This weekend Nicholas Kristof wrote an op-ed piece about human trafficking in the US and how Americans react differently to the teenage prostitutes that they hear about abroad and the ones that they see on their own streets. A new book is out talking about the horrors of human trafficking and child prostitution in the US and how the system is failing the girls. The article talks about the American view in which the young girls on the streets are seen as miscreants and are there willingly, not because they are forced into abusive relationships with pimps or come from troubled homes. It is interesting to contrast that opinion with many American’s views of human trafficking abroad, where girls are seen as victims, not criminals.
In class last week we briefly touched on human trafficking and learned more about Comfort women and women being used in a time of war. This article also shows that it is not just in war that these young girls are being used and manipulated. Many of them are caught and put in detention centers while their pimps do not receive any punishment. The new book, Girls like Us by Rachel Lloyd is about her experience as a child prostitute and how she escaped from London to New York and eventually started a non-profit to help girls in the US, who are experiencing the same fate that she did.
Thank you for this post Amie. The continuation of sexual slavery today is why I found last Wednesday’s class discussion so upsetting. It is interesting that young girls and women bought and sold on US soil have such a different stigma from those abroad. When I learned about the continuation of sexual slavery around the world I never considered the women right here in the U.S. Are there any domestic organizations to help these women?
ReplyDeleteMy coworker’s brother, Nicholas Lumpp, began a foundation in Cambodia called the Somaly Mam foundation, named for a woman who escaped from the brothels of Cambodia and began to rescue young women on her own. She began creating centers and residences for the survivors refocusing their lives on education and job skills. Nicholas Lumpp and his friend from the Air Force Academy heard about Somaly Mam’s organization and went to Cambodia to help. Nic and Somaly have worked together to raise over a million dollars and raise awareness about the world’s sex slave industry.
Last summer the Somaly Mam foundation sponsored 8 survivors to come to Denver for English language training at Regis University. These 8 women were my neighbors and roommates for a month. Seeing their spirit, love and hope everyday was amazing. Their resilience, strength, and courage help other girls and women to become survivors everyday.
For more information:
http://www.somaly.org/about-smf/somaly-mam
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_8814360
http://www.icosamag.com/_webapp_1084744/A_Lesson_in_Courage_and_Leadership#
Diary of an Escaped Sex Slave
The Brothel Busters
The Brothel Busters http://shar.es/mQWc2
ReplyDeleteDiary of an Escaped Sex Slave http://shar.es/mQWGk