In response to “‘Sex Trafficking Survivor’ at Democratic Convention not actually victim of sex trafficking”

I am a new employee at 3 Generations. One of my responsibilities is to work with my 3G colleagues to find relevant news stories about the topics that we at 3G are passionate about and want to share with our followers through social media channels. One of those topics is sex trafficking.

Last night, shortly after human trafficking survivor Ima Matul finished speaking, an associate editor at reason.com posted a piece entitled ‘Sex Trafficking Survivor’ at Democratic Convention Not Actually Victim of Sex Trafficking. I found it because as I was searching for stories about trafficking this morning, this popped up as the second story listed under a google news search for “trafficking”.

Labor trafficking and sex trafficking are forms of modern day slavery. Under U.S. law, both forms of trafficking are currently qualified as human trafficking under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). Last night, a brave survivor of human trafficking spoke at the DNC about her experience being trafficked and abused.

Unfortunately, the DNCC representative who published the list of speakers in a press release yesterday listed Ima Matul as a ‘Sex Trafficking Survivor & Advocate’. However, ‘sex trafficking’ was never mentioned in Ima’s speech or in Senator Klobuchar’s introduction of Ima.

Yes, it was a mistake by the DNCC representative who published the press release, but the title of this article by reason.com is very misleading to readers and never mentions that Ima was repeatedly physically abused and warned by her trafficker that she would be beaten and raped if she told police. And sadly, the 125 comments the blog has already gathered since being published 16 hours ago include many comments criticizing or doubting Ima’s personal story of being trafficked. And, if you were to do a quick search on a search engine right now about news articles covering Ima Matul’s speech, who would find that the headlines in the Huffington Post, ABC News, LA Times, and other major news organizations use the words ‘Human Trafficking’ and not ‘Sex Trafficking’.

Labor trafficking and sex trafficking are both horrific human rights violations. Ima’s message is vitally important and this article from reason.com is political manipulation and an egregious disservice to the fight against human trafficking.
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Ima Matul is Chair of the National Survivor Network and was recently appointed by President Obama as a member of the United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking. You can find out more about the work that Ima is doing by following her on twitter @ImaHope4Freedom

Click here to read the full article from reason.com

Blog written by Kelly Thoma, Production Manager at 3 Generations