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April 27, 2012 by SHI Staff

Back to Our Beginning: What is happening to Jamaica’s missing youth?

What is happening to Jamaica’s missing youth?

2,000-3,000 Jamaican youth have gone missing in Jamaica. Field leaders we met this week described the profiles of missing children that plastered the recent nightly news reports as teens around 14 years old from low income neighborhoods–a major concern for those in the anti-trafficking field.

During our visit to Jamaica, we met with partners and leaders of the National Taskforce Against Trafficking. Members present at our meetings in Kingston, Jamaica’s capital, agreed that more needs to be done to investigate the connection between the missing children and human trafficking. Some studies have suggested at least one in five of these children could be victims of human trafficking–a huge number for a country whose total population is 2.8million–and some indicated the number could be greater.

More research is a desired deliverable for the Trafficking taskforce, as there has been little research published since 2007, the same year Shared Hope International released the DEMAND report, a profile of sex trafficking in Jamaica, the Netherlands, Japan and the U.S. Other goals of 2012 include a more robust public awareness effort and communications plan, more residential services for victims, and quarterly meetings with NGOs.

TM-and-ER-in-Jamaica — Shared Hope staff meet with students to discuss the reality of sex trafficking

The taskforce’s plan to increase NGO involvement was welcome news to our partners on the ground in Jamaica. They work directly with young Jamaicans who have been or are at risk of being victimized by human trafficking, and welcome the opportunity to inform the Ministry of Justice led taskforce of the challenges and trends they are seeing on the ground. The meeting also provided great insight to Shared Hope’s understanding of the current issues our partners face.

During our visit we also had the privilege to view a video preview of the acclaimed new production by Kevin, “Nana Moses,” Calvert, “Where’s Melissa?”. The performance, based on information received from Shared Hope partners, uses Jamaican proverbs and music to tell the story of a young girl lured into sex slavery. Producers of the musical stage performance hope to perform in schools across Jamaica, and eventually other countries. This engaging production is a great introduction to the issue of sex trafficking–especially in Jamaica where people are hesitant to believe the problem exists.

Stay tuned for our next update as we head to Negril, one of Jamaica’s most popular tourist destinations and home to our other Jamaican partner who provides services to vulnerable Jamaican teens who are often victimized by the demand for commercial sex that unfortunately thrives in these “all-inclusive” travel destinations.

April 18, 2012 by Guest

Recent Secret Service Scandal Raises Awareness of Sex Tourism

Recently thrust into the media due to the less-than-honorable actions of some members of President Obama’s Secret Service team, sex tourism has risen to the attention of the global community. Sex tourism, defined as traveling to a domestic or international location with the purpose of purchasing sex, has become a multi-billion dollar industry with some seriously questionable repercussions.
One such repercussion is the proliferation of sex trafficking. Sex tourism increases the demand for commercial sex, enticing traffickers to force women and children into the market to satisfy this demand. This leads to child sex tourism, which is defined as traveling to a location with the purpose of engaging in sex with a minor. Although this commercially-facilitated form of child abuse is known to occur in countries with a weak economic structure, it also occurs in the United States on a regular basis.

For example, Las Vegas is a hub for sex tourism, and thus sex trafficking is extremely common. In a 2008 study performed by Shared Hope, over 400 prostituted children were found in Las Vegas in just one month. Efforts to curb child sex trafficking have made some progress, but the problem continues to plague the area. Fortunately, law enforcement agencies are aware of the strong presence of sex trafficking and tourism in Las Vegas, and are developing measures in similar areas in their communities with the potential to become a hub for sex trafficking. For example, Hollywood Casino Toledo is slated to open in Toledo, Ohio this June, so local law enforcement officers are being trained to identify and address sex trafficking.

Countries with a weak economic structure are popular destinations for sex tourism because buyers can purchase comparatively less expensive sexual services with exotic women, men and/or children, with greater anonymity than if purchasing in their home country. A prime example is India. According to the 2011 Trafficking in Persons Report, “Religious pilgrimage centers and cities popular for tourism continue to be vulnerable to child sex tourism. Indian nationals engage in child sex tourism within the country and, to a lesser extent, in other countries.” Essentially, Indian children are being trafficked in India to provide domestic and international tourists with sex, and Indian adults also travel to other countries to engage in sex with minors.

All forms of sex tourism fuel global sex trafficking. Although the U.S. Secret Service members’ alleged sexual engagement involved adults, their actions are driving the sex tourism industry, thus promoting the brutal commercial sexual exploitation of women and children in the region and around the world.

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.

April 12, 2012 by Guest

On the Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, President Obama Refocused Efforts on Modern Day Slavery

By Anne Reilly

On March 15, President Obama held a meeting with cabinet members and senior advisors to lay out plans to put an end to modern day slavery. The United States has long been a leader in addressing international human trafficking. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton led the group in discussing the current situation and making plans to combat the issue. The United States plans to utilize tools to combat human trafficking including: law enforcement, victim service provisions, increasing public awareness, and diplomatic pressure. These tools can be used domestically or internationally to target traffickers and help protect victims. In addition, the United States will increase partnerships with organizations, schools, businesses, and local communities.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKTj5beMjmw’]

The U.S. was one of the first countries to take action against slavery in its modern form. In 2000, Congress passed the “Trafficking Victims Protection Act” in order to address the problem. This law gave a federal definition to the crime of sex trafficking and created the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons within the U.S. Department of State to study the issue. Every year since the enactment of the TVPA the U.S. Department of State releases a “Trafficking in Persons Report”evaluating the efforts of every country in prevention, prosecution, protection and partnership to combat human trafficking. Countries are ranked using a tier system. Low ranking countries face public scrutiny and possible sanctions, prompted many countries to toughen anti-trafficking efforts.

Though the TVPA provides a strong legal platform, many states are lacking laws on the issue. Shared Hope spearheaded the effort to make sex trafficking a priority issue in states by creating the Protected Innocence Challenge in 2011. Every year this challenge will evaluate states based on its current legislation regarding domestic minor sex trafficking. Each state receives a grade for its efforts, as well as recommendations on how to strengthen laws to protect citizens

President Obama said, “I am confident that we will one day end the scourge of modern slavery, because I believe in those committed to this issue: young people, people of faith and station, Americans who refuse to accept this injustice and will not rest until it is vanquished.”

We couldn’t agree more.

April 9, 2012 by SHI Staff

Back to Our Beginning

Two American women and one Indian man navigated their way through the heart of the brothel district in India. They entered one particularly dismal building, climbed four flights of dark and narrow staircases, and pushed their way through the choking stench of body odors vainly masked by incense. Every room they passed on the way up was in use, or was framed by a vacant-eyed girl or woman … waiting, waiting, for the next humiliation.

When they reached the top floor two mothers were anxious to receive them. One was the brothel owner; the other was Hanna, a very young mom who was debt-bonded to her.

These two ladies had begged our restoration partners in India to take their precious children away from the horrors of the life in the brothel. They were overjoyed to see their children’s rescuers had actually arrived. Their children would finally be free. Yet they remained enslaved.

We had no idea this covert meeting in 2010 sparked a hope and determination in Hanna that would eventually empower her escape the chains of exploitation and flee to join her child at our partner’s restoration home.

Hanna never knew her birth date, so when her loving new family realized it had been a year since she was set free, they blessed her by celebrating the one year anniversary of her rebirth into freedom, complete with a surprise party.

In the next two months, our team will travel to Jamaica, India and Nepal to engage face-to-face with local restoration partners that have matured and expanded because of our support. We look forward to sharing an update on Hanna’s story and others from our partners in Jamaica, India, and Nepal once our team returns with pictures and stories of God’s provision.