Toni D. Weymouth's Posts - CrimeSpace2024-03-29T12:49:28ZToni D. Weymouthhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/ToniDWeymouthhttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/60992056?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://crimespace.ning.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=1lll2vu1z8x8r&xn_auth=noHuman Traffickingtag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-04-20:537324:BlogPost:2329712010-04-20T18:21:33.000ZToni D. Weymouthhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/ToniDWeymouth
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 1.8pt;">Nietzche wrote: “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. For when you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks onto you.” Human trafficking is filled with monsters. The
victims are brutalized until they cannot fight back. It’s up to us to listen to<br />
their pleas for help, to show compassion, give assistance and never point the<br />
finger of shame. These victims have lived with monsters. They’ve…</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 1.8pt;">Nietzche wrote: “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. For when you look long
into an abyss, the abyss looks onto you.” Human trafficking is filled with monsters. The<br />
victims are brutalized until they cannot fight back. It’s up to us to listen to<br />
their pleas for help, to show compassion, give assistance and never point the<br />
finger of shame. These victims have lived with monsters. They’ve become<br />
intimate with monsters and they’ll have these memories for the rest of their<br />
lives.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -2.7pt;">In 1996 when I attended the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality for my doctorate in sexology, I
briefly met a young woman from the Ukraine. She spoke a little English, never<br />
gave her name, only that she’d been brought to this country to work.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 1.8pt;"></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 1.8pt;">We met at lunch with three other people, ex-prostitutes who spent their time warning anyone who’d listen about
the dangers of working on the streets. What made this lunch interesting and scary<br />
was what this young Eastern European lady had to say about American women.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 1.8pt;">“You think you are safe,” she said. “There are rich Russian men . . . what do you say?” She glanced at the
deli behind us. “These men, they choose . . .” She pointed to the counter.<br />
“Like that. How they prefer woman to be.”</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 1.8pt;">I said, “You mean, these men special order a woman?”</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -2.7pt;">“Yes. Tell recruiter. Recruiter takes photos. Men pick from photos. Woman is taken. She goes to him.”</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 1.8pt;">“What if she’s married with kids?”</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 1.8pt;">“No matter, he takes her. She is gone one day and no one can help her.” At that point, she told us how a
recruiter trapped her into becoming a prostitute. “I take job in Berlin,<br />
support my family. This man, he says I owe money for plane ride, for food and<br />
housing, for many papers to enter country and I must pay travel fees. Twelve<br />
thousand dollars. I work two years to pay this off. But they add every day<br />
costs and I cannot repay this, so they take me to Israel and Turkey.”</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 1.8pt;">I searched through my notes from the Institute and found what I’d written about the luncheon. It gave me the
momentum to write a book called <i style="">Debt<br />
Bondage</i>, about a San Francisco radio personality, special ordered by a<br />
Russian mobster called Black Wolf. His recruiter kidnaps the heroine,<br />
transports her to Turkey and then holds her in an underground bunker until she<br />
is sent to an outpost of brothels in Sarajevo. Black Wolf’s protection<br />
initially saves her from sexual abuse but not from the brutality metered out on<br />
a daily basis by the roofs (guards). I had forgotten about that meeting until I<br />
watched a PBS Frontline special called <i style="">Sex<br />
Slaves</i>.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 1.8pt;">Human trafficking and the sex slave industry will continue as long as there are obscene profits to be made,
unlimited reusable and renewable products to be sold (human beings), and<br />
uncaring governments with little or no law enforcement. Societal thinking is<br />
also a problem. In some countries, women are seen as less important than men.<br />
They have less status, make less money, are mostly uneducated and endure<br />
domestic physical and sexual abuse that is often overlooked because “men are<br />
men.” Rape is viewed as a normal consequence of war. A way to hurt the enemy.<br />
Until all citizens are educated, all are valued in the same way, nothing will ever change.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 1.8pt;"></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 1.8pt;">Do not let these traffickers (monsters) continue to profit off our ignorance, our outdated mores and our apathy.
Make a difference, look into organizations and social agencies that help<br />
trafficked victims, education yourself and then education someone else.</p>Jeri Westerson, a pro at worktag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-04-12:537324:BlogPost:2323402010-04-12T16:30:44.000ZToni D. Weymouthhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/ToniDWeymouth
<p class="MsoNormal">When one is volunteered to write an article, she’s usually given a guideline of expectations. Mine: write about what you learned at Saturday’s April 3rd, SIC meeting.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">For starters, what I learned came from a writer’s point of view. Authors, future authors and budding writers please take note; Jeri Westerson is a prime example of how a professional conducts herself in public.</p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal">Westerson entered our morning with a smile. She…</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When one is volunteered to write an article, she’s usually given a guideline of expectations. Mine: write about what you learned at Saturday’s
April 3rd, SIC meeting.</p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal">For starters, what I learned came from a writer’s point of view. Authors, future authors and budding writers please take note; Jeri
Westerson is a prime example of how a professional conducts herself in public.</p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal">Westerson entered our morning with a smile. She spoke to a dozen people milling about in the dining room, set up a fascinating photogenic
display and at the same time, became one with her audience. Best of all, she<br />
continued to be accessible as we readied for the meeting. I’ve been to<br />
conferences where authors held themselves apart from their readers and talked<br />
only about their books. Jeri Westerson, however, gave us a glimpse into her<br />
personal self, which made me interested in knowing more about her. She spoke in<br />
a style that carried a depth of personality mixed with a sidesplitting wittiness<br />
that enthralled her audience and she led us down the merry lane of historical<br />
research where she exhibited a deadly (sharp) array of weaponry as well as<br />
titillating us with their various uses.</p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal">Westerson’s new Medieval Series starring Crispin Guest, whom she raptly describes as a handsomely dark and brooding ex-knight turned noir
sleuth in 1340’s England, sent tingles up my spine. Who wouldn’t crawl into bed<br />
with the delectable Guest, sip hot chocolate and turn the page? When asked who<br />
should play Guest, Westerson replied, Hugh Jackman. Maybe, but may I suggest<br />
Eric Etebari who plays the seductive swordsman, Ian Nottingham in Witchblade. Hollywood<br />
directors, regrettably, would cast Tom Cruise in the role. But those of us who<br />
have read <i style="">Veil of Lies</i>, <i style="">Serpent in the Thorns</i> or <i style="">The Demon’s</i> <i style="">Parchment,</i> understand that no movie star can surpass our imagination,<br />
the biggest turn on of all.</p>