The Defenders USA Archives - Page 11 of 12

April 15, 2012 by SHI Staff

Hold ‘Em for Freedom

Matt knew he wanted to host an awareness event, after taking the pledge and becoming a Defender. His goal was to organize an event that would both attract men and raise awareness about sex trafficking.

So, he organized a Texas Hold ‘Em tournament and called it “Hold ‘Em for Freedom.”

The premise? Educating men about sex trafficking while playing poker.

At the event, Matt had tables set up with facts about sex trafficking, books on the issue, and a laptop playing the full-length “DEMAND” video. Matt began the event with a presentation by dispelling 3 myths about sex trafficking. “(One), that most women choose to become prostitutes, (two), that sex trafficking doesn’t happen here, and (three), that there is nothing we can do about it,” he said.

He challenged men to take the pledge, and set up laptops for them to sign up as Defenders or donate.

The turnout was great, and by the end, “Hold ‘Em for Freedom” resulted in over $1,000 being raised for victims of sex trafficking.

“I believe that sex trafficking will continue to be a weight on my heart,” said Matt. “(It) will therefore have a place in whatever ministry God places before me.”

We salute you, Matt. And we’re proud to call you a fellow Defender.

February 8, 2012 by SHI Staff

“The Life”: What Circumstances Walked Leah and her Sister into this Living Terror?

She was just 12 years old when she was led into “the life” by her 14-year-old half-sister. After several horrible weeks, she was rescued by police officers — they found her sister in a hotel room, engaged in a sex act with a man, with Leah naked and crouched in a corner, crying hysterically.

What circumstances walked Leah and her sister into this living terror? Did this scenario take place in conjunction with the Super Bowl or another major sporting event? Was her 14 year old sister one of those youngsters featured on Backpage.com as “young and fresh”? Was life at home simply a rehearsal for the abuse the girls would get on the street?

The arm that wrapped around them and pulled them close…the voice that whispered promises of hope and care…the hand that reached out with belonging…they suddenly turned into hot breath and a vice grip. No twisting out of its grasp. The grasp of DEMAND.

Regardless of how they got there, Leah and her sister were taken because young girls are seen as sex plums for the picking-and until there are real consequences for “picking”, there’s no stopping it. DEMAND.

Shared Hope is fighting DEMAND because even one girl is one too many. Our Protected Innocence Initiative is helping to change laws all over the country and bear down on that demand. Since December 1, 2011, when the Protected Innocence Initiative was announced, over 60 state laws have been introduced to address all aspects of the thriving marketplace of children for sale for sex. We applaud leadership in Indiana, host of this year’s Super Bowl, who moved aggressively to pass key anti-trafficking legislation in advance of the event.

And we are grateful to you for your encouragement and your support that have made the Protected Innocence Initiative possible and effective!

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.

February 15, 2011 by Guest

Battle of the Sexes: The Debate for Equal Gender Representation

“No offense, but I don’t trust you,” said Wiveca Holst, a Swedish woman’s rights activist, in an interview with CJ Adams of Polaris Project. Holst explains that her history of working with male activists has been filled with men making honest mistakes, outright poor intentions, and the ‘occasional man who actually respected her as an equal.’ Unfortunately, Holst isn’t alone in her assessment of the male activist role in issues that are often dubbed as ‘women’s issues’. This leads me to wonder, do we need men working on this issue and what do they uniquely contribute to the movement?

As I man, I am ashamed to admit that I know plenty of males who won’t listen to a woman’s opinion, but they will listen to mine. I did not garner their attention based on any merit of my own, but simply because I am a man. There are male leaders combating trafficking; however, from my experience, our presence on the grassroots level is sorely lacking. If we want to effectively combat demand, then we need more active and educated male members joining the fight. Here are three recommendations to activate men to rise as leaders and defenders of America’s children.

Let’s begin educating our kids about the importance of equality. Vern Smith is the founder of The Defenders and the husband of Linda Smith, the founder of Shared Hope International. The Defenders is national initiative aimed at mobilizing 100,000 men in the fight to end the demand for prostituted children. He states the largest problem his organization faces in recruiting new members is ignorance. “So many men I talk to have no idea how big and how close this problem is,” he says. This ignorance might be attributed to the link between children viewing online pornography and how they view sex. One Dutch survey of 471 teens found that the more often young people sought out online porn, the more likely they were to view sex as a purely physical function. If a man views a woman simply as a tool to complete a physical function, can he also view a woman as an intelligent, valuable equal? Unlikely. If our goal is to garner active male support, then we need to combat ignorance toward the issue, and push for gender equality education at a younger age, before children are overexposed.

Prostitutes are victims; let’s change our rhetoric. “Ultimately, the sex industry has made sexual exploitation not only normal but respectable,” stated Janice Raymond Ph.D. of the University of Massachusetts. As Vern Smith states, “the word “prostitute” conveys the idea of willing participation in an immoral act.” By changing our language from calling victims “child prostitutes” to “prostituted children” we not only accurately acknowledge that a crime was committed against them, but support the termination of a damaging stigma.

If you want to become an activist on the forefront of the movement, join The Defenders. Defender’s pledge to not participate in any form of commercial sex, to hold fellow men accountable for their actions toward women, and to take immediate action to protect the ones they love. Take the pledge NOW!