VOTE NO ON COLORADO PROP 133 REGARDNG HUMAN TRAFFICKING

 Vote no on 133. Those who have followed me over the years know that I have been an anti-human trafficking activist, beginning when I helped fund an NGO through a Rotary Grant for the prevention of that horrible practice in Bosnia, only to learn that much of the same was going on in the USA. The Epstein issue was very instructive, to say the least. It may surprise those in Colorado that I oppose Prop 133 on the ballot, which increases penalties for criminals convicted of trafficking. However, the sleeper deal-killer is that it puts an extra burden on the victims because this measure could catch survivors who were forced by their trafficker to recruit minors and trap them in life without parole. The vague "anything of monetary value" language also makes it difficult to prosecute some cases. This position was not without debate, and I am grateful to fellow activists for their research.

The accountability for Venezuelan boat attack: symptom of a larger problem

 Who can be held accountable for the two-tap Venezuelan drug boat hit? This is a symptom of a larger problem: the pattern of the Trump administration's strategy to avoid accountability for any unpopular or controversial act. The buck no longer stops at the Oval Office desk. "The Buck Stops Here" Desk sign | Harry S. Truman

Trump is saved from legal action by the Supreme Court granting him immunity: Those below him are accountable and do not have immunity, but it is not as simple as we are learning to pin anything on them, as well. Probably the only entity with the power to expose responsibility is Congress, which is now engaged in doing so.: Trump's usual pattern of response when he is challenged for his actions is to deflect attention by claiming the protesters are against something they are not. He also reacts by throwing his own appointees "under the bus", letting them to take the fall and blame.

What particularly frustrates holding Trump legally responsible for an act is that the Supreme Court puts Trump above the law and he would never be held accountable within the justice system or outside of it for various reasons. there is an excellent discussion of this in a CNN analysis: Trump is immune from accountability for boat strikes. What about everyone under him? | CNN Politics

Here is how this Venezuelan boat controversy, side-stepping accountability, could play out based on Trumpian response to being blamed for other unpopular actions that get blowback.. I see this one as typical of Trumpian strategy: pick an issue that most support...stop narco and human trafficking...and get rid of migrants who committed crimes in our country. and claim the libs are supporting all of those sins. Narco and human trafficking, and migrants with serious criminal records are bad guys, and these are are motherhood and apple pie kinds of a consensus held by both the left and the right. Then, when there is an objection to the methods or legality, Trump will claim the libs are supporting human trafficking and drug runners and narco trafficking and want to cripple the military.

There will be many in MAGA who will nod their heads and say "amen" without serious consideration of the implications, political fallout, or the methods. They will just pass it off as "you hate Trump" or ignore the methods used to carry out goals, which is the essence of the criticism. Where Trump et al go off the rails is the methods they use that far exceed what they promised to do. Most migrants deported by ICE and grabbed without a warrant, for example, have no criminal record, and appear to be treated cruelly and brutally, violating human and civil rights and threatening family separation to force compliance. Per the CATO ,Institute, 73% of those detained by ICE have no criminal record, and only 5% have a record of violent crimes. Politically, polls are showing the majority of voters are showing disdain for the methods, if not the goal. Trump may have underestimated the blowback to his methods, if not the goals. Most Immigrants Support Border Enforcement, but Not Mass Deportations, Poll Finds - The New York Times

MAGA itself has been spooked to support mass deportations by such claims that yearly 4000 are killed by undocumented migrants. However, as Reuters reported, there are few statistics available but there are statistics on the commission of crime in general that show that undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than the general population.  Texas does keep such statistics and they also agree that migrants commit crimes less than do the citizen population. Fact Check: No evidence 4,000 people are killed yearly by undocumented immigrants | Reuters

5% of People Detained By ICE Have Violent Convictions, 73% No Convict.ons | Cato at Liberty Blog

Britt's human trafficking example bogus; the problem is real so pass the bill

 Not only was Britt's SOTU response cringe-worthy, but it was also embarrassing factually. The example of human trafficking Biden's failure took place before Biden was president and not even in the US. I am an anti-human trafficking activist devoting six years to a prevention program in Bosnia. Human trafficking is no joke and we need to have the Bi-partisan border protection bill passed now so that there are enough resources to catch more of it. Britt voted against it in the Senate. I was traveling with two beautiful teenage girls, my grandchildren, at the time of rampant human trafficking in the Balkans. At the airport, as we were leaving the country, the police separated my grandchildren from me to make sure they were not being trafficked and to question them separately. That takes enforcement training and enough personnel to fund that kind of vigilance and that is how it is done. That Britt's delivery had been coached and concocted and the setting was the kitchen may not have been by accident, but deliberately done to appeal to a segment of women. The voice she used has been called the fundie baby voice. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fundie-baby-voice_l_65eb6b2fe4b05ec1ccd9e9b9?fbclid=IwAR3cyJ15Dd9uFaTJa1lxktseCsKjMBhr2L3QnuJ4WD48wH3VqyxHTFFBtnA

What is really interesting is that the real Katie Britt did not appear in that infamous rebuttal and those that know her know she is a "normie" and a talented politician.  I may disagree with her politics, but whoever staged her rebuttal did her no favors, and in fact, did her considerable damage. Pageant queen. Go-getter. NFL wife. Senator. SNL target: The ascent of Katie Britt | The Independent

Sen. Britt's stint in her kitchen in response to Biden's State of the United Address evoked some words of nostalgia by women my age, dressed in skirts and well-polished saddle loafers, dishing how nice it was in the good old days of the 1950s.  So gentle, so kind.   Here is my answer:  That was me. HS class of 1956.. I dressed like that, was valedictorian, and was nationally ranked in debate and extemporaneous speaking in mixed doubles and women (called girls then). I went on to Northwestern and felt my oats. Then I went to New York to break into television, where women were not taken seriously, and I was told bluntly that no one would take a woman delivering the news as credible. I should stay home and raise children. I am not you women who pine for the good old days of 1956.. In fact, between 35 and 70% of people between the ages of 20 and 65 in today's society work outside the home, not only because they want to but because they need to in order to make ends meet. They have been enabled because of family planning, which fools want to take away to force them back to the kitchen. I spent the rest of my career mostly in PR and in positions traditionally filled by women, such as a county clerk. I always felt I was born 20 years too soon. Go back to your kitchens, ye followers of Britt, if that makes you happy.  Not everyone is you. (PS I also raised three children and was married to the el remarkable man for 52 years who made much possible with his moral and helpful support.) I

CNN.COM

Anecdote from Sen. Katie Britt’s criticism of Biden’s border policies appears to be from before he was president | CNN Politics

Alabama Sen. Katie Britt graphically described a woman’s story of being “sex trafficked by the cartels starting at age 12,” during the Republican response to the State of the Union address on Thursday, using the story as an anecdote of, what she calls, President Joe Biden’s failed immigratio...

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4518062-white-house-hits-katie-britt-state-unio

n-response/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CLast%20month%2C%20Senator%20Britt%20sided,House%20spokesperson%20Andrew%20Bates%20said.d

COLORADO ROTARY CLUBS PLAY A ROLE IN FIGHTING HUMAN TRAFFICKING

(For more information about the Rotary Grant, go to www.bosniaglobalgrant.com)

Fighting human trafficking has become one of the most passionate causes of many in these past several years.  Media exposure of the suffering of victims of sex trafficking and labor slavery has raised the issue to new awareness and the extreme economic differences between and within countries have provided traffickers their opportunities to make a buck. Lack of education of girls and boys and local corruption and lack of prosecution of traffickers are often cited in US State Department reports as a cause, as well.

 An academic center at the University of Denver to study, assemble data, and advocate has been established, the only center of its sort in the world.  Several Grand County high school students have made advocacy against trafficking their cause.  A $45,000 Rotary grant, championed by Denver Rotary and  supported by eleven Rotary clubs, including Winter Park/Fraser, Granby, Grand Lake,  Kremmling , Summit (Frisco) and Breckenridge Mountain clubs,  with matching funds from Rotary International and  a Rotary district, have provided resources  to aid a  non- profit Bosnian organization, Novi Put,  and Mostar (Bosnia)  Rotary Club to combat trafficking  in Bosnia. 

Girls (and boys)  are lured into jobs or  hooked by traffickers on drugs,  and are set to work in sweat shops or become virtual slaves as domestic help, getting little or no pay.  They may even be trapped or tricked into becoming sex workers and find no way to escape.

 The Denver District Attorney’s Office even has an assistant DA assigned to prosecute traffickers and the Denver police department has a focus as well.  Last year, the Colorado state legislature passed laws to make it easier for law enforcement to prosecute traffickers in Colorado and a privately funded safe house was set up in northern Colorado to provide refuge and rehabilitation of victims.

In Colorado, runaway teens are often victims of traffickers who lure them into prostitution with promises of drugs and escape from the streets.  Mexican and Central American coyotes sneak undocumented workers into the US.   Victims find work that in no way fit the job description that was advertised.

 Bosnia is ranked by the US State Department as one of the worst actors in combatting trafficking and is on par with the Ukraine, Cambodia, and Burma and others in the mid-East, Asia, and Latin America.  Bosnian girls in rural areas rarely have education past the 4^th grade. Roma (gypsy) girls (100,000 of them in a country with a population similar to Colorado) are mostly illiterate.  Their economy is the worst in Europe, never having recovered from the devastating wars of ethnic cleansing in the 1990’s.  Corruption plagues the country and there has been virtually no prosecution of traffickers.  The Rotary grant is aimed at encouraging  Bosnian girls to stay in school, setting up literacy training for Roma, training and organizing  university student volunteers to mentor families with girls at risk, and conducting a public information campaign. Kicking off the grant implementation with a visit to Bosnia in September were Rotarians from Denver, Summit , and  Granby Rotary clubs.

A version of this appeared in the www.skyhidailynews.com  January 29, 2015 and in the print edition January 30, 2015

For continuing updates of the grant's progress, more information about the grant itself, pictures and press, see    www.bosniaglobalgrant.com            

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humantraffickingcenter.org
http://humantraffickingcenter.org/posts-by-htc-associates/perspectives-human-trafficking-conference-recap/

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_26429075/colorados-new-human-trafficking-laws-aimed-boost-convictions

Colorado Rotary clubs play major role in grant to keep rural girls in Bosnia in school to reduce human trafficking risks

 Colorado Rotary clubs   play a major role in  a Rotary International grant to promote basic education and literacy for rural girls in Bosnia. Keeping girls in school has the added benefit of reducing the number of girls who are at risk for  becoming  victims of  human trafficking.

The $45,275 grant , recently approved by the Rotary International Foundation, Evanston, Illinois,  will employ workshops,  campaign style outreach, and mentoring programs, to promote gender equality and  basic  education of girls. The  Rotary International Foundation  grant reviewer called the project  “innovative and an important effort”.

 The lead club and largest single contributor  was Denver Rotary (31) .  Also contributing cash toward Rotary International matching funds  were Rotary clubs of Boulder, Summit County (Frisco), Breckenridge Mountain, Denver Mile Hi, Grand Cayman (British West Indies), Mostar (Bosnia),   and the Rotary clubs   Winter Park/Fraser, Granby, Grand Lake and Kremmling .  Total cash contributions from Rotary Clubs was $16,850 which were matched by Rotary District 5450 ($10,000) and the Rotary International Foundation, $18,425

 Felicia Muftic, a member of the Denver club, and a resident of Fraser,  served as the project grant writer and champion, with assistance from husband Dr. Michael Muftic, a native of Croatia, a country  that neighbors Bosnia. The Muftics have been frequent visitors to Bosnia over the past forty years. Felicia Muftic first visited Bosnia in 1959 during her junior year abroad in Germany and completed  independent studies in Balkan history in her senior year at  Northwestern University.

 Bosnia has become  a major source of human trafficking as girls seek alternatives to poverty, widespread domestic violence, and lack of education needed  to become employable.  Large  numbers of girls in rural Bosnia do  not  complete elementary school, according to  United Nations agencies.. One result is that Bosnia has become  a major source of human trafficked girls  in recent years as travel restrictions were lifted.

Rural cultural prejudices held by all ethnic groups  in Bosnia  give preference to  educating boys, especially   when resources are tight.  100,000 Roma (commonly called gypsies in the U.S.) natives of the area, provide no education whatsoever for their girls.  Adding to the problem, the Bosnian federal government had prosecuted no traffickers in recent years  and local laws treat juveniles 14 years old and older arrested for  prostitution and begging as perpetrators, not victims.

 Bosnia  (formal name: Bosnia and Herzegovina or BiH) was part of the former Yugoslavia and  hosted the Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympic games. Sarajevo is Bosnia’s capitol. Bosnia’s population is similar to Colorado’s though it is one fifth in area.  Between 1990-1995 it exploded in a horrific civil war between  ethnic groups that resulted in coining  the term “ethnic cleansing” to describe tactics used by combatants during the conflict.   Government gridlock due to continuing political quarrels between ethnic groups,  corruption, and a deteriorating economy, with    unemployment of over 50% in cities and 80% in rural areas, has made  Bosnia  the poorest country in Europe.

The Rotary Club of Mostar (Bosnia) will implement and oversee  the grant, contracting with non profit Novi Put  to provide educational and advocacy  and hands on execution of the grant.  The grant will focus on the canton (state)  surrounding its main city, Mostar. Novi Put has been designated by the Bosnian Ministry of Security as an anti human trafficking partner.  Novi Put (translation: New Road), also provides advocacy services for promoting education, and is a counseling agency for domestic violence and child abuse in Mostar.

“The impact of recent flooding in Bosnia may slow down implementation planning, but the target area for the grant seems to be less affected and we expect the program to be ready to go at the beginning of the coming fall’s  school year”, said Muftic.

The grant approved by Rotary International is a Global Grant,  a new program  initiated in 2013 for larger grants.  Among its areas of focus is promoting basic education of girls and gender equality.   The most famous  face of gender equality and promotion of education of girls is Malala Yousafzai,  a Pakistani teen nearly killed by the Taliban and nominated for a Nobel Prize . Malala’s father was one of the first  members of a Rotary Club in Pakistan’s Swat Valley.

Bosnia: domestic violence; human trafficking

My column Wednesday, Aug 10

Copyright 2011 Sky-Hi Daily News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. August, 11 2011 6:47 am

Felicia Muftic: In Bosnia, some changes come slowly

Sky-Hi Daily News

There are times when the world seems so small and familiar and others when we in Grand County live in a world we cannot imagine.

I came to that conclusion recently on a visit to Bosnia. I was the guest of a director of a nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing the problem of domestic violence and human trafficking in that southeastern European country. 

 The problems those Bosnian nonprofits encountered in counseling victims of domestic abuse were nearly word for word the same as I had heard from staff and volunteers of our own Grand County organization, The Advocates. My Bosnian friend, the director, related the story of a woman who walked into her center, face beaten to a pulp by her spouse, with severe bruising on her arms. As in Grand County, she was asked if she wanted to file charges or legal action against her husband and move to a safe home elsewhere. She declined, giving the excuse familiar to our Advocates' counselors that it was partly her fault, she could not leave her children, and that her husband always acted kindly to her later She just wanted someone to talk with and to get some medical treatment.

Local Bosnian police summoned to the scene wrote up a report, called an ambulance and left it at that. How it will play out is unknown. The hope is that if she survives the next beating, she will follow the recommendations of the counseling agency.

What is remarkable, however, is that there is any attention given at all to the plight of victims of domestic violence in Bosnia. This Balkan country is a patriarchal society. Rebecca West, in her 1941 seminal book on Yugoslav history and culture, "Black Lamb and Grey Falcon," reported that soon after marriage, men often beat their wives for no reason just to establish right up front who would be the boss. Such practices may have become less of a tradition as the Balkans modernized, but attitudes toward abuse being an acceptable practice have lingered.

Bosnia endured a bloody war between 1991 and 1995 as the former Yugoslavia broke apart. About 300,000 died, and parts of the country were pulverized by artillery, rockets, and tanks, and the term “ethnic cleansing” was spawned there. Bosnia is the poorest country in the region. Thanks to rampant corruption, it has been slow to rebuild.

Of 4.5 million people, 500,000 are unemployed and over half of them are women. One positive result has been that the supervising United Nations and peacekeepers have imposed some the Western values on the local police, including giving a greater degree of attention to prosecuting perpetrators of domestic violence.

Bosnia's cultural heritage and aftermath of the war have given rise to a horror that we in Grand County can hardly imagine … human trafficking. Many Bosnian women are lured by advertisements from traffickers who promise opportunities to work abroad and to escape from grating economic circumstances. Later, many against their will are forced into prostitution or slave labor as their fraudulent recruiters and employers exploit them.

Our news reports lead us to believe that is something that happens to uneducated Asians. However, such practices have also haunted Russia, Romania, Moldova, and other Eastern European countries soon after the fall of Communism.

Bosnia has only recently become a hot spot for human trafficking. Corruption, increasing poverty, and removal of visa restrictions for Bosnians traveling to the European Union in 2010 have led to more traffickers focusing recruiting efforts in Bosnia. Identification of victims has been complicated by laws that treat children over 14 years of age who are found engaging in prostitution are treated as offenders and punished and not rehabilitated. The patriarchal culture adds to the lack of sympathy toward victims of sexual exploitation. The government has even recently reduced the number of nonprofits tracking and identifying victims and educating the public