June
23, 2003
HUMAN
TRAFFICKING RISES TO THE SURFACE IN NEW YORK CITY
AFRICANS IN AMERICA SHOWS CAUSE FOR INVESTIGATION
New
York, June 23, 2003—Africans In America shows cause for
further investigation of the 19 years old Nigerian girl stabbed
to death in her $2,000/month apartment at 60th Street and 1st
Avenue. She may have been a victim of human trafficking and
planning to escape her circumstances. The young girl arrived
in New York in 1994, around the age of 9 years old. Police
report that she was a prostitute for the past three years.
Police also report that she may not be Nigerian, even though
she has a Nigerian passport. Typically, the biological family
of a wayward continental African child would immediately send
the child back to their homeland to have his/her behavior corrected.
This raises questions about the young woman’s true identity
and true biological family and how she was brought into the
United States.
The
U.N. reports that approximately 4,000,000 people are trafficked
globally each year; more than 200,000 children are trafficked
in West and Central Africa annually. According to Bonaventure
Ezekwenna, Executive Director, Africans In America, "International
child trafficking is a complicated reality and trafficking
networks are camouflaged and kept secret within the community.
This makes identifying traffickers and victims extremely difficult.
The challenge to gather data on the victims is complicated
by the silence of the victims. The scale of this problem is
larger than the visible surface." The U.S. government
data suggests that approximately 50,000 women and children
are trafficked into the United States annually.
Many
victims of trafficking are:
- Economically disadvantaged women and
girl children (ages 8 and up), as well as a smaller group of
boys and men.
-
Held
in bondage without getting paid. Not allowed to keep any
money.
-
Abused
physically and emotionally.
-
Sexually
abused.
-
Fear
for their safety and the safety of their family back home,
and may be reluctant to open up.
-
Fearful
of deportation.
-
At
initial approach may give programmed answers designed to
protect their captors.
-
Victims
may present a bogus identification given to them by their
captors. Not allowed to have friends, or contact with their
family, or a social support system.
-
Not
allowed to make decisions about their life and future while
staying with their captors.
-
Unaware
of their fundamental human rights and unaware that the
law protects them in this country.
Some
of the purposes of human trafficking include:
Domestic/household
work
forced prostitution
sex tourism and entertainment
pornography
sweatshop/factory labor
illegal labor
bonded labor
begging
illegal/false adoption
servile marriage
use in other criminal activities
In
most African countries, it is a common practice for the affluent
to keep very young pets (girls) within the countries and
overseas (United States and Europe) for "escort and
entertainment". Some take their "pets" with
them when they travel. Most poor and suffering young girls
in Africa would jump at such offer.
New
York City residents need to be aware that human trafficking
(a.k.a. modern day slavery) is a growing epidemic. Reaching
out to these young girls is critical before another loses
her life in an attempt to escape.
The
severity and importance of this problem was recognized by
the U.S. Congress who passed the Victim of Trafficking and
Violence Protection Act of 2000 (VTVPA). This legislation
gives legal protection and other services to such victims
including the establishment of a special T (Trafficking)
visa. Africans In America, Inc. provides services and support,
which empowered an emancipated young female victim to apply
and obtain one of the first new T visas in the United States.
Africans
In America is a not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) organization dedicated
to providing social services, self-empowerment and community
awareness to the underserved and economically disadvantaged
African communities in the New York metropolitan area. We
assist current and former victims of human trafficking and
domestic violence, especially African women and children,
in the New York metropolitan area.
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