Amplify Issues - Humantrafficking

CHILD LOBOUR AND SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 10:23:00 -0500

The FOS in 2003 reported that 15 million Nigerian children under the age of 14 were working, mostly to help pay their school fees and help their parents for daily up keep. The survey, conducted with support from the ILO, showed that over eight million of the country's working children were also attending school. Also, the United Nations Children Funds (UNICEF), in its 2006 report on Child Labour in Nigeria, reveals that a staggering 15 million children under the age of 14 were working across Nigeria and that many were exposed to long hours of work in dangerous and unhealthy environments. Various occupations carried out by these children include; prostitution, quarrying, construction work etc.
These children exposed daily to the odds of the streets, dangerous territories where they are strangers and the people around them strangers also. These children too young for the responsibilities they are shouldering and unaware of the risks they face in going out daily roaming the streets working for a pay that may destroy their future. These same streets were the inhuman hoodlums are, the hoodlums who after abusing various drugs molest children either by sexual intercourse, incest, rape, oral sex, sodomy, inappropriate touching, or kissing. This way they are exposed to sexual transmitted infection most times through rape, there are also cases of unwanted pregnancies, abortion and HIV.
Low income, poverty, and poor educational institutions are the driving forces behind the prevalence of child labour. Most families with low income rates that are not financially able to send their children n to school tend to resort to child labour as a means of livelihood. Studies have shown that reducing child labour through improvements in living standards alone will take time. If a more rapid reduction in the general incidence of child labour is a policy goal, improving educational systems and providing financial incentives to poor families to send children to school may be more useful solutions to the child labour problem than corrective measures designed to prevent children from earning income.

The struggle for survival

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 09:36:00 -0500

Years have passed and each day that unfolds before me brings with it the recognition that knowledge is indeed the greatest ice breaker of an iced up world. I say iced up because a lot of things which should have been active are being frozen for a right time. And I ask, when will the time come? To be honest, there is no such thing as right time for it never , seems to come. For every so-called ‘’right time’’ that people held on to be finally the time, it was because someone had willed for it to be called the ‘’right time’’. Someone had gone to the future ahead of time and kidnapped ‘’right time’’ which is the only child of procrastination and brought it to ‘’NOW’’ Well, for me, I realized that my own right time had come. A time where I am fully aware of the potentials within my reach, a time where I am in full control of the opportunities that come my way. It’s a fifty- fifty chance that is, whether I take the chance that opportunity throws at me or not, it doesn’t change the fact that it had once dined with me in the parlours of my youthful life. So I dare to throw open the doors of my chambers to the very stranger that I and my generations have long waited for. As I write this, I had decided to take my mind on a stroll down memory streets and in the course of my stroll, I realized that I had watched and not seen, I had heard and not listened and so I bite my lips in frustration. I know now that all these issues had always lived with me and even shared my bed without my knowledge, evil and barbarism chatted with me and even threw feasts for me, all of which I declined not. I had seen a lot of FGM, child abuse, even trafficking but because of my limited knowledge I hadn’t considered them anything worth fighting or speaking out for. It was normal especially TRAFFICKING.
Some years ago, I had come in contact with an experience; one I didn’t know would be of use to anyone not even I. I had a neighbor who had a saloon to her credit. As I recall now, the saloon was always unusually busy. Well, I know it is not unusual because a saloon is supposed to be busy and in fact if it is not busy then I guess its bad luck on the side of the owner. I call it unusual because things never used to be that way. My neighbor was just an ordinary woman who had challenges like every other person. She had a shop and seemed to be comfortably married until things took a different turn in her life and the life of her family. Her husband was sacked at his place of work and then life insisted that they switched roles and so she did. She became the bread winner of the family. She used to maintain the family with the little proceeds from her business until she realized that at the pace she was going, she was never going to cross the finish line and so she realized that she had to think of a more creative and lucrative idea that would fetch her the needed break or forever live a pitiful life. A life where her hands and the hands of her family would be tied by fate. A life where she would watch her children lack and suffer because of the decisions she had failed to make and so she set to work and began to construct something in her shop. At first, I didn’t know what to think but as time went on, it took shape and alas, a mini room had been carved out. Things got more interesting every day because she started to have more visitors and I could see that she also began to harbour some girls of different ages who were poorly dressed and had all their dresses so I guessed and all that they owned in life in a single polythene bag. Their hairs were dirty and looked malnourished and they had plaited their hairs into ugly looking braids and looked quite unattractive. I wondered who those girls were. At first I thought they were the new apprentices and now that I looked back, am sure they thought they were too! My neighbour suddenly became full of activities when her odd customers came around. She would take them to the inner chambers and after a long while, I would see her coming out, then talking one of those girls aside and try to pep them up because most of them wore sad, long faces and when she succeeded in getting their smile, she would go back inside and I guess tell them that their ‘’goods’’ were ready for shipping. Those customers would then come out and try to take a few minutes to familiarize with those girls before carrying them off. Then, what baffled me most was the fact that after these visitors left, she was always counting large amounts of money and was usually excited afterwards. She relished the money counting moments. The customers never seem to end and she worked round the clock to satisfy the needs of her customers and only went home to freshen up. In fact, I finally discovered that those girls usually slept in the shop and would have their baths in the open space behind her shop which she later covered with slabs gotten from the carpenter’s shop and whose carpentry was poorly done. They would take turns to have their baths in the small opening behind the shop as early as 4am before the real activity for the day started and before the world opened its eyes to the sun. Some mornings, it was so cold especially during the harmattans and I wondered how they coped in the early mornings. I soon realized that the times she decided to go home for the night, she would lock them all in her shop and later take a stroll to her shop at 4am to open it for them to have their baths. Before my eyes, I had seen girls being taken away while others were brought back and another customer buying them again. It was trading all day long! I never knew the fate of those girls because I knew that she was hiding them away from the eyes of the law and I never seemed to understand why. Sometimes she would her tell her hairdressing girls ‘’ make una no forget to lock this shop o! abeg no put me for mopol trouble I get family for house o!’’ she would tell them not to forget to lock the shop and that they should exercise care because she didn’t want to be caught by the police and that she had a family to cater for.
This continued for years until we moved away from that location and I wondered who those girls were. But now, I don’t wonder who they were anymore because I know who they were. They were victims. Instead, I wonder who they are and what they have become. Have they lost their identities and dreams to the selfishness of another? Or perhaps they have lost their youthful vigour in the pursuit of a freedom they do not think would be theirs. All this thing I wonder and I know that necessity is laid upon me to preach the gospel against trafficking, forced sex and human rights degradation. I realize that it starts from me and so I put down my hands first and I ask, Would we as young people put our hands on top of each other’s to form a coalition that will help push this motion and thus be proud to push forward a logo that says ‘’let’s dialogue so that we may come to a point of mutual understanding of our rights and responsibilities’’.

Weekly Round-Up: 5/22- 5/28

Tue, 31 May 2011 19:57:00 -0500

The bill...stipulates no fewer than 21 government-imposed obstacles that women, their families, and their doctors must confront before said women are considered "informed" enough to receive abortion care.

Religious Ideology, Poverty, and Sex Slavery- by dandaman6007

Dan talks about involuntary sex trafficking out of Nigeria, and explains the connection between poverty and religion that keeps this practice thriving.

The Precedent of Silence- by Bkemp93

Inside this post:

Learn how Tennessee’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill contributes to LGBTQ youth being ostracized and how the “tyranny of silence” reaches beyond schools.

Response to “Who Runs the World (Girls)” song and video- by ashthom

Inside this post:

Ashley shares a video that explains why Beyonce’s new song is an absolute lie.

New Campaign: “The Time Is Now: Climate Change and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights”- by Liz

Inside this post:

Liz introduces us to the new campaign from Advocates for Youth called “The Time is Now,” and explains the connection between climate change and youth SRHR issues. If you’ve wondered about the intersection of these issues before, this will help answer some of your questions.

Thank you to everyone who posted a blog this week! You are part of what makes this community great!

~ Samantha
Community Editor

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My posts for this week:
Kansas state rep compares getting raped to getting a flat tire
Lt. Dan Choi beaten and arrested at Moscow Pride

Weekly Round-Up: 4/24- 4/30

Tue, 03 May 2011 23:47:00 -0500

Each week, I’ll be posting a list of the most news-worthy and/or inspirational, informative, well-written, thought-provoking, and/or unique posts of the week. While every post and every contributor is valuable to our community, these are the blogs that I feel are must-reads.

April 24- April 30

Stats for this week: 45 posts by 24 writers

The Authoritarian Agenda Behind Attacks on Contraception- by Amplify_Staff

Inside this post:

Amanda Marcotte of RH Reality Check excellently describes the misogynist intent behind the war on contraception.

What’s next?- by AllOurLives

Inside this post:

When anti-choicers say they want to outlaw abortion and contraception and make it harder for undocumented immigrants to receive prenatal care, AllOurLives asks the logical follow-up question of “What’s next?” What happens to those women if they are not able to receive the health care they need?

PA House Introduces Non-Discrimination Bill--Who Is Daryl Metcalfe??- by Jordan

Inside this post:

Jordan profiles PA State Representative and Republican stick-in-the-mud Daryl Metcalfe, who, among other things, believes that males being protected under domestic violence laws is part of the “homosexual agenda.” Jordan provides some optimism, though, on how other PA lawmakers can work around Metcalfe’s bigoted views in order to move forward with the new anti-discrimination bill.

Op-ed “Getting the word out about teen pregnancy prevention”- by kebodudu

Inside this post:

The South Carolina Contraceptive Access Campaign has developed efforts to enlighten and empower young people by providing a resource tool which allows them to receive confidential, accurate information through our SEXT text messaging line.

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CLPP: Sex (Work) and Activism

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 15:10:00 -0500

The first workshop I attended during last weekend’s Civil Liberties and Public Policy Conference was called Sex Work and Feminism. It began with an exercise led by Jenna Mellor and Meredith Zoltick of HIPS (Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive) in D.C. They asked us to clear our minds, and then read a list of statements about sex work and sex workers and asked us to rate the truth of the statement on a scale of 1-5, 1 being “no way” and 5 being “right on.” The statements included things like, “It is riskier to have sex with a prostitute than it is to have sex with someone else,” and “All pimps are abusive.” We then had a short discussion about which statements stood out to us, which ones were clear 1s or 5s, and what assumptions or judgments about sex work we had that influenced how we felt about these statements.

As Jenna and Meredith explained, when talking about sex work or the sex trade, it’s so important to check at the door any presumptions we may have. It is better to have an open mind and learn from people with experience or from your own experience as you gain it.

The three panelists spoke next. They were Deon Haywood, Executive Director of Women With a Vision in New Orleans, and Shira Hassan and C. Angel Torres with the Young Women’s Empowerment Project in Chicago.

Deon spoke about their ongoing lawsuit against Governor Bobby Jindal and the state of Louisana about the unfair “Crime Against Nature” statute that, as enforced, discriminates against gay men and women of color. In February of this year, Deon’s organization, along with lawyers from the Center for Constitutional Rights, filed a federal civil rights complaint in the United States District Court Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans. According to the Center for Constitutional Rights:

The Crime Against Nature statue harshly punishes individuals who offer or agree to have oral or anal sex- acts historically associated with homosexuality- for money by requiring them to register as a sex offender upon conviction.

This is the only instance in which an offense that does not involve children, the use of force, violence, a weapon, or lack of consent requires registration.

They call this statute a modern day Scarlett Letter and say that the state must change its out-dated law.

The lawsuit alleges that being forced to register as a sex offender because of a Crime Against Nature…serves no legitimate purpose whatsoever. As such, it is unjustifiable and unconstitutional. CCR further contends that the only reason our clients are registered sex offenders is that they were convicted under the provisions of a 200-year-old statute that condemns non-procreative sex acts and sex acts traditionally associated with homosexuality, solely on grounds of moral disapproval.

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Weekly Round-Up: 6/6- 6/12

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:13:00 -0500

(Sorry this wasn’t up yesterday. My excitement for the new season of True Blood distracted me from doing anything else.)

June 6- June 12

Human Trafficking- by Marimar

Why I chose this post:

Marimar shares some sobering statistics about human trafficking. This isn’t an old problem, people. This is going on today, in our world, and it deserves our attention, our rage, and our action.

How We Survive: healing from sexual violence as a community- by robocoko

Why I chose this post:

Robocoko shares an excellent zine that survivors of sexual violence at her university put together to help fellow survivors heal. It’s definitely worth the read!

Why do we apologize for our bodies?- by robocoko

Why I chose this post:

This is an excellent reminder from robocoko that our bodies and our choices regarding them are nothing to be ashamed of or apologized for. If you need a body positivity boost, this is the post for you!
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Why Men Rule the World: A Serious Look At Why Feminism Still Matters

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:47:00 -0500

As much as it pains my feminist heart to say this, I do not believe that women rule the world. Let me say that, as a feminist, I do not want women to rule the world- that’s not what feminism is about. Feminism, most basically, is about equality between the sexes. So really, I don’t want either sex to “rule the world.” Yet, again, I am disappointed. As much as I don’t want it to be true, as I see it now, men rule the world. And I hate that. Not because I’m an “angry feminist”…or wait…maybe that’s exactly what I am. And maybe that’s exactly what I should be.

As much as I want to believe that equality between the sexes really does exist, I have come to realize that, in the most important ways, it does not. And until it does, I will continue to be an angry feminist because I cannot and will not accept being seen as less than just because I am a woman. Inequality will never be okay with me. So, until people realize that one sex does not rule the world (or, in other words, until people realize that one sex does not rule over the other) I will continue to be angry.

I think that we have two big problems in the United States when it comes to combating this issue. The first, simply, is that because of our successes in certain areas of this struggle, we forget that there are huge, though possibly less visible, issues that still need significant attention. Our second problem is our difficulty in seeing and comprehending the world outside our borders. We think that the whole world is like us, and if they’re not, they don’t matter anyway. I believe it is this kind of thinking that has allowed the worst inequalities against women to continue.
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Thanks

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:35:00 -0500

It's that time of year, and I, for one, am glad. It's easy, when you do this kind of work, to get mired in all the horrible things that need to change, like, two decades ago, and to miss out on the fact that we've actually got a lot to celebrate. Here, in no particular order are a few of the things that are making my gratitude list this year:

-I'm thankful that Emma Thompson responded to the petitions of feminists and withdrew her name from the list of famous Roman Polanski apologists. And I'm even more thankful that Caitlin Hayward-Tapp and everyone at Shakesville had the vision and optimism to inspire her to do it.

-I'm thankful for Glee, despite its flaws, for continuing to be such an unabashedly sex-positive show. And for being so freaking fun to watch. And I'm thankful for Precious, despite its flaws, for presenting the story of an abused young black woman who manages to transcend her brutal circumstances without a makeover or a man. And for introducing us to the fantastic Gabby Sidibe, whom I hope to be seeing a lot more of on my movie screens in the near future.

-I'm thankful that Tucker Max's movie bombed at the box office. For a ton of reasons, but primarily because that means we probably won't get a sequel, or a bunch of copycats.

-I'm thankful that Amanda Hess started writing her The Sexist column for the Washington City Paper, because she makes me laugh and makes me think and makes me feel so much more sane and generally cuts through epic amounts of BS on the regular. The only part of me that's not thankful for her is the part that's jealous of how good she is.

-I'm thankful that congress passed The Matthew Shepard Act, which expands the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability, and that Obama signed it.

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from abortion rights to social justice...let's meet up already.

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 08:12:00 -0500

We've been doing this online thing for long enough. Let's meet face to face - and I have the perfect place in mind.

On April 3-5, the CLPP program is hosting the annual reproductive justice conference, "From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom". And I hope to see you all there.

If you join me, together we can celebrate the end of the Bush administration's relentless attacks on reproductive and sexual rights and revive our political passion, energy and imagination. We'll be part of building the reproductive justice community, strengthening the way we understand and talk about social justice, gain new tools...I get energized just thinking about it.

Also, some of your favorite bloggers will be presenting: Shelby Knox (Breaking the Waves), Jill Fishman (Between the Sheets/Femmetastic), and yours truly. There's going to be folks presenting workshops from all over the world and participants from all over the U.S. (at least).

Before I forget, this is all going on in Amherst, Massachusetts. That's 2 hours from Boston, 3 from New York. The conference is free and includes meals all weekend. There's also free childcare (but you need to sign up ahead of time). There's a rideboard and housingboard. And you can request a travel stipend or housing subsidy.

So, you have no excuse not to be there.

Hello All

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:28:00 -0500

Hey,

I just registered because I am passionate about learning how to prevent the sexual traffic that goes around the world today. I am studying to be a physician and have desired to help those that have been caught by this trade.

I was recently awarded the Great American Condom Campaign packet and am looking for creative ideas to pass them out and educate people about why they either need to perform abstinence, or use a condom.

I am a christian and I attend a christian school called JBU. its a great place but it would be naive to think that the students here do not have sex, despite our values of no sex till marriage.

because of the sexual sensitivity here on campus, the campaign through which i do these educationals and distributions will need to be creatively discrete, if you can understand.

I am a residential assistant and this would be a great chance to help here while I wait for the rest of the world to open up when i become a doctor.

anyways, happy to join all of you in this campaign.

if you have any questions about my values and ethics concerning abortion, premarital sex, or anything really please feel free to ask.

-Nuno

How to Get Rich on Your Vagina, or, What I Learned In Womens Studies

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 12:06:00 -0500

Natalie Dylan, a 22 year old women’s studies grad from California, has been the buzz of the blogsphere since she put her virginity up for auction on the internet and announced that the bidding reached 3.8 million this month. She describes it as a money-making “sociological experiment” inspired by her college experience with women’s studies courses.

Natalie Dylan is in a privileged position. She’s white, college educated, and has access to the mainstream media. And no matter what anyone thinks about what she’s doing with her virginity, she’s within her rights as an American citizen to do it. She can, and does, even call it a feminist act.

But, with her privilege Dylan should know that by no means is her idea original – men have been buying and selling women’s hymens since Bible times, and the practice continues in both the East and West in various forms. And while she proudly notes that she will get her pick of the many men willing to pay top dollar for her first time, most women don’t have such choice in the matter.

New York Times’ columnist Bill Kristol recently wrote a heart-wrenching plea to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to take immediate steps to end sex trafficking all over the world. He introduced us to13 year old Ling Pross of Cambodia:

She was kept locked deep inside the brothel, her hands tied behind her back at all times except when with customers.

Brothel owners can charge large sums for sex with a virgin, and like many girls, Ms. Pross was painfully stitched up so she could be resold as a virgin. In all, the brothel owner sold her virginity four times.

It doesn’t say for how much, but I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t 3.7 million – and I can be pretty damn sure Ling Pross didn’t get any of it to go to graduate school.

Think I’m being dramatic? After all, Natalie Dylan wasn’t kidnapped and sold to a brothel, she contacted a brothel herself in order to auction off a commodity on the “one level on which men cannot compete.” She claims that she’s reclaiming her sexuality and flipping gender bias into an example of American entrepreneurship. If the sucker will pay, who’s to stop him? It is hers to sell, after all.

Ok. She can do that. She – the individual, meaning a straight, white, educated, American – can and will subject herself to probes to prove her virginity, hob nob it up with television pimp Dennis Hof and net enough cash and blog buzz to start a singing career if the “family and marriage counseling” idea doesn’t pan out.

Ironically, she can do it because of the gains on the women’s movement.

But in the process she is without a doubt reiterating that, in an era that is purported to be post-feminist, women’s bodies are simply capital, their worth is between their legs. And by implication, she is establishing that she’s worth far more than most women by virtue of birthplace and will forever be worth less as a woman in general the day after she does the deed.

She can do it, but it doesn’t mean she should. The signals got crossed somewhere – sexual liberation wasn’t hard won so that we as young women can participate in our own subjection and call it progress.

In fact, the privilege that she and I share comes with the responsibility of making the connections between a culture that has spawned the bidding war for her virginity and the sex tourism that delivers customers to Ling Pross in Cambodia – and making it very clear that anytime women’s bodies are put on the market, the woman is never in a winning position.

In any situation where women’s bodies are being trafficked, legally or illegally, there are undoubtedly fat cats, usually male, sitting around counting the dollars (or Cambodian riel, as the case may be). What percentage will Dennis Hof and his Bunny Ranch get of Dylan’s asking price, for instance? Something tells me she will see a whole lot less of that bounty by the time the whole thing is said and done.

I wonder what else she’ll come up short of after this experience. One of the privileges that Dylan enjoys that the women who are not just playing at prostitution don’t is that, after she takes the money and runs, she’ll have the opportunity to explore how amazing sex can be when neither partner is participating in the other’s exploitation.

Dylan concludes that she might be an “early adopter of a future trend.” I certainly hope not. Western capitalism combined with some shaky feminist philosophy does not a statement make – quite the opposite, in fact.

Unless she’s pulling one over on us all. Her auction has prompted numerous discussions about the status of women in this country and she actually made Fox News say the word “maidenhead” on the air. I hope when the big exchange comes she’ll refuse the money and instead publicly post the names and photos of the wealthy bidders for their wives, girlfriends, and daughters to see how much they might be worth in comparison. Or, get in good at the Bunny Ranch and write a devastating tell all on the whole slimy operation.

Or she can take the money. Go to grad school, write a dissertation on the experience and then give the rest of the spoils to an organization like Equality Now that works for an end to domestic and international sex trafficking. That, at least, would be something shaped like progress.