Updated: November 28, am. A Whiting Petroleum Co. The payment does not erase the sexual violence, verbal sadism, domestic violence and rape that go along with the payment of that money.
Hosted by the Mansfield Center and Soroptimist International, the event brought experts together from across the globe to discuss a crisis that has left 27 million people entrapped in modern-day slavery, from prostitution to child soldiers to indentured labor. More than 97 percent of prostitutes are in the trade without a choice, either through direct enslavement or inequality. For choice to be possible, she said, physical safety, equal power and true alternatives must be present.
Those who purchase sex, she said, often learned about sex through pornography. They also suffered from low self-worth, preferred multiple partners and opted for non-relationship sex. On the face of it, the prostitute is agreeing to it, but deeper down, you can see that life circumstances have kind of forced her into it. Working as a prostitute, the buyer concluded, was akin to someone jumping from a burning building. One can say they chose to jump from the window, but one might also suggest they had no other choice.
Like the mining camps of the past, Farley said, the Bakken oil patch on the border of Montana and North Dakota has led to an explosion of crime, including trafficking and prostitution. Farley noted a number of reports, including groups of men coercing women to strip, increased cases of rape, forced labor and attempted abductions. She also noted Sherry Arnold, the teacher who was kidnapped and murdered two years ago. Where men congregate in large numbers, be it Sturgis, the Super Bowl or the NCAA basketball tournament, Farley said, human trafficking is likely present.
Peterson said her office, under the direction of U. Human trafficking task forces also have launched in Missoula and Flathead counties, she said. A similar task force is forming in Billings, and discussions are taking place in Helena and Great Falls.
