Greyman Blog

Grey Man received intelligence in March, 2006 about a pimp (a lady boy, trans-sexual called Nom) who was offering underage girls.  A sting operation was put in place and he turned up with a number of under-aged girls but unfortunately got cold feet and left before the operation was concluded. 

Two years later after receiving intelligence from a reliable source we again came across the pimp and again attempted a sting.  It took our operatives 6 months to build trust and we had to accept over-aged (over 18) girls during this time (no sex was involved) and found that all of them had become sex workers because they were in debt to the pimp.  Even when some of them had paid off their debt they were too frightened to leave and many showed us the signs of physical abuse from Nom that kept them working for him.

In October, last year, Nom finally offered us a young girl.  He said she was a grade 8 school girl (aged 14) and asked for 3500 Thai baht ($US100) for short-term sex (1 hour) with her.  Grey Man authorised our operatives to conduct a sting operation in conjunction with local police.  Unfortunately, Nom turned up with a girl who was not a school-girl at all.  We were sick of dealing with him by this stage and decided to get him off the streets once and for all and to protect the girls that were indebted to him and whom he had abused.

The sting went ahead and Nom was arrested.  From her Thai ID card the girl turned out to be 21 years old. She stated the reason she ended up as a sex worker was because she owed Nom money that she borrowed to pay for her education.  We asked a social worker to contact her parents and she was taken back to her family.

Police and Grey Man personnel arresting Nom the pimp

Although our brief is the rescue of children from the sex trade, we will also rescue adult women from sex work if they have been trafficked or forced into it.  We will also rescue those trafficked into other abusive forms of labour if the situation presents itself.  This case took some time but in the end we got an abusive pimp off the streets (he is awaiting trial), rescued a woman from prostitution and also freed her and her friends from debt bondage and the abuse of Nom.  This case took up a lot of Grey Man resources but demonstrates that we will pursue the perpetrators and rescue the victims wherever the opportunity presents itself.

John

President Bush signing the original 2005 legislation. The latest 2008 bill strengthens anti-trafficking laws

It is probably not well known, but despite the generally negative view of President Bush, he has been a staunch supporter of anti-trafficking legislation, and under his leadership the U.S. State Department, Department of Justice and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have taken an active role in pursuing traffickers.  This has resulted in hundreds of convictions and the rescue of over a thousand trafficking victims.  President Bush has committed many millions of dollars towards the cause and although The Grey Man has no political allegiance it would be a pity to not acknowledge his efforts.  On December 23, President Bush signed into law the ‘William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008′, a bill that enhances measures to combat human trafficking.

The bill imposes 10-to-20 year sentences on “brothel landlords” who use minors and harsher sentences for those convicted of “alien harboring” for the purpose of prostitution. It also limits U.S. funding to countries that use “child soldiers.”  

The law makes federal crimes out of receiving financial benefit from trafficking, obstructing the investigation of human trafficking or conspiring to traffic humans.  Importantly, funds seized from traffickers will not go to the government, but to help the victims. It will remain to be seen if the the bill has any effect as it was signed in spite of the objections of the Department of Justice, which sees some major problems in policing it.

We can only hope that President Obama can keep the best aspects of President Bush’s anti-trafficking legacy and also improve on it .  Goodbye President Bush and thanks for your contributions to anti-trafficking.  Welcome President Obama and we hope to see an ongoing effort to combat this terrible trade.

John

We realised a long-time back that rescuing children was not enough.  The real answer lies in giving children a future and that requires education.  Ethnic minority children often do not go to school or for only a minimal time.  This leads to lower employment prospects in the future.  To combat this issue we partnered with Kid’s Ark Foundation  in Thailand.  Their main focus is the support and care of AIDS orphans but they also have provided education to hundreds of children.

We liked their style and their philosophy.  They made financial support for a family conditional on the children attending school.  If the children were removed from school to be trafficked or for any other reason the money stopped coming.  This works very well and all of the children supported this way remain in school.  Grey Man started our prevention programme by supporting 28 families in one of the Lahu hill-tribe villages.  We continue this but have since expanded into providing transport for 100 children spread across three villages.  Without this transport many of these children would never receive an education. 

Motorbike donated by The Grey Man

We have also provided a motorbike for one child shelter that will allow the social workers to take information on trafficking to the villages at risk and will be used to travel to the families of trafficking victims to discuss re-integration into the family. 

Kru Nam is one of our favourite people so we have just provided the final payment for a truck to take Burmese ethnic minority kids from Kru Nam’s shelter to school. 

These two last projects were accomplished in partnership with Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS).  They are all small steps but have the potential to create a major impact in the life of these children.