Human Trafficking In The News 12-09-2012

Stories of human trafficking, sexual exploitation, modern slavery and human rights abuse in the news. Click the bold titles for a link to the complete story. And as always thank you for caring about justice, for being a voice for the voiceless, for not ignoring the great evils of our day and doing something about it. Thank you!

My current home state of Mississippi received an embarrassing and unacceptable "D" in their efforts (or apparently lack there of) in combatting human trafficking. 17 other states failed. See how your state did below. A special thanks to Shared Hope International for their tireless efforts to call the US to accountability bout this crime of crimes.

Shared Hope International has released their 2012 State by State report card grading each state on their commitment and accomplishments in fighting human trafficking within their borders. Follow the link and click on your state to see the grade they received.

Music and entertainment icon MTV is training young people in Southeast Asia to use social media to raise awareness about human trafficking.  It is part of a global campaign to end the practice and event organizers and participants say social media amplifies the message. 

Actress Mira Sorvino (below) on Thursday called upon a crowd of 200 state legislators to take the lead in battling human trafficking, telling them they were on the front lines of the fight against “modern-day slavery” and repeatedly singling out Wyoming as the only state in the country that has failed to tackle the issue.

Friday President Obama signed Senator John Cornyn's Child Protection Act of 2012 into law. The aim is to take a more aggressive stance against sexual exploitation and human trafficking. In a press release from the attorney general's office, Senator Cornyn is quoted as saying, "We need to provide law enforcement with every tool they need to crack down on the most vile criminals ... And protect the innocent young people who fall victim to these heinous crimes."

President Obama today signing into law the Child Protection Act of 2012 (H.R. 6063), a bipartisan, bicameral bill authored by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) to better protect children from sexual predators. Chairman Smith, along with other supporters of the bill, joined the President at a signing ceremony at the White House.

From the Washington Times: some visible signs that may be used to help identify victims of human trafficking and questions that law enforcement, medical personnel, school and shelter personnel, and even the general public can use to help to identify victims of human trafficking.  Recognizing that someone has been trafficked can be the first step in saving their life.

And finally, last but not least, a great way for you to turn your passion for justice into the reality of freedom this Holiday Season!!

International Justice Mission's 2012 Gift catalog. For just a few dollars you can help give a child or a whole family the gift of freedom. Please let your generosity match the horror that you feel that these evils can even exist in today's society. Thank you!

Human Trafficking In The News 1-3-12

This is the first installment for 2012 of our regular updates about the international crisis of Human Trafficking and the exploitation of children. It is with renewed determination that we find ourselves at the beginning of this year, recommitting our voice in both passion and volume for the voiceless victims of human trafficking. We are asking you to join us, and we would be deeply humbled to work shoulder to shoulder, arm and arm, to end this scourge once and for all. Thank you. Click on the bold headers of each section for the link to the full stories.

President Obama addressing the nation on Jan. 1, the 148th anniversary of the effective date of the Emancipation Proclamation.

President Obama names January National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month: In  his remarks the US President recommitted the nation "to bringing an end to this inexcusable human rights abuse."


Forced Marriage in Afghanistan, trafficking by a different name: 60 percent of the trafficking in Afghanistan is internal and much of this involves forced marriages, many that result in the young girl prostituted by her arranged husband. And in a related story...


8 year old Yemeni girl is now legally divorced from her 28 year-old husband:  In response to a question from Judge Mohammed al-Qadhi if the "couple" had consummated their relationship 28-year-old Faez Ali Thameur said yes BUT that he "did not beat her". As if that clarifies it for us, makes the whole child rape issue a moot point. Just a technicality for the Yemeni court system, file the necessary paperwork and then the child can go on about her 8 year-old life, happily divorced, and oh yeah, intimately acquainted with a FRICKIN' 28 year old pedophile!!!!!

"I am happy that I am divorced now. I will be able to go back to school," eight year old Nojud Mohammed Ali said, after a public hearing in Sanaa's court of first instance.

Texas man pleads guilty to possession of child porn: Authorities found 120 gigs, or about 20 thousand pornographic videos and images of young children on 29 year old Jonathan Ryan Vittitow's computer. Including messages where he solicited undisclosed individuals to drug three children so he could rape them. He faces 15-30 years in jail.


Victoria's Dirty Secret: "In Burkina Faso, where child labor is endemic, paying premiums for organic and fair-trade cotton has created fresh incentives for exploitation. A program there has attracted subsistence farmers who say they can't grow "ethically sourced” cotton without forcing children into their fields. Bloomberg News spent more than six weeks reporting in West Africa to capture the plight of Clarisse Kambire, below, a 13 year old who is kept out of school, malnourished and beaten."

"By the time Clarisse picked her first harvest in 2010, Victoria's Secret was becoming the fair trade program's only buyer instead of the most prominent, according to Georges Guebre , the program's leader. An executive for Victoria's Secret’s parent company says the amount of cotton it buys from Burkina Faso is minimal, but it takes the child-labor allegations seriously."

Sexism in the British Press: The sexual objectification of women and children and the Leveson Inquiry's response to it. Women's rights groups are documenting for the Government inquiry the irresponsible nature of reporting when it comes to sexual violence against women and the overall bent in British tabloids to present women and girls as sexual objects. A recent story involving 6 soccer players gang-raping 12 year-olds had the victims referred to as "lolitas" and the demonic act itself was called an 'orgy'. Subsequently, to prove the pandemic nature of sexism in British society, all six of the defendants were later freed after an appeal to court judge Lord Justice Moses. Judge 'Lord Justice Moses', who perhaps has the most pathetic and disgustingly ironic name ever, ruled that the 12 year old girls 'wanted to have sex'.  Um.....What?!?!


HOW THE HELL IS THAT A RULING!!???!! Either the age of consent in Britain is 16 or it's not.  Either rape is a statutory offence- created by section 5 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Which CLEARLY states that a person commits the offence of rape if


(a) they intentionally penetrate....you get the idea....without consent AND/OR
(b) the other person is under 16!!!!!!!!!!!


-Or its not!!!! Dear Judge 'Lord Justice Moses' you are now complicit in the reckless endangerment of a minor. You have enabled other over-sexed, meat-headed men hopped up on testosterone to make sport of the violation of children!!!!!!!!! By English law and all other moral codes you too are a rapist. Lock yourself up and throw away the frickin KEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Stop the planet....I want off.

*******************

From all of us at Conspiracy Of Hope, thank you for caring about justice and child's rights, and have a Happy New Year!

WTF(atwa)!!! or The Cowardice Of Evil.

One of the most maddening, disheartening factors of the fight against Human Trafficking and the fight to protect children from sexual brutalization is the complicity of law enforcement in many countries. The stories of police officers being bribed or being regular patrons at brothels where young girls are forced into prostitution are many, and the magistrates and judges that continue to be bought off make the conviction rate for traffickers anemic and laughable. But when self appointed, self-important, judiciaries take the law into their own hands and mete out the most reprehensible of rulings under the religious guise of fatwa, it breaks the will of even the most hopeful optimists.




Hena was 14 when her 40 year old married cousin raped and beat her. That was last Sunday in Bangladesh. And though the man did not deny his crime, Hena was not given justice. Instead she was given one hundred one lashes. But at least for tiny Hena she didn't have to experience all of them, that's because she fell unconscious after 70. The young girl was rushed to the hospital where her broken body was beyond repair, and she died today, five days later.



The fatwa council that met early Monday convicted Hena of adultery, which is often just code for being alone with a man, but in Hena's case the reality was much more tragic. Her punishment was swift. Her death, unimaginably painful and infinitely senseless. The High Court is demanding an explanation but there is only one: evil is a coward. Evil hides under white sheets and under the cover of darkness, it masquerades as blind justice, but it blinds those who have no appetite for confrontation. It preys on the weak and defenseless and is emboldened at the deafening silence of society. It uses religion, every religion, as a justification for its lust for power and control, it uses religion as a blunt object, a raised fist that strikes fear into the heart of those that would resist.

Conspiracy Of Hope is a non-political group. Our members are as varied as are their beliefs. We do however support legislation that protects the innocent from exploitation and we support organizations that work tirelessly to see the law enforced justly.

International Justice Mission is one such organization. They work with just local law enforcement, lawyers and judges all over the world to protect the rights of the innocent. Their work with Project Lantern in Cebu, Philippines led to the number of underage girls in brothels declining by 79%. (You can read the COH blog about Project Lantern here.)

IJM has also put together a petition to ask President Obama to renew his administration's commitment to justice for the victims of trafficking. You can sign the petition here. It takes all of 30 seconds. Also there will be legislation going before congress soon called the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA). We will keep you up to date on the status of the legislation and let you know when you can call your congresspersons to let them know you support it. The legislation will give the State department some of the tools it needs to help other governments fight trafficking by enforcing anti-slavery and anti-exploitation laws already on the books and by encouraging them to amend Draconian laws like the one behind the fatwa that led to little Hena being beaten to death for being raped.

Please use your voice, your talents, your resources to expose the injustice of trafficking. Please support organizations like IJM that are fighting relentlessly to stem the tide of injustice. Remember, every time you speak out, the cowardice of evil is exposed for what it is, and you give the Henas of the world a fighting chance.

From all of us at Conspiracy Of Hope, thank you for being that voice.

Child Protection Act of 2009

Please contact your congressperson. Tell them you support The Child Protection Act of 2009, bill H.R. 2737.

IJM.org has a link to contact them. All you need to know is your zip code. It takes 30 seconds.


According to section 2 of HR2737 under findings and purpose:

158 million children between the ages of 4 and 15 are engaged in child labor (UNICEF).

The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates 1.8 million children are sexually exploited every year either through prostitution or pornography.

The full bill can be read here.

Also on IJM's website you can send a letter to President Obama thanking him for his previous actions concerning child exploitation and petitioning him to make it a top priority of his administration and to sign into law The Child Protection Act of 2009 when it crosses his desk.


From all of us here at Conspiracy Of Hope. Thank you for your compassion. Thank you for getting involved. Thank you for being a voice for the voiceless.