes anti-trafficking resources into, essentially, anti-vice programs.

- Dr. Thaddeus Blanchette, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro

From the Global Post:

By Kate Transchel

Generating an estimated $32 billion dollars annually, human trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal activity in the world today. It is also the most lucrative. According to a 2005 International Labor Office (ILO) report, just a single female held for sexual exploitation yields an average of $67,200 annually in Western Europe and North America.

A multitude of recent studies try to explain why women get snared into the trade in flesh. Researchers point to poverty, chronic unemployment, domestic violence and drug addiction as the primary “push factors.”

But sadly, there isn’t enough discussion of the real root of the problem — the men. Human trafficking is basically international sexual terrorism perpetrated against women and children on a mass scale by men. It is their demand for illicit or predatory sex that generates huge profits for the slavers and leaves behind the tortured minds and broken bodies of those women and children they violate.

According to a 2008 study by the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, the majority of men who buy prostitutes do so in order to obtain sex they are uncomfortable asking for. As one interviewee put it, “I want to pay someone to do something a normal person wouldn’t do. To piss on someone or pay someone to do something degrading.” The same study revealed that johns subscribe to a tremendous amount of denial — 87 percent thought women choose prostitution, “just like any job,” and 64 percent believed that the women they bought were sexually satisfied by the encounter.

Read the full article

Illinois and the Swedish Prostitution Model

llinois' Cook County Sheriff, Tom Dart, is in the process of re-focusing Illinois' efforts to address prostitution to the demand side. In his efforts, he is looking to the Swedish model for addressing prostitution. In Sweden, the selling of sex is legal, but buying sex is illegal, reflecting a belief that prostitution is a form of violence against women. The law is meant to put the focus on the people who create the demand for commercial sex and facilitate it: johns, pimps, and in some cases traffickers.

In a recent article in the Weekly Standard, Ambassador Lagon, former Ambassador-at-Large and Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP) and current Executive Director of Polaris Project, reports that Dart is shifting "enforcement resources from the supply side to the demand side: from arresting (and releasing and rearresting) forcibly prostituted women and girls to arresting pimps and johns and impounding their cars, while directing the prostituted females to social services."

Lagon quotes Thomas Bodström, a former Swedish minister of justice, stating that "as long as men think they are entitled to buy and use women's and girls' bodies, human trafficking for sexual purposes will continue." While not all commercial sex is forced or is trafficking, proponents of the Swedish model and efforts to address demand argue that such efforts will afford protections to anyone engaged in commercial sex, since it will allow prostitutes and sex-trafficking victims to access social services and healthcare without fear of arrest.

End Demand, IL, an organization advocating for efforts to address demand for commercial sex, states that its goals are to "advocate for the creation of resources and tools for law enforcement to hold perpetrators accountable, deter further exploitation and increase options for prostituted and trafficked women and girls. . . . EDI's work will result in the adoption of sound public policies and practices that focus law enforcement efforts on protecting victims of the sex industry and prosecuting traffickers, pimps and other enterprises that profit from the exploitation of women and girls in the sex trade. Furthermore, our work will create an infrastructure of care for those involved in prostitution." From a basic economic-analysis standpoint, addressing demand makes sense, given that reducing supply tends to mainly drive up prices and profits - for pimps and traffickers, in this case - and does not eliminate demand.

At the same time, Amanda Kloer of End Human Trafficking points out that simply lifting the Swedish model and attempting to graft it onto other communities and localities is problematic. She lists three main reasons that simply imposing the model on Illinois may not work, including Sweden's more extensive social welfare system, the fact that Sweden is more homogeneous and a significantly smaller country and more centralized nation than the US, and a cultural emphasis in the US on individual rights and the ability to "do what we want." She concludes, "These concerns shouldn't prevent Sheriff Dart or any other creative public servants from taking a hard look at their prostitution policies and reinventing them to better protect women and girls in prostitution. But they should be an reminder that the U.S. isn't Sweden, and thus we shouldn't implement the exact same policies nor expect the exact same results."

We can learn a great deal from international efforts to end slaver, but at the same time, innovative efforts, in fact all efforts, to address trafficking must carefully consider the local context.

A Look at the Times Special: Running in the Shadows - For Runaways, Sex Buys Survival

From Jennifer Hollinger:

In the second article of a two article series, Ian Urbina of the New York Times explored the growing number of teen runaways on US streets as a result of the recession. In this excellent article, Urbina discusses how teens survive a harsh life on the streets. For many teens, this means resorting to survival sex. According to the article, nearly 1/3 of runaway children engage in survival sex for food, drugs, or a place to stay. I suspect that the actual number of runaways who engage in survival sex is far higher.

I was immediately struck by how similar the situation of the teen runaways was to that of someone trafficked for sexual exploitation and how easily these two phenomena could intertwine. Pimps used the same methods a trafficker would to coerce women into working for them; seducing the women and girls, convincing them they were “in love,” initiating a sexual relationship and then demanding that they do them a favor by having sex with friends or simply forcing them to have sex for money. Take, for example, the story of 17-year-old Nicole, who ran away from home in Medford, OR. “I didn’t know the town, and the police would just send me back to the group home,’ Nicole said, explaining why she did not cut off the relationship once her first boyfriend became a pimp and why she did not flee prostitution when she had the chance. ‘I’d also fallen for the guy. I felt trapped in a way I can’t really explain.’

In addition to runaways, over a dozen convicted pimps were interviewed by the New York Times. According to Urbina, incarcerated pimps described the complicated roles they played as father figure, landlord, boss and boyfriend to the girls who worked for them. They said they went after girls with low self-esteem, prior sexual experience and a lack of options. Again, the overlap with the conditions leading to human trafficking was alarming. Those who wish to exploit vulnerable people have a common vocabulary of abuse, manipulation and deceit.

While there are those who seek to exploit young runaways, there are others who are doing their best to help, including anti-trafficking units in metropolitan police departments and the FBI. A poignant interview with a 16-year-old runaway who was forced into prostitution highlighted the fine line that the FBI prosecutor had to walk in this so-called flip interview. In essence, he had to persuade her to leave her pimp without actually admitting that she had one while simultaneously convincing her to testify against him, or flip on him. The irony of this situation is that, were this same girl 16-year-old girl to have sex with a male over the age of 18, he would end up in jail but, because money changed hands, he would simply be fined and she would be arrested for solicitation. If a 16-year-old child is too young to legally consent to sex, how can we simultaneously consider her old enough to sell it?

Overall, this two article series was highly informative and gave some good insights into the phenomenon of survival sex by teen runaways and the systematic abuse they face at the hands of their pimps. The article effectively highlights one of the fundamental flaws in the US legal system. We criminalize prostitutes, even those who are under 18, but we let off the johns with barely a slap on the wrist. The people who pay for sex promulgate this system of abuse and yet they suffer little fear of punishment from the legal system.

While much was done well in this article, more of a connection could have been made between human trafficking and teen prostitution, especially considering that Urbina quotes the head of a Boston anti-trafficking task force in the piece. The methods of exploitation employed by a pimp and a trafficker share many similarities and addressing the criminalization of prostitutes could do much to aid both trafficking survivors and teen runaways who are forced into survival sex.

Go here to read the full article.

Determinants of Trafficking: Understanding the problem and the actors

The starting point for understanding the problem of trafficking and finding a solution is to figure out what we think and know about the problem. So this is where I started.

Recently, I read a report which said, half the districts in India are affected by human trafficking. I have read similar reports on different countries across the globe, and each report claims the problem exists because people know either nothing or very little about trafficking. While this may be true, what confused me is the fact that even though there are people or groups who know more than others, it is not always easy to figure out what those people or groups precisely think about the problem.

As I read more, I want to know what everyone thinks of the problem. To keep this exercise structured, I have broken down the study into multiple parts. Today's post is an attempt to understand the factors that influence activities of victims, exploiters, and buyers.

PART I: Determinants of Trafficking: Understanding the problem and the actors

It is crucial to understand all the actors involved in human trafficking as well as the dynamics between the actors and between the actors and the environment.

There have been many articles written on human trafficking, but there is no consensus on what the necessary conditions are to create and maintain human trafficking, i.e. what causes human trafficking and what keeps it going? The answers of course range from political factors such as war and conflict to social factors such as gender discrimination. Perhaps we can never have a uniform answer to these questions. It seems that only now we're beginning to agree on a definition of trafficking so it is hard to believe we will be able to find a set of common determinants of trafficking so soon. Hence, I am very interested in learning what everyone thinks about the questions below and where we differ in our ideas - I hope this exercise will help us see the problem from different perspectives. The goal of this post is to start a discussion on determinants of trafficking and to learn from others' views.

1. What conditions are necessary for trafficking to occur? What (plausible) assumptions can we make about the type of factors that influence trafficking and what makes these assumptions plausible?
• For example, in terms of economic drivers, we know poverty and high level of unemployment are some of the (essential) conditions traffickers look for in recruitment areas , but they may not be causes of trafficking, but rather conditions for it. There may be poor communities which may not be be suitable for 'recruitment' because those communities, for example, may not have well connected criminal networks.
  Categories:
1. Personal: literacy, communication channels, home environment, etc.
   
2. Economic: debt, high levels of unemployment, etc. :
   
• For example, we've read globalization may have created conditions that make it easy for criminal networks to flourish and hence for trafficking to occur. In this case, we would attempt to understand precisely how globalization creates these conditions.
  
3. Political: war, conflicts, exclusion by caste or some other group, etc.
   
4. Social: gender discrimination, marital status, etc.
   
5. Geographic: forced migration due to scarcity of water, etc.
2. How are the necessary conditions for trafficking (from question 1) created and maintained?
3. Who can we classify as exploiters (trafficker, pimps, etc) ? What assumptions can we make about the exploiters?
   
4. What assumptions can we make about the buyers? Who (and what process) creates the demand?
• We've read that trafficking enables "commodification" of humans. We also know that the demand for any commodity is much more complex than just the need of the buyer. Hence, what are these other variables that make understanding this demand and the buyers so difficult and complex?
5. Are we missing something? Who else plays a role and how important is it?

Input from everyone would be extremely helpful and I look forward to a discussion about the questions in this post.

CNN's Amanpour's Feature on Sex Trafficking Aired Sunday

On Sunday, Christiane Amanpour conducted a show on sex trafficking in India on CNN. Amanpour interviewed Taina Bien-Aime, Executive Director of Equality Now and Ruchira Gupta, filmmaker and activist.

At one point in the show, Amanpour featured a scene from Gupta's movie "Selling of Innocents." After the clip, Amanpour asked Gupta about the scene:

AMANPOUR: That was a scene filmed in Nepal in the startling documentary, "Selling of Innocents." It shows that the problem of human trafficking extends across borders... Let me ask you, Ruchira, you were posing as a trafficker in that scene.

RUCHIRA GUPTA: That's right. I wanted to show how easy it was and how anyone could go into a village in Nepal or India and look around to buy a girl, and somebody would show up to sell the girl, and the girl had no idea about her rights, and for as little as $50 could buy her and do whatever they wanted with her.

AMANPOUR: And it was making that film that turned you into an activist for these -- against this -- this situation? GUPTA: It was a life-changing experience for me, because as a journalist I'd covered war, famine, conflict, hunger, but I had never seen the deliberate exploitation of one human being by another as I saw in a brothel in Bombay, when I walked into a little room which was four-by-four and saw the 10-year-old and the 12-year-olds sitting on the bed.

AMANPOUR: Ten and twelve?

GUPTA: Yes, and 10 or 15 customers a night...

AMANPOUR: Ten or fifteen customers for 10-year-old girls?

GUPTA: Raped repeatedly every night.

AMANPOUR: How many girls and women does this affect?

GUPTA: According to the government of India, just recently in May, they said 1.3 million children are sold into prostitution in India right now. And there are 1.3 million prostituted children in our country right this second.

Although the video of the full show is not yet available, you can find the transcript of the show here.

Kansas City, Mo. Man Pleads Guilty to Attempted Commercial Sex Trafficking of a Child

According to a September 16, 2009 Department of Justice press release, a Kansas City, Mo. man pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday to the attempted commercial sex trafficking of a child.

Steven C. Albers, a forty-year-old insurance manager, was one of seven defendants indicted as the result of Operation Guardian Angel, an undercover law enforcement investigation targeting would-be customers of child prostitution in the Kansas City area. The indictments are part of the first federal prosecution of alleged child prostitution customers under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

The sting operation was conducted from March 5 to 7, 2009. The police advertised the "children" online at craigslist.org, although no children were actually involved. On March 5, Albers responded to a posting advertising "little girls available." The undercover officer told him that he had an 11-year-old and 15-year-old girl available. Albers told the officer that he would like to spend an hour with the 11-year-old, during his lunch break so that he would be able to drive from his office near the Country Club Plaza. Later he revised it to half an hour plus an extra $20 to go "bareback," i.e. to have sexual intercourse without a condom. The total price was to be $80.

The arresting officers emerged from a bedroom at the undercover house after Albers arrived and provided money to the undercover officer. Albers attempted to flee, but was apprehended in a neighboring yard.

Albers will be subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in prison without parole, and a fine of up to $250,000.

According to the website, although the Trafficking Victims Protection Act has previously been used to prosecute "pimps," these indictments are the first in the nation to charge "Johns" with attempts. At least three others arrested as part of the sting have already pleaded guilty, including a naval recruiter, a finance manager for an automotive dealership, and a truck driver.

For additional information from the sources of this article, please visit the following sites:
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/news2009/albers.ple.htm
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/news2009/oflyng.ple.htm
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/news2009/childers.ple.htm
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/news2009/cockrell.ple.htm
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/news2009/childers.ind.htm

DC Stop Child Trafficking Now Walk September 26th

On Saturday, September 26th 2009, the DC abolitionist community will come together for the first annual DC Stop Child Trafficking Now Walk. September is Combating Human Trafficking Month, and the DC walk will be part of national anti-trafficking efforts, including walks in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas, according to the walk's website.

According to Ray Lian of Stop Modern Slavery, one of the organizations planning the event, the walk has two main goals. First, it aims to bring together the DC anti-trafficking community, including NGOs, local authorities, businesses, and the media to raise awareness about modern slavery.

Second, the walk will raise money for anti-trafficking work, focusing primarily on efforts to fight child trafficking. 75% will go to Stop Child Trafficking Now, an organization that works to address the demand side of child trafficking, promoting efforts to investigate the buyers/predators who patronize child victims of sex trafficking. 15% will go to Courtney's House, a safe-house in DC for child victims of sex trafficking, and 10% will go to DC Stop Modern Slavery.

Organizers expect that between 400-600 walkers will attend the inaugural walk, and they hope it will become an annual event that brings together the anti-slavery movement in DC and celebrates its work and accomplishments.

Lian says that he is excited that the walk will unite DC's anti-slavery movement. As he points out, many different organizations in DC are tackling various aspects of human trafficking, each with its own strengths and strategies; however, in the past these organizations seldom worked together. According to Lian, one goal of Stop Modern Slavery is to make DC slave free by bringing together these organizations to collaborate. The September walk will help establish a culture of collaboration amongst community members, NGO's, public sector, and private sector. According to Lian, "This walk represents the culmination of this strategy and effort. As a large and diverse grassroots organization, we are finally reaching a point where we have the attention of the various anti-slavery organization."

The walk has been organized entirely by part-time community volunteers, which has been a massive undertaking. Lian notes that this strategy has worked, though, because they have emphasized collaboration and have worked to leverage people's strengths and talents. Lian states, "We ascribe to Ghandi's belief that before you can change the world you must change yourself. So before we could ask the anti-slavery movement to work together, we had to first learn to work together ourselves. We are doing this today and I am proud to be part of this effort." And as Lian also notes, the money raised will help end child trafficking by putting child predators in prison and providing services to child victims of sex trafficking.

People can get involved in a number of ways:

1. WALK - Visit the walk's website to sign-up.
2. PROMOTE - Help spread the word about the walk and recruit people to walk. Flyers can be found on the walk's website.
3. VOLUNTEER - Before the walk, volunteers can help with promotion, planning, organizing logistics, contacting celebrities and luminaries, and asking businesses for donations. During the event, they need help setting up, registering people, leading walkers, and cleaning up. To volunteer, email walk@stopmodernslavery.org.
4. DONATE - This walk is made possible entirely through the commitment of volunteers and the generosity of donors. To donate to the walk, please visit the walk's site and click 'Donate' on the left hand menu.

When: Saturday, September 26, 2009. Registration opens at 9:00am, walk beings at 10:00am.

Where: Meridian Hill Park, 15th St. NW and Euclid St NW, Washington DC.

Slavery and the Products We Buy

Many of the products we buy and use daily were made with slave labor or involved slave labor during some part of their manufacturing. The chocolate industry has received considerable attention lately for its use of slave labor . A 2000 US State Department report concluded that in recent years approximately 15,000 children aged 9 to 12 have been sold into forced labor on cotton, coffee and cocoa plantations annually in the Ivory Coast alone.

The RugMark Foundation started in 1994 to address the use of forced child labor in the rug industry. According to RugMark, Child labor is a crime committed against nearly 220 million children, or one in every seven, ages 5 to 17, around the world. The RugMark Foundation works to end child labor and provide educational alternatives for children, and the Foundation also acknowledges that many of the children are in situations of forced labor, via debt bondage, abuse, or some other method used to enslave. According to UNICEF, 200,000 children are trafficked yearly in West and Central Africa. Cocoa, coffee, clothing, electronics, jewelry, and many other products are tainted by slavery.

These facts make me feel a combination of guilty and helpless at times. Even when I give Human Trafficking 101 presentations to college classes, I know that the computer I am using for the PowerPoint presentation might have been made with slave labor. When preparing for an anti-trafficking conference, the student group I was involved with struggled to find conference materials and food that we knew hadn't been made with slave labor. Even when I am consciously thinking about and working to combat human trafficking, I still struggle with not supporting slavery.

At other times, though, I find this information to be extremely motivating. I may not be able to fight human trafficking alone, but I can make changes in my consumption habits that can make important change. Of course, one person alone changing her/his habits wont make a lot of difference, but collectively we can have a huge impact.

Media, Pennsylvania became a Fair Trade town, starting this process in 2005. According to their site, "In its two years as a Fair Trade town, Media has already inspired nine other towns in the US to follow suit. Together we are raising awareness of how the simple purchase of Fair Trade products can address poverty in the developing world." While fighting human trafficking is not mentioned, purchasing goods that were not made with slave labor and supporting other economic opportunities for people is a step towards ending slavery.

I was recently involved in the start of a similar project in Columbia, MO. The Central Missouri Stop Human Trafficking Coalitions Policy and Prevention Committee teamed up with a local fair trade store to start a Slave-Free Stores campaign, to raise awareness about slavery and how it impacts our lives, and to encourage more stores to work to become slave free. The campaign is in its early stages, but I am excited to see how it progresses. We created two different levels, one for stores that sell only slave-free products, and one for stores that sell some products that were not made with slave labor, since few stores will be eligible for the first group at the beginning (though the Coalition is encouraging stores to go slave free by 2020).

The first level: We Sell Some Slave-Free Products For businesses that are committed to offering slave-free goods. Businesses at this level sell some products that they know were produced without slave labor or exploitation, and plan to continue to work towards becoming entirely slave-free. Second level: We Sell Only Slave-Free Products For businesses that are completely committed to being slave-free. Businesses at this level only sell products that they know were produced without slave labor or exploitation. Participating stores will display the decal shown at the top of this post.

I have heard arguments that if we simply stop purchasing goods that were made in sweatshops or other exploited conditions, we will actual worsen the situation of workers who will now be without any source of income. While I do not completely buy this argument, it is important to be aware that Fair Trade is not a panacea, and efforts to buy slave-free products and buy local can have unintended consequences.

At the same time, using our money to support humane, livable-wage, sustainable, and non-exploitative labor is a vital step in fighting slavery. As long as we keep the demand for slavery up, human trafficking will continue.

Human Trafficking and the Financial Crisis

The State Department released the ninth Trafficking in Persons Report on 16th. In addition to the country reports, the TIP report also highlighted the impact of the economic crisis on the global trade in persons for forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. As Secretary Clinton said in her opening letter to the report, “This year, there is new urgency in this call. As the ongoing financial crisis takes an increasing toll on many of the world’s migrants – who often risk everything for the slim hope of a better future for their families – too often they are ensnared by traffickers who exploit their desperation” (1).

According to the report, the economic crisis has lead to a decrease in legitimate economic opportunities for the world’s most vulnerable people, an increased demand for extremely cheap labor, and a decrease in the resource available to anti-trafficking NGOs (7,9). Combined, they form a lethal combination for trafficked victims and potential victims.

As the report states, “workers are made more vulnerable to forced labor practices because of high rates of unemployment, poverty, crime, discrimination, corruption, political conflict, and cultural acceptance of the practice” (17). The TIP report cites the International Labor Organization’s January 2009 report that found that the global financial situation is “causing dramatic increases in the numbers of unemployed, working poor, and those in vulnerable employment “(32-3).

The situation is likely to only grow worse, particularly in areas that already have extreme trafficking problems. The TIP report notes that Southeast Asia – Already home to 77% of the world’s forced labor – could face unemployment as high as 113 million people in 2009 (33). In Eastern Europe “international organizations and local authorities have already reported a rise in victims of labor exploitation” (34). The situation is not likely to improve in the near future, according to a recent World Bank report that suggests that economic recovery will be slow, particularly in impoverished nations.

In addition to the cost to trafficked victims directly, the “cost of coercion” or the loss of wages people would earn were they not enslaved, also harms the families of trafficked victims, further exacerbating global poverty and making people more vulnerable to being trafficked themselves (34).

Even as increased vulnerability is leading to growth in the supply of trafficked victims, the financial crisis is also leading to growth in the demand for trafficked victims. The TIP report cites UN officials as stating that “(t)hey expect the impact of the crisis to push more business underground to avoid taxes and unionized labor” (37). The demand for cheap products and services, coupled with the pressure of the economic crisis is thus fueling the demand for modern-day slavery.

The TIP report also points out that this crisis affects different populations differently. The report notes that “Research links the disproportionate demand for female trafficking victims to the growth of certain “feminized” economic sectors (commercial sex, the “bride trade,” domestic service) and other sectors characterized by low wages, hazardous conditions, and an absence of collective bargaining mechanisms” (36). According to FAIR Fund, 80% of trafficked victims are women and girls, and the current economic situation is likely to only increase this disparity. Plans to address the economic crisis need to consider the gendered manifestations of the crisis, and ensure that stimulus efforts do not simply create economic opportunities for men only.

Finally, along with increased supply and demand, anti-trafficking efforts are also facing a decline in resources to work to prevent trafficking, assist survivors, and punish perpetrators. The TIP report points out that “The tough times are also affecting the work of anti-trafficking NGOs, which often provide crucial services in the absence of adequate government or private-sector programs. Donors are tightening their belts, and organizations are finding it difficult to continue their operations” (40).

While this news might seem dire, the TIP report also pointed to and encouraged efforts to continue to fight trafficking, suggesting that anti-trafficking work is more important now than ever before in light of these recent developments. For example, the report pointed out that, “the enactment of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA of 2008) strengthened the U.S. Government’s criminal statute on forced labor” (25), a fortuitous develop in light of recent indications that labor trafficking is increasing.

The TIP report suggested that everyone has a role to play in decreasing demand for labor trafficking, from individuals to governments (31), suggesting that “One key to addressing such demand is raising awareness about the existence of forced labor in the production of goods. Many consumers and businesses would be troubled to know that their purchases— clothes, jewelry, and even food—are produced by individuals, including children, who are forced into slave-like conditions” (32).

The ninth Trafficking in Persons Report paints a grim picture: the global financial crisis is leading to increased supply of vulnerable people, increased demand for cheap labor and economic exploitation, and a decrease in services for trafficked survivors and efforts to fight trafficking. Rather than being paralyzing, this picture should be motivating. The call to fight modern-day slavery is more pressing now than ever before, and as Secretary Clinton concluded her opening remarks on the report “I am confident that together we can make a difference, all over the world, in the lives of people deprived of their freedom” (1).

Total Ban for Sex Soliciting and Curb-Crawling

From the Guardian:

By Nicholas Watt
September 22,2008

Kerb-crawling and soliciting for prostitutes on the streets are to be outlawed as part of a wide-ranging tightening of the law, the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, annnounced yesterday.

Warning of the "blight" of prostitution, Smith outlined a three-point plan at the Labour conference that will:

· Remove the requirement that only persistent kerb crawlers and men who solicit on the street can be prosecuted. An alternative requirement for kerb-crawlers - that they act "in a manner that is likely to cause annoyance to people in the neighbourhood" - is also to be removed. The changes will mean that kerb-crawlers and men soliciting sex on the street can be prosecuted after a first offence.

· Give new powers to councils and the police to close down brothels for at least three months if prostitutes are being run by a pimp or have been trafficked. At the moment, police can only close brothels if there is anti-social behaviour and if Class-A drugs are involved.

· Change the law so that men can be prosecuted if they pay for sex with women who are exploited - "controlled for another person's gain", as Smith said. Currently, police can only pursue a prosecution if they can prove that the women did not consent to sex, which means they have to compile evidence of rape.

The home secretary also announced that communities will be given more say in lap-dancing clubs opening in their areas. Smith criticised the Tories for sending delegates to their conference in Birmingham next week a £10 voucher to visit such a club. "I want to know what the Tories have to say for themselves," she said.

Smith announced the new measures on prostitution after a six-month government review into prostitution that focused on how Sweden and the Netherlands deal with the problem.

Read the full article

Shared Hope International ED Talks Sex Trafficking in Vegas

More on Shared Hope International

A School for Johns

From Newsweek:

By Miyoko Ohtake
July 24, 2008

It's after 11 a.m. when Emmanuelle, an attractive 41-year-old former prostitute dressed in a red-and-black V-neck dress, takes the podium at San Francisco's Hall of Justice. She's clearly very nervous, but that's not surprising. In another time and place, the 40 or so men sitting in rows of plastic upholstered chairs might have been her customers. In fact they're here on a warm Saturday in May because they've been arrested for trying to buy sex.

The men, who are diverse in age and ethnicity, are voluntarily taking part in something called the First Offender Prostitution Program (FOPP). It's a bit like traffic school for drivers with too many speeding tickets. But the day's lineup at what is sometimes called "johns school" has a unique curriculum—a series of "scared straight" talks about the ills of prostitution mixed with some seriously graphic sexual-health education. By attending the eight-hour session, and paying a $1,000 fee, these "johns" can avoid being prosecuted for solicitation. More than 5,700 men have gone through the program since its inception in March 1995. Over the last decade, the number of arrests annually in San Francisco for soliciting sex has varied widely, ranging from 140 to 1,200.

San Francisco's johns school is part of a renewed nationwide push by law enforcement to focus more on the buyers of sex than the sellers—a method that, if initial studies are to be believed, seems to be more effective than the cops' periodic roundups of prostitutes. Thirty-nine other U.S. cities have similar education programs in place, most based on San Francisco's school, which got government support after a city task force on prostitution created in 1994 recommended that officials focus on the social issues fueling prostitution instead of prosecution.

Now, the future of the johns school is in question. Earlier this month, supporters of a measure to decriminalize prostitution announced that they had enough signatures to get the initiative on the ballot this fall. The bill, backed by the Erotic Service Providers Union, a San Francisco-based labor group, would not only end arrests for solicitation and prostitution, but also contains a specific provision that would prevent the city from funding the First Offenders program.

"Criminalizing sex workers has been putting workers at risk of violence and discrimination for far too long," said Maxine Doogan of the ESPU, in a statement July 18. The group believes that city resources are being wasted in they call "a futile effort to police consensual sex between adults."

But San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and the city's district attorney, Kamala D. Harris, strongly disagree. "To suggest that this is somehow an issue that only involves consensual adults, that's just not true. No matter how these girls and women are packaged for sale, the reality is that for many of them, their life experience is often wrought with abuse and exploitation," says Harris. The proposed measure would hamper efforts to crack down on human trafficking, she says, because it prevents police resources from being used to locate and help immigrant women and children in particular who have been forced into sex work by traffickers who lure them to the United States with promises of other kinds of employment.

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The Council of Europe Unveils the Convention on Action Against Trafficking

From EurasiaNet.org:

The Council of Europe now has a powerful weapon at its disposal as it leads an effort to eradicate human trafficking, which the Strasbourg-based organization terms "a new form of slavery."

The Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings entered into force in February. The pact is the first European initiative that is specifically designed to curtail trafficking, which has emerged as a social scourge during the post-Soviet era. "Every year, thousands of women, children and men fall victim to human trafficking, whether for sexual exploitation or other purposes, both within and beyond the borders of their own country," a CoE statement said.

Human trafficking has been steadily increasing in recent year, according to CoE Deputy Secretary General Maud de Boer-Buquicchio. "The estimated number of women [being trafficked] is growing," de Boer-Buquicchio said in a recent interview with EurasiaNet. "The only progress that we have witnessed [to date] is the fact that the issue is being publicly debated."

Starting in 2009, the convention should help reverse the existing trend, de Boer-Buquicchio believes. "I expect a different Europe to take shape," she said.

So far, 17 states have ratified the Convention and another 21 have signed it. Most individuals who become victims of trafficking in Europe are women, and almost half of those trafficked are forced to work in the sex industry. Another one-third of trafficking victims end up being used as forced laborers, according to Council of Europe estimates. Since 1991, former Soviet countries have developed into a major source of trafficked individuals. Organized criminal groups are a driving force behind trafficking, European law-enforcement officials say.

The convention, according to de Boer-Buquicchio, is "victim oriented." The pact not only seeks to protect the rights of those who have been trafficked and exploited, it seeks to encourage victims to help prosecute traffickers. Signatories of the convention are accordingly obliged to "design a comprehensive framework for the protection and assistance of victims and witnesses." As part of this provision, victims in states that have joined the convention would be eligible for medical services and psychological counseling.

Under the convention’s provisions, those trafficking victims who have been forced to work in the sex industry will no longer be treated as criminals upon discovery. In addition, suspected trafficking victims will not be immediately treated as illegal immigrants, as the pact allows for a "recovery and reflection period" of at least 30 days during which "it shall not be possible to enforce any expulsion order against him or her." If a victim decides to cooperate with local prosecutors in a criminal investigation, he or she would be eligible for a renewable residence permit.

In an additional move to curtail the influence of trafficking in the European sex industry, de Boer-Buquicchio said the convention seeks to "criminalize clients who knowingly enable trafficking."

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