The UN Protocol prohibits trafficking for the purpose of organ removal. Organ removal not only means the removal of kidneys for sale on the black market, it also includes the removal of organs and body parts for use in traditional medicine. In South Africa this practice is called "muti", in West Africa it is called "huju" or "juju". No matter what it is called, in all cases it is the same: the abduction of men, women and children for the ritual removal of organs and body parts while the victim is still alive. Traditional healers who use human muti believe that the organs and body parts must be removed while the victim is still alive because the screams of the victim infuses the body parts with the victim's life force, thus increasing the potency of the muti.
People pay traditional healers for muti to increase their luck, prosperity, business opportunities or their chances of wining an election or some one's heart. The traditional healer will choose a victim and remove the body parts or will pay a muti syndicate to abduct a victim and harvest the body parts. Genitals are used to increase virility, body fat to increase luck, lips or the tongue to seduce a lover, hands are buried near businesses to bring in customers, eyes to see into the future, brains to improve performance in college. Ears, eyelids and legs are also used for muti. The organs and body parts are eaten, drunk, smeared over the person using the muti or buried near the person's home or business in order to secure the desired results.
People are afraid to come forward with information against traditional healers who use human muti and the police are reluctant to investigate these crimes out of fear of having a curse placed upon them by the traditional healer.
Human trafficking for the purpose of ritual organ removal occurs in many African countries and is on the rise. Countries must enact and implement anti-trafficking laws to stop this terrible practice.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Do Not Forget The Men
Human trafficking literature focuses primarily on women and girls as the only victims of human trafficking to the detriment of men and boys who also fall victim to human trafficking. Anti-trafficking laws, awareness raising and rehabilitation programs are specifically tailored to women and girls. Anti-trafficking laws in many countries limit the definition of a victim of human trafficking to women and girls. As a result, awareness raising programs are designed to raise awareness solely among women and girls about the dangers of human trafficking. Shelters only accept victims of human trafficking. Education and job skills programs are only available to women and girls.
The International Herald Tribune recently reported on the trafficking of Cambodian men for forced labor on Thai fishing boats at sea. The men were kept at sea for long periods, in some cases years, and often received severe beatings.
There were obstacles to rescuing the men and prosecuting the traffickers. The anti-trafficking laws of both Thailand and Cambodia were written to specifically protect women and children from being trafficked into prostitution and forced labor. Men who may have been victims of human trafficking were treated as illegal immigrants under the law and were deported back to their home countries. Understandably, the men were reluctant to come forward and cooperate with authorities out of fear of being treated as criminals.
Another obstacle is the problem of jurisdiction. Jurisdiction over crimes committed at sea is determined by a complex patchwork of international treaties. Countries are only able to assert jurisdiction in specific circumstances. For example, the United States asserts jurisdiction if four instances: (1) if the ship is U.S. owned, regardless of the nationality of the victim or perpetrator; (2) if the crime occurs in U.S. territorial waters; (3) if the victim or perpetrator is a U.S. national on a ship that departed or is arriving at a U.S. port; or (4) an act of terrorism against the U.S.
It is easy to see how U.S. jurisdiction can be circumvented by traffickers. If the crime of human trafficking occurs on a ship that is not U.S. owned, not in U.S. territorial waters, and neither the victim nor the perpetrator are U.S. nationals, the traffickers cannot be prosecuted by the U.S.
In order to end human trafficking, anti-trafficking laws must include men, women and children in the definition of a victim of human trafficking, and international treaties must allow countries to assert jurisdiction over cases of human trafficking at sea.
The International Herald Tribune recently reported on the trafficking of Cambodian men for forced labor on Thai fishing boats at sea. The men were kept at sea for long periods, in some cases years, and often received severe beatings.
There were obstacles to rescuing the men and prosecuting the traffickers. The anti-trafficking laws of both Thailand and Cambodia were written to specifically protect women and children from being trafficked into prostitution and forced labor. Men who may have been victims of human trafficking were treated as illegal immigrants under the law and were deported back to their home countries. Understandably, the men were reluctant to come forward and cooperate with authorities out of fear of being treated as criminals.
Another obstacle is the problem of jurisdiction. Jurisdiction over crimes committed at sea is determined by a complex patchwork of international treaties. Countries are only able to assert jurisdiction in specific circumstances. For example, the United States asserts jurisdiction if four instances: (1) if the ship is U.S. owned, regardless of the nationality of the victim or perpetrator; (2) if the crime occurs in U.S. territorial waters; (3) if the victim or perpetrator is a U.S. national on a ship that departed or is arriving at a U.S. port; or (4) an act of terrorism against the U.S.
It is easy to see how U.S. jurisdiction can be circumvented by traffickers. If the crime of human trafficking occurs on a ship that is not U.S. owned, not in U.S. territorial waters, and neither the victim nor the perpetrator are U.S. nationals, the traffickers cannot be prosecuted by the U.S.
In order to end human trafficking, anti-trafficking laws must include men, women and children in the definition of a victim of human trafficking, and international treaties must allow countries to assert jurisdiction over cases of human trafficking at sea.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Missed Opportunity in Philadelphia
Upper Darby police may have lost the chance to rescue eight young Liberian girls from an international human trafficking ring.
From Philadelphia Daily News:
An alleged sexual assault on an Upper Darby girl led police to a house full
of young, Liberian women - some of them pregnant-who may be involved in international human trafficking.
Now, police are anxious to locate the women, who disappeared after authorities started asking questions and arrested a woman posing as their mother.
[...]
The woman, Ophelia Cheayee, 34, of North Church Lane near Harrison Avenue, was arrested Dec. 11 on charges of aggravated indecent assault, possessing obscene and indecent materials, and corruption of a minor.
Read the story at http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20081218_Authorities_investigate_human_trafficking_in_Upper_Darby.html
This story illustrates the need for every state in the United States to adopt an anti-trafficking law and to give training to police officers on all aspects of the law. States should also develop referral mechanisms to ensure that victims of human trafficking receive appropriate services.
The police failed to remove the girls from the home after the sexual assault had been reported because they felt that they did not have a legal basis to do so. This is outrageous on two counts: First, anti-trafficking laws give states the power to remove children from the home in cases of suspected human trafficking; Second, even in the absence of an anti-trafficking law, states have the legal right to remove children the home in cases of suspected abuse.
Certainly in this case the abuse is clear. The 13 year old girl reported being sexually assaulted by a woman with whom she was living and who admitted to police that she did sexually assault the girl. In these circumstances, authorities had the duty to remove all children from the home.
Despite the belief of law enforcement that the girls may be victims of human trafficking, the young girl who reported the assault has not been treated as a possible victim of human trafficking. She was not taken to a shelter and given counseling and medical care, instead she was sent to juvenile detention on an unrelated assault charge stemming from a school incident.
Even though police believe that the children were trafficked from Liberia to Philadelphia for the purpose of sexual exploitation, the woman who admitted to sexually exploiting at least one girl was not charged with human trafficking. She was charged with lesser crimes that do not carry penalties that are comparable to the penalties that are associated with the crime of human trafficking.
Tragically, the girls have disappeared and will be very difficult to locate. None of the girls had identification, and police are unsure of their names. They have likely been transported to another city in the United States and are continuing to be exploited by their traffickers.
From Philadelphia Daily News:
An alleged sexual assault on an Upper Darby girl led police to a house full
of young, Liberian women - some of them pregnant-who may be involved in international human trafficking.
Now, police are anxious to locate the women, who disappeared after authorities started asking questions and arrested a woman posing as their mother.
[...]
The woman, Ophelia Cheayee, 34, of North Church Lane near Harrison Avenue, was arrested Dec. 11 on charges of aggravated indecent assault, possessing obscene and indecent materials, and corruption of a minor.
Read the story at http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20081218_Authorities_investigate_human_trafficking_in_Upper_Darby.html
This story illustrates the need for every state in the United States to adopt an anti-trafficking law and to give training to police officers on all aspects of the law. States should also develop referral mechanisms to ensure that victims of human trafficking receive appropriate services.
The police failed to remove the girls from the home after the sexual assault had been reported because they felt that they did not have a legal basis to do so. This is outrageous on two counts: First, anti-trafficking laws give states the power to remove children from the home in cases of suspected human trafficking; Second, even in the absence of an anti-trafficking law, states have the legal right to remove children the home in cases of suspected abuse.
Certainly in this case the abuse is clear. The 13 year old girl reported being sexually assaulted by a woman with whom she was living and who admitted to police that she did sexually assault the girl. In these circumstances, authorities had the duty to remove all children from the home.
Despite the belief of law enforcement that the girls may be victims of human trafficking, the young girl who reported the assault has not been treated as a possible victim of human trafficking. She was not taken to a shelter and given counseling and medical care, instead she was sent to juvenile detention on an unrelated assault charge stemming from a school incident.
Even though police believe that the children were trafficked from Liberia to Philadelphia for the purpose of sexual exploitation, the woman who admitted to sexually exploiting at least one girl was not charged with human trafficking. She was charged with lesser crimes that do not carry penalties that are comparable to the penalties that are associated with the crime of human trafficking.
Tragically, the girls have disappeared and will be very difficult to locate. None of the girls had identification, and police are unsure of their names. They have likely been transported to another city in the United States and are continuing to be exploited by their traffickers.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Human Trafficking in Refugee Camps
Refugee camps are intended to be a place of safety for those who are fleeing war and conflict. Unfortunately militias, government forces, peacekeepers and even other refugees have used the camps as a captive source of vulnerable people who can be easily exploited.
Men and women fall prey to human traffickers in the refugee camps. However, children, especially unaccompanied children, are especially vulnerable to human trafficking. Children, some as young as five years old, are taken from refugee camps and forced to become soldiers. In Africa, child soldiers are forced to take drugs such as "Brown Brown" (cocaine mixed with gunpowder) and "Tik-Tik" (crystal meth) to dull their fear and to heighten aggression and brutality. The children are forced to take "Mandrax" (Methaqualone aka. Quaalude), which are sleeping pills, in order to bring them down from their high. These drugs are so highly addictive that after being rescued, some children return to their traffickers in order to obtain drugs to feed their drug habit. Children are often rejected by their communities because of the atrocities they committed while they were forced to be soldiers.
In addition to being exploited as forced combatants, both boys and girls are forced into sexual slavery and are exploited for forced labor as porters, cooks, cleaners and firewood gatherers. Girls who return from the war with children of their own face stigmatization and rejection by their families and communities.
In order to prevent the exploitation and suffering of refugees, there must be increased security in the refugee camps. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees must include combating human trafficking in its mandate for refugee camps. Demobilization programs must include drug rehabilitation programs in order to successfully transition children back into civilian life. Refugees who have been trafficked need psychological and physical care as well as help reintegrating into their communities.
Men and women fall prey to human traffickers in the refugee camps. However, children, especially unaccompanied children, are especially vulnerable to human trafficking. Children, some as young as five years old, are taken from refugee camps and forced to become soldiers. In Africa, child soldiers are forced to take drugs such as "Brown Brown" (cocaine mixed with gunpowder) and "Tik-Tik" (crystal meth) to dull their fear and to heighten aggression and brutality. The children are forced to take "Mandrax" (Methaqualone aka. Quaalude), which are sleeping pills, in order to bring them down from their high. These drugs are so highly addictive that after being rescued, some children return to their traffickers in order to obtain drugs to feed their drug habit. Children are often rejected by their communities because of the atrocities they committed while they were forced to be soldiers.
In addition to being exploited as forced combatants, both boys and girls are forced into sexual slavery and are exploited for forced labor as porters, cooks, cleaners and firewood gatherers. Girls who return from the war with children of their own face stigmatization and rejection by their families and communities.
In order to prevent the exploitation and suffering of refugees, there must be increased security in the refugee camps. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees must include combating human trafficking in its mandate for refugee camps. Demobilization programs must include drug rehabilitation programs in order to successfully transition children back into civilian life. Refugees who have been trafficked need psychological and physical care as well as help reintegrating into their communities.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Human Trafficking in Detroit?
A Detroit woman has been arrested for hosting a prostitution party involving 19 prostitutes that also included nude dancing by two 16 year old girls, one of whom is the woman's daughter. Those attending the party had to pay a $15 cover charge in addition to what the prostitutes charged for sex. The woman was charged with Child Sexually Abusive Material. However, this may be a case of human trafficking.
This is the definition of human trafficking that is contained in the United States Trafficking Victims Protection Act 2000, as amended:
Read the story at http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/.
This is the definition of human trafficking that is contained in the United States Trafficking Victims Protection Act 2000, as amended:
SEVERE FORMS OF TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS.-
The term "severe forms of trafficking in persons" means-
(A) sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced
by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced
to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age;
(B) 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.
Note that force, fraud or coercion are not required when the victim is younger than 18 years old.
As to the two 16 year old girls, this is a case of human trafficking for sexual exploitation. The woman received money in exchange for the two girls engaging in sexually explicit conduct, which is defined in the United States Criminal Code as the graphic lascivious exhibition of the genitals of any person, and may have prostituted the two girls as well.
Also, contrary to the widespread belief that a victim must be transported in order to be considered trafficked, it should be noted that the woman's daughter was not transported anywhere, she was exploited in her own home for money.
Read the story at http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Human Trafficking Begins with Greed
Just as with slavery, the primary motivation for trafficking in human beings is not the withering grind of poverty, but the determined power of insatiable greed. Now, as then, it is greed that drives men and women to seek their fortune in the enslavement and suffering of others. Human trafficking is a highly profitable criminal enterprise that is driven by greed and it must be analyzed as such in order for it to be eradicated.
Human trafficking is so profitable that it is now in third place behind the traffic in arms and drugs in revenue generation. Criminals in search of low-risk, high-yield profits have eagerly added human trafficking to their crime portfolios. Unlike arms or drug dealers, human traffickers do not have to buy their "product" from middlemen and then recoup the cost of purchase on the street. Arms and drug dealers only make money at a single point of sale. Human traffickers, on the other hand, are able to make money over the lifetime of the victim.
Human traffickers procure victims through fraud, coercion or deceit, and the money that is made from the exploitation of these victims is taken by the trafficker. In addition, the victims incur a "debt" for transport, shelter, food or any medical attention received and are fined for "infractions" all of which must be repaid to the trafficker. Furthermore, the victim can be exploited multiple ways, often suffering more than one form of exploitation at a time and sold multiple times. Each time the victim is resold, the debt and the fines are reinstated and increased. Human trafficking generates pure profit for the traffickers.
Human trafficking is so profitable that it is now in third place behind the traffic in arms and drugs in revenue generation. Criminals in search of low-risk, high-yield profits have eagerly added human trafficking to their crime portfolios. Unlike arms or drug dealers, human traffickers do not have to buy their "product" from middlemen and then recoup the cost of purchase on the street. Arms and drug dealers only make money at a single point of sale. Human traffickers, on the other hand, are able to make money over the lifetime of the victim.
Human traffickers procure victims through fraud, coercion or deceit, and the money that is made from the exploitation of these victims is taken by the trafficker. In addition, the victims incur a "debt" for transport, shelter, food or any medical attention received and are fined for "infractions" all of which must be repaid to the trafficker. Furthermore, the victim can be exploited multiple ways, often suffering more than one form of exploitation at a time and sold multiple times. Each time the victim is resold, the debt and the fines are reinstated and increased. Human trafficking generates pure profit for the traffickers.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
A Call To Arms
Each generation, by their conduct and example, must establish and prove the maxim: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". Throughout the world the battle still rages between those who choose the cause of freedom and those who choose the cause of greed and the cruel suffering of their fellow human beings. This generation, like others before, must answer the call to arms, to fight for the freedom of their fellow man and eradicate human trafficking from the earth.
In order to be victorious in the fight against human trafficking it is necessary to take instruction, to be armed with the truth, an understanding of the many facets of human trafficking and compassion for others. Men and women of goodwill must resolve to exert themselves with persistence and energy to end the practice of human trafficking.
Many argue that the fight against human trafficking differs from the fight waged against slavery in the 18th and 19th centuries and that the chains of slavery which now bind countless men, women and children are lighter and easier to bear than those of the past. Factional interests stress that human trafficking is less than slavery, that it is a natural outgrowth of poverty, or merely a form of illegal migration or a minor labor law violation. These are false and dangerous beliefs. Human trafficking is defined and caused by the same things that have defined and caused slavery through the ages: Exploitation and greed. It is important to stress this point to ensure that those who take up this fight remain focused on the true nature of human trafficking and do not dissipate their effort and energy on issues that are not the cause of this inhumane practice.
When putting forth his arguments in favor of the adoption of the American Constitution, Alexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist No. 1 that "the consciousness of good intentions disdains ambiguity". This adage is equally true of the fight against human trafficking as it is of the fight against tyranny. Therefore, it is imperative to state often and without equivocation that human trafficking is slavery.
The cause of freedom is just and it is worthy. It requires courage and faith of its champions. Its champions must not succumb to factional interests that seek to distract and divert. It is the duty of us all to stand up for those who are enslaved, to bring about an event that is necessary to the happiness and progress of all mankind: the end of human trafficking.
In order to be victorious in the fight against human trafficking it is necessary to take instruction, to be armed with the truth, an understanding of the many facets of human trafficking and compassion for others. Men and women of goodwill must resolve to exert themselves with persistence and energy to end the practice of human trafficking.
Many argue that the fight against human trafficking differs from the fight waged against slavery in the 18th and 19th centuries and that the chains of slavery which now bind countless men, women and children are lighter and easier to bear than those of the past. Factional interests stress that human trafficking is less than slavery, that it is a natural outgrowth of poverty, or merely a form of illegal migration or a minor labor law violation. These are false and dangerous beliefs. Human trafficking is defined and caused by the same things that have defined and caused slavery through the ages: Exploitation and greed. It is important to stress this point to ensure that those who take up this fight remain focused on the true nature of human trafficking and do not dissipate their effort and energy on issues that are not the cause of this inhumane practice.
When putting forth his arguments in favor of the adoption of the American Constitution, Alexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist No. 1 that "the consciousness of good intentions disdains ambiguity". This adage is equally true of the fight against human trafficking as it is of the fight against tyranny. Therefore, it is imperative to state often and without equivocation that human trafficking is slavery.
The cause of freedom is just and it is worthy. It requires courage and faith of its champions. Its champions must not succumb to factional interests that seek to distract and divert. It is the duty of us all to stand up for those who are enslaved, to bring about an event that is necessary to the happiness and progress of all mankind: the end of human trafficking.
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