Ms. Okeke is 68 years old, born in Nigeria. She agreed to come to the United States to cook, clean and care for the children of a Nigerian couple living in Staten Island. She said they promised to pay her $300 a month. There were promises of a house and tuition, she added, for her two children back home. She admits now that she toiled 12 years for a paycheck that never came. Not one cent.After many year, her case is revealed regardless of her reporting. This is not uncommon, said advocates for victims of human trafficking. Fear, uncertainty and cultural taboos make it hard for women like Ms. Okeke to speak out. Although human trafficking has been a federal crime since 2000, efforts in the New York State Assembly to criminalize human trafficking and provide services for its victims have yet to succeed while advocates and politicians struggle to reconcile competing concerns over punishment and assistance.
For me, it is amazing there is no practical law against this human trafficking. Although politicians — especially at the federal level — inveigh against human trafficking as a crime that enslaves thousands of people, especially women forced into prostitution, policy experts said there were no reliable figures on the extent of the problem. The federal government cites a figure of up to 800,000 people being trafficked internationally, with more than 14,000 of those entering this country. I think people should take care of making strong foundation of protect them as law, not only just take care what have been done.
New York Times, April. 24.2007 By David Gonzalez
No comments:
Post a Comment