I don’t usually discuss things or give too many opinions on anything involving the government or politics. When it comes to Human Trafficking, Poaching and the Endangered Species List I tend to get upset. These subjects have meaning to me. So while watching the news today I saw at the bottom of the screen something that really got me riled.
From the U.S. State Department:
Approximately 80% of Trafficking involves sexual exploitation, and 19% involves labor exploitation.
There are 20 to 30 Million slaves in the World today.
The average age a child enters the sex trade in the U.S. is 12 to 14.
California harbors 3 of the FBI’s 13 highest child sex trafficking areas in the Nation: Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline receives more calls from Texas than any other state in the U.S. 15% of those calls are from the Dallas Fort Worth area.
Trafficking is the 3rd largest International Crime Industry behind illegal drugs and guns. It reportedly makes a profit of $32 BILLION/YEAR. This is why it’s hard to stop.
The U.S. has a list of places they will not trade with because of it’s history with human trafficking. The list has several Tiers. If a country is on Tier 1 or 2 in means they are trying to do something about the problem. The lower Tiers are considered the worst and we can not trade with them.
Malaysia was on the lowest Tier. It was “fast tracked” to a higher Tier allowing the U.S. to go ahead with a free trade deal with Southeast Asia and 11 other countries.
As The President was negotiating authority for his trade deal Malaysian police uncovered 139 graves in jungle camps used by Traffickers.
On June 29th they fast tracked and pushed ahead on the deal.
Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division said he was “stunned” by the upgrade. He didn’t think Malaysia had done enough to fight Trafficking in any way.
Malaysia was on the same Tier as Thailand, known as a vacation spot for it’s child prostitution/Trafficking, Adult prostitution/Trafficking.
The President of the United States “fast tracked” for trade, a place known for Human Trafficking mostly children, where they have found mass graves of said victims when they are no longer useful.
What do we need from them that is worth the lives of women and children forced into sexual slavery?
When you figure it out let me know.
Insights Of A Bipolar Rambler 