This world is often so bleak we need to look at our accomplishments for hope that it's going to get better. That our fight will be won. That justice and freedom, kindness and love are stronger than anything that assails them.
A milestone in America's history (and development of values) is the rejection of slavery.
One half of that milestone is the Emancipation Proclamation (1863), which was issued during the height of the Civil War. The declaration freed all the slaves in the rebelling states (it exempted the states loyal to the Union). The other half of the milestone was the ratification of the 13th amendment (1865), which freed +every+ slave in the United States.
Through these two acts, America declared that it understood that depriving an individual of human rights is unacceptable. Stealing labor via forced servitude is immoral. Subjugating bodies that are sovereign unto themselves is repugnant.
We take great pride in this, and the blood and ink that were spilled to achieve it. We rejected slavery and we advanced as a nation.
Unfortunately, our work is not done.
This is Katia. She was kidnapped and sold to a torture-merchant -- more commonly known as a "pimp." This is the photograph that her husband, Viorel, carried in his pocked as he searched for her, posing as a prospective buyer.
Credit: Frontline/WGBH
Sexual Slavery is Real Slavery
"Sex Slaves"
Frontline
PBS
Tuesday, February 7 at 9 p.m. EST -- TONIGHT (check local listings)
Tonight, Frontline airs a documentary on the sadly ubiquitous injustice that has has never really gone away. In fact, it seems to be on the rise.
First, let's make it clear that sexual slavery is real slavery. The phrase "sexual slavery" has unfortunate connections to cheap detective novels and other pulp scribblings. Make no mistake. Be not titilated. It is real slavery. It's awful, it's brutal and we must stop it. Perhaps if the phrase "rape slavery" was used, it might convey the truth a bit better.
"Girls who haven't had children are more expensive."
The documentary will introduce you to Katia. She's 21, from Oddessa, Russia. She agreed to go on a shopping trip to Turkey with an acquaintance, Vlad. Katia and her husband, Viorel, thought Vlad was reputable and safe, so her husband stayed behind.
Vlad sold Katia into slavery.
Incredibly, her kidnapper agreed to speak with the documentary-makers. He related that he felt bad when he learned that Katia had been resold to a torture-merchant (he's called a "pimp" in the documentary) who had a reputation for extreme violence. He told Viorel what he had done. "Why did I phone [Viorel]?" Vlad mused. "To say that I felt guilty might sound absurd after what I did. However, strange as it may seem, guilt played its part." He also reaffirmed the bait-and-switch aspect of rape slavery. Females are told that they have a debt to pay off: "Debt bondage represents the money that a girl is told she has to work off...That amount is easily inflated if the pimp wants. That way, the debt never goes away, and she continues to work ... without ever receiving a penny."
Improbably, Katia's husband and Katia's kidnapper work together to find her. "He didn't look like a person who would do something like that," Viorel related. "He sold my wife for $1,000 because she'd given birth before, ... so as merchandise she was only worth $1,000. Girls who haven't had children are more expensive."
Slavery Facts
- Victims are often tricked by lies involving good paying jobs, financial incentives, etc.
- Victims' passports are taken away to prevent or inhibit flight
- Local authorities are often bribed
- Women are crowded into rooms and regularly beaten
- Police are often "customers" of the slavers; they and other law enforcement officials frequently do little to help and often return victims who have escaped back to their torturers and rapists
"The United States of America is principally a transit and destination country for trafficking in persons. It is estimated that 18,000 to 20,000 people, primarily women and children, are trafficked to the U.S. annually." Source: http://www.humantrafficking.org
"From Himalayan villages to Eastern European cities, people - especially women and girls - are attracted by the prospect of a well-paid job as a domestic servant, waitress or factory worker. Traffickers recruit victims through fake advertisements, mail-order bride catalogues and casual acquaintances.
Upon arrival at their destination, victims are placed in conditions controlled by traffickers while they are exploited to earn illicit revenues. Many are physically confined, their travel or identity documents are taken away and they or their families are threatened if they do not cooperate. Women and girls forced to work as prostitutes are blackmailed by the threat that traffickers will tell their families. Trafficked children are dependent on their traffickers for food, shelter and other basic necessities. Traffickers also play on victims' fears that authorities in a strange country will prosecute or deport them if they ask for help. Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
Today's diary is just a reminder that all of us are not free. And some of us look away.
Please do not look away tonight. On PBS this evening, please watch Frontline's documentary, "Sex Slaves."
Thank you.