READ THIS. It was posted on FB today, then someone commented on it and said their 19year old son even got one in the mail TODAY.
If you live in Sacramento read this and protect your selves as well as friends, family, and peers. Huge human trafficking area!!!
Sacramento,CA. Is the #2 hotspot for human trafficking in the United States. BOOST
Oh my god. I got a letter exactly like this in Louisville, KY. The exact same wording and everything. I threw mine out because there was no letterhead or information and I thought it was just a scam but I had no idea that it was this bad. I have no idea how they found me. Please be safe out there.
I got this letter too wtf…
I got a letter like this years ago here in Lancaster County, PA. I disregarded it as spam, and I’m glad I didn’t fall for it. It’s all over the place that things like this exist and it’s disgusting.
Is this really true???? Because I got this exact letter about a month ago but it was changed to make it look like it was local to me in West Virginia. Jeez. I threw it away. Now I’m scared as shit.
Literally just yesterday I was thinking about this. They locked her up and everything went completely silent. The media must be in on it too because they also just stopped reporting. They really said “Go away, nothing to see here”. I think that list of customers is public information we’re entitled to know.
Press play to LISTEN to the voices of survivors of sex trafficking.
Do you want to help improve the lives of women and girls who have been trafficked and exploited in the United States?#USAgainstTrafficking is inspiring individuals all around the country to take action and support the survivors. DONATE here to help provide critical care for the women and girls looking for new beginnings.
She was trafficked at the age of 15 by the very people she trusted. She now works with My Life My Choice to prevent the exploitation and abuse of young girls. Press play to listen and join others to rally behind all the brave survivors of sex trafficking.
This week only, any amount you give to support these courageous women and girls will be DOUBLED! Every dollar counts: http://bit.ly/2aqkvSK
Share this post so others can help too. It's #USAgainstTrafficking, whose side are you on?
Appropriation and Animal Rights: The Intersectional Activist by Christopher-Sebastian McJetters A very valid concern that arises among intersectional animal rights activists is how to be sensitive to the needs of multiple groups without dismissing or appropriating their struggles.
Restrict your role to being the messenger. The best way to avoid appropriating a group’s struggle is to not do it at all. Really, you don’t need to; instead, amplify the voices of people from that marginalized community who are raising awareness about speciesism themselves. Preaching from a place of privilege about things you don’t understand is wrong. Instead, share what you learned from discussions started by people who have had those experiences. For example, I’m not a woman; but I frequently research the voices of vegan feminists who recognize why issues like female reproductive rights make speciesism a feminist issue.
Own mistakes. If you f*ck up, you f*ck up. We’ve all done it—and we’re all going to continue to do it. As much as I use my privilege to support women, I’m still a man who benefits from male privilege. As often as I speak up for people with disabilities, I still recognize that I regularly perpetuate ableism unconsciously. Just OWN it when you do. Accountability goes a long way to legitimizing your authenticity. Apologize. Learn from your mistake, and move on. You’re not perfect, and pretending to be will only get you into bigger trouble.
I’ve been noticing a lot of talk around this topic lately, and Christopher-Sebastian’s post sums up everything nicely. A lot of animal rights activists see connections between oppressions and make comparisons (e.g. the way we treat animals is comparable to slavery, the Holocaust, genocide, etc.) However, this is totally offensive to a lot of people. The “animalization” of minorities is something that has been perpetrated by the majority in the past (i.e. viewing minorities as “subhuman”); therefore, it’s seen as an affront to be compared to animals once more.
It’s important to realize that people who believe in animal liberation have a completely different mindset than those outside of the movement – we don’t believe that animals are “subhuman”, which drastically changes the dynamic. When we talk about the animalization of other minorities, we view it as evidence to how both human and non-human animals are oppressed. Non-AR people view this as dehumanization. Like in the blog post, I think it’s important to realize these differences in thinking and be conscious of how hurtful it can be to some people when their experiences of oppression are compared to those of non-human animals.
Who Stole the Four-Hour Workday? by Nathan Schneider The United States now leads the pack of the wealthiest countries in annual working hours. US workers put in as many as 300 more hours a year than their counterparts in Western Europe, largely thanks to the lack of paid leave.
A new American dream has gradually replaced the old one. Instead of leisure, or thrift, consumption has become a patriotic duty. Corporations can justify anything—from environmental destruction to prison construction—for the sake of inventing more work to do. A liberal arts education, originally meant to prepare people to use their free time wisely, has been repackaged as an expensive and inefficient job-training program. We have stopped imagining, as Keynes thought it so reasonable to do, that our grandchildren might have it easier than ourselves. We hope that they’ll have jobs, maybe even jobs that they like.
The new dream of overwork has taken hold with remarkable tenacity. Hardly anyone talks about expecting or even deserving shorter workdays anymore; the best we can hope for is the perfect job, one that also happens to be our passion. In the dogged, lonely pursuit of it, we don’t bother organizing with our co-workers. We’re made to think so badly of ourselves as to assume that if we had more free time, we’d squander it.
Congressman Paul Ryan quickly expressed fears that, with affordable [health] coverage, “the incentive to work declines.” Just the thought of the non-rich working less than all the time, and still having health insurance, was an affront to his idea of the American way. He actually said, “It’s adding insult to injury.”
The time-saving gizmos that Benjamin Franklin hoped for are here. But rather than liberating anyone, they’ve become a clever disguise for corporate greed to sneak ever more into our days and nights. Few subcultures revel in staying at the office after hours so much as Silicon Valley engineers. But who really benefits from their late nights of coding?
This reminds me of an article in Jacobin a few weeks ago, Forced to Love the Grind. “Passion as measured by hours has put the workweek on a course of runaway inflation, to the point at which people are actually shortening their lives and endangering others — sometimes in sudden, tragic form — in pursuit of an ever-elusive ideal of capitalistic individualism.” We’re indoctrinated in “The American Dream”, this concept that hard work and sacrifice is the key to everything (success, wealth, basically all material pleasures).
Schoolgirls for Sale in Japan by Simon Ostrovsky and Jake Adelstein Japan’s obsession with cutesy culture has taken a dark turn, with schoolgirls now offering themselves for “walking dates” with adult men.
Last year the US State Department, in its annual report on human trafficking, flagged so-called joshi-kosei osanpo dates (that’s Japanese for “high school walking”) as fronts for commercial sex run by sophisticated criminal networks.
In our exclusive investigation, VICE News host Simon Ostrovsky will bring you to one of Tokyo’s busiest neighborhoods, where girls solicit clients in their school uniforms, to a concert performed by a band of schoolgirls attended by adult men, and into a café, where teenage girls are available to hire by the hour. But the true revelations come behind closed doors, when schoolgirls involved in the rent-a-date industry reveal how they’ve been coerced into prostitution.
I’m not sure how I feel about white men going in and “exposing” terrible things that are happening in other countries and cultures. I liked how they showed the work of one Japanese woman in helping girls that have been exploited, but their comments on how odd and wrong the culture is made me feel weird. Sure, at the end of the video they stick in a note on how Western culture isn’t perfect: “It would be easy and unfair to single Japan out as the only culture to sexualize young girls. Tens of millions of dollars have been made on American pop culture, exploiting the luring gaze of adults on underage girls.” And then they go on to say, “But there’s something unique and especially unsettling about the fact that, right out in the open, schoolgirls are available for rent by the hour in one of Tokyo’s busiest neighborhoods.”
How can someone who watched the video help the girls and women they talked to? They didn’t post any links to organizations in Japan addressing the problem. What was the point of the video? To raise awareness? Or is this another example of white people going, look at this weird thing happening in this other culture, we need to save them from themselves?
Self-ish:Part 1,Part 2,Part 3 Ana Cecilia Alvarez, Victoria Campbell, Durga Chew-Bose, Fiona Duncan, Jazmine Hughes, Josephine Livingstone, Fariha Roísín, and Charlotte Shane discuss selfishness.
Victoria: But in the context of feminism, selfishness-as-individualism is very problematic. The struggle against patriarchy can’t be compared to the conflict between individual liberty and traditional authority because both are patriarchal.
What’s the difference between being self-qualified, self-actualized, self-sufficient, self-fulfilled, self-taught, self-serviced, self-made, self-governed, self-organized, self-assured or self-realized and being selfish? Maybe it’s just having a dick.
We’re taught to think that the world owes us something in return for our suffering because the world was built on sacrifice. Which is just a prettier word for exploitation. If selfishness is a refusal it should be the refusal to suffer for “the greater good,” the refusal to sacrifice the self for other, the refusal of the commerce model of life that replaces the Pavlovian bell with a whip and trains us to think every little pleasure should be deserved before it’s given.
This was a lovely and insightful discussion to read. Besides thinking about selfishness, compromise, and love, it left me wondering how I can have thoughtful conversations like these with my own friends more often!
The Subtle Linguistics of Polite White Supremacy by Yawo Brown Polite White Supremacy is the notion that whites should remain the ruling class while denying that they are the ruling class, politely.
Polite White Supremacy is very real. So why is it that we must specifically say ‘Polite White Supremacy’ rather than Racism? We must say Polite White Supremacy for three reasons. First, saying #PWS puts the responsibility solely on the creators of a systemic problem. Second, this phrase addresses the subtlety and casualness with which oppression is administered. Thirdly, it eradicates the all-too-common confusion between racismandprejudice. It’s important to eradicate this confusion so it can be clear that racism is tied to a power structure and access to resources.
In detail, Polite White Supremacy relies on three key components to ensure its success: comfort,control, and confidentiality.
Whites who participate in #PWS desire to be comfortable in all settings while maintaining some influential level of control over all situations without acknowledging this power. Omitting acknowledgment of white privilege gives off the psychological effect that whites have somehow worked harder than non-whites and blacks must be lazy since statistically blacks are suffering a great deal in America. They pretended this was all natural.
The silence of confidentiality is the glue holding this whole charade in place because #PWS can’t exist out in the open as overt white supremacy, not because it’s wrong, but because it’s unfashionable to be an open white supremacist in today’s society.
I like the emphasis on using “Polite White Supremacy” because the term implies that people fool themselves into thinking that they have good intentions. It’s important for us to realize the power of language and the words we use, whether it’s saying “revelers” instead of “white rioters”, “meat” instead of “dead body”, or not using someone’s preferred pronouns.
Men who buy sex: Who they buy and what they know by Melissa Farley, Julie Bindel, and Jacqueline M. Golding A sample of 103 men in London, England, who used trafficked and non-trafficked women in prostitution were asked about their experiences and awareness of the sex industry.
Men’s acceptance of prostitution is one of a cluster of attitudes that encourages and justifies violence against women. Violent behaviours against women have been associated with attitudes that promote men’s beliefs that they are entitled to sexual access to women, are superior to women and are licensed as sexual aggressors. The purpose of the research was to assess men’s attitudes toward women in prostitution and their awareness of and use of trafficking victims, with the goal of ultimately developing prostitution and trafficking prevention programmes.
Selected comments about prostitution by London men who buy sex:
“I feel sorry for these girls but this is what I want.”
“I have sex as a means to an end to meet my sexual needs… It’s a financial transaction.”
“It should be legalised over here. This is the way God created us. It is being human. If you don’t have a partner then you have to go to a prostitute.”
The association between these men’s acceptance of myths about prostitution and their acceptance of myths about rape was statistically reliable (r = 0.23, p = .024). The more accepting they were of prostitution, the more likely they were to also accept cultural myths about rape such as “Women say no but they really mean yes” or “A woman who dresses provocatively is asking to be raped.” The notion that prostitutes are “un-rape-able” was a common belief among the men in this sample. Twenty-five per cent told us that the very concept of raping a prostitute or call girl was “ridiculous.” Nearly one-half of the buyers stated that rape happens because men get sexually carried away (47%) or their sex drive gets “out of control” (48%). […] The men expressed a number of misogynist attitudes, some of which frankly endorsed rape. Those with the highest scores on the hostile masculinity scale tended to be those who most strongly endorsed rape myths (r = 0.71, p < 0.0001).
Men who buy sex are aware that their relationship with a woman in prostitution is not a genuine attachment, and that the sex, race and social inequality in the relationship make real reciprocity impossible. Nonetheless they are disappointed and often feel “tricked” by what they know is the woman’s simulation of emotional and sexual response.
Legalisation and prostitution tolerance zones encouraged men to buy sex. Several men explained that once having visited areas where prostitution is legal or promoted, they returned to UK with a renewed dedication to buying sex even if that practice is illegal. The new UK legislation needs to be enforced extra-territorially. Almost half of the men had paid for sex in other countries, mostly in legalised regimes such as the Netherlands.
Men’s attitudes play a central role in perpetrating violence against women. Efforts to prevent violence against women must address not only those attitudes which are overtly condoning of violence against women, but also the wider clusters of attitudes related to sex, including prostitution, which normalise and justify this violence (Flood and Pease, 2009).
I think it’s really important to recognize that our society promotes the notion that men need sex as part of being “masculine”. This isn’t just in the context of prostitution, but in romantic relationships as well – sex is something that’s necessary. A relationship without sex won’t last. People in a relationship are entitled to sex; sex is owed.
There was an interesting discussion about masculinityin/r/anarchism today. /u/danharaj wrote, “Traditional masculinity is characterized by insecurity, anxiety, and a constant need to affirm itself and differentiate itself from femininity, which it constantly degrades and attempts to control. […] ‘Emasculate’ is a verb with no feminine counterpart. Everything terrible about men comes down to such a toxic, barren, highly controlled conception of masculinity.” /u/pukescabies then remarked, “It is kind of surreal when you realize the typical ‘masculine’ role in male-female relationships revolves around being hyper-jealous and possessive. Too much acceptance of your partner’s autonomy is viewed as weak.” There’s a huge need to stop this type of thinking – not just because these attitudes perpetrate violence against women, but also because they are harmful to the men who believe they must do these things in order to be “men”.
I don’t know whether I support the legalization of prostitution or not. In the wake of Rachel Moran’s article, Buying Sex Should Not Be Legal, and the discussions around it, I’ve come to the conclusion that most people are at a loss for what to do. The decriminalization of prostitution in Germany hasn’t reduced exploitation. The Nordic model is controversial. The current state of regulation in America is broken. Regardless of the law, however, I think that dismantling our notions of masculinity, opposing compulsory sexuality, teaching better sex education (including concepts of consent and coercion), and establishing a universal basic income are some necessary steps on the path to eliminating exploitation and sex trafficking.
Each year, more than 25,000 women and children are trafficked in the United States for the purpose of sex. Only 529 beds are currently dedicated in shelters throughout the U.S.A. for victims of sex trafficking. We have teamed up to create a series of artworks that challenge the objectification of women in artwork, the objectification of women artists, and the sale of women as sex slaves. 100% of the proceeds from the artworks sold in the Woman for Sale project will go directly to shelters in California who provide board, ESL services, mental health services, and outreach to survivors of sex trafficking.
Here’s a powerful testimonial from a young woman who was just one of many teen victims of pornographic extortion — by a very sick man who ruined many girls’ lives.
Chansler told detectives he targeted children because adult women were “too smart” to fall for his scheme. Investigators found thousands of videos and photos on his computers, including recordings of girls crying and pleading with him to stop and one girl holding a handwritten sign with a single word: “rape.” […]
For victims, she said, “it’s psychologically damaging. It’s not fair. People think victims of child pornography are not touched. It’s not like rape. It’s just overlooked. … They don’t realize what we’re doing when we have to send those pictures. We’re doing it ourselves. We’re forced to. … We could not say no.”
Reynolds said the people who look at the pictures “are dads and brothers and sons.” She wants to tell them, “This could be your sister.”
They are creating the demand, the marketplace that is being catered to by the child pornography producers and extortionists.
“You’re contributing to it. You can’t be a law-abiding citizen if you’re contributing to extortion,” Reynolds said. “People send out those pictures and make them public because of people who view them.”
Practicing BDSM often leads to SEVERE ABUSE: A mentally disabled teen girl was imprisoned, trafficked and tortured — for SIX YEARS — by a couple who pimped her out for profit to other sadists for their sick sexual pleasure.
First she was groomed with pornography, as is often the case with sexual abuse victims:
“She described how the Bagleys initially showed her images and videos of people practicing bondage, dominance, sadism and masochism — or BDSM — and told her it was fun. She signed a contract on her 18th birthday that Bagley said made her his sex slave for life.”
Then she was imprisoned and tortured — sometimes for just for personal gratification, and sometimes being pimped out or turned into live pornography so others could take sexual pleasure in her suffering:
“The girl allegedly suffered water-boarding, electric shock, piercing and mutilation, according to the Kansas City Star.
Four other men have been charged for allegedly paying Bagley to have sex with his ‘slave’ and to watch webcam sessions of her being tortured.”
Clearly sadomasochism, pornography, prostitution and sex trafficking are all very closely related, and if one is against any one of them, one needs to take a stand against ALL of them.
READ THE REST of this tragic story that demonstrates the truly horrific harms of pornography and sadomasochism. WARNING – GRAPHIC AND DISTURBING!
Here’s a powerful, heartbreaking, but inspirational story of ex porn performer “Sunset Thomas” (@SunsetThomas) — who was in the porn industry for decades, (she made over 200 films), and who also worked for years in Nevada’s legal brothels.
Now known by her real name Diane, this article shares her story, describing the horrific toll that the sex industry took on her because of how she was so used and abused by the men in her life. (Mostly personally, but sometimes professionally, as those worlds were often connected.) It also shares how incredibly difficult it was for Diane to leave the sex trade.
“Thomas explained to a reporter how many of the men in her life poached off her decades of earnings, first in the porn industry and later in brothels that capitalized off her high profile adult industry name. She said despite the fact she spent over two decades in the profession – her name and face known throughout the world – she has little to show in the way of savings.
“I’m finally out,” Thomas said. “I was tired of the stress and people forcing me to do things I don’t want to do. I’m tired of people trying to pressure me to keep doing it when I don’t have to do it. I want to live a normal life like everyone else.” […]
“The conditions at the brothel where she was working were prison-like with two week, 24/7 lockdowns,” Dr. Martin said. “It was an existence for her that became more and more unbearable, mentally and physically. She wanted to leave, but the money she was making for them was an incentive for them to keep her in it.” […]
Stanley [Diane’s mother] said it was difficult to hear her daughter say over and over again she didn’t want to live that kind of life anymore.
“I heard her cry and say she did not want to do these things,” Stanley said. “But no one would help, until Robert (Martin). She and Robert had been friends for a long time and when she called and asked him for help he went and got her, but she was nearly dead.”
Stanley was referring to Thomas’ poor state of health when Martin retrieved her from Las Vegas, where she had gone into hiding after being beaten and injured by someone she declined to immediately identify. After rescuing Thomas from a bad situation, Dr. Martin nursed her back to health, Thomas’ mother said.”
READ THIS FULL, INSPIRATIONAL, AND MOVING STORY AT THE LINK BELOW: (And please don’t forget to like, comment and share to spread the word and support the cause. Thanks! :-))
NOTE: For some reason the reporter inserted a random short section in the middle of the article that shares a bishop’s opinion on women leaving the sex industry. While everyone is free to practice any faith or none as they choose, Diane has written on her Twitter account that she is spiritual and not religious, so she’s not following the religious aspects of the path that this bishop advises, who is someone who is not connected to Diane.
And to be clear, women in the sex industry are *exploited* by pimps, johns, husbands and boyfriends, etc. So those who are committing the greatest transgressions (“sins”, per the bishop) are not the women in prostitution, who are usually just trying desperately to survive, but the (almost always) MALE EXPLOITERS. It is these men — not the women they’ve exploited — who should be seeking “redemption”, by coming clean and making amends, etc. The bishop does provide some other solid advice, though, about exited women finding a new set of friends for support, who aren’t in the sex industry.
In any case, we wish Diane all the best with whatever path she chooses to take from here on out that helps her to heal and prosper in her new and healthier life.
Go Diane! Well done on your new life! We support you and are grateful for you sharing your story to inform, help, and inspire others! :-)
This poor child was dragged back to her abusive mother. I say that the mother is abusive because she watches Sophie get molested by her boyfriend and does nothing. Sophie is screaming for help infront of a CPS worker and the cps worker just ignores her. Spread the word about Sophie.
Men and women are not “equally oppressed” under patriarchy.
Such statements are nonsensical as oppression predicates inequality.
Male domination treats women and girls as commodities to be abused and discarded by men.
“A new U.N. report warns ‘the number of human trafficking victims is on the rise’ as criminal gangs and terror groups prey increasingly on women and children to make money and bolster their numbers. The 90-page Global Trafficking in Persons report says that children, who account for 30 percent of all trafficking victims, include 'far more’ girls than boys.”
Why would trafficking increase when you have legalized prostitution.
Because if prostitution is legal, demand increases. And if it is legal, pimps and traffickers have more room to exploit and sell women under the guise of legal sex work.
In fact, in countries where it is legal, pimps and brothel owners are considered sex workers themselves.
Just because you legalize prostitution doesn’t mean women are going to be anymore willing to do it, but more men expect to go to prostitutes, so the demand for prostitution increases. Where do you get prostitutes if women aren’t willing to be them? you kidnap and traffick them!!
Thank you for explaining this so concisely. I always thought trafficking would decrease if prostitution was legalized, so this is good to know.
it’s worth pointing out that Germany, who’s always touted as very progressive for legalizing prostitution and instituting prostitution unions, has become the human trafficking hub of Europe since those laws were implemented.
In 2009, there were around 900 victims of human trafficking in the Netherlands. In 2017, there were over 6000 and this number is estimated to fall prey to human trafficking every year. Over 4000 are sex slaves and over 1000 are children. This is getting progressively worse. I honestly cannot believe people aren’t educated that this legalization adds to an increase in human trafficking. Isn’t it obvious that’s how the world works? Also, men don’t care. I remember a post over here with men that were going to prostituted children and one of them was saying “I don’t care to know how the sausage is made”. That should tell you everything you need to know if you’re still having doubts about which side of the barricade you should choose.
The notes on this post gave me 17 types of cancer. The fucking mental gymnastics people will pull to justify men’s right to pay to rape women is just staggering.
People in the notes keep saying “correlation does not mean causation” as if that means correlation will never apply causation. But I think the causation between prostitution and trafficking is pretty clear so…I don’t know why people want to live in a world so badly where women can be bought and sold
Important to note: there’s a difference between legalizing prostitution and decriminalizing it for the actual women being prostituted. You can decriminalize so that women feel safe seeking help without thinking they’ll be thrown in jail while still prosecuting those who buy and sell women.
(And not to be that person but there are a lot of wonderful men out there working tirelessly to end human trafficking as well, not every man hates women like those men)
Here’s the first trailer for the upcoming action thriller, Aimee (2022)
The film’s plot centers on an ex-soldier delving into the world of sex trafficking in order to save a missing girl. It’s directed by a longtime stuntman so we can expect some pretty solid action set pieces.
