Hello Friends ~
This weeks show on Human Labor and Sex Trafficking was an eye opening one indeed. A couple of months ago Melissa, Diane and I had the opportunity to view the film "Not My Life." The film was directed by Oscar nominee Robert Bilheimer. "Not My Life" is the first documentary film to depict the horrifying and dangerous practices of human trafficking and modern slavery on a global scale.
Filmed on five continents over a period of four years, "Not My Life" depicts the unspeakable practices of a multi-billion dollar global industry whose profits, as the film's narration says, "are built on the backs and in the beds of our planet's youth." While acknowledging that trafficking and slavery are universal crimes, affecting millions of human beings all over the world, "Not My Life" zeroes in on the fact that the vast majority of trafficking and slavery victims are indeed children.
The film was an eye opening experience for all of us that attended. Mr. Bilheimer was a guest on our show this week and talked about his experiences with the film. So what can you do to help stop labor and sex trafficking? The following information was taken from the website HumanTrafficking.org.
How Do
People Get Trapped Into Sex or Labor Trafficking?
No one volunteers to be exploited. Traffickers frequently
recruit people through fraudulent advertisements promising legitimate jobs as
hostesses, domestics, or work in the agricultural industry. Trafficking victims
of all kinds come from rural, suburban, and urban settings.
There are signs when commercial establishments are holding
people against their will.
Visible
Indicators of Trafficking
Visible Indicators May
Include:
·
Heavy security at the commercial establishment including barred
windows, locked doors, isolated location, electronic surveillance. Women are
never seen leaving the premises unless escorted.
·
Victims live at the same premises as the brothel or work site or
are driven between quarters and "work" by a guard. For labor
trafficking, victims are often prohibited from leaving the work site, which may
look like a guarded compound from the outside.
·
Victims are kept under surveillance when taken to a doctor,
hospital or clinic for treatment; trafficker may act as a translator.
·
High foot traffic especially for brothels where there may be
trafficked women indicated often by a stream of men arriving and leaving the
premises.
Trafficking victims are kept in bondage through a combination of
fear, intimidation, abuse, and psychological controls. While each victim will
have a different experience, they share common threads that may signify a life
of indentured servitude.
Trafficking victims live a life marked by abuse, betrayal of
their basic human rights, and control under their trafficker. The following
indicators in and of themselves may not be enough to meet the legal standard
for trafficking, but they indicate that a victim is controlled by someone else
and, accordingly, the situation should be further investigated.
Profile
of a Trafficked Person
What Is the Profile of a
Trafficking Victim?
Most trafficking victims will not readily volunteer information
about their status because of fear and abuse they have suffered at the hands of
their trafficker. They may also be reluctant to come forward with information
from despair, discouragement, and a sense that there are no viable options to
escape their situation. Even if pressed, they may not identify
themselves as someone held in bondage for fear of retribution to themselves or
family members.However, there are indicators that often point to a person
held in a slavery condition. They include:
1 Other
Important Signs:
In addition to some of the obvious physical and mental
indicators of trafficking, there are other signs that an individual is being
controlled by someone else. Red flags should go up for police or aid workers
who notice any of the following during an intake. The individual:
·
Does not hold his/her own identity or travel documents
·
Suffers from verbal or psychological abuse designed to
intimidate, degrade and frighten the individual
·
Has a trafficker or pimp who controls all the money, victim will
have very little or no pocket money
Find more information at www.HumanTrafficking.org. Thank you for listening to the show.
~ Eva
Outreach Today
