Genesis Ramirez was 15 years old when she turned her first trick. The following years blended together in a traumatizing series of rapes, beatings, stabbings, miscarriages, and addictions. Now, at 18, Genesis has pulled herself out of the abyss of Chicago’s sex trade and is trying to forge a life with integrity for the sake [...]
Archive for the ‘united states’ Category
Genesis: Overcoming the nightmare of American sex trafficking
Posted in activism, americas, awareness, children, families, human goods original reporting, prevention, sex, united states, video on March 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Cuckoo for cocoa: Valentine’s chocolate in the age of unfair trade
Posted in activism, africa, americas, awareness, children, consumption, corporate responsibility, fair trade, food, labor, production chains, united states on February 13, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
(image by the International Labor Rights Forum)
The absurdity of the fact that many of us in the first world show our love for one another with products produced by the blood, sweat, and tears of others ought to give all of us pause. Valentine’s Day offers a unique opportunity to probe into the reality of [...]
Party time: Searching for prostituted children in Miami’s jubilation
Posted in activism, children, prevention, sex, sporting events, united states on February 8, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
(t-shirt worn by anti-trafficking volunteers in Miami)
Millions of football fans are celebrating the biggest American sporting victory of the year tonight. But in the alleys of Miami, host of this year’s Super Bowl, just a handful of social workers, police, and volunteers are roaming around in the shadows, looking for underage girls who might have [...]
A tribute to Howard Zinn
Posted in americas, united states on January 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Legendary writer, activist, historian, and teacher Howard Zinn died yesterday, at 87 years old, of a heart attack. Perhaps most famous for his groundbreaking reworking of American history, A People’s History of the United States, Zinn spent his life giving voice to those elbowed to the margins of society. His retelling of both history and [...]
Promising heaven, giving them hell: On pimps and runaways in America
Posted in americas, awareness, children, families, policy, prevention, prosecution, sex, united states, video on November 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
(photo: Monica Almeida/The New York Times)
On Halloween this year, the little mountain town of Ashland, Oregon reverberated with the rhythms of drum circles and laughter. Following the annual Halloween parade, the streets were throbbing with Little Bo Peeps and Buzz Lightyears, offbeat zombies and chuckling middle-aged women in street clothes.
I sat in a small cafe [...]
Obama vs. McCain on human trafficking
Posted in americas, policy, prevention, united states, video on August 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Few Americans will likely make human trafficking a deciding issue when they go to the polls this November. But nevertheless, the topic pops up now and then in speeches and interviews of the candidates. Paul Bernish, of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center’s Freedom Blog, broke down the candidates’ stances on [...]
Targeting child prostitution in Atlanta
Posted in americas, awareness, children, prevention, sex, sex tourism, united states on July 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The New York Times published an opinion piece on efforts to boost prevention of child prostitution in Atlanta. Atlanta stands apart as perhaps the major U.S. hub for the trafficking of American children for purposes of sex (see earlier Human Goods post on Libby Spears’ documentary, Playground). The problem rears its head in most cities, [...]
John Miller challenges Bush on TVPA Reauthorization quagmire
Posted in americas, awareness, labor, policy, prosecution, united states on July 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
(photo: Jon Krause)
John Miller, former ambassador on slavery for the State Department and leader of the Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Human Trafficking, wrote an op-ed in the New York Times. He boldly challenged the Bush Administration to account for the Justice Department’s opposition to new clauses in the bill that would intensify anti-slavery [...]
On demand: The market for Chicago women
Posted in americas, awareness, children, human goods original reporting, policy, prevention, prosecution, sex, united states on July 10, 2008 | 1 Comment »
(Christa Hillstrom / Medill)
by Christa Hillstrom – Medill Reports
America likes to solve its problems after they’ve already occurred, if you ask Mark Rodgers.
“How do you put a plaque on prevention?” he asks.
Efforts to combat the problem of sex trafficking must take a strenuous look at why men purchase sex in the first place, he said, [...]
Tension over U.S. bill throws domestic sex trafficking into spotlight
Posted in americas, children, human goods original reporting, policy, prosecution, sex, united states on July 10, 2008 | 1 Comment »
(graphic by Christa Hillstrom)
by Christa Hillstrom/MEDILL REPORTS:
“She was like a walking dead person, not even a person, “ Jody Raphael struggled to describe a woman who had been trafficked into the sex trade. “There was no personhood, no personality, like the soul had been removed.”
Raphael, a researcher at the DePaul University College of Law who [...]
