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Topic: Stop human sex trafficking

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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

10 Things You Didn't Know About Slavery, Human Trafficking (And What You Can Do About It)



The Huffington Post | By Eleanor Goldberg
Posted: 01/15/2014 10:44 am EST | Updated: 01/16/2014 12:28 pm EST


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Fight Human Trafficking, Global Motherhood, Human Trafficking, Human Trafficking Awareness Month, World News .


You may know that in far-off countries, like Cambodia and India, children are prime victims for sex trafficking. You probably also know that trafficked workers are forced to toil for long hours, with little or no pay, to produce such everyday items as bricks and chocolate.

But what you may not know is how prevalent the crime of trafficking is right here in the U.S. and just how varied the victims are.

The $32 billion business of modern-day slavery coerces adults and children into the sex trade or into working against their will. Trafficking cuts across gender and ethnicity, with some slaves being brought to the U.S. with false promises of a better life. Others are often vulnerable citizens who may have been abused.

During National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, we’re raising awareness about these unspeakable crimes in the hopes that one day we will no longer have to.

1. Slavery and human trafficking can mean two different things:

Modern-day slavery involves exploiting people, often through forced labor or sex. Human trafficking is when a person is recruited, harbored, provided or obtained for the purposes of exploitation -- often sold as an object. Trafficking victims, two-thirds of whom are women and girls, are recruited by means of threat and are often sent into the sex trade or forced to get involved in manual and servitude work, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

2. There are more slaves around the world today than ever before in history.

globe

Though slavery has been banned across the globe, more than 29 million people are living in slavery, the greatest number in history. Some 15,000 people are being trafficked each year right here in the U.S. for purposes of forced labor or sexual exploitation.

And they're working for you. Even if your shelves are lined with fair-trade and locally produced items, there’s a good chance that a number of slaves have contributed to making the food you eat, the clothes you wear and the laptop on which you’re reading this story, according to Slavery Footprint. Find out how many slaves you employ by taking the Slavery Footprint quiz and then learn how you can urge major retailers to be more transparent.

3. Sex trafficking victims are often treated like criminals.

woman arrested handcuffs

Trafficking laws vary from state to state, with victims often being arrested and treated like criminals, reinforcing their belief that the police can’t be trusted. Advocates are calling for a “Uniform Law,” one that will allow all agencies to properly identify victims, provide rehabilitative services, and prosecute traffickers.

4. Your state could be doing a lot more to put a stop to trafficking.


Shared Hope, a nonprofit that works to bring justice to victims of sex trafficking, has graded each state on the way it responds to sex trafficking crimes. Find out how your state ranks and then reach out to your state representative and urge him or her to do more.

5. You support trafficking when you watch porn.

watching porn

Yes, while some experts say watching porn with your partner could improve your relationship, it could also enable traffickers to exploit their victims. Even if a porn explicitly states that all actors are over 18 and have consented to being filmed, that just may not be true, Yahoo News reported. The trafficked actresses may simply be trained to look and act older.

6. Forced laborers are making some of your favorite things.

There’s a good chance that the Christmas decorations you recently packed away and the shoes you’re wearing right now were made by slave workers. But there’s an easy fix for that. The U.S. Department of Labor has devised a list of countries and the items they export that are produced by child and forced laborers. Peruse the list so you can effectively change the way you shop.

7. Slaves are working at the very hotels where you vacation.

hotel room

Many trafficking victims are forced to work grueling hours at hotels and motels for little or no pay and children are often exploited sexually at hotels because employees are not trained to spot such crimes. To educate hotel workers, End Child Prostitution and Trafficking has devised a training course to teach staff how to identify a victim and to properly react. Find out if your hotel has completed the course before you book your next trip.

8. The Super Bowl is the single largest incident of human trafficking in the U.S.

super bowl

Because hundreds of thousands of fans descend upon the Super Bowl host city, it becomes the optimal breeding ground for forced workers, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott told USA Today back in 2011.

Sex trafficking victims are brought to the city to work, and one survivor told the Times-Piscuyane that she was expected to sleep with around 25 men a day during such events. As the Super Bowl nears, authorities in New Jersey say they’ve redoubled their efforts and are training law enforcement personnel, hospitality workers, high school students, airport employees and others in how to identify and protect a trafficking victim.

9. Some are working against their will at "massage parlors" that you frequent.

We've all heard the term "happy ending," but the truth is, it isn't so happy for both parties. While the masseuse may seem complicit, even eager to please, oftentimes these businesses are just commercial-front brothels where the women can be forced to have sex with men six to 10 times a day. Learn about the signs you should look out for when you're getting a treatment and how you can help if you spot something suspicious.

10. Identifying –- and helping -- a victim is easier than you might think.

phone call

Learn to look out for some of the red flags -- a worker who lives with her employer, someone who won’t speak unaided and shares what appears to be a scripted speech -- and call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center if you have information that may be valuable. You can also get involved with a number of organizations, including the Polaris Project, Not for Sale and the Project to End Human Trafficking, which are all working to put an end to modern-day slavery.

CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this post defined human trafficking as a situation where a victim is physically transported for the purposes of being exploited. A trafficking victim can be transported, recruited, harbored, provided or obtained.

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Post Mon Jan 20, 2014 8:09 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

I remember working with Psychologist Jeannie Plucer at Comcast. She had a show and desperately wanted to film an expose on sex trafficking. At the time it seemed like an unattainable dream.

Since then several major networks have done shows on this issue and locally the Genesee County Sheriff has highlighted several cases. I have been appalled by the postings recently of missing children and young women. It really hit home when just after Christmas a friends daughter was missing in Florida. I feared for the life of this girl and that fear grew when she was not found right away.

The family networked with a number of groups in Florida that dealt with missing children. Thank God for this Florida Biker group that saved this girl from a sex trafficking ring. Two Facebook friends drugged her (allegedly spiked pot with a drug called spice) and had forced her into prostitution. She is in a safe house and I hope she will be strong enough to overcome the events that have transpired.
Post Mon Jan 20, 2014 8:20 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

.
Human trafficking a 'real problem' that's 'happening in our community' says panel in Fenton
edresden@mlive.com By Eric Dresden | edresden@mlive.com
on February 25, 2014 at 8:45 PM, updated February 26, 2014 at 12:23 AM

Kurt Heise, R-Plymouth, talks to about 70 people during a meeting about human trafficking on Tuesday night.

Eric Dresden | edresden@mlive.com

FENTON, MI – Those crafting new Michigan laws on human trafficking say they know that people ensnared in the activity often are "slaves" and are "in a place where their entire existence is crafted by their controller."

On Tuesday, Feb. 25, State Rep. Joseph Graves, R-Argentine Township, talked with Kurt Heise, R-Plymouth Township, and Kelly Carter, Michigan assistant attorney general, about human trafficking and a new approach by legislators on laws for the crime.

In the last 30 days, 23 bills on human trafficking have been introduced in the state House, Heise said, adding he hopes they will be signed into law this summer.

"One of the big questions I get is, 'Is this for real?'" Heise said. "The answer is it's absolutely a real problem. It's happening in Michigan and it's happening in our community."

The issue recently came up in Fenton.

In December, Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton obtained a temporary restraining order to close Lake Spa, 1490 Torrey Road, following an investigation by Fenton police and the Flint Area Narcotics Group. Last week, Leyton said he believes the workers were connected to organized crime in Chicago.

In court records, undercover police officers claim they were offered sexual favors by employees of the Lake Spa after having received complaints that there was suspected prostitution happening at the business.

No criminal charges have been filed stemming from the closure, but Leyton has suggested it could be a part of a human trafficking operation in which young girls were brought in for the purpose of prostitution and other exploitation.

Heise told a group of roughly 70 at the St. Johns Activity Center, 610 N. Adelaide St. in Fenton, that Michigan needs to be more serious about human trafficking.

In 2013, the FBI did a national sting, finding Detroit and the Metro Detroit area was the second largest area for human trafficking in the U.S., with only San Francisco larger, he said.

Carter said the key for new laws is to make sure the focus is not on those who are being trafficked.

"They're in a place where their entire existence is crafted by their controller," she said. "They get complete control over this person and are able to exploit their vulnerability."

Furthermore, it's difficult to prosecute sometimes because victims are afraid or feel like they are loved by the one controlling them, Carter said.

"The victim thinks the trafficker takes care of her in some cases," she said.

Some of the 23 bills take major steps toward giving more penalties for those who promote prostitution and customers.

Heise said he's seen support from legislators throughout the state.

"We're all pulling in the same direction," he said.

Bills include allowing wire-tapping, putting those purchasing services on the sex offender registry and would be more aggressive with forfeiture for prostitution promoters, Heise said.

Michigan is one of five states without a law regarding wire-tapping, Heise said. One proposal to allow it would only focus on human trafficking and organized crime related to human trafficking, he said.

"When you're dealing with human trafficking it's all about speed," he said.

Graves said the meeting was important to have so more could recognize the issue and be "eyes and ears" toward eliminating human trafficking.

"A lot of these victims are hiding in plain sight," he said.
Post Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:41 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Disturbing New Report Details Hispanic Role In Sex Traffic


www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/06/hispanics-sex-traffic_n_5101477.html

Apr 06, 2014 · Whether people are aware of it or not, sex trafficking is a serious issue in several major U.S cities. Despite law enforcement efforts and preventative ...
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Sex Trafficking - Breaking News and Opinion on The ...


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... Sex Trafficking, Sex Trafficking Latinos, Hispanic Sex Trade, Latino Health ... sex trafficking is a serious issue ... The Huffington Post | Isaac Saul ...
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This Is The Key Measure To Protecting Sex Trafficking Targets


www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/15/sold-project-sex-trafficking_n...

Oct 15, 2013 · When Mai was approached by a sex trafficking ... Latino Voices; Voces (en ... where SOLD Project President Rachel Goble spoke with the Huffington Post ...
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Politics - The Huffington Post


www.huffingtonpost.com/feeds/verticals/politics/index.xml

... where it perhaps seems easier to conflate abuse with sex, ... This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post in conjunction with Sexual Assault
Post Wed Apr 09, 2014 5:28 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Disturbing New Report Details Hispanic Role In Sex Traffic

VOXXI | by Hope Gillette
Posted: 04/06/2014 3:16 pm EDT Updated: 04/06/2014 8:00 pm EDT

PROSTITUTION UNITED STATES


Whether people are aware of it or not, sex trafficking is a serious issue in several major U.S cities.

Despite law enforcement efforts and preventative laws, Hispanics are largely affected by this problem.

Data from a new study at the Urban Institute reveals that Hispanics are increasingly populating–and running–underground sex businesses, and though they’re not as organized as other ethnicities in the illegal sex trade, the crime rings are growing.

“The Hispanic side is still about the money. There is some organization there, but it’s not anything like the Asian organization which is truly organized crime that ranges clear back to China,” said a San Diego Law Enforcement Official in the report.

”It’s not by chance that they pay somebody just to come over here, it starts there. They pay whoever they pay and that person is linked up with someone over here, and whoever they get in contact with, that whole chain is linked up together,” he explained.

In some cities, such as in Miami, the underground sex trade is predominantly Hispanic, with most of the women and men from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, being forced into the underground due to smuggling debts.

Some of these, however, offer no other reasonable options but to sell their bodies to cover personal debts, and are considered to have entered the sex trade through a personal choice. Meanwhile others are sold into it by family members.

At the same time, other Hispanics–men and women–are often operating a number of underground sex businesses, involved in everything from prostitution to child pornography.

Dallas, Texas, for example, has a number of Hispanic-owned and -operated massage parlors that act as a cover for women who voluntarily participate in prostitution.

This practice has become common in Dallas where there’s been a huge increase in the number of Hispanic women sold into the sex business.

Most women are sold into the sex trade world by their mothers who feel a need to feed their drug addictions.

But the issue of Hispanics in the underground sex trade goes even further–they are also the primary customers of underground sex rings, especially in cities like Washington, D.C.

Nationwide, 80 percent of clients for Hispanic sex rings are Hispanic men.

The psychology of prostitution

There is little to explore behind the reason for sex trafficking; those who operate such institutions are in it for the money.

There’s always a profit to be made where there’s a demand for something, and sex has always been a powerful force in humankind.

For clients of underground sex rings, however, it isn’t about money.

Often, there’s a misconception held by the client that the women involved in such practices are not only there willingly, but enjoy the work they do.

The client isn’t aware of the fact that many women in sex rings are coached to always please the client, to fake orgasms and to do whatever it takes to put on a smile on their faces. If they did otherwise, they’d be exposing themselves to being hurt or to having their families targeted.

According to research from the University of Portland, the average male in the United States who visits a prostitute is usually likely to have served in the military, only slightly less likely to be married and white, and only slightly more likely to have a full-time job and be more sexually liberal.

Despite the common assumption that men who pay for sex are looking to dominate or hurt a woman, data suggests this is not the case; most men paying for sex truly believe a prostitute wants or desires sex on a level incomparable to most other women–including wives and significant others.

“While it is noteworthy to recognize that the 1 percent of adult men who paid for sex in 2010 still result in a large number of customers,” said Christine Milrod, a study researcher at the University of Portland.

“There’s no credible evidence to support the idea that hiring sex workers is a common or conventional aspect of masculine sexual behavior among men in the United States.”

But what about those women who are in the sex trade by force? Are they seeing the same types of customers as women who voluntarily enter into prostitution?

The answer to these questions is elusive, as few studies have been done evaluating clientele for voluntary and involuntary sex businesses. According to experts from Psychiatric Times, however, the belief that underground sex rings are places of violence and horror is no myth.

“Prostituted women are unrecognized victims of intimate partner violence by pimps and customers,” states the report from Psychiatric Times.

“Pimps and customers use methods of coercion and control like those of other batterers: minimization and denial of physical violence, economic exploitation, social isolation, verbal abuse, threats and intimidation, physical violence, sexual assault, and captivity.”

The systematic violence emphasizes the victim’s worthlessness except in her role as prostitute.”

Most women forced into the sex trade are punished if they show any indication of unhappiness. (Shutterstock)
Experts indicate that even if clients aren’t abusive, the pimps and sex traffickers more than make up for it through physical and psychological abuse, all used as a means of control.

Hispanics and sex trafficking

While there is no justification for the number of Hispanics involved in all aspects of sex trafficking, historians indicate prostitution has long been a part of many Hispanic cultures.

Some of the first prostitutes in the United States were Spanish-speaking women from Mexico, and during the early years of the nation, prostitution paid better than most jobs held by men.

For Hispanic women and their families, prostitution was often a way of providing for those they cared about.
In similar fashion, Hispanics today value family above all else, a belief that often forces women to extreme measures to take care of those around them.

Unfortunately, drug addictions and poverty can make a dangerous mix for any ethnicity, and many Hispanic girls are forced into sex slavery as a means to pay for accrued drug debt.

This article originally appeared in VOXXI under the title "The psychology behind the Hispanic sex trade."
Post Wed Apr 09, 2014 5:35 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

ICE (Customs) allegedly has been tracking rings bringing young children of both genders being brought across the borders for the sex trade.
Post Wed Apr 09, 2014 5:37 am 
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