U.S. Warns Saudi Arabia to Reduce Human Trafficking (Update1)

By Demian McLean June 3 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. today warned Saudi Arabia, theworld's largest oil exporter, to step up its efforts against humantrafficking or face the possibility of sanctions. The Saudi regime fell two notches this year to the lowestranking in the State Department's annual ``Trafficking in PersonsReport,'' which says that 600,000 to 800,000 people are bought andsold across international borders annually. Qatar, Kuwait and theUnited Arab Emirates also fell to the lowest ranking. ``Our hope is there will be enough progress in freeingvictims or throwing traffickers in jail'' within three months,Ambassador John Miller said at the State Department. The U.S. sanctions, which don't apply to trade, would requirethe U.S. to oppose loans from global entities such as theInternational Monetary Fund or the World Bank. Saudi Arabia has noloans from either institution. The four Arab countries have used trafficking victims as domestic servants and child jockeys in camel races, among otherroles, Miller said.

Worker Protection
Domestic workers have no protection under Saudi labor laws,and most abuses of foreign workers are settled under Islamic lawor by royal decrees, the report says. The Saudi Embassy inWashington declined to comment. Equatorial Guinea and Venezuela are two nations that havebeen sanctioned under the trafficking law. While the West Africancountry improved two notches in this year's report, Venezuelaremains at the bottom and faces U.S. opposition to internationalloans. ``The U.S. cannot, in itself, veto a loan to Venezuela,''said Daniel Drosdoff, spokesman for the Inter-American DevelopmentBank. The Washington-based institution is considering up to $2billion in loans to Venezuela over the next three years. The U.S.holds a third of the bank's voting shares. New countries in the report's lowest tier are Bolivia,Cambodia, Jamaica and Togo. Burma, Cuba, Ecuador, North Korea and Sudan retained their bottom rankings. Some 80 percent of human-trafficking victims worldwide arefemale, and 70 percent wind up in the sex industry, Miller said.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called it a ``modern form ofslavery.'' ``As the president has said, `Human life is the gift of ourcreator and it should never be for sale.'''

--With reporting by Janine Zacharia in Washington. Editor: Hughey.

Story illustration: For the full State Department report, see:http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2005/
To contact the reporter on this story:Demian McLean in Washington at (1) (202) 624-1864 or dmclean8@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:Edward DeMarco at (1) (202) 624-1935 or edemarco1@bloomberg.net.

U.S. Rep. Maloney Urges Crackdown on Sex Trafficking Industry’s Demand Side & Organizers.
With ECPAT-USA, calls for stronger treatment services for domestic victims of sexual exploitation

Maloney urges quick passage of the “End Demand for Sex Trafficking Act of 2005" as lead Democratic sponsor of legislation with U.S. Representative Deborah Pryce (R-OH)
NEW YORK, NY - Today, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) joined leading advocates for victims of sexual exploitation, in calling for greater emphasis by law enforcement on the prosecution of organizers and purchasers in the sex trafficking industry, while treating young victims of sexual exploitation, both domestic and foreign, to fair and equal treatment services.
Maloney joined Carol Smolenski, Executive Director of End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes-USA (ECPAT-USA), Rachel Lloyd, founder of the Girls Education and Mentoring Services, and Jessica Neuwirth, President of Equality Now, as ECPAT-USA announced a new report revealing a disparity in treatment between American and foreign girls who are exploited for sex trafficking.

At the event, Congresswoman Maloney detailed legislation she recently introduced, with the bill’s lead House sponsor Congresswoman Deborah Price (R-OH), not only to focus resources on stronger law enforcement efforts to prosecute purchasers and organizers in the sex trafficking industry, but also to create resources and treatment for young American and foreign girls who are victims of commercial sex trafficking.....

(for full article, click on link below)
http://www.house.gov/maloney/press/109th/20050509SexTrafficking.htm

From Terry FriedenCNN
Thursday, May 19, 2005 Posted: 5:53 PM EDT (2153 GMT) WASHINGTON (CNN) --

Producers of sexually explicit material must be able to prove the subjects depicted in their photographs and films are adults, according to new government regulations approved Tuesday by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

To implement a government crackdown, Gonzales signed final rules that establish detailed procedures for inspecting pornography producers' records to ensure children aren't being used as performers in sexually explicit depictions.....

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/17/childporn.regs/index.html

May 15, 2005, 1:08 PM EDT

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Earlier this year, a couple in Michigan was accused of enslaving a 14-year-old African girl, hitting her with a belt and shoes and sexually abusing her for three years. Last fall, a 60-year-old Filipino woman in California won an $825,000 lawsuit after claiming she was enslaved and assaulted, working 18 hours a day, and sleeping in a dog bed. And last month, federal agents broke up a prostitution ring in Brooklyn exploiting Asian girls.

They are among as many as 20,000 immigrants smuggled into the U.S. each year headed toward possible slavery or prostitution often through the major ports of New York, California and Florida, according to federal officials and a study by Florida State University.....

Hi All,

CNN has written up a Trafficking Crime article today. One of our PbP volunteers has forwarded it to me and thought you'd also be interested - pls see below.

I would like to work out a way to keep tabs on these write-ups and have them be accessible to our members either through our site or other means. Will follow-up
on that shortly. - Natalie -

** ** **
Two guilty over Jakarta sex trade
>From CNN Justice Producer Terry Frieden
Tuesday, April 26, 2005

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two men pleaded guilty in Virginia state Tuesday to plotting to recruit young Indonesian women and teenage girls to come to the United States to work as prostitutes and nude dancers, in what Justice Department officials termed "reprehensible" and "evil.".... (for more, go to the link below):

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/04/26/indonsia.trafficking/index.html

Official estimate indicates that 14,500 to 17,500 people are trafficked into the U.S. every year from many parts of the world, for forced labor & prostitution. Although much of this affects the Asian American communities and Asian countries, child sexual exploitation and trafficking is a devastating global issue.

ECPAT-USA ("End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes”. www.ecpatusa.org) is part of an international network of ECPATs (75 around the globe) that pioneers efforts to fight trafficking & sexual exploitation of children through advocacy, research, and education.

Locally, in New York , ECPAT-USA provides information and workshops to NYPD, schools, and community group leaders on how to help identify trafficked and/or abused victims, provide help, and prosecute criminals. ECPAT-USA also works closely with the travel industry and government to fight this problem abroad.

Under the umbrella humanitarian issue of human trafficking, ECPAT locked arms with the International Organization for Adolescents and community groups around New York City and organized the Community Response to Trafficking Project (CRT; www.nyctrafficking.org ) in 2002. CRT provides the New York City community with the knowledge, skills and tools to effectively combat human trafficking issues.

ECPAT-USA seeks to promote awareness to a wider and deeper audience to ensure that children everywhere enjoy their fundamental rights free from all forms of commercial sexual exploitation. Project by Project aims to help make that goal happen with your volunteering and support.

Please contact the Outreach Team at outreach.ny@projectbyproject.org to sign up and learn more about how you can help.