July 4, 2014: sex trafficking, enslaving young girls in America

Photo via LarryKingLive.com.

The 4^th of July commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. You recall that’s when America declared its independence from Great Britain. 

It’s also customary on the 4th of July to celebrate our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, supposedly applicable to all Americans of whatever race, religion, ethnic background, or gender.

In light of the above, why then, on July 4, 2014, are hundreds of young girls in our country enslaved by sex traffickers?  

One underlying reason for the existence of sex trafficking today in America is that our nation has yet to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, first submitted to Congress in 1923, which guarantees equal rights for women. It’s not surprising that injustices against women in the areas of equal pay for equal work and atrocities like sex trafficking continue in 2014.

Before setting off those fireworks tomorrow, pause for a few minutes, and read below how cruelly young women in this country continue to be enslaved by greedy, misogynist pimps. After the festivities this weekend, you might send off an email to your Congressperson urging a further crackdown on sex traffickers and supporting the long delayed passage of the Equal Rights Amendment.

From the Women’s Funding Network:

The following essay is one of our most-referenced resources from a past initiative of the Women’s Funding Network. We partnered with women’s funds and foundations across the United States as part of a national campaign to research, prevent and end domestic minor sex trafficking. Women’s funds and foundations are often the first to create, support, and promote the latest solutions to major social problems, and our members’ response to this issue was no exception. The Atlanta Women’s Foundation, Minnesota Foundation for Women and New York Women’s Foundation, for example, were key partners and conveners of coalitions advancing public policy change and a system of care for sexually exploited girls in their communities.

While the original campaign involving Women’s Funding Network is now complete, the work on this issue continues among our member funds and foundations around the country.

Take Action on Sex Trafficking

To learn more about how you can stop sex trafficking, visit A Future. Not A Past.

If you know someone that needs help, call the Dream Catchers Hotline 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-888-229-3339.

Essay: Enslaved in America

By Tina Frundt

The pimps who are trafficking young women and girls on the street in the U.S. have a great marketing tool: the media.

When we hear the words “sex trafficking,” as Americans we immediately think of women and children overseas who are being forced into the sex trade or who are brought into the United States for the purpose of sexual exploitation. We don’t usually think closer to home — Americans trafficked by Americans. But I want you to think about young women and even girls that you have seen late at night when you come home from work or a social event. Maybe you have seen them in the streets in short dresses and spike heels. You turn your heads to look away. We do not look at the faces of these young women and girls who are forced to be out in the street. Maybe we think this is what they want to do or they wouldn’t be out there. Maybe it is easier to believe that it is an empowering choice they have than face the harsh reality of child sexual abuse, physical and mental abuse, and the pimps that prey on the young women and girls.

To understand all aspects of sex trafficking in the United States, you have to open your mind and let go of what you have seen or heard on television. You need to let go of the media’s portrayal of the “joys” of street prostitution, and open your eyes to the violence and control the pimps and sex traffickers exercise over their victims, who are mostly girls and young women.

ECPAT USA (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes)’, an Anti-Trafficking agency, states that the average age of entry into street prostitution is between 12 and 14 years old, though there have been cases of girls as young as 9 years old.

I was 14 years old when I was forced into prostitution. Like many teens at that age, finding my own identity and defying my parents were top on my list. So when a man came into my life and showered me with attention and listened to me when I complained about my parents, I did not think twice that he was ten years my senior. After all, he said I was mature for my age and told me I understood him better than anyone his own age. Little did I know, he was laying down the seeds of manipulation. It did not matter what my parents said, to me they did not understand me and he was the only one that “got me”. After six months, I thought I loved him, at least that is what he told me, so I did what I thought my heart was telling me and ran away to be with him. We ended up in Cleveland, Ohio. He told me we were going to meet the rest of the family.

I had no idea the “family” meant myself and three other girls. After I was introduced to the “family,” I was told what my role would be. I would go out to “work” that night and bring him back the money. How else would we build our dream home? He assured me he would always love me no matter what, but he needed to know how much I loved him by making sure I would do anything for him.

Later that evening, his friends came by the motel. At first, he told me to have sex with someone. I did not want to so his friends raped me. Afterwards, he said “that wouldn’t have happened if I would have just listened to him at first.” I blamed myself instead of being angry at him for being raped. I was angry at myself for not listening to him in the first place. After that, he picked my clothes out, told me what to wear, what to say, how to walk, what to say to “Johns” and how much money I was to bring back to him. He then forced me to go out into the streets.

Read more:

Santa Barbara and the War on Women

Hi Friends,

Watch Elliot Rodgers on YouTube and then sign the petition below.

Thanks, Virginia

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Heidi Hess, CREDO Action	Wed, May 28, 2014 at 9:53 AM
Santa Barbara and the War on Women Tell pro-NRA senators: "Stop selling out women to the NRA. Support the Protecting Domestic Violence and Stalking Victims Act." Automatically add your name: Dear Virginia, Mix the NRA’s pro-gun-at-any-cost advocacy, the Republican War on Women, and a broken mental health care system and what we just saw in Santa Barbara is the shocking but not unsurprising result. In the wake of last week’s misogyny-fueled mass shooting, legislation is gathering momentum that would strengthen our nation's domestic violence laws and help save women's lives. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Mazie Hirono have introduced the Protecting Domestic Violence and Stalking Victims Act to make it harder for people with a history of domestic violence and stalking to buy a gun. What happened in Santa Barbara was not an isolated incident. In fact, the majority of mass shootings in this country are domestic violence incidents that target women.1 Think of them as the War on Women, weaponized. And if the NRA gets its way and defeats this bill, we can be sure of more anti-woman rampages to come. Tell pro-NRA senators who cravenly voted to block an up-or-down vote on background checks in the wake of Newtown to say no to the NRA and support the Protecting Domestic Violence and Stalking Victims Act. Click here to automatically sign the petition. There are a lot of common sense reforms we need -- like universal background checks, a ban on semi-automatic assault weapons, and limits on high capacity ammunition magazines.2 But nothing will change for everyday Americans unless we break the NRA’s chokehold on Congress. Klobuchar’s legislation to protect women won’t even get an up-or-down vote in the Senate, let alone pass, if politicians who are in the pocket of the NRA filibuster the bill. There’s no reason to expect that pro-NRA senators will act differently now than they did after Newtown unless they feel enormous pressure from their constituents.3 The fact is, women are the target of far too many shootings in America. Driven by misogyny and enabled by lax or non-existent gun laws, gunmen channel their rage into shooting women. The presence of a gun in domestic violence situation makes it five times more likely that a women will be killed.4   The Protecting Domestic Violence and Stalking Victims Act works in two key ways: It would add criminals convicted of stalking crimes to the group of people prohibited from buying guns, which already includes felons and the severely mentally ill. It would prohibit people who abuse their dating partners from buying guns – rather than just those who abuse their spouses. The bill only represents a small step towards the reform we need to see. Right now it’s easier for domestic abusers and the mentally ill to obtain semi-automatic weapons than to access treatment. At a minimum we should be able to pass mandatory background checks, but the NRA has blocked this commonsense reform at every turn. What is possible in this moment -- when a mass shooting has highlighted the deadly War on Women in our culture -- is to pass a bill that would make it more difficult for domestic violence perpetrators and stalkers to obtain the weapons that make it much more likely that the targets of their abuse will be murdered. Senators who put the NRA’s agenda above the will and needs of their constituents are, to use the words of Richard Martinez, the father of one of last week’s victims, “craven and irresponsible.” Senators who have folded to the NRA before need to hear from concerned Americans today. Click the link below to automatically sign the petition: http://act.credoaction.com/go/4429?t=5&akid=10799.4080287.qTJqSE Heidi Hess, Campaign Manager CREDO Action from Working Assets Automatically add your name: Learn more about this campaign “Analysis of Recent Mass Shootings.” Everytown for Gun Safety, September, 2013. “NRA Members Agree: More Gun Regulation Makes Sense." Zack Beauchamp, Think Progress, July 24, 2012. "On the Amendment (Manchin Amdt. No. 715 )." United States Senate, April 17, 2013. “Domestic Violence & Firearms Policy Summary.” Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, May 11, 2014. Share on Facebook Post to your wall Tweet this Post to Twitter © 2014 CREDO. All rights reserved. To change your email or mailing address, please click here: https://act.credoaction.com/me/update/?t=18&akid=10799.4080287.qTJqSE To remove yourself from this list, please visit our subscription management page at: http://act.credoaction.com/cms/unsubscribe/unsubscribe/?t=20&akid=10799.4080287.qTJqSE

The media picks up the pieces of its shattered stereotype of Hillary Clinton

Hillary shatters her media stereotype.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has successfully shattered the media’s stereotype of her that emerged from its collective sexist imagination in the 90s. As Hillary strode onto the world stage in her current role, the mainstream punditry, supported by unapologetic bigoted bloggers, scrambled to make excuses for their earlier misrepresentations of this powerful woman. The preferred explanation is not that the media saw her through the lenses of sexism and misogyny, but that she has changed over the years.

As the media would have it, Hillary Clinton, now in her 60s, has suddenly learned how to kick back and enjoy a cold one; she displays extraordinary ease and confidence out on the dance floor, and she has a sense of humor!!

Hillary’s many longtime friends and acquaintances assure us that she hasn’t changed – this is the Hillary they’ve always known and loved.

What a shocker. Acknowledged world leader Hillary Clinton is also a loving and relational human being who knows how to relax and have a good time.

The above thoughts helped me fill in the blanks in this piece by Margaret Carlson at Bloomberg that focuses on the secretary’s latest farewell tour:

As if a peaceful Thanksgiving dinner wasn’t enough of a challenge, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had to spend her holiday chasing an even more unattainable ideal: peace in the Middle East.

So Clinton left her and President Barack Obama’s trip to Asia to broker a deal between Israel and Hamas. She met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel (who was slightly more accommodating after his romance with failed presidential candidate Mitt Romney did not prove fruitful). She met with President Mohamed Mursi of Egypt. She met with leaders of the Palestinian Authority. The end result was a cease-fire that got photos of teddy bears amid rubble off the front page.

Like too many of her achievements, however, this one was soon spoiled -- or at least overshadowed -- by a man: Mursi, feeling empowered after delivering a Hamas cease-fire to the U.S., issued a decree essentially declaring himself above the law. Clinton is used to men complicating her life, notably her husband, Bill, and then-senator Barack Obama. The latter destroyed her presidential campaign, the former her marriage (almost).

In the annals of those who pick themselves up and dust themselves off, Hillary has no peer -- unless it is Bill. They now rest at (she) and near (he) the top of lists of the Most Admired Man and Woman in the World.

Read more:

Women executives in corporate America

Photo of Virginia Rometty courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

In reviewing 2011, it’s apparent that sexism and misogyny are still very much with us as recently pointed out by Name it Change It.

(Name It. Change It. is a collaborative campaign between She Should Run, Women's Media Center, and Political Parity, Name It. Change It. works to end sexist and misogynistic coverage of women candidates by all members of the press).

On a hopeful note, this New Year’s morning I happened to come across an article in the NY Times published last October that announces the appointment of Virginia Rometty as the new chief executive of IBM. According to the article:

The selection of Ms. Rometty for the top job at I.B.M. will make her one of the most prominent women executives in corporate America, joining a small group of chiefs that includes Ursula Burns of Xerox, Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo, Ellen J. Kullman of DuPont and Meg Whitman of Hewlett-Packard. Gender, according to Mr. Palmisano, did not figure into Ms. Rometty’s selection.

Just say “No” to an Obama-Clinton ticket

State Department photo of Secretary Clinton by Abigail Veronneau

In a NY Times Magazine article yesterday in which he handicaps the 2012 election, Nate Silver concludes (emphasis mine):

With Perry having slumped in the polls, however, and Romney the more likely nominee, the odds tilt slightly toward Obama joining the list of one-termers. It is early, and almost no matter what, the election will be a losable one for Republicans. But Obama’s position is tenuous enough that it might not be a winnable one for him.

So it’s no wonder that fantasies continue to surface about replacing Biden with Clinton on the Democratic ticket. After all, the polls continue to show that Hillary is the most popular politician in the country.

I’m with Anita Finlay at the New Agenda:

I am sick to the nth power of having a multitude of professional pontificators muse about how Hillary can shore up the ticket, rescuing Obama from his sagging poll numbers and increasingly unpopular policies.

“Ani” continues:

Why is that her job? 

What does this say about women: They are not fit to hold the top office but are to be “used” in service, as scullery maids to help the man look better. She is only there to help him. To fix him. To bolster him. We’ll “use” her as we see fit.

This article is also particularly hilarious in its sexism by stating that:

Clinton is especially popular among young and Hispanic voters, and would allow Obama to break new ground by electing the first female vice president, he said.

So Obama is breaking new ground? How about the country breaking new ground by electing a qualified woman chief executive? Not a ceremonial second in command.

President Obama is not electing anyone. That is the job of the American people. Isn’t it interesting that this missive attempts to make an equal into someone subservient to Obama once again. Also a favorite pastime of the Obama WH boyz club, apparently.

The only new ground I saw broken when Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were vying for the Democratic nomination in 2008 was that misogyny was once again made cool. In newsrooms. In social media. On the street. The more qualified and stronger candidate was excoriated in favor of a less experienced, less knowledgeable, younger male.

Read more:

Has misogyny once again become cool?

The domestication of Michelle Obama (public domain photo)

I would argue that misogyny has never become uncool, but Anita Finlay’s post at the New Agenda on Why Politicians' Wives Dread Their Husbands Running for President is a must read for any self-respecting female who cares enough about herself and her daughters to take action against the ongoing “terrorism” unleashed against any woman in our culture who assumes a position of power, especially if she dares to step on the national stage either as a candidate or a candidate’s wife.

Congressional bipartisan coalition introduces the International Violence Against Women Act

If you can’t understand why the United States ranks 31st overall in the Global Gender Gap and 70th in the political empowerment of women, just scan the hostile readers’ comments that fill message boards every time anyone posts an article supporting women’s rights here or abroad.

For starters, read the first three sickening comments at Politico in response to an opinion piece posted yesterday afternoon by Sen. John F. Kerry, Rep. Bill Delahunt, Kerry Kennedy, and Larry Cox. Titled Protection for women a top foreign policy priority, the article begins:

Rita Mahato, a mother of three, works as a health adviser for the Women’s Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC) in Nepal, counseling rape victims and registering cases of domestic violence routinely dismissed by the local police. In June 2007, a mob of more than 60 men surrounded her offices, threatening to rape and kill Rita and her colleagues – demanding that they end their work. Three years later, Rita and her team continue to be threatened, harassed and physically abused, yet the police have failed to take action. Despite threats to her life, Rita perseveres defending the human rights of women and seeking justice for victims of domestic and sexual violence.

Sadly, Rita’s experience is not unique: women around the world are subject to abuse and many also face extreme poverty.

It doesn’t have to be that way. That’s why today a bipartisan coalition, led by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) in the Senate and Congressmen Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.) and Ted Poe (R-Texas) in the House, will introduce the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA). Introduction of this bill supports the efforts of President Obama and Secretary Clinton to rightly put women at the very center of a broad global security agenda that factors in the great challenges of our decade and invests in the world’s peacemakers.

Passage of the bill is critical. Every day, women and girls are battered, beaten, raped or otherwise brutalized. In some countries, more than 70 percent of women have been the victims of domestic violence. And, for most of these women, justice is elusive, because where violence against women is endemic, so too are impunity and poor governance. Not only can they expect police, prosecutors and judges to refuse to investigate cases against their perpetrators, too often, they can also expect to be condemned, shamed and even punished themselves.

Read more:

U.S. ranks 70th in the world in political empowerment of women

After the treatment Hillary Clinton received during the 2008 Democratic primary, I was not surprised to learn today in Ruth Marcus’ column, submitted to the Washington Post from Davos, that the United States ranks 31st in the Global Gender Gap Index – and hey, look at this: we rank 70th in the category of political empowerment.

As I’ve suggested before, America should be embarrassed to lecture the rest of the world on human rights issues - what with its treatment of women, and it’s recent experiments in using torture to obtain intelligence information from “enemy combatants” picked up off the streets in various countries without benefit of formal charges.

But back to the gender gap. Marcus reports:

The focus is on the gap between men and women in each country rather than women’s overall levels of achievement there, so countries are ranked based on the gender differential rather than development level. At the top of this year’s heap, once again, were the Scandinavian countries: Iceland ranked first, followed by Finland, Norway and Sweden. But the rest of the top 10 was a global grab bag: New Zealand was number five, then South Africa, Denmark, Ireland, the Philippines and Lesotho. At the bottom was Yemen, with Chad, Pakistan, Benin, Saudi Arabia and, surprising to me, Turkey, which was a notch below Iran.

The United States ranked No. 31, about where it’s been for the last few years but worse than its No. 23 ranking from the first survey, in 2006. This relative backsliding is unusual: Of the 115 countries that have been covered in all four years, 97 improved their rankings.

Read more of the shameful details here.

Secretary Clinton’s Global Campaign for Women

Secretary of State Clinton Recognizes USAID-supported African Women Scientists.

Ironically, I wrote about the sexism in media coverage of Secretary of Clinton’s trip to Africa a few weeks ago when she was putting her own life at risk to go to places like the East Congo, otherwise known as the Rape Capital of the world. Among the media, the PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer was an indefensible offender.

A few days ago, The World of Hillary Clinton published an excellent post titled The Potential in Hillary Clinton’s Global Campaign for Women. Here’s a sample of this must-read article:

No other secretary of State has so focused on women's rights. It's a powerful shift.

When Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled to Africa last month, she visited war-racked eastern Congo to speak out against widespread rape by militias. She choked up after meeting with two rape victims and promised more US help – $17 million for medical treatment and security for victims.

Now she's taking the issue to the United Nations, where the US is leading an effort to shore up a resolution to end sexual violence against civilians during armed conflict. The Security Council passed Resolution 1820 last year, but follow through is sorely lacking.

Women's rights are becoming a signature issue for America's top diplomat. In her official travels, Mrs. Clinton talks with women, meets with female activists, and presses the twin challenges of women's rights and abuse with political leaders. She wants US development aid to focus more on women, and has appointed the first US ambassador for global women's issues.

Read more:

Sexism and Misogyny Cross Party Lines

Hi friends of Katalusis,

I’m late posting today as I’m working on a freelance writing project and had two interviews to complete plus travel time.

But I did want to call your attention to a post titled I Was Wrong at The New Agenda by Cynthia Ruccia that emphatically reminds us that sexism and misogyny are alive and well in both the Democratic and Republican parties. Among other things, Cynthia talks about being diagnosed with breast cancer, which became a turning point in her life. Believe it or not, she went from being a nerd to a jock! Her inspiring post is a must read, but so are the comments that follow. A great thread developed on the topic of sexism and the crime of rape.

Alessandro Machi, host of Daily Puma, commented:

One thing that might help reduce sexism is to revisit news stories in which women have been marginalized while the men are portrayed as heroic. I think it would be amazing to get female AP writers to revisit some of these types of stories six months later, a year later, and come up with a more balanced version than what was originally reported.

Some examples of women involved in news storeies who should have their role in the story revisited and unmarginalized include LaTreasa Davis, who called 911 when McDonalds STOLE HER MONEY AND WOULD NOT GIVE IT BACK NOR WOULD IT GIVE HER WHAT SHE ORDERED! http://dailypuma.blogspot.com/.....o-and.html

Nicole Word was beaten up in court and the judge “heroically” saved her. The Judge got all the glory for saving the damsel in distress but nobody really appreciated the bravery of the woman for standing up to her ex boyfriend both before her beating, during her beating, and then after her beating, she too was marginalized while the judge was declared a hero. http://dailypuma.blogspot.com/.....words.html

The third story that I would like to see revisited is BeerGate in which Fred Sanford and Barney Fife had a row on the front porch of Fred’s home and Andy Griffith had to step in hold a beer get together at the White House. http://dailypuma.blogspot.com/.....emale.html

The real story was not the men first arguing over nothing, then having a discussion at the white house, the real story was the two women who initially conferred over whether or not to call the police and then how they conducted themselves when they did call the police, was far and above the most interesting part of the story, and they too were marginalized by the media and the white house.