tagged w/ Child Trafficking
-
Human trafficking must end. Hope for the Sold seeks to end human trafficking one word at a time. They create compelling resources to spread awareness, connect leaders, and inspire hope and action. Find out how you can join the abolitionist movement.
http://hopeforthesold.com/Human trafficking must end. Hope for the Sold seeks to end human trafficking one word... more
-
-
CNN...
.
THE CNN FREEDOM PROJECT ENDING MODERN-DAY SLAVERY
.
January 19th, 2012
12:03 PM ET
.
Child slavery and chocolate: All too easy to find
.
In "Chocolate's Child Slaves," CNN's David McKenzie travels into the heart of the Ivory Coast to investigate children working in the cocoa fields.
(More information and air times on CNN International.)
By David McKenzie and Brent Swails, CNN
.
CLICK ON CNN LINK (at top) TO VIEW THREE VIDEOS
.
Daloa, Ivory Coast (CNN) - 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 years old, a three-year veteran of the job.
He has never tasted chocolate.
During the course of an investigation for CNN’s Freedom Project initiative - an investigation that went deep into the cocoa fields of Ivory Coast - a team of CNN journalists found that child labor, trafficking and slavery are rife in an industry that produces some of the world’s best-known brands.
It was not supposed to be this way.
After a series of news reports surfaced in 2001 about gross violations in the cocoa industry, lawmakers in the United States put immense pressure on the industry to change.
“We felt like the public ought to know about it, and we ought to take some action to try to stop it,” said Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, who, together with Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, spearheaded the response. “How many people in America know that all this chocolate they are eating - candies and all of those wonderful chocolates - is being produced by terrible child labor?”
But after intense lobbying by the cocoa industry, lawmakers weren’t able to push through a law. What they got was a voluntary protocol, signed by the heads of the chocolate industry, to stop the worst forms of child labor “as a matter of urgency.” One of the key goals was to certify the cocoa trade as child-labor free.
“It was meant to achieve the end of child slave labor in cocoa fields,” Engel said.
It didn’t.
UNICEF estimates that nearly a half-million children work on farms across Ivory Coast, which produces nearly 40% of the world’s supply of cocoa. The agency says hundreds of thousands of children, many of them trafficked across borders, are engaged in the worst forms of child labor.
A recent study by Tulane University says the industry’s efforts to stop child labor are “uneven” and “incomplete” and that 97% of Ivory Coast’s farmers had not been reached. But the industry’s main representative in the country disagrees with the assessment.
“I think the situation has improved exponentially,” said Rabola Kagohi, country director for the International Cocoa Initiative, the chocolate industry’s answer to fighting child labor and trafficking. “Today, the message is physically getting through.”
Kagohi works out of a basement office with one other permanent employee.
“There are some results,” he said. “I wish that you had spoken to some planters.”
None of the farmers CNN spoke to in the heart of the cocoa production region said they had ever been reached by the International Cocoa Initiative, the government or chocolate companies about child trafficking.
Children such as Abdul don’t know anything about protocols or certification. All they know is work.
When Abdul’s mother died, a stranger brought him across the border to the farm. Abdul says all he’s given is a little food, the torn clothes on his back, and an occasional tip from the farmer. Abdul is a modern child slave.
And he is not the only youngster working in his group.
Yacou insisted he is 16, but his face looks far younger.
“My mother brought me from Burkina Faso when my father died,” he said.
Scars crisscross Yacou’s legs from a machete. He can’t clear grass in the cocoa fields without cutting himself. During harvest season, he works day after day hacking the cocoa pods.
The emotional scars run much deeper.
“I wish I could go to school. I want to read and write,” he said. But Yacou hasn’t spent a single day in school, and he has no idea how to leave the farm.
“It makes me angry,” Engel said. As far as he’s concerned, the chocolate companies haven't done enough.
“They are working with us, and we are glad that they are working with us. But they could do better.”
One of the major players in the Ivory Coast cocoa trade is, not surprisingly, the Ivorian government. Although the country has cornered a vast chunk of a lucrative market, it is considered one of the world’s poorest by any measure.
But the government leadership blames politics and war for the problems in the cocoa industry.
“Thirty years of political instability caused a lot of damage to our economy generally, and to the agricultural sector particularly, and more specifically to the cocoa industry,” said Ivory Coast’s minister of agriculture, Sangafowa Coulibaly. “Unfortunately, these years have been lost.”
After an attempted coup in 2002, the country was split in half and kept from all-out civil war by the United Nations. There was protracted violence after the last disputed presidential elections, when then-President Laurent Gbagbo refused to concede.
With the new government of Alassane Ouattara in charge, the government says it can now put much-needed reforms in place.
“Things can only get better,” Coulibaly said. “The main reason is that today, the political crisis is behind us, the armed conflict is behind us.”
But many observers believe that a new government won’t make it a priority to stop slavery in the cocoa fields.
And with peace, traffickers are free to do their work again. U.N. officials told CNN that the Ivory Coast conflict actually helped slow down trafficking because people were too afraid to move across borders.
Contrary to the promises of action, CNN’s investigation could only find promises. And those promises are empty to children like Abdul and Yacou.
.
Post by: CNN's Brent Swails, CNN's David McKenzie
.CNN...
.
THE CNN FREEDOM PROJECT ENDING MODERN-DAY SLAVERY
.
January 19th,... more
-
-
What do Ashton Kutcher, Sean Penn, Justin Timberlake, the Old Spice man, Bradley Cooper, Jamie Foxx all have in common? Big egos? Hot girlfriends? Well yes, but according to Demi Moore, Ariana Huffington and Eva Longoria they are REAL MEN because they don't buy girls for sex. Hmmm, the irony about this is too obvious to point out. Anyway. Am sure these guys have never used their money to actually pay for sex so instead they have agreed to all take part in Demi and Ashton's new charity campaign which is trying to raise awareness for child sex trafficking.The idea is good, I mean no one likes perverts who rape kids for kicks, and kudos to Kutcher and Moore for doing something about it. But unfortunately I can't help thinking that the faux macho situations these famous blokes are lending their faces and names to makes them look a bit dated and silly. I mean, we all know that Kutcher is a modern man who is all into eco stuff - would he really consider "doing the laundry" as chucking away a pair of socks and ripping open a new pack?Questionable. Have a look at the ads and make your own minds up. Oh and if you feel compelled to make a video yourself you can by heading to DNA's Facebook page.
What do Ashton Kutcher, Sean Penn, Justin Timberlake, the Old Spice man, Bradley... more
-
-
Child scavenges for family's survival in Afghanistan
By Arwa Damon, CNN
January 4, 2011 3:09 a.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* Marjan, 5, scavenges for trash to help keep her family warm in the winter
* Marjan's brother died from the cold and her mother worries for the other children
* UNICEF says Afghanistan is the worst place in the world to be a child
* UNICEF: One in five children in Afghanistan do not live past the age of five
Kabul (CNN) -- Five-year-old Marjan sniffles from the cold as she struggles under her load. Hoisted on her back is a bag almost as big as she is.
Instead of going to school, Marjan scavenges for hours with her 10-year-old aunt collecting trash. It is a heavy burden for such a small child but a necessary one. The trash she collects is what her family uses as fuel for cooking and, more importantly, to fend off Kabul's bitter winter.
It is a matter of life and death for someone so young. Last winter, Marjan's baby brother died from the cold.
"It was dark and cold, and the baby died," she says softly, wiping her running nose. "I saw him dead and I was very sad, and I cried."
"I don't blame myself," Marjan's mother, Zarkharida, says. "We don't have firewood. I set fire to the garbage but it went out and my baby died."
Zarkharida's husband was killed in a family feud over land. She was forced to move in with relatives, already struggling to make ends meet. She built a one-room mud hut on a small piece of land.
"I wasn't able to properly cover the roof, this is why when the cold weather came my son died," she says.
Plastic tarp covers the roof, windows and doorway. She stitched a blanket from scraps of clothes given to her as charity. It is all she has to keep her family warm.
But Zarkharida fears this winter will claim another one of her children.
"Of course I am worried about my children's health," she says. "I am afraid they will get sick."
UNICEF, the UN children's agency, says that Afghanistan is the worst place in the world to be a child. One in five children do not live past the age of five. Afghanistan is second only to Sierra Leone when it comes to child mortality. Most of those deaths are caused by curable childhood diseases and malnutrition, compounded by the security situation, which means that parents are unable to access proper health care.
"It is very hard to put a hard and fast figure to the number of children dying from hypothermia alone on Kabul's streets as there would undoubtedly be other reasons that would make them sick or vulnerable in the first place," UNICEF regional communications chief Sarah Crowe wrote in an e-mail. "Extreme poverty, having lost a parent, being trafficked or displaced, or many other reasons may have forced them on to the streets where they would be deprived of their most basic needs (decent food, health, immunization, protection) and exposed to the extreme cold of Afghan winters."
Marjan is constantly blowing warm air on her hands, which are grimy and cracked from the cold. She kicks off her plastic, torn shoes and tries to warm her feet on the trash fire blazing under the kettle. But it is never enough.
A meal is scraps of bread and weak tea.
Even though she has never set foot in a classroom, Marjan dreams of being a teacher. She also loves to play with dolls. But in one of the world's poorest countries, she is, instead, responsible for her family's survival.Child scavenges for family's survival in Afghanistan
By Arwa Damon, CNN... more
-
-
Personal Note: I'm not a fan of the FBI, but...
______________________________________
Federal crackdown on child prostitution results in 884 arrests
By Michael Martinez, CNN
November 8, 2010 5:45 p.m. EST
The FBI was one of several federal agencies involved in the sweep, in which 69 children were recovered.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* Authorities say they recovered 69 children from prostitution
* Seattle has 16 kids recovered from prostitution, the most of 40 cities
* The crackdown is part of the ongoing Innocence Lost National Initiative
(CNN) -- A three-day federal crackdown on child prostitution rings across the country has resulted in the recovery of 69 children and the arrest of 884 people, including 99 pimps, federal authorities said Monday.
Meanwhile, in Tennessee, authorities announced Monday they were arresting 29 individuals involved in gangs that trafficked underage Somali and African-America girls in a prostitution ring. The 29 people were connected to the Somali Outlaws, the Somali Mafia and the Lady Outlaws, officials said.
The three-day federal sweep, called Operation Cross Country V, involved 40 cities nationwide and is part of the Innocence Lost National Initiative, authorities said.
"Child prostitution continues to be a significant problem in our country, as evidenced by the number of children rescued through the continued efforts of our crimes against children task forces," said Shawn Henry, executive assistant director of the FBI's Criminal, Cyber, Response and Service Branch, in a written statement. "There is no work more important than protecting America's children and freeing them from the cycle of victimization. Through our strategic partnerships with state and local law enforcement agencies, we are able to make a difference."
The city where the most children were recovered was Seattle, Washington, with 16, said FBI Special Agent Jason Pack. Seven pimps were arrested there, he added.
Following Seattle were Tacoma, Washington, and Sacramento, California, each with seven child prostitutes retrieved by authorities, Pack said. Two pimps were arrested in Tacoma and three in Sacramento, he said.
The city with the largest number of pimps arrested was Detroit, with 10, Pack said.
To combat growing child prostitution, federal agencies formed the Innocence Lost National Initiative in June 2003 to address enterprises involved in the domestic sex trafficking of children. Those agencies were the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division, the Department of Justice's Child Exploitation-Obscenity Section and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
There are now 39 Innocence Lost task forces and working groups throughout the country.
So far, those units have recovered 1,250 children, and the initiative has resulted in 438 indictments, 625 convictions, 153 criminal enterprises disrupted and 58 successfully dismantled, authorities said. Convictions have resulted in sentences ranging up to 25-years-to-life and in the seizure of more than $3 million in assets, authorities said.
The most recent sweep, over a 72-hour period ending Sunday night, was the fifth such law enforcement operation, said Pack.
"Once again, Operation Cross Country has awakened the nation to the fact that today American children are being marketed and sold for sex in American cities," said Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, in a written statement. "These kids are victims. This is 21st century slavery. We are proud to be a part of this extraordinary partnership to rescue children, save lives and bring the pimps and operators to justice."
The FBI says that at least 25 percent of adult prostitutes were enticed into the illegal activity as juveniles.
In Tennessee, federal authorities said the gangs transported the minor girls from Minneapolis, Minnesota, which has a large Somali immigrant community, to Nashville, Tennessee, for prostitution over a 10-year period. Some of the girls were 13 years old or younger.
"I would call this one of the more significant cases that we investigated," said John Morton, director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.Personal Note: I'm not a fan of the FBI, but...... more
-
-
Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Kirsten Heisig portrays a Berlin the tourists don’t see: A place where children sell heroin at age 11 and commit rape at 13; where teenagers attack shopkeepers with knives and schools can no longer cope with the violence.
Until her sudden death in June, Heisig, 48, was a juvenile court judge working in Neukoelln, one of the city’s most crime- afflicted areas. Her body was found by police last month, though not until four days after she hanged herself from a tree. She left no note to explain her suicide.
She had just completed her book, “Das Ende der Geduld” (The Limits of Patience), published posthumously. The enigmas surrounding her death are partly why her book leaped to No. 1 of Der Spiegel’s non-fiction bestseller list. Yet she also addresses issues that gained topicality after news reports about an 11-year-old heroin dealer known as Jamal, caught for the 14th time by police.
Heisig doles out unpalatable truths in ladles, particularly about sections of Berlin’s immigrant population. She describes the families of kids like Jamal: Sprawling, Mafia-like Arab clans who smuggle children via Lebanon to sell drugs trafficked from the Middle East. These clans, described as “stateless Palestinians” yet often of Kurdish-Lebanese origin, operate in what Heisig calls a parallel, “purely criminal” society.
Kids under 14 cannot be prosecuted under German law. Nor can they be deported, because their documents are taken from them by human traffickers on the plane. The police can only deliver them to unlocked care homes, from which they escape. The inevitable result is that Jamal and his cohorts are back in the underground stations, dealing again, the next day.
more at link...
I highly recommend this article b/c it appears that this Judge was speaking out against the mafia's role in drug trafficking and using child dealers to skirt German Law. Even more interesting is that there is no investigation into the death of Heisig. A judge and author, who just completed a book and was a well educated woman and strong member of the community just hanging herself is a little far-fetched, especially when you throw the mafia in the equation. Although I did find a few articles that alleged a mafia hit. Must be some hardcore sh%t, definitely a must read. I wonder if its translated to English yet?Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Kirsten Heisig portrays a Berlin the tourists don’t see:... more
-
-
Be Sure to VOTE This up for Awareness this has to be known so everyone can stop this form of slavery and child abuse and molestation.
Watch the 53 Minute Video on Frontlines (PBS)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/dancingboys/view/?utm_campaign=viewpage&utm_medium=toparea&utm_source=toparea
Bacha Bazi: Pedophilia and child trafficking justified by the tradition in Afghanistan
For some people, when you think of Afghanistan, you think of war zone and their loved ones who are serving the country in a deserted soil. For others, the country reminds them of stringent Muslim ethics, by which both adulterers or homosexuals are strictly forbidden. But, not many people are aware that the country still retains its 5000 years old tradition of enslaving boys for sexual exploitation. And the notorious tradition is called Bacha Bazi.
Bacha Bazi: the dancing boys
Bacha Bazi in an Afghan phrase means "boy play" or "boy for play." In Afghan culture, women including prostitutes and belly dancers are not allowed to dance in front of men. They are segregated, and they are not even allowed to attend parties among men. Therefore, when a warlords wants to hold a party, he goes to a local village and lure boys in the age of 12 or so with money or coercion. Once the exploiters lure the boys, the boys wear dress and makeup, and dance like women in front of their owners' friends or guests. When the party is over, the owners, usually warlords and military commenders, take the boys to their beds and sleep with them. Sometimes, they share their boys with their friends for sexual abuse.
The freedom brought to Afghan men at the expense of the boys
Currently, the Afghan soldiers, along with commenders and warlords, are primary exploiters of these boys. In fact, the Afghan soliders are taking local boys to their camps for the same exploitative purpose. They justify their misdeeds by saying that women are for babies and boys are for pleasure. They also say that Bacha Bazi is essential part of the culture of free Afghanistan because it was strictly forbidden under Taliban regime. One solider, during the interview, said that Bacha bazi is as widely accepted custom as heroin usage among the Afghan soldiers. He said that 70% of the Army is participating in the Bacha bazi practice.
Failed deterrence
The Afghan government outlawed Bacha bazi practice for its obviously exploitative nature. The international community was outraged when CNN shed the light on such atrocity. Even the UN authority said that the Afghan government must do more to end Bacha bazi practice in the region. However, police men, more often than not, are not strong enough to prosecute the warlords or the exploiters of the boys. The human rights of the boys is not the government's first priority either, given that the country is still economically and politically very unstable. Prosecutors also blame on policemen for not being able to arrest exploiters for their failure of deterring the crime
Democracy building: epic failed?
The general attitude of the Afghans towards Bacha bazi is such that " it's been there fore 1000 years" and they don't feel the needs to raise the issues now. One owner of a dancing boy said that it is his hobby. He said that even though he is married and have children, he loves his boy more than his wife. He also said that it is his culture and the culture of Afghan. Clearly, his argument aligns with the principle of cultural relativism and individual freedom that the west has advocated around the world. But, perhaps the west should have but forgot to give them the instruction that the freedom and democracy come with self-governance and responsibility. And the instruction should have come before we have decided to build ( supposedly) democracy in their country. Evidently, the dancing boys love their owners, and they desire to be one of them once they grow up. But, when you advocate cultural relativism and they argue that it's their culture, what do you tell them?Be Sure to VOTE This up for Awareness this has to be known so everyone can stop this... more
-
-
In Saudi Arabia, the only thing keeping an 80-year-old man from buying, marrying, and then raping his 12-year-old relative is ... nothing. It happened this week.
The girl's mother's attempt to prevent the her father from selling her into a forced marriage with a man over six decades her senior was fruitless. The women's advocacy groups who have expressed outrage have seen their protests come to nothing. And the three other underage girls this man is also married to might as well have been his housecats for all the voices they got.
The reason there is nothing to stop this man or any other from raping children under the guise of a marriage? Because Saudi Arabia has no minimum age for marriage.
For Saudi Arabia, this is hardly a unique case. Earlier this year, a judge refused to grant a divorce to an eight-year-old girl who was forced to marry an 47-year-old man by her father. Girl children before and on the verge of puberty can be forced into marriage by their families, even to men who already have other wives. In fact, marrying young girls is so easy in Saudi Arabia, that some advocates working in the country fear it will become a haven for wealthy Muslim pedophiles. With no minimum marriage age or regulations on who can marry children, pedophiles could jet into Saudi Arabia, pick up a young wife for a few thousand dollars, and then have a girl to rape and control for years to come.In Saudi Arabia, the only thing keeping an 80-year-old man from buying, marrying, and... more
-
-
KSirys
-
added this
-
3 years ago
- |
-
Haitian police have arrested 10 U.S. citizens caught trying to take 33 children out of the earthquake-stricken country in a suspected illicit adoption scheme, authorities said on Saturday.
The five men and five women were in custody in the capital, Port-au-Prince after their arrests on Friday night. There are fears that traffickers could try to exploit the chaos and turmoil following Haiti's January 12 earthquake quake to engage in illegal adoptions.
One of the suspects, who says she is leader of an Idaho-based charity called New Life Children's Refuge, denied they had done anything wrong.
The suspects were detained at Malpasse, Haiti's main border crossing with the Dominican Republic, after Haitian police conducted a routine search of their vehicle.
Authorities said the Americans had no documents to prove they had cleared the adoption of the 33 children -- aged 2 months to 12 years -- through any embassy and no papers showing they were made orphans by the quake in the impoverished Caribbean country.
"This is totally illegal," said Yves Cristalin, Haiti's social affairs minister. "No children can leave Haiti without proper authorization and these people did not have that authorization."
U.S. authorities could not be reached for immediate comment on the arrests.
But Laura Sillsby from the Idaho group told Reuters from a jail cell at Haiti's Judicial Police headquarters, "We had permission from the Dominican Republic government to bring the children to an orphanage that we have there."
"We have a Baptist minister here (in Port-au-Prince) whose orphanage totally collapsed and he asked us to take the children to the orphanage in the Dominican Republic," Sillsby added.
"I was going to come back here to do the paperwork," Sillsby said. "They accuse us of children trafficking. This is something I would never do. We were not trying to do something wrong."Haitian police have arrested 10 U.S. citizens caught trying to take 33 children out of... more
-
-
Tens of thousands of children in India are trafficked every year. Poor families are most vulnerable after the floods when families become separated. With the rainy season about to begin, what do the elections mean for these children at riskTens of thousands of children in India are trafficked every year. Poor families are... more
-
-
Chinese children snatched and sold
Over 2,000 trafficked children have been rescued since China's government began a crackdown on the trade in stolen children earlier this year.
But as the BBC's Damian Grammaticas reports from Beijing, many thousands of children are being snatched off the streets to be sold every year and most are never recovered.
(click on the link for the full article and the video)Chinese children snatched and sold
Over 2,000 trafficked children have been rescued... more
-
-
Shaniya's father, Bradley Lockhart, told The Associated Press he raised his daughter for several years but last month decided to let her stay with her mother. He said Davis struggled financially over the years, but she recently obtained a job and her own place, so Lockhart decided to give her a chance to raise their daughter.
The mother of a 5-year-old girl who disappeared in North Carolina was charged Saturday with human trafficking and other offenses, though authorities said they still did not know the girl's whereabouts.
Antoinette Nicole Davis, the mother of Shaniya (shuh-'NY-uh) Davis, faces a child abuse charge involving prostitution as well as filing a false police report, according to a news release from the Fayetteville Police Department. The release did not say whether the charges were related to her daughter's disappearance. Telephone messages and an e-mail left for police were not immediately returned.
Shaniya's mother reported the girl missing Tuesday morning from a mobile home community in Fayetteville, and authorities began searching nearby wooded areas. The following day a man described as Davis' boyfriend was arrested in the kidnapping but later released.Shaniya's father, Bradley Lockhart, told The Associated Press he raised his... more
-
-
Powerful documentary on Romanian child trafficking, made by British filmmaker Andrew Smith and Romanian reporter Liviu Tipurita. The British paedophile Tom Peters, exposed in the film, remains at large somewhere in the world.Powerful documentary on Romanian child trafficking, made by British filmmaker Andrew... more
-
-
Hi Laura and Euna,
First off, congratulations on coming home and thank you for all your hard work on behalf of women and victims of human trafficking everywhere!
I work as an intern at Media 4 Humanity, a non-profit working to eradicate child slavery and exploitation in the United States. Our organization is entirely operated by students and media professionals. Part of our work is tracking media professionals who show a true understanding and a determination to shed light on human trafficking here and around the world. The lengths you went to cover this issue should serve as an inspiration to the entire media industry. The work you have done in order to increase awareness of the world's fastest growing illegal industry will not be forgotten.
Thank you again.
You both are truly Media Humanitarians.
Sincerely (with a profound amount of respect and admiration),
Beka Breitzer
Intern
Media 4 HumanityHi Laura and Euna,
First off, congratulations on coming home and thank you for all... more
-
-
EL PASO -- Lisa Ling recalls covering the civil war in Afghanistan as the most monumental experience in her life.
"This is the reason why I continue being a journalist," Ling said.
Ling, a correspondent for "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and contributor for the National Geographic series "Explorer," has covered stories such as the Colombian drug war; the Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13 gang, in El Salvador; suicide bombers in Israel; and child trafficking in India.
Winfrey "likes to think about me as the eyes and ears of what's happening globally," Ling said during a telephone interview.
Now Ling will bring her war stories to El Paso on April 16 as the keynote speaker for the YWCA El Paso del Norte Region's 2009 Women's Benefit Luncheon.
Look closely at Ling's portfolio and you'll notice the common denominator: She likes to cover stories that pertain to women and children in different parts of the world.
"I feel that it is my obligation and responsibility to raise awareness among women," Ling said. "My favorite group to speak to is a large group of women."
Ling said she has been in El Paso twice. She is particularly interested in the drug violence across the border.
"It's on the verge of becoming an American problem," Ling says. "It's only a matter of time before it crosses over to America."
......
Lisa Ling is one of my heroes.
Check out her website when you get the chance.
www.lisaling.comEL PASO -- Lisa Ling recalls covering the civil war in Afghanistan as the most... more
-
-
Ted Gunderson Speech to Congressional Hearing on Child Protection 3/13/04
In this speech you will read of the similarities of how CPS agencies act in correlation to known child traffickers, especially the use of drugs to make children complacent...... The abuse of the federal incentive funds to benefit those who perpetrate this fraud at the expense of our children is at best sickening.
Please follow the link and read its entirety, it is only a page long.....Ted Gunderson Speech to Congressional Hearing on Child Protection 3/13/04
In this... more
-
-
At this point in my life I am against the death penalty, mainly because I know the system is corrupt, however I have been a supporter of the death penalty in the past and may become one in the future, so I have a question for those who support the death penalty in the United States of America, or anywhere else for that matter. Would you execute the members of a criminal syndicate responsible for child trafficking?
Specific Example
On Thursday, 12 February 2009, “judge, Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., and a colleague, Michael T. Conahan, appeared in federal court in Scranton, Pa., to plead guilty to wire fraud and income tax fraud for taking more than $2.6 million in kickbacks to send teenagers to two privately run youth detention centers run by PA Child Care and a sister company, Western PA Child Care.”...
Definition of human and child trafficking
The United Nations defines human trafficking as:
“The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation".
Now that that’s clear, let’s return to specifics of this case and do some number crunching.At this point in my life I am against the death penalty, mainly because I know the... more
-
-
Twenty-five people were arrested in dawn raids yesterday as police tried to shut down a gang which trafficked children from Romania and forced them to steal and rob on the streets of London.
Police say that since Romania joined the EU in 2007 there has been a sharp rise in children being brought to London by modern-day "Fagin's gangs". Up to 200 Romanian children have been forced into crime in London and can generate up to £20m a year for gangs controlling them.
The 10 children taken into care yesterday included one less than a year old. They were all found in overcrowded conditions, with 25 people crammed into a four-bed house. But after medical tests yesterday they were found to be in good health.Twenty-five people were arrested in dawn raids yesterday as police tried to shut down... more
-
-
Many Iraqi families are living in such desperate conditions that they're resorting to selling their children to families outside of Iraq in the hope of providing them with a better future. "Omar Khalif, vice-president of the Iraqi Families Association (IFA), an NGO established in 2004 to register cases of those missing and trafficked, said that at least two children are sold by their parents every week. Another four are reported missing every week."
I couldn't imagine being in the position of having to put a price tag on my child so they could have a better life. This is so heartbreaking.Many Iraqi families are living in such desperate conditions that they're... more
-
-
The kidnapping over hundred children from villages in Chad by French charity workers that should raise the eyes of Unicef into the possible links toward international child trafficking. The kidnapping over hundred children from villages in Chad by French charity workers... more
-
