Myth of Sex Trafficking

How the Anti-Sex Trafficking Lobby Profits from telling lies.   by Dr. Brooke Magnanti

http://bebopper76.wordpress.com/how-the-anti-sex-trafficking-lobby-profits/

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For instance, funding for studying trafficking is enormous – in 2009, it was funded worldwide to the tune of nearly a billion US dollars. This is a total greater than the amount of grant money awarded to study lung cancer, which of course, is also devastating, and affects far more people. And spending on trafficking since 2000 has dwarfed the grant awards on such important international health concerns as malnutrition, malaria, or tuberculosis - conditions that kill millions of people worldwide every year, and affect hundreds of millions more. 

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This is somewhat related.    Notice the contrast between what happened versus what they claimed they were setting out to do:

   
So here is a link to a story about a US wide operation (sounds similar to the one they did in January in Canada)

   http://www.post-gazette.com/breaking/2014/06/22/Local-prostitution-ring-busted-in-national-FBI-crackdown-on-human-trafficking-Operation-Cross-Country/stories/201406220177

Quote:

Federal agents and local detectives swarmed the third floor of Pittsburgh's Station Square Sheraton Hotel Friday night, making it the dramatic scene of law enforcement's nationwide war on human trafficking.
Nine women were arrested at the hotel as part of what appears to be an FBI-directed national crackdown on prostitution and human trafficking. Federal, state and local law enforcement officials coordinated to carry out the sting, part of a federal effort called Operation Cross Country.

While FBI officials said no details would be released before Monday, reports indicate that similar stings took place in Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, Ohio and Oklahoma between Wednesday and Friday. Whether all of these arrests were part of Operation Cross Country could not be confirmed.

Detectives with the Pittsburgh police vice unit began placing telephone calls Friday afternoon to numbers advertised in the escort section of the website backpage.com, known as a site that human traffickers and pimps use to illicitly sell sex.
"It's an extraordinarily harmful website," said Lauren Hersh, a former Brooklyn prosecutor and now director of anti-trafficking policy and advocacy at Sanctuary for Families, a New York-based nonprofit. "I've seen countless young girls who have been exploited on the website."

Detectives set up all of the appointments at hotel rooms on the third floor of the Sheraton, according to court documents.
Between 3:30 and 11:30 p.m., the women, with advertised names such as "Paris" and "Natalia," arrived at the hotel to meet whom they thought to be clients. Upon arriving, each woman, or in some cases pairs of women, would place a call to the supposed client who told her the room number.

Upon arrival to the room, at least two of the women asked whether the male was a police officer. According to court documents, the woman calling herself Natalia, a 23 year-old from Pittsburgh, "did a cop check" on the officer and then said, "OK, I just want to make sure you're not a cop."

Undercover detectives agreed to a price, from $200 to $1,000, with the women and exchanged the money; usually it had to be placed on a bedside table or television, as the women refused to handle the money directly. The detectives then signaled for back-up, and detectives and agents swarmed the room. The FBI conducted interviews with several of the women, all but one of whom were later transported to Allegheny County Jail. One was released, with a summons to be issued in days.

Of the nine arrested, eight were charged with prostitution. They ranged in age from 23 to 32. A ninth, Heather West, 38 of Pittsburgh, drove a 23-year-old to the hotel who was arrested on prostitution charges. Ms. West claimed only to be a driver and there for security purposes. She is facing misdemeanor conspiracy and promoting prostitution charges.

On Saturday, the day after the arrests, another almost 40 advertisements for adult "escorts" in the Pittsburgh area were posted on backpage.com. While the website says advertising of prostitution services is prohibited, numerous ads overtly offered such services and even listed prices. Backpage is one of several websites that law enforcement uses to monitor human trafficking, according to experts.
"Those websites actually create the biggest marketplace that we've ever seen in this country for victims of sex trafficking," said Andrea Powell, founder and executive director of FAIR Girls, a Washington, D.C.-based anti-trafficking organization.
"They're participating in this problem as well; they're not just a hapless platform," she said of the sites, adding that reports have shown Backpage and similar sites earning as much as $42 million a year from sex advertising.
"It looks virtual, it's online, but they're real victims," she said.
In July 2013, the FBI led a similar nationwide operation in 76 cities over the course of 72 hours. The sting recovered 105 juveniles who were being sold for sex, and 152 pimps were arrested. Similarly, the operation took place over a weekend, and details were not released until Monday, when the success of the operation was touted.
The FBI's Pittsburgh division arrested two pimps in the 2013 operation and did not recover any juveniles.

Now, i have a couple of problems with this story.   One is that they claim to be interested in shutting down human trafficking, and there is much mentioned about all the 'young girls' advertised on back page, etc.

This story arrested 9 people, all providers, so if they are supposedly in need of 'rescue' why are they the ones in handcuffs?   The next thing is, where are all the 'young girls?"   If they are so easy to see being advertised (by the rescue nanny), then why couldn't any LE find any,    The youngest person found here was 23, even on a good day, she isn't going to be advertised as 18, the bare minimum age allowed on bp.  

So, was it that difficult to find victims, or was it in reality not about victims, but just more scare mongering of sex workers, as per usual.

Not sure if this fits here, but it is an article about Rachel Moran, who is exposed by posters in the comments section as a fraud.   this is important to note because Moran, and the book claiming to be written by and about her, Paid For, is often referred to by both abolitionist rescue organizations and some feminist reporters/bloggers as just so powerfully moving, blah blah.    When in fact, it didn't happen, and most certainly did not  happen to Rachel Moran.  

http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/extract-i’ve-left-prostitution-behind-me-but-i-worry-how-my-history-will-impact-on-my-child-872116-Apr2013/#comments

Most revealing, comments:

Gaye DaltonApr 17 9:47 PM 

It isn’t even her real name, if you read the book you will see she admits that…however, this is my real name…and I am willing to swear, on oath that she was never where she claims to have been.

A prominent “Turn Off the Red Light” member, offered me a publishing contract if I would ignore my conscience, switch sides and spin the book to suit them (to this day I will never get the bad taste of someone thinking my conscience was for sale out of my mouth) very early last year, after reading the old memoir I have uploaded herehttp://aformersexworker.wordpress.com . Within days of them realising that, at least, my honour is not for sale, they were touting Rachel Moran as “freeirishwoman”.

 

Gaye DaltonApr 17 9:38 PM 

Nothing wrong with my eyesight Muriel…in her book she claims to have been at co-ordinates 53.328823,-6.24491 sometimes until 4am in 1991/1992…I was full time at co-ordinates 53.328797,-6.245339 until at least 2am. I never laid eyes on her, nor she me, until the October 2012 conference.

She also claims that the “half dozen or so” girls who worked on her corner were underage and drug addicted. In fact there were 4 of us. I was 33, two were a couple of years older and one was 26.

I don’t expect you to take my word for it, but I have no choice but abide by my first hand experience.

I will also tell you that the clients I made my living form were just ordinary men who, with very few exceptions, met the rather high standards of respect I expect from anyone I deal with…

 

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/06/somaly-mam-nick-kristof-cult-of-personality/

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Sad personal stories constitute the most convincing evidence of suffering presented by figureheads like Mam and Kristof. But even if all these were verifiable, they cannot justify the enormous outlay in time, money, and spirit assigned to this cause over time. And sad stories are much less common than the not-so-sad, less sensational stories told to many dozens of field researchers who have interviewed women who sell sex, many of them undocumented migrants (even leaving aside self-identified professional sex workers). Yet these more complicated stories are disqualified by anti-trafficking adherents who dismiss anything that throws doubt on their crusade.

The current fuss about Kristof and Mam reproduces the cult of personality that caused trouble in the first place. To focus on individuals is to avoid addressing structures. A couple of self-promoting showoffs pale beside proliferating government machinery that now churns out salaries and prestige for thousands worldwide caught up in a movement based on fraud.

 

"Research finds that many indoor workers made conscious
decisions to enter the trade; they do not see themselves
as oppressed victims and do not feel that their
work is degrading. Consequently, they express greater job
satisfaction than their street-level counterparts. And they
may differ little from nonprostitutes: A study by psychologist
Sarah Romans and colleagues comparing indoor
workers and an age-matched sample of nonprostitute
women found no differences between the two groups in
physical health, self-esteem, mental health, or the quality
of their social networks.
Some prostitutes feel validated and empowered by
their work. In some studies, a large percentage of indoor
workers report an increase in self-esteem after they began
working in prostitution, state that they are very satisfied
with their work, or feel that their lives improved after
entering prostitution. Escorts interviewed by sociologist
Tanice Foltz took pride in their work and viewed themselves
as morally superior to others: “They consider
women who are not ‘in the life’ to be throwing away
woman’s major source of powpower and control, while they as
prostitutes are using it to their own advantage as well as
for the benefit of society.” A study by the Australian government
reported that half of the 82 call girls and 101
brothel workers interviewed felt their work was a “major
source of satisfaction” in their lives; two-thirds of the
brothel workers and seven out of
ten call girls said they would “definitely
choose this work” if they
had it to do over again; and 86
percent in the brothels and 79 percent
of call girls said that “my daily
work is always varied and interesting.”Ann Lucas’s interviews with
escorts and call girls revealed that
these women had the “financial,
social, and emotional wherewithal
to structure their work largely in
ways that suited them and provided ... the ability to maintain
healthy self-images.” Other studies indicate that such
control over working conditions greatly enhances overall
job satisfaction among these workers.""

 

http://www.gwu.edu/~soc/docs/Weitzer/Prostitution_Facts.pdf

 

The myth that sex purchase ban reduces violence against sex workers examined:

http://humboldt1982.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/dangerous-liaisons.pdf

In relation to the survival strategy that was based on contacting the police and support services, we see from the numbers in 2012(in section 2.2.8 of this report) a considerable decrease of people contacting  the police or support services when they are exposed to violence. This suggests that fewer have used this survival strategy in the years after the study in 2007/08 was conducted.

In Fafos report from 2008 the possibility that criminalization of customers could protect the women is mentioned; they can threaten the customers who are acting badly, or want to violate the agreement, by reporting the as sex buyers to the police(Tveit and Skilbrei 2008:113). Nothing in the studies we have conducted among the women and the support services suggests that the criminalization of the customers have protected the women from violence from their customers, rather the women are protecting the customers from the police.

4.6 Main findings

• In the 2007/08 study the participants reported five different strategies that are used to protect against violence in prostitution.

• Some of the strategies the women reported in 2007/08 are probably still being used by thewomen in 2012.

• Some of the strategies the women reported in 2007/08 has been difficult to maintain due tolarge changes in the prostitution market. The reason for the difficulties of maintaining the sestrategies are linked to increased judicialization, a reduction of the customer pool, and changes to the terms under which the women sell sex

.• In the 2007/08 study it is clear that the women do not think that the focus the government has had on increased judicialization and using laws on the prostitution market leads to reduced violence and improve the safety of women in prostitution. At the same time many of the women express a desire for an increased judicialization, but in other areas than it is today. They call for more protection by the police, better legal protection for women in prostitution, a system that takes them seriously and stricter punishments for people who use violence against people who sell sex

http://blogs.ajws.org/blog/2012/06/19/sex-work-is-not-sex-trafficking/

Sex Work Is Not Sex Trafficking

By Jordan Namerow

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I’m also struck by how sex trafficking is increasingly conflated with sex work. Clearly, the issues are different: Sex trafficking refers to forced migration of human beings—often minors—for sexual exploitation and coercive labor. Sex work refers to people—women, men and transgender individuals—who sell sex to earn a living. Sex work is work and, more often than not, it’s a job that one chooses in order to support his or her family.

But policy makers continue to overlook this distinction and, in doing so, infringe upon sex workers’ rights and fundamental human rights. For example, in Cambodia, the 2008 Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation and the severe stigma attached to doing adult sex work, have made it almost impossible for sex workers to access justice, healthcare and social security systems. The law has given rise to police raids on brothels where sex workers are “rescued” against their will. They are often retrained for jobs in low-wage garment factories and/or repatriated into their villages without access to the income they need to survive. “Rescue” by the police frequently exposes sex workers to more dangerous conditions in so-called rehabilitation centers. As one of our grantees put it, “What do you expect when a sex worker is ‘rescued’ by the most oppressive arm of the state?”

In a sex workers’ union office in Phnom Penh, a banner pinned to the wall reads, “Don’t talk to me about sewing machines. Talk to me about workers’ rights”—a clear message that interventionists need to rethink their approach.

Here is the 'movie' made by Thai sex workers regarding the NGO's idea of rescuing them:    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70rPAxLFFKU

From Somaly Mam to "Eden", How Sex Trafficking Sensationalism Hurts Sex Workers

http://truth-out.org/news/item/24827-from-somaly-mam-to-eden-how-sex-trafficking-sensationalism-hurts-sex-workers

There's more than one answer. Groups like Breaking Out may say that anti-trafficking activism should be humble and honest, not a sensational, moneymaking machine. For the sex workers rights movement, however, the implications of sex trafficking sensationalism are much more dire.

As journalist Melissa Gira Grant recently pointed out in The New York Times, Somaly Mam's campaigns may have provided wealthy Westerners with some feel-good philanthropy, but her "portrayal of all sex workers as victims in need of saving encouraged raids and rescue operations that only hurt the sex workers themselves." Sex workers in Cambodia have told human rights activists that they were detained and assaulted by authorities during police crackdowns on brothels, and some of Mam's so-called victims have even attempted to escape from her shelters.

It's no wonder that Kim, who has worked directly with law enforcement and groups that conflate many types of sex work with human trafficking, is now a target of sex workers' scrutiny. Sex worker advocates routinely debunk the alarming statements and statistics shared by anti-sex trafficking groups, which are good for fundraising campaigns but often based on conjecture because underground economies are so difficult to study.

Such advocates, along with human rights groups like Amnesty International, have long argued that when sex workers are lumped into the panic surrounding human trafficking, they face an increased threat of exploitation and human rights abuses. Labeling anyone in the sex trade as a "victim" in need of "rescue" robs them of autonomy and agency while ignoring the fact that many sex workers are marginalized and just as likely to experience violence, abuse and harassment at the hands of NGOs and police as they are pimps and traffickers.

"When sex worker rights advocates start sounding alarm bells, listen and be careful about what you are supporting - often where your tax dollars are going, and where your individual donations end up, is in the hands of the vice squad," Saunders said.

........

FBI statements from other cities were similarly opaque. Adult prostitutes were "identified" and "interviewed," but it's unclear if they were detained, arrested and are now caught up in the criminal justice system. When the FBI was more transparent about who ended up in jail, feminist blogger Emi Koyama crunched the numbers and found that, for every few dozen minors the FBI "rescued" from selling sex, hundreds of adults were arrested for doing the same.

"On average, there have been 1.5 minors identified in each city and 10 to 50 sex workers, which places this year's estimate at about 2,000 sex workers arrested and placed into forced diversion programs," said Carol Fenton, a Portland-based social media activist and blogger who follows Operation Cross Country. "The number of 'pimps' arrested continues to increase, as fellow sex workers, friends, boyfriends and spouses who've driven [workers to clients] or placed ads are now being arrested."

Collier said the FBI's sex trafficking enforcement is "pimp-centric" and prostitution "victims" of all ages are offered services such as counseling, safe shelter, food and medical care. He said the FBI has "victims witness specialists" on the scene of busts to address emotional and psychological harm, and give them the option of participating in prosecutions against pimps and traffickers.

Fenton is skeptical of the FBI's victim specialists, and pointed to a recent news story on Operation Cross Country in the Bay Area that described a specialist interviewing a sobbing 16-year-old girl in a hotel while she was handcuffed to a chair.

 

 

 

http://www.smh.com.au/national/dodge-city-20140210-32amy.html

http://reason.com/blog/2014/07/14/how-the-fbi-is-enabling-violence-against

How The FBI is Enabling Violence Against Women While Silencing Speech

One of the great unsung benefits of free, easy-to-use digital classifieds has been facilitating the sex trade. Advertising online make things safer for sex workers, who no longer have to take to the streets to find clients, make snap judgements about them, and then often get in their vehicles. And as the Internet and smartphones have made it easier to find, screen, and arrange meetings with clients, an increasing number of sex workers have been able to go freelance, absent traditional pimps, escort services, and the like. 

While the violence and exploitation of pimps may be overstated in popular media, there's no denying that autonomy confers many advantages to sex workers. Namely, no one's taking a cut of your money, telling you whom to sleep with, or setting your hours. For those who are in exploitative or violent situations, surely the possibility of working autonomously—which certainly wasn't always a possibility for previous generations of sex workers, who may have faced working for a pimp or not working at all—can help provide motivation to flee. 

Giving sex workers more autonomy helps combat violence and sex trafficking. Naturally, the FBI is trying shut down tools that help foster this autonomy. 

 

A very comprehensive article

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/01/19/think_again_prostitution

Think Again: Prostitution 

Why zero tolerance makes for bad policy

The French case is but one example of a global dispute about what constitutes exploitation in the sale and purchase of sex -- and it also shows that one side of the argument often has the upper hand. That side, a group of odd bedfellows frequently called abolitionists, thinks that because all prostitution is inherently degrading and dangerous, it must be eliminated. The group draws from, among others, religious and faith-based organizations, both liberal and conservative political ranks, and some outspoken feminist camps. (The driving force behind the controversial measure in France is Women's Rights Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem.)

So strong is the influence of this group that it has shaped the language typically used to describe the global sex industry. In common parlance, sex work is a dangerous phenomenon that routinely violates women's rights and perpetuates their subordination to men. There is hardly a distinction drawn between sex work and human trafficking, which involves controlling someone through threats or violence with the express purpose of exploitation. This conflation leaves no room for sex workers who make decisions for themselves; they are all just victims. "The term 'sex worker' is false advertising," says the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women.

This is more than a semantic issue. Since George W. Bush's administration, the U.S. government has required that international organizations receiving funding for efforts to combat trafficking and HIV/AIDS must not "promote, support, or advocate the legalization or practice of prostitution." In an October 2013 call for project proposals, the State Department reiterated, "The U.S. Government is opposed to prostitution and related activities, which are inherently harmful and dehumanizing, and contribute to the phenomenon of trafficking in persons."

 

Sadly, Naomi has had to block her twitter account because of abolitionist attacks online.    Those people are pretty bitter and adamant about shutting down the voices of consenting adult sex workers who speak up against C36.     Their behaviour in the committee meetings was disgusting, their comments online are worse.     

http://www.nswp.org/sex-worker-leaders/malees-journey

.....

To other sex workers, I am called a “friend”, “advisor”, “confidant”, “motivator”, and an “ideas woman”, a “source of information and support ”or a“ guide

Within EMPOWER, the sex worker organisation I have worked with since the mid- 1990s, I am known as an important, multi-skilled “decision maker”, “leader”, “woman of action”, and “pacesetter”. I am also called “demanding”, “bossy” and “iron willed” because I believe in pushing our organisation and my sex worker friends past the limits of what we believe we are capable of achieving, and because once we have a plan to further sex worker issues, we should get started on enacting it, not just keep talking about it.

Academics, researchers and journalists come to Empower to learn from us, but many seem uncomfortable speaking to an actual sex worker, especially one who knows her own mind like I do! They call me rude names like “prostituted woman” and “victims”. Maybe after they leave they call me other things too! They usually begin by telling me how very important their research project will be to sex workers. Next they tell me that they need me to understand how important their research is, and they ask me to sign a paper that means nothing to me, to say I consent. I sign to show how unimportant is-who would sign it if it mattered? Next they ask me personal and rude questions:  How many clients I've slept with?; How much do I charge? ; How old am I?; Does my mother/ daughter/ husband/ cat/ dog/ know I’m a sex worker? My answers don't fit in their boxes and neither do I, so they get sweaty and red faced and tell me I am confused or don’t understand...ha ha ha, poor silly me!......

 

Meanwhile, in Germany, said to be the epicentre of 'trafficking', has reports that remain steady between 600 and 650 reported cases per year.    Pretty much stable over the years since the laws were changed, and as the person in the article points out, those are reported cases.  Not all will result in being true cases of trafficking.   Sweden, by comparison, has far less sex workers, but reports (that are obviously downplayed considering the story above) puts the numbers yearly at between 200-300.     

First, here is a definition, very important when discussing sex work and laws.

Forced Prostitution

Since the term “forced prostitution“ is contested, this author usually puts it into quotation marks. For this translation, they are added only where they appear in the original text.

“Forced prostitution doesn’t exist. Prostitution is a voluntary sexual service provision that is based on the premise of mutual consent between adult contractual partners. Without this consent, it is not prostitution but forced sexuality, i.e. sexualised violence.” Press Release by the Federal Task Force Law and Prostitution, March 14th, 2005

 

http://researchprojectgermany.wordpress.com/2014/07/31/more-rights-for-victims-of-human-trafficking/

Interview with Heike Rabe, Policy Advisor at the German Institute for Human Rights (Deutsches Institut für Menschenrechte)

The UN calls for a global fight against human trafficking. In Germany, the focus lies on forced prostitution.* In an interview with tagesschau.de, lawyer Heike Rabe laments the lack of reliable data. She doesn’t think much of plans to tighten the prostitution law.

Who falls victim to human trafficking? Is it predominantly a matter of so-called forced prostitution?

Where human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation is concerned, it is noticeable that the percentage of women coming from EU countries is increasing. That’s because the EU is steadily growing. These are often women who either come to Germany under their own steam for a variety of entirely different motives or who are brought to Germany. Some of these women don’t want to work in prostitution, others encounter undignified working conditions. Germany is a destination and transit country for human trafficking.

When it comes to human trafficking, the media’s attention is particularly focused on the subject of forced prostitution. Does this correspond with the facts?

No. The truths that are broadcast by the media aren’t empirically verifiable truths. There is no evidence that Germany is the biggest brothel of Europe. There is no evidence that prostitutes are also always victims of human trafficking. And there is also no evidence that the Prostitution Act of 2002 is to blame for that. Fact is, however: the measures that are discussed with regards to the pending revision of that law curtail the rights of prostitutes. They include, for example, mandatory health checks.

“Transfer of prostitution into economic life”

In your opinion, what should the revision accomplish?

I believe it’s a tall order for a prostitution law having to fight human trafficking. Initially, the Prostitution Act of 2002 was aiming to improve the working conditions, and via pension and social insurance entitlements the social welfare of prostitutes who voluntarily decided for this job. In my opinion, it is necessary to continue this process: a complete transfer of prostitution into economic life, on equal terms with other fields of activity.

 

 

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2814%2960800-X/abstract

Human rights violations against sex workers: burden and effect on HIV

We reviewed evidence from more than 800 studies and reports on the burden and HIV implications of human rights violations against sex workers. Published research documents widespread abuses of human rights perpetrated by both state and non-state actors. Such violations directly and indirectly increase HIV susceptibility, and undermine effective HIV-prevention and intervention efforts. Violations include homicide; physical and sexual violence, from law enforcement, clients, and intimate partners; unlawful arrest and detention; discrimination in accessing health services; and forced HIV testing. Abuses occur across all policy regimes, although most profoundly where sex work is criminalised through punitive law. Protection of sex workers is essential to respect, protect, and meet their human rights, and to improve their health and wellbeing. Research findings affirm the value of rights-based HIV responses for sex workers, and underscore the obligation of states to uphold the rights of this marginalised population.