STOP NOW
From STOPNOW Trafficking of people against their will is slavery. In Greece today, there are approximately 20,000 women forced into the sex industry. For more visit the website from the link above.
posted by deviousdiva @ 11/17/2005 05:58:00 PM
13 comments
From Scruffy American:
It's just the sign of the times. Remember this: In Ancient Greece, the "KSENOS" (Guest or Foreigner) was someone to be revered and protected, and now in Modern Greece, the "KSENOS" is someone to be taken advantage of, cheated, exploited, or otherwise insulted.
from: Scruffy American
Unfortunately, it isn't just Greece. These "slave traders" are exploiting women and children all over Europe. Greece is a popular stopping point because it is close to the poor, Eastern European countries where the majority of these women and children come from.
It is such an all encompassing problem, that I have even heard of American women who get caught up as sex slaves, simply by answering an ad for what they thought was a legitimate "job".
Bottom line: whatever creepos are utilizing these "services" need to stop, and the people who traffic these women and children need to be caught. Unfortunately, they are all quite often white, distinguished, businessmen. At any rate, the EU needs to take serious measures to stop this.
Melusina,
Can you tell me more about these American women caught up in that sex slave thing. In Greece you mean, or in the USA. I just find it hard to believe that an American woman wouldn't just go straight to the first cop she found and get help. I understand that some of the foreigners from Africa, South America may be naive and think they will get in trouble for circulating in Greece without a legal status, but an American woman? Wow! That's shocking. Tell me more.
Scruffy American
Scruffy, I was watching a show about this sex slavery/trafficking thing, and they interviewed an American woman who was in Japan teaching English who fell for an ad for work (extra work for herself, I guess she wasn't making enough as a teacher) and basically got kidnapped, and trapped into slavery. She claimed that she wasn't the only American.
Now, I like to think that this doesn't happen in America (but I am not so naive to think it might not) but these folks are working the European/Asian routes hard.
Thessaloniki is opening a hostel next year for victims of trafficking, so that is a good first step. The victims there will receive support services, free language courses, and professional training so they can integrate back into normal life.
Yes, I realise this is an international problem. I have several friends who work for STOPNOW and I wanted to publicise their campaign and activities here in Greece. It's the very least I can do. A greek friend of mine works as a lawyer for the women. I have the utmost respect for her and for the many, many people like her, who are not blogging about the issues, but are actually doing something active and positive to change things for the better. Here and everywhere. Thank you to all of them.
BTW Mel, There is a centre here in Athens too and I think some helplines in different languages to help the victims.
There's a DVD on your movie club's shelves now called "Promised Land". It's filmed like a documentary and it's storyline is disjointed but it's the first time I've seen a movie entirely devoted to the subject of the sex trafficking industry.
All the men in our stores who have rented it do so because the title in Greek is 'Πόρνες" (Whores)and they think they're getting softcore porn. When they find out it's about the ugly side of the sex industry 10 minutes into the film, they return it...usually within an hour...hoping they won't have to pay.
I think the reason they don't want to acknowledge or accept that human trafficking exists because reality would mar their trips to the strip clubs.
I guess my point about it being an "EU" problem is that I really wish the EU would take responsibility for issues like this - things that span all the countries of the EU. It is perhaps very difficult to catch the perpetrators when/if they are constantly crossing lines, especially to/from eastern European countries that aren't yet in the EU.
This is such a global problem that needs to be stopped NOW. What is the point of the EU if they don't take into considering some of these issues, like trafficking and immigration.
At any rate, I did not intend to draw attention away from the work that is being done in Greece, and the staggering numbers of slaves who are brought to Greece, especially since Greece happens to be an "ideal" location for this horrid business. I am just afraid that this monster can't be combatted in one country alone - all these countries need to work together to fight it.
Hi SeaWitch. welcome back. Floppy disk problems aside I hope! That is an interesting insight into the video porn market! It must be hard to sit back and see what these guys are renting? Are you ever tempted to say something?
Hi Mel. Sorry, the comment I posted wasn't directed at you. I meant it as a general point; that I am not so naive as to suggest this is a greek problem (I was also trying to answer the accusation that I am always posting negative stuff about Greece). I also really wanted to acknowledge friends and the very many others that do the real work out there to bring about change. I agree with you. It takes an international effort to combat this appalling situation and STOPNOW are working with many of those organisations, from within Greece, but on an international scale too. On the website there are some ways we can get involved too. Under the section CONTRIBUTE. One of the ways is to contact friends, colleagues and aquaintances and talking about this issue. "That is raising awareness and promoting a civil society". It is the very least we can do and I believe that is what we are all doing right here.
Thank you again, both of you for your support, feedback and involvement. It means so much having you on board.
hehe Thanks Diva! As for the temptation to say something to them, I would like to say I'm a paragon of discretion but I'm not. I often say something...much to the customer's and my husband's chagrin. LOL I will relate some of those experiences in my next blog so as not to derail yours. It'll take more than a malfunctioning disk drive to keep me from reading and commenting on your blog though! Mel's and your blog have been on my daily reading list ever since I discovered them. I may not always have time to comment, but rest assured, I do read them.
Diva,
On another thread, you asked if we could sign in as our tag names or something. I have to admit I'm new to blogging and I don't know how to blog without being anonymous. If you can give me some tutorial help, I'll try and correct that. Sorry for posting here but I wanted to find a neutral ground for this comment. I enjoy you allowing me to rant. I know that sometimes my comments can be fueled by emotions but that's how I feel at that time. I generally don't unload on folks that much in Greece unless they really attack me, but I wanted to get it all out before I slept tonight. Thanks again,
Scruffy
Ok, that's cool. When the comment box comes up instead of clicking anonymous, check "other" and sign in as "Scruffy American". You don't have to give a webpage unless you have one. Goodnight. Sleep well. See you tomorrow.
Hi scruffy american. Good luck with your blog. In the comments box, under each post is a bin/trash icon. Hit that to delete an individual comment. Also I would advise you to turn on word verification in "settings" to prevent spam.
I posted over on your blog. You don’t see the icon here because I am the owner of this blog and you can only delete your own replies here. Check over on yours and you should see the icon.
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