Posts Tagged ‘sex trade’

Hillary Clinton: Trafficking Victims Should Be Made Whole

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Newscast Media WASHINGTON, D.C. — Survivors of human trafficking must be given the opportunity “to move past what they endured and make the most of their potential,” says Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Speaking at the State Department June 19 at an event marking the release of the department’s 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report, Clinton said: “Traffickers prey on the hopes and dreams of those seeking a better life. And our goal should be to put those hopes and dreams back within reach, whether it’s getting a good job to send money home to support a family, trying to get an education for oneself or one’s children, or simply pursuing new opportunities that might lead to a better life.”

The annual report, which tracks how human trafficking is handled in 186 countries and territories — including the United States — emphasizes proven and innovative practices for protecting victims via psychological support for victims, immigration laws to protect migrant victims and training for labor inspectors to recognize trafficking, Clinton said.

According to the State Department, there are some 27 million people around the world who are enslaved for labor or for the sex industry. Statistics provided by the United Nations’ International Labor Organization estimate that 55 percent of forced labor victims are women or girls, as are 98 percent of sex trafficking victims.

Among the recommendations the report makes:

• Provide victims with shelters but do not detain them there. Victims should have freedom of movement.

• Victims should be informed of their rights as early as possible in a language they understand.

• Victims should be given the choice of how much of their information is shared.

• Governments should offer victims permanent residency and the right to work.

Benefits — rather than forced deportation — facilitate the law enforcement process, the report says. The report also cautions governments not to confuse trafficking, in which victims are coerced, with illegal immigration.

“Authorities often fail to look beneath the surface for possible indicators of forced labor, debt bondage or sex trafficking,” the report says. It is the traffickers, not the trafficking victims, who are the criminals, the report says. You may read or download the 2012 Trafficking in Person’s Report.

http://www.newscastmedia.com/trafficking-victims.htm

Sex trade and human trafficking continue to thrive globally

Newscast Media HOUSTON, Texas—A disturbing investigation shows that human trafficking trade continues to grow, with as many as 12 million men, women and children living in a state of modern slavery, and the number is expected to double to almost 27 million. People like Tara from Ethiopia, promised a good job as a maid in the Middle East, who finds her passport confiscated, and 20 hour days of humiliation and hard work.

Or Umma from Somalia who spends her last pennies for a boat ride to Italy only to find herself an unwilling victim of the sex trade. Or Noben, a fisherman from Bangladesh beaten by his boss when he fails to meet his quota of catch for the day.

A common misconception is that sex trafficking is a problem limited to developing nations. Every year, thousands of people are brought into the West and forced into prostitution. The high demand allows traffickers to make a great profit and continue to bring more victims into the trade. In most countries prostitution is illegal, yet countries like Thailand attract numerous wealthy men from the West who are sex
tourists looking for underage girls, boys and she-males.

In one of its worst forms, trafficking involves harvesting people’s organs and selling them on the black market.

Talitha Kum network headed by Sister Estrella Castalone is on the front line fighting the trafficking, and also providing programs to train consecrated religious and lay in methods of prevention and to provide assistance for victims of trafficking. Below is an interview of Sr. Castalone talking about this growing problem of human trafficking.

Tracey McClure interviews Sister Estrella – Audio Courtesy: Vatican Radio
(The interviewer keeps mispronouncing the nun’s name as Australia instead of Estrella)

http://www.newscastmedia.com/human-trafficking.htm