An investigative article I'm compelled to broadcast.
What can we do? Cracked recommends donating to Polaris or Anti-Slavery. If there's anything else then I very much want to know.
Investigative article? I wouldn't be surprised if this was really part of a push to get some new law into place in a while. Thing is, with this kind of articles, people get an exempt from every sort of standard of providing references and such.
Not saying it's not true, of course, and certainly not saying it isn't horrible if it is, just that anyone could have written that for any reason.
Some US government statistics on human trafficking.
As we all know, government is inefficient, so it's doubtful that these statistics represent the whole of the problem.
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Unfortunately it is very true, and the USA is one of the leading countries of human trafficking for sex slaves. My suggestions are either find a way to make it a part of your career if you're really passionate about it as it takes people who dedicate their time and abilities to rescuing these unfortunate children and young adults or find an organization to donate money to.
There are multiple Christian organizations that are focused on finding and freeing these children and young adults that are sold/born into this horrible life.
Here's some tips on contributing:
Combatting Sex Trafficking
Also, here's some Christian organizations that focus on rescuing these victims. With ANY organization, please do a little research to make sure they are legitimate and using your donated money in an efficient and right way. Not all organizations are honest with how your donations are used/spent. I'm sure there's non-faith based organizations that are focused on fighting this issue and if you feel your donations would be better used there, feel free to check some out.
Noteable Organizations
She Has a Name
Protect Her
FAST
Hopefully some of these links help you in the right direction to fighting this widespread issue.
EDIT: Updated to a better link for "Combatting Sex Trafficking".
Oh, I am not saying nobody is held against their will and forced into sex. It's just that the story, after reading it, struck the wrong chord with me. Going just by the headlines: It works through the internet, the authorities do not help... it sounds like they are building support for some new horrible law for sabotaging the internet. The story seems designed for maximum emotional impact, i.e. it's a female honors student, the only one who could have helped her died, her parents saw her only as an investment, the cops were in on it too... It's a perfect storm of s&@@, wouldn't you agree? And then when they run into the problem of "Well, if this is so utterly pervasive, so completely monstrous, and the people involved have exactly ZERO hope as it is - how the hell did she manage to tell us the story?", they solve it with a copout: The last guy who bought her for some serious amount of money just throws her out because he found her having sex with someone else.
Seriously?
Mark my words, someone wants something serious out of this article, and expect more in the months to come, leading up to some suggestion or other.
Yeah, yeah. And not one of all those think tanks, lobby groups, institutes and whatnot... not a one among them would EVER invent a story for a specific purpose, would they? Of course not, that's just me being paranoid.
And of course, cracked.com is not a site that has any visitors anyway, right? Except, I note that it IS rather an odd fit with that story... and there are obviously some people who bought it wholesale.
Don't you get tired of yourself, thejeff?
Oh, I am not saying nobody is held against their will and forced into sex. It's just that the story, after reading it, struck the wrong chord with me. Going just by the headlines: It works through the internet, the authorities do not help... it sounds like they are building support for some new horrible law for sabotaging the internet. The story seems designed for maximum emotional impact, i.e. it's a female honors student, the only one who could have helped her died, her parents saw her only as an investment, the cops were in on it too... It's a perfect storm of s~%+, wouldn't you agree? And then when they run into the problem of "Well, if this is so utterly pervasive, so completely monstrous, and the people involved have exactly ZERO hope as it is - how the hell did she manage to tell us the story?", they solve it with a copout: The last guy who bought her for some serious amount of money just throws her out because he found her having sex with someone else.
Seriously?
Mark my words, someone wants something serious out of this article, and expect more in the months to come, leading up to some suggestion or other.
...yeah...if someone wants to push forward a political agenda, a online humor website is only a few steps above Yellow Dingo's postings of whitehouse gov petitions on this site.
Perhaps this is less an issue in your country (IIRC, you are in a Scandinavian country?), but there is absolutely no doubt it exists in the USA, with hundreds of cases each year.
Again, I did not question the phenomenon, just the story in the "investigative article". And oh, I am sure it happens here too. That doesn't mean it's okay to make stuff up and call it real. And as I said, cracked.com seems to have had quite enough impact factor for a number of people here to take the story seriously.
Yeah, yeah. And not one of all those think tanks, lobby groups, institutes and whatnot... not a one among them would EVER invent a story for a specific purpose, would they? Of course not, that's just me being paranoid.
And of course, cracked.com is not a site that has any visitors anyway, right? Except, I note that it IS rather an odd fit with that story... and there are obviously some people who bought it wholesale.
Don't you get tired of yourself, thejeff?
Okay...so do you think that no sex trafficing occurs in the USA?
Because even if this story is fake, that still doesn't explain why there were over 500 documented victims of this problem in the USA alone between 2008-2010.
So I don't know what point you are trying to make here.
(and yes...Cracked gets a lot of views, but I would hazard their target demographic overlaps pretty heavily with the mostly politically apathetic segment of potential voters)
It must be rough, carrying around all that hyperbole, just waiting to use it...
No. "Oh, I am not saying nobody is held against their will and forced into sex. It's just that the story, after reading it, struck the wrong chord with me." and "Again, I did not question the phenomenon, just the story in the 'investigative article'" are pretty clear, I think.
I am saying the story reads like a heavily designed argument to act against the phenomenon, thought up by a think tank, not something that really happened. If someone wants to pull my heartstrings, they should be decent enough to show me something real. This reeks of "how can we maximize the public reaction with her next situation?".
If someone used cracked.com for this, and get people to buy the veracity of the story, further arguments will come down the line, just in time for something the originators want. We'll see.
No. "Oh, I am not saying nobody is held against their will and forced into sex. It's just that the story, after reading it, struck the wrong chord with me." and "Again, I did not question the phenomenon, just the story in the 'investigative article'" are pretty clear, I think.
I am saying the story reads like a heavily designed argument to act against the phenomenon, thought up by a think tank, not something that really happened. If someone wants to pull my heartstrings, they should be decent enough to show me something real. This reeks of "how can we maximize the public reaction with her next situation?".
If someone used cracked.com for this, and get people to buy the veracity of the story, further arguments will come down the line, just in time for something the originators want. We'll see.
I agree that the story was written in such a way that I didn't have much faith in the narrator by the end. The pictures and captions certainly didn't help. I got the feeling that the author wasn't taking theirself seriously, maybe that is a coping mechanism. I don't know, but it was certainly off.
"The story struck the wrong chord with me, so it's obviously a conspiracy."
Apart from the impropriety of pretending to quote someone when you aren't, you still have not given an answer to anything beyond the fact that you think I am paranoid.
When I see something that doesn't add up, whether it doesn't fit with other stuff I know, it contains people doing stuff nobody would do, or it contradicts itself, I know it's either a mistake or intentional. A highly designed article like this one obviously is does not make it reasonable that it's a mistake. So, if it is intentional, why? Well, somebody always does intentional stuff for a reason. You're welcome to show me otherwise, of course, but fact remains, this article reads like the backstory of a smut novella, misses a few very obvious points, and doesn't fit in with the rest of the site. If it's humour, it's pathetically bad. And of course... it is a safe story to publish, because there is no way to check it.
Oh, one more thing: It doesn't feel like something someone lived through because something is off with the passage of time in the story.
I agree with you that it's not poll-tested. If you want to publish a lie, you don't do polls about it first. Duh.
Cracked.com has run articles like this before, and will run them again; there's usually one up every week.
Robert Evans (who's a Cracked.com employee) is the actual/primary writer. He'll interview someone with a strange, complicated, dangerous, and/or horrible profession (prior articles include a bomb disposal specialist, a surgeon, and an ex-drug dealer) and then works with the subject to convert the interview into an article following Cracked.com's normal format.
You can blame Mr. Evans or another member of the Cracked.com editorial staff for the pictures & captions. (Edit: For example, "yeah, that was horrible, here's a picture of kittens" has been a thing on Cracked.com for years now. That's just something the editorial staff does in this sort of article.)
This article is a bleaker one than usual, but based on Robert Evans's past work I'll assume it's legitimate.
the author has no say over the photos or the captions (unless the story is completely written by Cracked staff). Those are added in by the editors, so I am not surprised they don't go well with the article.
I am curious what sort of new massive policy change you would expect from this piece at any rate. This story outlines failing of the system that are not likely to be changed by more laws and regulations. I think its more meant to educate people that the problem of sex slaves isn't a third world problem.
Cracked.com has run articles like this before, and will run them again; there's usually one up every week.
Robert Evans (who's a Cracked.com employee) is the actual/primary writer. He'll interview someone with a strange, complicated, dangerous, and/or horrible profession (prior articles include a bomb disposal specialist, a surgeon, and an ex-drug dealer) and then works with the subject to convert the interview into an article following Cracked.com's normal format.
You can blame Mr. Evans or another member of the Cracked.com editorial staff for the pictures & captions.
This article is a bleaker one than usual, but based on Robert Evans's past work I'll assume it's legitimate.
It very well could be this was part of the issue. The article was arranged as a narrative using the first-person interview answers. I actually found it difficult to determine if the article author was the person in the story (ie cooperatively written) or, otherwise, where the "edges" of account and comment were.
Hearing this it is pretty clear that the author took too much liberty in arrangement and too few editing passes when stitching this together. Which is a shame because it does that young lady and this topic a huge disservice.
In a similar note, I suspect the use of the policeman's image in conjunction with the caption is a violation of the license agreement with Getty. Stock images aren't supposed to depict the face-seen subjects in a negative light. I feel that drug fiend cop who turns a blind-eye to the under-age sex ring his dealer is running is a pretty negative light.
In a similar note, I suspect the use of the policeman's image in conjunction with the caption is a violation of the license agreement with Getty. Stock images aren't supposed to depict the face-seen subjects in a negative light. I feel that drug fiend cop who turns a blind-eye to the under-age sex ring his dealer is running is a pretty negative light.I know nothing about stock image law or contracts, but I suspect if that was an issue, Cracked would have been toast years ago.
Perhaps they get away with it as a comedy site. I can only speak from my own experience as lately I have had reason to purchase large quantities of stock photos and images for my business and that was a restriction of every license option I saw. Wasn't an issue for us because we're using them as image options for business cards and I've not seen anyone submit a card order for "Charlie's crack consortium. We've got 5-0 on the payroll."
If those cards ever do come through, I might just print them anyway. :D
I am curious what sort of new massive policy change you would expect from this piece at any rate. This story outlines failing of the system that are not likely to be changed by more laws and regulations. I think its more meant to educate people that the problem of sex slaves isn't a third world problem.
Various data storage laws, laws regulating who is responsible for what on the net, laws giving rights of supervision to what people do on the net, laws detailing what is prohibited to view... the list goes on and on. Thing is, new laws do not actually have to be effective for what they were claimed to do. If they make someone money, that is enough, and then it is better if they do not work. Then you can make more laws for the same problem and make more money.
Sissyl, you've gone from merely being suspicious--which is an appropriate response to outrageous claims--to full-bore believing and advocating for the paranoid premise you're proffering.
Please check yourself.
I was asked what the possible new laws could be about. I gave a number of suggestions. As for making money on new laws, are you saying that hasn't happened?
I'm eagerly awaiting an answer.
Is there any evidence that this article is being used to enact new laws?
