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By Daniel Dale Washington Bureau Chief Tues., Jan. 15, 2019 WASHINGTON—U. S. President Donald Trump has been painting a wildly inaccurate picture of human trafficking in his effort to sell a border wall that would not make a meaningful difference in fighting the problem, experts on trafficking say. Over the past two weeks, Trump has repeatedly told lurid stories about women being “thrown into the back seat of a car, or thrown into a van with no windows, with no form of air,” and smuggled over undefended parts of the border with “tape over their mouths, electrical tape.” “They tape their face, their hair, their hands behind their back, their legs. They put them in the back seat of cars and vans, and they go — they don’t come in through your port of entry, because you’d see them. You couldn’t do that,” he said in his speech to the American Farm Bureau on Monday. Six trafficking experts from … [Read more...] about Trump’s tales about gagged women are misleading Americans about human trafficking, experts say
Why human trafficking
Katie Ford on why we should talk about human trafficking
Katie Ford on why we should talk about human trafficking New York City-based Ford Models is famous for launching the careers of Dovima and Dorian Leigh, instrumental in putting a face to the ’60s swingers like Jean Shrimpton, and solidifying the ’80s supers Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington — among many other game-changing moves like elevating the Filipina model to a global stage with 2005 Ford Supermodel of the World Charo Ronquillo and, last year, signing the first transgender model Andreja Pejic. Founders Eileen and Gerard Ford also helped transform how modeling agencies work today. When they started in 1946, models weren’t being paid; their daughter Katie compares it to how the broker system works today. But the Fords thought it was natural to protect their talents — which turned out to be a good business move on both ends and has been the standard ever since. Katie took over the business in 1995 and guided models from … [Read more...] about Katie Ford on why we should talk about human trafficking
‘Be My Protector’: Launch of new anti-human trafficking app
PETALING JAYA: The fight against human trafficking in the country could be intensified following the launch of the first ever anti-human trafficking mobile application in Southeast Asia. The app, aptly named "Be My Protector", is the brainchild of human rights organisations Tenaganita and Change Your World (CYW), and required two years of development leading up to its release. Describing the launch as a historical moment, Tenaganita director Aegile Fernandez said the app was necessary to allow the public and the victims themselves to have a proper channel to report cases of human trafficking. "We have enforcement, but that is a different level. That's when the idea of the app came about. It took us two years of sitting down, brainstorming and testing. "We could not let the matter just go. I always question why are we the losers in this war against human trafficking? We should be the winners, and today this dream has become a reality," she said at the launch, here today. Among others … [Read more...] about ‘Be My Protector’: Launch of new anti-human trafficking app
Human traffickers creating social havoc in West Bengal
Battered by cyclonic winds, tidal surges and saline water, the region of West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas in the southern part of the vast Sundarbans mangrove forest is a tough place to scratch out a living. Industrial growth that could, in theory, absorb the ever-rising number of people without jobs has never occurred there, forcing hundreds of thousands of men and women to migrate to different parts of the country in search of work every year. But this stark terrain has spawned a steady rise in human trafficking, with gangs increasingly able to penetrate different layers of the society, from community clubs, panchayats (village councils), to local political units and even the police, which makes it nearly impossible for the victims to seek justice. Nihar Ranjan Raptan, a local man from a village in Canning subdivision, has fought an exhausting battle with this ugly social scourge through his NGO, Goran Gram Bikas Kendra (GGBK), for the last three decades. Nihar says that … [Read more...] about Human traffickers creating social havoc in West Bengal
Victoria’s Secret raid shows human trafficking still rife
Last Friday's raid on Victoria's Secret Massage in Huai Khwang district by Department of Special Investigation (DSI), military and local administration officials has exposed suspected offences at the massage parlour in connection with human trafficking and prostitution, in which state officials are believed to be connected. The Bangkok Post's King-oua Laohong talks to DSI deputy director-general Songsak Raksaksakul about the problem. Could you assess the problems of human trafficking and prostitution in Thailand?Thailand is Southeast Asia's economic hub, so many migrants from the Mekong River basin countries come to work here.If they are just normal labourers, the problem is small because agencies have effective measures in place. The problematic areas are human trafficking, prostitution and forced labour, where there must be prevention and suppression.In the past, beggars from Cambodia were brought here and we succeeded in apprehending the brokers who brought the kids (from … [Read more...] about Victoria’s Secret raid shows human trafficking still rife