Commentary Archives - Page 12 of 13 - 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.

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.

August 4, 2011 by Guest

Methods to the Movement – Combatting Sex Trafficking

On June 23, 2011 at the ATEST-CNN forum on human trafficking, Ambassador Luis CdeBaca reminded those attending that just because it’s a new day doesn’t mean the old ways don’t work. The people who fought against legal slavery had good ideas. So, below are a couple of the old, a couple of the new, and a couple of sparks to inspire you to combat sex trafficking.

Old

Pamphlets

During the early anti-slavery movements, pamphlet distribution kept abolitionist printers busy to help spread awareness. In the Library of Congress’s African American Perspectives: Pamphlets from the Daniel A.P.Murray Collection, 1818-1907 there are at least 100 pamphlets on anti-slavery and in From Slavery to Freedom: The African-American Pamphlet Collection, 1824-1909 there are at least 78 pamphlets concerning anti-slavery.

Boycotts

The Free Produce Movement (1790s-1860s) was a boycott against slave-produced goods (mainly sugar and cotton) that birthed organizations and stores that produced and sold only non-slave labor goods. Although ethically produced goods did not became less expensive than slave-made goods, “estimates suggest some 300,000 people abandoned sugar, with sales dropping by a third to a half” (from BBC article Tools of the Abolitionists).

New

Flash Mob

Flash mobbing is when individuals socially coordinate, assemble in a public place, perform an unusual act and quickly disperse. This is an excellent way to spread awareness since it piques curiosity. Love146 held a dance flash mob called “Can You See Me?” in London. Professional performers volunteered their time to raise awareness about child sex trafficking.

Billboards

Sometimes billboards give us an unfortunate craving for a burger. There are times, though, when they give us important information. In response to the findings of the Washington Assessment on Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking, Shared Hope International launched the “Do You Know Lacy” national ad campaign. Starting in Washington, Shared Hope has put up billboards around Seattle to raise awareness about sex trafficking of American girls.

Sparks

Smartphone QR Code Readers

Today advertisers and companies use barcodes can be scanned to deliver deals and information to a smartphone. These codes could be advertised on the bus or in the subway to give readers additional information on the issue. What a great way to say a lot with just a few lines!

Click here for more ideas on how you can help fight against sex trafficking.

July 14, 2011 by Guest

The Numbers Game: What The Village Voice Article Really Says About Sex Trafficking in the US

The 100,000 to 300,000 estimate of sex trafficking victims in the US has caused controversy. The Village Voice’s article, “Real Men Get Their Facts Straight,” a cheeky pun alluding to Kutcher’s Real Men Don’t Buy Girls campaign, targets this figure, saying that it’s a farcical overestimation.

The Village Voice looks at a different figure, 827, which is the average number of youth arrested on prostitution charges each year. What the Voice doesn’t realize is that the low number of children arrested on prostitution charges is a good thing. Increased training has resulted in law enforcement identifying prostituted children as trafficking victims, and thus, not guilty of a crime. Shared Hope International has trained over 10,000 first responders – many of whom now seek to place child victims in services instead of handcuffs. Jurisdictions that have a high number of arrests for prostituted minors indicate lack of training and a need to change department procedures to aid victims. Based on this, arrest records for prostituted youth should never serve as an estimate the number of trafficking victims in the US.

Other estimates vary. In a New York study, the number of prostituted children in 2008 in New York City alone was 4,000. A Georgia study estimated that the number of youth trafficked in Georgia in a year was about 4,000. Those are only studies from two areas of the US and are much larger than the 827 that the Voice supports in place of the number anti-trafficking advocates estimate. But why is the Village Voice so dedicated to targeting these larger figures?

The Village Voice has, for quite some time, run adult classified ads through Backpage.com. Upon the removal of the adult services section from Craigslist.com, the Voice benefitted from a huge revenue jump. Now, they’re claiming that their First Amendment right “was shouted down in the name of children.” However, the First Amendment has its limitations in situations where our freedom of the press and speech conflict with other laws—like the laws that make it illegal to purchase children for sex.

This freedom of speech, however, is quite profitable for online classifieds. In fact, the Georgia study found that ads on Craigslist for prostitution received three times as many responses as the same ads listed on similar sites.

It appears the Voice doesn’t put a face to any of these girls who were exploited through their site, even referring to the victims as “whores” in one point in the article. Perhaps if the Voice saw these girls as victims rather than a meager statistic, they would take some responsibility for perpetuating the trafficking of children.