Post by Rick on Mar 27, 2014 20:57:39 GMT -5
I wrote this review for my college magazine, take a look. Amateur work, but it takes up most of my time. I hope you enjoy..
A Survivor’s Parable: The Naked Truth of Sex Trafficking
“SEX TRAFFICKING IN OUR OWN BACKYARD: THE WHO, HOW & WHY”
Kingsborough’s open panel discussion on sex trafficking left much to ponder on our current limitations of insight, the problems of everyday life can unknowingly be used as a veil to hide true suffering. The discussion started with a few words from an Outreach Manager of Restore NYC, Kelly Jessop. Jessop broke down the schedule of the panel, and played an informative video that gave the listeners an overview on sex trafficking. The video supplied listeners with explicit details of the horrific trade, such as the possible locations of where the transactions are taken place. Many of these places are hotels, strip clubs, hostess clubs, residential brothels, and fake massage parlors. Also, the youngest age of victims that are brought into sex trafficking is thirteen years old. With all of the details that were given within the film, the most peculiar was the pimp’s use of distinction among their human assets. Tattoos would serve as a brand for these females, to psychologically break them down into thinking that they are property with a lack of identity.
After the video, one of the more substantial parts of the speaking panel was the open testimony of a sex trafficking survivor. That woman’s name was Iryna Makaruk, she is also an Outreach Manager of Restore NYC, as well as an organization called BeASister2ASister. Makaruk’s story falls back to her college life, where she was dating her boyfriend. Things seemed nice at first, but took a turn for the worst as they spiraled down into a relationship full of borderline domestic violence. “Ladies, abuse never starts with him hitting you. It always starts verbally,” Makaurk said in reference to the increasing problem with her relationship. This validates the video’s claim towards the psychological breakdown that’s constantly used as a strategy, breaking down the identity of the female. Makaurk sheds even more light on the strategies used by pimps in reference to her own personal experience; she was eluded into thinking that this was nothing more than the natural occurrence of a relationship. Even verbal confrontations she had in broad daylight with her boyfriend was overlooked, due to the fact that they gave off the appearance of being involved with each other.
“I didn’t know that I was into sex trafficking. This was my reality; this was something that was happening to me. This is what he told me I deserved, as his property,” another chilling quote said by Makaurk regarding her experience. After the speaking panel, I realized that there might be a critical error towards how we perceive things. What’s given to us on the outside shouldn’t be taken as truth; the contents of what we see might be more gruesome than we think. The topic definitely brings a lot into to question, like wondering if there is someone at the discussion panel experiencing the same thing right now. Overall, this panel served as a boost to our awareness of what goes on in this world, and to beware of the wolf in sheep’s clothing.
