Back in my pre-blogspot days (in other words, from the parts of the daily blah no longer online), this blog used to be a lot more activism-oriented. One of the topics that I wrote about quite frequently was human trafficking. For those of you who don't know, here's a concise and coherent definition I copied from the Polaris Project:
[Human Trafficking] is the modern practice of slavery. It is the third largest criminal industry in the world today, after arms and drug dealing, and is the fastest growing. Traffickers generate billions of dollars in profits every year while victimizing millions of people around the globe. Trafficked persons are forced or coerced into labor or sexual exploitation. Under international law, all children who are commercially sexually exploited are considered trafficking victims, even if no force or coercion is used. Sex trafficking is one of the most lucrative sectors of the trade in people, and involves sexual exploitation in prostitution or pornography, bride trafficking, and commercial sexual abuse of children.
You wouldn't believe the number of people I've encountered who, upon hearing about this topic, will insist that it isn't really a problem, or who will concede that while it might be a problem some places, it doesn't have an impact on the States in any way, shape or form. Well, it does. Yeah, okay, so this post is mainly regarding South Korea, not the United States.... but, as you'll see, there are definite ties between our countries with regards to this issue.
First, let me show you an interesting little snippet I found here on AmericaBlog:
Remember how just two years ago George Bush claimed he wanted to put a stop to human trafficking - i.e., women being forced into sexual slavery?Then why was the Bush administration's premiere advocate for stopping such sexual slavery forced out of his job a while back?According to the Sunday Los Angeles Times, he was fired because convicted criminal lobbyist Jack Abramoff was representing one of the countries that most profits from sexual slavery and human trafficking, the Northern Mariana Islands. Abramoff wanted this Bush administration official fired because the official's anti-human-trafficking agenda - now George Bush's agenda - posed a direct threat to Abramoff's pro-sex-slave client.But Jack Abramoff doesn't have the power to fire a Bush administration official - all he can do is ask. Someone inside the Bush administration had to do Abramoff's dirty work and fire the official on behalf of Abramoff and his client. According to the Los Angeles Times, that someone was former senior Bush White House official, and now head of the Republican party, Ken Mehlman. One of George Bush's top aides, the man who ran Bush's re-election campaign, and the man who thanks to George Bush now runs the Republican party, is also reportedly the man who fired a top Bush official in charge of stopping the international human sex slave trade because Jack Abramoff's clients like sex slaves.
Well that's just peachy. But what does it have to do with South Korea? Well, to be honest, why should I tell you, when others have done a far better job than I could? Let's start with a four-part series on sex trafficking in San Francisco, published recently by the San Francisco Cronicle:
Part 1: San Francisco Is A Major Center For International Crime Networks That Smuggle And Enslave
Part 2: A Youthful Mistake
Part 3: Diary of a [Korean] Sex Slave: Bought and Sold
Part 4: Diary of a [Korean] Sex Slave: Free but Trapped
The San Francisco Chronicle has also posted a series of photos, chronicling the lives of sex workers here in South Korea.
And last, the Metropolitician - and ex-pat in Korea blogger - has posted a substantial and interesting commentary in reference to the above articles. His posts can be found at the following links: Sex Trafficking, Visas and South Korea and South Korean Sex Trafficking Part 2.
[Human Trafficking] is the modern practice of slavery. It is the third largest criminal industry in the world today, after arms and drug dealing, and is the fastest growing. Traffickers generate billions of dollars in profits every year while victimizing millions of people around the globe. Trafficked persons are forced or coerced into labor or sexual exploitation. Under international law, all children who are commercially sexually exploited are considered trafficking victims, even if no force or coercion is used. Sex trafficking is one of the most lucrative sectors of the trade in people, and involves sexual exploitation in prostitution or pornography, bride trafficking, and commercial sexual abuse of children.
You wouldn't believe the number of people I've encountered who, upon hearing about this topic, will insist that it isn't really a problem, or who will concede that while it might be a problem some places, it doesn't have an impact on the States in any way, shape or form. Well, it does. Yeah, okay, so this post is mainly regarding South Korea, not the United States.... but, as you'll see, there are definite ties between our countries with regards to this issue.
First, let me show you an interesting little snippet I found here on AmericaBlog:
Remember how just two years ago George Bush claimed he wanted to put a stop to human trafficking - i.e., women being forced into sexual slavery?Then why was the Bush administration's premiere advocate for stopping such sexual slavery forced out of his job a while back?According to the Sunday Los Angeles Times, he was fired because convicted criminal lobbyist Jack Abramoff was representing one of the countries that most profits from sexual slavery and human trafficking, the Northern Mariana Islands. Abramoff wanted this Bush administration official fired because the official's anti-human-trafficking agenda - now George Bush's agenda - posed a direct threat to Abramoff's pro-sex-slave client.But Jack Abramoff doesn't have the power to fire a Bush administration official - all he can do is ask. Someone inside the Bush administration had to do Abramoff's dirty work and fire the official on behalf of Abramoff and his client. According to the Los Angeles Times, that someone was former senior Bush White House official, and now head of the Republican party, Ken Mehlman. One of George Bush's top aides, the man who ran Bush's re-election campaign, and the man who thanks to George Bush now runs the Republican party, is also reportedly the man who fired a top Bush official in charge of stopping the international human sex slave trade because Jack Abramoff's clients like sex slaves.
Well that's just peachy. But what does it have to do with South Korea? Well, to be honest, why should I tell you, when others have done a far better job than I could? Let's start with a four-part series on sex trafficking in San Francisco, published recently by the San Francisco Cronicle:
Part 1: San Francisco Is A Major Center For International Crime Networks That Smuggle And Enslave
Part 2: A Youthful Mistake
Part 3: Diary of a [Korean] Sex Slave: Bought and Sold
Part 4: Diary of a [Korean] Sex Slave: Free but Trapped
The San Francisco Chronicle has also posted a series of photos, chronicling the lives of sex workers here in South Korea.
And last, the Metropolitician - and ex-pat in Korea blogger - has posted a substantial and interesting commentary in reference to the above articles. His posts can be found at the following links: Sex Trafficking, Visas and South Korea and South Korean Sex Trafficking Part 2.
Read. Now.
1 comment:
Oh. My. God. I had no idea about this.
How do Jack Abramoff & Co. sleep at night?!
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