Added April 30, 2008
Washington, DC USA
Ricky Martin at the
April 29th Inter-
American Develop-
ment Bank (IADB)
event kicking-off the
"CALL AND LIVE"
campaign in
Washington, DC
El cantante Ricky Martin ha
decidido extender su lucha contra el tráfico de
personas a Estados Unidos, donde se calcula que hay
unas 20 mil personas [nuevas cada año] que son
retenidas o han sido desplazadas contra su voluntad.
El artista, que
desarrolla esta labor a través de la Ricky Martin
Foundation (RMF) , presentó hoy en Washington la
campaña "Llama y Vive"...
La campaña consta de
anuncios de radio, televisión y prensa escrita, en
los que el cantante promociona una línea telefónica
de información y asistencia contra el tráfico de
personas en la capital estado-unidense...
"Si estás lejos de casa
y te están explotando sexual o laboralmente, eres
víctima de trata" rezan los tres comerciales
dirigidos a la población latina...
"No están solos" dijo
Martin dirigiéndose a los latinos de Washington. "Vamos
a llamar a sus puertas si es necesario, para
preguntarles si necesitan nuestra ayuda"...
- EFE / El Universal
April 29, 2008
Ricky Martin campaigns against human trafficking [in
Washington, DC]
Latin heartthrob Ricky Martin is
using his star power to launch "Llama y Vive" or "Call and Live", a campaign to
prevent human trafficking from Latin America and also provide services for
victims.
"Call and Live" has already been
implemented in Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Peru, and Nicaragua. Now, it's
expanding to five more Latin American countries.
Martin has partnered with the
Inter-American Develop-ment Bank and Ayuda [a local Latino legal services
agency] to launch "Call and Live".
Ricky Martin on human trafficking
says: "My dream right now is all about seeing abolition, abolition of a new era,
abolition of what we call a modern day form of slavery which is human
trafficking and I'm not going to give up."
The campaign works to prevent human
trafficking from Latin America and provide protection services to Latino victims
in Washington, D.C. including offering a confidential victims' hotline...
- TimesNow.tv - with material from
Reuters
India
April 30, 2008
LibertadLatina
note:
The Llama y Vive / Call and Live kick-off event in Washington, DC on April 29,
2008 was an historic occasion. Human trafficking, in its many forms, has
long-existed in the Washington, DC region. Ten and twenty years ago when I
began seeking help from Latino agencies and the local press for exploited
Latinas, few people and organizations in a position to help answered the call.
The
LibertadLatina
project and this web site came into existence as a
result of those efforts, dating back to 1986, to bring assistance to the victim
community.
I salute Ricky Martin, his foundation, the Ayuda legal services agency, the
Washing-ton DC Office of Latino Affairs, other collabor-ating agencies and local
Latino media outlets for working to address the issues of human trafficking and
exploitation head on.
¡Mil gracias!
A thousand thanks!
The victim community awaits our serious and substantial efforts to help them!
- Chuck Goolsby
LibertadLatina
April 30, 2008
See also:
The exploitation of Latin American women and
children in the greater Washington, DC region
- LibertadLatina
Latina worker sexual exploitation in the office
cleaning Industry - a 1990's case in which
Washington, DC area government agencies,
corporations and the press refused to come to
the assistance of Latina women & girls.
- LibertadLatina
There
is one form of prostitution slavery that exists
in almost every neighborhood in greater
Washington.
It
is well-known that the women and girls involved are forced to
work against their will, and that the
traffickers transport in new groups of them to each
apartment-based brothel every two weeks from New York City.
Nothing has changed since the time of the below
1994 article, except that the city of
Washington, DC now has even more Latin brothels
than ever before:
String of Latino brothels
found in [Washington, DC's] Virginia and
Maryland Suburbs: Police Say Women Come from New
York
- Washington Post
Sep. 21, 1994
Law enforcement - shut
down the [mega-brothel] rape camps of Langley
Park, Maryland!
- LibertadLatina
Aug. 5, 2005
Our first report on the
Sexual Exploitation of
Latina immigrant Women
and Girls [in the
workplace] in the greater Washington, DC region.
-
Chuck Goolsby
LibertadLatina
Feb., 1994
Dominican Republic
Republica Dominicana: ONG denuncia incremento de trata de
blancas en República Dominicana
Advocacy group
in the Dominican Republic
has denounced a recent
increase in human trafficking, and calls for urgent help from the national government to address
the crisis.
The nation is the forth largest source country for women trafficked in
prostitution across the globe (following Thailand, Brazil and the Philippines).
Santo Domingo - According to the a spokesperson for
the Aquelarre Assistance Center (CEAPA), between 50,000 and 60,000 Dominican
women are forced to work in prostitution abroad.
During a recent workshop conducted by CEAPA, victims
of exploitation shared their stories of abuse at the hands of exploiters, and
discussed the fact that the number of Dominican women trapped in exploitation is
increasing. Many victims are entrapped by typically false overseas job offers, and are pushed to migrate by poverty or to flee an abusive relationship.
During the workshop, a woman identified only as Fátima gave testimony that these victims are extorted, are subjected to physical
abuses, are forced to serve up to 10 clients each day, and are murdered with
impunity.
- PrensaLatina.com
Mexico
April 24, 2008
Arizona, USA
[Undocumented] immigrant suffers miscarriage
An
[undocumented] immigrant woman from Chiapas, Mexico had a miscarriage Sunday
after entering the U.S... and being left behind by traveling companions near
Marana.
...The
25-year-old woman called 911 and said she had been dropped on Sandario Road and
needed help...
She was
transported to Northwest Hospital but the unborn baby was dead upon arrival...
She
went into labor in a vehicle that was transporting the group and had the
miscarriage inside. The group agreed to drop her off at Sandario Road where she
would call for help, Daniels said. She was not traveling with any family members
or friends.
The
Border Patrol contacted the Mexican Consulate in Tucson and they are working
together to get her safely to her home in Chiapas, located in southern Mexico,
Daniels said.
- Brady McCombs
Arizona Daily Star
April 28, 2008
Costa Rica and California, USA
Accused California sex tourist added to ICE 'most wanted'
list
Oakland
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is appealing for the public's
help in locating a 61-year-old Bay Area mortgage finance expert who fled after
an ICE investigation led to him being charged with child sex tourism and
possession of child pornography.
Leonard
B. Auerbach, of Orinda, Calif., was added today to ICE's list of "most wanted"
fugitives. The action comes after Auerbach failed to appear for his arraignment
in federal court...
...Search warrants, including one executed at his Orinda residence, showed that
Auerbach traveled to Costa Rica approximately 40 times between 2003 and 2007.
...ICE agents discovered computers and thumb drives containing images of
Auerbach with a minor female in various stages of undress...
The
public is encouraged to report suspected child predators and suspicious activity
by contacting ICE's 24-hour toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE; and the
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, at 1-800-843-5678 or
cybertipline.com.
- U.S. ICE
April 22, 2008
Virginia, USA
Woman Abducted, Raped While Walking With Baby
Fairfax
- A team of detectives went door-to-door Friday night, searching for clues in
the alleged rape of a woman who was attacked walking her infant daughter in the
Springfield area, authorities said.
The
18-year-old woman was carrying her 3-month-old daughter in a car seat outside
the Commerce Plaza shopping center when she was approached by a man with a
handgun in his waistband at about 8 p.m. Thursday.
"She
was then forced down along several streets to finally end up in the 6200 block
of Dana Avenue," said Camille Neville, of Fairfax County police. "At gunpoint
she was forced to go behind one of the residences there and she was raped."
Police
said the man threatened the baby, raped the woman and fled...
Police
described the attacker as a Hispanic man in his mid-20s...
- NBC4
Washington, DC
April 25, 2008
Rhode Island, USA
Outcry follows crackdown on [undocumented] immigration
Providence - Rhode Island's closest international border is the Canadian one,
about 200 miles to the north. About 11 percent of the 1 million people who live
in Rhode Island were born in another country, and estimates say a third or less
of those people are in the country illegally.
But
Gov. Don Carcieri says [undocumented] immigration has become such a problem --
and costs the state so much money as it grapples with a $568 million budget
deficit -- that last month he signed an executive order directing state police
to crack down on illegal immigrants.
Church
leaders and some of Carcieri's own advisers have urged him to rescind the order
or have said it is creating a climate of fear among minorities.
Protesters stormed the office of Carcieri's top policy aide. Police departments
are divided. Some say they'll enforce the order, but the chief in Providence
says it's destroying the bonds of trust officers have built with communities.
After
meeting with concerned clergy Friday, Carcieri declined to rescind his order.
But he agreed to create an advisory committee that will monitor how it is
enforced.
- Ray Henry
The Associated Press
April 27, 2008
Texas, USA
[Undocumented] Immigrant Faces Deportation After Crash
Irving
- A woman faces the threat of deportation and losing her children after police
discovered she is an illegal immigrant.
Police
said they learned Patricia Sarmiento was an [undocumented] immigrant after she was
involved in a crash Thursday morning.
Officials from Accion America said they were told by representatives of the city
of Irving that only criminal [undocu-mented immigrants] would be deported. Accion America’s Carlos
Quintanilla said he thinks they went back on their word.
Quintanilla said the organization is planning a rally at the Irving Police
Department May 1.
- nbc5i.com
April 25, 2008
California, USA
Wanted: Man Who Tried To Rape Woman In Pacoima
Pacioma
- Police Friday were searching for a man who tried to rape a woman at Hansen Dam
Park in Pacoima.
Lorena
Vasquez was pushing her granddaughter in a stroller when she was attacked from
behind about 3 p.m. Thursday, according to Richard French of the Los Angeles
Police Department.
"He was
punching me on my face and in my jaw," Vasquez said. "He punched me, I would
say, like 20 times. He just started hitting me -- hitting me from the back --
and just punching me. He threw me on the floor and he wanted to rape me."
The man
was described as Hispanic, 18 to 22 years old, 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighing
160 pounds.
- CBS News
Apr 25, 2008
Arizona, USA
Nogales cop faces trial in sex assault case
[Tucson
-] A Nogales police officer who goes on trial for sexual assault and kidnapping
this week has been accused of sexually inappropriate behavior by four other
young women or girls.
Nogales
police and Department of Public Safety investigators dismissed three of the
other four complaints against Ramon Borbon, 38 — two of which were made before
the 2005 incident he will stand trial for.
But he
has now been additionally charged with molesting a 16-year-old who came forward
only after he was charged in the assault case.
The
girl said she kept quiet for nine months after Borbon reminded her her mother is
vulnerable as an illegal immigrant...
- Kim Smith
Arizona Daily Star
April 26, 2008
Texas, USA
Two Men Sentenced For Human Trafficking and Alien
Smuggling Charges
Washington - Two brothers, Victor Omar Lopez and Oscar Mondragon, were sentenced
for their roles in a scheme to smuggle Central American women and girls into the
United States and hold them in a condition of forced labor in bars and cantinas
in the Houston area, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil
Rights Division Grace C. Becker and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of
Texas Don DeGabrielle...
In all,
eight defendants have been convicted in connection with this scheme to compel
the victims into service in restaurants, bars and cantinas in the Houston area,
using threats to harm the victims and their families if they attempted to leave
before paying off their smuggling debts...
- U.S. Dept. of Justice
April 29, 2008
United States
Latinos outraged over CBS report
...[Katie Couric, anchor of the “CBS Evening News"] recently aired a one-sided
and inaccurate report about illegal immigrant women who give birth to their
children in the United States. The news story challenged the broader
constitutional law of birthright citizenship and stated — without providing the
correct context — that the births cost U.S. taxpayers millions of dollars
annually.
The
story’s central figure was a woman identified as an illegal immigrant, who was
lying in her South Texas hospital bed — her right arm wrapped around her newborn
and her left hand punctured by an intravenous needle — while reporter Byron
Pitts lectured her that “many Americans who struggle to take care of their own
families think it is unfair that they should have to take care” of non-U.S.
citizens...
“Anti-Latino falsehoods deserve no time on our public airwaves,” stated a letter
to CBS by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the
National Council of La Raza. The groups and others have asked to meet with CBS
“to help raise the dialogue and provide the American public an honest and
accurate analysis of this nation’s broken immigration system...”
- Gebe Martinez
www.Politico.com
April 29, 2008
Added April 27, 2008
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