WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sheila White was beginning to feel numb. She had been beaten numerous times by a man who forced her to work as a prostitute on the streets of New York City.
"I done got beaten up in front of the Port Authority in Times Square," she said, a reference to a bus terminal on the city's West Side. "When stuff like that happens out in the open, you really feel like you're not even a person."
White was eventually able to escape her pimp and now works with victims of sex trafficking throughout New York state. But her story is proof that slavery is alive and well in America, 150 years after it was supposedly abolished.
While modern slavery may look different from the old images of plantations, slave cabins and auction blocks, abuse, coercion and manipulation remain the order of the day.
According to the anti-trafficking organization the Polaris Project, hundreds of thousands of people are being forced to work at jobs they don’t want to do - in the commercial sex trade, on farms, in homes, in factories and elsewhere in the United States. They work for little or no pay and under constant threat of violence and even... READ MORE
Afghanistan: Rein in Abusive Militias and Afghan Local Police
September 12, 2011
(Kabul) – Militias and some units of the new US-backed Afghan Local Police are committing serious human rights abuses, but the government is not providing proper oversight or holding them accountable, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The Afghan government and the US should sever ties with irregular armed groups and take immediate steps to create properly trained and vetted security forces that are held accountable for their actions... READ MORE
H U M A N R I G H T #5
Article 5: NO TORTURE No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
O U R C H A P T E R
Congratulations!
To our new PHR Chapter Officers for 2011-2012!
Neelima Navuluri Chapter President
Rachel Sosland Fundraising/Treasurer
Kristin Yeung Health and Human Rights Elective (HHRE) Chair Website Design & Management Newsletter Chair
Anna Haring Community Volunteering Chairperson (ESL & Clinic)