In a heart-wrenching LA Times article, Joe Markman reports that many child prostitutes can't simply be returned to their family homes. Richard Estes, a social policy professor at UPenn, says, "Most of the girls that have run away and are on the streets have run away because of sexual abuse." Lisa Goldblatt Grace, a consultant for the Health and Human Services Department, concurs: she says underage prostitutes and sex trafficking victims "lack a safe, stable place to live, and that's part of what made them vulnerable to begin with." Estes says kids who escape prosecution need "a rebuilding and remolding of personality and character." Instead, they end up in group homes, inadequate foster homes, or even prison, on "material witness hold." Only three organizations in the country offer residential programs for former child prostitutes, meaning just 44 beds exist for between 100,000 and 300,000 victims.

Adult prostitution may be a controversial issue, but keeping kids out of the sex trade — and offering help to those who do fall into it — seems like a no-brainer. But Markman quotes former LA detective Keith Haight uttering one of the saddest sentences I've heard in a long time: "A lot of places don't want to take responsibility for girls that are known to be sexually active." The idea that sexually active girls somehow become damaged goods that no one wants to deal with is incredibly depressing, but it's just another illustration of the grim fact that America doesn't know how to help kids who violate a certain ideal of innocence. We try child criminals as adults, because we think "real" kids don't commit crimes — and when kids get involved in sex or drugs, they become "undesirable," even though they are the ones who most need care. According to Markman, there's been a trend in recent years against prosecuting child prostitutes, which is a step in the right direction. But his article drives home the fact that child prostitution isn't just a problem of developing countries — it's happening right here, and we suck at dealing with it.

Image via LA Times.

Rescued Child Prostitutes Not Receiving Help [LA Times]

The first study, on mental health, reveals the effect violence has had on the Iraqi people. On Saturday, the Iraqi government and the World Health Organization released a survey of 4,332 adult Iraqis which found that 17 percent suffered from mental disorders, such as depression, phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety, according to The New York Times. Women were particularly affected, with 19 percent of women reporting mental health problems compared to 14 percent of men. A higher proportion of women suffering from severe depression, phobias, and anxiety - and 70 percent of men and women with mental health issues - reported contemplating suicide.

Another study, conducted by Oxfam and Al-Amal Association, an Iraqi women's organization, conducted interviews with 1,700 women and reports (unsurprisingly) that over the past two years their condition has worsened. The BBC reports that a third of the women surveyed had three hours or less of electricity per day, 25 percent had no daily access to drinking water, and 45 percent said their income was worse in 2008 than in previous years. Almost half said their access to health care had worsened in the past two years, 20 percent are victims of domestic violence, and more than 30 percent had family members die violently. As the Oxfam report puts it: "Iraqi women are suffering a silent emergency', trapped in a downward spiral of poverty, desperation and personal insecurity despite an overall decrease in violence in the country."

The survey also reports that there are an estimated 740,000 widows in Iraq, and three quarters do not receive pensions. These women have great difficulty providing for their children and extended family and are often beaten by family members. Women's rights campaigner Hana Adwar tells the BBC it's hard to convince the widows that they deserve better. "The majority feel that this is the will of God, they have to obey the right of their families," she said.

On Saturday, Time also reported that women's rights in Iraq have actually regressed since the fall of Saddam Hussein and sex trafficking is now rampant in the country. Women's rights advocates in the country estimate that tens of thousands of Iraqi women and children have been sold into sex slavery since 2003. Trafficking takes place within the country and internationally, mostly to Syria, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates. Women can easily be taken across the border with forged passports or by being forced to marry and then divorced and put to work when they reach their destination.

Even more disturbingly, it's often impoverished mothers who sell their daughters into slavery. Girls as young as 11 and 12 are sold for anywhere from $2,000 to $30,000. "The buying and selling of girls in Iraq, it's like the trade in cattle," says Hinda, an undercover human rights activist. "I've seen mothers haggle with agents over the price of their daughters."

According to the 2008 U.S. State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report, the Iraqi government is ignoring the problem. The report says the government "offers no protection services to victims of trafficking, reported no efforts to prevent trafficking in persons and does not acknowledge trafficking to be a problem in the country."

Iraqi Surveys Start to Unveil the Mental Scars of War, Especially Among Women [NY Times]
Iraqi Women "Lack Basic Services [BBC]
Iraq's Unspeakable Crime: Mothers Pimping Daughters [Time]

The New York Times reports that while most of the women were not forced into prostitution, a group of sex-workers-turned-activists claim that the South Korean government was “one big pimp for the U.S. military.” They claim that the government “trained” prostitutes, giving them lesions in English language and etiquette, with the intention of using the sex trade to bring in much-needed foreign currency.

According to scholars, the U.S. military worked with the South Korean government to regulate the health of the sex workers. However, they did not do so for the health of the women, but rather to ensure that American soldiers would not contract any STDs while visiting the conveniently-located camp towns. Some women claim that the American military police raided brothels, looking for women they suspected to be spreading disease. The Korean police would then step in, locking the accused women up in so-called “monkey houses" until they were deemed well enough to go back to work.

Transcripts of parliamentary hearings support the former sex worker’s claims that the government explicitly encouraged the selling of sex in order to keep U.S. dollars flowing into South Korea. In one exchange from 1960, two lawmakers recommended that the government keep a number of prostitutes to meet the “natural needs” of U.S. soldiers. Lee Sung-woo, the deputy home minister, assured the speaker that the government had already made improvements in the “supply of prostitutes,” which he termed the “recreational system” for American troops.

The camp towns still exist today, and many former sex workers still live in the brothel-dominated settlements. Jeon, a 71-year-old ex-prostitute who moved to the camp town of Dongduchon at age 18, said: “The more I think about my life, the more I think women like me were the biggest sacrifice for my country’s alliance with the Americans. Looking back, I think my body was not mine, but the government’s and the U.S. military’s.”

Ex-Prostitutes Say South Korea And U.S. Enabled Sex Trade Near Bases [New York Times]

• Contrary to what will undoubtedly be tomorrow's breaking health news report, pregnant women should eat fish, despite the mercury risk. [CBSNews]
  
• Police in the UK have turned their attention away from the city pubs where sex slaves are sold on the down low and are now focusing their efforts on suburbia. And people say us city folk are lacking in values... [The Independent]
  
• Talk about a major fuck up. A woman who was told she had breast cancer after a biopsy and then had a double mastectomy found out after the fact that her slide got mixed up with someone else's and she never had cancer to begin with. [ABC News]
  
• While the HPV-strain that causes cervical cancer is only a minor annoyance for men, a leading specialist says that they should still get the HPV-vaccine to help stop the spread of the virus. C'mon guys, they'll give you a lollipop! [Daily Mail]

• The Hummer is headed Down Under and a significant portion of its prospected buyers are women. What the fuck ladies? Just because your country already has a hole in the ozone layer directly above does not mean you should turn your SPF-50'd back on Mother Nature! [News.com.au]
• A new study says that obese women who become pregnant could actually lose a little weight instead of gaining — doing so helps lessen the likelihood of pregnancy related high-blood pressure or having to have a Caesarean. [MSNBC]
• Women are starting businesses at twice the rate of men, but those businesses are also doing, um, quite poorly. Whatever, we sold two dozen of our rhinestoned tampon holders last Christmas, and our mom said that was just awesome. [NY Times]
• The work of female filmmakers in Tunisia may not get many props at home, where women are expected to be in the kitchen and not the editing room, but they're getting loads of acclaim in European and American art houses. Slumber Party Double Feature: Can't Buy Me Love and Bedouin Hacker! We'll bring the popcorn. [Christian Science Monitor]
• Ugh. A 2003 Veterans Administration health care system survey reported that 28 percent of female soldiers experienced at least one sexual assault during military service which, combined with combat trauma, makes them more likely to suffer from PTSD. [NPR]
• On a somewhat related note, more women are entering West Point than ever. Don't say we didn't warn you. [ABC News]
• Scientists have made their first significant genetic discovery for why certain women suffer from severe PMS, otherwise known as premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Whatever, just get us a fucking cure already, you lazy bastards. Jesus! Fuck!!! [Science Daily]

• CNN the news network, known for its in-depth coverage of the Paris Hilton Goes To Prison Scandal, gets all deep in their exploration of "frenemies". Listen, sometimes really shallow girls turn on their friends over things like boys, and drugs, and fame. Is that so hard to understand? [CNN]
  
• A professor at Harvard's Dental School says dentists should be at the forefront of combating domestic abuse, as the most common injuries are to the victims' head and neck areas. [Boston Globe]
  
• Research supposedly shows that men who were born to overweight mothers have "poorer quality" sperm. In other words, KFed may LOOK cheap, but his spunk is actually quite expensive. [Daily Mail]

• Black women are at a higher risk of developing the most deadly form of breast cancer and 77% are more likely to die of the disease than white women. Mother Nature is a fucking racist. [CBSNews]
• Speaking of breast cancer, survivors of double mastectomies will bare all in an upcoming calendar. Normally we'd decorate our cube with a lovely Anne Geddes calendar or something, but this sounds like the kind of objectification we can get behind. [USA Today]
• Duke Medical School has hired Dr. Nancy Andrews as the first woman to lead its prestigious medical school. The other medical schools in the Top Ten are all run by men. One small step for womankind... just another day on the job for man. [Breitbart]
• A pair of friends may have worked together to commit over 20 rapes and upwards of 60 additional sexual assaults in Melbourne, Australia over the last decade. The assaults were dubbed "The Hot Chocolate Rapes" because the loathsome criminals slipped drugged their victims with roofie-laced hot drinks. Hopefully someone will be inspired by these two pigs and will give their disgusting willies a good scalding. [NEWS.com.au]
• There's been a huge crackdown on brothels across England, but law enforcement has also discovered that many of the UK's sex slaves have been auctioned off at pubs — this is why we go to wine bars. [Guardian]
• Democratic NY Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney wants to establish a global women's rights office that will have the government advocating for women around the world. Fingers crossed that Bush actually signs off on that! [Ms. Magazine]
• The Times of London erroniously labeled Christina Aguilera and Avril Lavigne anti-choice in its story about Amnesty International's new abortion stance, alienating some of its rock star supporters. Oh, and it also erroniously reported that Aguilera and Avril are, in fact, "rock stars". [The Times of London]