Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Sponsorships
For the second year we are offering sponsorships to a group of 66 children in Cangrejo. For $60 a year you can make the difference between a child going to school or not.
Why Girls are a Better Investment
Why Should We Pay Attention to Girls?
Little research has been done to understand how investments in girls impact economic growth and the health and well-being of communities. This lack of data reveals how pervasively girls have been overlooked. For millions of girls across the developing world, there are no systems to record their birth, their citizenship, or even their identity.
However, the existing research suggests their impact can reach much farther than expected.
The Ripple Effect
• When a girl in the developing world receives seven or more years of education, she marries four years later and has 2.2
fewer children.
(United Nations Population Fund, State of World Population 1990.)
• An extra year of primary school boosts girls’ eventual wages by 10 to 20 percent. An extra year of secondary school:
15 to 25 percent.
(George Psacharopoulos and Harry Anthony Patrinos, “Returns to Investment in Education: A Further Update,” Policy Research Working Paper 2881
[Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2002].)
• Research in developing countries has shown a consistent relationship between better infant and child health and higher levels
of schooling among mothers.
(George T. Bicego and J. Ties Boerma, “Maternal Education and Child Survival: A Comparative Study of Survey Data from 17 Countries,” Social Science
and Medicine 36 (9) [May 1993]: 1207–27.)
• When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 percent of it into their families, as compared to only 30 to 40 percent for
a man.
(Phil Borges, with foreword by Madeleine Albright, Women Empowered: Inspiring Change in the Emerging World [New York: Rizzoli, 2007], 13.)
Population Trends
• Today, more than 600 million girls live in the developing world.
Girls Count, 14
(Population Reference Bureau, DataFinder database, http://www.prb.org/datafinder.aspx [accessed December 20, 2007].)
• More than one-quarter of the population in Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa are girls and young
women ages 10 to 24.
Girls Count, 15
(United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, “World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision,” http://esa.un.org/unpp, and “World
Urbanization Prospects: The 2005 Revision,” www.un.org/esa/population/publications/WUP2005/2005WUP_DataTables1.pdf.)
• The total global population of girls ages 10 to 24—already the largest in history—is expected to peak in the next decade.
Girls Count, 14
(Ruth Levine et al., Girls Count: A Global Investment & Action Agenda [Washington, D.C.: Center for Global Development, 2008].)
Educational Gaps
• Approximately one-quarter of girls in developing countries are not in school.
(Cynthia B. Lloyd, ed., Growing Up Global: The Changing Transitions to Adulthood in Developing Countries [Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2005].)
• Out of the world’s 130 million out-of-school youth, 70 percent are girls.
(Human Rights Watch, “Promises Broken: An Assessment of Children’s Rights on the 10th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child,”
http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/crp/promises/education.html [December 1999].)
Child Marriage and Early Childbirth
• One girl in seven in developing countries marries before age 15.
Girls Count, 41
(Population Council, “Transitions to Adulthood: Child Marriage/Married Adolescents,” http://www.popcouncil.org/ta/mar.html [updated May 13, 2008].)
• 38 percent marry before age 18.
Girls Count, 41
(Cynthia B. Lloyd, ed., Growing Up Global: The Changing Transitions to Adulthood in Developing Countries [Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2005].)
• One-quarter to one-half of girls in developing countries become mothers before age 18; 14 million girls aged 15 to 19 give
birth in developing countries each year.
Girls Count, 3
(United Nations Population Fund, State of World Population 2005, http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2005.)
• In Nicaragua, 45 percent of girls with no schooling are married before age 18 versus only 16 percent of their educated
counterparts. In Mozambique, the figures are 60 percent versus 10; in Senegal, 41 percent versus 6.
Girls Count, 44
(International Center for Research on Women, Too Young to Wed: Education & Action Toward Ending Child Marriage,
http://www.icrw.org/docs/2006_cmtoolkit/cm_all.pdf [2007].)
• A survey in India found that girls who married before age 18 were twice as likely to report being beaten, slapped, or
threatened by their husbands as were girls who married later.
(International Center for Research on Women, Development Initiative on Supporting Healthy Adolescents [2005], analysis of quantitative baseline survey
data collected in select sites in the states of Bihar and Jharkhand, India [survey conducted in 2004].)
Health
• Medical complications from pregnancy are the leading cause of death among girls ages 15 to 19 worldwide. Compared with
women ages 20 to 24, girls ages 10 to 14 are five times more likely to die from childbirth, and girls 15 to 19 are up to twice as
likely, worldwide.
(United Nations Children’s Fund, Equality, Development and Peace, http://www.unicef.org/publications/files/pub_equality_en.pdf [New York:
UNICEF, 2000], 19.)
• 75 percent of 15- to 24-year-olds living with HIV in Africa are female, up from 62 percent in 2001.
Girls Count, 48
(Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, Keeping the Promise: An Agenda for Action on Women and AIDS,
http://data.unaids.org/pub/Booklet/2006/20060530_FS_Keeping_Promise_en.pdf[2006a].)
Abolitionist Conference
Dominican Outreach Human Trafficking Conference
Dominican Outreach completed a successful Human Trafficking Conference over the course of two days in Puerto Plata, on June 24-25th. An NGO from Jarabacoa came to visit projects and other groups who are working to stop the trafficking of women and children in the Dominican Republic. Conference participants visited the American Consulate, a Women’s Training facility, the local prison, the public hospital, police stations, and a microcredit office. These are all places and programs that have contact and interest in the issue of modern day slavery.
At the conference we heard from women who have been lured to other countries with false promises only to be trapped into a system of sexual slavery. A recovering victim told us her story how she was lured to Greece for six years to work as a prostitute. It is estimated that there are between 17-33 thousand Dominican women who have similar stories. This type of trafficking is the second largest international crime in the world behind drug trafficking.
We also heard from a panel of women who work in Dominican bars at night under contract for a year at a time. Owners control the women by holding their passports, identity cards, or threaten their families back home.
Not all human trafficking is sexual. Children are trafficked as domestic labor. This is perhaps a larger problem. To illustrate this issue which may affect about 50,000 on this island we also heard from a young man from Haiti who was brought here to sell candy and shine shoes in the streets. He worked for several years for a man who told him that money was being sent home to his family. This was not true. He worked for years never going to school, often not having a place to sleep at night, and being threatened by police by day.
Father Johnson of Dominican Outreach, reported on recent census work monitoring the various kinds of human trafficking. He told of a woman in San Marcos who “bought” three children from Haiti who work to earn money for her. She was asked what she does with the money. She reported that she uses it to send her child to a private school. She was further asked if the Haitian children go to school. She said, “No, they are just Haitians.”
All the victims spoke of being arrested multiple times. A bar owner and a security person who manages many of these women reported that the owners are not arrested because protitution is not illegal. To them it is a labor issue when women try to run away or not show up for work. Yet it is these owners who are actually the instigators and source of these problems. Nevertheless these bar owners who trade women are supportive of social services for their employees and have seen the benefit of Dominican Outreach for their employees. One owner offered us his place of business to interview a panel of women.
The second day of the conference we vistited a jail where women are held in confinement with male prisoners. There is no food, water, or even beds in these jails: just a concrete cell with metal bars. Because the women are working in a city where they do not have family they depend on friends and organizations who assist with food, medicine, and social intervention. The women are arrested for trying to leave the business but more often than not they do not have enough money to pay people “shaking them down” in the streets.
The head of a children’s NGO (Esperanza Means Hope) reported that she runs a home for dozens of these exploited children in the street. Most of them are Haitian. She reported how the system works to traffick these children benefiting an entire underground system of adults who make money off this system.
The regional head of the public school told us how thousands of children in the school are affected by this system of human trafficking. Children show up at school reporting that their mothers have disappeared. Children will often move around with their mothers who are sold to bar owners in other cities affecting their educational outcome. All the women interviewed during the panel discussion reported having between 1`-6 children. The superintendent of public schools invited members of the conference to develop materials to help train teachers to identify the signs of children affected by human trafficking.
The manager of a microfinance office shared with us a pilot program they have for victims of sexual trafficking. They begin with Bible studies to help the women inspect their lives. After they show signs of positive change they are invited to be part of larger women’s groups who provide them emotional support. After a period of time they participate in a women owned and managed business supported by microcredit.
Also the police will need training in this area and be encouraged to apply the law according to international standards.
Conference participants agreed to establish a national network of information. Consulate officials encouraged and welcomed the promise of information and data to measure this important issue.
Posted in Uncategorized
US Trafficking Report on Dominican Republic
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (Tier 2 Watch List)
The Dominican Republic is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Dominican women are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation to Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, the Netherlands, Panama, Slovenia, Suriname, Switzerland, Turkey, and Venezuela. A significant number of women, boys, and girls are trafficked within the country for forced prostitution and domestic servitude. In some cases, parents push children into prostitution to help support the family. Child sex tourism is a problem, particularly in coastal resort areas, with child sex tourists arriving year-round from various countries, particularly Spain, Italy, Germany, Canada, and the United States and reportedly numbering in the thousands . Haitian nationals, including children, who voluntarily migrate illegally to the Dominican Republic may subsequently be subjected to forced labor in the service, construction, and agriculture sectors.
The Government of the Dominican Republic does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Despite these overall significant efforts, the government did not show evidence of progress in prosecuting and punishing trafficking offenders including complicit officials; therefore, the Dominican Republic is placed on Tier 2 Watch List. The Dominican government increased its efforts to educate the public about the dangers of trafficking, improved its assistance to victims, announced a national plan to combat trafficking and took some disciplinary action against lower-level officials suspected of complicity in trafficking activity.
Recommendations for the Dominican Republic: Intensify efforts to prosecute and punish trafficking offenders, especially public officials complicit in or facilitating human trafficking; increase investigations into potential labor trafficking situations; continue to increase victim assistance and shelter services; provide greater legal protections for undocumented and foreign trafficking victims; increase prevention and demand-reduction efforts; intensify efforts to identify and care for all trafficking victims; and continue to increase anti-trafficking training for government and judicial officials.
Prosecution
The government modestly increased law-enforcement efforts against some trafficking offenders, and began to investigate and punish lower-level public officials for complicity in trafficking activity over the last year. Dominican law prohibits all forms of trafficking through its comprehensive anti-trafficking Law 137-03, which prescribes penalties of up to 20 years’ imprisonment. Such penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other grave offenses, such as rape. In 2008, the government continued several trafficking investigations. Since 2007, there have been no convictions on trafficking charges under Law 137-03, but the government made a greater effort during the year to differentiate between alien smuggling and human trafficking crimes, which are prohibited under the same law and are often confused. Although the Government initiated an investigation into press reports from 2007 that high-level officials were directly involved in the smuggling and trafficking of Chinese nationals, it demonstrated no progress on this investigation during 2008. Lack of resources, corruption, and generally weak rule of law limit the government’s ability to address trafficking issues, and allegations of official complicity in trafficking continued. No senior officials were investigated or prosecuted; since August 2008, however, 45 inspectors from the Migration Directorate were removed from their positions for possible involvement in trafficking. Five of these former inspectors are under active investigation and two are in preventative detention. Other lower-level officials have been suspended or disciplined. During the reporting period, the government cooperated with U.S. law enforcement agencies and contributed to an international case involving the trafficking of Dominican women to Switzerland. As many trafficking victims enter the island with legitimate documents through regular ports of entry, IOM and the Office of the Undersecretary for Consular and Migratory Affairs trained migration inspectors on detecting false and altered documents, inspection of travel documents and visas, detecting imposters, and differentiating between smuggling clients and trafficking victims.
Protection
The government improved its efforts to protect trafficking victims, although it continued to rely heavily on NGOs and international organizations for the bulk of shelter and protection services offered to victims. The Comite Inter-institucional de Proteccion a la Mujer Migrante, in cooperation with the Ministry for Women and an NGO, offered victims legal and psychological assistance. The government contributed funds to a religious order which assisted trafficking victims at its refugee centers around the country. IOM also used these facilities to assist victims. An NGO operated El Centro de Acogida, a center for repatriated Dominican trafficked women, which provided medical and legal services, employment assistance, and continued education. Shelters for child trafficking victims were run by the Consejo Nacional para la Ninez y la Adolescencia, a government agency. The Dominican Criminal Procedure Code contains mechanisms for the protection of witnesses and victims, though these protections were largely limited to victims who were willing to testify in court proceedings. Victims’ rights were generally respected once they were recognized as victims, and they were not typically jailed or penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked. Dominican authorities encouraged victims to assist with the investigation and prosecution of their traffickers. Victims without identity documents or in illegal status generally had difficulty accessing protective services. Out of a group of 14 trafficked Ecuadorian women, one remained in the Dominican Republic to help police with the investigation and prosecution of their traffickers. Victims and traffickers sometimes struck deals, usually via their attorneys, whereby victims received compensation from their traffickers in lieu of pursuing a criminal case. The government trained consular officials posted abroad to recognize and assist Dominican nationals trafficked overseas. The government did not provide foreign victims with clear legal alternatives to their removal, but even so it did not remove them to countries where they face retribution. In one case it provided long-term residency.
Prevention
The government continued to increase its prevention efforts during the year. The inter-agency National Commission Against Trafficking announced its national action plan in December 2008. The Prevention Unit of the Department of Alien Smuggling and Trafficking in Persons, working with the Ministries of Labor and Education, warned children at schools around the country of the dangers of alien smuggling, commercial sexual exploitation, and trafficking. The Attorney General, Migration Directorate, Navy, Secretary of State for Women, and Programa Radial also ran anti-trafficking information campaigns. Notices now posted in Santo Domingo’s international airport list the penalties under Dominican law for the criminal offense of commercial sexual exploitation of children. Prostitution of adults is legal, though police raided brothels as a means to address demand for commercial sex acts with children and to look for underage girls engaging in prostitution. The government also made efforts to reduce demand for commercial sexual acts by prosecuting foreign pedophiles for sexually exploiting minors.
Posted in Uncategorized
Conference Agenda – Puerto Plata, Rep. Dom
Agenda
June 25, 2009
Puerto Plata, Bonsai Hostel, C. JFK #41
Host: Dominican Outreach
Subject: NGO participation in prevention, monitoring, and providing comprehensive solutions to Human Trafficking in the Dominican Republic
Welcome: Father Johnson (3 minutes)
Introduction of guests: (15 minutes)
Presentation by the Honorable Ted Foster (10 minutes)
Question and answer period (10 minutes)
Presentation by Father Johnson (10 minutes)
Question and Answer period (10 minutes)
Proposals for Action plan
Announcements for future meetings
Agenda
25 de junio de 2009 Puerto Plata, Bonsai Hostel, Calle JFK #41
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Anfitrión: Outreach Dominicano
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Tema: Participación del NGO en la prevención, la supervisión, y el abastecimiento de soluciones comprensivas al tráfico humano en la República Dominicana
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Recepción: Padre Johnson (3 minutos)
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Introducción de huéspedes: (15 minutos)
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Presentación del Ted Foster (10 minutos)
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Período de la pregunta y de la respuesta (10 minutos)
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Presentación de Father Johnson (10 minutos)
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Período de la pregunta y de la respuesta (10 minutos)
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Ofertas para el plan de actuación Avisos para las reuniones futuras
Posted in Uncategorized
Human Trafficking Conference
Conferencia en el tráfico humano en la República Dominicana a le invita a una reunión el Viernes, 26 de junio, en 10 de la manana en el Bonzai Hostel, Calle John F. Kenney #41, que discuta un informe reciente. Oiga lo que están haciendo los varios NGOs para ejecutar recomendaciones de El departamento de estado de Estados Unidos . También habrá un viaje de varios proyectos en Puerto Plata y testimonios al lado de un panel de los hombres y de las mujeres dominicanos que han sido víctimas del tráfico humano.
You are invited to a meeting on Thursday, June 26, at 10 am at Bonzai Hostel to discuss a recent report by the United States State Department on Human Trafficking in the Dominican Republic. Hear what various NGOs are doing to implement recommendations.
Also there will be a tour of various projects in Puerto Plata on Friday and testimonies by a panel of Dominican men and women who have been victims of Human Trafficking.