Trafficking isn’t just about prostitution

By linking trafficking with sex work, the government is failing to address the exploitation of migrants in many UK industries

For those who work to protect the rights of trafficked persons, the failure of the government’s recent inquiry into trafficking to identify significant numbers of trafficked persons comes as no great surprise. According to the Guardian, Operation Pentameter Two, the government’s latest anti-trafficking purge, was more a crackdown on prostitution than human trafficking; most of those detained were found not to have been trafficked.

Nearly 10 years after an internationally recognised definition of trafficking was adopted at the United Nations, little progress has been made towards addressing the root causes of trafficking worldwide. Instead, like the “war on terror”, trafficking has become a conveniently unquantifiable phenomenon that allows governments to violate human rights, most often of non-citizens, in the name of “protecting” them. By linking trafficking with a particular industry, in this case prostitution, rather than looking at more complex factors which are causing people to be trafficked into the UK, the government is failing to address severe exploitation within its borders.

One month ago the French authorities destroyed the “jungle”, a migrant camp in Calais that was home to hundreds of migrants hoping to reach British shores. While many politicians and media reports lauded the successful destruction of the camp, success was measured by the numbers of homes destroyed and migrants disbanded. Furthermore the home secretary, Alan Johnson, said the camp’s destruction would not only serve to “prevent illegal immigration, but also to stop people-trafficking”.

Today, many of those who were made homeless by the destruction of the “jungle” have been forced to rebuild their fragile homes in order to survive. As we watch people being deprived of their human rights, living in conditions of squalor, politicians unrepentantly continue to describe the demolition as a success.

By describing this as a way to “stop people-trafficking”, Alan Johnson is painting the destruction of shelter and arbitrary detentions as a humanitarian act to save people from traffickers. This twisted logic seems even more tragic when taking into account the fact that many of the Calais migrants are seeking refuge from conflicts, such as in Iraq, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Somalia, which we are participating in or have instigated. It is difficult to see how these people are better protected from trafficking now that the camp has been dismantled and their living conditions are even more precarious.

The link between the treatment of migrants in Calais and the failure of the UK government’s anti-trafficking purge, Operation Pentameter Two, may not be self-evident. However, the Global Alliance against Traffic in Women – a network of over 90 anti-trafficking organisations worldwide – has seen such patterns of hypocrisy repeated around the world. On the one hand the government’s large-scale anti-trafficking response has been demonstrably unsuccessful in identifying traffickers; and on the other hand, there are reportedly many traffickers operating with impunity in Calais.

The secret of Operation Pentameter Two’s failure is in its single-minded focus on one industry – prostitution – rather than addressing exploitation in many labour sectors in the UK. As tragic incidences of migrants being exploited in agriculture, domestic service or food production have shown, trafficking and severe labour exploitation is not limited by sector, gender or migration status. Poor labour conditions need to be improved for trafficking to be lessened in any meaningful way.

Until governments create safe work and migration opportunities, people will continue to rely on brokers and agents to acquire informal and unprotected jobs. If the government is really committed to ending trafficking, instead of focusing on detaining prostitutes or rendering migrants homeless, it must address the inconsistencies in immigration policies that seek to exclude irregular migrants and anti-trafficking policies supposedly designed to prevent human rights violations.

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/21/trafficking-prostitution-migrants-labour

Salvation Army slammed over Vancouver sex trafficking campaign

VANCOUVER – The salvation army is being slammed over its vivid poster and web campaign depicting sex trade workers as victims of human trafficking and for using migrant workers in some of their ads.

“The depictions of violence used by the Salvation Army in their current campaign to increase public awareness about trafficking in persons in the Canadian context is misleading, debasing to women and nothing short of sensational,” said the Sex Industry Worker Safety Action Group, SIWSAG.

SIWSAG is an advisory body comprised of sex workers, legal experts and Vancouver Police. The group aims to improve the safety of sex trade workers.

Part of the Salvation Army campaign highlights the possibility of increased human trafficking in association with the 2010 Olympics.

“The local campaign, developed without consultation or collaboration with sex workers and sex worker groups, is focused on an alarming depiction of trafficking and sex work, particularly with reference to the 2010 Olympics,” said the organization is a press release forwarded to the media by Vancouver Police.

“Their definition of trafficking is inclusive of all persons working in the sex industry and negates choice as an option for those working in the industry,” said the group.

“The information being disseminated through this campaign is inaccurate and emotionally triggering and is supported by photographs with a disturbing combination of violence and titillation,” it said.

“The SIWSAG believes the campaign contributes to further marginalization, stigmatization and isolation of sex industry workers, and will serve to increase dangers for both trafficked persons and sex industry workers,” said a press release. “Sex workers are not safe in this situation.”

Tamara O’Doherty, chairperson for the group, said the posters and website content run by Salvation Army are insensitive, alarmist and false in suggesting that all sex trade workers are victims of trafficking.

The Salvation Army website, www.thetruthisntsexy.ca also sells T-Shirts carrying the logo “Truth isn’t Sexy. The SIWSAG group says that is self-serving and fund-raising on the back of sex-trade workers who are being falsely depicted.

“In Canada, this year’s focus is on sex trafficking that happens within Canada, and that is expected to increase with the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Our theme is ”More Precious Than Silver”-to link with the Olympics, but also with the idea that victims are people-not merchandise to be bought and sold,” says the Salvation Army sponsored website.

“This year we’re also intentionally trying to get Christians from churches outside of The Salvation Army to join us in prayer. We want to unite with as many believers as possible to pray for victims and ask God to put a stop to human sex trafficking.”

source: http://www.vancouverite.com/2009/09/24/salvation-army-slammed-over-vancouver-sex-trafficking-campaign/

Man gets four and a half years for sex trafficking

Dewayne Eugene Hopkins
Julia Jane Young

A supportive family, a high school diploma and a clean criminal history were all factors Tuesday in a slightly reduced sentence for a South Salt Lake man involved in a sex-trafficking case.

DeWayne Eugene Hopkins, 27, was sentenced to 54 months in prison, more than the three years his defense attorney would have liked and less than the five years the state prosecutor asked for.

Hopkins was arrested in May 2008 along with Julia Jane Young, 19, for recruiting underage girls to perform “erotic massages” and other sex acts in Salt Lake area motel rooms. An indictment filed in March of 2009 said Hopkins recruited three underage girls and encouraged them to recruit others, advertised their services on the Internet, arranged for motel rooms, advised them on how much to charge and took half of the money they made.

Hopkins pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking in June of this year. Prosecutors and U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart cited his acceptance of responsibility as another reason for a somewhat reduced sentence.

In District Court, Hopkins’ attorney, Lynn Donaldson, said that while he understood the gravity of his client’s crimes, they weren’t as serious as crimes committed by others involved in sex trafficking.

source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705330314/Man-sentenced-for-sex-trafficking.html

Man Faces Years In Jail After Cutting Down Two Worthless Water Sprouts

HOW WRONG IS THIS?

Larry Plooster, a 49-year-old UPS driver in Fort Lupton, Colorado faces several years in jail over felony charges. His crime? He cut down two weeds.

Plooster and his wife bought a two story home, paying a high premium because it overlooked the Coyote Creek golf course. In the last couple of years, that view began to be interrupted because of the unkempt overgrowth between Plooster’s home and the golf course.

Plooster contacted city authorities and golf course officials, asking them to trim back the overgrowth, but was ignored by both. Finally, after a year of trying to work with officials, who were intent on not addressing the issue, Plooster decided to do a little week whacking himself. He climbed over his backyard fence and cut the two most offending weed-like sprouts, piling the brush behind his property to be taken away.

Golf course officials, seeing the two overgrowths cut down, contacted police, claiming that Plooster had just cut down cottonwood trees worth thousands of dollars. Police arrested Plooster and charged him with felony criminal mischief and misdemeanor criminal trespass. He was thrown in the Weld County jail until bond was set at $20,000 (higher than many of our child sex predators are given).

A certified arborist came out and inspected those thousand dollar trees and concluded the following: “It is in my opinion as a certified arborist that the trees/sucker growth in question that were removed by Mr. Larry Plooster were indeed water spouts and sucker growth, not planted cottonwood trees.”

The arborist also stated that the removed overgrowth “can become a nuisance and must be thinned yearly and/or removed to maintain a safety issue. It is my opinion that the water sprouts in question had no monetary value.”

The Weekly Vice Opinion:

Believe it or not, the charges are still standing and the case marches on despite the obvious waste of taxpayer dollars used to prosecute the removal of two wild water sprouts. A fourth hearing on the felony charges is scheduled for 8th.

So there you have it folks, in our society, cutting down two menacing weeds is considered a serious offence on par with molesting a child. Justice is blind – however in this instance, it seems to be intoxicated on it’s own power as well.

Danny Vice
The Weekly Vice
http://www.theweeklyvice.com

source: http://tinyurl.com/mnooex

Global Recession Feeds Human Trafficking

The recession is feeding the global supply of sex and labour slaves in some countries and New Zealanders are helping drive demand says Salvation Army justice advocate Chris Frazer.

The Salvation Army, in conjunction with the Australian Institute of Criminology and The Pacific Immigration Directors’ Conference, will host New Zealand’s first major conference on human trafficking starting on September 2.

Deteriorating household living standards in countries where traffickers source their victims are making the impoverished more vulnerable to profiteering traffickers, Ms Frazer says.

A recent report released by anti-child sex trafficking network ECPAT and The Body Shop highlighted the increasing vulnerability of children and young people being coerced or conned into prostitution or the production of child pornography.

Kiwis who surf the internet for porn are likely to be contributing to misery of those trafficked for the production of pornography, Ms Frazer says.

Estimates of the number of trafficking victims range up to 4 million, of whom 79 per cent are victims of sexual exploitation. The overwhelming majority are women and children.

Most New Zealand homes will contain items or components of products that have been produced by slave labour, Ms Frazer says.

Industries as diverse as clothing, sports shoes, coffee, chocolate, sugar, fireworks, glassware, jewellery and mobile phones and laptops offer products that have been found to have been made with slave labour.

“These are not one-off crimes against mainly children and women – the victims suffer day after day, year after year and the damage to their lives is often permanent,” Ms Frazer says.

The three-day Pacific Trafficking in Persons Forum will include speakers from government departments and NGOs from the Pacific region as well as UN and law enforcement agencies.

source: http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/global-recession-feeds-human-trafficking/5/21801

Prostitution arrests close Las Vegas pool

The Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino closed its Sapphire Pool following the arrest of several women on prostitution charges this past July, Las Vegas police say.

Metro Police spokesman Bill Cassell said seven women were arrested at the pool at the hotel-casino and charged with soliciting prostitution while three other people were arrested on various other criminal charges, the Las Vegas Sun reported.

Those accused of prostitution were identified as Michelle Campbell, Jennah Lieboff, Melissa Cortney Essmaker, Galiana Slavshea Georgieva, Elizabeth Alma Corbin, Tobi Jean Sorenson and Inna Kokin.

Campbell was also accused of possessing methamphetamine, marijuana and narcotics paraphernalia.

The Sapphire Pool at the Rio had previously hosted Sapphire Gentlemen’s Club dancers who would appear topless, the Sun reported.

Cassell told the Sun police did not take any steps to have the Sapphire Pool shut down, saying the decision to close the pool was made by Rio officials.

source: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/07/30/Prostitution-arrests-close-Las-Vegas-pool/UPI-90931248985319/

NP What is Newsworthy when it’s an Opinion?

TODAY IS THREE YEARS THAT GLENDENE’S DAUGHTER JESSIE FOSTER HAS BEEN MISSING AND EVERYBODY AT NOWPUBLIC KNOWS THIS. THIS IS JUST CRAZY THAT SHE HAD TO GO THROUGH THIS TODAY OF ALL DAYS!

Just when I thought Facebook was leaving me alone….

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by JessiesMomGlendene | March 29, 2009 at 01:28 am

62 views | 2 Recommendations | 3 comments

[Photos] I just was on my Facebook and suddenly at 12:47am got logged out. When I tried to log in I got this message:

Account Disabled

Your account has been disabled. If you have any questions or concerns, you can visit our FAQ page here.

I am in total shock…why now…47 minutes into the day Jessie went missing 3 years ago. I have SO MUCH stuff on that page, I did not think that I was getting disabled anymore, since this account was up since November. I had SO MUCH WORK put into this account, all the newspaper articles in albums…I am gonna go cry now. Glendene

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sara star

[Needs Improvement]

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1

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sara star

flagged this story as Needs Improvement

at 01:32 on March 29th, 2009

JessiesMomGlendene,

I feel sympathy for you, but this piece is not journalism.

I think your story has potential but needs some improvement. I wasn’t sure what was newsworthy in this story. Please review our FAQ or check out our J-Tips for more help.)

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JessiesMomGlendene

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JessiesMomGlendene

at 12:22 on March 29th, 2009

Sara, I think that you are cruel….there was no need to mark as improvement. If you don’t think it is newsworthy, you are one of the only who do. Let me see what others think…or will that matter? Please remove the wrench from my story….it is does not deserve that.

Here is my reason for that comment: Jessie Foster has been missing for 3 years as of today. Facebook mysteriously disables my account 47 minutes into this day, this is the 12 account that has…seriously, for NO APPARENT REASON (at least not to myself or any of our thousands of supporters). Last year, my NowPublic account was mysteriously disabled, when I contacted Amy Judd, who contacted Rachel who contacted your techs, there was no reason or anything as to WHY this was done and after many hours of work, was back on, enabled and working like before. NO ONE KNOWS HOW OR WHY IT WAS DISABLED. If that is not enough, the same day that happened, my last Facebook account was also disabled. WHY? No one knows.

Jessie is from Kamloops, BC Canada, she went missing from her home in North Las Vegas, NV USA under MYSTERIOUS circumstances on March 29, 2006. Jessie is an international endangered missing person and most like a human trafficking victim. EVERYTHING in Jessie’s case is newsworthy, if you are not sure about it, try to do an Internet search for “missing Jessie Foster” and see the dozens of page results with 10 links on each. Jessie’s case is one of the most important Canadian/American/North American/Worldwide human trafficking cases to hit the news in decades. No one else in Canada will come up in a search for human trafficking / Canadians than Jessie Foster.

So, please, Sara, I know, initially you thought it was not newsworthy, but I am sure I can dozens or hundreds, or more who think it is. It is all relative to what you consider to be ‘news’. I was on the phone today with CFJC (local TV), Jessie’s dad had CTV (Calgary) at his place today for an interview and I was interviewed by the Edmonton Sun for an article. The 2 TV stations were pre-arranged, but the Edmonton Sun called today after hearing about my account, on top of everything else, being disabled on a day such as today.

Thank you Sara, for understanding, as I know you do. Sincerely, Jessie’s mom Glendene – http://www.jessiefoster.ca – Facebook search: MissingJessie Foster’sMom.

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CJaye

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CJaye

at 12:52 on March 29th, 2009

Unbelieveable!

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JessiesMomGlendene

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JessiesMomGlendene

at 13:02 on March 29th, 2009

Ya…..

SINCE WHEN DID NEWS HAVE TO BE NEWSWORTHY WHEN IT’S AN OPINION?

OPINIONS AREN’T NEWS ANYWAY! IF NP IS GOING TO HAVE AN OPINION OPTION WITH ALLOW THE MEMBERS TO GIVE THERE OPINION, DON’T THROW A WRENCH IN IT.

[Opinion] I’ve Been Wrenched…..but PLEASE do not disable my account

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by JessiesMomGlendene | March 29, 2009 at 12:27 pm

112 views | 6 Recommendations | 5 comments NOWPUBLIC.com

Sara, from NowPublic told me my story “Just when I thought Facebook was leaving me alone….” as ‘needs improvement’ and is ‘not sure it is newsworthy’, I have to disagree…anyone else or am I just too focused on my missing daughter to see clearly. This is the message she sent me:

JessiesMomGlendene, I feel sympathy for you, but this piece is not journalism.I think your story has potential but needs some improvement. I wasn’t sure what was newsworthy in this story. Please review our FAQ or check out our J-Tips for more help.)

=========================================

I send her this message (sorry, probably did not need to use the word CRUEL, but that is how it seemed to me at the time I wrote this):

Sara, I think that you are cruel….there was no need to mark as improvement. If you don’t think it is newsworthy, you are one of the only who do. Let me see what others think…or will that matter? Please remove the wrench from my story….it is does not deserve that.

Here is my reason for that comment: Jessie Foster has been missing for 3 years as of today. Facebook mysteriously disables my account 47 minutes into this day, this is the 12 account that has…seriously, for NO APPARENT REASON (at least not to myself or any of our thousands of supporters). Last year, my NowPublic account was mysteriously disabled, when I contacted Amy Judd, who contacted Rachel who contacted your techs, there was no reason or anything as to WHY this was done and after many hours of work, was back on, enabled and working like before. NO ONE KNOWS HOW OR WHY IT WAS DISABLED. If that is not enough, the same day that happened, my last Facebook account was also disabled. WHY? No one knows.

Jessie is from Kamloops, BC Canada, she went missing from her home in North Las Vegas, NV USA under MYSTERIOUS circumstances on March 29, 2006. Jessie is an international endangered missing person and most like a human trafficking victim. EVERYTHING in Jessie’s case is newsworthy, if you are not sure about it, try to do an Internet search for “missing Jessie Foster” and see the dozens of page results with 10 links on each. Jessie’s case is one of the most important Canadian/American/North American/Worldwide human trafficking cases to hit the news in decades. No one else in Canada will come up in a search for human trafficking / Canadians than Jessie Foster.

So, please, Sara, I know, initially you thought it was not newsworthy, but I am sure I can dozens or hundreds, or more who think it is. It is all relative to what you consider to be ‘news’. I was on the phone today with CFJC (local TV), Jessie’s dad had CTV (Calgary) at his place today for an interview and I was interviewed by the Edmonton Sun for an article. The 2 TV stations were pre-arranged, but the Edmonton Sun called today after hearing about my account, on top of everything else, being disabled on a day such as today.

Thank you Sara, for understanding, as I know you do. Sincerely, Jessie’s mom Glendene – http://www.jessiefoster.ca – Facebook search: MissingJessie Foster’sMom.

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Cypresso

[Needs Improvement]

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Cypresso

flagged this story as Needs Improvement

at 12:44 on March 29th, 2009

JessiesMomGlendene, This is an issue for the forum.. please take this there. Thanks.

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CJaye

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CJaye

at 12:44 on March 29th, 2009

Glendene I’m really not shocked! I’m am however very sorry sweetie. Sara hasn’t lost a daughter and doesn’t seem to care about the sensitivity of your feelings on the matter. If it’s not newsworthy to them it’s not news. Hang in there today on the third year of Jessie’s disappearence. I’m on it and I’ve got your back, ALWAYS.

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JessiesMomGlendene

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JessiesMomGlendene

at 12:54 on March 29th, 2009

CJaye, my friend, thank you. I see that Cypresso said this story needs improvement….that this is for a forum. Frankly, I think it is for both, but unless people understand human trafficking and what is happening to the outspoken mother of a victim of that crime, then they would think this is forum discussion material, not NEWS. FOLKS, this is news. If this human trafficking ring is shutting down my accounts or has something to do with it on any level, then THIS IS NEWS. What are people afraid of, an old broad with some stories to tell, or the possible truth hitting too close to home.

Cypresso, I get it, you don’t think I should have posted this, but please, can you just remove the wrench….it was not really necessary you know, I just needed to speak, and I have lots of support from my friends on here and felt that it would alright to share. Glendene.

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CJaye

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CJaye

at 13:16 on March 29th, 2009

Glendene the problem is they DON’T get it! They say they want to know more about Human Sex Trafficking. They might throw a story or two up every now and then pat themself on the back and move on. They did their part it’s not that easy as you and I know all too well. We post the stories nowbody reads them. We give them the information they call it stats! They have NO CLUE! We have tried for three years to educate them they don’t want to be educated on the subject, YES it hits too close to home. We can beat out heads against the wall until the cow’s come home. They still won’t get it.!

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RoryKearney

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RoryKearney

at 12:54 on March 29th, 2009

My husband got the wrench for a totally original news story. He let it slide but I don’t understand why they did that.

I watched the news do the Cayle story over and over, the Natalie Holloway story day after day after day, Chandra Levy etc and it is news as long as people have an interest in it. I think it should be acceptible for you to keep it in the public eye.

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JessiesMomGlendene

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JessiesMomGlendene

at 12:59 on March 29th, 2009

Thank you RoryKearney, I really appreciate the support. I get messages all the time from people who want to know every little detail in Jessie’s case and I feel that I owe it to tell them. Why should I decide what someone else wants to hear from me, it is not up to me to decide what others should read. Glendene – http://www.jessiefoster.ca

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My husband got the wrench for a totally original news story. He let it slide…

Crowd Power

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First Flagged at 12:38 PM, Mar 29, 2009 by CJaye

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THIS IS PART OF A MESSAGE GLENDENE GOT FROM A EDITOR FROM NP TODAY

Greetings:

I am sorry for the “emotional issues” that you are going through this date.

WTH is that? WHen did he get his degree in Medicine?

Sex slave tells story to stop trafficking

Woman on campaign to end global child prostitution

TORONTO — In the years after Somaly Mam was stolen from the streets of Cambodia and sold into the sex trade, she ran to several people for help but got none.

More than two decades later, she hopes that by sharing her tale around the globe, others will be moved to give the countless faces of the flesh trade the help she so desperately needed.

Mam doesn’t know her birth name — she was orphaned as a young child.

She doesn’t know her exact age, but figures she is about 39 and was “12 or 13″ when she was sold by a man posing as her grandfather into years of slavery.

During an interview yesterday in front of Metropolitan United Church, where she, The Body Shop and Beyond Borders launched a campaign to stop sex trafficking, Mam said she didn’t know what a brothel was either — before she was forced to work in one.

Mam, who has rescued thousands of children from the sex trade in Cambodia, is travelling the globe with The Body Shop, which promises to donate a chunk of money from every bottle of Soft Hands Kind Heart cream sold in Canada to the Somaly Mam Foundation and Beyond Borders, the Canadian affiliate of ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes).

“We are also human beings, even if we are victims,” Mam said. “Who wants to be a victim? Who wants to be sold in a brothel? Who wants to have all the clients rape you every night? Who wants it? No one wants it.”

Beyond Borders president Rosalind Prober said she hopes the Stop Sex Trafficking campaign will spread “the message of hope” for the countless victims within our borders.

“We have always said that we were a country of freedom, a country of growth and prosperity, but you can’t have that when our most vulnerable group, our children, are being exploited and that’s being accepted,” said Winnipeg MP Joy Smith, who is pushing the federal government to create a national strategy to combat human trafficking and pass a bill that will mean minimum five-year sentences for child traffickers.

“We don’t want to launch a campaign that upsets people so much that they just switch it off,” The Body Shop spokesman Shelley Simmons said. “We want them to know that with Somaly’s organization and ECPAT, there are solutions.”

TAMARA.CHERRY@SUNMEDIA.CA

For educational purposes

source: http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/canada/2009/07/31/10321741-sun.html

Specter Wants Probe Into Club’s Rejection of Black Swimmers

Philly-Area Club Owner Said Campers Would Have Changed ‘Complexion’ of Pool

The introductory voice mail for The Valley Club outside Philadelphia notes that “things are really starting to heat up here in July.”

They weren’t kidding.

Private suburban Philadelphia club reneges on agreement with inner-city camp.

The private club in Huntingdon Valley, Pa., is denying it practiced racism after coming under fire from parents, bloggers, even U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., because a group of black and Hispanic inner-city campers were asked not to come back to the pool even though the camp had paid membership dues through August.

Valley Club president John Duesler Jr. initially released a statement claiming members were concerned “that a lot of kids would change the complexion” and atmosphere of the club.

“This will not be tolerated,” said Alethea Wright, executive director of Creative Steps, Inc., which has run the day camp since 1997.

This evening, the club’s Web site carried an unsigned statement saying it simply was unable to handle the volume of camp kids and was “deeply troubled by the recent allegations of racism which are completely untrue.”

“Our Valley Club deplores discrimination in any form, as is evidenced by our multi-ethnic and diverse membership,” the unsigned statement said. “Whatever comments may or may not have been made by an individual member is an opinion not shared by The Valley Club Board.”

But during a day at the club, Wright said she was approached by a 7-year-old boy who asked her, “Am I too black to go into the pool?”

As Wright plans to meet with the children’s stunned parents, Specter, D-Pa., is waiting for a response to a letter sent out today demanding facts from Duesler.

“As a first step, without getting into all of the legal issues, it is my suggestion that you promptly reinstate the contract and welcome Ms. Alethea Wright’s group back to the pool. Whether they accept is up to them,” Specter wrote. “It may be that further action will be taken but my suggestion, as an immediate first step, would diffuse the situation and obviously be helpful.”

In a separate statement, Specter called the allegations against the swim club “extremely disturbing.”

“I am reaching out to the parties involved to ascertain the facts,” he said. ” Racial discrimination has no place in America today.”

The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission said today it will launch an investigation of the country club’s actions at the request of the NAACP.

Wright said she will meet with parents to decide what further action the camp would take against the Valley Club.

Duesler did not return messages left today and the voice mail for the Valley Club was full.

But this evening, the club’s unsigned Internet statement said it disinvited the camp kids for logistical reasons, not racial ones.

“We had originally agreed to invite the camps to use our facility, knowing full well that the children from the camps were from multi-ethnic backgrounds,” the statement said. “Unfortunately, we quickly learned that we underestimated the capacity of our facilities and realized that we could not accommodate the number of children from these camps. All funds were returned to the camps and we will re-evaluate the issue at a later date to determine whether it can be feasible in the future.”

White Children Pulled Out of Pool as Black, Hispanic Kids Entered

Wright told ABCNews.com that Creative Steps had prior approval from the Valley Club board to buy memberships for 65 campers to swim at the club’s pool once a week.

When they arrived June 29 for their first session after a 40-minute drive from Philadelphia, Wright said, there were problems from the beginning.

As her campers boys and girls from kindergarten to 7th grade entered the pool area to swim, parents began pulling their children out of the water and standing poolside with their arms crossed.

Wright didn’t hear any racist comments made directly to them, but was told by three campers later that one white woman asked “what are these black kids doing here?”

Out of the more than two dozen white families swimming at the pool that day, Wright said, just three parents allowed their children to swim with her campers.

“The children were very, very upset,” she said. “They still don’t understand.”

And in this day and age, Wright said, neither does she.

Wright said she spoke to Duesler shortly after the incident and he promised to call an emergency board meeting. Twenty-four hours later, Wright said she got a call telling her the board would not allow Creative Steps back on the property and the campers’ $1,950 in membership fees would be returned.

The camp is now in talks over an offer from a local college to swim there and will continue swimming at a local Jewish community center.

Wright, who is black, said she has faced this type of racism personally, but never with her campers.

“This is the first time I’ve ever experienced this with Creative Steps,” she said.

source: http://abcnews.go.com/US/Story?id=8043735&page=1

For educational purposes only

Mary Ellison: A stronger fight against human trafficking in Minnesota

In a recent column (‘Build on progress in fight against human trafficking’), Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton highlighted the U.S. government’s concern about the grave human rights violation of trafficking throughout the world, including in the United States. We in Minnesota share this concern, because as local media have reported, the sale of human beings for sex is alive and well in Minnesota.

In fact, sex traffickers and “johns” even dare to call themselves “Minnesota Nice Guys,” attempting to portray an image of clean-cut and trustworthy men. Meanwhile their victims suffer debilitating harm: an experience described as “brutally physical … (with) serious psychological torture” (“Sex Trafficking Needs Assessment for the State of Minnesota, the Advocates for Human Rights,” 2008).

To address this devastating human rights violation, Clinton called on those engaged in the fight to add a new element to the existing strategy of prosecution, protection and prevention: partnerships. Over the past several months, seasoned state legislators, experienced law enforcement officials, a statewide human-trafficking task force, tireless advocates and passionate citizens rededicated themselves to even stronger partnerships in combating human trafficking in Minnesota.

Spurred on by the recommendations of the Advocates’ needs assessment, this coalition drafted amendments to strengthen Minnesota’s state law, which complements the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

Led by Minnesota state Sen. Sandy Pappas, chief author of Minnesota’s sex trafficking law in 2005; Sen. Mee Moua; and Reps. Michael Paymar and John Lesch, this coalition of committed partners testified in eight committee hearings and persuaded the Legislature to unanimously pass critical changes to Minnesota’s sex-trafficking law.

Sex trafficking is defined in Minnesota law as “receiving, recruiting, enticing, harboring, providing or obtaining by any means an individual to aid in the prostitution of the individual.” The amendments provide a stronger deterrent for those who sell human beings for sex and a stronger tool for those enforcing the state law.

The amendments, effective Aug. 1, will:

# Provide law enforcement and prosecutors with the ability to arrest and charge sex traffickers with higher penalties where an offender repeatedly traffics individuals into prostitution, where bodily harm is inflicted, where an individual is held more than 180 days, or where more than one victim is involved.

# Increase the fines for those who sell human beings for sex.

# Criminalize the actions of those individuals who receive profit from sex trafficking.

# Categorize sex trafficking with other “crimes of violence” to ensure that those who sell others for sex are prohibited from possessing firearms.

# Add sex trafficking victims to those victims of violent crime who are protected from employer retaliation if they participate in criminal proceedings against their traffickers.

With these changes, Minnesota has made great strides, but much work still needs to be done. Bills to address comprehensive victim services, public benefits, training and public awareness were tabled during the 2009 legislative session due to the lack of available funds. These issues must be discussed and passed in the next legislative session.

Clinton suggested the “problem (of human trafficking) is particularly urgent now, as local economies around the world reel from the global financial crisis.” She stated that “trafficking weakens legitimate economies, breaks up families, fuels violence, threatens public health and safety and shreds the social fabric that is necessary for progress.” While Minnesota will continue to face economic pressures, we cannot afford to have our economy or community further weakened by sex trafficking.

We must prosecute traffickers and johns, and simultaneously protect women and children exploited and victimized by sex trafficking and prostitution. We must promote and protect their rights to dignity, life, liberty and security of person. Doing so not only raises the status of the United States and our state as complying with the very obligations to which we hold other governments, but strengthens our local, national and international community.

Minnesota has positioned itself as a leader in holding offenders accountable for violence against women and children. By continuing to improve its laws combating human trafficking, Minnesota upholds this proud legacy.

Mary C. Ellison is staff attorney for the Women’s Program of the Advocates for Human Rights organization, based in Minneapolis. Her e-mail address is mcellison@advrights.org.

source: http://www.twincities.com/ci_12787157?source=most_emailed

For educational purposes only