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Johan Ordonez / AFP - Getty Images, file
Prostitutes come out of a tunnel where they remained hidden during an operation against human trafficking at the "Super Frontera" bar, late on April 21, 2012 in Guatemala City.
More than 42,000 adults and children kept as slaves, forced into prostitution or otherwise trafficked were discovered by authorities around the world in 2011, according to a new report by the U.S. State Department.
However this figure was a tiny fraction of the estimated number of people held in bondage with the International Labor Organization estimating earlier this month that there are about 20.9 million victims of modern slavery, the State Department Trafficking in Persons Report noted.
Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003, foreign governments must supply information about trafficking investigations and prosecutions to the State Department in order to be considered by the U.S. as working to eliminate slavery.
The report details the problem of trafficking in countries around the world, including victims' accounts.
"I walk around and carry the physical scars of the torture you put me through. The cigarette burns, the knife carvings, the piercings … how a human being can see humor in the torture, manipulation, and brainwashing of another human being is beyond comprehension. You have given me a life sentence," it quotes a victim of sex trafficking in the U.S. as telling her trafficker at his sentencing.
US expands human trafficking blacklist to 23 countries
Another trafficking survivor in the U.S. named "Tonya" said she "always felt like a criminal."
"I never felt like a victim at all. Victims don't do time in jail, they work on the healing process. I was a criminal because I spent time in jail," she said.
'Like she was our own daughter'
Ken Burkhart, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, described the liberation of a Latin American sex trafficking victim.
"I told my agents we're going to treat this little girl like she was our own daughter. We're going to hunt this little girl down and get her out of this trailer," he said, according to the report.
After she was found, "I told her we'd been in touch with her sister and I shook her hand and I just gently led her right out the door," he added.
State Department
Graphic showing persons in forced labor in different parts of the world.
The offense of trafficking involves "the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery."
It applies where people have been forced into prostitution; victims do not necessarily need to have been physically moved from one location to another.
Police rescue 24,000 women, children from Chinese human trafficking gangs
In a letter included in the report, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted the U.S. would celebrate the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in the coming months and said that "governments across the globe are united in this struggle."
"Yet, despite the adoption of treaties and laws prohibiting slavery, the evidence nevertheless shows that many men, women, and children continue to live in modern-day slavery through the scourge of trafficking in persons," she added.
Clinton moved by girl's 'pride'
Clinton said earlier this year she had visited a trafficking shelter in Kolkata, India.
"The young women and girls there had suffered terrible abuse. But with their own drive and determination and with the help of some remarkable women and men they were getting their lives back on track," she said.
"I met one girl, about ten years old, who asked if I wanted to see the martial arts she had learned at the shelter. As she performed her routine, I was impressed with the skills she had learned; but more than that, I was moved by the pride in her eyes – her sense of accomplishment and strength," she added.
The Secretary of State said trafficking people deprived people of the "most basic freedom" – being able to determine their own future.
"A century and a half after the promise of freedom was fought and won in the United States, freedom remains elusive for millions," Clinton said. "We know that this struggle will not truly be won until all those who toil in modern slavery, like those girls in Kolkata, are free to realize their God-given potential."
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Leave a Comment:
I want to vomit.
Understood. Just a phenomenally embarrassing off-topic discussion, right from the start, beginning with poodlefan007 beseeching people to vote Democrat. Banned, multiple of lookatmycastle, also banned.
Everyone else with a comment beginning a thread deleted about everything from credit card debt to flaming poodlefan, you're suspended for a day for violating #4 or #1 of the Code of Honor: DallasTex, tayatayat, Mr.PheaNiques-0000001, wj-777816, Kannin, Not in the 1%.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/guest-post-who-destroyed-middle-class-part-1
It's funny that they should invoke the name of Lincoln for this issue as he was only peripherally involved. He freed the slaves in the US in the US in a very narrow definition compared to today's slaves. And while black people are no longer enslaved, the chart says more than 1.5 million people are still being held as slaves here in the US. Many of those are held by foreign criminals or are our own citizens treating foreign nationals cruelly.
Slavery needs to be ended worldwide, but expecting that is apparently unrealistic. The largest problem is in Asia with the next largest number in Africa. Neither of these places does the US have any jurisdiction in and limited diplomatic pull. Short of making war on them to free their people, there is not much any of our own leaders can do.
Ending illegal immigration will help to stop the problem here at home because smugglers and other criminals use the illegal aliens as slaves often to pay for being brought into the US. Some of the farmers and businessmen who are crying foul that the country is ejecting illegal aliens are among the slavers. The more people are trying to sneak into the country, the larger the pool of slaves.
Whoever we vote for in November will make little difference to the slave trade. It is a shadowy world where laws are not to be worried about. Neither Obama or Romney can do much to stop it, but Obama's new "DREAM Act Lite" will encourage more people to enter the US illegally, thus exacerbating the slave problem in the US.
What flavor of kool-aid do you like?
@ Not in the 1%
Why don't you try and counter his argument? He or she is entitled to their opinion and you have not really said why it is wrong. Your comment really makes it seem like you are mad because he may have pointed out an inconvenient truth. You seem more like the kool-aid drinker.
I agree Superman. He obviously likes grape. I didn't see anything that really pushed one side over another, except for a specific Act that affects this singular topic.
Get it right folks. Abe Lincoln only freed the slaves in the south as retribution for secession. The north fought the civil war with slavery still being practiced in Maryland and Missouri. One of Lincolns campaign promises was that he would NOT free the slaves. Maryland and Missouri slaves were freed after the war by an act of congress.
Meanwhile if you read actual letters from northern soldiers in the Civil War, most comment to loved ones they are fighting to free the slaves as if on a holy mission from god. People will always try to downplay the fact that black owned slavery has existed for over 5000 years in Africa and some white people in America freed them here after only 170 years. They never mention that free blacks in America owned more slaves per capita than their white peers according to the 1860 census. Always downplayed. Luckily the letters from the northern soldiers survive in museums, archives and as family heirlooms and serve as the shot that killed that red herring.
I believe tha a lot of the blacks owning slaves on the census reports you're talking about is because some of the freed slaves would then purchase or "own" other family members or friends so they could help give them a better life, not to have slaves. I'm not saying this is the way it was for all but i do believe it was a way to help the other slaves out.
Carly221,
You could believe that unless you research it and see that they were working slaves on black owned plantations. The largest slave holder in the South was a black man with a huge plantation. I'll let you do the research and find out the names and facts.
Sad that this stuff still is going on.
These slavers are not transporting their goods through customs. They are moving them through open borders Tighten up on illegal border crossing & this is just one of the criminal activities that becomes more difficult. This is one of the reasons no illegal aliens should be tolerated in any country.
First clue ..... $$
Interesting the posts are nearly all about politics not people or the condition described in the article. The level of apathy in the world is sickening. Can anyone see beyond their own agenda? Shame on you all, the sad part is that this has become normal, how dare you use this argue your political views- people are suffering. You are nothing more than "political grinches" find that tiny cold heart in your chest and grow a conscience.
Very well said.
Now they are just going to argue about which side can't grow a conscience.
Americans are insulated against many of these horrors and our apathy proves that.
So...Scole2, what is your plan? Do you have one or are you just here for the beer and to trash other folks? Are You the kind of person who has No answers, just wants to wring hands and skewer the other messengers?
Excuse me. Wait a minute.
This is an article about human trafficking, modern-day slavery and an inhumane practice that has been prevalentfor the entire course of human history that should have ended long ago. Something that we should have eolved past and outgrown, as we have evolved past living in caves and sacrificing other humans to imaginary gods.
How in the name of the Goddess did this get turned into yet another debate about republicans and Democrats, political parties and voting? I saw ONE comment that was on-topic. HAe you even thiought about the human cost, the toll on lies, the degredation, humiliation, loss of dignity, fear and terror these people have been through? Have you no compassion for the lives ruined, people killed, children scarred, women tortured by this barbaric practice? No words of support for the people who are doing theior best to combat this ugliness, this cancer, no anger at those who perpetrate the abuse and continue the practice?
MAJOR derail, people!
wj777816 said:
Credit Card Debt is the scourge of modern day slavery. Paying usurious interest rates to these people is nothing but slavery. Shame on you Mastercard, Visa and American Express.
You choose to obtain that first credit card. You choose to use it. No one's holding a gun to your head and forcing you to apply for one.
I knew a woman who was a victim. She was Rwandan, living in a remote village that was attacked by one of the roving bands of rogue militia that wander the African jungle. The village was burned to the ground, her father was forced to rape her mother in front of her (she was 12 at the time) and her brother, then both parents were killed and the children marched off and sold to slavers. She and her brother were separated in South Africa, never to see each other again, and she was shipped to America, to an underground slave market, where she was purchased by a USC (Us citizen). He kept her captive for five years, making child porn and raping her on a daily basis, until she got pregnant at 17 and also no longer looked young enough to be appealing, and turned her out onto the street.
She was, of course, picked up for being illegal--she spoke no english. Her owner didn't bother to teach her that. He spoke a few words of her tribal language, she spoke a few words of French, and when she was picked up she tried to explain that she had been a victim of human trafficking, but since there was no police report documenting the abuse, her word was not taken over that of a legal US citizen, and she was placed in deportation for being illegal, which was where I met her.
Because she didn't speak english and knew only a little French, communicating with anyone was hard, and as a result of that, she was singled out for a lot of abuse. The camp chaplain even raped her several times--I lay awake at night and listened to her cry as they took turns with her pregnant body. When she gave birth to a little girl five months after coming to the deportation camp, they took the baby away to give to the biological father because the child was born here and thus an American citizen. she begged ICE--and I tried too--to tell them to please don't give the baby to the biological father, he'll end up molesting the baby girl just like he molested the mother--but they didn't listen, the baby was taken away.
Severine went into a severe depression--she refused to eat, refused to shower, just lay on her bed all day and cried. The camp guards called it 'passive aggressive resistance' and took her away to put her in solitary, and a few days later word around the camp was that she took off her jumpsuit, twisted it into a rope and hanged herself. She was cremated and sent to a landfill.
A year later when I got out of deportation I tried to find out what happened to that baby girl, but didn't have any luck. I still wonder where she is, what happened to her, and if she's okay--she'd be about fourteen now. Her mother named her Brielle, but the father could have changed it.
That is the face of human trafficking, and it goes on here in the US. This is beyond Democrat or republican, Tea party or independent. This is about human beings, living in conditions no human should ever be forced to endure. This goes beyond party and race and countries, so stop turning it into a political debate! Have some compassion!
I'd like to but you tell so many long-winded stories about more people than I've ever seen in my lifetime that I'd have a hard time believing one.
People such as yourself are really the biggest single problem. You see the statistics and merely see numbers. You read "long-winded stories" about victimized individuals and choose not to believe them. I'm sorry, but each number in those statistics represents a human being going through horrors you could not possibly imagine. I won't bore you with another of those "stories", but say that I pray you never have a loved one forced into being an actor in one of them.
Well, Amanda, you and the goddess seem to have a good grasp on the obvious, but what is your answer? You and Scole2 seem to have all the right questions and enjoy getting shrill with the folks presenting answers. Maybe, their answers just aren't your answers, or rather the answers that you don't have.
Exactly- POLITICAL GRINCHES whose opinion ultimately don't matter anyway!! The world will keep turning despite your little views- you have no power, get over your egos and get over yourself. Stop imagining that you really have a say in anything. I don't care if it is your country- you personally will not be running anything!! Even on your best day your views and opinions will only end up as a comment on MSN! Love somebody that is more worthwhile and lasting!
So..., is that the answer Scole2? You believe that your righteous anger will solve the problem?
I just returned from the Bahamas where I attended a tour which included the Queens Steps, part of an escape tunnel for British soldiers built by slaves thru solid rock. The guide reminded us that the slaves had no union or anything else to help ameliorate the work they did. I thought, "Governor Walker was here!!". Actually to be fair the Dixiecrat-Republicans want American workers to be coolies not slaves. Slaves can't be fired.
I have been to the Queen's steps, if all you could do being there was think about politics on your vacation, you need to back away from the computer more often. Try actually enjoying life maybe.
This is nothing new. Slavery has been around for thousands of years. Why do the Democraps and its branch office of propaganda MSNBC take issue now ?
Yeah, why take issue with anything bad? It's all been around for thousands of years. If you get robbed at gun point or your kid gets abducted, keep telling yourself that, and don't give in to "propaganda" that says otherwise.
(Oops, I just read some of your other enlightened comments. Texas, huh? Never mind.)
LOL. nice. I saw texas too and was like OK...time to move on nothing to see here.
Interesting term: "debt bondage". From my perspective the US Government has every working taxpayer in forced labor and debt bondage. They take our money and "distribute" it to their minions. (relatives, friends, and welfare voters who perpetuate their reign.
Money being distributed? It's been concentrated in the hands of the 1%. Where have you been for the last 40 years?
And in public school I was taught that only the U.S had slaves..........learn something new everyday I guess.
Only a small percentage of slaves from Africa went to the U.S. compared to Brazil. Open your eyes and educate yourself. The libturds in America lie to you.
Has it taken you this long to learn that, Einstein? Who do you think built the pyramids? Slaves go back eons. It was an ancient tradition long before the New World was discovered. Learn some world history and stop believing all the rhetoric you hear on TV. Jeez!
But why is it then that here in the U.s. the blacks want reparations for being slaves. Are the Brazilians paying reparations to their blacks. Why is just the U.S.A. that is so terrible and no one else...........I guess I better stop listening to Democrats since they keep telling us that if Republicans are elected this country will go back to having slaves...............gosh, if I can't believe people that are elected and run the government who can I believe..........I wish I could find my public school teachers to ask them why they taught me stuff that wasn't true.
Dale - it's because they are looking for a fast buck in addition to all the free money they are collecting on welfare and in the form of food stamps. There is no black person in the USA alive today who was ever a slave. No one deserves reparations for something in which they were never involved.
I must have gone to a better public school. We were taught that the British freed their slaves before we did. Never got the impression that it was an "American" thing.
AtticusRules, you are absolutely wrong. People of all ethnicities are sexual slaves in this country today. That's what the story is about. Anybody talking about anything else needs to find the proper place for your political debates. I'm certain that these sex slaves don't care who's in power, because either way their problem is having their bodies used to make others wealthy. I believe it's a good bet that hardcore members of both parties have taken advantage of sexual slaves, but they're not worried about your policies when they are violating other peoples bodies.
Supporting a Politician or a political party is slavery, Politicians exist for their own means, Think about it, they actully provide little or nothing for themselves, they contibute so very little to the common fabric of society, they are like leaches sucking us dry only to support their lifestyles.
PMS-NBC has lied and distorted so many reports - I doubt this is the full story... If MS-NBC would setup an innocent person (Zimmerman) and then purposely and falsely report a Romney event (for their own purposes) how can we trust any of this???
I think PMS-NBC is fabricating news....
Innocent of what? Shooting an unarmed kid? Or did you mean something else?
I feel so sorry for these people. The worst part is that their own people are doing it to them. I live in Texas and the highest sex slavery in the U.S. is Houston. And not just sex slaves they have working slaves where they have a whole bunch of adults promised a better life and then they clump them all together in a house and make them work to pay them back for taking them supposedly legally across the border. Which they can never make enough to pay them back so they are stuck and can't get back home because their master's have their passports until they are paid back. I just don't understand that if I can sit here and watch the documentaries of this on t.v. why can't the police shut it down. If the journalist can find them why can't the police? We should be thankful it's not happening to us.
And just why is this a concern of the United States what happens in other countries. I'm sorry, but we have our own problems to solve and this should be of no concern in the USA until we correct our own problems.
Mojo...get a clue...human trafficking is a problem in the US and therefore should be a concern. Just because it's not as prevalent in the US as in other countries or continents doesn't mean you can dismiss it blindly.
Only 42,000? That's nothing! Look at the 214 million American Slaves owned by the corrupt Republican corporate MONARCHY! NOW THAT'S SLAVERY! They have INFILTRATED our Democratic Government with their "HAND-PICKED" political puppets like exlax ETCH-A-SKETCH & John Bonehead! We, the 99% American People, have lost our government THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE "for the people & by the people" NOT BY THE CORPORATES "for the rich & by the rich"!
99% American People, vote 100% STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC and let's rid ourselves of this corruption ONCE & FOR ALL!!
Funny that you blame the Republicans when there is a Democrat living in the White House.
GET A CLUE!
What about the White Americans that can't speak Spanish we looked at as though we are garbage.
Try to look for a job of any kind and they look at you as though you have three (3) ears and two (2) noses because we are now living in Latin America. And all the latins wish we would just go away to make easier on them to take over USA but we still hang around and that really upsets them.
So I know what it is like everyday to be a slave to people who invaded us from other Latin American countries and now we have to ask them permission to live in our own homeland.
Its way past time to start exposing human trafficker's and human abuser's to justice.
Have you applied with this "aduterous and perverse generation" to be a eunuch, concubine or slave yet? This is what the World is coming to, underneath the veneer of "open-marriage" college educated bondage boys and girls. You probably don't know what a "dog slut" is yet, or a male chastity belt is either. Don't you remember Catholic Colllege near Washington DC got caught with a male stripper. I knew about models a couple years ago, like Kimberly Marvel, touring the colleges to perform acts of bondage. This year the college boys wanted to perform the bondage themselves. Wake-up America? Serfs Up!
In a way everyone is to blame for this crap going on. For instance look at all the big name fashion designers like that fag Issac Mazrahe, Kathy Lee Gifford, Martha Monster Stewart and slew of other celebs that have lines of products. You mean to tell me that these people think that all of their products are not made in some third world country. What a joke.What it all comes down to is like everything else in this @!$%#ed up world. GREEEEEDDD.Go take a ride thru the Hamptons and see first hand what forced slave labor buys you in this world.
P.S i know the post is mostly about sex slaves but it's all corrupt whether it's in some sweat factory or some prostitution den.
Just gotta love Andy Jackson! We could sure use a man like him right now to destroy the "Federal Reserve" cartel of banks. All my life I have avoided credit and debt to avoid the threat of usurious rates, fees and fines should I run into a problem paying them off. I always thought it odd that it was made legal to hound debtors with those penalties just at the time they are in obvious financial troubles and I regard anyone who is willing to agree to such terms a damned fool.
poor weak-minded republicans such as time's up, you almost feel sorry for them having been brain washed by Fox News spews... but not quite.
Mans great legacy, humans are trash and deserve all the pain supplied by each other.