Gendercide and the Cultural Context of Sex Trafficking in China

This paper discusses the interconnection of historic, legal, and cultural contexts that result in the perpetuation of discrimination against women in Chinese society. The contextual analysis attempts to explain the causes for an increase in trafficking of women and the deplorable human rights violations perpetrated upon women in China today. The remedies to eliminate trafficking proposed in this paper are not easily implemented. The OCP must be revised to provide more incentives to rational family planning rather than harsh punishments and coercion. China needs to reverse a long-standing cultural tradition of male son preference and discrimination against women. We know that laws, if implemented, can change society. Therefore, we are recommending revision of the OCP and zealous enforcement of the Chinese and international civil rights treaties and trafficking laws that do provide protection for women and foster gender parity

A Semiotic Approach To A Legal Definition Of Terrorism

It is hard to believe that a word like terrorism, which is used so frequently these days in different contexts and in casual, colloquial, political, and legal discourses, does not have a universally-accepted definition.\u2

Child Soldiers, Slavery and the Trafficking of Children

This article will examine the complex relationship of human trafficking, slavery, and child soldiering. Part I will examine the root causes of the development and expansion of the use of child-soldiers. Part II will examine the international and domestic laws and instruments that protect against the use of children as soldiers. Part III will examine some literary representations of the crime of child soldiering in order to raise the readers\u27 awareness of the depths of this atrocity. Part IV will conclude by offering practical suggestions and economic solutions to make these legal instruments more effective. Children are humanity\u27s most valuable investment in the future, and it is the obligation of the adult world to protect them effectively

U.S. Foreign Trade Zones of the United States, Free-Trade Zones of the World, and their Impact on the Economy

Free trade zones (FTZs) date back to the time of the Phoenicians; they developed in the 1970s and proliferated from 1980 until today. FTZs are duty-free areas where goods may be warehoused, processed, sold, serviced, distributed, showcased, packaged, labeled, sorted, assembled, and manufactured as finished goods, prior to re-exporting them as duty-exempt finished products. More than one 135 countries operate tax-free trade zones. There are more than 3,500 of these zones and subzones all over the world, and 277 FTZs and 500 subzones exist in the United States, creating 68 million direct jobs and over $500 billion of direct trade-related value added within the zones. FTZs benefit both importers and exporters because both save on taxes, reduce transportation costs, avoid financing charges, and thereby increase their business cash flow. Exporters view FTZs as an entry into foreign markets, an opportunity to defer or avoid customs duties, and a way to obtain income tax exemptions or reductions. This article is a primer on the way FTZs work in the United States and abroad. It asks whether FTZs have had an impact on the U.S. economy. The article delves deeply into the business benefits and tax advantages of FTZs. U.S. exports from general purpose zones and subzones have generally increased from 1989 to 2008, earning the U.S. from$10 to $40 billion. Despite the plethora of bilateral trade agreements and the fall in U.S. tariff rates, which have increased the importation of foreign products into the U.S., the use of FTZs has grown significantly since 1970 and resulted in an increase in US exports. By using FTZs, the U.S. manufacturer can get around the inverted tariff rate which encourages the importation of foreign goods into the US. FTZs reduce costs for the American business and incentivize exportation of U.S. products. FTZs can play a significant role in economic growth by increasing exports, enhancing industry competitiveness, and attracting foreign direct investment. Special privileges are given to manufacturers who export the products processed in the FTZ. Export processing zones (EPZs) focus on manufacturing of exports only and allow investors to import and export goods free of duties and exchange controls, facilitate licensing and other regulatory processes, and liberate businesses from obligations to pay corporate taxes, value added taxes, or other local taxes. The purpose of FTZs is to attract foreign direct investment; alleviate unemployment, especially for women; foster economic reform strategies by developing and diversifying exports; and test new approaches to foreign direct investment and to government policies related to law, land, labor, and the pricing of goods. Some FTZs succeed (if they are focused on increasing exports) and some FTZs fail (if the industry simply takes advantage of the tax advantages without producing substantial employment or export earnings and without providing healthy labor and environmental conditions for the workers). FTZs have been criticized for bad labor practices, environmental abuses, the failure to increase exports sufficiently, and the liberal use of zones by money launderers and narcotics traffickers. Nevertheless, FTZs reduce the cost of manufacturing in America, reduce the massive trade deficit, and help create new jobs for American workers. There are conflicting reports on the advantages and disadvantages of FTZs and their impact on the U.S. economy. In order for FTZs to increase exports, facilitate constructive international trade, and enhance international business, rational and reasonable regulatory schemes must ensure that zones are being used for the primary purpose of increasing exports and safeguarding social and environmental standards both in the U.S. and abroad

Copyright Infringement, Sex Trafficking, and Defamation in the Fictional Life of a Geisha

Memoirs of a Geisha has sold and made millions for Arthur Golden since 1997. This is his first novel, and it has earned him worldwide acclaim. A feature film version directed by Steven Spielberg is in the works. The book is translated into more than twenty languages. This article uses the book and the legal controversy that ensued after its publication to ask, and hopefully answer, two questions: First, is the geisha tradition as described by Golden in his fictional biography a variant of sex trafficking and sexual slavery which, despite possible cultural justifications, should be abolished by law? Second, did Iwasaki\u27s lawsuit have any merit? To answer these questions, this article will proceed in accordance with structuralist and post-structuralist literary critical traditions by looking first at the text itself and then its context, subtext, and post-text in order to explain the plaintiffs pre-text for suing. The article will analyze the narrative structures and style of the text; the legal and historic context of the novel; the legal issues hidden in the subtext which include sex trafficking, feminist legal theory, and the role of cultural relativism as a justification for the geisha tradition; the post-text which are the merits, if any, of Iwasaki\u27s legal claims; and finally, the pre-text, or why the real geisha sued Arthur Golden and his publishers

The Saga of Susannah, A U.S. Remedy for Sex Trafficking in Women: The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000

This is a story about a young girl named Susannah. But it could be the story of any one of millions of women who are duped, drugged, and deceived each year into performing sex acts without their consent and under conditions they never could have anticipated. This Article examines some of the cultural, social, political and economic causes of the worldwide practice of sex trafficking and discusses ways to eradicate this contemporary form of slavery by incorporating economic theory

Copyright Infringement, Sex Trafficking, and Defamation in the Fictional Life of a Geisha

Memoirs of a Geisha has sold and made millions for Arthur Golden since 1997. This is his first novel, and it has earned him worldwide acclaim. A feature film version directed by Steven Spielberg is in the works. The book is translated into more than twenty languages. This article uses the book and the legal controversy that ensued after its publication to ask, and hopefully answer, two questions: First, is the geisha tradition as described by Golden in his fictional biography a variant of sex trafficking and sexual slavery which, despite possible cultural justifications, should be abolished by law? Second, did Iwasaki\u27s lawsuit have any merit? To answer these questions, this article will proceed in accordance with structuralist and post-structuralist literary critical traditions by looking first at the text itself and then its context, subtext, and post-text in order to explain the plaintiffs pre-text for suing. The article will analyze the narrative structures and style of the text; the legal and historic context of the novel; the legal issues hidden in the subtext which include sex trafficking, feminist legal theory, and the role of cultural relativism as a justification for the geisha tradition; the post-text which are the merits, if any, of Iwasaki\u27s legal claims; and finally, the pre-text, or why the real geisha sued Arthur Golden and his publishers