Day: February 5, 2019

Global Sex Trafficking: Part V-North America

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Global Sex Trafficking:

Part V: North America

By Trevor K. McNeil

“Sex terrorism is the use of illicit sex, violence and threats to intimidate or coerce to the state of fear and submission. Sex trafficking includes the transportation of persons by means of coercion, deception and /or force into exploitative and slavery-like conditions, and is commonly associated with organized crime,”–Erika Klein, activist, writer.

Show Me The Money

Poverty and the desire to get out of it can be a very powerful motivator, although capitalism can also be a motivating factor. For everyone who “pulls themselves up by their boot-straps,” as per the American Delusion, there are more who pursue a darker journey. Taking advantage of the freest of markets in the world. The one that is completely free of any regulation, because it operates outside the law. An estimated two-thirds trafficking victims in the United States are U.S. citizens. With foreign-born women, government statistics estimate between 15,000 and 50,000 are trafficked into the country each year. Foreign born sex trafficking victims for the most part come to the United States legally on various types of visas.

The Need and the Damage Done

The most lucrative illegal market is narcotics. It is the only vice to have a democratic government declare “war” on it. Some of the richest people in North America are drug dealers. As evidence of that fact, Massachusetts has just brought suit against the billionaire Sackler family and their company, Purdue Pharma. Massachusetts claims Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers personally and actively pushed their highly addictive narcotic pain-killer, Oxycontin on an unsuspecting populace.

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Homeless Helping Homeless

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Portland, Oregon is a beautiful city with a large homeless population

Portland, Oregon is a beautiful city with a large homeless population.

Just My Opinion:

HOMELESS HELPING THE HOMELESS

By Jennifer Troy

More Homeless Communities

Tiny house communities established by charitable agencies and social welfare groups for the homeless are sprouting up nationwide.   The primary concern is getting people off the streets and into a safe place. A big step. But then what?

Still Lost

What happens now that food, shelter and a safe haven to sleep at night have been given to these people? Is there any real expectation that any of them will re-enter the 5 day-a-week work world? Will they be able to move on into non-subsidized housing? Is there a place in society for them to return to? Even though they are off the streets they may still lack social, physical and monetary resources to keep themselves off the streets in the future. These people have been  lost and need help reintegrating back into the normal world.  Training and/or re-training is needed. Learning how to compete for jobs, interviewing techniques, correct language use, clean and presentable dress. All these skills need to be learned, before self-sufficiency can be achieved. Without such training the risk is more damaged self-esteem and failure.

Reality Bite

As I see it, what needs to happen within these communities is a mirroring of what life is like for everyone else working their way through this crazy thing called life. Not just three hots and a cot. But, a safe place to relearn, or learn for the first time, the skills needed to function and be self-sufficient in American society. A place where they can be given a “trial run”,  before facing the world again.

Bucking Trends

In many ways this runs counter to current trends. Many seem to think all we as a society need to do is  offer subsidized housing forever to the chronically homeless.  I believe that these people can do more and be more than we are asking of them.  “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,” Chinese quotation.  Let’s give them more than a bed, let’s give them an opportunity.  Let’s teach them how to fish. This is where the idea of the homeless helping the homeless comes from.

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