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TeaEarlGreyHot
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05 Feb 2011, 10:51 pm

http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/02/05/s ... tml?hpt=C2


(CNN) -- Americans are right to get angry at the violence against women and girls in developing nations: the Congo rape camps, the widespread practices of female genital mutilation in West Africa and the infanticide of females in China.

Our disgust at the violence committed against women and girls is heightened by the culture of impunity that allows the perpetrators of these crimes to go free without condemnation or punishment. That culture also turns victims into criminals, such as the girls in Thailand who are beaten and raped and then ostracized by their families and society.

But our indignation must be turned inward, too. Here in the United States, there is a similar culture of impunity when young American girls are sold for sex. There are 100,000 to 300,000 children between 11 and 14 who are vulnerable to being sold for sex by pimp-captors every year in the United States, according to government statistics

These girls, many of whom are runaway children from fragile families or communities, are lured, tricked or coerced by pimps, who promise them love and safety.

Sometimes, these girls are snatched off the streets by pimps, leaving heartbroken parents to search websites such as backpage.com that advertise sex for sale and walk the "tracks" to try to find their daughters. Young girls are the new commodities that traffickers and gangs are selling.

Why? Because they can.

The perpetrators of this new form of modern slavery in America can sell girls for sex without fear of punishment. As incomprehensible as it seems, today trafficking girls brings in more profits and results in less prison time than dealing crack.

There is no "war on trafficking" or any similar culture of crime and punishment for selling a 12-year-old girl for sex. Perversely, it is the girls -- not the men -- who suffer from criminalization.

Few buyers of prostituted children are arrested or prosecuted in the United States, according to the international anti-trafficking organization Shared Hope.

But girls who've been trafficked frequently end up arrested for prostitution. It is the girl who is restrained by police after a "bust" or a "raid" on a hotel room -- not her trafficker or the "john."

It is the girl, repeatedly raped by grown men, who is shackled and put behind bars. Rarely are these girls perceived as victims.

They are instead cast as "'hos," prostitutes or "bad girls." Take, for example, in a Washington-area courtroom last year, where a colleague of mine heard a prosecutor call a girl who had been arrested on charges of prostitution "a little black 'ho.'"

Rather than feeling rescued from a tortuous situation and placed in safety, she was reviled and publicly humiliated in a court of law.

It is a story typical of so many girls arrested for prostitution. They are treated as criminals, not victims. This view explains why there are so few safe- haven programs for girls trafficked -- or why not even one cent of federal funding for trafficked victims under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act goes to domestic victims.

And, unfortunately, it also explains why men continue to buy and sell girls without fear of legal repercussions. It is time to prosecute those who sell and purchase girls.

If they are subject to punishment for their criminal acts against children, pimps and "johns" will be less interested in the marketplace of young girls. The laws already exist -- such as statutory rape and child-endangerment laws -- but there is no political will at the state or federal level to prosecute the perpetrators -- especially the "johns."

Despite all the political jingoism about being tough on crime or protecting our children, lawmakers are remarkably indifferent to prosecuting these child abusers and rapists.

We owe it to prostituted girls to give them freedom, refuge and safety -- and harsh penalties for every entity involved in their trafficking -- pimps, victimizers and enterprises that profit from these sales.

No girl in America should be purchased, sold, raped, abused or exploited -- and with impunity.


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xenon13
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05 Feb 2011, 11:11 pm

Israel and the protectorate of Kosovo are leading centres of sex slave trafficking which explains why the traffickers can do no wrong... after all, "he who blesses them shall be blessed and he who curses them shall be cursed".



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05 Feb 2011, 11:19 pm

There is another form of slavery in the US.

People are thrown into privately owned prisons where they do real commercial work like making furniture and acting as call center operators but are paid almost nothing.

In the last California wild fires they were bringing in teams of trained prisoners to fight the fires.
The local authorities only had to pay $1 an hour per man.
The prisoner would get 25 cents.

America has more people in prison than the rest of the world put together.
Welcome to the new slavery.



Inuyasha
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05 Feb 2011, 11:21 pm

xenon13 wrote:
Israel and the protectorate of Kosovo are leading centres of sex slave trafficking which explains why the traffickers can do no wrong... after all, "he who blesses them shall be blessed and he who curses them shall be cursed".


Seriously I highly doubt the Israeli Government has anything to do with child slavery. If you have something to back up your accusation please post it (something tells me it is some pro-al-Qaeda site coming up with some other outlandish charge).



TeaEarlGreyHot
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05 Feb 2011, 11:29 pm

Wombat wrote:
There is another form of slavery in the US.

People are thrown into privately owned prisons where they do real commercial work like making furniture and acting as call center operators but are paid almost nothing.

In the last California wild fires they were bringing in teams of trained prisoners to fight the fires.
The local authorities only had to pay $1 an hour per man.
The prisoner would get 25 cents.

America has more people in prison than the rest of the world put together.
Welcome to the new slavery.


They're in prison because they broke the law. If you ask me, they get off easy.


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TeaEarlGreyHot
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05 Feb 2011, 11:31 pm

xenon13 wrote:
Israel and the protectorate of Kosovo are leading centres of sex slave trafficking which explains why the traffickers can do no wrong... after all, "he who blesses them shall be blessed and he who curses them shall be cursed".


Uh... what does Israel have to do with American pimps kidnapping American tweens and selling them in an American sex slave ring?


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PatrickNeville
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06 Feb 2011, 12:24 am

TeaEarlGreyHot wrote:
Wombat wrote:
There is another form of slavery in the US.

People are thrown into privately owned prisons where they do real commercial work like making furniture and acting as call center operators but are paid almost nothing.

In the last California wild fires they were bringing in teams of trained prisoners to fight the fires.
The local authorities only had to pay $1 an hour per man.
The prisoner would get 25 cents.

America has more people in prison than the rest of the world put together.
Welcome to the new slavery.


They're in prison because they broke the law. If you ask me, they get off easy.


The three strike law is a bit extreme. people go to jail for stealing food. that is crazy.


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iMFd0zDAW0[/youtube]


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TeaEarlGreyHot
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06 Feb 2011, 12:32 am

PatrickNeville wrote:
The three strike law is a bit extreme. people go to jail for stealing food. that is crazy.


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iMFd0zDAW0[/youtube]


And? They still broke the law.

Sure, there are some crimes I do not think warrant prison. Some I even think the government punishes too harshly... like prostitution. *points up to article*


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PatrickNeville
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06 Feb 2011, 12:40 am

"They're in prison because they broke the law. If you ask me, they get off easy."

"Sure, there are some crimes I do not think warrant prison."

Two contradicting things really.


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06 Feb 2011, 12:43 am

For stealing food? This isn't Les Miserables. Since either the first or second offense would likely involve some form of probation, which usually includes job training and placement, there is typically an opportunity to truly rehabilitate.

I don't know how it works in other states, but in mine, the three strikes rule has some stipulations . . . most of the crimes on the list are violent or severe. Not theft of food, which I would imagine generally comes in under the $100 mark and would qualify as a misdemeanor.



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06 Feb 2011, 12:48 am

How widely is community service used in America and other places you guys live?


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TeaEarlGreyHot
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06 Feb 2011, 12:50 am

PatrickNeville wrote:
"They're in prison because they broke the law. If you ask me, they get off easy."

"Sure, there are some crimes I do not think warrant prison."

Two contradicting things really.


Eh... not really. The first one was a generalized statement on my views. The second is a slightly more detailed statement of my views.

Did you know many rapists never see the inside of a prison cell? Unless you're a repeat offender or did it violently, you're far more likely to get probation for rape.

Yes, rape.


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TeaEarlGreyHot
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06 Feb 2011, 12:51 am

PatrickNeville wrote:
How widely is community service used in America and other places you guys live?


People are more likely to just get probation here in the states.


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PatrickNeville
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06 Feb 2011, 12:56 am

Got you now sorry for the misunderstanding.

It is similar in the UK. A rapist can get a few years in jail, a political activist can get even more, and a person got selling cannabis can get even more.

messed up society we live in.

Sometimes the police even refuse to investigate and get things and total media and political blackouts happen.

http://www.holliedemandsjustice.org/about_hollie_greig


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TeaEarlGreyHot
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06 Feb 2011, 1:03 am

PatrickNeville wrote:

Sometimes the police even refuse to investigate and get things and total media and political blackouts happen.

http://www.holliedemandsjustice.org/about_hollie_greig


That's horrifying, but not surprising. I've heard similar stories. Many include spousal abuse.


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06 Feb 2011, 1:13 am

TeaEarlGreyHot wrote:
PatrickNeville wrote:

Sometimes the police even refuse to investigate and get things and total media and political blackouts happen.

http://www.holliedemandsjustice.org/about_hollie_greig


That's horrifying, but not surprising. I've heard similar stories. Many include spousal abuse.


that was in my city as well. people campaign on the streets for this handing out leaflets, and campaigners are arrested with bogus chargers by the police.

people interview politicians and slip this in and they decline to comment every single time.

it is beyond messed up :(

if you can, feel free to look into it a wee bit and share it around.


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