Guest, Author at Shared Hope International

February 24, 2012 by Guest

Holding Online Facilitators Accountable: Campaign Targeted at Backpage.com

Since Shared Hope’s December 2011 release of the Protected Innocence Initiative, many states have had a torrent of new bills going out addressing the gaps in their laws which leave minors vulnerable to sex trafficking. As part of this initiative, Shared Hope evaluated the laws of each state in regards to their punishments for facilitators. Facilitators are those people or entities that knowingly enable domestic minor sex trafficking or benefit from sex trafficking in any way. While our analysis did not specifically focus on online facilitators, law enforcement and service providers have identified it as an increasing concern.

President and Founder of Shared Hope International, Congresswoman Linda Smith, explained in testimony before the Washington Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday, January 27^th, it seems illogical to believe that these sites should escape accountability because they happen “in the cloud”. (Click here to listen to Congresswoman Smith’s testimony.)

Traditionally facilitators were thought of as a taxi cab driver or hotel employee assisting or turning a blind eye away from sex trafficking. However it is increasingly becoming apparent that there are many forms of facilitation of child sex trafficking. While a few states currently hold facilitators responsible by holding them to criminal or civil penalties, there are still barriers when it comes to online facilitators.

Backpage.com is an online classifieds site owned by Village Voice Media Group where many so-called “adult” ads are placed. Backpage.com has been identified by law enforcement and service providers as a hub for child sex trafficking. News outlets in states across the country have been reporting cases confirming Backpage.com is being used by traffickers to place ads offering minors for commercial sex. For example, in Florida, Leighton Curtis was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for bringing a 15-year-old girl into the state where he took sexually explicit photographs of her and advertised her for commercial sex on websites including Backpage.com. Another case involved Theodore Briggs of Connecticut who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for sex trafficking a 14 and 17 year old. He used Backpage.com to advertise the girls for sex to buyers.

Backpage.com profits each time a minor is advertised for commercial sex on the site. An independent study by Advanced Interactive Media Group found that the adult section of Backpage.com is expected to earn Village Voice Media Group $24.8 million this year. While the act of profiting from child sex trafficking could lead to criminal charges for on-the-ground facilitators, Backpage.com has been left relatively unchanged throughout this process. Village Voice Media has claimed that their website is protected by the Communications Decency Act. They have been unwilling to close down this section of their website or even though they have been made well aware by law enforcement, policy officials and the victims themselves that domestic minor sex trafficking is happening there.

Shared Hope International is leading a national campaign inviting mayors across the nation to join our efforts to encourage Village Voice Media to stop facilitating child sex trafficking on Backpage.com. In addition, 51 state attorney generals, 53 anti-trafficking experts and organizations, and nearly 3,000 faith leaders of different denominations are publically calling on Backpage.com to shut this section down. We will not stop our efforts until children are no longer advertised online for sex.

February 24, 2012 by Guest

USAID’s New Counter-Trafficking in Persons Initiative

The United States has a long history of helping developing nations around the world. USAID has been the forefront agency involved in extending U.S. assistance overseas from the time it was created in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy. Beginning in 2001, USAID has played a major role in U.S. efforts to eradicate modern day slavery. On February 23, 2012, we were honored to join other leaders in the anti-human trafficking field for the launch of USAID’s new Counter-Trafficking in Persons (C-TIP) initiative.

The Counter-Trafficking in Persons (C-TIP) initiative contains 5 objectives that incorporate the 4 P’s – Prevention, Protection, Persecution, and Partnership – in hopes of reducing human trafficking around the globe.

The five objectives can be broadly separated into two categories:

1. Education: compiling the knowledge of current anti-trafficking methods to improve future endeavors and training for USAID staff members

2. Assistance: integrating human trafficking efforts into already-established programs, and increase investment in high-risk regions

During the launch, Shared Hope was one of only two NGOs noted at the meeting and was commended for our domestic efforts, with special praise for our Rapid Assessments on Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking in Washington, Arizona and Virginia. We were honored to be recognized.

Speakers at the briefing emphasized the utilization of technology to help fight trafficking, as well as increased communication between and among governments, organizations, missions, etc. Technology has already proved its usefulness: two boys enslaved on a fishing boat in Asia saw the Human Trafficking hotline number on MTV, called, and were rescued. Technology and collaboration, coupled with the new C-TIP initiative may help in the decline of modern day slavery.

January 15, 2012 by Guest

Join Us In Getting The Word Out

Each of us has a sphere of influence, for example — family, friends, co-workers, church members, service club members. neighbors, etc. All of these people are persons who need to know about the horror of Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking. We need you to join us in getting the word out that an estimated 100,000 teenage women are lured into sex slavery annually. Please let those in your sphere of influence know of the pledge you have taken and ask that they join you. Together, we can defend and prevent children caught in the snare of the worldwide commercial sex industry.

I have promised that I would share some of the comments I have received from Defenders over the past several months. The names have been changed to protect the privacy of men who have shared their heart with us.

So good to hear from you , Ron. I am getting involved in the Midwest of America. I am part of a group of men that meet to reduce demand. We are just getting started trying to figure out what to do. I will keep in touch. – Regards, Daniel

Good morning Ron, attend two men’s Bible studies. Please send me 50 pledge cards and materials on The Defenders USA. I plan to challenge the men in both groups to get involved n the protection of young women. – Dan

Greetings and thanks for email. I wanted to share something with you….About two weeks ago I was working with a group of young women and educating them regarding sexual exploitation of minors. I proceeded to show them what happens on-line. I showed them the “circuit” of backpage.com & how to spot minors. As a result of this, we found a young woman and reported to NCMEC & Local Police Department. The young woman was not a minor, but was mentally challenged and unable to provide consent. During their investigation they were able to rescue a minor as well. I am diligent on insuring the safety of young women whenever and however I can. Thank you for your work. I do this, because I was prostituted as a young woman and someone saved me from being sold. Keep up the wonderful work as I will. – Amy & Bob

Thank you for contacting me. I am deeply passionate about this issue of sex slavery. I have 3 little girls of my own and I cannot imagine any of them going through what many of the girls saved by Shared Hope have gone through. I am so grateful for the work that Shared Hope is doing and I want to thank you for taking a strong stand as a man to see this horrible injustice come to an end. As for how the pledge is working out in my daily life, I can say that I am doing my best. I have abstained from pornography, prostitution and any form of commercial sex…to the point that I don’t even hardly watch television or movies any longer. Sex is used in almost every form of commercial entertainment and marketing, it is almost inescapable but we must try to avoid it at all costs—even if that means canceling our cable, passing on the latest movie and choosing to skip the magazine isle in the grocery store…whatever it takes. – Frank

I am female; and I think you want only male members; so I have turned this over to my husband to take to our Men’s Breakfast on Saturday as an outreach. – Thank you, Jackie

I could do a better job of holding my friends accountable for their actions toward women and children. I know everyone around me knows where I stand on the issue, but I wish I were more outspoken on the issue. I am continuing to pray for boldness in that area. – Reggie

I feel I am taking action to protect those I love from this market. I am trying to instill in my little girls an understanding that they are beautiful because they are created in the image of God, not because the culture or anyone else tells them so. I don’t want them to ever fall into the trap of being more concerned with their outside beauty than what is on the inside. I know that sounds like a cliché but I believe that is one of the fundamental lies that lead girls and young women into the commercial sex lifestyle. Again, thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts. Keep up the good work! Please let me know if there is anything more I can do to help. – Andrew

October 14, 2011 by Guest

Purchasing Power: Why Do Johns Buy Sex?

The comprehensive new study, “Comparing Sex Buyers with Men Who Don’t Buy Sex,” headed by Melissa Farley, is a follow-up to Farley’s 2009 study, and discusses the characteristics of men who buy sex versus those who don’t. Besides their involvement with prostitution, they revealed different attitudes and behaviors when it came to sex. An overwhelming amount of johns reported that prostitutes “like” to have sex, which contrasted with the view of one non-sex buyer who said “They don‘t enjoy it at all. They just blank their mind out. Men think they enjoy it, but it is just fake.” Furthermore, non-sex buyers revealed that “coercing” someone by paying them for sex was not a “turn-on” for them.

Johns reported that they purchased sex because they were guaranteed submissiveness on the part of the prostituted woman or child. The distinct power imbalance and lack of relationship obligation was noted as a driving factor for those who purchase sex. Many of the johns reported having girlfriends or wives, and say they purchase sex to do the “dirty” sex acts that they would not do with their significant others because these acts could cause her to lose her self esteem. Though sex buyers recognize these distinctions, many commented that the sense of entitlement and degradation towards woman that develops from purchasing sex taints other relationships and their general attitude towards women.

Two-thirds of both the sex buyers and non-sex buyers observed that a majority of women are lured, tricked, or trafficked into prostitution; however, this failed to deter sex buyers from purchasing sex. Almost all study participants agreed that minors were readily available to purchase for sex. About a third of sex buyers knew many prostituted women started when they were underage, but this also provided no deterrence from purchasing sex.

One non-sex buyer illustrated an understanding of the force used in prostitution:

“I don‘t think prostitution is quite the same as rape. Rape is worse. But it‘s close to the rape end of the spectrum. It‘s not rape, because there is superficial consent. On the face of it, the prostitute is agreeing to it. But deeper down, you can see that life circumstances have kind of forced her into that, even though she has agreed to it. It‘s like someone jumping from a burning building—you could say they made their choice to jump, but you could also say they had no choice.”

When asked what would deter them from buying sex, the top three deterrents incorporated consequences that would cause the buyer to be identified, these included: 1) added to a sex offender registry (89%), photo/name in local paper (84%), photo/name on billboard/poster (84%). Community service and having to attend an education program ranked as the least likely to deter a buyer from purchasing sex.

In efforts to slash demand, the Defenders, an initiative of Shared Hope, encourages accountability through the Defenders pledge that they will never purchase sex or engage in other exploitative behaviors. The Defenders host truck stop campaigns and motorcycle rallies to draw awareness to the issue and prove that some men defend women rather than exploit them.

September 21, 2011 by Guest

Money: Saving and Enslaving America’s Children

This year, President Obama said that combating human trafficking was going to be a top priority, yet the U.S. currently spends more in a single day on drug trafficking than it does in an entire year fighting human trafficking. At a forum hosted by ATEST and the CNN Freedom Project, actress and UN Goodwill Ambassador Mira Sorvino claimed “Every month we spend twice the TIP [Trafficking in Persons] budget on military marching bands.” With the passing of the debt ceiling, which promises trillions of dollars in budget cuts, will President Obama be able to make good on his efforts to fight human trafficking? More importantly, is the U.S. willing to shell out significant change to bring significant change?

A study in Georgia revealed how much it would cost the state to treat a sexually exploited youth. The study found that secure facility residential services cost about $183 a day per child, while home-based services cost only $0.82. If Georgia treated all the known victims of sexual exploitation in the state, which, according to another study from Georgia is about 4,000 per year, Georgia alone would need $732,000 a day to place every victim in a secure shelter that provides essential services for rescue and restoration. Alternatively, if Georgia opted for a home-based care for all 4,000 known survivors, the state could spend a modest $3,280, but would be compromising the level of security and therapeutic care necessary for comprehensive and lasting healing. By using a System of Care Approach, like Child Protective Services (group homes, foster care) rather than incorrectly putting them through the Juvenile Justice System, the state would save $65,870 – $211,930 annually. While this approach is favored for its treatment of children as victims and not as offenders, it would seem to be fiscally responsible as well.

Legislators are taking note of the need for funding for victim services. Senate bill S. 596 was introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) that would allocate six $2-2.5 million block grants a year to six locations deemed to have significant sex trafficking activity. This piece of legislation would be an increase from past funding, and is a step in the right direction when allocating funding for victims, prosecution, law enforcement, and training.

Important budget cuts are necessary, but we cannot afford to cut the already measly $17 million dedicated to fight this billion dollar underground industry. The $17 million a year figure becomes even more insignificant as we consider that is the amount the US spends to fight drug trade in one day. Protecting our citizens, especially our youth, should be a top priority—let’s make our federal budget reflect that. Urge your senator to support S. 596 and remind them that the protection of our children’s innocence should never be on the chopping block.

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