February 2012
53 posts
THAILAND: Mother jailed for forcing underage...
BANGKOK, Thailand by The Nation (2/28/12) — A Thai Court on Tuesday sentenced a 50-year-old mother to 42 years in jail for forcing her daughter and two other girls, all of them minors, into prostitution.
A Briton, Stuart Hargreaves Lloyd, 45, was also sentenced to 21 years in jail after being found guilty of raping minors.
The Court was told that Tim Wongsiri had taught and forced her...
USA: South Florida a "Perfect Storm" For Human...
MIAMI, Florida, USA by Sharon Lawson of NBC Miami (9/17/11) — In Miami, a dirty secret lies beneath the cosmopolitan veneer.
“When you look at South Florida,” said Carmen Pino of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “we are like the perfect storm…for human trafficking.
“And now you have organized crime that’s taken hold of things and...
USA: Bill to combat human trafficking, focusing on...
OLYMPIA, Washington, USA by Washington State Legislators (2/27/12) — The Washington State House of Representatives passed a bipartisan anti-trafficking bill to keep minors from being exploited through online ads for escort services such as Backpage.com. Having already passed the Senate, the bill now goes to the governor for her signature.
Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles (Democrat-Seattle), prime...
“In the 19th century, the central moral challenge was slavery. In the 20th...”
– NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF (1959-present): American journalist, author of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, Opinion-Editor columnist for New York Times since 2001, and a winner of two Pulitzer Prizes
USA: Letter-Human Trafficking Hits the Super Bowl
NORWALK, Connecticut, USA by Carly Cordovano of The Daily Easton (1/30/12) –- The number of human-trafficking cases increases significantly in cities that host major sporting events such as the World Cup and the Olympics, according to children’s rights advocates and law enforcement officials. In the weeks leading up to the 2010 World Cup, 40,000 sex workers were taken to South Africa, and...
KENYA: Tackling underage sex work in Nyanza's gold...
NYATIKE, Kenya by IRIN of UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (2/7/12) — Inside a smoky makeshift kiosk, Julie*, 16, can hardly cope with the demand from her clients for a cup of tea and a snack - the men are parched from their work as gold miners in the western Kenyan district of Nyatike. The money Julie makes from the kiosk is not sufficient, so she supplements it by...
USA: Texas Officials Remove 11 Children from Home...
HOUSTON, Texas, USA by Molly Hennessey-Fiske of Los Angeles Times (2/22/12)— Texas authorities have removed 11 children from the home of a registered sex offender after they found many confined, some tied to their beds.
At least 10 adults were living in the one-story, 1,700-square-foot home in the rural ranch and rice farming town of Dayton, about 30 miles northeast of Houston,...
USA: Sex And The Super Bowl: Indianapolis Puts...
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, USA by Meghan Casserly of Forbes (2/2/12) — Over 1,000 listings were posted this week on Backpage.com in Indianapolis, advertising “young,” “curvy” women and girls for in-calls and out-calls, “un-rushed” body rubs and “total” satisfaction. Of that number nearly a quarter reference the Super Bowl.
“Welcome football fans! Brown eyed cutie at your service!” they cry....
FRANCE: Strauss-Kahn questioned over suspected...
LILLE, France by Los Angeles Times via Associated Press (2/21/12) — Police are probing a suspected prostitution ring in France and neighboring Belgium that has implicated police and other officials. They have questioned prostitutes who said they had sex with Strauss-Kahn during 2010 and 2011.
Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is being questioned Tuesday by...
“The first time he had taken the massa to one of these “high-falutin’...”
– ALEX HALEY (1921-1992): American author of Roots: The Saga of an American Family and The Autobiography of Malcolm X
USA: 'Pimp in action' is out of action — gets...
SEATTLE, Washington, USA by Sara Jean Green of The Seattle Times (4/28/11) — King County Superior Court Judge Beth Andrus had just handed down a 20-year prison sentence Thursday for convicted pimp Anthony “Mack” Terry when the courtroom phone rang.
On the line was the teenage victim Terry had pimped out and later asked to lie for him in a series of recorded phone calls he made...
“I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye...”
– THEODORE PARKER (1810-1860): Minister, scholar, and socially active transcendentalist
USA: Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore Launch 'Real...
USA by Lucas Kavner of The Huffington Post (4/11/11) — The Demi and Ashton Foundation (DNA), founded by Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, launches its “Real Men Don’t Buy Girls” interactive video campaign this week, aiming to educate the public about child sex slavery in the United States.
Kutcher became interested in the issue after stumbling across a “Dateline”...
“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of...”
– ABRAHAM LINCOLN (1809-1865), USA’s 16th President, led victory in American Civil War + signed historic Emancipation Proclamation
CANADA: Third in human trafficking ring pleads...
HAMILTON, Ontario, Canada by Nicole O’Reilly of The Hamilton Spectator (2/17/12) — At least three victims of a Hungary to Hamilton human trafficking ring could have been spared had police and immigration officials prevented a wanted criminal from staying in Canada, says the case’s lead prosecutor.
“This was completely preventable if authorities had done what they were supposed to do,” said...
“I strongly believe that love is the answer and that it can mend even the deepest...”
– SOMALY MAM (born 1970 or ‘71): Cambodian sex trafficking survivor, human rights advocate + author of The Road of Lost Innocence: The True Story of a Cambodian Heroine
USA: Seattle Teen missing 2+ years now after...
SEATTLE, Washington, USA by Susan Kelleher of The Seattle Times (12/20/10) — Kelsey Collins was 16 when she fell silly in love with a loser.
It was bound to happen. For all of her street toughness, Kelsey was naive, the kind of kid who would accept a ride from a stranger with only a vague sense that bad things could happen.
Being young, she fell for an older boy who was plenty nice at...
“You can’t hold a man down without staying down with him.”
– BOOKER T. WASHINGTON (1856-1915): African-American ex-slave, educator, author, orator + political leader
“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and, under a...”
– ABRAHAM LINCOLN (1809-1865), USA’s 16th President, led victory in American Civil War + signed historic Emancipation Proclamation
USA: Waging war on human trafficking (in...
SEATTLE, Washington, USA by Nicole Brodeur of The Seattle Times (1/19/12) — It’s a long way from The Body Shop to the places where bodies are actually shopped. One is a shiny, sweet-smelling store in Seattle’s Pacific Place; the other could be any hotel room in the region, from a fancy downtown hotel to some rundown motel by the airport.
But it was here, outside a store built...
USA: Teen prostitution anguishes families,...
SUNNYSIDE, Yakima County, Washington, USA by Ross Courtney of The Yakima Herald-Republic (1/15/12) — Neatly stored in a closet of Maria Mojica’s one-bedroom apartment are school supplies, clothing and crafts she keeps ready and waiting for her daughter Jessica Estrada.
They’ve been there for a year.
On Jan. 13, 2011, the teenager cried after getting a mysterious phone call,...
USA: Critics slam Backpage.com at legislative...
OLYMPIA, Washington, USA by Jonathan Kaminsky (1/27/12) of Associated Press — Washington state lawmakers on Friday heard impassioned pleas to pass a bill clamping down on classified-advertising companies that don’t demand ID before allowing sex-related ads to be posted online.
Washington state lawmakers on Friday heard impassioned pleas to pass a bill clamping down on...
UK: Crime fighting Brum nun & the sex slave girl...
BIRMINGHAM, England by Nick McCarthy of BirminghamMail.net (2/15/12) — “The brothels they are forced to work in are across the city, but most of the need is centred on inner city areas. Most of the children and women who are trafficked here are from the Far East and Africa. But we also have girls brought in from countries in Eastern Europe. The biggest difficulty we have is getting them to...
UK: Chinese teen sex slave in England 'had no idea...
BIRMINGHAM, England by FoxNews (2/15/12) — A Chinese teenage sex slave who was kept in a cage in the UK did not know which country she was in when police found her, it was revealed Wednesday.
The 18-year-old was rescued from a locked cage inside a brothel in Birmingham, central England, and was put in the care of local nun Sister Helen Ryan and her order at St Mary’s Convent of...
UGANDA: 600 Ugandan girls victims of sex...
UGANDA by Phillippa Croome of Daily Monitor (2/15/12) — At least 600 Ugandan girls have been forced into Malaysia’s sex trade in what has become a human trafficking epidemic, a foreign diplomat has said.
Hajah Noraihan, the Malaysian consul to Uganda, said despite an early warning to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2008 when the number of trafficked girls stood at 30, the constant flow...
WatchHolly trailer by Red Light Children
WatchSex+Money trailer by Sex+Money
“Article 3, paragraph (a) of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish...”
– United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
USA: Dozens of children rescued in child...
SEATTLE, Washington, USA by Eric Wilkinson of KING 5 News (11/8/10) — The FBI and several state law enforcement agencies have recovered 69 children, including 23 in the Seattle-Everett-Tacoma area, in a three-day nationwide effort targeting child prostitution. About 885 other people, including 99 pimps, have been arrested.
“We recovered 23 children locally. I don’t know if all...
USA: Seattle leads nation as worst place for child...
SEATTLE, Washington, USA by King5 News (1/24/12) — Human trafficking ranks second behind drug trafficking as the most lucrative illegal trade in the world. According to the U.S. State Department, about 2.5 million trafficked individuals generate some $32 billion in profits each year. And it’s not just overseas - human trafficking is happening right here in Western Washington.
Read and...
“You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did...”
– WILLIAM WILBERFORCE (1759-1833): British politician, philanthropist + abolitionist
USA: Human Trafficking Arrest in Monterey
MONTEREY, California, USA by Nick Emmons of KION (2/14/12) — A 35 year old Monterey woman has been arrested in connection to human trafficking and other charges, said police.
The Monterey Police Department arrested Aaliyah Solange Ali Person, also known as Lisa Louise Banner, after investigating an allegation that an underage female runaway from the bay area was brought to Monterey...
USA: 42,000+ Christian College Students at Passion...
ATLANTA, Georgia, USA by CNN Freedom Project (1/6/12) — For the better part of an hour, 42,000 college students stood in the frigid Atlanta night, patiently waiting for a statue illustrating the fight against human trafficking to be illuminated.
They filled the Georgia International Plaza next to the Georgia Dome stadium and stood in the crisp 40 degree air this week staring up at the...
USA: 'The new Christian abolition movement' with...
GREENSBORO, North Carolina, USA by CNN (2/5/12) — The truck-stop hooker is no Julia Roberts, the trucker in the cab with her no Richard Gere, and this truck stop off the highway could not be any farther from Beverly Hills, the staging ground for “Pretty Woman.”
Read more on CNN about this story here
“Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave.”
– FREDERICK DOUGLASS (1818-1895): American abolitionist, statesman, writer + orator
“Human trafficking is the acquisition of people by improper means such as force,...”
– UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
WatchAt The End Of Slavery by International Justice Mission
WatchRape for Profit trailer (upcoming documentary) by Mew Films
IVORY COAST: Child slavery and chocolate: All too...
DALOA, Ivory Coast by CNN’s David McKenzie and Brent Swails (1/19/12) — Chocolate’s billion-dollar industry starts with workers like Abdul. He squats with a gang of a dozen harvesters on an Ivory Coast farm.
Abdul holds the yellow cocoa pod lengthwise and gives it two quick cracks, snapping it open to reveal milky white cocoa beans. He dumps the beans on a growing pile.
Abdul is 10...
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
– ‘MAHATMA’ MOHANDAS GANDHI (1869-1948): India political leader + pioneer of non-violent resistance/civil disobedience methods for India independence
AUSTRALIA: Prostituted South Korean Women...
SYDNEY, Australia by HT News’ Isabella Kang (2/6/12) — South Korean women make up one of the largest proportion of sex workers trafficked in Australia, alongside Thai and Chinese nationals. The Korean Consul-General sent a letter asking Sydney councils to provide information on known Korean nationals working in the sex industry (incidentally, I interned under this Consul-General at the...
Watch10 Facts on the “S” Word by Free the Slaves
WatchCall and Response trailer featuring International Justice Mission’s Founder & President Gary Haugen
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive...”
– MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. (1929-1968): African-American Christian minister who successfully led civil rights movement using non-violent/civil disobedience means
USA: Free the Slaves’ Co-Founder Peggy Callahan...
“I had the luxury of swimming in wonderful memories…of being brought to my knees by the sheer grace and majesty in the eyes of the people I met in so many remote villages — usually after being stuck in the mud.” ~ Peggy Callahan, Co-Founder of Free the Slaves (FTS)
Washington, District of Columbia, USA by Free the Slaves (2/10/12) — Peggy Callahan is an abolition hero. From helping to...