Not Old News

December 16, 2007

Often those opposing federalization state that the labor abuses discussed today are "old news” from years ago. Unfortunately labor abuses occur every day in the CNMI. The level of human trafficking victims and the amount of women forced into prostitution is staggeringly high for such a small population. David Cohen remarked on this very fact much to the chagrin of Governor Fitial.

He said that the number of human trafficking victims per capita in the CNMI could not simply be ignored.

He added, “The press release claims that the CNMI looks better if you compare victims to entrants rather than comparing victims to total population. That could only be true if the CNMI had a much higher percentage of entrants per capita than the U.S.

“If you combine my approach with the CNMI’s approach, here’s what you end up with: The CNMI chooses to admit a much higher percentage of aliens per capita than the U.S. as a whole, and has a much higher percentage of human trafficking victims than the U.S. as a whole. That’s not the point that they were intending to make,” he said.

Furthermore, Cohen said the CNMI government should fully disclose the basis of its calculation, as he had done.

“If they’re assuming that the 36 female human trafficking victims in the sex trade that were actually served by one particular shelter were the only human trafficking victims in the CNMI, then they’re undercounting CNMI victims. If they're comparing that number to an estimate of all human trafficking victims in the U.S.-men, women and children who are trafficked for all purposes, not just the sex trade-then they’re comparing apples to oranges in a way that masks the true extent of the problem in the CNMI. If they have a more comprehensive estimate of human trafficking victims admitted to the CNMI each year, they should disclose it,” Cohen said.

The raid on Club Jama barracks last evening testifies to the fact that serious labor problems continue to plague the CNMI.

Police and Labor investigators raided an apartment in Chalan Piao Thursday afternoon and rescued six Club Jama dancers who were allegedly being falsely imprisoned.

Department of Public Safety spokesperson Lei Ogumoro said yesterday that investigators discovered that Club Jama owner Jack Ernest Strange withheld the victims' passports and threatened the women to prevent them from reporting to local authorities.

The Marianas Variety reported,

SIX dancers at the Club Jama night club were “rescued” by the Department of Public Safety’s Criminal Investigation Bureau and the Department of Labor from their apartment in Chalan Piao on Thursday afternoon over complaints that the women were being falsely imprisoned, were not paid their overtime wages, were excessively charged $1,000 each for physical examinations, and whose passports were being withheld by their employer, among other things.

Club Jama in Susupe has not been operating since Thursday night due to lack of dancers.

The six women rescued are aged 21 and 22, and all come from the Philippines.

The story hit the press in the Phillipines on GMA News.

Guma Esperansa-House of House is a hidden shelter for women who are victims of human trafficking victims and forced prostitution. The shelter is run by the Catholic Church. I toured the shelter, and the program and shelter are both remarkable. The directors estimated that they would shelter 50 women over a three-year period. I learned the other day that 50 women who have been victims of trafficking have been served by Guma’ Esperansa within the last 12 months. Some of the sheltered females have been minors. They are in need of funds. Please contribute.

Contributions can be made to:
Guma Esperanza-House of Hope
Catholic Diocese of Chalan Kanoa
P.O. Box 500745
Chalan Kanoa, Saipan, MP 96950

Photo by Wendy L. Doromal ©2007
Club Jama Ad from December 7, 2007 Marianas Variety