- Notorious R.I.M.
- Jan 27, 2004
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up to my ass in alligators
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It looks like Celine Shimizu is my homework for tonight because that is some fascinating and important work.
But until I've read her I'd like to about the anti-human trafficking/prostitution campaign the Houston P.D. is waging in anticipation of the upcoming superbowl (and the anticipated rise in trafficking victims due to the increase in visitors to the city).
I don't trust it. The police chief got on TV to announce the campaign which, as far as I can tell, is just an old-fashioned vice sting. They did say they were working with trafficking victim organizations to reserve beds, but beyond that they didn't address anything that seemed targeted at helping victims. Who is getting these beds, and who is just going to jail?
The heart of my problem is that they conflate sex trafficking with prostitution. This doesn't help anyone. It obfuscates the problem while turning sex trafficking into a buzzword that is used to paper over the same old anti-sex worker policies. How does it help anyone to deliberately blur the distinction between coerced victims and women who choose to work in the sex business? Doesn't it cheapen and damage the very concept of sex trafficking to use it in what is pretty clearly an antiprostituion vice bust? It's telling that this operation is supposedly against "human trafficking," which includes sex trafficking and labor trafficking, yet the police chief ends it by saying "For the johns," Acevedo said, "We're putting you on notice today... When we arrest you, we will expose you for the sick person that you are." Because sending the press photos of arrested johns is going to keep enslaved women safe  .
I'm biased, but it's kind of disgusting to see the police use something as serious as human trafficking as wallpaper for what is pretty clearly an operation to protect the city's image while the tourists are in town.
Y'all took Austin's Police Chief and I'm sad about it. Acevedo did a good job of busting up the racist cops that Austin has been infested with, and he did it while getting heat internally because of it. If we're looking for someone that's interested in making sure that the cops aren't abusing victims, Acevedo is probably a better than average shot. This in tandem with him trying to get better mental health care for police officers really makes me think he just wants cops to not be lovely people. How much active help and outreach they do for the victims though? I have no idea how that will pan out.
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Jan 16, 2017 18:50
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May 14, 2024 06:11
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- Notorious R.I.M.
- Jan 27, 2004
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up to my ass in alligators
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Women's march? The story is about the men!
I do think it's interesting that zero violence occurred from an event that is inclusive of pretty much everyone but Patriarchal men.
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Jan 23, 2017 06:20
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Jan 16, 2017 18:50
