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Slavery inc. : the untold story of international sex trafficking / Lydia Cacho ; foreword by Roberto Saviano ; English translation, Elizabeth Boburg.

By: Material type: TextTextLanguage: English Original language: Spanish Publisher: London : Portobello Books, 2013Copyright date: ©2012Description: xii, 271 pages ; 20 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781846274220 (paperback)
  • 1846274222 (paperback)
Uniform titles:
  • Esclavas del poder. English
Subject(s): Summary: This is a powerful, brave and uncompromising investigation into the global underground of sex trafficking, exploring the links between organised crime, the tourism industry, pornography and terrorism.
Fiction notes: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Non-Fiction Davis (Central) Library Non-Fiction Non-Fiction 364.15 CAC 1 Available T00549078
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A powerful, brave and uncompromising investigation into the global underground of sex trafficking, from one of the world's most tireless and influential campaigners against sexual exploitation.

Originally published in Spanish as Esclavas del poder, 2010. English translation originally published: 2012.

This is a powerful, brave and uncompromising investigation into the global underground of sex trafficking, exploring the links between organised crime, the tourism industry, pornography and terrorism.

Translated from the Spanish.

11 96 174

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

When I was seven years old, every time my sister Sonia and I went out on the street, our mother warned us to stay away from the "child-snatcher," an old woman, well known in our neighborhood, who stole girls. She would entice girls by offering them candy and then she would kidnap them and sell them off to strangers. Of course, the word "kidnapper" refers to the snatching of people of all ages, not just children. Forty years later, I discovered that the lesson of my childhood, which could have been taken from Charles Dickens, has now become one of the most serious problems of the twenty-first century. Society in general tends to consider trafficking in women and children as a throwback to a time when the "white slave trade" was a small-time business run by pirates who kidnapped women to sell them to brothels in faraway countries. We thought that modernization and strong global markets would eradicate this type of slavery and that the abuse of children in the darkest corners of the "underdeveloped" world would simply disappear through contact with Western laws and market economies. My research for this book shows the exact opposite. There is a world-wide explosion in organized-crime syndicates that kidnap, buy, and enslave women and children; the same forces that were supposed to eradicate slavery have strengthened it on an unprecedented scale. All over the planet, we are witnessing a culture that considers the kidnapping, disappearance, trade and corruption of young girls and adolescents as normal. They become sexual objects for rent and sale, and our global culture celebrates this objectification as an act of freedom and progress. In a dehumanizing market economy, millions of people assume that prostitution is a minor evil. They choose to ignore the fact that what underlies prostitution is exploitation, abuse, and the tremendous power of organized crime, exercised on a small and large scale around the world. For centuries, mafiosi, politicians, military officers, businessmen, industrialists, religious leaders, bankers, police officers, judges, priests, and ordinary men have participated in global organized-crime networks. The difference between individual offenders or small local gangs and the global criminal syndicates lies in their strategies, codes, and marketing practices. Without a doubt, corruption is what gives the mafia economic and political power in every city where they do business. The search for pleasure is universal and provides a vital link in the chain: while some create the market for human slavery, others protect it, promote it, and feed it, or are in charge of renewing the demand for raw materials. Organized crime includes mafias, syndicates or cartels that run illegal businesses to generate profits. The individuals who participate in these illegal activities are called gangsters, mafiosi, mobsters, or narcos, and they belong to the so-called "black economy." They do not pay taxes to legitimate governments but they must negotiate with such governments in order to operate. The deals between organized criminals and governments contribute to the trade in arms, drugs, and human beings. This trade involves crimes such as robbery, fraud, and the illegal transport of goods and people... Turkey is a country of seventy-five million inhabitants. Since signing a free-trade agreement with its European neighbors in 1996, Turkey, like the majority of other countries that have opened their borders, has faced the paradox of fostering the growth of the free market while also experiencing the growth of an illicit one. Turkey is an associate member of the European Union, but it has not yet met EU requirements for admission as a full member. The plane lands in Turkey at night. The beauty of the starry sky painted with violet brushstrokes takes my breath away. Sitting in a taxi, on my way to the hotel, I roll down the window. The smells of Istanbul reach me: the diesel, the spices, and the salty breeze from the sea. Every city has its unique aroma. The taxi driver, proud of his country, decides to give me a tour. He explains that we are in the area that separates Anatolia and Thrace, encompassing the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus and the Dardanelles--the area known as the Turkish Straits, which form a boundary between Asia and Europe. "We are about to be recognized as a member of the European Union," he informs me in a friendly tone, using touristy English that hints at various accents. "Here everything is good," he assures me. "Muslims, Jews, Christians, Agnostics, Protestants all live together," he adds. He speaks as though he is repeating a slogan. I smile and think about the reports coming out of PEN International, an organization that defends freedom of expression, citing the persecution and incarceration of Turkish journalists. However, I remain silent because I know that the world is not black and white and that all countries, just like the people who inhabit them, are diverse, complex, and magnificent at the same time. The kindness of the people, their smiles, the warmth of the bellhop's eyes as he greets me at the hotel, and the sweet voice of a receptionist who speaks perfect English, make me feel welcome. These things remind me that one cannot see the darkness without also seeing the light, and that kindness exists everywhere. I suppose that some of the 200,000 women and girls who have been trafficked to this country over the last five years have at one point experienced the kindness of someone who saw them as human beings, someone who made them smile, helping them to feel less alone. I contact Eugene Schoulgin, an extraordinary writer, novelist, and journalist, born in 1941 of Russian-Norwegian descent. Eugene has lived in Afghanistan and Iraq, and he is now in Istanbul, serving as director of PEN International. He helps me to schedule some meetings with political analysts and direct sources. This dear friend affectionately takes care of me, and I intend to keep him informed as to my whereabouts and the people I meet, just in case something happens and he needs to know how and where to find me. I would not have been as successful at getting information on this trip without his security advice. Excerpted from Slavery Inc: The Untold Story of International Sex Trafficking by Lydia Cacho All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Lionhearted Mexican journalist and activist Cacho probes prostitution, pedophilia, and sex trafficking rings across Southeast Asia, South America, and beyond in the follow-up to her last investigative opus, an edition that put one of her targets behind bars. Cacho pulls back the curtain on red-light districts in both East and West hemispheres. She walks through Le Merced in Mexico City as a nun, reports on a Yakuza ceremony in Tokyo patrolled by Japanese police officers, and shares the stories of Iraqi prostitutes servicing American soldiers. Combining journalism and social activism with a problematic lack of objectivity, Cacho's narrative nonfiction storytelling unfortunately reads less like a trained journalist's writing and more like a human rights activist in need of a lesson in basic reporting. For example, the author attacks post-modern feminists without clarifying their argument until the very last pages. Writing in the first person, Cacho is overly intent on showcasing the challenges she faced as a female investigative reporter as well as ongoing death threats; her unfiltered impressions detract from what the book purports to be-the story of women bought and sold for pleasure. In a book about so vital a subject, Cacho's finger-pointing and righteous sentimentality deflate these issues and the victims' stories into a "could-have-been" call-to-action. Agent: Andrea Montego, Indent Literary Agency. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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