Judith Hermanson

Proud to lead @OCDC ICRG where daily we show the power of research for development and support transformative locally led development through cooperatives

[Judith Hermanson @JudithHermanson]

@VerizonSupport Thank you! The account is under Keith and Judith Ogilvie. I am Judith Hermanson Ogilvie. For some reason my answer to the security question is said to be wrong with no option beyond that

[Judith Hermanson @JudithHermanson]

@VerizonSupport . Your chat function is sending me in circles. I need to access my account.

[Judith Hermanson @JudithHermanson]

@JamesTate121 Horrendous.

[James Tate @JamesTate121]

Kathryn Bolkovac was a police officer in Lincoln, Nebraska. Years on the force. Divorced. Three grown children. Looking for a change.
1998. She applied to join the UN's International Police Task Force in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The IPTF. Created after the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords. Mission was to monitor and train local law enforcement after the Bosnian War.
1999. Signed a contract with DynCorp Aerospace. US defense contractor. 15 million dollar UN-related contract to hire and train police officers for duty in Bosnia. Pay was 85,000 dollars. Better than Lincoln PD.
After training in Fort Worth, Texas, she was sent to Sarajevo.
Human rights investigator. Three months later deployed to Zenica. Put in charge of fighting violence against women. Head of the department of gender affairs.
Shortly after arriving she encountered a battered young woman. Not from the Balkans. From Moldova. Spoke neither English nor Bosnian. Couldn't explain what happened. But she could point Kathryn to a local nightclub.
The Florida.
Kathryn investigated. Found seven girls locked in a room upstairs. Held captive. No passports. No way out. Room littered with used condoms.
Her team walked the perimeter. Found an exterior staircase. Locked door on the second floor. Forced it open.
Seven more girls. Also captive.
Sex trafficking ring operated by the Serbian mafia. Girls trafficked from Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania. Some as young as 12 years old.
Kathryn found a metal box at the Florida. Full of US dollars.
The clientele were Americans working in Bosnia. Potentially her own fellow police officers.
Brothels disguised as bars. Restaurants. Hotels. Clubs. Scattered throughout the hills of Bosnia. Victims told her directly. American contractors were buying underage girls.
One American police officer working alongside her told her he had purchased a woman outright from a bar owner right outside Sarajevo. Took her home. To keep. To marry. To bring back to the United States.
It got worse.
International peacekeepers and UN bureaucrats were keeping the underground sex trade alive. Officers from multiple countries working under DynCorp. Some were customers. Some were facilitators.
Local police confirmed it. The trafficking started with the arrival of the international peacekeepers.
Kathryn pushed for formal investigations. She was reassigned. When she questioned her colleagues' diplomatic immunity she was demoted. Peacekeepers couldn't be prosecuted for crimes committed overseas.
Fed up. She sent an email.
Detailed everything. Coerced prostitution. Cross-border smuggling of women. Named specific personnel allegedly involved. Sent it to more than 50 people. UN officials. DynCorp officials. Up the entire chain of command.
Less than two years on the job. Kathryn was fired.
Gross misconduct. Falsifying timesheets they said.
She was forced to flee the country. Carrying a bag packed with her investigative reports. A probable threat to her life had been determined.
She took her story to BBC News. June 2001. Filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against DynCorp in a UK employment tribunal.
August 2, 2002. The tribunal ruled unanimously in her favor. DynCorp ordered to pay approximately 153,000 dollars in damages.
DynCorp appealed. Then dropped the appeal in April 2003. Days before announcing an enormously lucrative new contract with the US State Department. To police Iraq's civilian population during the War on Terror.
DynCorp fired seven employees for solicitation.
Not one faced criminal prosecution. No clear jurisdiction. US Army had no authority over civilian contractors. Case transferred to Bosnian police. Bosnian police unsure about diplomatic immunity under the Dayton Peace Accords.
Zero prosecutions. Zero.
The seven were simply repatriated. Sent home to their countries.
DynCorp kept winning government contracts. Similar police training missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. US Government continued working with them throughout.
At least two of the men involved in trafficking at DynCorp were later promoted to upper management.
Kathryn was forced out of policing entirely.
2010. Hollywood made the movie. The Whistleblower. Rachel Weisz played Kathryn. Screened at the United Nations in New York. For legal reasons DynCorp was renamed Democra Security.
2011. Kathryn was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Same year she graduated with a degree in political science from University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
She now lives in the Netherlands. Works a desk job as a project manager for an international auctioneering firm. Tried to obtain international contract work. Infamous in that community. Couldn't get back in.
The men who bought children were promoted. The woman who reported it works a desk job.
Think about what Kathryn found.
Sent to Bosnia to help rebuild a war-torn country. Discovered the people sent to protect were the ones exploiting. UN peacekeepers buying girls. American contractors raping children. Organizations created to help enabling a sex trade.
Girls as young as 12. Locked in rooms. No passports. No escape.
She documented everything. Investigated for months. Reported to 50 officials. Every single one ignored her.
Demoted. Fired. Threatened. Forced to flee the country carrying evidence in a bag.
Won her lawsuit. Exposed the scandal to the world. Forced the UN to create oversight units. Became a Hollywood film. Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Zero men prosecuted.
Not one.
Kathryn said it clearly. What happened in Bosnia is similar to later scandals. The abuse continues. The cover-ups continue.
But because of her the world saw it. Girls were saved from slavery. UN complicity was proven. The cover-up was exposed.
She paid for it with her career. With her ability to work in the field she loved. With years of her life fighting for justice that never fully came.
Kathryn Bolkovac. Nebraska police officer. Went to Bosnia in 1999 to help.
Found children locked in rooms instead.
Reported it. Lost everything. Still speaking about it today.
Zero men prosecuted. Not one.

[Judith Hermanson @JudithHermanson]

@Matt_Pinner Hope

[The Co-operative University of Kenya (CUK) @CoopVarsityKE]

Our three-day 3rd Co-operative Movement Stakeholders’ Annual Conference and the 8th @CoopVarsityKE Annual Scientific Conference 2025 kick off at Sawela Lodge, Naivasha.
#CooperativesBuildBetter
@benchitunga @vc_cuk @Prof_IKNyamongo @Ushirika_Kenya @Prof_IKNyamongo @MoCU_Official @stimasacco @Coopbankenya @CICGroupPLC @mwalimunational @police_sacco

[Judith Hermanson @JudithHermanson]

@VirginAtlantic we are stranded at BWI following diversion from USD. N communications! No luggage! Very bad form. Not to mention conflicting messages thruout.

[Co-operative News @coopnews]

Report on UK #coops and #mutuals sector urges removal of barriers blocking sector growth - such as access to finance, poor investor awareness and outdated legal frameworks

@CooperativesUK @BSABuildingSocs @ABCULCUs @EmployeeOwned @AFM_UK

👇

https://t.co/LwtJJWu9ld

[Habitat for Humanity @Habitat_org]

Through Habitat for Humanity's Veterans Build initiative, you can help us provide volunteer, homeownership and employment opportunities to U.S. veterans, military service members and their families. Learn more at https://t.co/2t22pw8RgA.

[Judith Hermanson @JudithHermanson]

Too often the issue of decent #housing and cost effective policies to support it in cities and settlements are being ignored. These are issues X the world. There is a way forward! And it also supports global #health, #stability, and #productivity

https://t.co/xvbHBVs5Ry

[Metropolis @metropolis_org]

What can Metro Futures tell us about Medellín?

Medellín's CO₂ emissions were 0.22 metric tons per capita in 2020, showing a modest 5% increase since 1975, leading Latin American cities 🍃

The city’s has public transport accessibility of 99%, also representing the best regional performance 🚎

These figures showcase Medellín’s efforts towards building sustainable and liveable urban environments.

See what else data can tell us about tomorrow's cities on the Metro Futures platform: https://t.co/Ax9SqI77XZ

[Judith Hermanson @JudithHermanson]

Congratulations!

[The Co-operative University of Kenya (CUK) @CoopVarsityKE]

We are honoured and privileged to have you, @benchitunga, as our Chancellor. @CoopVarsityKE, is at the most significant time of transformations under your leadership.
@vc_cuk I @DrOparanya I @Prof_IKNyamongo I @Cooperatives_KE I @Ushirika_Kenya I @Patrickkilemi

[Judith Hermanson @JudithHermanson]

Good news for decent living conditions in #Kampala!

[Habitat for Humanity Uganda @Habitat4uganda]

Yes! Here we go. Thanks @KCCA for facilitating this process and enabling the contractor receive the site. This is a great milestone for #HomeEquals sanitation facility in Uganda's second largest market within the Kampala City Metropolitan area.

[Judith Hermanson @JudithHermanson]

Explore and advance!

[ILO Cooperative, Social and Solidarity Economy @ilocoopsse]

The @ESSForumIntl #MBM2025 is happening on January 16 at the @ILO headquarters in #Geneva🇨🇭

We look forward to welcoming global #SSE leaders & heads of int'l institutions to explore “the SSE & the role of finance & economic pluralism in supporting the SDGs & social development.”

[Judith Hermanson @JudithHermanson]

Spread the word! So glad to see this focus. #Coop housing can be an excellent strategy for making more, better and decent #housing available and accessible across the income spectrum. Policy support key to making it happen!

[ICA Asia and Pacific @ICAAPAC]

🏡 Call for Articles!

Send your contributions to COOP Dialogue 8: "Cooperative Housing: Bridging the Urban Divide." Share insights on how your coop or coops in your country are tackling the increasing housing crisis.

Details👉 https://t.co/7ZHzOOwgMQ

[Judith Hermanson @JudithHermanson]

Great initiative!

[U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives @USFWC]

“The USFWC is proud to partner with @NCBACLUSA in this international effort to elevate the worker co-op model as a solution for the exclusion of marginalized groups from the benefits of the traditional economy.” - Esteban Kelly, USFWC Executive Director
https://t.co/CzIWnmY11y

[Sandeep Chachra @sndeep]

To prevent human trafficking, we need to ensure social security for all, promote workers’ rights and ensure adequate protection mechanisms
On #HumanTraffickingAwarenessDay, let us reaffirm our commitment to a world where freedom and dignity of labour are rights, not privileges!

[Judith Hermanson @JudithHermanson]

This is big and welcome news! #sustainability

[Inter-American Development Bank @the_IDB]

$4.25 Billion Global Sustainable Development Bond Launched! Our largest-ever USD global benchmark #bond orderbook and #investor participation. A testament to the global investor community's trust in our mission to foster #Sustainability in #LAC. Special thanks to our partners @BankofAmerica @Citi @WellsFargo #BMOCapitalMarkets
Details here: https://t.co/VzkatVxBLr

[Co-operative News @coopnews]

🌍#Foodsecurity, tackling #poverty, driving #socialinclusion, #education, #climate action, #genderequality, producer and consumer empowerment - that's how #coops build a better world, says Chiyoge Sifa of @ICA_AFRICA1

#IYC2025 @icacoop

👇

https://t.co/0l8GlxmaJc

[Cooperative Housing International @CoopHousingIntl]

A community housing project called Housing Coops on Ganghwa Island, #SouthKorea, where residents worked together with an architect to design and build 12 homes. The residents were involved in the design process, creating a better living environment.
https://t.co/6nn0ajURXb