At times, surely, this is based on ignorance. Many of the loudest voices in the anti-slavery movement have only recently jumped on the bandwagon and are without a deep understanding of the complexities of this crime. But there’s something else at play here. When people who have been working in the anti-slavery sector for years still don’t mention this issue it seems because they’re uncomfortable doing so. Why might this be? I asked this question to a documentary filmmaker who happened to be in the final stages of producing a feature film about sex trafficking. Here’s how he responded:
“Society can barely stomach the raping of young girls. I feared they couldn’t handle it if my film was about the sex trafficking of young boys. How comfortable would people be with telling others to check out the work? In one sense they could just say it involves rape and most people would assume it meant of a girl or woman. But if it were about a boy or a man could they just say rape and let it stand without adding any extra details? I’m not sure, but I felt that’s where discomfort would come in and I didn’t want to chance it. Great works involve some level of discomfort, but maybe that would be too much.”
So if staying comfortable in our talk of slavery is resulting in the exclusion of boys from the conversation then I think it’s time to dip into discomfort. Here’s an invitation for those of you reading this who are talking heads in the anti-slavery movement. I want you at some point to look directly into the camera and say the following:
“Young boys are used as sex slaves all around the world.”
Do not speak for fifteen minutes on girls and women and then, as if culling up a seemingly insignificant memory, say “Oh yeah, and boys too.” We need to talk about disposable children everywhere, regardless of gender, and unfortunately that’s just not happening.
In fact, this “And boys too” line has become such a clichéd response as it relates to speaking about the commercial sexual exploitation of boys that ECPAT-USA actually used it as the title to their landmark discussion paper (see PDF here) on the lack of recognition that boys receive in this regard.
The report states that:
“The little attention paid to boys has focused on them as exploiters, pimps and buyers of sexual services or as active participants in sex work—not as victims or survivors. Most service providers who were interviewed for this report in 2010-11, acknowledge the existence of CSEB [Commercially Sexually Exploited Boys) yet only provide services to CSEG or are unwilling or unable to help boys.”
These are common themes that run through nearly all papers on this subject. The question then is why, if the service providers “acknowledge the existence of CSEB” are boys still not getting identified or served? Here are the reasons put forward by the report:
— The unwillingness of boys to self-identify as sexually exploited due to shame and stigma about being gay or being perceived as gay by family and community.
— A lack of screening and intake by law enforcement and social services agencies rooted in the belief that boys are not victims of commercial sexual exploitation.
— Limited outreach by anti-trafficking organizations to areas, venues and tracks known for male prostitution.
— Oversimplification of the reality that boys are not generally pimped hides the needs and misinforms potential services.
Lastly, the And Boys Too report considers its findings to be “modest but clear” as it offers the following three responses to the current problems:
(1) The scope of CSEB is vastly under reported and much more needs to be done to identify sexually exploited boys as young people in need of protection.
(2) To raise awareness about the impact of CSEB.
(3) To provide specialized services to CSEB.
These findings, in my opinion, illustrate the intersections between CSEB and many other social issues going on in the world. To name one such issue, consider that many of these boys were unwilling to self-identify because of the “stigma about being gay” or even as “being perceived as being gay.” We are able to educate and train our law enforcement and social services agencies, we are able to increase our outreach efforts by anti-trafficking organizations and we are able to use awareness and educational campaigns to decrease the “oversimplification of the reality,” but we are not able to address the stigma these boys feel about being or being perceived as gay until we remove the stigmas about being gay.
Let me make this clear: If you are one of the millions of people in this world who vocalize or otherwise spread your belief that being gay is “bad” or “sinful” you are directly and actively contributing to the trauma of boys who have been sexually exploited.
Note: For an informative read on this subject please see the classic 1992 anthology titled Homophobia: How We All Pay the Price.
It’s not enough to rescue boys and provide them shelter; it’s not enough to acknowledge that the problem exists; it’s not enough to provide comprehensive and specialized services to the survivors; we are only going to truly crush this crime when we are doing all of these plus living mindful lives that take into account the way our seemingly unrelated actions can have devastating, albeit indirect, consequences.
Although Kevin Bales, co-founder of Free The Slaves and author of Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy, was speaking in regards to slave labor, this passage from his book provides an unforgettable insight into the indirect and global nature of all forms of exploitation:
“Slaves touch your life indirectly as well. They made the bricks for the factory that made the TV you watch. In Brazil slaves made the charcoal that tempered the steel that made the springs in your car and the blade on your lawnmower. Slaves grew the rice that fed the woman that wove the lovely cloth you’ve put up as curtains. Your investment portfolio and your mutual fund pension own stock in companies using slave labor in the developing world. Slaves keep your costs low and returns on your investments high.”
While it’s increasingly important to publicly address our failures, as social worker Steven Procopio did in his CNN article titled Exploited boys are too often failed, so too must we take action, while light is shining on the issue, to collaborate.
In a piece I wrote last year for The Guardian titled, Anti-slavery: collaboration begins to come of age, Dave Batstone, co-founder and president of the global anti-slavery organization Not For Sale, said something that will forever stick with me:
“Strategic alliances win important social landmarks; lone rangers win logos and egos.”
My final plea, for those now ready and wanting to get involved, is that you fully absorb and then apply the essence of this passage from Cecil Murphey’s article titled Dialogue Between the Adult Survivor and the Inner Wounded Child:
“I’m Cec and you’re little Cecil. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to take care of you in childhood, but I’m here now.”
Little Cecil was a toddler and sitting in a high chair. I stroked his cheek and said:
“I couldn’t help you then, but I’m here now.”
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The current system was created by the male gender. Women have had little, if any say, in how our society works; for most of history, women stayed home, raised children. Men created wars; men fought one another, created ever more dangerous weapons, raised the prestige of war, the military, violence. Men raped women, abused and killed other men. The disposability of men is a direct consequence of patriarchy. To solve all these problems, start there. Can men in power reach inside themselves to find and embrace the feminine? The antidote to dominance, power, control, individuality? Can women become leaders without… Read more »
Name one animal species where males aren’t disposable. Even where there is no patriarchy, males are treated as disposable. Your argument is not valid.
the language od disposable males as a support fir women is essential to the creation of buy-in drom which those who take leadership positions. It is a core belief system guiding part of their rules of the game. This is why the raging psychopaths who hate women get the (un)ethical structure being promoted and then try to do it themselves. I assume that any system which systemically harms any set of people is harming everyone. The only time that one group is set aside for a greater portion of spoils is when they are being used to help perpetuate that… Read more »
@Not Buyin It For me,the biggeest failings are the pretense fueled by hypocrisy,the psychological-slieght-of-hands-trick that is the fake concern.One cannot care ,equally for males and females,and, also be unable to see male and female as both victim and perpetrators.This sparing of just and due consideration to males as victims because abuse of males fails to meet some mythical threshold is base.Beyond that,the passivity of too many men is an invitation to be treated with indifference.The seriousness of this issue is reduced to coffee house chit chat.
@ogwriter …. “passivity of too many men is an invitation to be treated with indifference.The seriousness of this issue is reduced to coffee house chit chat.” Well stated and very true. I’d also like to add that “if” it even makes it to coffee house chit chat.
@Danny I know that you have made this point before about how the use of language contributes to the complex web of denial.I believe that the convulted use of language is a symptom and not the real issue,which is closemindedness and good ole fashioned bias.But we can’t ever address this bias directly because those that control the narrative on abuse will not let it happen.Women contribute to the disposability and abuse of men and boys.By admitting to and exploring such issues hurts the credibility of feminism.But few will admit to this truth,hence the misdirection through the clever use of language.Tell… Read more »
Ogwriter
The prevelent ideology and political correctness dictates that any concern shown to males of any kind is basically misogyny , regardless of the realities facing males specially in the third world , nothing will change until a lot more boys and men die systematically to affect the bottom line of these countries , companies, … Etc, males ( boys and men ) are disposable every where as a price to be paid to reach goals ( win wars, wealth, etc)
Ogwriter, you’re on a roll… keep it up
I am disappointed that this site has not done a good job of providing a safe place for men like myself to discuss and illuminate abuse that happens to men. Time and again, these articles appear and get bogged down in debates about nonessentials. A fact that was addressed by Cameron’s disclaimer. People who deny that these things happen to males should not be tolerated..
I have to comment here and share that it was hurtful reading some of this. Of course because it pains me to think of how children – girls AND boys are treated so horrifically around the world. But with that, it pained me to read the subheading – “he UN’s recent reports on the treatment of children in Syria and in the Roman Catholic Church…” To put the “Roman Catholic Church” in the same context as the examples in Syria and other parts of the world is a gross misinterpretation of the Church. The sins of certain people who are… Read more »
Thank you for speaking up E.M.
“Dead and non-identified workers….leaving a widow and children with no news and no income.” This kind of language continues to aggravate me, and not enough people are calling bullshit on this rhetoric. Language like this suggests that killing men is bad not because men are human beings but because dead men can’t support their wives and families. A man’s death is bad because it’s inconvenient to other people who need his paycheck. It reminds me of an oft-quoted statement attributed to Hillary Clinton that the true victims of war are women, because war makes widows. (And how does a married… Read more »
No Man in Particular. I like how you stated this. A few tears ago I saw an article that mirrored your example. The widows left behind were the true victims. I’m trying to find it but I remember losing it when I read it.
I read this piece a few days ago and I still keep coming back to it to read it again and again, linked articles included. It’s taken me a little time to get through everything. But my suggestion to anyone who does read this piece, is to not just read the article but to go through the actual links too. Every single one of them. I still don’t think I’ve yet absorbed everything I can from it. Child soldiers used as shields, cotton field slavery (you can’t just go and stop wearing cotton to help), shipbreaking (I had no idea… Read more »
@Erin I just do not get it? !Why is it so darned difficult to see what is so clearly evident and true?!Over the year that I have been visiting GMP this subject, males are disposable and abused, has been visited with regularity. You write, ” I often forget that they can also be victims of these crimes as well.” WOW!? Thanks for the empathy. For that reason, I have visited this site with less frequency. That men can be and are,like women, victims and perpetrators is a no brainer. It seems to me as soon as feminists can accept what… Read more »
Cameron I would like to thank you for enlightening me to this “elephant in the room”. It saddens me in this day and age of supposed intelligence and human rights that such is barely tolerated. Your term disposability is apt and profound. It implies disregard for value and worth and conjures up thoughts of waste. Thank you for your exposing me to another dark corner that needs to be exposed and dealt with. I pray this provides some momentum to align the rape, abuse and exploitation of boys and men with the progress that has been made regarding the same… Read more »
One reason posited for this discrepancy is “comfort.” An anti-slavery NGO staff member told me that the “mass of a population is far more comfortable hearing the story of a girl being used as a sex slave” than as a boy being used as a sex slave. “It’s man-to-girl,” one anti-slavery activist told me, “…and in the minds of many this is a far more natural leap of imagination than is man-to-boy. It’s as though we can’t talk about this issue properly because we don’t yet have the language to do so. But we do have the language. We’re just… Read more »
There is a very, very long history of the disposability of boys (and men) often in the eyes of the few men who hold the bulk of power and authority in societies around the world and across time. It doesn’t belittle patriarchy or women/girls to admit this because patriarchy is not really the rule of men but the rule of elite men who see other males as tools to be used or obstacles to be removed.
Shocking. But necessary to know. Boys are typically not tracked with sex crimes/trafficking, there’s no real data to show the harm that’s happening to them, as there are for women. This piece is very important! Thank you.
A critically important and powerful article. Well done my friend. These heart ranching stories and facts need to be told, discussed and hopefully provide the catalyst for action around the world to combat this cancer. Income inequality and poverty are the root of this evil. Desperate people will do unspeakable things to survive including selling their children into slavery, sexual and labor, and our human urge for domination, exploitation and greed coupled with sexual urges and violence provide the fuel for this holocaust. This link is for a great Frontline piece on the Dancing Boys of Afghanistan. An ancient illegal… Read more »
Excellent piece, Cameron. Thank you for writing it. Let’s hope it continues to get the traction and attention it deserves.
Based on conservative numbers (1 in 6 males sexually abused before the age of 16) there are well in excess of 500 Million male survivors of sexual violence in the world today. Realistically speaking, the numbers are likely much higher. But even at this level, the staggering amount of abuse that exists is sobering.
Survivors, no matter their age, race, gender, faith, or sexual orientation deserve to be supported.
Chris Anderson
Executive Director, MaleSurvivor
Great article, and one of only a few discussing male disposability as a consequence of institutions of capitalist hegemony and patriarchal dominance (industry, military, etc). Most want to blame feminists for the plight of men, but in reality (poor) men have been expendable to other (rich) men for much longer than western feminism has been in existence. This article is EXTREMELY important for digging into the fundamental causes of inequality, and for men, long-standing socioeconomic class inequities are every bit as influential as it they are for women. Men, women, and children all suffer under current social systems, they just… Read more »
I know you’ve gotten a lot of heat for the preface, but I understand that you are positing this in an overall uncivil internet community (though GMP is quite good!). Actual feminist scholars (not angry kids in the comments sections of blogs or reddit) have been deconstructing the class structures that perpetuate economic inequalities regardless of sex since the 1960′s. In reality, we’re all on the same side. Don’t let the bitter, anonymous internet ghosts silence you… ever. What you have to say is far too important. I think that’s a bit unfair, implying that that preface was just for… Read more »
Powerful stuff, Cam.
Cameron, This is a heart-breakingly powerful article about the state of our world and how we treat each other. You write powerfully and clearly with facts and feelings. Its the best kind of writing I’ve found and so important to the healing that we need on the planet. It is too bad that you have to remind some people that telling the truth about the tragedy of boys in no way diminishes our concern for girls. But the reality is that some of the dialogue on male/female differences was (and sometimes still is) used to denigrate females. As more and… Read more »