Human trafficking, close to home
By SEPIDEH SAFAEE
Staff Reporter
SOSSO34OPSU.EDU
"Christelle is a young girl living in
Togo, West Africa she is a victim of
child trafficking and survived a return
home to start her life again (www.
Planusa.org) Fighting child and
trafficking, stories from children."
This is her story: "One day a
woman named Yawa came to
my village to talk with another
woman...about me. The two women
told my mother that I could make a
lot of money working in Gabon and
that I would be able to continue my
education while there. They said I
would be in good hands and safe.
Yawa returned with three other
girls and we were taken by another
lady found to be, a suburb of
Lorme, then on a bus to Benin.
We had to cross the Togo-Benin
border on foot then took another
vehicle to Cotonou, the capital,
where we were brought together
with another thirty girls. We were fed
sugar, flour and steamed dough. From
there, we took a boat to Cotonou.
We were kept in the back, hidden
under a tarp. We were at sea for seven
days. When we reached Gabon, the
police were on patrol. The crew fled
the boat and we were taken in canoes
to a village on the water. We were put
on a bus to Gabon where we were
finally reunited with Yawa. A few
days later, I was brought to stay with
a couple who owned a shop where
I was to help out. After a few days
of work, I started having trouble.
The woman began insulting me,
Fr'‘
calling me a thief, and hitting me.
When she was away, her husband
would touch me. I was afraid of
him, but he kept threatening me.
Then one night, he raped me.
It was not long before I became aware
of the signs. I knew I was pregnant.
When I told the couple, they sent
me away. I was helpless, on the
streets of a strange place. Somehow
I found the Togolese embassy and
they helped me return home."
There is a misconception that
slavery has died, but it is still going
on. Slavery is now known in the
twenty-first century as Human
Trafficking. Men, women, and
children usually from poverty
stricken countries come to the United
States in search of a better life, but
are often exploited by traffickers.
There are an estimate of eighteen
Photo courtesy of googlio.com
Above is a map of routes of human trfficting into the United States
to twenty thousand people trafficked
each year into the United States,
and approximately eight-hundred
to nine-hundred thousand people
being trafficked worldwide.
The majority of the victims are
women and children. Thirty- five
percent of the trafficked victims are
under the age of 18. The victims are
not only forced into labor, but are also
forced to engage in sexual activities.
Traffickers recruit their victims
through false advertisements in
newspapers offering good jobs
at high pay or use modeling or
match making agencies to lure
unsuspecting young men and women.
Traffickers will threaten their
victims by verbal or sometimes
physical abuse. Millions of
immigrants who are trafficked
."4”* t
into the United States are afraid to
report their abuse for the fear that
they would be seen as criminals
or will be detected and deported.
The most profitable part oftrafficking
involves sex trafficking in women
and children. "The sex trade has
emerged as an issue ofglobal concern.
Sex trafficking includes force
prostitution, bride trafficking,
child prostitution, and child
pornography. Girls as young as
twelve are sold to traffickers,
usually virgins are repeatedly raped.
This is a process used by traffickers to
break their victim's sprit, so that they
becomeeasiertocontrol(lnternational
Organization for Migration)."
Children who are also sold into
sex trades are often exploited to
physical violence where beatings
and rape are a daily occurrence.
They are also
more venerable to
sexually transmitted
diseases. According
to Anti-Slavery
International
"The trafficking
of children has
assumed alarming
proportions. Child
trade is a huge
business, with
billions of U.S.
dollars made
annually worldwide.
Thousand of
children are being
reduced to human
misery. They are
bought and sold to
satisfy perverted
sexual appetites, to
provide slave labor
or to be harvested
for their organs
and body parts."
A recent article in
Guardian newspaper
reported the case of a retired Italian
Couple who had been arrested for
buying a 3 year old Albanian boy.
The couple paid six thousand
dollars to the trafficking gang that
specialized in underage trafficking.
The boy allegedly had been
sold by his father for a color T.V.
This is a seriously devastating issue
which is going on right know, but
there is far less international effort
to help stop child trafficking then
there is to stop Global Warming.
There are many non-profit
organization against human
trafficking: The Coalition Against
Trafficking in Women (CATW)
www.CATWintemational.or_ and
The Polaris Project: for a world
without slavery www. polarisproject.
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Penn State Harrisburg
Diversity and Educational Equity
Committee Presents
The Martin Luther King Jr.
Commemoration Lecture Series
2007-2008
Theme— "The Anatomy of Social
Justice: Still Dreaming"
Shaun L. Gabbidon, Ph.D.
Professor of Criminal Justice
February 19, 2008
12:30 p.m.
Gallery Lounge, Olmsted
Grupo Latino Cuban Band
12:15-1:15 p.m.
Stack's Stage
February 20, 2008
Mind Tripping
9:30-10:30 p.m.
Community Center
Singer/songwriter Andrew
ThingsNeedT°
You Know
Finance Club for the Spring semes
ter 2008 has started. Come join
us in learning about stocks and
creating a student portfolio. We
meet every Thursday at
12:30 in Olmsted -
Room 334 e. Pizza
is provided. Inter- ested? Just show
up or contact Alex Kravets
asksos7@psu.edu.
All students are invited to
meet informally with Chancel
lor Madlyn L. Hanes and mem
bers of the Student Govern
ment Association Tuesday,
February 26 from 7 to 8:15
p.m. in the Olmsted
Lobby. Light refreshments will
be served.
Tarnhelm Lireary magazine will be
accepting submissions of artwork,
poetry and short stories. Submit
all work by March 14. Visit http://
www.hbg.psu.edu/clubs/tarnhelm/
guides.htm for more information.
The free shuttle service from
the campus to the Village of
THE CAPITAL TIMES
(Koji) Shiraki will play acous
tic guitar and is joined by
his band. They will perform
on Tuesday, February 26th at
9 p.m. It's FREE and open to
anyone and will be held in
the Olmsted Cafeteria on
Stack's Stage. Funded by
SAF.
Central PA Employment Consor
tium (CPEC)
Tues. Feb. 19, 2008 10 am —3 pm
Radisson Hotel, Camp Hill, PA
www.cpec.info
Penn State Harrisburg's first-ever
"Feel Your Boobies" women's bas
ketball game will be held Feb
ruary 20th, 2008 at 7:00 pm against
the visiting Phoenix of Wilson Col
lege. The event is designed
to raise money for the Feel Your
Boobies Foundation and to encour-
Pineford in Middletown and
to the Willow Garden Apart
ments in Highspire will con
tinue until the end of the se
mester. The shuttle will leave
at 9:15 p.m. from the bus stop
located behind the Olmsted
Building (Penn State Way),
Monday through Thursday.
For information, contact the
Student Life Office at 948-
6018.
The Office of Human Resources is
pleased to announce a 12-week At
Work Weight
Watchers program for the Spring
Semester at
Penn State Harrisburg. A minimum
of 15 participants
is needed to host the classes, sched
uled for Thursdays at 1
pm on the following dates:
February 21 - Library Conference
Room April 3 -207 W Olmsted
February 28 -207 W Olmsted
April 10 -207 W Olmsted
March 6 -207 W Olmsted April
17 -207 W Olmsted
March 13 -207 W Olmsted
April 24 - Library Conference
has been proven in war,
st century. Once you've
f something greater than
February 18, 2008
age prevention and early detec-
tion of breast cancer. Fans are en
couraged to wear pink to the game,
and Penn State Harrisburg
asks attendees to make a donation.
Also, the gate for the game will be
donated to the foundation,
which is located in Middletown, PA
INTRAMURAL DODGEBALL -
Entry forms can be picked up in the
CUB. Deadline for
entries is February 15. Mandatory
team captains'
meeting is Feb. 19 at 12:30 in room
217 CUB.
INTRAMURAL SINGLES RAC
QUETBALL - Entry
forms can be picked up in the CUB
Deadline for entries is
February 15. Mandatory players'
meeting is Feb. 19 at 9:15
PM in room 217 CUB.
Room
March 20 -207 W Olmsted
1 -207 W Olmsted
March 27 -207 W Olmsted
8 -207 W Olmsted
To register: Click on the following
link
(http://www.ohr.psu.edu/HealthMat
ters/catalog/
healthmatters.cfrn). Select Weight
Management from
the program list and click "view
courses." Then choose
Weight Watchers (WEL 018). You
MUST register for WEL
018 in the Health Matters system to
be reimbursed. The
deadline to register for the At-Work
Weight
Watchers program is February 18,
2008.