Wednesday 10/28/09

Indiana University's Campus Coalition Against Trafficking blog is now back. While the website has been out of commission for some time, the group itself has been holding regular meetings and spreading awareness.

On awareness, Jonathan Dillon (CCAT co-president) gave a presentation on his study abroad experience in Ghana. While some students were taking tours in the Louvre or at Big Ben, Jonathan was learning about modern-day slavery.

Ghana only gained complete independence in 1957. As a small, new country, it is still struggling with old issues. Despite laws specifically prohibiting abduction and slavery, communities still observe a religious practice, Trokosi, which translates to "God slave". Families hoping to atone for sins (from murder to petty theft) will take part in this practice by sending a young virgin daughter to work for the priests of a local shrine. Once at the shrine, the girls are at the will of the priest and are often beaten, denied education, and raped upon menstruation. Since these girls are part of a well-known practice, it is difficult for them to escape, and practically impossible to rejoin their community after they finish their servitude at the shrine.

Along with the problems of Trokosi, Ghana has another problem with its fishing industry. Due to poverty and inadequacies of the education system (expensive supplies for an impoverished community, highly inaccessible schools) many of the youth are lured to Lake Volta. There, they are abducted by fishermen who use the children for cheap and expendable labor. Some of the children are small enough that the fishermen will use them to dive underwater and untangle nets which will sometimes snag and drown them. Like the girls at the Trokosi shrines, these children are denied an education, and have little life skills other than fishing when they grow up; and in turn, become fishermen who eventually utilize slavery themselves.

Despite the magnitude of the situation, something can, and is, being done. Non-profit organizations like International Needs and Challenging Heights make it their mission to fight slavery in Ghana. International Needs is trying to address the issues of Trokosi, and with some success. Members of the organization go directly to shrines and explain to the priests that what they are doing is wrong. In some cases, girls have even been released. Challenging Heights attempts to stop the slavery at Lake Volta by offering education in the cities. As an ex-slave, the president of Challenging Heights understands that schools, life-skills, and education on trafficking itself are the most effective tools.

While Ghana might be across the Atlantic, we can still do something about it here. Simply by spreading awareness, one person takes part in refusing this crime against humanity.

CCAT will be having a movie showing in Woodburn Hall Room 120 on Wednesday, November 11 at 8pm. We'll be watching the film Trade and serving all sorts of snacks. If you're into movies, and fighting slavery, try to make it out there.

Human Trafficking in Africa

When describing human trafficking across different regions of the world, the thought of Africa harkens images of child soldiers, specifically those kidnapped into the ranks of the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) in Uganda. To be sure, the abduction of children into forced military and personal servitude is one of the foremost issues plaguing the people of African nations. In fact, it is estimated that as much as 80% of the LRA’s ranks are abductees. In the LRA, young boys are taken from their families (who are often killed and mutilated by other “soldiers”) and forced to commit heinous acts of violence under the threat of death. Young girls are kidnapped to serve as concubines. However, the problem of human trafficking is not confined to the forced conscription of children, nor is it confined to Uganda. Trafficking has been reported in all 53 African nations for the purposes of forced military service, forced labor—industrial and domestic, as well as forced sexual exploitation. Children are particularly vulnerable, often be sold by parents and relatives and a sacrifice for alleviating the economic burden on the rest of the family. In Nigeria, the International Labor Organization estimates that over 12 million children, ages 10-14, are employed in strenuous labor conditions. These conditions included forces prostitution, which is one of the Africa’s major health and social problems. It is estimated by the United Nations that as much as 80% of trafficking in Africa is for the purposes of sexual exploitation, either in Africa or abroad. Given the high rates of sexually transmitted diseases and lack of access to prophylactics, traffickers have begun selling girls as young as 8 years old to ensure their “purity.”

The battle against human trafficking is a long and complicated one, because its root causes are deeply rooted in Africa’s long history of social, political, and violent struggle. The United Nations cites a primary impediment in the fight against trafficking as the lack of effective legal instruments for pursuing and punishing traffickers. In fact, a UN study notes that of the 125 countries that have signed onto the UN Protocol Against Trafficking in Persons, over a third are yet to make any convictions. It is difficult to force governments to be accountable, but one way to generate political momentum is to contact local representatives. Though an indirect approach, it is a crucial step in generating support for the implementation of long-term solutions.

Much trafficking is the result of economic hardships—lack of opportunity for pursue alternatives and lack of resources to combat traffickers. Donations to relief organizations or in the form of micro-loans will help build and sustain local communities in a way that empowers individuals to make their own decisions regarding their lives and their children’s.

Additional Links to Related Articles and Websites:

· http://www.antislavery.org/homepage/antislavery/trafficking.htm#africa

· http://appablog.wordpress.com/2008/04/22/south-africa-protecting-victims-of-human-trafficking-in-southern-africa/

· http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-02/13/content_10810642.htm

· http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3652021.stm

· http://www.stopdemand.org/afawcs0112878/ID=180/newsdetails.html

· http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/328/7447/1036-b

· http://www.planusa.org/contentmgr/showdetails.php/id/443460

Video: this is a very informative video about the South African sex industry. It is very graphic in some places, however, so be advised.

· http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWSCBBMYMSg&NR=1

Literature:

International Law and the Use of Force

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0199239150/ref=s9_cpic_c2_t3?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0Y9A2B901KXGVBVH6E6J&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=463383371&pf_rd_i=507846


Not For Sale

http://www.amazon.com/Not-Sale-Return-Global-Trade/dp/0061206717/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_c

Understanding Global Slavery

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Global-Slavery-Kevin-Bales/dp/0520245075/ref=pd_sim_b_5

Indiana Daily Student

Slavery in the News

Southeast Asia

Modern human trafficking in mainland Southeast Asia began in the 1960s in connection with the occupation of U.S. soldiers in Indochina, with the male American soldiers being the main clients of the forced prostitution at the time. When the U.S. forces were withdrawn, the business continued with predominantly male tourists as the clients. The ongoing economic changes occurring in Southeast Asia make it a prime area for the human trafficking industry to boom and thrive. Furthermore, some women actually choose to become involved in prostitution, but they are unaware of the conditions that they will be forced to endure. Other women are lured into trafficking by coercion and deception. Thailand especially is a destination for many women that are involved in trafficking, both willing and deceived. The main methods used to lure the women into the business are done by well-organized gangs that use common techniques. Furthermore, 80% of those enslaved in Southeast Asia are women, while 50% are children. Southeast Asia is an area that needs a lot of help, although in the more recent years the government has started to turn its attention towards this issue. However, things such as the economic situation in this area have diverted this necessary attention away from it.

(The image is of a girl from Timor-Leste who gained independence in 2002.)

Below are several links and interesting articles that I found. Also, the first link talks about addressing the situation in Southeast Asia as well as causes of the trafficking in that region.

http://timmatsui.com/blog/2007/03/01/overview-the-causes-of-and-methods-for-addressing-human-trafficking-in-the-mekong-region-of-south-east-asia/

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0WDP/is_2001_Jan_15/ai_70385916

http://kyotoreview.cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp/issue/issue3/article_282.html

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=82744

Below is a link for a video that gives some brief information on the issue in this region as well as some images.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVnvECAEvxQ

Also, an organization that focuses on human trafficking in Southeast Asia is the Blue Dragon Children's Foundation, which helps the children of Vietnam to escape the poorest economic situations. This organization can be found at the following website:

http://www.bdcf.org/

Trafficking in Russia

It's estimated that about 1 million people are working under forced labor in Russia. Trafficking is controlled by large criminal organizations in Russia, as opposed to smaller and more independent organizations that control it in many other places in the world. Russia is pivotal in Eastern Europe, not only because of the high volume of people trafficked there but the amount of people trafficking into, out of, and through Russia. Many of the surrounding poorer countries in Eastern Europe send men, women, and children into Russia, mostly for sexual exploitation and slavery purposes, but many of the men are also forced to do construction or agricultural labor as well. Many people, especially unemployed women and young children (mostly homeless children or children from orphanages) are also taken out of Russia to countries all over the world, from Asian to South America. St. Petersburg and Moscow in Russia are the two main cities in which trafficking is prominent. These cities are large transit cities, which hold trafficking vitims until they go on somewhere else in the world. These two cities are also fairly known for having a high number of children slaves. I found a few articles that give first-hand accounts and a lot more statistics and logistical information about Eastern Europe:

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/feb2007/gb20070223_311905.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily

http://www.antislavery.org/homepage/antislavery/traffickingrussia.htm#sergey

http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Russia.htm

I also found a news story about a Russian man who escaped human trafficking, after being a domestic slave in Georgia for 4 years: