Children

As mentioned April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and throughout the month I will work to bring you many stories of the various forms of sexual assault that plagues millions upon millions of young girls across the globe. First I wanted to bring you back to the issue of human trafficking and slavery with in the US, as many people still feel that this is a problem that plagues other nations.  There is no country immune to this disease of power and greed, which binds some 27 million people around the world.

The US State department estimates that some 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year and about 80 percent of them are female and at least 50% are children. The numbers given by the State Department do not included the millions of victims which are trafficked with in countries borders, including the United States. The US government has stated that there are some 17,500 victims of sex trafficking in the United States each year, however all of these government figures are well understated and the true number of victims is unknown.

A recent report by MSNBC Undercover: Sex Slaves in America, gives great incite into the plight of those enslaved within the US borders, and is highly recommended as a starting point when looking into the depth and scale of this issue and how it effects cities across the country. You will see in the report a large focus on San Fransisco, which has made their message of non-tolerance for sex trafficking and slavery very clear, however is still tied by the hand of bureaucracy and is only beginning to scrape the surface of this enormous problem.

San Fransisco is tackling the massage parlors, the ones that look just like those in every major city, and many not so major cities. While the issue of slavery is not the stated premise for the cities surprise inspections, the requirements of permits for masseuses, require girls to be covered from the neck down. Surprise raids have uncovered false walls reveals rooms where slaves are hidden out of the view of the public eyes, unable to leave, locked into fortress like buildings, under the watchful eyes of guards, cameras. The Task Force with the health department; they say they cannot fully eradicate trafficking but they are having some impact. The city of San Fransisco while not free and clean of slavery, is working to crack down on those who prey on the innocence of young girls. Those who use sex and fear to enslave women and girls for nothing more than greed and profit.

Sadly surprise inspections and fines, will not end the trafficking of women, as long as the demand continues women and children will continue to be forced into sexual slavery, and their lives will continue to be torn apart by greed and sexual desire. To understand better the effects of demand, I recommend that you see Shared Hope’s video ‘Demand, which you can watch online or download’, the video gives great incite into the fate of domestic victims of sex trafficking.

Please see my other posts on Child Trafficking. Please also see my pages on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Links, Human Trafficking and Slavery Related Movies and Documentaries, and Slavery and Trafficking Related Books for more information.

Introduced in 2003 Kenya’s free secondary education is now plagued by supply problems. The sudden and dramatic increase of students is causing a strain on resources, and the result is a lack of teachers, CONGO: Arrest over abduction of indigenous family’s child
books and adequate facilities, leaving many to question the quality of children’s education. While many improvements and hurdles need to be made, most agree that any education is better that no education.

Aid workers freed after Chad issues pardon French officials on Tuesday freed six aid workers convicted of kidnapping more than 100 Chadian children, following an official pardon from Chad’s President Idriss Deby on Monday. The six had said they wanted only to help place orphans from Darfur, but the children turned out to be from Chad, most of them with still at least one living parent. For more on the story see the following Video ClipSyndicate, BBC , Associated Press

Young and old Tibetans disagree on virtue of nonviolence, as the bloody protests over the past few weeks have shown the widening generation gap. The majority of the elder generation continue to embrace nonviolence, however the younger generations are increasingly moving away from this view and moving towards a more physical approach. “I want peace, but when you are pushed so much, you finally strike back,” said Jigshe Tsering, one of many young activists who say they are tired of not reacting forcefully to China’s abusive ways.

Measles kills 165 children, the outbreak in northern Nigeria’s Katsina state has killed 165 children in the last three months and infected more than 3,000 children, according to health officials.

In the Congo there has been a groundbreaking arrest over abduction of indigenous family’s child. The High Court in southwestern Congo has indicted Omer Gapa, a former local council official on charges of a kidnapping 19 years ago of a child from an indigenous family. Accused of taking a 6 year old girl in 1989 of which her ware abouts have never been discovered.

Education is a vaccine for violence, as it is a vaccine for hunger and disease. The right to education is a basic human right for all children, a right we all too often take for granted. In developed countries we see education as a key to prosperity, to better jobs and economic security. However education for many is a key to life! A key to simply being an adult, to escape the torments of hunger, the pains of disease. Education helps work to brake the cycle of domestic abuse and gender inequality. Sadly some 93 million children are without this precious key to the future, and we must work as a global community to see that all children are given an education, so that we may all revel in prosperity and peace.

Please see my post last Friday, for more information on how lack of education affects children, especially children living in conflict zones.

Photo: ©Panos / Robert Knoth

Victim of rape as a weapon of war and forced amputation in Sierra Leone

Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) was set to raise awareness of sexual violence and increase prevention. Across the country special events will take place over the next month to highlight the use of sexual violence, and its effects as a major public health issue. Much of the events will be hosted with an aim to reinforce the increased need for prevention programs.

This year the SAAM Day of Action will be observed on Thursday, April 3, 2008, a day set to specifically focus awareness on sexual violence prevention. The National Sexual Violence Research Center (NSVRC), visit the Community Activities page for ideas on how to observe the day and to post your events on the online calendar.

To join the fight against sexual assault begin this month by attending an event, see the NSVRC calender for events in a number of cities across the US. Check your local cities rape crisis centers, shelters, community groups for events in your hometown.

Over the next month I will continually provide you with stories on issues of sexual assault, and other related topics regarding children, including the use of rape as a weapon of war, sex trafficking, female child soldiers, etc.

Here are some great movie/documentary Events in DC (if you are not in DC look to view one or more of these films in your community, or with your family and friends ) :

Tuesday, April 15th – Dreams Die Hard
6:00 – 8:00 p.m. @ The Potter’s House (1658 Columbia Rd., NW)
Through interviews with survivors of domestic human trafficking, Dreams Die Hard tells the story of people who are brought and sold into modern day slavery. $3 suggested donation.

Wednesday, April 16th, The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo
7:00 –9:00pm @ Sankofa Video and Bookstore (2714 Georgia Avenue, NW).
Shot in the war zones of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), this film examines the silence that surrounds the plight of women caught in the conflict of the war. FREE

Tuesday, April 22nd – Tin Girls
6:00 – 8:00 p.m. @ The Potter’s House (1658 Columbia Rd., NW)
Tin Girls is a documentary exposing the trade of women and girls in Nepal and India. This film explores the intricacies of the markets that support the economy of the sex trade.
$3 suggested donation.
Check your local city for events throughout the month.

Photo: David Swanson/IRIN

Early marriage hampering country’s development, says report by Save the Children Sweden in cooperation with Gender-Development Research and Studies Center at Sanaa University, The report entitled Gender Based Sexual Violence Against Teenage Girls in the Middle East, illustrates how Yemeni girls are deprived of their child rights when they are prepared for motherhood at an early age.

“It should not be allowed because it deprives a girl of enjoying her childhood.”, stated one Yemeni girl in the report.

“Such a role creates an apprehension among girls and their families that marrying is the primary goal for girls,” said the report’s research leader, Pernilla Ouis. In Yemen, conservative social values and poverty force girls to marry and become young mothers before the age of 18, said Ouis.