My Silent Plea

There are so many soldiers who go to war and come back damaged in some way. No one is by definition perfect, but the stress and trauma that these soldiers endure can cause them to return in a state that places them outside of the accepted peculiarity of the everyday person. Not all soldiers would care to admit that they are not the same person who left months, or even years before. They would prefer for those who are closest to them to view them as they once were prewar. The soldiers have had so much change and instability that for a while, when they first return home, all they want is the security of normalcy. This need of theirs can often stifle the realization that something in their minds is amiss. The idea that they were too weak to handle the immense pressures of war and battle plague them. Soldiers are ashamed that they allowed the past to negatively affect their present.² If the soldiers confess to having problems coping with their war experiences and adjusting to civilian life, then they would have to own up to the façade they tried so hard to pass off. The soldiers are afraid that their families and friends will treat them differently and refuse to seek the professional help they need. This is a serious problem and needs to be addressed.³ The stigma that the soldier as person becomes defective or is weak for seeking psychiatric help needs to be obliterated. These men and women are some of the best examples of strength personified that we have and there needs to be total support of them trying to reclaim a happy and productive life. When help is avoided soldiers can become depressed and begin to use tobacco and alcohol in excess¹. They’ve given and sacrificed too much for their lives to amount to what many would call nothing. Everyone needs to be onboard with them receiving the best help and support available. The message should go from being “You weren’t tough enough to get a grip on yourself” to “You were brave enough to get help and for that you will come out stronger.” Let’s support our troops not only when they are overseas but once they return home as well, where it’s still needed.

¹http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/pages/overview-mental-health-effects.asp

²http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-02-28-cover-iraq-injuries_x.htm

³http://www.veteranjournal.com/homeless-soldiers/

Weapon of Choice

The world of weaponry is constantly expanding with the innovation of nuclear weapons and such. However, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo murderers are finding a way to end more lives than Suddam Hussein and Hitler combined. Ironically, it has been a human bodily function since our creation: sex. Rape is today’s most effective weapon of war and it is constantly destroying the lives of women but by destroying the women of a community the entire structure crumbles. This is the logic behind systematic gang rapes and mutilations performed by the teams fighting this war, including the Congolese army. The extreme violence against specifically women has grave implications for the whole society, making it swifter than an AK-47.

"Today in the Congo it is much more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier." Rape is more effective than a bomb because of the implications it leaves for the entire community. It is not just about soldiers who want to be with a woman, sensual arousal is the last thing on their minds.

“Often male relatives are often forced at gunpoint to rape their own daughters, mothers, or sisters; and that frequently, women are shot or stabbed in their genital organs after they are raped. Sometimes broken bottles or corn cobs are shoved into the women's genitalia after the rape.”

The estimate number of women raped is 400,000 a year, a rate equal to 48 women an hour.

These women are considered lucky if they are only gang raped and mutilated. Other than the physical and psychological damage (and the fact that the majority of these women will not receive basic medical attention) these women are left with shame and it is not uncommon for their spouses or parents to reject them after they are attacked. Villages are losing entire female populations along with their sense of worth as a whole.

“Rape tends to undermine the victim group’s tribal structures, because leaders lose authority when they can’t protect the women.” When word of the shaming spreads villages are vulnerable to more attacks.

Congolese are growing up in a world where rape is common. The acceptance of such brutal crimes is becoming a social phenomenon.

“‘It’s gone beyond the conflict,’ said Alexandra Bilak, who has studied various armed groups around Bukavu, on the shores of Lake Kivu. She said that the number of women abused and even killed by their husbands seemed to be going up and that brutality toward women had become ‘almost normal.’” The increase in violence against women as a normal part of society is proving these rapists right.

All video credits go to CBS news. The following content may be disturbing.

Photo Credits go to Getty Images / Uriel Sinai. The image is of women at a hospital in the Kivu region all of which had been gang raped.

Seeking Shelter

It is estimated that there are 3.5 million homeless Americans and 1.35 million are children (18 and under); 50% of these children are 16 or older. Most of whom are considered unaccompanied youth. The law describes unaccompanied youth as children not under the supervision of their parents or legal guardians. When unaccompanied youths are forced to live on the streets they become more vulnerable to developing a drug addiction and being abused or trafficked. According to the 2010 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, 1.1% of unaccompanied youths ages 13 to 17 stayed in a shelter at one point during a three-month period. This is simply because there are not enough shelters dedicated to housing unaccompanied youth.

Most shelters that are not specifically dedicated to housing unaccompanied youth will not accept minors. This is because shelters know that most unaccompanied youths are runaways, so the possibility of the minor seeking shelter being a runaway is very high. Giving shelter to a runaway is illegal because anyone under the age of 18 running away from their parents or legal guardians is considered a fugitive.

Another cause of this homeless youth shelter deficiency is funding. Lack of funding is a major issue for many private shelters. The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act provides government funding for shelters, if they follow strict rules. Shelters given this funding can only allow 20 youths at a time, must contact the parents or legal guardians, and maintain “proper relations with law enforcement personnel, health and mental health care personnel, social service personnel, school system personnel, and welfare personnel.” Contacting the parents or legal guardians can be extremely difficult seeing as most of the unaccompanied youths’ parents are homeless or the children have runaway from abusive homes. If the runaways know that the shelter will contact their parents or law enforcement officials, they most likely will not stay and will be forced to live on the streets again.

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Behind a Cultural Icon: The Blue Jeans

Blue jeans is a clothing item that is considered to be a cultural icon durning our time. Yet would individuals ware and represent the blue jeans if the un talked about process that occurs durning production was publicly known and sewed beside their common tag? With companies constantly thriving for lower production cost the pressure for the ‘middleman’ and the ‘contractors’ to meet the quota is very much present leading these individuals to reach out beyond our nations borders to factories with lower wages and consists of a risky and dangerous working environment. Factories should provide a safe environment for their workers and properly pay them for their work.

Most blue jeans come from sweat shops in countries such as Vietnam, China, Eastern Europe and Mexico. Sweat shops are common in developing countries and industrialized countries. Sweat shops are working environments that are undeniably difficult and dangerous to their workers. With several workers being paid minimum wage if not lower and working an excessive amount of hours ranging from eleven to twelve per day usually seven days a week. Sweat shops have also been noted to have individuals who are not paid at all for their work, including immigrant labor, and has high chances of carrying diseases. Nike has been viewed as an example of sweat shop using child labor with a dangerous work environment. Making high profits is a factories main focus with providing a safe and workable environment laborers love will show on the product.

Companies should be able obligated to provide an additional tag stating the social and environment aspects that were used durning production. Ultimately consumers are able to control most of the companies behavior by whether they purchase the product. Customers are the most important factor to a business and necessary to keep it running and present. By businesses incorporating another tag that exhibits a companies resources for their creation next to the common washing prescription or general product information labels will not go without being read. The awareness of a companies production will determine whether a consumer chooses to support their production or not.

Photo Credit: http://www.denimology.com/2007/04/china_blue_denim_sweatshop_doc.php

Who Really Makes Your Toys

In China, there is a great demand for child laborers, for children have smaller hands, and their eyesight is undamaged from years of work. Children are often used in factories that produce toys. Life in these factories is brutal. Oftentimes, children are expected to work 15 hour days, beginning at 8 A.M. and continuing past midnight. In many instances, the children work seven day weeks, and are paid 12 cents an hour. Although this is against Chinese labor laws, the laws are often not enforced.

Some reasons that children end up working in factories at a young age, is actually to help pay for schooling. Families in rural areas make very little money, about 195 Yuan, which is close to $31. School costs roughly 15 Yuan, which is about $2.50. Families are simply unable to pay for their children to attend school when they already have so little to spare.

To call an end to child labor would not ease the suffering of the children and their families. Without the children’s valuable income, families would have even less money, and the children would have no chance of attending school.

Instead, regulations and taxes should be put upon products produced in factories that implement child laborers. Raising the price of items produced by children by several cents would help to give the children better salaries, which would aid them and their families greatly. Children should also only be able to work a maximum of eight hours a day, because they are still growing, and require more sleep and rest and nutrition.Besides this, children should only be allowed to work after school hours, education should always come first.

Photo Credit: http://www.google.com/imgres?q=children+in+sweatshops+in+china&hl=en&safe=off&biw=1366&bih=677&tbm=isch&tbnid=YP9qbP3lleZjkM:&imgrefurl=http://mvalerio-sweatshops.blogspot.com/&docid=0EVAJeqWiDHzxM&imgurl=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixCeK6rmfuSyIyBxku_UVfZPmSr_Xufn8CW2fUEAmBi5tj_8v4juLddUmDu5YpjbcB5YS8kyfkd0Mk3kE8OwGWvR1MS1TJlCSsA-vZFWulPeD2JJ_63Kn5dqmFcv4AkBr17MphVz2jnVVV/s320/china%252Bsweatshops.jpg3.bmp&

Video: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/santas-workshop/
amp;w=300&h=200&ei=yHHETpPuMYLctwea46H-BQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=654&vpy=340&dur=384&hovh=160&hovw=240&tx=103&ty=130&sig=101544670653880953861&page=1&tbnh=148&tbnw=212&start=0&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:0

Over 18? Click to Enter

Sexually explicit material is protected under the US Constitution. It is also legal to meet up with a stranger met online as long as both of the participants are over 18. It’s also legal for websites to facilitate these meetings. It’s illegal for minors to use these websites but most websites do not have the proper regulations that ensure that minors are not subscribing to these websites. Now some of these websites are being used by human traffickers and their victims to find new “employees” and “clients” and nothing is really being done to stop them.

Most sites have a “click to enter if you’re over 18” and “I am under 18” option that they greet their users with. Other sites require a birthdate to be entered, but with simple math a 14 year old can turn into 21 year old with 1 click.

An Age Verification System (AVS or “Age Gate”) exists which is only used by a select few of these websites. The AVS requires users to enter a credit card number in order to verify their age. While the idea seems like it would work, a few cracks exist in the system that make websites and users weary of using it. Firstly, it’s easy for a child to take a credit card from their parents and secondly, some websites have been known to use this system to gain access to people’s personal information and then commit fraud or to send excessive advertisements to the users. Another system, eGuardian does not require credit cards, but the company passes the information received to their partners who then use the information to advertise unhealthy foods. Parents are then left to decide whether they want to protect their child from potential predators online, or whether they want to protect their child from childhood obesity which can also cause many problems for the child.

Not only are children being exploited through some of these sites, but these sites also serve as a way for pimps to recruit new girls and johns. Craigslist use to feature an adult in which people could post ads for “adult services”. The site was not supposed to support prostitution or human trafficking in any way but a woman who calls herself MC claimed otherwise:

"All day, other girls and I sat with our laptops, posting pictures and answering ads on Craigslist. I am 17 now, and my childhood memories aren't of my family, going to middle school, or dancing at the prom. They are of making my own arrangements on Craigslist to be sold for sex, and answering as many ads as possible for fear of beatings and ice water baths" 

Craigslist has shut down their adult section, but many other sites like craigslist exist. “Backpage.com” operates under the same principle and with one scroll through the site one will find many photographs and price lists. While none of the ads explicitly say that they are offering sexual intercourse for a price, ads like “I Will Make Your Eyes Roll Back And Your Toes Curl!! 80$ SpEcI@L”* almost undoubtedly infer prostitution.

It’s not only adult sites that put children at risk, but also social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. A report done by Rochester Institute of Technology indicates that 11% of 2nd and 3rd graders were asked to disclose private things about their body. The statistics only get higher as the child gets older. Some predators create fake accounts to lure their victims in and some will have their actual name posted and use child grooming to lure the child in.

It’s complicated to implement a policy that doesn’t infringe the freedoms of speech and expression but it was almost done in 1998. In 1998, the Child Online Protection Act was passed. The law was however too loosely worded and also too stressful on other internet users and was later dismissed. The bill was passed which means there is hope. Perhaps if a similar bill were to be developed which had less ambiguities and hassles for other internet users, children could be safer from internet predators.

Why Is Child Labor Happening In the Democratic Republic of Congo?

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the most toxic areas within the poorest continent on earth. Millions have died as a result of the conflict between destructive rebel militias and the national army. Conflicts have risen within the country as a battle for control of profitable mining sites. This is encouraging the demand for mineral wealth, along with the control of slaves who are forced to work the mines. In 2010 an U.S. Geographical Survey determined that the Democratic Republic of Congo is the world’s fifth largest producer of tantalum, and tin. Reports have represented that the largest purchasing countries of coltan(tantalum) are Belgium, China, Thailand and South Africa. These minerals are then refined in Asia, before being sold as metals to the United States. Coltan is the source of the minerals niobium and tantalum. Coltan generally refers to tantalum, which is widely used in certain medical equipment, cell phones, and laptops worldwide.

Due to the countries poor and oppressed state, men, women, and children have become dependent on the mines. They then face the struggle to either be forced to work in the mines, or willfully choose to work in the mines. Some are forced into working in the mines due to debt bondage, or the threat of violence. Local miner middlemen enjoy having younger children as laborers because their pay is less than the older boys. Additionally it is said children are essential to the process because they can get into smaller holes dug in the river beds. Others are choosing to leave school and work in these, hazardous conditions, in order to pay for a decent meal at the end of the day. These miners are usually not with any sort of protective gear, a lot of the time children will be barefooted and without safety helmets.

In order to change and better the lives of this group of people, a newly elected government is essential. In addition to preparatory steps be made to improve the children of DRC lives. Such as, bettering social services offered to these children. In addition to take action to demobilize all children under the age of 15 or children in which have not consented to work in the mines.

The Invisible Hand of Slavery

While the thirteenth amendment abolished the legal right to own another human being as a slave in the United States, it created an underground market to serve the economic needs and desires that still remained after the amendment was ratified. In fact, comparable cases of prohibition of liquor and prostitution show that illegalization simply moves the problem to the underground market. The only way to end slavery is to address the economic demand for unpaid labor. The reality is that slavery was created to fulfill the economic need for low wage labor and the laws that legally abolished slavery have not addressed this issue. After slavery was legally abolished by the thirteenth amendment the economic demand for low cost labor still remained, forcing slave owners to move the buying and selling of slaves into the underground market.

When the buying and selling of anything is made illegal without addressing the economic demand, people will find a way to continue the trade through an underground market. For example, when the use of alcoholic substances was legally abolished in 1920 alcohol problems worsened when the sale of alcohol became an underground market of organized crime. Alcohol consumption per capita actually increased and America was forced to revoke the prohibition act in 1933.

By addressing the economic demand of anything being bought and sold the trade will be abolished. For instance, Sweden decided to address the issue of prostitution by heavily criminalizing johns, pimps and brothel owners; Sweden saw a drastic decrease in prostitution from the laws they created to eliminate the demand for prostitutes.

The same theory of demand can be directly applied to the issue of slavery. Slave owners make a rational, economic decision to obtain low wage labor from another human being despite the legal implications of that choice. They are aware that there is an endless supply of people and continue to enslave them through illegal, underground markets. Given the dark economic times we are currently facing it is crucial that we take action to eliminate the economic demand for slave labor.

Photo Credit

Hall, Wayne. "What Are the Policy Lessons of National Alcohol Prohibition in the United States, 1920–1933?" Addiction 105.7 (2010): 1164-173. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Nov. 2011.

Patterson, Jennifer. "Slavery Revisited: Using Economic Reasoning to Teach about the Past and Present." Academic Search Complete. EBSCO, 1 Jan. 2002. Web. 8 Nov. 2011.

Miller, John R. "Slave Trade Combating Human Trafficking." Academic Search Complete. EBSCO, 1 Jan. 2006. Web. 8 Nov. 2011.

Puerto Rico: A Trampoline for Illegal Immigrants

In 1898, after the Treaty of Paris was signed and the Spanish-American war ended, Spain ceded its possessions from The Caribbean and the Pacific to the American government. As a result, the island of Puerto Rico passed on to become a US territory and a possession of the US government. In April of 1900, the US congress approved the Foraker Act, where it established a civil government and put an end to the military government. Afterward, all of the laws made by the Federal government where immediately put in to practice, such as the Law of Cabotage, which still controls all of Puerto Rico’s ports. Consequently, the Federal government controls every movement of the people and all merchandise that goes between PR and the US. With that said, PR’s government lost control over the laws that rule their society economically, such as their immigration laws. As a result, the government has no control over their immigration status and can’t decide who can or cannot come into the island, since their rights have become greatly limited. Finally, the percentage of illegal immigrants moving to the island with hopes of finding better jobs or using the island as a gateway to transport illegal drugs into the US, has increased over the past 100 years. This is where the issue lies.

Once Puerto Rico became a US territory, every native citizen was given American citizenship, which allowed Puerto Ricans to travel, work and even live in the United States without having to go through an immigration process. Also, the island began a process of “Americanization” that fructified their economy enormously. This is why more people from rural countries, such as The Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba and even The Republic of China became interested in moving to Puerto Rico with hopes of finding a better life. With that said, there are two main consequences of immigration. The first being that once the immigrant finally escapes his or her country and arrives at PR, this person is immediately determined to be an undocumented immigrant. Since the majority of these people are so desperate for jobs and money, they end up working minimum wage jobs and in deplorable conditions. Secondly, the transportation of illegal drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin has affected the US directly since these drugs are being shipped from The Caribbean and other countries from Latin America to US territories.

At the moment, the laws of cabotage vigorously continue, preventing Puerto Rico’s government from enforcing control over illegal immigration on the island. Unfortunately, this function falls in the hands of the federal agencies such as the US Customs and Immigration Services, as well as the new agency that was created in 2003 called the US immigration and Custom Enforcement (I.C.E). This agency is the principle investigative arm of the US Department of Homeland Security (D.H.S) investigating and interior enforcements elements of the US Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Moreover, Puerto Rico has seen an unprecedented increase in drug related crimes between drug traffickers to the point where hundreds of people are murdered every month in an island of only 3.8 million inhabitants (a murder rate near 26 per 100,000). Without doubt, much of this is due to the ease of acquiring US dollars by the drug cartels in exchange for transshipment of illegal drugs and weapons. This is why, each day more news of crimes involving the use of high power weapons such as AR-15 rifles are heard. Since possession and use of weapons in PR is highly controlled and many of these are not imported legally to the island, but imported from the US by use of commercial couriers.

In order to solve the issue with immigration, or at least decrease the percentages of undocumented people in PR, two things must be done: the federal agencies that work with immigration laws in Puerto Rico should enforce stricter laws and penalties on immigrants that escape their countries illegally, or the U.S government should give Puerto Rico the freedom to choose their own immigration laws, since in reality, they are the ones being affected by this continuous burden.

Photo Credit: latestbusiness-news.com

Hope for a Brighter Tomorrow

Forced labor exists in many forms. Both adults and children are left to deal with the tough tasks of mining, domestic service, sexual services, agriculture, and other industries that do not provide the individual with pay, while holding them against their will. Since the United States’ economy gets most of its profit from agriculture, the demand of farm labor is increasing across the country. With the expansion of agricultural production, wages and working conditions are decreasing leading to the forced labor of workers. The U.S. government estimates that between 14,000 and 17,000 adults and children are trafficked into the United States. While the United States is using forced labor to meet demands, other countries are doing the same, which is increasing the number of forced laborers around the world. According to Kevin Bales, in Hidden Slaves, “because forced labor is hidden, inhumane, widespread, and criminal, sustained and coordinated efforts by U.S. law enforcement, social service providers, and the general public are needed to expose and eradicate this illicit trade”. The state of California has come up with a law, California Supply Chain Transparency Act, to keep track of the products sold within its companies, by requiring public reports of direct supply chains. This method will prevent and eliminate forced labor by putting companies that depend on forced laborers out of business. Once this law is carried out within other states and countries, the amount of forced laborers will significantly decrease, as forced labor in imported products is diminished.

Companies in California, as well as companies that do business in California, that will be required to keep track of their products’ producers are ones who deal with retail and make over $100,000,000 a year. While some companies might already be working to eradicate slavery, the new law requires documentation. Once the company verifies the origin of the products and evaluates all the suppliers in the supply chain, it must make this information available on its website. Companies without a website have 30 days to provide copies including this information. The California Supply Chain Transparency Act will be effective on January 1^st, 2012. However, it takes time to develop policies, train employees, and have the suppliers participate in this development, so preparations must begin immediately.

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A Growing Solution

When approaching the issue of slavery many people say the issue of poverty must be addressed first. As Kevin Bales puts it, “Ending poverty to end slavery to end poverty to end slavery,” he believes that there is a constant cycle of poverty leading to slavery, which creates more poverty ending in more slavery. There is a growing solution to the issue of poverty. Instead of simply donating food to those in need we must show them how to provide for themselves by teaching them to grow their own food. This process can lead to a healthier, more self-reliant and resilient community creating security and lifting people out of the bonds of an enslaved life. This creates jobs for those in need; it also provides food at a cheaper price that can pull people out of poverty.

Will Allen, CEO of Growing Power in Milwaukee Wisconsin, believes that there cannot be a healthy community without a healthy food system. He has created an organization centered in the inner city of Milwaukee where community members can go and learn how to grow their own food. Allen teaches people how to grow in urban areas; he believes “anyone can grow food”.

Growing food in urban areas is huge for the individual farmer as well as the community. Having local farmers markets provides the community with jobs as well as the ability to buy fresh local food that is inexpensive and better for their health.

Inner city farmers markets provide opportunities for local farmers as well as local entrepreneurs looking to become apart of the market. City gardens bring pride to a community and neighborhood, citizens become proud of their ability to grow and sell their own food.

Teaching someone to garden and grow their own food is giving them power. It’s creating jobs, giving a community a sense of pride, and pulling people out of poverty. Instead of donating soup cans and giving only temporary aid, we must get involved and help eliminate the problem for good. Just like the cycle Kevin Bales talks about, gardening can be a growing solution to end hunger to end poverty to end slavery.

photo credit: http://urbantreenursery.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/growing-power-chicago-sign-recropped.jpg

"Want a Job?"

Children dying all around, malnutrition, lack of water, no sanitation, and no stable home if there is a home at all. An estimated 1.2 billion people in the world live on less than one dollar a day and numbers keep increasing. Poverty is an unpreventable evil that aids the “industry” of slavery. However poverty needs to be recognized in order to be reduced. Poverty is the crucial issue associated with people being susceptible to enslavement; therefore, efforts must be devoted to programs that focus on improving poverty and thus addressing slavery.

The desire for a job is what captures many of those who are enslaved today. The simple question “Want a job?” is presented to a person and thus the pain begins. In Kevin Bales novel Ending Slavery the story of 12 boys in poverty from Bochi, India is told. The parents of the boys are presented with the infamous question “Want a job?” they see it as either take this opportunity or let our children die a horrible death. They unintentional enslaved their sons, yet they have also saved their lives.

925 million. 925 million people in the world are living in hunger. This is not because there is a shortage of food but because; the food cannot be afforded. It is our duty to find a way to aid this world crisis. Food is a necessity . If one doesn’t eat for a certain time, one will die. The fear of death leaves people weak, willing to do anything for food. This is how it becomes effortless for a trafficker to take slaves, because they come when you are in need of help.

Poverty is a universal issue that needs to be addressed. We have organizations already established to do just that, yet it is not being done. World leaders to take action, I need to take action as well as you. If less people were living in poverty, they would be less vulnerable to fall into slavery.

Photo Credit:http://www.acralive.org/2011/07/320-mn-people-in-india-china-to-come.html

Military Rule

When government armies seize power from the people, it is very hard to get it back. Burma, a country west of Thailand has a serious problem with forced army recruitment. Burma’s military promised that the November 2010 elections, the countries first in more than 20 years, would bring about human rights improvement. But, as usual, the military set on a new mission has continued to degrade and take citizens, mostly convicts now, to work as what they call “porters”.

This is a third world country where war is a continuous obstacle arising from rebel army groups fighting the now in power government. The quick fix solution that this country has come to is rounding up prisoners from the local prisons to carry army equipment and assist in anyway they can. In January 2011, the Tatmadaw, in collusion with the Corrections Department and the Burmese police, gathered an estimated 700 prisoners from approximately 12 prisons and labor camps throughout Burma to serve as porters for an ongoing in southern Karen State, in the east of the country. There are no discriminations taken into account when sending these prisoners off for war, people ranging from murders to fraud end up on the front lines. The idea of using prisoners during war situations is not a new one and is sometimes a practical way of keeping up numbers, but the treatment that these people must endure from the abusive soldiers is unacceptable. The prisoners selected as porters described witnessing and enduring summary executions, torture and beatings, being used as “human shields” to trip landmines or shield soldiers from fire, and being denied medical attention and adequate food and shelter.

Solutions are hard to come by when dealing with a system of rule and order that has become too corrupt to follow even passed laws. The Dead Men Walking report claims that military regulations, including one 1999 law banning the use of forced labor by military, are simple ignored in conflict zones. So, the solution I came to was a law or system created by the U.N. that monitors countries with abusive government systems that abuse the citizens. Exactly like the U.S. government’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report, but on a global scale, creating a system that punishes these countries and puts temporary sanctions cutting them off from the Super Powers.

photo credit: http://zunia.org/typo3temp/pics/973be32fd8.jpg