Human Trafficking Watch

North Carolina has been recognized as a major human trafficking hub on the east coast. It wasn’t too long ago (2007) that the state passed a resolution to apologize for the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade.

N.C. human trafficking case shows plight of girls forced into prostitution | McClatchy:

Each day, Flores prayed to Santa Muerte, or “Saint Death,” joined by the teenage girls whom he forced to have sex with as many as 20 men a day.

Flores, 45, was a notorious operator in a city that has become a center for sex trafficking along the East Coast.

Local and federal authorities are not sure how extensive the Charlotte sex rings have become. They say Flores’ ring brought in hundreds of young women each year to work as prostitutes.

Flores was convicted of trafficking in April. But authorities say other pimps in Charlotte continue to prey on young girls from poor countries.

“I don’t think we really realized how big this was,” says Delbert Richburg, assistant special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of Investigations in Charlotte. “We’re probably just scratching the surface.”

The growth is so extensive that this month ICE stationed a team of agents in Charlotte to focus on human trafficking, smuggling and exploitation. Across the Carolinas, immigrant sex rings have been broken up in Monroe, Durham and Columbia.

The article below is yet another highlighting the never-ending debate of sex trade versus sex trafficking. The gist of the debate is that there are sex industry workers who argue they want to be in their part of the industry. The other side argues that there are participants in the sex industry who are unwilling. Overall they are both right but they are so entrenched in their positions, neither side can understand can work together to actually free modern slaves.

CBC News - British Columbia - Human-trafficking fight draws criticism:

The Salvation Army is coming under fire for what it calls a “weekend of prayer for victims of sex trafficking.” But Vancouver advocacy groups say the event is misleading and degrades sex trade workers. The Salvation Army’s national website recommends people conduct prayer walks near strip clubs and massage parlours during this weekend’s campaign, which is focused on human trafficking in the sex trade and its connection to the 2010 Olympic Games.

Not really a lot of detail in this article. I’m assuming Italian police were doing the arresting.

Romanian Times – Home > General News > Human-trafficking gang dismantled:

A human trafficking gang who were luring young women by offering allegedly well-paid jobs in Italy has been dismantled by police, it was announced today (Fri).
D.S., 35, was arrested and D.D., 29, is being searched for on charges of transporting young women and minors from Romania to Italy. Both are from Slatinain Olt county in southern Romania

Once they arrived in Italy, their victims were taken to Cerano and Cossol Nova and   exploited, being forced to work for them or to prostitute themselves, and were continuously under threat.

The victims were forced to steal from stores for the benefit of their exploiters. Police confiscated laptops, video cameras, TVs and other IT products raids on their homes.

When families sell children into slavery, the problem is more than legal, it’s cultural.

Now focus is on human trafficking:

Much to the embarrassment of President Zardari, the State Department report said parents in Pakistan sell their daughters into domestic servitude, prostitution, or forced marriages, and women are traded between tribal groups to settle disputes or as payment for debts whereas NGOs contend that Pakistani girls are trafficked to the Middle East for sexual exploitation.

An important point is made here about the definition of what human trafficking actually is.

Voluntary Sex Slaves:

Unfortunately, authorities often define sex slavery rather widely, with the distinction between involuntary “human trafficking” and voluntary “people smuggling” routinely ignored in practice. This means that efforts such as the UK’s Operation Pentameter – which “aims to rescue and protect victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation and to identify, disrupt, arrest and bring to justice those involved in criminal activity,” and pursues this goal by raiding brothels – often end up imprisoning voluntary migrants rather than liberating slaves.

Alleged Sex-Trafficker Accused of Forcing Young Girls Into Prostitution in New York City:

Federal prosecutors accuse a 24-year-old man of being a violent pimp who forced young girls and women into prostitution in New York City and Long Island.

The suspect was arraigned Wednesday in Brooklyn, N.Y., on sex-trafficking charges that carry a possible life sentence on conviction.

Prosecutors allege that he advertised the services of women between the ages of 15 and 20 on Craigslist.

Court papers state that the women arranged meetings with clients at hotels in Brooklyn, Queens and on Long Island. The girls were paid about $200 for an hour of sex, cash that was then given to the suspected pimp.

FBI agent Evan Nicholas said in court papers that the suspect slept with his prostitutes and threatened them with violence.

It’s always encouraging to know our tax dollars for law enforcement do pay off when a huge bust like this happens. ABC News: Child Prostitution Sting Rescues 47 Children:

In the last three days, the FBI and police from 29 cities rescued 47 children from 73 alleged pimps and more than 500 others who authorities say sought to exploit them. Among those children saved: a 12-year-old from Texas; a 13-year-old from Ohio; and a 14-year-old from Michigan.

“This is organized crime, these people are moving kids from city to city,” said Ernie Allen, president and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. “They are involved in 21st century slavery. ? This is a problem that is happening on Main Street USA.”

I would like to see and in-depth follow-up with information on where these children came from and how many of those arrested had some kind of relationship with them, whether it was friends or family or just random.

This is a must-read:

Teen recounts horror of sex slavery - TODAY: People - MSNBC.com:

A typical 16-year-old in a middle-class home in suburban Pensacola, Fla., Newell?s nightmare began innocently enough: A new friend she had met in high school asked her to come to her home for a sleepover. Newell?s mother, Lisa Brant, didn?t like the idea, but after weeks of lobbying by her daughter, Brant met with the girl and the man she said was her father to make sure her daughter would be safe. But the girl?s ?father? was really a convicted felon, and the girl, who had a record of prostitution in Texas, was an accomplice in the abduction. ?Her dad took us to this house and said he’d be right back and he left us there,? Newell recounted in a taped interview. ?And I asked for some water because I was thirsty. And I drank the water and I blacked out.?

The UN published a report on the trafficking of children in South Asia (India). Naturally, this is more about the report than it is about actually stopping the trafficking itself. But I don’t want to take away from the report’s content, which is important:

Launching a report on Preventing and Responding to Child Trafficking in South Asia, UNICEFs Child protection specialist Lena Karlsson said, child trafficking is a neglected form of human trafficking as children risk being picked out as undocumented migrants, juvenile delinquents or unaccompanied minors.

Though the governments of South Asia have developed national plans of action and also adopted laws to criminalise trafficking, legal frameworks needs to be strengthened to further protect children from all forms of trafficking and to assist child victims with legal and psychological support, the report states.

South Asian children are being trafficked for various forms of sexual exploitation such as prostitution, sex tourism, child pornography, paedophilia and labour exploitation in agriculture and industries.

It’s easy to criticize the UN as a whole since its founding premise that all nations are equal is flawed. However, the UN publishes really well. The ability to write things up and present them to the world is a UN strength. Instead of playing “peace-keeper”, the UN can be rechartered as an international information clearinghouse, even better than the Federal Citizen Information Center in Pueblo, Colorado. As in the case of this report, the content is horrific. This is child slavery. This report is published and it goes on top of a stack of human trafficking reports. This little tidbit will ensure nothing will happen:

“The girls, mostly from Muslim families, tribal communities and scheduled castes, belonging to these south Indian districts, have become more confident and have started demanding their rights, including right to education and vocational training,” the report states. In Nepal, where children face threat of violence, abuse and exploitation, sensitisation programmes conducted by the para-legal committees with the assistance of UNICEF have raised awareness about risks, human rights and support structures among children and women, the report says.

Calling out the link between Islam and modern day slavery is more than any committee can handle diplomatically.  At least we will have a record of it somewhere.

This is an interesting story about the out-of-control gang activity in British Columbia. Among the vices, human trafficking tied to sex crimes appears:

Their major centres of criminal operation are Metro Vancouver, southern Ontario and Montreal, the report said. Some of the B.C. crime groups are also involved in human trafficking, it said.

“A small number of organized crime groups, mostly based in B.C. and Quebec, are involved in the facilitation of international trafficking in persons (TIP), it said.

“Conversely, several street gangs are active within the domestic TIP market for the purposes of sexual exploitation. These groups facilitate the recruitment, control, movement and exploitation of Canadian-born females in the domestic sex trade, primarily in strip bars in several cities across the country.”