Awareness Archives - Page 5 of 36 - Shared Hope International

October 19, 2017 by Guest

The Smoke Screen That’s Obscuring the Voices of Survivors – Why We Must Amend the CDA

By: Alisa Bernard, Survivor Advocacy Coordinator, The Organization for Prostitution Survivors

I am of the technology generation. I was born the same year the cell phone was invented and Macintosh Apple made its debut. I never knew a time when a computer was not an accessible tool. We live in a time where computers the size of a credit cards can stream a giraffe giving birth across the country and can teach us how to do anything from play the violin to fix a leaky drain. The possibilities are limitless. But what happens when those possibilities are twisted into something darker? What happens when we use our innovations to trade in the flesh of young girls?

[easy-tweet tweet=”What happens when we use our innovations to trade in the flesh of young girls? – Alisa Bernard” user=”SharedHope”]

The online sex trade is not new. When I was prostituted over a decade ago, I was sold online. Online prostitution is not glamorous and it is not safer than street prostitution. The violence endemic to prostitution is not somehow mitigated by the internet. One study stated that violence is perpetrated predominantly by buyers regardless of venue of solicitation. The internet has normalized the buying of sex down to a negligible transaction. Women and girls are being reduced to mail order masturbation aids.

[easy-tweet tweet=”Online prostitution is not glamorous and it is not safer than street prostitution. – Alisa Bernard” user=”SharedHope”]

[easy-tweet tweet=”The violence endemic to prostitution is not somehow mitigated by the internet. – Alisa Bernard” user=”SharedHope”]

The Senate’s proposed reforms to section 230 of the Communications Decency Act would allow for the prosecution of criminal activity on the part of internet service providers for facilitating the online sex trade. Essentially, businesses like Backpage.com could be held accountable for their contributions to the online sex trade. This is an essential step forward in the fight against trafficking in the US. Opposition activists express concern that the sex trade marketplace would make trafficking somehow more hidden or move underground if the online market is eliminated through this act. In reality, a result of the now internet facilitated sex trade is the intentional disappearing of both victims and traffickers. Backpage.com’s business model assists traffickers in obfuscating information in their ads, keeping them hidden behind bitcoins. Photos of children for sale across Backpage.com and similar sites have had their meta-data scrubbed away. Identification of victims and perpetrators has become practically impossible. How much more hidden could the market be?

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children most cases of trafficking occur online and the majority of those are happening through Backpage.com. At first, I thought Backpage.com was simply ignoring the experiences of women and girls like me by populating their site with these ads. Backpage.com isn’t ignorant that we are being bought and sold on their website, they want us to be bought and sold on their website. Every ad costs a price and with hundreds of ads posted daily they won’t say no to such a profit margin. Never mind if most of the product is young girls and women so long as the profits keep rolling in. And why not if they can hide behind a bastardization of free speech laws.

The thousands of women and girls whose faces have glared across a Backpage.com moderator/editor’s screens are not products. Editing an ad for a child doesn’t change the facts. She’s 14 with a pimp, or 23 and her pimp’s name is poverty, editing doesn’t make that 14-year-old 18, and it doesn’t change the 23-year-old’s circumstances. It does, however, add another few dollars into the Backpage.com bank account. So yeah, I care that there are more stringent requirements to post a car for sale than there are to post a young girls body.

Do the rapes of innocent women and girls mean so little? Have we accidently put the freedom to facilitate the rape of girls above girl’s freedom to be safe from rape? Reform is needed. The changes proposed to the CDA do not allow for the mass hysteria the tech industry would have you believe. The changes in the language do not allow for overzealous trial attorneys to go suing innocent internet service providers. If they are doing nothing wrong, they have nothing to fear. If they are using the CDA as a cover to hide their own perpetuation of the sex trade then, yes… they should have much to fear.

[easy-tweet tweet=”If (tech companies) are doing nothing wrong, they have nothing to fear (from amending the CDA). ” user=”SharedHope”]

I am firmly for the protection of the First Amendment and believe that it is one of the most integral core tenets of any free society. However, using the CDA as a smoke screen to conceal trafficking is just as much an attack on free speech as stripping the First Amendment bare. The modern era is rife with technological advancement, and we must update our laws to reflect this ever changing landscape.

I stand in solidarity with those who work to reform section 230 of the CDA, and I beg you, from someone who has seen what the online sex trade really looks like, to mobilize around this issue. Get your voice out, get your opinion out, because our voices cannot be the only ones to stand up.

[easy-tweet tweet=”Get your voice out, get your opinion out, because our voices cannot be the only ones to stand up.”]

June 16, 2017 by Jo Lembo

Inspired to Give Back – Ambassador Spotlight

Karen Lambie felt driven to do something to “give back” to society after retiring from teaching. Her online research into children’s rights issues brought her across the sex trafficking of children. Like so many of the people in our audiences, she was shocked to discover its rampancy in the United States and in her own home state of Georgia. She knew she had to help stop this heinous crime, and her continued search led her to Shared Hope International. Joining the Ambassador of Hope Program, Karen found her calling.

She took her Ambassador role very seriously, especially after learning that the foster children she and her husband, Tom, had in their home were from the highest risk demographic. She wasted no time talking to the director of her Department of Family and Children’s Services which led to an introduction to the Adoptive and Foster Parents Association of Georgia (AFPAG) which rippled into speaking opportunities all over the state of Georgia, including three state conferences.

Karen’s husband, Tom, became an Ambassador because he wanted join her in educating the public and to do whatever he could to help prevent children from becoming victims. Sharing with their family and friends about what they are doing continually resulted in more invitations to host booths at a variety of events.

Karen’s main tactic is to make sure people have her business card and that they know there is no speaker fee. Karen shares hope by not only presenting the signs of trafficking, but by assuring people walk away with excellent tools to prevent trafficking.

Karen’s list of presentations is diverse, from university classes to speaking at a family reunion, and she even hosted a resource table at a “Responsible Dog Ownership” event!

Something fun that she likes to include in her presentation? “One activity that can lighten the mood after the heaviness of introducing the topic is to role play how traffickers may approach a child, young person, or even an adult in public by claiming they are a modeling or acting agent. Asking for a volunteer (male or female) from the audience, I ask them to pretend they are a 13-year-old and shopping in a mall.”

“Approaching the individual and gushing about how beautiful or handsome they are usually gets some laughter. I promise them I can get them into magazines and movies. Then I ask them to come with me to the parking lot where my camera equipment is or hand them a business card and tell them to give me a call. Even though their reactions are often very humorous, the very serious point is made.”

Karen keeps her goals simple: To stay tuned in listening for people that might be interested in having a speaker or where she can host a booth. “For as long as I am able, I will raise my voice against the scourge of child sex trafficking.”

[easy-tweet tweet=”“For as long as I am able, I will raise my voice against the scourge of child sex trafficking.” ” user=”SharedHope”]

Your voice counts, Karen, more than you’ll ever know because we can’t count how many kids are safer because you shared the signs of trafficking. Thank you for all you do!

We need more Ambassadors to educate their communities on preventing sex trafficking. Apply today!

May 30, 2017 by Guest

The Ripple Effect

Chifonne, one of our Ambassadors of Hope shares her story!

When I first heard about sex trafficking, I was probably 12 years old. It was the very early days of Shared Hope, not long after Linda Smith had been to India, and she shared at a local event where my mom heard what Linda saw and experienced, and how she was working to help. My mom was incredibly moved by what she learned, and in turn, told a number of other people about it. I was, of course, one of those people. I was shocked and horrified that girls could be SOLD as if they were property.

I remember going to my best friend Lindsay’s house and telling her about it. She was also outraged, and we decided we had to do something to help these girls. We convinced our children’s pastor to let us make a presentation to our children’s church, as long as we promised not to use words like “sex”. I remember the two of us standing in front of all our friends that Sunday morning and telling them about kids our age or younger who were slaves, and how we could help free them. We took an offering that morning and raised $34, which we sent to Shared Hope.

This happened 17 years ago, but it was the start of something significant for both Lindsay and me. I’ve been an Ambassador for several years, and have also been part of other local teams and groups working to end Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking. My friend Lindsay went on to co-produce a documentary about sex trafficking in the US, Sex + Money: A National Search For Human Worth to which Linda Smith was a contributor, and which screened at college campuses across the nation. Both Lindsay and I have continued at times doing work abroad with girls and children at-risk.

[easy-tweet tweet=”You never know how people’s hearts are being stirred by your words.” user=”SharedHope”]

I say all of this not to toot our proverbial horns in any way, but as a reminder for all of us who work to raise awareness. You never know how people’s hearts are being stirred by your words, or what they may do in response to being informed. If you recall, neither my friend nor I had been at an actual “presentation.” Someone who had been – my mom – shared with me, and I shared with a friend, who in turn shared with a lot more friends. That ripple effect is happening ALL THE TIME. What you do has impact that reaches far wider than you may realize.

[easy-tweet tweet=”What you do has impact that reaches far wider than you may realize. ” user=”SharedHope”]

Chifonne, Washington State Ambassador

We need your help to take action and offer prevention education in your community! Become an Ambassador of Hope today!

[easy-tweet tweet=”Shared Hope needs your help, become an Ambassador of Hope today! ” user=”SharedHope”]

May 26, 2017 by Savanah Lawrence

Battling Sex Trafficking in South America: From Panic Mode to Planning Mode

“We have to shift from panicking mode to planning mode.” These wise words, by the Ambassador, Permanent Observer of Italy to the OAS, Marilina Armellin, were spoken at a trafficking event hosted by the Organization of American States (OAS) which Shared Hope attended this week. During the event we learned that most countries in South America are facing the panic of sex trafficking and struggling to find solutions to its many challenges. But many efforts are underway to help the region move from panicking to planning, and from planning to implementation. And at least one country is beginning such implementation

Panicking Over the Challenges

Marcella was born in Columbia. As a young, single mother, she was the perfect target for traffickers. She worked two jobs to care for her young child. But when the baby became sick, she lost her jobs and out of panicky desperation contacted a recruiter who offered to take her to Japan to dance and make a comfortable living. But the offer was a trap. When she arrived in Japan, her passport and money were taken and she was told she was the property of the Japanese mafia and must pay back her debt by prostituting herself. She suffered for 18 months, forced into prostitution and its associated abuse, before she was able to escape. Yet sadly, upon her return to her home country, law enforcement did not believe her. She was repeatedly questioned and asked whether she was truly trafficked or simply chose to prostitute herself. After receiving no help or support, still reeling from the effects of her trafficking experience, Marcela turned back to prostitution.

Sadly, Marcela’s story is not unique. With little education and no opportunity, coupled against the prevalence of sexual discrimination, women and girls are the most vulnerable demographic in South America. Moreover, most of the countries’ infrastructures cannot handle the volume of trafficking cases. The problem of sex trafficking is further exacerbated as these countries struggle to collect data, identify victims, and provide services for trafficked victims. In sheer panic over the issue of sex trafficking, these countries focus on punitive laws rather than victim-centered policies, and like Marcela’s case, many cases are ignored, and trafficked victims return to their exploitation.

Moving from Panic to Planning and Implementation

While panic fills the region, one country is beginning to plan and implement policies to overcome the battle against sex trafficking. Argentina has moved from panic mode to planning mode. Argentina has begun incorporating three key policies and is seeing positive results. These policies are:

Identification of sexual exploitation and victims
State-provided legal representation
Preventing victims from being considered criminals.

Argentina has used an abolitionist system since 1930, incorporating rescue programs with police raids to help identify and separate victims from perpetrators. This allows victims to recognize their own status as a victim. Furthermore, Argentina has begun providing legal representation for victims. This educates victims on their rights and the trafficking legal framework, and gives victims a chance to heal. Finally, in 2009 Argentina began incorporating an orientation for the prosecutor’s office, briefing prosecutors on the trafficking legal frame work and the severity of the crime. They also implemented a law prohibiting victims from being punished for crimes they may have committed as a result of their exploitation. In total, Argentina’s success is coming as they increase their efforts to identify victims and then protect those victims from further exploitation. By creating this victim-centered focus, Argentina is seeing positive results and moving away from panic mode into planning and implementation mode.

Bringing Students to the Table

Texas State Senator Zaffirini’s proposed Senate Bill seeks to require the Texas State Board of Education to develop a training program and curriculum on sex trafficking prevention to be included as part of a school district’s health curriculum. The creation of this curriculum not only creates vital information-access points for children, it requires educators and administrators to acknowledge their role in protecting children and responding to vulnerabilities that are inherent to the population that they serve. Equipping children with information related to the realities of sex trafficking, avoiding high-risk activities or harmful relationships, and strategies for recognizing and reporting suspected sex trafficking, recognizes that empowered children are less vulnerable to the manipulation and coercion that offenders may employ. Additionally, children are oftentimes the best “eyes” and “ears” for identifying vulnerable or at-risk friends or peers; armed with the right information, educated and aware children can play a vital role in preventing child sex trafficking in their communities, schools, and homes.

[easy-tweet tweet=”Empowered children are less vulnerable to manipulation and coercion.” user=”SharedHope”]

Shared Hope supports Senator Zaffirini’s bill, as it statutorily builds on the practices that Shared Hope has engaged in over the last 15 years. Working closely with schools and educators across the country and internationally, Shared Hope’s Senior Director, Nancy Winston, Director of Training, Elizabeth Scaife, and hundreds of Ambassadors of Hope have presented Chosen, a training for students, teachers, and administrators. At its crux, Shared Hope’s school trainings build awareness as to what domestic child sex trafficking looks like, how teachers, parents, and students can prevent it. Perhaps most importantly, however, Shared Hope’s training seeks to equip children with information so that they will be informed adult citizens who ideally work to ensure future generations are not facing the same plights of violence and exploitation that our current children face.

To date, Chosen has been shown to 15, 525 students across the U.S. and countless teachers have continued the conversation on child sex trafficking, building it into their own curriculum. This has not only increase national understanding and prevention efforts, it has also aided in the identification of children who are victims of commercial sexual exploitation, sexual violence, or recognize such victimization in their peers. One of Chosen’s major themes is the importance of telling some “if something seems wrong.” Following the presentation in one Midwestern school, an eighth grade student revealed a child trafficking situation occurring at her neighbor’s house. In another school, following an Ambassador presentation, a teacher from that school contacted the Ambassador several weeks after the Chosen viewing to alert the Ambassador that one of her students had revealed that she had been raped by her father but that Chosen had allowed her to feel safe enough to talk about it and seek help.

[easy-tweet tweet=”Chosen has been shown to 15, 525 students across the U.S., helping to prevent child sex trafficking. “]

Curriculum and trainings such a Chosen are crucial for connecting our front line folks– our children, educators, and parents– with important information for responding to and, ultimately, preventing children sex trafficking in our communities. Please join Shared Hope in supporting Senator Zaffirini’s efforts in requiring Texas public schools to provide sex trafficking education as part of the health curriculum. If you are interested in scheduling a showing of Chosen in your local school or community, you can find more information here.