Forget Your Little Dog, Dorothy: Buy a Taser
Facing the Realities of Modern Sexual Assault and Abduction
Facing the Realities of Modern Sexual Assault and Abduction
By Michael Spotts:.
2011. May 27 - Oceanside, CA
Recently, a young woman I know experienced a bizarre incident. She received a call from a number she recognized as her workplace, the voice on the line claiming to be a new employee calling on behalf of her manager. She was asked to come by "in two hours to inspect a work-related package." Instead, she arrived early and, upon speaking with her supervisors, discovered there was no package, no authorized call, and no employee by that name. Whoever it was knew enough information about her to be convincing and had access to the department store's phone. What exactly happened remains unclear but the details match certain common elements of a growing, terrible trend in the United States and abroad.
I was first introduced to the subject of abduction and human trafficking in 2008, by David Batstone's phenomenal book, Not For Sale. Later I considered working with IJM, an organization which fights sex trafficking. At first the statistics seemed too high, and the implied infrastructure of the system too complex. However, the US State Department and other agencies continue to churn out yearly reports that, despite being conservative estimates, nearly defy belief. Consider the following:
I was first introduced to the subject of abduction and human trafficking in 2008, by David Batstone's phenomenal book, Not For Sale. Later I considered working with IJM, an organization which fights sex trafficking. At first the statistics seemed too high, and the implied infrastructure of the system too complex. However, the US State Department and other agencies continue to churn out yearly reports that, despite being conservative estimates, nearly defy belief. Consider the following:
"In 2005, the Department of Justice reported there have been an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 sex slaves in the U.S. since 2001." (http://www.crisisaid.org/traffickstats.html)
"An estimated 17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked annually in the United States alone. The number of US citizens trafficked within the country are even higher." (http://www.humantraffickinged.com/#identityhum)
"In 2009, a University of Pennsylvania study estimated nearly 300,000 youth in the United States were at risk of being sexually exploited for commercial uses." (http://www.crisisaid.org/traffickstats.html)
Worldwide, approximately 1.4 million women and children are victims of commercial sexual servitude. (International Labor Organization, A global alliance against forced labor. 2005.)
Try to picture those numbers. Who are all these people being abducted? Why are they selected?
Who Is At Risk for Trafficking
Most of those who are trafficked are targeted because of higher vulnerability. This includes illegal aliens, the poor, and runaways. However, a growing trend has to do with another group of potential victims. While one might think of abductions being primarily the work of desperate rapists, the Internet has opened an industry of "sex menu" shopping. Traffickers first gather photos of attractive women from social networking sites such as FaceBook, amateur modeling ads, or spot them on the street or at work in local areas. The photos are arranged essentially as menus which "clients" from around the country may use to view and bid on potential victims for use in forced prostitution or as private slaves. Those selected become targets for abduction and sale.
While the average age of entry into forced prostitution is 12-14, targets range between ages 5 and 25. (Estes, Richard J. and Neil A. Weiner. The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work: 2001.) "Victims of trafficking are subject to gross human rights violations including rape, torture, forced abortions, starvation, and threats of torturing or murdering family members." (http://humanrightsteam.org/educational-information/human-trafficking-facts-figures/)
What Do Traffickers Look Like?
Traffickers come from all walks of life. "They may operate as individuals, families, or more organized groups of criminals, and are facilitated by other indirect beneficiaries, such as advertising, distribution, or retail companies and consumers. Both women and men act as traffickers in labor and sex trafficking operations. Traffickers may be professional or non-professional criminals because of the low-start up cost of creating a trafficking business. Trafficking is appealing because it is so lucrative: it is the third largest illegal industry worldwide." (http://www.humantraffickinged.com/)
Demand is only rising because of porn addiction and the short life-span of victims. Traffickers do not view their victims as people but as commodities. Forced prostitutes may be coerced dozens of times a day, earning their captors thousands of dollars per month. "$13,000 per year generated on average by each “forced laborer.” This number can be as high as $67,200 per victim per year." (ILO, A global alliance against forced labor: 2005.) It is the third most valuable illegal enterprise after guns and drugs, set to become number two. It deals in billions of dollars. As such, it is highly structured and involves "sophisticated networks of
organized crime [that] may be as close to home as a relative to the victim." (http://humanrightsteam.org/educational-information/human-trafficking-facts-figures/)
Crisis Aid reports,
Crisis Aid reports,
In December 2007, research by the U.S. Department of Justice National Institute of Justice based on interviews with pimps and sexually exploited children in several U.S. cities found that most pimps manage one to three girls at a time and operate as follows:
o At least half appear to operate at the local level only.
o At least one quarter may be tied to city-wide crime rings (often engaged in drug sales as well as prostitution) and are constantly looking for new recruits.
o About 15 percent are tied to regional or national networks that are well financed and organized, in which the pimps communicate easily with one another electronically; provide support services such as recruitment, selection, indoctrination, and movement of new girls; and occasionally assist in locating and disciplining girls who escape from other pimps.
In 2009, five men and one woman have been charged in a 16-count indictment with conspiracy and sex trafficking of children and forcing and coercing adults to engage in commercial sex acts... The criminal enterprise transported women and minors to and from the Houston area and had ties to Kansas, Nevada, Arizona and Florida. Women and minors as young as 16 were enticed and coerced into prostitution and were routinely beaten and threatened.
What to Do?
The potential for abduction is not pleasant to think of, but it is a fact of modern life and a matter for future thought and action. It is of special consequence to young women who use social media. In addition to the practical wisdom of avoiding suspect places and carrying means of self defense (with a will to use them), I strongly suggest women below the age of 25 make their FaceBook/MySpace profiles and photos visible to friends only, and be more selective about who they "friend". Reduce the ease of being pin-pointed by deleting references to where one works, studies, and lives. For instance, if one lists they work at Target and live in Oceanside, they are setting themselves up for trouble. Your friends already know those details and strangers don't need to.
As restricting as it may seem, consider removing photos that mainly highlight one's physical form. It is important that potential victims of Internet-based "menu shopping", primarily women between the ages of 12 and 25, protect themselves by offering less to those who might see women as items of sexual interest. God knows I hate saying all of this. But I think it would be wise for women to follow this advice and set a good example to the younger girls they know.
Ladies and gentlemen, we're not in Kansas any more—certainly not the pre-Internet Kansas of 1939. A girl has more to fear these days from the man hiding behind curtains than from green-faced witches. So dear young Dorothies, keep walking that yellow road with courage, heart, and brains, but maybe bring a stun gun, too.
© Michael Spotts:. 2011
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You are permitted to reproduce and distribute this article in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and that you do not charge any fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For printed copies, as well as web posting, please include the following statement:
By Michael Spotts:.
Copyright © The Open Life
www.theopenlife.com
Titus 3:3-8
———————
You are permitted to reproduce and distribute this article in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and that you do not charge any fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For printed copies, as well as web posting, please include the following statement:
By Michael Spotts:.
Copyright © The Open Life
www.theopenlife.com
Titus 3:3-8
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abduction
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