Lots of Americans may not know that human trafficking exists in the Twenty-First Century, much less in their hometowns and where they work. The Kansas City Star has a fine article on the subject entitled, “U.S. system to find, help victims of trafficking is broken,” which everyone should read. It is an eye-opener; however, it merely touches on one of the greatest tragedies in the world today, which must be dealt with and eradicated.
In comments following the article, I wrote:
This is a terrific article; and its authors, Mike McGraw and Laura Bauer, are to be congratulated on such fine reporting. Seldom have I seen an excellent piece of investigative reporting about this subject of such importance.
Years ago I read an article about a Korean girl who began as a “comfort woman” for the Japanese military during World War II. She and other women traveled with the military, and were forced to provide non-stop sex to Japanese soldiers. Toward the end of the war, somehow she escaped and made her way back to Korea where her family disowned her because of the shame that she had caused them. She married, to an abusive husband, and finally left that marriage and found happiness with another Korean man.
Also, I read an article about a woman in the former Yugoslavia who was caught up in the fighting there, and lost both her husband and son, and ended up in a refugee camp. There, she and other women were told about opportunities to become secretaries across the Adriatic in Bari, Italy where I have been years ago. When she arrived, she and the other women were forced into prostitution. Only when the Italian police raided the house where she was enslaved did she escape.
There are approximately 50,000 human slaves in the U.S., and more than a million worldwide. It is so tragic, yet little or nothing is being done about it, which is why this article is so important.
I brought the issue to the attention of someone who is very close to President Obama’s two top campaign chiefs, and never heard back from him on the subject.
I include my comments here, not because they contain great wisdom, but because it is the easiest means of highlighting an issue of enormous importance. Every year we read about lots of cases here in the U.S., where children are kidnapped and never found again. Clearly, the case of Jaycee Lee Dugard, an 11-year-old girl who was kidnapped from South Lake Tahoe in 1991, and who was found alive recently, riveted national attention. She was kept as a sex slave[2]; however, her story is not unique. There are lots of women like her in the United States and elsewhere in the world today. Men are victims as well, as Mike McGraw and Laura Bauer have discussed in their article.
Too often when we hear of such stories, we think that it could never touch our lives or the lives of our loved ones or friends. Tragically, that is what Jaycee Lee Dugard’s family thought; and the same was true of the family of Elizabeth Smart whose kidnapping occurred on June 5, 2002, when she was abducted from her Salt Lake City, Utah bedroom at the age of 14. She was found nine months later, after having been held as a sex slave too.[3]
While there are issues galore facing Americans today (e.g., the economy, national security, wars), human trafficking cannot be one that is shunted aside and forgotten. It is too important.
© 2009, Timothy D. Naegele
[1] Mr. Naegele was counsel to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass), the first black senator since Reconstruction after the U.S. Civil War. He practices law in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles with his firm, Timothy D. Naegele & Associates (www.naegele.com). He has an undergraduate degree in economics from UCLA, as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University. He is a member of the District of Columbia and California bars. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal. Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years. See, e.g., www.naegele.com/whats_new.html#articles
[2] See, e.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping_of_Jaycee_Lee_Dugard
[3] See, e.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Smart
Rape: Justice Is A Distant Dream
The UK’s Economist has an important article about rape in Africa and elsewhere, which should be read.
See http://www.economist.com/node/17900482
Few people realize today that as the Soviet Army moved through Germany at the end of World War II, they raped at least two million German women in what is now acknowledged as the largest case of mass rape in history.
See, e.g., http://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/the-silent-voices-of-stalin%E2%80%99s-soviet-holocaust-and-mao%E2%80%99s-chinese-holocaust/
I had a secretary in Washington, D.C., who was a young girl in Berlin when it happened; and she told me that no human being should ever see what she did. I will remember what she told me as long as I live.
Equally important is the issue of human trafficking, inter alia, because that issue and rape are often inextricable. In the article that I have written above, I cite two women—one from Korea, and the other from the former Yugoslavia—who were victims of both.
Indeed, if Afghanistan falls, the mass rapes and killings in that country are apt to be staggering.
. . .
Lastly, someone who is very dear to me described this whole discussion as “Depressing.” I agree completely, but the spotlight must be turned on such issues, or nothing will ever be done to prevent them from happening again and again, throughout the world. Woman and young girls are victims, especially in Africa. Women who have been raped know this better than most people.
Shame On Japan
In an article entitled, “Japanese officials ask New Jersey town to REMOVE memorial to Korean sex slaves captured by Japan in World War II,” the UK’s Daily Mail has reported:
See http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2147248/Japanese-officials-ask-U-S-town-remove-memorial-Korean-sex-slaves-captured-Japan-World-War-II.html (emphasis added); see also http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/19/nyregion/monument-in-palisades-park-nj-irritates-japanese-officials.html
The mere idea that the Japanese officials would have the gall to ask for the removal of the memorial, and lie about what happened during World War II, speaks volumes.
The consul general of Japan, Shigeyiki Hiroki, should be deported immediately and banished forever from the United States. What the Japanese did to the “comfort women” and others was and is unspeakable, barbarian, and shameful; and it must never be forgotten.
If we are to remember other horrific events of World War II, this must be remembered too. The Japanese killed the human spirit, and yes tortured the women, aside from killing them physically. They were every bit as cruel and brutal as Hitler’s thugs, if not worse.
Shame on Japan!
Teenage Sex Slave Raped 90 Times In One Weekend Despite Authorities Saying She Wasn’t At Risk
The UK’s Daily Mail has reported:
See http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2291037/Centre-Social-Justice-Teenage-sex-slave-raped-90-times-weekend-despite-authorities-saying-wasnt-risk.html (emphasis added)
As one commenter has written:
See, e.g., http://sharedhope.org/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECPAT and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery
Stories like this are seldom told; however, this is merely one example of daily occurrences everywhere. Human slavery and trafficking are rampant in the UK, the United States and globally; and they will only get far worse as economic conditions worsen. They must be stopped!