Awareness Archives - Page 23 of 36 - Shared Hope International

December 13, 2012 by SHI Staff

Announcing the 2012 Pathbreaker Recipients

In 2000, the U.S. Department of State enlisted Shared Hope to hold Pathbreaking Strategies conferences in six countries to energize the national conversation about the issue of trafficking and share innovative approaches to combat the problem. During this process, we created the Pathbreaker Award to recognize the pioneering efforts of individuals throughout the world who broke the trend of inaction and initiated proactive responses to prevent sex trafficking.

We are proud to honor the following 2012 Pathbreaker recipients:

Ernie Allen

Ernie Allen is the Founding Chairman of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and President and CEO, International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC). Ernie Allen served as president and CEO of NCMEC for more than 23 years, growing the $1 million organization with 40 employees to a nearly $50 million organization with 350 employees. Under his leadership, NCMEC played an active role in the recovery of 175,000 missing children and its recovery rate increased from 62% in 1990 to 97% today. Mr. Allen revolutionized the way America searches for missing children and today more children are returned home safely than any time in American history. Allen influenced advances in technology and law to better prepare law enforcement to respond quickly and effectively. In the coordinated effort led by NCMEC, more than 18,000 local police departments, business leaders, researchers, nonprofit groups and community members work together around the nation to rescue children. An attorney in his native Kentucky, Ernie Allen came to NCMEC after serving as Chief Administrative Officer of Jefferson County, Director of Public Health & Safety for the City of Louisville, and Director of the Louisville-Jefferson County Crime Commission.

Amy O’Neill Richard

Amy O’Neill Richard is a Senior Advisor to the Director in the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. She serves as co-chair of the USG interagency Committee on Human Trafficking Research and Data. Previously, Ms. Richard worked as the Senior Coordinator for Reports where she oversaw the Department’s Annual Trafficking in Persons Report. Her own research has earned her several awards, including the State Department’s Swanee Hunt Award for Advancing Women’s Role in Policy Formulation and the Warren Christopher Award for Outstanding Achievement in Global Affairs for her report “International Trafficking in Women to the United States: A Contemporary Manifestation of Slavery and Organized Crime”. This study, which was carried by the New York Times, was used to support the drafting of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, and its findings became an initial baseline for assessing early U.S. government anti-trafficking efforts. Formerly, Ms. Richard worked in the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, where she received the Analyst of the Year Award, for shedding new light on transnational organized crime.

Drew Oosterbaan

Drew Oosterbaan has been Chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) of the U.S. Department of Justice since 2001. CEOS leverages the expertise of its prosecutors and computer forensic specialists to develop and prosecute high-impact child exploitation cases, national and frequently international in scope, involving the most prolific and dangerous offenders. In 2003, Drew led CEOS in a partnership with the FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to design and implement the Innocence Lost Initiative, a nationwide, federal-local joint law enforcement strategy to investigate and prosecute traffickers exploiting minors through prostitution. Since its inception, more than 2,100 children have been rescued and over 1,000 traffickers and facilitators who exploit children through prostitution have been convicted, many receiving life sentences and seizure of assets. In 2011, Drew successfully advocated to join the Innocence Lost Initiative with Project Safe Childhood recognizing the frequency of compound exploitation of prostituted children through pornography. Since its beginning in 2006, Project Safe Childhood has convicted 11,447 defendants in federal courts of an offense related to the sexual exploitation of a minor and identified 3,500 children depicted in child pornography. In 2010, Drew spearheaded The National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction to Congress, which lays out a comprehensive plan both to prevent and interdict in the sexual exploitation of children. As Chief of CEOS, Drew has been integrally involved in the drafting of major legislation targeting child exploitation, such as the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003 (the PROTECT Act), and the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006.

Deborah J. Richardson

Deborah J. Richardson is currently the Executive Vice President of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, leading fundraising and program development. Prior to joining the Center staff she was Chief Program Officer at Women’s Funding Network in San Francisco. Deborah was the CEO of The Atlanta Women’s Foundation; Director of Program Development for Fulton County Juvenile Court; founding Executive Director of the Juvenile Justice Fund. She has received the following honors for her leadership and community service: The Community Leadership Award by Spelman College Board of Trustees, The Lives of Commitment Award by Auburn Seminary, The Legacy Award by the Juvenile Justice Fund, The Grassroots Justice Award by the Georgia Justice Project, inducted into the YWCA Academy of Women Achievers, the Atlanta Business League 100 Black Women of Influence and the Liberty Bell Award by the Atlanta Bar Association. She has a Masters of Leadership from St. Mary’s College in California, and is currently pursuing her doctorate in public policy and social change. She is on the boards of the African Women’s Development Fund – USA, Frederick Douglass Family Foundation, Intown Collaborative Ministries, Board of Visitors – Agnes Scott College, Advisory Council – Siegel Institute for Leadership, Ethics, and Character at Kennesaw State University and Advisory Committee for Ivan Allen College of Georgia Tech. She has designed leading programs for girls victimized by commercial sexual exploitation and is the co-author of “Ending Sex Trafficking of Children in Atlanta” (Journal of Women and Social Work). She is a national spokesperson for A Future. Not a Past., a campaign to stop the prostitution of our nation’s children.

Congratulations to this year’s recipients!

Pathbreakers look on as Rebecca Bender, a survivor advocate, reads the comments of a fellow survivor reflecting her desire to have known these Pathbreaking leaders during her experience.

October 29, 2012 by SHI Staff

Sharing Your Adventure: Loving One Another Enough to Hold Each Other Accountable

Love. Care. Tenderness. Support. These are all character qualities that are essential to the Defenders. These qualities in my mind all describe one important value of the Defenders: accountability. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, accountability means “an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions.”

I always grew up with the term “brother’s keeper.” Brother’s Keeper is a simple term that means you love someone enough to hold them accountable to their actions. In my experience, accountability is only successfully done when both parties hold each other accountable out of common love for the wellbeing of the other person. Part two of The Defenders Pledge says “I will hold my friends accountable for their actions towards women and children.”

Women and Children deserve respect. They deserve to be honored, and we should treat them with that in mind. Human Trafficking and commercial sex takes advantage of women, makes them our objects, and that in no way is right. Out of love for our friends and the women and children who are involved in the industry, should we not hold each other accountable and stay away from that? Out of love and care for the wellbeing of our fellow men, should we not hold each other accountable to our actions? Should we not challenge each other? That’s why part two of the Defenders pledge exists. Out of love and respect for women and children, indulging in the commercial sex industry is clearly not an option.

But as I’ve said in previous blog posts, commercial sex can be an addictive indulgence. It can consume our lives, and pretty soon, quitting this terrible indulgence is harder than we thought. That is also where accountability comes in.Accountability can work as a powerful sword. Holding our fellow men accountable to their actions can fight those desires to indulge, and for some, completely eliminate them. For many, accountability also becomes a shield, which defends our hearts and restores our minds. I’ve experienced this effect personally through a Men’s group which I’ve called Men Mentoring Men.

This group consists of 5-8 men who are committed to meeting once each week to talk about life. We talk about the highs, lows, and struggles of the past week–both sexually and relationally. This group helps men grow in relationship with each other, and restore a healthy view of relationships and sexuality. We laugh, we cry, and we celebrate. This group creates a sword and shield for men who are struggling with commercial sex. It allows men to be vulnerable, and to acknowledge the pain in their life. Ultimately, this group effectively restores our desire to honor and respect women and children.

In a few weeks a new resource will be made available to all men. This resource, which I have compiled and created myself, will walk any guy through the process of creating a Men Mentoring Men accountability group. It is my strong belief that every guy needs at least one other guy to hold them accountable. Every guy needs support, care, and love. Every guy needs a close, supportive friend. Every guy needs accountability.

October 29, 2012 by SHI Staff

It’s a Drug

In the past week, two large events have taken place in Portland to help end human trafficking. Exactly a week ago, the 2-day Do You Know Lacy? sex trafficking awareness training took place. The training had over 200 attendees. Just yesterday an event called ConnectPDX took place, where organizations from all over the Pacific Northwest gathered to create a common plan to end human trafficking. This next blog post is a compilation of my thoughts from these events.

I could write pages and pages about the wisdom that was shared, but today i’m going to focus on something related to the Defenders. But before I begin, here is a reminder of what our Defenders pledge is:

1. I will not participate in pornography, prostitution, or any form of the commercial sex industry.

2. I will hold my friends accountable for their actions toward women and children.

3. I will take immediate action to protect those I love from this destructive market.

Shamere McKenzie, a sex trafficking survivor, says this about men:

“Men–Understand. Understand what it is to be a man. Understand why a woman was created from your rib. Understand that a women was not taken from your head to be on top of you, or your feet to be below you, but from your rib to be beside you. Men need to stand up and be Defenders for women.”

Ultimately, as Shamere pointed out, it’s men that need to stand up and defend women. These girls are being violated, and we cannot just sit here. Men have to rise up and stop this issue. After all, are we not the demand for this brutal business? And if we are the demand, are we not the cure as well? We are the ones that have to stop this problem. (For more information on the supply and demand culture, I recommend you watch this video by our friends at the EPIK Project)

Men, when it comes to ending the trafficking in this world, it’s our job. As a fellow Defender pointed out at the Do You Know Lacy? training, we have absolutely no right–ever–to disrespect any human being. When we look at pornography, go to the strip club, or purchase a prostitute, we are objectifying these women. We are completely taking away their rights, saying that they are ours for the taking.

I want to take some time to talk about pornography. After all, that’s not related to trafficking at all, right? Well, as I’ve done my research on pornography, I’ve found that they are completely intertwined. As it turns out, you cannot have one without the other. To put it simply, pornography is simply the pictures or videos of the prostitution. Ultimately, if you are supporting pornography, you are supporting trafficking. in some way.

What if I told you that pimps used pornography to train the little innocent 12-year-old girls on how to treat the client? What if I told you that pornography is used by pimps to advertise their girls, and what if I told you that buyers often demand that the little girls do the acts that they saw in the pornography they viewed? All of these are true. It happens, and It’s real.

If that doesn’t convince you pornography and trafficking are intertwined, lets talk about science.

In the drug world, marijuana is referred to as the gateway drug. People call it this because of a thing called habituation. When a person experiences the high that marijuana offers, their brain falls in love with it, and of course they continue to use it because it satisfies them so much. Eventually, habituation kicks in and his/her brain gets used to the high that marijuana offers. After a while, the marijuana high no longer satisfies the person, so he/she has to move on to something more powerful. This cycle continues on forever.

Pornography works the same way. It’s actually proven that the same chemicals are spinning in your brain when you indulge in pornography. When you view pornography, you get a certain “high,” but eventually that kind of pornography doesn’t please you anymore, and you have to move on to something even more hardcore. Pretty soon, pornography won’t even please you, and that’s when people move on to the more physical things, like prostitution and private strip clubs shows. This is not a slippery slope argument; this is a scientific fact.

So, where do we go from here? I hope you have realized that pornography is deeply intertwined with human trafficking. If you have, and you struggle with sexual addiction, know that there is hope. As Defenders we can support each other, and acknowledging that you have this addiction is the first step towards healing. If you haven’t already, take the pledge, and then get friends to join you. Support each other. Create a men’s support group.

In the words of a fellow Defender, Nick Lembo, “We are supposed to be sexual beings. But when you take it outside of what it’s supposed to be, lives are ruined.”

Together, we can end demand. We are Defenders.

October 29, 2012 by SHI Staff

Trafficking Awareness: The Power of Education

Thanks for checking out this blog. I hope you walk away from this post learning a little about the commercial sex industry, and how to deal with personal addictions.

I just finished watching a TV Mini-series called Human Trafficking. Made in 2005, this fictionalized series brutally but authentically illustrated the seriousness of international human slavery.

I don’t think I’ve ever felt so overwhelmed while watching a movie in my life. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about the severity of trafficking, but keep in mind that it made my stomach churn, and at some points I felt nauseous. It is an incredibly raw series. Regardless of how hard it is to watch, it illustrates the brutality of the commercial sex industry so well.

This brings me to this week’s topic: education. When I say education, I’m not speaking of going to school (though I do think that is important!). Education is taking the time to learn the facts about a specific topic, and in our case, we are taking time to learn the brutal reality of sex trafficking. Through movies like Human Trafficking, survivor stories, and blogs like this, you can participate in very needed education.

As Defenders, we have all taken a pledge. Part one of that pledge says “I will not participate in pornography, prostitution or any form of the commercial sex industry.” Now, I think guys would all agree that part one of this pledge is way easier said than done. You see, the commercial sex industry works like a drug. The chemicals in your brain begin to spin as you indulge, and you leave the experience getting a very temporary wave of good feelings. This leads you to constantly desire more and more, and after a very short amount of time, your body can be addicted to the temporary good feelings that these experiences provide.

That being said, what if I told you that the addiction to the commercial sex industry could be avoided or healed? What if I told you that those temporary good feelings would no longer feel good? Thats where education comes in to play.

As a Defender, I hope you’ve realized that the commercial sex industry has more brutality to it than meets the eye (if you are unfamiliar with the common myths of the sex industry, go here). As you can see through videos like this, where survivors share the facts, the industry is awful. Girls are hurt. Girls are raped. Some girls even die. Girls are locked in rooms like prisoners. They are slaves. Through learning the facts and being willing to be educated on this topic, your feelings on the commercial sex industry will begin to change.

I can say from personal experience that once you are educated, the commercial sex industry begins to stop producing those very temporary waves of good feelings. When you go to indulge, you can remember the facts. You can remember the brutality. More importantly, you can remember the girls. And from personal experience I can say that when you go to indulge, remembering the education you have puts a halt to your desire to indulge in any kind of commercial sex, whether that be pornography, prostitution, or any method of commercial sex. Your mind goes from being a consumer to a person who cares. By remembering the facts, your heart can move from objectifying women to respecting them.

So, in conclusion, I know from personal experience the power that education offers. Be educated, and educate others. You’d be surprised what kind of difference it can make. Remember the facts. Lets honor part one of our pledge.

For more educational resources, you can see this article by Abolition Now.

September 25, 2012 by SHI Staff

Story of a New Defender

Hello, Defenders! Thanks for checking out our blog.

My name is Ethan Morrow, and I am a fellow Defender. I became a Defender about one month ago, and my life hasn’t been the same since. I learned about the Defenders through my school, Warner Pacific College, and since then the Defenders has become a huge part of my life. In fact, I recently signed on to become a Defenders intern, where I will be offering my experience to help get Defenders active, educated, and encouraged.

Part of my background involves working as a computer teacher for the past four years, engaging students with the ever-changing technological world. I also spend a good amount of my time creating an online presence that inspires others to follow their dreams and discover their passions. I make an effort to live my life passionately, share my heart openly with others (through social media and personal interaction), and hopefully inspire others to do the same.

I am very excited about the launch of our new Defenders video, and the relaunch of our “Take the Pledge” campaign. To me, pledging to be a Defender is more than just a pledge. When you pledge, you are becoming a hero. You are standing up for the injustices of this world. You are caring for the broken, and you are changing the world one promise at a time.

The world of the commercial sex industry is filled with pain and abuse. I believe it objectifies women, and it turns them into animals for the sick pleasure of men. Not only that, but its proven through studies that the commercial sex industry slowly changes your mind, both chemically and emotionally; it lowers your respect for women, increases your sex drive (in a negative way), and slowly disfigures your understanding of love and what a true relationship with a woman looks like. This isn’t a myth. Indulging in the commercial sex industry changes your brain chemistry, and completely degrades women.

But hope isn’t completely lost. Restoration can happen, and prevention can happen. Ultimately, this industry can be eliminated. By taking the pledge, you are committing to change your life. You are committing to take a stand against the violation of women. You are committing to spread love and care.

Through the Defenders Facebook page, our blog, our twitter feed, and other social media, I’m excited that we can create a community of support for guys who have taken the pledge. We can educate each other, share stories, and fight against the violation of women. So, I encourage you to have your friends take the pledge. Support each other. Meet with each other and educate each other. Care for your family.

Let’s be heroes—let’s be Defenders.

[youtuber vimeo=’https://vimeo.com/48097600′]

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