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Mom’s Crusade to Rescue Daughter

Amazing woman, who proves you can move mountains or face down criminals when it comes to the love of their child.

A decade ago, Susana Trimarco’s 23-year-old daughter left her house in Tucuman, Argentina for a doctor’s appointment and said: “I’ll be back soon.”

She was never to be seen again.

Her daughter, María de los Angeles Verón, is believed to have been kidnapped and forced into prostitution, becoming one of the millions of human trafficking victims in the world.

That began Trimarco’s remarkable and dangerous mission to find her daughter: Chasing down leads in brothels, confronting pimps and standing up to politicians she says were complicit in her daughter’s disappearance.

Following a tip that her daughter was in a brothel in a northwestern province of Argentina called La Rioja, she posed as a prostitute and visited a series of dark and dangerous brothels looking for her daughter. She wanted to see how the networks operate, first hand and up close.

“I have no fear of this mafia, and I hope that Justice will make justice,” she said in court recently.

Her efforts, which have brought her international recognition –and kudos from the U.S. White House to Canada – have uncovered a network of human sex slave traffickers that reached as far away as Spain. A foundation Trimarco created in her daughter’s name has helped to rescue 150 victims of human trafficking around the world.

Her her daughter is not one of them. But Trimarco has never given up hope.

This month, 10 years after her Verón’s disappearance, seven men and six women accused of having been part of the network that kidnapped and forced her daughter into prostitution are finally being brought to trial

The prosecution’s case is based on testimony of dozens of women rescued from the sex rings through Trimarco’s efforts.

The trial, which began in March in Tucuman, where the kidnapping took place, is expected to last till July and could bring a life sentence for the 13 suspects. Though Trimarco’s daughter has never been found, prosecutors have brought to the witness stand women who saw her and were imprisoned with her.

“As I don’t have peace, they won’t either, because I will destroy their business and they will have to go out and get real jobs,” Trimarco said about the suspects, calling them “lazy and good for nothing people.”

She said her mission to find her daughter has sometimes been downright cruel – numerous times she’s chased down false clues about her daughter’s whereabouts, and she has even been the target of numerous death threats.

In 2007, the Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice awarded her with the International Women of Courage Award and trumpeted her courage, leadership and advocacy efforts.

In Argentina, her foundation has helped educate judges, prosecutors and police officers on how to deal with women trafficking. During its opening ceremony, the U.S. ambassador to Argentina at that time, Earl Anthony Wayne, cut the ribbon.

She’s also been instrumental in helping pass numerous anti-trafficking laws in Argentina, including the first national law against human trafficking in 2008.

The daughter’s case also opened the discussion in Argentina, where exploitation of women became a growing problem but was rarely spoken about.

Sex trafficking rings operate with a slew of helpers, with neighbors, street vendors, taking part in the scheme and taxi drivers operating as “look-outs”. The criminal enterprises operate mostly in poor regions where women have little recourse and are sometimes enticed by false promises of good income.

For Trimarco, trying to improve the problem has become her personal mission.

“I have no projects of life. I live for this, to find her,” she said. “I live a miserable life.”

Teresa Sofía Buscaglia is a freelance writer based in Buenos Aires.

Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/04/27/mom-crusade-to-rescue-daughter-from-sex-traffickers-forces-trial/#ixzz1vjdpZGUu

Featured

Welcome

La Diva Artists Movement
 Certainly is a mouthful, huh? LaDAM for short. Say it with a sassy tone and wink of an eye that would make Mae West envious.

In the simplest terms the La Diva Artists Movement is a expanding group of women who have come together to share their passions from the world of artistry, along with championing womens human rights. Empowerment, not entitlement.

These women are not pretentious, in fact they are far from being “diva-ish”. You won’t read long winded diatribes in their biography’s about their love of art, music, film, etc or gibberish about how their art sustains them. Blah, blah, blah, if you have to talk about your about yourself that much, then you should ask yourself “who am I trying to convince?”

These women are everyday, get the job done, take a knock down punch and get back up…REAL women. Not Diva’s, not Goddesses, Not playing at artist, or trying to be anyone but… themselves. Know thyself! Their world does not exist within the internet, their lives are shaped by them being “out there, living life and being a force of change.”

They are mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, partners, and lovers who enjoy sharing their passions, supporting and leaning on one another with the goal of growing their talents. Through the exchange of ideas and creativity, we may or may not enlighten a few minds, open a few hearts, bring a few smiles to light. Either way we will enjoy our passions to the fullest.

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then we must too realize that art is as well. Calling yourself an artist, doesn’t make your art good, great or even worthy of the refrigerator door.

Art in the simple terms for me is the expressions and impressions one shares that creates emotion and thought in another. If your piece of work whether it’s words, drawings, painting, photography, fabric design, creates emotion in another that’s empowering.

Women shouldn’t be discouraged from sharing their passions, expressing themselves to the world. If painting empowers you to become a stronger person in the sea of humanity navigated daily, then paint your heart out. If writing dirty minded erotic tales, empowers you to take control of your sexuality, then type away. Whatever makes you stronger and empowers you to contribute to the world, leaving it better for having you in it, then go for it!

Start young, encourage your daughters, nieces, students to step outside the box, nurture their inner strengths in hopes that they extol the freedom of expression. The freedom to be whomever they desire, strong, intelligent, humorous, talented, loving, caring creatures filled with emotion and passion. Say it at loud, “I love being a Girl!”

If you like to play artist and have people make phoo-phoo comments about your art, then this isn’t the place for you. Face it, if your artwork is being sold on coffee mugs and t-shirts, you are not Louvre bond; save the attitude.

If you want others to view your work, become inspired to take up the brushes, or hit the keyboard, or find that camera, then Welcome. If you want to be treated as an equal, as a sister, as a member of a global community, then Welcome. If you create because it gives you joy and you want to share what you see in the world with others, then Welcome.

When I wrote the tagline “Release Your Inner Diva”, it meant just that. Let your self expression free, unleash it, cultivate it, “release it”. You can be mom at the PTA meeting, knee deep in diapers, trying to wipe the food stains from your companies monthly report where your husband mistakenly set down a messy dish, navigating your social calender on the train ride home and find time to create, design and share if it’s what you want to do.

Here at La Diva Artists Movement, what’s real is real, what’s hype is on someone else site.

Peace, love and…Never retreat, just Reload, your film, ink cartridges, paint wells, sewing machines, audio tape, Crayola’s…

~Cynthia

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The Price of Sex: A Documentary Film

A documentary film investigating sex trafficking by Mimi Chakarova

The Price of Sex is a feature-length documentary about young Eastern European women who’ve been drawn into a netherworld of sex trafficking and abuse. Intimate, harrowing and revealing, it is a story told by the young women who were supposed to be silenced by shame, fear and violence. Photojournalist Mimi Chakarova, who grew up in Bulgaria, takes us on a personal investigative journey, exposing the shadowy world of sex trafficking from Eastern Europe to the Middle East and Western Europe. Filming undercover and gaining extraordinary access, Chakarova illuminates how even though some women escape to tell their stories, sex trafficking thrives.

“What a powerful piece… the cinematography was gorgeous, and the narrative offers incredible insight into international trafficking. I would absolutely tell people to see it, which is the highest endorsement I can give.”

—Peggy Orenstein, contributing writer, The New York Times Magazine

There are many organizations working towards ending human trafficking, please get involved if only to post their videos on your social network sites, write a blog, make a donation, sign petitions…if we don’t speak up, these and many more young women and girls will be lost to us.”  ~Cynthia Lynn

The Price of Sex Website

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In Memory of All Lost Angels

By: Laura Gingrich

You came into my life so quietly nobody even knew.
You brought such joy and happiness to my life, more than I ever knew.
You left my life before I wanted you too.
The hole in my heart will never close.
You left an imprint on my life no one will ever know.

                                                         February 28,1996

Note from the author, June 17, 2011:

This week we remember babies born asleep, or whom we carried but never met, or those we have held but could not take home, or the ones who made it home but couldn’t stay. Make this your profile status or tweet,  if you or someone you know has suffered the loss of a baby. Unlike cancer, baby loss is still a taboo subject. Break the silence in memory of all lost angels.

http://www.stillbirth-support.com/remembering_babies.html

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F-I-B-R-O-M…What?: Life with an ‘Invisible Illness’

Today is designated Fibromyalgia Awareness Day, don’t ask me who designated it so; all I know is today is the day. (Thursday, May 12th)

I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia 10 years ago and it’s taken me that long to learn how to pronounce and spell the word. F-I-B-R-O-M-Y-A-L-G-I-A, my theory is that the medical profession didn’t expect to diagnose many cases of it and therefore they would never have to learn to spell the word themselves.

Ten years ago there were more unknowns then knows when it came to the auto immune disease with the odd name. Thankfully that is not the case today and strides have been made in establishing research centers and clinics that specialize in the illness. Perhaps just as important is the medical community is becoming educated it is not “just all in your head” when treating a patient, which is a major part of the battle for patients surviving with the illness.
What I can tell you is that Fibromyalgia medical code is 729.1 Myaglia and Mytosis Unspecified and it sucks, big time. Now understand this isn’t about throwing me a pity party, I know I am blessed in that I do not have an illness that rank on the terminal list. However, I believe it’s important for those of us inflicted to speak out for those that will also suffer from the illness and those who live with them.

You see living with someone who has Fibromyalgia is no picnic. The person inflicted looks perfectly healthy and it can become as overwhelming to loved ones as it is to the patient dealing with all the complications it brings on. A support system is vital to surviving, people you thought cared for you will run for the hills like cowards in retreat during a ‘flair up’ or ‘medication change’ or ‘you’re not being who you once were’. Friends disappear from your life as it seems you can never pull it together to be social anymore and romantic relationships become “collateral damage”, causalities of your own personal war to persevere. It takes a great deal of compassion, empathy, and patience to be a loved one, friend to a person with Fibromyalgia, no one knows this more than the patient themselves. There are times that I have hated myself with such a vengeance, unable to forgive myself for falling prey to this illness and all the changes it causes in your mind, body, life.

As I often mumble to those close to me, “Fibromyalgia won’t kill me; it just sometimes makes me wish I was dead”. Anyone that lives with chronic pain knows what I’m speaking about. Sometimes it seems as though death is the only time you will ever feel any relief. There is no cure for the illness and the physicians for the most part do their best to treat the issues that arise due to the illness. The migraines, blood pressure, kidney and liver disease, diabetes, infection after infection, weight gain, depression, anxiety, bruising, digestive problems, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, brain fog and fatigue to name a few. Every patient’s case is different; the illness triggers various health issues on an individual basis.

I discovered in 2006 that various physicians prescribing medications to treat health issues without the left hand knowing what the right hand is doing, can turn ugly and deadly in some cases. When you get to a point that your medical professionals are prescribing medication for you to go to sleep, to give you energy to stay awake, to quell the depression, the anxiety, to boost the effects of the other medications, it’s time to STOP.

Soon all they are doing is treating the side effects of the medications, not the health issue. Your medicine cabinet looks like a stockroom for a pharmaceutical company or a street drug dealers dream. There’s the medications you have tried, but can’t dispose of because they might switch you back to and frankly they cost too much to replace. There are the medications you are trying while you await the side effects or they become ineffective.

Healthcare, one of the most debated topics of the last 10 years in the United States. For those that have chronic illnesses and no employment due to that illness, there is no debate. You place yourself in debt hoping that the next treatment, the next medication, the next physician is going to stop the pain, stop deterioration of your body and put some sanity back into your daily life. Your 401k is drained, savings accounts emptied, charge cards maxed and you find yourself not only struggling to cope with the illness, but being financially in ruins. You realize you’ll be dead before you ever pay all the medical bills off.

The Social Security disability board will stamp you denied, denied, denied if the physicians diagnoses is Fibromyalgia, after all the medical field lists it as a ‘syndrome’. Unless you can offer up something more worthy like, kidney or liver failure, chronic major depression, or some other illness they consider debilitating, you have no chance for aid. You wait until the day the physician diagnoses you with a REAL illness, in order for the government to consider you worthy of financial aid so that you can continue to receive medical treatment.

The psychological toll can be devastating. The depression over “sick and tired of being sick and tired”, the anxiety over not being able to pay for medical treatment and medications, the loss of relationships, friendships, the “fibro fog” that steals your memory, the obsessing over ‘stupid things’, and family members that just don’t understand why everything has become so difficult for you, adding to the guilt you feel about being a burden. Fibro fog has left me unable to do the simplest of mathematical equations, recount what I had for dinner two nights ago and remember phone numbers or directions even if they are common to me. Memories from my childhood that my siblings recount are lost to me, as is recounting what year an event took place in my life. Forget about trying to remember which medications I am on at the moment, I carry a list with me.

Finding a cognitive therapist that understands your illness and can offer treatments to ease your mind I feel is a must for survival. Being armed with an understanding of the emotional effects of the illness and how to counter those emotions, resolve situations and use your mind to release the stress on your body has played a vital role in my daily life. When a flair-up occurs and all you can think of is “the pain, the pain, the pain”, you train yourself to instead think of cuss words for each letter of the alphabet. Soon your mind is focused on the task and not the pain. Go ahead try it, not as easy as it sounds, unless of course you’re very well versed in cussing.

NO, suffering from depression and anxiety, while living with chronic illness does not make you crazy. You do not hear voices, you don’t talk to little green men and you have an all too sobering understanding of your reality, despite whatever opinions those ignorant to your situation might conjure up. If you have a broken arm, you seek medical attention. If you have Fibromyalgia or any other debilitating chronic illness, you need a trained professional to help you stay the course, stay focused on living life with the cards you have been dealt. Regrets, guilt and living for the past will leave you stalled there, in the past.

I spent the first couple years with the illness whining that it wasn’t fair, that I didn’t want this in my life, and the ever popular “why me?”. I finally woke up to the fact that I wasn’t that damn special, why not me? People dying from terminal illnesses, famine, war, murder, it’s not fair. They didn’t choose their fate; at least I could learn to come to terms with it, to learn that the bad days will not last forever, to not let the illness control me, that there is always hope in the new dawn.

Yes ‘hope’. Despite all the ER visits, medical tests, physician visits, medications and heart-break of setbacks, I still remain hopeful. In helping others, I am able to heal myself, speaking out; explaining the illness to others has led to a degree of acceptance. To all my friends and family who remind me that as long as my name isn’t in the obituaries, then today is a good day. To those who stick by me through the bad times as well as the good ones. To not give up on someone when they are at their worst is such a special gift of love. I say thank you.

~Cynthia