Women are fleeing death at home. The United States wants to keep them out. Azam Amhed New York Times August 18, 2019.
“To win asylum in the United States, applicants must show specific grounds for their persecution back home, like their race, religion, political affiliation or membership in a particular social group. Lawyers have sometimes pushed successfully for women to qualify as a social group because of the overwhelming violence they face, citing a 2014 case in which a Guatemalan woman fleeing domestic violence was found to be eligible to apply for asylum in the United States. But Mr. Sessions overruled that precedent, questioning whether women — in particular, women fleeing domestic violence — can be members of a social group. The decision challenged what had become common practice in asylum courts.”
Teenage brides trafficked to China reveal ordeal: ‘Ma, I’ve been sold’ Hannah Beech New York Times August 17, 2019
In Pakistan, a feminist hero Is under fire and on the run Jeffrey Gettleman New York Times July 23, 2019
‘Women here are very, very worried’ Susan Chira New York Times March 22, 2019
Afghan women used to be championed by almost everyone. Now they’re all but forgotten.
Many firms in developed countries, countries which have significant worker protections, contract out parts or all of their production to contractors in developing countries, where labor protections are much less. Here is an example.
Made for next to nothing. Worn by you? Elizabeth Paton New York Times February 6, 2019 br>See full report Tainted Garments. The exploitation of women and girls in India’s home-based garment sector by Siddharth Kara (60 page PDF file)
Sex trafficking is a horrible example of forced labor.
‘The Monsters are the men’: Inside a thriving sex trafficking trade in Florida Patricia Mazzei New York Times February 23, 2019
“The sweep led to criminal charges last week against several rich, prominent men, including Robert K. Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots; John Havens, former president and chief operating officer of Citigroup; and John Childs, founder of the private equity firm J.W. Childs Associates. Beyond the lurid celebrity connection, however, lies the wretched story of women who the police believe were brought from China under false promises of new lives and legitimate spa jobs. Instead, they found themselves trapped in the austere back rooms of strip-mall brothels — trafficking victims trapped among South Florida’s rich and famous.
“I don’t believe they were told they were going to work in massage parlors seven days a week, having unprotected sex with up to 1,000 men a year,” said Sheriff William D. Snyder of Martin County, whose office opened the investigation. “
Asia’s expanding illicit market: brides Tharanga Yakupitiyage Inter Press Service January 25, 2019
She wanted to drive, so Saudi Arabia’s ruler imprisoned and tortured her Nicholas Kristof New York Times January 26, 2019 (opinion)
An 11-year-old pleaded for an abortion after she was raped. She was forced to give birth. Michael Brice-Saddler Washington Post February 28, 2019
Shedding light on forced child pregnancy and motherhood in Latin America Mariela Jara Inter Press Service January 14, 2019
Research and campaigns by women’s rights advocates are beginning to focus on the problem of Latin American girls under the age of 14 who are forced to bear the children of their rapists, with the lifelong implications that entails and without the protection of public policies guaranteeing their human rights.
Recorded increase in human trafficking, women and girls targeted Tharanga Yakupitiyage Inter Press Service January 9, 2019
Photo: Children from rural areas and disempowered homes are ideal targets for trafficking in India and elsewhere. Credit: Neeta Lal/IPS See accompanying story.