USAID Launches MTV EXIT Campaign in Timor-Leste -- DILI, Timore-Leste, July 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --

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DILI, Timore-Leste, July 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The first-ever MTV concert held in Timor-Leste kicked-off the new, USAID-funded MTV EXIT anti-trafficking campaign last Friday night, June 25th. An estimated 20,000 people packed the city-center venue, about 15% of Dili's total population, for what was a lively, fun and trouble-free event. For the majority of young people, it was the first time they had attended a concert of this scale.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20091022/USAIDLOGO)

The concert showcased six of Timor-Leste's best bands and included the Indonesian rock group, Superman Is Dead (SID), as the main attraction. Popular local MCs and speakers highlighted the issues around human trafficking. Former U.S. Ambassador to Timor-Leste, Hans Klemm, spoke to the crowd via a pre-recorded video message, and was introduced by USAID Mission Director Mark White and Program Officer Cheryl A. Williams. The Minister for Social Solidarity, Maria Domingas Alves, spoke on behalf of the Timor-Leste government.

"Across Asia, the United States Government supports MTV EXIT's anti-trafficking campaign through generous support from USAID," Ambassador Klemm told the crowd. "Together we are committed to ending human trafficking, helping its victims, and catching and prosecuting those criminal organizers in Timor-Leste, in Asia, and around the world."

The June 25th concert opened a four month public awareness campaign. Media partners, including the national television service and community radio stations across the country will broadcast a range of anti-trafficking shows, including public service announcements, the MTV EXIT Timor-Leste documentary, and a special animation aimed to help young people understand the dangers of human trafficking. The campaign will also include another concert in October in one of Timor-Leste's district capitals.

With the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and NGO Alola Foundation as local partners, MTV EXIT is monitoring awareness, as well as changes in attitudes and behavior toward trafficking. Surveys from before, during and after the campaign will help inform interventions and show results. USAID Timor-Leste's media program, the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), is also supporting the campaign's outreach efforts with links to community radio stations in all 13 districts and training courses for journalists throughout the country on the issue of trafficking.

Sadly, more than 2.5 million people are trafficked every year, with the majority of victims coming from the Asia-Pacific region. The MTV EXIT campaign engages and empowers young people to better identify the dangers of human trafficking. Greater awareness of this issue can reduce suffering and abuse -- and save lives. With USAID support, MTV EXIT has held 25 concerts across Asia over the past two years, including events in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Nepal, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia. The MTV EXIT region-wide program is managed out of USAID's Regional Development Mission in Asia by Michael Bak, the Senior Governance and Vulnerable Populations Officer.

For more information about USAID and it's programs around the world please go to www.usaid.gov or contact the USAID press office at 202-712-1917.

More Information:

USAID

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent U.S. government agency that receives foreign-policy guidance from the U.S. Department of State. Since 1961, USAID has been the principal U.S. agency extending assistance to countries worldwide recovering from disaster, trying to escape poverty, and engaging in democratic reforms. USAID has worked in Timor-Leste since 1999. As part of a comprehensive partnership between Timor-Leste and the United States, USAID is currently supporting efforts in democratic governance; health services, including water, sanitation and hygiene; and economic growth.

MTV EXIT

The MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) campaign is an award-winning multimedia initiative to raise awareness and increase prevention of human trafficking and exploitation. MTV EXIT was launched in Europe in 2004, in partnership with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Sida, and expanded across Asia with USAID in 2007. To date MTV EXIT has produced many MTV documentaries and other programming on trafficking, including Sold: An MTV EXIT Special presented by Lara Dutta, Traffic: An MTV EXIT Special, presented by Lucy Liu; Inhuman Traffic, presented by Angelina Jolie; over a dozen localized language versions presented by Asian celebrities; short films; public service announcements; and animation. MTV EXIT and Radiohead collaborated on an anti-exploitation video for their song All I Need, which premiered across MTV's global network on 1 May 2008. MTV EXIT has also established partnerships with over 100 non-governmental organizations, distributed hundreds of thousands of anti-trafficking brochures in over 25 languages, and reached out to millions of young people through anti-trafficking messages at concerts and music festivals featuring R.E.M., Radiohead, The White Stripes, The Hives, Thievery Corporation, and hundreds of other international and local artists. For more information see www.mtvexit.org.

Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking is defined by the United Nations as "the recruitment, transportation, and receipt of a person for sexual or economical exploitation by force, fraud, coercion, or deception" in order to make a profit. The UN estimates that at any one time there are 2.5 million trafficked victims in the world, with the majority of these victims in Asia and the Pacific. It is the second-largest illegal trade after drugs, with criminal traffickers earning over US $10 billion every year through the buying and selling of human beings. Often, victims are young men and women – the MTV demographic – who are guilty only of wanting a better life.

MTV EXIT Foundation

Launched in 2003, the MTV Europe Foundation is a UK-based charity (Reg. No. 1103267) whose overarching aim is to utilize and maximize the power of MTV's network to educate youth and adults on critical social and human rights issues. The Foundation produces multimedia programming and events aimed at raising awareness and influencing attitudes and behaviors on key issues, as well as inspiring young people to take action. In addition, the Foundation seeks to support nongovernmental organizations that are working on the ground to address these issues and effect positive change.

About MTV Networks in Asia

MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. MTV Networks in Asia comprises three distinctly branded channels in the region: MTV, the world's largest television network and the leading multimedia brand for youth; Nickelodeon, the leading entertainment brand dedicated exclusively to kids; and VH1, the music video network that keeps adult viewers connected to the music they love. MTV Networks has the following channels and programming services in South and Southeast Asia: MTV Asia, MTV China, MTV India, MTV Indonesia, MTV Mandarin, MTV Pakistan, MTV Philippines and MTV Thailand, Nick Asia, Nick India, Nick Indonesia, Nick Pakistan, VH1 India, VH1 Indonesia and VH1 Thailand. MTV and Nickelodeon's businesses also include branded consumer products, program sales and digital media including online and wireless.

USAID Public Information: 202-712-4810

SOURCE U.S. Agency for International Development

RELATED LINKS

http://www.usaid.gov
http://www.mtvexit.org/

USAID Launches MTV EXIT Campaign in Timor-Leste -- DILI, Timore-Leste, July 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --

BERNAMA - MTV Reveals Animated Film Intersection To Raise Awareness Of Human Trafficking

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September 02, 2010 11:51 AM

VIENTIANE, Sept 2 (Bernama) -- The MTV Exit (End Exploitation and Trafficking) revealed that its first animated film intersection, aimed to raise awareness and help prevent human trafficking across the Asia-Pacific region, Laos News agency (KPL) reported.

Intersection is an adrenaline-fuelled animation that provides a hard-hitting look at human trafficking and sexual exploitation in Asia, and it will screen on Lao Star Channel on Sept 2.

The MTV has produced the film in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The purpose of the MTV Exit campaign is to raise the Lao young people's awareness and increase prevention of human trafficking and exploitation.

"I hope the animation will stir meaningful conversations among youth about how we can fight against this tragic form of modern-day slavery," said Cells' lead singer Athisak Rattanavong.

The UN estimates that there are 2.5 million trafficked victims in the world and more than half of them, are from the Asia-Pacific.

The human trafficking is the second-largest illegal trade in the world after drugs, with criminal earning more than US$ 10 billion each year through buying and selling of human beings.

Intersection's debut was attended by the United States of America Ambassador to Laos, Ravic Rolf Huso and UNDP Resident Representative Sonam Yangchen Rana, and representatives of relevant organisations.

-- BERNAMA

BERNAMA - MTV Reveals Animated Film Intersection To Raise Awareness Of Human Trafficking

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Sienna Baskin: A Victory for Survivors of Trafficking in New York State

Sienna Baskin and Melissa Broudo

Posted: September 1, 2010 05:39 PM

At 14, Kate*, ran from her abusive home in a New York suburb. With nowhere to live, it was only a matter of time before Kate found herself forced to engage in survival sex: sleeping with men for a place to stay. Soon after, she was recruited and forced to work for a pimp who confiscated her cell phone and cut her off from the outside world. For two years this violent older man forced Kate to do prostitution in New York and nearby states. She suffered multiple rapes, including once at gunpoint. Shy of her 17th birthday, Kate sought help from a program for sexually exploited minors, and bravely testified against her pimp - sending him to prison for 12 years.

Originally from Central America, Maria* moved to New York in the nineties to be with her husband - a man who later trafficked her into commercial sex. In 12 years of marriage he physically, sexually, and psychologically abused her. He also forced her to do prostitution, which she found humiliating and debasing, especially as a devout Christian. She always had to turn over her earnings to him. After her husband disappeared in 2005, Maria finally spoke out about the abuses she had endured over the years and began working with a social worker. With help from a lawyer, she was granted a T-visa (a special Visa given to survivors of human trafficking) so she could stay safely in the U.S.

But a deeper look at the seemingly happy endings to these tragic stories wears off some of that sheen. In a span of two years the police arrested Kate for prostitution six times. Maria was arrested over eight times. Both women were afraid, confused, and unable to tell law enforcement what was really happening. Now in her 20's, Kate has put her past behind her to pursue her education and dreams of a career in finance. But her criminal record has threatened to stand in her way. To get a job at a bank, she was required to submit to a background check and disclose her prostitution record. Maria found a job as a home health attendant, but five years later, her employer ran her fingerprints, discovered her criminal record, and fired her.

Saturday, August 13, 2010, marked a victory for survivors like Maria and Kate, when New York's Governor David Paterson signed a bill allowing survivors of commercial sex trafficking to clear their records of prostitution-related crimes by vacating their convictions. The bill, sponsored by Assembly Member Gottfried and Senator Duane and co-authored by the Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center, is the first law in the nation providing this remedy to survivors of trafficking.

The need for this law reveals a deep flaw in law enforcement. Some of our clients at the Sex Workers Project have been arrested more than 10 times before they were able to escape their coercive circumstances. Many could not reach out to police for help for fear of deportation or arrest, or of retribution from their abusers. And law enforcement too often does not look deeper. These victims are simply processed through the revolving door of the criminal justice system like any other "prostitute," convicted and released, often back into the hands of their traffickers.

Criminal records make it more difficult for individuals, especially those already marginalized by their immigration status and abuse history, to gain and maintain economic and familial stability. A record of prostitution can make someone "inadmissible" to the United States - preventing survivors from getting immigration status. It can come up in an application for public housing, and is especially harmful when survivors try to get a job. Some of the best living wage jobs in the health care, education, or financial fields also come with a background check. In addition to the crippling professional barrier, the experience of recounting the past remains psychologically traumatizing for people like Kate and Maria.

Until now, there were very few options for survivors of trafficking with criminal records. In New York, only violations can be sealed, not misdemeanor crimes like prostitution. While New York's "Safe Harbor Act" was intended to prevent exploited youth from suffering the consequences of prostitution convictions, 90% of youth arrested for prostitution are still charged in Criminal Court where they can end up with a criminal record, according to a 2008 study by John Jay School of Criminal Justice and the Center for Court Innovation. Many more uncounted minors tell the court they are 18 or older at the insistence of their traffickers, or to avoid the longer process in Family Court. Because the criminal courts have such high volume, the system does not often hear the real stories behind the endless stream of misdemeanor cases.

This New York law will help survivors of trafficking in New York State to find economic and personal security and escape being victimized and penalized again. We hope it will also inspire police, judges, prosecutors and defenders to question our current approach to prostitution, sex workers, and victims of trafficking. Law enforcement should be trained to understand signs of trafficking and should refer to victims' advocates when they encounter individuals who appear to be in coercive situations. But beyond these small changes, we need a serious re-examination of our punitive approach to prostitution. We need to rethink our use of government dollars to prosecute members of our community, some of whom are just trying to make a living, and some of whom are victims of abhorrent violence. We are just at the beginning of reforming a legal system that treats these members of our community as the lowest of the low.

SWP encourages survivors and advocates to come forward to obtain relief provided by New York's new legislation. Founded in 2001, SWP provides legal services to people who are in the sex trade by choice, coercion, or circumstance. Clients of SWP include sex workers and survivors of trafficking from within and outside of the United States. If you think you may benefit from this bill, or need legal or social services relating to being a sex worker or survivor of trafficking, please call our helpline at 646-602-5617 or email us at swp@urbanjustice.org.

* Clients consented to have their stories used, but not their real names

Sienna Baskin: A Victory for Survivors of Trafficking in New York State

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Human trafficking needs more inclusive definition - by Catherine Sasman

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From New Era

30 August 2010 

WINDHOEK – Well-known social researcher in the southern African region, Merab Kiremire, said human trafficking ought to be redefined for perpetrators to be more successfully prosecuted.

Currently, human trafficking is taking a person from one place to another for purposes other than stated or agreed upon through coaxing, deception, convincing, fraud, abuse of power, outright abduction, or coercion.

Human trafficking is also described as the recruitment, transportation, harbouring, or receipt of people for the purposes of slavery, forced labour (including bonded labour or debt bondage, and servitude).

Exploitation includes forcing people into prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery and servitude.

“If we continue with complex definitions, the system won’t be able to prosecute traffickers; there must be a way to simplify terms,” said Kiremire, who was part of a team that travelled throughout the country and had gone to all border posts during May to July to raise awareness about human trafficking among border-post personnel, truck drivers and church and political leaders in preparation for the 2010 Fifa World Cup that took place in South Africa.

The group, under the auspices of the Churches United Against HIV/AIDS in Eastern and Southern Africa, in partnership with the Council of Churches in Namibia (CCN), did a baseline study of what a likely scenario would be during the soccer event.

What the group found, said Karimire, and was that girls and women were streaming into South Africa, which is considered as the best sex trade market in the region.

In a 2008 study entitled Southern African Network Against Abuse and Trafficking, Kiremire found 110 girls – usually between the ages of 14 to 24, considered the ‘prime’ years for prostitutes – were found to have moved from Lusaka in Zambia to Johannesburg “to be located in the most appropriate places”.

The more recent study showed that girls and women moved to South Africa, especially from Mozambique and Zambia. Those who went from Namibia left mainly from Windhoek and Walvis Bay, often armed only with the knowledge that they have to “following B1” to South Africa.

“What we found was not so much what can be considered human trafficking, but prostitutes moving,” said Karimire.

However, she said, what became clear was that the girls were taken by older prostitutes and truck drivers.

“Often these girls would not know where they are going. The risk young people take is horrendous, and yet they say they often have no alternative but to,” said Kiremire. A shocking discovery, said Kiremire, was the symbiotic relationship between prostitutes, truck drivers and border-post personnel that become familiar with the drivers passing through regularly.

At one police checkpoint at Grünau, it was recorded that over a period of four days, as many as 50 trucks passed by with women on board.

Police in this instance are often helpless bystanders because the women have valid travel documents.

“The biggest discovery was the fact that there is a very thin line between consensual movement and trafficking. We did not find, for example, syndicates that intentionally recruit and move people without consent. Many of the girls are happy to jump onto a truck thinking they are going to Windhoek, but then they find themselves taken to Oshikango, where they are dumped,” explained Kiremire.

In other cases, young girls go onto fishing vessels at Walvis Bay “for a good time”, and without their knowledge or consent end up in places such as Argentine.

Kiremire said a new law is required that would clearly identify and prosecute the traffickers, and that gives law enforcers the power to use their discretionary powers to incarcerate suspicious elements until proven wrong.

“I think that way more people can be protected,” said Kiremire.


http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=12732

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Human Trafficking: International sex trafficking fugitive arrives in U.S. to face charges | Mike Hitchen Online: i On Global Trends - news, opinion, analysis

Via Mike Hitchen Online: i On Global Trends - news, opinion, analysis


REET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; JAMES T. HAYES, JR., the Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Office of Homeland Security Investigations ("HSI") in New York; and JANICE K. FEDARCYK, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), announced that UN SUN BROWN arrived late yesterday in the Southern District of New York to face a charge of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, forced labor, and alien smuggling. BROWN was originally charged in 2006 and has remained a fugitive since then. On August 1, 2010, BROWN surrendered to HSI agents in Washington, D.C. BROWN is expected to be presented in Manhattan federal court later today.

The original series of cases, which were prosecuted in 2006 and 2007, resulted in the convictions of 25 individuals. These included five defendants who were tried and convicted in November 2007 in the case United States v. Kyo Hwa Adler, et al., 06 Cr. 717 (AKH).

Manhattan U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA said: "After four years on the lam, Un Sun Brown has finally surrendered to HSI authorities to face federal sex trafficking charges. Brown and her co-conspirators allegedly made hundreds of thousands of dollars prostituting women, forcing them to reside five-at-a-time in single rooms and requiring them to have sex with customers for no wages and at risk to their personal safety."

HSI Special Agent-in-Charge JAMES T. HAYES, JR., said: "Sex traffickers prey on the vulnerabilities of their victims to force them into lives of servitude and rob them of their human dignity. We will continue to work tirelessly with our partners to bring down these ruthless operations and bring to justice those who profit from them."

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge JANICE K. FEDARCYK stated: "UN SUN BROWN allegedly committed sex trafficking, forced labor, and alien smuggling, preying on young women. Her arrest will keep other women safe from her criminal activity. Running from the law doesn't work and now Brown will face trial for these serious crimes."

According to the Complaint filed in Manhattan federal court and other documents filed in the case:

BROWN participated in an international criminal operation that smuggled women from South Korea into the United States, and placed those women at various prostitution businesses located throughout the Northeastern United States. BROWN owned a prostitution business known as "14K Spa," which was located in downtown Washington, D.C.

BROWN and her co-conspirators utilized a network of drivers to deliver Korean women to work at the conspirators’ businesses as prostitutes, and to transport women within the network to meet customer demand. BROWN generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual income at her business, by charging customers "house fees" to have sex with the women, while paying them no wages or salaries. The women were also required to pay BROWN up to $500 per week from the money they received directly from customers for sex.

BROWN typically employed five women at a time, all of whom were required to sleep on mattresses on the floor in a single room inside BROWN’s business. The women also were required to follow "house rules" that barred the women from going outside or refusing customers. At least one of the women who worked at BROWN’s business was the victim of a sexual assault that occurred inside BROWN’s business. She was then instructed by the business’s manager not to contact the police, to refund the customer who had assaulted her, and to return to work.

BROWN, 60, is charged with is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, forced labor, and alien smuggling. If convicted, BROWN faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, as well as a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the pecuniary gain from the offense.

Mr. BHARARA praised the investigative work of HSI and the FBI.

Assistant U.S. Attorney ELIE HONIG is in charge of the prosecution, which is being handled by the Office's Organized Crime Unit.

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
 Human Trafficking: International sex trafficking fugitive arrives in U.S. to face charges | Mike Hitchen Online: i On Global Trends - news, opinion, analysis

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More convicted for human trafficking - People's Daily Online

08:23, September 01, 2010

The number of criminals convicted of human trafficking has risen sharply in the first seven months of this year, the country's top court said on Tuesday.



Family members of a kidnapped boy cannot hold back their tears after their child is rescued by police and comes home to Du'an Yao autonomous county, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on Aug 4. [Mo Xiantao / Xinhua]

The Supreme People's Court (SPC) said 2,137 criminals were convicted in the 1,233 cases of human trafficking that were dealt with nationally from January to July, a 45.23 percent increase over the same period last year.

The severity of sentences handed out to 1,238 of the convicted were for periods of either more than five years, a life sentence or the death sentence, an increase of 75 percent over the same period last year, according to court data.

"The number of human trafficking cases continues to rise despite severe penalties for such cases. Combating human trafficking will be a long, difficult job for the courts," Sun Jungong, spokesman for the SPC, said on Tuesday.

"To the human traffickers who intentionally kidnap children for profit, we will impose severe punishments. For kidnappers sentenced to death with convictions that are up to the legal standard, the SPC will approve the sentences in order to curb such crimes," he warned.

According to the Criminal Law, those who kidnap more than three children could face a minimum of five years in prison to the maximum of a death sentence.



The top court also announced that two human traffickers had been executed on Monday.

Lu Jincheng, a 25-year-old farmer in Southeast China's Fujian province, was convicted of trafficking an 8-month-old boy in 2008 after killing his mother and 75-year-old grandmother. He later sold the boy for 37,000 yuan ($5,433).

He Cong, a 36-year-old farmer, was convicted of kidnapping 12 children, aged 1 to 7, from 2006 to 2007 in Southwest China's Guizhou province and selling them in Central China's Henan province.

Sun said the court will insist that severe penalties be imposed on those who profit from selling women and children, while it is inclined to be more lenient toward those who purchase them, if the kidnap victims have been treated kindly.

According to the law, those who purchased kidnap victims and cooperate with the authorities by returning the victims to their families may not be punished, while those who do not cooperate could face possible sentences of three years in prison.

Xue Shulan, a judge in the SPC, attributed the rising number of human trafficking cases to the demand of a large market, especially in rural areas where people who have a preference for males are willing to spend a lot of money to buy a boy.

About 30,000 to 60,000 children are reported missing every year in China, but it is difficult to estimate how many are actually cases of human trafficking, the Ministry of Public Security said.

Source: China Daily

 

More convicted for human trafficking - People's Daily Online

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Biaudet to Probe Human Trafficking Suspicions | News | YLE Uutiset | yle.fi

From Uutiset

Published Mon 06:30 PM, updated Tue 10:02 AM

Eva Biaudet

Image: Yle

The office of the Ombudsman for Minorities is looking into whether the Finnish Immigration Service is able to recognise possible cases of human trafficking as it processes family reunification applications.

The Interior Ministry said recently it suspects that there are some cases of human trafficking among the current flood of applications to bring foster children from Somalia -- the vast majority of them being teen-aged girls, according to a report published in the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat on Sunday.

On Monday, Minorities Ombudsman Eva Biaudet asked why the Immigration Service has not reported any such cases to support organisations for victims of human trafficking.

She plans to find out whether there are grounds for such suspicions or shortcomings in the application process.

Biaudet, a former Minister of Health and Social Services, served as the OSCE's Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings until taking over as Ombudsman this year.

Under Finnish law, victims of human trafficking -- or even suspected victims -- are eligible for participation in a support system. Two immigrant reception centres, in Joensuu and Oulu, are specialised in assisting such individuals. Victims receive official protection and may be given temporary residence permits pending police investigations.

Biaudet told YLE that she wants answers on the issue from the Immigration Service by September 10.

Backlog of Applications for Somali Foster Kids

Tighter Rules on Family Reunification

YLE, Helsingin Sanomat

Biaudet to Probe Human Trafficking Suspicions | News | YLE Uutiset | yle.fi

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