3/11/2010
Reportage about human trafficking must continue
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Letter to the Editor
To the Sentinel:
This is in reference to your coverage in the Sentinel, “Human trafficking continues to claim victims in Oregon.” I am happy that a shelter is planned because it is so difficult for ICE and other agencies to find shelter for identified victims; we need many more around the country. However, this in Portland would not be the first such shelter.
I am director of Dawn’s Place in Philadelphia, a shelter and therapeutic program for victims of human trafficking. We opened in March 2009 for adult women who have been trafficked and exploited for sex. There are other shelters in California.
You mention “demand” in your article but much more emphasis is needed. We would not need trafficked women for prostitution unless the men in this country had such a great need for prostitutes, pornography and other aspects of the sex trade; we would not have persons trafficked for construction, farms or factories unless there was a demand for low-paid workers without benefits or regulations in the workplace. These low-paid workers produce products that can be sold on the market at low prices for all of us. So, we all share the guilt.
Most of the trafficked persons come from countries, or areas of our own country, where they live in dire poverty. Trafficking is a very complex problem.
Sister Teresita Hinnegan
Philadelphia, Pa.
The Sentinel story appeared before the Philadelphia shelter opened; Sister Teresita Hinnegan read the story online at sentinel.org.
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