Women's Rights

Back in February I penned a blog about human sex trafficking, a hidden crime that is affecting our local communities and countries at large, an ugly part of our world, that is now a multi-billion dollar industry and growing exponentially. My blog garnered a lot of hits and the response gave me the sense that the general public is very concerned about this crime. I mention this because I was saddened and shocked to hear that Craigslist is again in the news, cited as being a "haven for prostitution and sex trafficking."

It's been a busy newsworthy year for Canada, and we are in the international headlines again. After an extended proroguing of parliament and hosting the Olympics, Canada is also hosting both the G8 and G20 summits. From all media reports, we are hearing about increased security which has been heightened and put into place, more than 700 new security cameras installed, and the downtown core has already been designated into a tight red zone area.

For the second time in my life I participated in the global movement entitled Take Back the Night (TBTN). It aims to end sexual violence especially against women, but our group at The New School (and many others) opens it up to simply fight gender based violence.

To give you a better understanding of TBTN I first would like to share a quote with you from the official website of the movement: http://www.takebackthenight.org/

“Why Take Back the Night?

Rape. It's something most of us are uncomfortable discussing and an ugly part of our world. I could use a less obtrusive term. like "sexual assault" or "sexual violence," but I wont. It's a powerful word that we need to keep discussing because it's an issue that faces millions of people worldwide.

For the past four years I have been involved in the VDay Movement (www.vday.org) to end the violence against women around the globe. I have performed in The Vagina Monologues several times and directed Any One Of Us: Words From Prison. I was also very fortunate to spend a whole afternoon with Eve Ensler, the playwright and founder of the movement, who is one of the strongest, most inspiring and world-changing people I know of! It was incredible!

It's something we think only happens in far away places and developing countries. A booming black market industry, earning $32 billion dollars annually, more than the worth of Google, Starbucks and Nike combined. Human trafficking for the purposes of selling sexual acts, also known as sexual terrorism, is the use of illicit sex, violence and threats to intimidate or coerce to the state of fear and submission. It's a problem worldwide, but it is becoming more widespread in North America, especially in Canada.

The campaign to bring democracy and human rights to Afghanistan is still an ongoing uphill battle. NATO forces have been at war in Afghanistan since the invasion in 2001. Afghanistan hasn't had a moment's peace in decades. The current war being fought is the fifth phase of civil war, following a long history of power coups, bloody battles and terrorism that has left millions dead and scores homeless.

Surrogacy business in the United States has exploded and expanded in the last five years according to several news reports and documentaries. The United States is one of the few countries in the world that has zero regulation on surrogacy; state laws vary from banning it outright to legalizing it completely.