Bringing the Topic to Light

"It is through fear that extremism happens. It is through ignorance that these problems result." -The Honor Diaries

Many problems arise through fear of the unknown.
People are often fearful to bring up topics that are unfamiliar or strange because they simply do not understand.

Political, social, and sexual crimes against women often fall within the category of unfamiliar and are therefore not adequately addressed.

I live in Normal, Illinois (yes, it is the most boring named town ever), and many of the crimes against women that I have talked about in the blog seem far away.
Well, seemed far away.
I did not realize just how close to home these problems are.
Female Genital Mutilation happens in America.
Forced marriage still occurs.
Honor killings happen in communities that least expect it.
And Sex Trafficking, another topic that I am particularly passionate about, happens right here in Illinois.

In 2003, the New York Times named Chicago as a NATIONAL HUB for human trafficking and not very much has changed since then.
In fact, right now THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE IN SLAVERY THAN EVER BEFORE IN HUMAN HISTORY.

Why does sex trafficking exist?
•Human trafficking is an extremely lucrative and low risk market for the sex traffickers because there are few laws against it and more importantly, few laws IMPLEMENTED.
•The International Labor Organization estimates that there are 20.9 MILLION victims of human trafficking globally, and the US makes up for 63% of all sex trafficking victims.
•It is the second most profitable "industry" in the world, raking in billions of dollars a year.
•Pimps are hardly ever prosecuted and Johns (the buyers) are often just fined or issued misdemeanors when caught WHILE THE PROSTITUTE generally GOES TO PRISON, even if she/he was the one to alert the police because there are often no Safe Harboring laws.

So, yes, this is awful, but what can be done about it?

Well, as I will detail in my next blog post, there are things that can be done, by individuals, by you to illuminate and illuminate sex crimes against women.

After growing frustrated about the lack of progress in orgnaizations across the country, I decided that there was only one thing to do. Create my own.
I recently created Stand Up Illinois that will work to raise awareness about these crimes, work with other groups to create a united front, and change legislation in the US that allows these crimes to continue.