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May 19, 2014 by SHI Staff

Thank You Chris Gay

The following Blog Post was written by Defenders Co-Chairman, Nick Lembo.

In fighting Sex Trafficking, one man can make a difference. One man heard me speak in Washington DC, and things changed for the Defenders USA in fighting sex trafficking. The smallest of actions can add up to major changes in our culture.

What might appear to be a small decision led to a tipping point for major developments in the Defenders Program. One man was instrumental in leading the Defenders USA in their work with the trucking industry. His name is Chris Gay. He is one of our Defenders and this month we wish to celebrate his actions. He’s an active leader of The Defenders USA who is living in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

At one of my Defender’s classes in Washington D.C., Chris heard me say, “We want to get Linda Smith’s book Renting Lacy into the hands of truck drivers.” Earlier that year one of our Defender’s paid to create an audiobook version of Renting Lacy. Our intention was to educate the trucking industry through the audiobook. There seemed no better way than to provide information that truckers could simply listen to on their long hauls. However, we didn’t have the connections to get the book into the transportation industry.

Chris took it upon himself to work some contacts he had in the trucking industry. It led to a meeting with the CEO of one of the nation’s largest trucking companies. In that discussion, we discovered the trucking industry was beginning to recognize the need to implement training to stop the trafficking of our nation’s youth. They invited us to partner with them in creating materials to inform their employees.

We are now going to help this trucking company in three ways;

Debunk the myths surrounding domestic minor sex trafficking
Teach them how to identify victims
Provide ways for them to respond when they see trafficking occurring

Because of Chris’s actions, things are transpiring in a major trucking company with potentially widespread repercussions. Who knows what could be next?

Don’t underestimate your value in fighting sex trafficking in the United States. The smallest of actions all add up to major changes in our culture. Chris is a living example of that.

THANK YOU CHRIS!

-Nick Lembo and The Defenders USA

May 19, 2014 by Guest

Traveling Sex Offenders Pose Significant Risk to Destination Countries

By: Eion Oosterbaan

In May 2014, the United States Mission to the European Union in Brussels, Belgium hosted a strategy meeting focused on information-sharing regarding traveling sex offenders (TSOs), who play a large role in the ever-growing presence of International Sex Tourism and Human Trafficking. Eion Oosterbann attended as an observer on behalf of Shared Hope.

In attendance were more than 70 people from over 15 countries representing government, law enforcement and non-governmental agencies. The purpose of this strategy meeting was to discuss the activities of the countries represented with respect to tracking the travel of TSOs from one country to another and notification of that travel to destination countries. It should be noted that it was accepted as a premise that the problem of TSOs is linked to the problem of human trafficking, particularly the trafficking and sexual abuse of children.

It was clear at this meeting that U.S. law enforcement is tracking TSOs and providing notice to destination countries with a great deal of effectiveness (offenders against children). The U.S. is aided by its sex offender registration laws. The United Kingdom, Australia and Canada have similar laws and also address the problem effectively. Most other countries do not, but there seems to be broad interest amongst these countries in finding ways to provide and receive notice of TSOs. This universal determination is due to a recognition amongst governments that child sex offenders who travel to foreign countries pose a real risk to children in destination countries, particularly in destination countries with significant trafficking problems. However , the European Commission is not likely to enact legislation to register sex offenders due to privacy rights concerns. Without such legislation in countries, it would be difficult to track and provide notice of TSOs.

There are a number of legal and practical impediments to establishing a global notification system. The legal issues include privacy rights, which is a critical issue for certain European countries. The practical issues include problems of availability of data, lack of central control of data, reliability of data, and the timeliness of delivering of data and, accordingly, notice to destination countries.

By the end of the meeting it was clear that many gaps and needs must be resolved before a global notification structure and process for TSOs can be developed. Having discussed the diversity of conditions among the countries present, it was agreed that going forward the group’s strategy must be bifurcated to address countries that can and will monitor sex offenders on the one hand and those countries that cannot on the other. For the countries with privacy concerns standing in the way, arguments must be put forth that show the interests of protecting children outweigh privacy interests of offenders. Countries with an effective track record in registration and monitoring will help put forth these arguments with compelling examples and outcomes to be used by advocates in non-registration countries. For the countries already registering and/or monitoring, it was agreed that certain principles and objectives discussed at the meeting would be set out, drafted and shared by organizers with a view toward further discussion on specific steps and measures going forward. It is expected that this document will be shared shortly.

Due to Shared Hope International’s mission to prevent, restore, and bring justice in the effort to eradicate human trafficking worldwide, this issue lies directly within its realm. Looking at it from a macroeconomic perspective, Shared Hope has identified and targeted the demand for victims (buyers) as the entity that allows human trafficking/ sex tourism to exist and thrive. Simply put, without demand there would be no supply. Therefore, the establishment of a global notification structure for Traveling Sex Offenders would serve as a significant obstacle to the demand and source of revenue for human trafficking.

May 15, 2014 by SHI Staff

Boko Haram Shines Global Spotlight on Women’s Education

Congressman William Keating remarked that women constitute half of the Earth’s population and serve as the sole caretaker in many households, and yet they “continue to be 2/3 of the world’s illiterate population,” at last month’s Women’s Education hearing “Promoting Development, Countering Radicalism.”

The recent kidnapping of 276 Nigerian schoolgirls by the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, which name translates roughly to “Western education is forbidden,” shines a global spotlight on education for women. While many are denied access to education due to financial or family obligations; the victims in the Nigerian kidnapping were denied and punished for receiving education. In a recently released video, a man claiming to be Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, threatens to sell the girls and says “Girls, you should go and get married.”

The mounting pressure on females seeking to gain education has reached America as traffickers target U.S. teens to be sold in local trafficking markets. Traffickers target girls in their early teens to meet a demand for commercial sex with young females. The girls are banned from attending school or developing critical job skills necessary to participate in a competitive job market once they escape.

Humera Khan was encouraged by her father to travel from South Asia to the United States saying “education is enough for you to break social norms.” On April 3 she addressed the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the power of educating women, saying education gave her the power to regain control of her own life, as well as inspire and empower her to continue moving towards success. Today, Khan is the Executive Director of an independent research organization. She suggested looking for education solutions and resources locally where people are more likely to invest in the women and girls of their own community.

Education not only allows for career advancement, it builds self-confidence, capability, empowerment and analytical decision making skills that impact every aspect of a woman’s life. It is important to offer educational opportunities to sex trafficking survivors to ensure they are equipped with the knowledge, confidence, and independence to regain control of their lives. Some restoration programs assist young girls and women in returning to high school, obtaining her GED, or enrolling in college. Combining educational opportunities with vocational training programs like the Women’s Investment Network equips young girls and women to become responsible and financially sound once employment is gained.

Shared Hope recognizes the value of education in the restoration process. We created Terry’s House to offer survivors an affordable housing option so they can focus their time, effort and resources on their education.

Read Shamere’s story of overcoming her trafficker to return to school.

May 9, 2014 by Guest

In Congressional Briefing, Panelists Discuss Exploitation of Vulnerabilities That Lead to Child Labor

By: Elizabeth Clapp

On Tuesday, April 8, a Congressional Briefing was held on Capitol Hill, entitled “Combating Exploitative Child Labor.” In attendance was Senator Tom Harkin, along with a panel of activists and professionals working within the anti-child labor trafficking movement. These individuals are on the front lines, helping young children who have been exploited by working in harsh conditions for the profit of others. David Abramowitz of Humanity United noted that child labor is “morally, physically, [and] socially harmful,” and that it keeps children from gaining opportunities such as education. One of the focuses of the briefing was on the exploitative roots of the industries that feed off of child labor trafficking.

A primary way that children end up working in these dangerous conditions is through the economic vulnerability of their families. Shauna Bader-Blau of Solidarity Center observed that in Liberia’s rubber plantations, if parents are given more than they can handle in workload, they will often recruit their families to help them fill the quota in order to pay the bills. Another way in which children end up in exploitative labor is if their families cannot afford to put them into school. As Ms. Bader-Blau confirmed, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) there are often school entrance fees that families cannot pay. Therefore, their children may join the tens of thousands of other kids working in the DRC’s cobalt and copper mines. The promising futures of children are stolen because the economic tables are turned against them and their families.

Shared Hope International acknowledges that economic vulnerability can be a factor that leads to exploitation, whether that comes in the form of labor or sex trafficking. That is why we partner with organizations worldwide to fight the epidemic of exploitation, focusing on sex trafficking. One of our partners is Asha Nepal, an organization that provides Nepalese trafficking survivors a welcoming home. These women are often lured by the prospect of a better job – only to become trapped in the sex industry. By offering education and job skills training programs, we work to encourage financial stability and independence.

Learn more here about Asha Nepal and the stories of Nepalese trafficking survivors.

We also partner with Sparsh, an organization based in India that provides a sanctuary for survivors of sex trafficking in India’s brothels and their children, as well as the children of the mothers still trapped in the brothels. One mother recalls she had worked long hours in a factory and heard about a job with higher wages. What she didn’t realize is that the new job required her to sell her body, health and dignity for hours each day in an Indian brothel. Economic disincentives such as these steal opportunities for a better life and drive people of any age into the exploitative sex trafficking and labor trafficking industries.

Learn more here about Sparsh and the stories of women escaping from India’s brothels.

March 28, 2014 by SHI Staff

Gang Sex Trafficking on the Rise

A nationwide trend shows an alarming increase of gang involvement in human trafficking. In August 2013, Portland State University released a much anticipated study on the scope of child sex trafficking in Portland, OR that revealed 49.1 percent of youth in the study had been exploited by gang members, are affiliated gang members or indicated that gang influence plays a large part in their lives.

The 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment prepared by the FBI’s National Gang Intelligence Center states “Over the past year, federal, state, and local law enforcement officials in at least 35 states and U.S territories have reported that gangs in their jurisdictions are involved in alien smuggling, human trafficking, or prostitution.”

On January 8, 2014, 24 alleged North Park gang members and associates were charged as members of a racketeering conspiracy that included cross-country sex trafficking of underage girls and women which occurred in 46 cities across 23 states.

The BMS gang was formed as a result of cooperation between these gangs, and the members took on different responsibilities within the criminal enterprise, according to the indictment. Some managed the prostitutes and transported them all over the country; some forcefully coerced these women into prostitution and maintained their obedience and loyalty through acts of violence; some handled the money; some placed advertisements to generate business or booked motel rooms in which acts of prostitution took place; and others distributed drugs.

Gangs operate sex trafficking rings as a relatively low-risk, high-profit criminal enterprise. Unlike drugs or weapons, people can be sold repeatedly. Gangs use promises of protection, status, easy money, loyalty and material possessions to lure girls into the gang. Once initiated into the gang, she is often sexual exploited within the gang by the gang members and is sold to others to increase revenue for the gang. In a majority of gang hierarchical structures, females are the lowest ranking members with no power or control. If a girl decides she wants out of the gang, members use force, violence, threats and intimidation to secure her loyalty and prevent her from escaping.

The gangs here in the United States are not allowing new female members. So, any time that females are hanging out with gangs, the reality is that they’re probably using them for something, there is some sort of exploitation, whether it’s sexual exploitation or they’re using them to carry drugs or guns or steal things, whatever it is that the gang may need them to do. But females are not typically allowed to make decisions for the gang, they’re not involved in the hierarchy of the gang. They may believe that they’re members, but they’re not viewed by the male members as equals.- Detective Bill Woolf, Fairfax Gang Enforcement Unit

In response to this emerging trend, Shared Hope International released a new training video on gang trafficking, Gang TRAP. The video uses interviews with law enforcement agents, service providers and victims to explain how gangs recruit victims, why gang trafficking is becoming increasingly common, and how law enforcement agents and service providers can identify and respond to this new threat. Additionally, Shared Hope released Chosen Gang Edition to teach teens the warnings signs and dangers of gang involvement.