Publishable Blog 2 (25/05/2016)

During the week I have researching about sex trafficking of women and children, the child sex tourism industry and its surrounding criminal underbelly. In the videos on youtube, documentaries and books, such as Slavery Inc by Lydia Cacho, I had found out some disturbing trends:

• The law enforcement and Government are hands in hand with traffickers and their industry, often looking the other way from their activities (whether that country had legalized prostitution or not) and some politicians, government officials, and police officers are clients in these brothels.
• Governments such as Turkey, cover up the issue of sex trafficking (along with drugs, arms, etc), and make such activities partially illegal to quiet western nations like the US. Cacho states that “despite an increasing number of trafficking cases involving women worldwide, the Turkish police have reported a decrease in the number of women trafficked to Turkey from Russia…How is it possible that in a few years the Turkish police force has been able to lower the incidence of women trafficked from these countries by 50 percent? Why are there no statistics on domestic trafficking?” (Cacho, 14 – 15).

If the case of government and law enforcement being involved in such illicit activities are true, that would make the roles of NGO’s and social workers jobs to eradicate sex trafficking much harder. What can we do as 21st century citizens to raise awareness for this problem? Social media is a huge thing and there are so many social media posts on facebook, twitter, and youtube that raise awareness on these women’s and children’s plight. But why is no one taking notice? Is it because they think it is not their problem, a problem they cannot see? Are governments that are big on censorship making sure these crimes are buried? In my mind map above, I have listed possible solutions to alleviate the problem of sex trafficking; it may not eradicate the problem overnight but a little bit of help counts to someone out there.

Resources:
Cacho, Lydia, and Elizabeth Boburg. Slavery Inc.: The Untold Story of International Sex Trafficking. London: Portobello, 2012. Print.

Publishable Blog 1 (18/05/2016)

Mirzoeff’s idea of being a citizen in the era of globalization means immersing ourselves into our visual culture, think about the world going on around us through social media, graffiti, film, art, etc. To be a citizen of today’s society is to be exposed to visual activism and think visually. We as individuals are visual thinkers and activists. Mirzoeff states that allows us to create “a new self image, new ways to see and be seen, and new ways to see the world”. (Mirzoeff, 279).
I feel like, though the world has globalized and advanced at such an unprecedented level, we still have problems like Sex Trafficking of women and prepubescent children. As of 2013, this is the third largest criminal industry. I will be exploring this particular issue in depth over the next few weeks; whether I break it down to one issue (such as Child Sex Tourism, JK Business, etc) or to the entirety of the issue will be more obvious as time goes by. Really if you had to breakdown Sex Trafficking, there are many factors involved such as:

• Different types of trafficking such as Pimp controlled trafficking, family controlled trafficking, etc
• Sex Trafficking and prevalence in nations such as India, Thailand, the Netherlands, and if cultural norms/economic, socio-political climates allow this industry to thrive or go underground. For example, Bangladesh is the only Muslim country that has legalized prostitution.
• Profile of victims – why, what, when do they become victims of sex trafficking? What are the numbers, statistics?
• How does governments and NGO combat these issues? Why is it still happening despite such organizations combating (or not combating).

My Aim: I want to create a series of visual images that demonstrate visual activism; to provoke a reaction and to create a discussion. Whether it pushes the audience to do something about this issue or make them think about it, who knows. The media I want to use is watercolour and ink and create a painting series; at the moment I do not know the number of paintings within the series but I do want to portray the grim realities of sex trafficking and its consequences.

This image provided by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shows a poster part of the Blue Campaign to raise public awareness of human trafficking. Awareness campaigns are underway at airports from New York to Los Angeles, as DHS has posted messages on video monitors and airport shopping bags. Other industries, including hotels and trucking, also are increasing efforts to detect trafficking. (Department of Homeland Security via AP)

Above are ads raising awareness against sex trafficking and uses iconography associated with sex trafficking mixed with thoughtful compositions and slogans.

Next week I will create mind maps on the issue in depth, visual activism/thinking, gather more information and book readings.