Corruption from Within
Kathryn Bolkovac, or as some may call her, now referred to in the media as the whistleblower, agreed to take a job in 1999 across the world from her family, working for DynCorp as a monitor in the International Police Task Force (IPTF). While working in Bosnia, she unknowingly worked beside hundreds of military contractors, most of those being employed by DynCorp, or other United Nations programs, that were a part of a large sex trafficking scandal. As Kathryn states, “DynCorp monitors were American cops, but there was a catch: We IPTF carried a sense of authority that was due to more than our uniforms and badges- we were immune from the law” (105). These circumstances allowed for the creation of horrific sex trafficking
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ring throughout DynCorp and other American government corporations within Bosnia. The corruption that traveled throughout Bosnia was immense, and Kathryn had to try to reverse what was happening, and to expose these men. The most important theme throughout the text and the film, which ultimately shapes the plot of the text, The Whistleblower, is corruption, both within the American and international government corporations, and throughout Bosnia. Throughout the missions that Kathryn Bolkovac completed, she struggled to take control of the sex trafficking events, as well as other corruptions within the law, taking place throughout Bosnia. This sex trafficking ring was facilitated by military contractors employed by the UN and United States Government, through DynCorp. One of the first cases of corruption that Kathryn is handed is the case involving Azra. A Muslim woman who suffered domestic abuse, Azra was not protected by any laws within Bosnia, since domestic dispute laws did not exist. As Azra stated, “I tried to escape from him, and the knife went through my hand. I have told the police again and again of my husband beating me, but, always, they send me back home. There is not much hope now. I will likely die at his hand” (65). Not only was the law system of Bosnia corrupt, the police officers, some who were employed by the UN and DynCorp, did little to nothing to protect any women from domestic dispute, and no court had ever dealt with a domestic dispute case within Bosnia. In the film, lead actress Rachel Weisz interviews Azra about her attack, and while she is doing this, her coworkers laugh in the background. Officers employed by the UN and DynCorp offered no assistance to these women, showing just the beginning of the corruption targeted against women in Bosnia. The next powerful example of corruption within the novel is the case involving Viktorijia, a young sex-trafficking victim held captive in the Florida Bar, which she escaped from and landed in the hands of Bolkavac.
The escaping of Viktorijia lead to the discovery of a massive amount of girls being held captive, all of which were given the opportunity to speak against their capturers in front of judge. Although they were all hesitant to talk it was said that, “they provided vague descriptions of IPTF officers, local police, and military men visiting the bar” (83). This went on to prove that many American and international employees were frequent visitors inside sex trafficking bars, and forced these girls to perform sexual pleasures for them. The corruption within both international task force groups and the American government is extremely evident in this instance. Not only are these men willingly participating in sexual acts with sex trafficking victims, they are becoming involved in the act of sex trafficking themselves. A very powerful example of this corruption incident in the film takes place with character J. Michael Steirs, during an unannounced raid of a bar in which an abundant amount of sex-trafficking victims were being held captive. Bolkovac orders a raid on the bar to help remove some of these victims, especially Viktorija, known in the film as Raya. Her plans were abruptly halted, however, when Steirs appears at the bar and strikes an unimaginable amount of …show more content…
fear into each girl being held captive at the bar. Not only did this prove Steirs involvement in the sex-trafficking of the girls, but it proved that DynCorp and all the men involved were working hard to keep their involvement a secret, yet keep these girls in the bar for their sexual pleasures. The corruption that had spread through the DynCorp agency was the center of Bolkovac’s mission, and formed the plot of her text. Kathryn was able to collect a substantial amount of files and created many strong cases to put these men in jail for the sex trafficking involvement they each had, however, she was suddenly removed from these cases, and all of her files were shut down.
As Kathryn recollected in the novel, “Back at the Ilidza station, Henry called us into his office, ordering us to surrender the file…Later that week a new schedule was drafted at the Ilidza station; I was not listed as a human rights investigator. With no explanation, I had temporarily demoted to the night shift at the station and was informed that soon I was to be transferred altogether” (58-59). DynCorp officials knew the chances that Bolkovac exposed them, and they did everything in their power to remove her from all cases. In fact, the determent of Kathryn began with her first case, and Bolkovac and her partner Bo immediately knew that something was wrong. According to Bolkovac, “A few days later, Harry requested photocopies of all documents, statements, and notes in the case file of the Hadzici incident to be turned over to the IPTF regional commander” (58). These commanders would go on to shut down, destroy, and ruin every chance these young sex-trafficking victims had at the chance of being removed out of the sex slavery life. The corruption that was taking place formed with these recollections made by Kathryn, and she builds her entire text off of the corruption of the corporation she was working for at the time. This
arguably makes corruption the most important theme in the text, as it is seen in many events and scenes throughout the text and film. Lastly, many scenes throughout the film clearly depicted the corruption that was happening throughout the government agencies in Bosnia and many surrounding, war-torn countries. In one moving scene, Bolkovac is interviewing sex-trafficking victims in the safe house of Zenica station. After showing pictures to the girls of multiple IPTF members, a few girls began to step forward and not only confirmed these men were attendees of the bars they were held captive at, but they were also involved in the sex-trafficking acts themselves. Kathryn’s mission was taken to a new level, and the deeper levels of corruption were beginning to unravel. One girl even identified a man that was driving man of the girls across the border, and delivering the sex-trafficking victims to their captors. This man was a known IPTF employee, employed by DynCorp even. The corruption was unacceptable, and Kathryn was now putting together files to show the public media to expose these corruptions. These cases, and the work that Kathryn put into each of them to reveal the corruption her coworkers were partaking in, quite possibly led to many sex-trafficking victims escaping or being removed from their captors. These corruptions not only gave Kathryn her job, but formed her stories that she published to the public media in England later on in her career, ultimately showing that corruption was the strongest theme Bolkovac focused on throughout her text. Although corruption is obviously the most important theme throughout the novel, there are many other important themes as well. These include dehumanization, sexual slavery, and human trafficking. These themes can arguably be just as important as corruption, through their strong presence throughout the text and film. Corruption, however, forms Kathryn’s life while living in Bosnia, and is the main theme in her mission, and is prevalent throughout the entire text and film of the Whistleblower. These actions of DynCorp officials not only proved that they were involved in scandals across Bosnia, but proved the corruption that spread throughout the corporation as well. This corruption scandal was the formation of Kathryn’s entire mission in Bosnia, and not only shaped the text that she published, but produced the film of The Whistleblower.
In 1996, Captain Derrick Robinson, Sergeant Delmar Simpson, and Sergeant Nathanael Beech were arraigned for their suspected involvement in one of the biggest sex scandals the United States Military had seen. According to CNN, between these three men, charges of rape and adultery were pending in a huge case of sexual misconduct against female soldiers at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland (CNN, 2996). Following this incident, the United States Military took it upon themselves to open a telephone hotline to encourage the reporting of similar harsh crimes. Furthermore, the spike in reporting influenced extensive research to examine the prevalence of rape against women soldiers in the U.S. Military (Titunik, 2000). This paper will explore the dynamics of rape against women soldiers in the military and the research done on its prevalence.
The book Renting Lacy: A Story of America’s Prostituted Children by Linda Smith addresses the topic of the underground world of child sex trafficking. Unfortunately, it is a topic that has been purposefully neglected in our society for many years. The author presents every chapter with a real story of a sexually exploited child. The stories are intense, powerful but especially touching which makes the reader feel frustrated, desperate, and vexed. After every chapter, Smith tries to include commentaries that presents a deeper understating about human trafficking. It seems that the purpose of her commentaries is to make the reader think deeper about the problem of sex trafficking and accumulate desires to act towards this issue as they continue
Kotrla, K., & Wommack, B. A. (2011). Sex Trafficking of Minors in the U.S.: Implications for Policy, Prevention and Research. Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk: Vol. 2 (Iss. 1), article 5.
The Web. The Web. 8 Dec. 2011. http://criminaljusticeonlineblog.com/> http://criminaljusticeonlineblog.com/>. Kane, Sally. The “FBI Agent.”
Human trafficking is the act of coercing someone into working against his or her will. Anyone can be a victim, especially young girls who are vulnerable to the captor’s lies. Victims have been found anywhere from driving ice cream trucks to touring boys’ choir. In her talk, Noy Thrupkaew shares several examples about how people are deceived and coerced into coming to the United States and being forced to work for someone else. She focuses on how close to home human trafficking really is and how the victims don’t necessarily need saving but solidarity. In Noy Thrupkaew’s speech about human trafficking, she not only shares her own story but also the different situations regarding how the crime functions. Because the speaker
“ When traditional modes of repression (exposure, blatant harassment, and prosecution for political crimes) failed to counter the growing insurgency, and even helped to fuel it, the Bureau took the law into its own hands and secretly used fraud and force to sabotage constitutionally-protected political activity. It’s methods ranged far beyond surveillance and amounted to a domestic version of the covert action for which the CIA has become infamous throughout the world.”
Sexual exploitation exploits women and provides a vehicle for racism in a “first world” country like America, where victimization rates are disproportionately higher with “third world” women (O'Connor & Healy, 2007). Goodson is an anti-trafficking activist, is director of international programs for Shared Hope International which is an organization who works with victims of sex trafficking. From her experience, many victims are poor and are sexually abused children and young adults who are swayed by the promises of a better life. Once they reach the United States, the victims are psychologically and physically abused. In the United States, victims of international sex trafficking come primarily from South and Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Africa through states such as Florida, California and New York (Goodson, 2006). The U.S. Department of State estimates that about 600,000 to 800,000 people, mostly women and children, are trafficked across national borders annually. Furthermore, it is estimated that 17,500 to 20,000 victims are trafficked into the U.S. annually, with Florida receiving a high percentage of those victims. Although the people who enter the United States are often not legally permitted to enter the United States, Lagon asserts that it is important to note the difference between human
These two officers took bribes and never reported known about a brothel that took in over a million dollars a year. 16 women working as prostitutes for the brothel were believed to have paid thousands of dollars to come to the United States from South Korea. The worst part is the officers accepted only small bribes for their silence. Discounted services were what one officers price was and several hundred dollars was the other (Rashbaum&O’Donnell, 2006). 16 women’s lives were effected on a daily bases because these officers turned their heads a sex-trafficking
Corruption is a persistent problem that plagues the world and it knows no boundaries. Transparency International defines it as the “abuse of entrusted power for private gain” (2013). For the purposes of this thread, ‘corruption’ is defined as any individual, collective, or structural act or process that permits the use of public authority or position for private gain. This definition captures the broad and many ways individuals and institutions abuse power and the public trust. In regard to whistleblowing, much conflict stems from the context in which the whistleblower is viewed. We will examine the case of NYPD Narcotics Detective Frank Serpico who was regarded a snitch and a rat by fellow officers who were on the take and complete a what would you do dilemma.
In her investigation which involved the human-trafficked victims that were able to identify IPTF personnel and many others, the higher-ups’ response was simply to halt the investigation because of various reasons. Kathryn, however didn’t just take no for an answer, regardless of the obstacles that obscured her getting justice for these victims, she managed to escape Bosnia after being terminated from DynCorp with evidence to support her claim against all parties involved. She went on to advocate for these women who had no rights in a country that was just gaining its structure
“They came in the middle of the night, barging down the door belting and yelling that this was on official government business requirement. Upon entering, they beat us making us bare and stripped away our clothing as they laughed in mocking tones. Evil dripped from every word they spoke. Screams were heard in the distance indicating we weren’t the only ones getting this visit yet none of us dared to turn around to see the infidelity that was happening around us. I have heard this before, I had seen this before. But why did it have to happen to me?” (By a close friend and survivor of human trafficking)
Sex trafficking is essentially systemic rape for profit. Force, fraud and coercion are used to control the victim’s behavior which may secure the appearance of consent to please the buyer (or john). Behind every transaction is violence or the threat of violence (Axtell par. 4). Just a decade ago, only a third of the countries studied by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime had legislation against human trafficking. (Darker Side, par.1) Women, children, and even men are taken from their homes, and off of the streets and are brought into a life that is almost impossible to get out of. This life is not one of choice, it is in most times by force. UNODC estimates that the total international human trafficking is a $32-billion-per-year business, and that 79% of this activity comprises sexual exploitation. As many as 2 million children a year are victims of commercial sexual exploitation, according the the U.S. State Department.-- Cynthia G. Wagner. (Darker Side, par. 4) The words prostitute, pimp, escort, and stripper tend to be way too common in the American everyday vocabulary. People use these words in a joking manner, but sex trafficking is far from a joke. Everyday, from all different countries, people are bought and sold either by force or false promises. Some are kidnapped and others come to America with dreams of a dream life and job. The buyers involved in the trade will do anything to purchase an innocent life just to sell for their own selfish profit. Many people wouldn’t think of a human body to be something you can buy in the back room of a business or even online. But those plus the streets are where people are sold most often. There are many reasons and causes for sex trafficking. The factors behind sex traffic...
Adolescent girls who get deported from one of their countries to Bosnia typically don 't have forms of I.D., passports and birth certificate which belittles their individual rights as human beings and are sold to work as sex slaves to received food and shelter. As head of the Gender Affairs Office, Kathryn speaks to the one who previously appointed her (Who’s also a woman) in finding whereabouts to how she can uncover this scandal and thus find a lead. In spite of finding out less information from the United Nations, she takes it upon herself to look for the recently missing young girls to bring justice and to do what is right. During the leads, she found information on that following day, which all of the male officers were apparently off for some reason, went to a bar called Florida bar and found horrific images that showed them in their uniform performing sex acts on these young
Vicchio, Stephen. “Ethics and Police Integrity.” FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. July 1997: 8-12. EBSCOhost. Web. 12 Nov 2013
Human Trafficking is a world-wide undetected problem. Over the past 10 years, 2.4 million people across the globe have become victims of human trafficking, and 80 percent of them, woman/children, are being exploited as sexual slaves. Majority of victims trafficked into this worldwide industry are Eastern European citizens. Eastern European citizens from Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary are the most common victims of human trafficking in Europe. Human Trafficking is known as the “slavery of modern age.” Human rights are being violated everyday in this organized crime. The number of humans trafficked has been on the rise over the last few years, and there are possibly hundreds of thousands cases unreported (The EU’s dirty secret.) The secrecy and invisibility of the trafficking trade highly contributes to the growth and success of this organized-crime business. While the trafficking of woman and children in Europe may not immediately affect American lives, the illegal kidnapping, enslaving, and exploiting of people is a horrific human rights violation that all members of the American democracy should be concerned with.