2 results
1 - Isolation, Economic Desperation, and Exploitation: Human Trafficking and the COVID-19 Crisis
- Edited by Glenn W. Muschert, Kristen M. Budd, Miami University, David C. Lane, Illinois State University, Jason A. Smith
-
- Book:
- Social Problems in the Age of COVID-19 Vol 2
- Published by:
- Bristol University Press
- Published online:
- 23 March 2021
- Print publication:
- 21 October 2020, pp 5-14
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
The Problem
While the world's attention has shifted to the COVID-19 crisis, many who are experiencing or who are at risk of experiencing human trafficking have lost access to resources that can provide them with protection and assistance. Human trafficking, defined by the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion … or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation,” can take many forms. These include domestic servitude, the exploitation of migrant workers (for example, those working in the seafood processing, agriculture, and tobacco industries), forced labor in establishments such as restaurants and sweatshops, sexual exploitation, mail order brides, trafficking for adoptions, and peddling/begging rings. Trafficking was pervasive in society globally, domestically, and locally even before the pandemic began. Now, the problem has been exacerbated further.
While the exact number of trafficked individuals is not known, in 2018 the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline reported 10,494 human trafficking cases and 23,078 survivors. According to the human trafficking prevention organization Safe Horizon, women and girls are disproportionately affected by human trafficking, accounting for 71 percent of all survivors. The COVID-19 pandemic has, according to many reports, increased these numbers. Organizations focused on preventing and responding to human trafficking such as the Polaris Project have found that ongoing impacts of shutdowns and social distancing, including increased isolation, loss of income, loss of access to supportive resources (for example in-person interactions with service providers), hesitation to access medical services due to fear of exposure, increased online activity, and a shift of law enforcement attention away from trafficking to other issues, can place already marginalized individuals more at risk of being trafficked. Children in particular have become more vulnerable, as they are more likely to engage in online activities such as social media and video games while also being separated from mandated reporters such as teachers and guidance counselors.
Seven - Power, Privilege, and #MeToo in Academia: Problems, Policies, and Prevention around Sexual Misconduct
- Edited by Glenn W. Muschert, Kristen M. Budd, Miami University, Michelle Christian, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Robert Perrucci, Purdue University, Indiana
-
- Book:
- Agenda for Social Justice
- Published by:
- Bristol University Press
- Published online:
- 12 March 2021
- Print publication:
- 05 August 2020, pp 65-74
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
The Problem
Sexual misconduct is pervasive in society today, and is oftentimes supported by structures and institutions that promote power and privilege for some while increasing the marginalization, and subsequent likelihood of victimization, of others. In 2006, the #MeToo movement was founded to encourage survivors of sexual abuse, particularly women of color, to share their experiences. This movement entered into the public eye after the #MeToo hashtag went viral in October 2017, and continues to show the pervasiveness of sexual misconduct in all areas of social and professional life. It also aims to hold accountable those who commit this type of misconduct.
Academia is no exception to this problem, with sexual misconduct occurring regularly on university campuses as well as within academic professional organizations. Individuals with less power in the academic hierarchy (e.g. students, non-tenured professors, and members of marginalized communities) are more likely to experience sexual misconduct, though, as is the case with sexual misconduct in general, no one is immune.
At the micro level, sexual misconduct harms survivors in multiple ways (e.g. chronic mental, physical, and sexual health problems, substance abuse, relationship problems, and damaged reputations). It can also deny them professional opportunities and even end professional careers. At the macro level, sexual misconduct harms universities and academic professional organizations as a whole. When sexual misconduct takes place, it creates an environment that feels less safe and can bring into question the integrity of the university/organization and its members.
The way in which academia promotes professional hierarchies on the basis of achievement codified through status, rank, and narrow definitions of achievement, and incorporates and recreates social hierarchies based on identity such as gender, sexual identity, race, ethnicity, ability, and others can support an environment in which sexual misconduct takes place. All of these bases for inequality provide the foundation for power dynamics that are reinforced through interactions, policies, and other organizational and structural elements, as well as through cultural assumptions, beliefs, and stereotypes.
While policies may be put into place to help protect individuals against sexual misconduct and to hold universities and academic processional organizations accountable for the behavior of their members, not all of these policies are effective.