Unique Coalition Unites To Fight Human Trafficking

[NATO AIR]

looks like the slavery of the 21st century is rejuvinating one of the most wonderful callings in history: abolitionist.

notice how abortion rights and anti-abortion forces are working together. how inspiring that they can move beyond rhetoric and unite to save lives and free slaves (traffick victims).

i am ashamed to say that here in japan, many American and Japanese servicemen contribute to this shameful practice by paying for sex with trafficked girls from the Phillipines, Burma, Columbia, Vietnam and Cambodia.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040915/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/the_new_abolitionists_2

 

[5stringJeff]

NATO, I agree - trafficking of women (and children) for the sex trade is just as much of a violation of human rights as trafficking of people because of race.

 

[NATO AIR]

indeed gop_jeff!



reading more and more about the latest efforts, i am just continually inspired to see people who normally disagree over so much work over the long term on a common concern.

 

[Avatar4321]

How many times do we have to face evil like this before we can vanquish it forever?

How many times to generations have to rise up against slavery?

How many times do generations have to rise up against infanticide in all its forms?

How many times do generations have to face the evils of genocide and utter annihilation before humans get it through their head not to be evil.

 

[NATO AIR]

I am disheartened as you are perhaps that this is still happening (along with other horrors like genocide), but I try to remember that whenever evil shows its face, good does as well. For every slave owner, there is an abolitionist, for every mass murderer, a human rights worker, a brave doctor, a concerned leader.

 

[dmp]

I wonder if the NAACP would support paying reparitions to every decent of a woman; incase one of her ancestors were forced into slavery?

 

[waltky]

Anti-trafficking efforts in UK need overhaul...

UK anti-trafficking efforts need overhaul, report says
9 March 2013 - Trafficking victim Mark Ovenden said he did not think police would be sympathetic to his plight

The UK's efforts to stop human trafficking are in a state of crisis and need a complete overhaul, a report from a think tank says. The Centre for Social Justice says the problem is barely understood and is often a low priority for police. It wants an anti-slavery commissioner established and the UK Border Agency to be stripped of powers to decide whether a person has been a trafficking victim. The government says the current Home Office-led approach is working. Seven government departments have some responsibility for dealing with human trafficking, but the report says this leads to confusion.

The CJS report, called It Happens Here, says there is a glaring lack of leadership on the issue and a shambolic misunderstanding of trafficking. Researchers found that from construction sites to brothels, large numbers of trafficked people were being exploited, but their fate never appeared in official statistics. Agencies are accused of "groping in the dark" in trying to understand the scale of the problem. In 2012, the UK Human Trafficking Centre said approximately 1,200 people were victims of human traffickers, a figure the CSJ says is virtually meaningless. "From top to bottom, this thing is a catastrophic failure," says Christian Guy, head of the CSJ. "Politically, I'm afraid ministers are clueless about the scale of British slavery."

Fear of violence

One man who is not is 26-year-old Mark Ovenden. He spent nine months being enslaved by his boss, first at various locations around southern England before eventually being taken to Sweden. "I'd been down on my luck for quite some time," he told Radio 4's The World This Weekend programme. "I was approached in the street one day by a guy. He asked me if I was looking for any work, told me he'd be able to pay me, give me somewhere to live, to feed me. So I agreed there and then to go with him." During a two-month stay at one site, he worked 18 hours per day, six days per week, doing heavy manual labour. He was not paid a penny. "No-one ever spoke about money" on the site he says, and the constant threat of violence made him fearful.\

Trafficking victim Mark Ovenden said he did not think police would be sympathetic to his plight

A sense of isolation and a growing dependence on his boss for shelter and a daily meal reduced his desire to escape. "When you are deprived of money for a job, you become dependent on them for your food, your transport, for everything," says Mark. "A lot of the guys… were calling men half their age 'daddy' almost as though they'd been degraded over a period of years." He says he was unwilling to go to the police to report his plight as he did not think they would treat him sympathetically. He may well be right, according to the CSJ report. The report said there were some "impressive examples" of work by local police forces on trafficking, but said in many areas officers were "unaware of the issue, or treat it as a low strategic priority". Its researchers say they found "unacceptable levels of ignorance" among police, social services and the UK Border Agency. One serving officer is quoted in the report as saying "there is more incentive to investigate a shed burglar… than there is a human trafficker" as there is so little pressure on the police to deal with the issue.

'Disparate legislation'