Below is a post from Colorlines titled “Violence Against Migrant Women Won’t End After DSK Case.” This post discusses the way in which global systems of violence make use of women’s bodies. This topic will also be addressed at CALCASA’s Leadership conference, which will include conversations about human trafficking.
Colorlines’ Michelle Chen writes:

The media circus surrounding the Dominique Strauss-Kahn rape case dishes out more drama each day, with a side of lurid fascination. But we basically know how the story ends. The narrative of the immigrant housekeeper allegedly assaulted by a European official perfectly illustrates an axiom of violence and power: the wider the gap between genders and races, the greater the latitude of injustice.*

Although there are countless examples of how this has happened — and is happening — around the world, Chen says that there is hope:

…women themselves are drawing their own battle line on two fronts, calling for empowerment of their communities as well as their own self-determination. …It’s true that systems of violence make excellent use of women’s bodies—as weapons of war, currency for exploitation, or objects of genocide. But the strength borne of that violence can militate against tragedy, when women become the sheer embodiment of survival.

Click to read “Violence Against Migrant Women Won’t End After DSK Case.”