sex trafficking Archives - Page 4 of 11 - Shared Hope International

September 19, 2012 by Guest

Survivor Panel Informs and Educates at Awareness Event

On Thursday, August 30, concerned citizens and activists in D.C. learned about sex trafficking from a survivor perspective. Policy Assistant at Shared Hope International, Shamere McKenzie, moderated a panel discussion that allowed the audience to ask questions and discuss pressing issues in the fight to end sex trafficking. The event took place at Ebenezer’s Coffeehouse in Washington, D.C. and was hosted by DC Stop Modern Slavery (DC SMS), a D.C.-based grassroots organization that works to raise awareness of modern-day slavery.

DC SMS will be hosting the 2012 Stop Modern Slavery Annual Walk at the National Mall on Saturday, September 29, from 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM. Hundreds of advocates and concerned citizens along with numerous anti-trafficking organizations will make the mile-long walk in unity to express their support for eradicating child sex trafficking NOW! The event includes live entertainment, speakers and resources.

The night began with Bethany and the Guitar rocking the house, supporting the eradication of trafficking through their indie beats. The music was uplifting and lyrics beautifully written. McKenzie then moderated the panel discussion, which consisted of remarks by survivors Barbara Amaya and Stacey Lewis.

Amaya spoke about the stigma of criminal convictions on victims of sex trafficking in the United States. Currently, only 7 states allow survivors to clear their record of convictions gained during their time in trafficking. In most states victims are burdened with convictions on their permanent records, which follow them into and throughout adulthood. Amaya recommends citizens make a difference on this issue by writing their legislators and demanding new laws and policies be implemented.

Lewis is a playwright and actor who uses her skills to incorporate anti-trafficking messages into her work. Lewis spoke about the role of media in both promoting and preventing sex trafficking, and said that certain media exposure is important for educating the public about the issue so that they can take action. She ended the evening with a moving and powerful spoken word piece on her experience in the sex trade.

The event was a powerful reminder of the importance of this movement to address the sexual exploitation of women and children in the sex trade. If you are interested in getting involved, come out and walk towards freedom with team Shared Hope International on September 29! Follow this link to register for our team.

To learn more about DC Stop Modern Slavery and the walk, visit www.smswalk.org and www.stopmodernslavery.org

For more information on the women who participated in the panel, visit www.survivorsofslavery.org

July 27, 2012 by SHI Staff

Shared Hope International Launches Billboard in Times Square

The call came in like any other.

An agency that creates and places ads in Times Square was interested in talking to us about advertising in Times Square.

As a non-profit organization, we view every dollar as a donor dollar. We are diligent stewards of what has been entrusted to us to restore the lives of others. Advertising in Times Square didn’t quite fit our advertising budget or our promise to our donors.

Faster than we could make a few cursory remarks, thank them for calling, and get back to our work- they mentioned one of our favorite words—donated. Their client had reserved—and paid for—three months of advertising on the CBS “Super Screen” in Times Square. Unfortunately for the client, the product they were going to advertise was still in development and wouldn’t be ready for the start date of the ad.

That’s when opportunity came knocking on our door.

The ad agent had an advertising spot that was already paid for but nothing to advertise. She cared about the issue of sex trafficking and wanted to use this opportunity to donate the airtime to an organization that would bring about greater awareness of the issue. And that’s the story of how Shared Hope ended up with a 15-second commercial in the center of Times Square for the next three months!

Our ad is playing on the CBS “Super Screen” at 42^nd St. between 7^th and 8^th Ave in the heart of the Times Square Plaza. 1.5 million people pass through Times Square daily and will be exposed to the issue of sex trafficking.

About the Times Square Sex Trafficking Ad

The ad depicts a “normal” American girl. She was cute. A good student. An athlete. A target of a human trafficker. Brianna was targeted to become a product in the commercial sex industry. Men she knew lured her with warmth, generosity, promises and love. Soon she was tricked into working in a strip club. Right before Brianna plummeted into the deepest terror and torture of sex trafficking, she was rescued. Frantic parents, a knowledgeable police officer and Linda Smith, Shared Hope’s president and founder, created a safety net that allowed Brianna to be rescued. She allows her picture and story to be used for ads such as this so YOU will be alert and aware of the dangers that lurk, trapping unsuspecting youth into the hell of sex slavery.

We need YOU to stand with us! Every woman and child is not fortunate enough to so narrowly escape the terrifying grasp of sexual slavery. Please take a minute to share this video with your friends and family to prevent the loss of another innocent life to the illicit sex industry.

July 24, 2012 by Guest

ESPN Supports Domestic Child Sex Trafficking? Village Voice Media Makes Sports Channel a Culprit

Do you watch ESPN? Great channel, right? Did you also know that ESPN is inadvertently supporting the sex trade of American children? ESPN Inc. advertises through Village Voice Media – who in turn advertises American children on their classified escorts site Backpage.com.

Shared Hope International has documented over 200 children who have been sold for sex on Backpage.com in the United States, most victimized in the last 3 years. Shared Hope believes that just one trafficked child is enough reason to act. However, Village Voice Media, the parent-company of Backpage.com, has taken no responsibility for the victimized children and refuses to shut down their escorts’ site to deter the growing number of victims. Also, Village Voice Media is projected to make $26 million this year from their online escort section alone.

Multiple states are trying to take action to protect children from being exploited through online classified sites like Backpage.com’s adult section through legislative action but currently the company is claiming protection under the 1^st Amendment and the Communications Decency Act of 1996 which states that a business is not liable for third-party content. Nonetheless, 51 Attorneys General, 19 U.S Senators, 2000 multi-faith religious leaders, 53 leading anti-trafficking experts and organizations and over 250,000 people have stood up and demanded that Village Voice Media shuts down Backpage.com’s escort section. And it is definitely time for Village Voice Media to listen to them.

At this point, Village Voice has proven that they are uninterested in losing revenue made off the commercial exploitation of our children; therefore it is time for Americans to rise up in defense of our children being sold on Backpage.com.

ESPN is one of 40 companies which U.S. Senators Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Richard Blumenthal (D- Conn.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and John Cornyn (R-Tex.) wrote a letter in April 2012 asking them to withdraw their advertising from Village Voice Media. Multiple companies including Starbucks, T-Mobile and AT&T removed advertisement from Village Voice newspapers because they did not want to be associated with domestic child sex trafficking.

As a consumer you have a great deal of power, so it is up to you to harness that power for the protection of children from sex slavery and sex trafficking. Inform these companies that you want domestic child sex trafficking eradicated and for that to happen, they must stop advertising with Village Voice Media. If they don’t, you will be forced to remove your economic support from their company.

Businesses identified by the Groundswell Campaign who continue to support child sex trafficking by advertising with Village Voice Media:

2929 Entertainment
American Apparel, Inc.
American Automobile Association
Android
Angelika Film Center
Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc.
Arizona Diamondbacks
Atlantic Broadband
Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau
Bacardi USA, Inc.
Blick Art Materials
Blue Man Productions, Inc.
Brooklyn Museum
Buffalo Wild Wings
Cancer Fund of America, Inc.
Champs Sports
Charter Communications
Cirque du Soleil
Clear Channel Communications, Inc.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY – New York State Psychiatric Institute
CraftWorks Restaurants and Breweries, Inc.
Dave and Busters
Denver Botanic Gardens, Inc.
Diageo PLC
Disney
ESPN, Inc.
Focus Features (Moonrise Kingdom)
Foot Locker, Inc.
Foursquare
Guitar Center
H.D. Buttercup
Hard Rock Café
Harrah’s Resorts
HOOTERS
Houston Symphony
Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Icelandair
J&R
JR Electronics
KCRW
LA Philharmonic
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
Landmark Theatres
Lincoln Center Theater
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation
Lululemon
Marriott International, Inc
Mayo Clinic
Mesa Arts Center
MetroPCS
MGM Resorts International
Mike’s Hard Lemonade Co.
Miller Light
Minnesota Orchestra
Minnesota Wild
Monsanto
MOUNT SINAI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE – Mood and Personality Disorders Research Program Department of Psychiatry
MTV2
New Belgium Brewing Company, Inc.
P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Inc.
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc.
St. Louis Rams
The Bowery Presents
The Salvation Army
Ticketfly
Total Bank
Toyota Motor Corporation
United Way Worldwide
University of California, Los Angeles
University of Denver
Veo optics
Walt Disney Pictures
Warner Brothers Entertainment
Whole Foods
YWCA of Minneapolis
YWCA Twin Cities
Zagat

“How many kids need to be exploited before they [Backpage.com] change their business model?” – Ernie Allen, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

July 21, 2012 by Guest

Operation Cross Country – 79 Children Rescued, 104 Pimps Arrested

In a collaborative measure between the FBI, state and local law enforcement and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children this past June, 79 children were rescued and 104 pimps were arrested. The operation encompassed a three-day attack on child sex trafficking that stretched across 57 cities in the nation.

This was the sixth Operation Cross Country conducted by the FBI’s Innocence Lost National Initiative.

Innocence Lost National Initiative: Task Force

There have been 47 Innocence Lost Task Forces which have recovered over 2,200 children and have arrested 1,017 pimps and their associates. These arrests have resulted in long sentences; some pimps have been sentenced to 25 years up to life in prison. Additionally, law enforcement has seized more than $3 million in assets from the human trafficking criminals.

Victims and Pimps

Chart showing the number of children and pimps apprehended by city during Operation Cross Country VI.

FBI Division	Juvenile	Pimp
Albuquerque	0	0
Atlanta	3	5
Baltimore	0	1
Birmingham	0	0
Boston	1	3
Chicago	3	3
Cleveland	0	1
Dallas	6	0
Denver	2	3
Detroit	6	3
El Paso	1	1
Houston	0	1
Indianapolis	0	0
Knoxville	0	0
Las Vegas	4	4
Los Angeles	5	3
Miami	2	4
Milwaukee	6	0
Minneapolis	0	4
Newark	0	3
New Orleans	3	10
New York City	1	1
Oklahoma City	3	7
Omaha	0	2
Philadelphia	2	2
Phoenix	2	1
Portland	3	6
Richmond	0	2
Sacramento	6	6
St. Louis	2	2
San Antonio	0	2
San Diego	2	7
San Francisco	6	7
Seattle	6	7
Tampa	3	3
Washington Field Office	1	0
Totals	79	104

Chart Source

What happened to the buyers?

The information released by the FBI does not address any investigation into the “buyers” of sex with minors. The Operation was focused on victims and pimps. However, DEMAND/buyers are an issue that Shared Hope International believes must be addressed in stings such as this. The men who pay for sex with minors, or the “market-fuelers” of domestic minor sex trafficking need to be arrested and prosecuted along with the pimps. It is, of course, illegal to pay for sex with a child yet the buyers often get away with nothing more than a fine, if arrested at all. This practice must stop and be replaced with harsher penalties if sex trafficking is to be eliminated in the United States.

Without buyers buying the “product” the industry itself would cease to bring profit and children will no longer be sold for sex.

What happens to the victims?

There are a handful of shelters in the U.S. specifically designed for victims of sex trafficking where they can receive protection, restorative care and education. However, the need greatly outweighs resources. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) takes the responsibility for offering counseling and assistance to these children so they can adjust back to normal life. However, Ernie Allen of NCMEC says that many of the rescued children could go back to their traffickers; “these kids are really damaged…it is not only important that they get help – but they need a specialized kind of help.”

Following Operation Cross Country, Ernie Allen and FBI acting executive assistant director Kevin Perkins called for an increase in comprehensive social services. Allen told a story from an earlier Operation Cross Country, “I was called by a prosecutor who said, ‘I know I’m not supposed to lock her up but my domestic violence shelters won’t take her, the runaway shelters won’t take her so I have no choice but to put her in secure detention for her own protection.” Allen says he hopes that America is waking up to the need for restorative and secure care for these victims.

June 12, 2012 by Guest

Fighting Fire with Fire: Using Technology to Thwart Human Trafficking

Guest Post By: Cleo Tung
Master of Philosophy, Criminological Research University of Cambridge

Cleo Tung holds a Master of Philosophy in Criminological Research from the University of Cambridge. As a 2010 Gates Scholar, Ms. Tung focused her dissertation on exploring different NGO perspectives on human trafficking in the US. She is the former Vice President of the United Nations Children’s Fund at the University of California, Irvine, where she completed her BA in Criminology, Law & Society.

Although human trafficking predates information and communication technologies (ICT’s) such as the Internet, mobile phones, and social networking sites, there is little doubt that trafficking activity now takes place in the digital domain. Indeed, traffickers increasingly rely on ICT’s to recruit, advertise, and sell their victims. As the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking notes, ICT’s are ideal conduits for trafficking because they “…provide a degree of anonymity and/or disguise which allows them [traffickers] to commit their crimes with reduced risk.”

Indisputably, ICT’s exacerbate the trafficking problem. The upside, however, is that the same technologies can ameliorate anti-trafficking efforts, as recently noted by Mark Latonero’s study at the University of Southern California, Human Trafficking Online. For example, ICT’s have proven critical to public awareness campaigns including the DNA Foundation’s “Real Men Don’t Buy Girls” campaign, which has helped educate the public on child slavery via social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. In fact, organizations are increasingly cognizant of ICT’s as an effective tool for expanding public understanding of human trafficking. Shared Hope International’s YouTube channel, the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking’s webinars, and this very blog are but a few examples of such recognition.

Smartphone applications like the International Justice Mission’s IJM Mobile also signify the emergence of ICT’s as a useful anti-trafficking tool. Through IJM Mobile’s “Make Some Noise” feature, users can easily help raise public awareness and galvanize support for anti-trafficking policies by posting the latest trafficking-related news in their social networks.

Technological innovation in the anti-trafficking field is further exemplified by Survivors Connect, a California-based organization dedicated to leveraging ICT’s against human trafficking. Like IJM, Survivors Connect employs mobile technology with its SMS: Freedom helpline service, through which users can reduce their risk of victimization by connecting to professionals and resources (e.g. information about trafficking scams, safe migration, child protection, and emergency support) via text messaging.

Beyond mobile technology, Survivors Connect offers a range of data mapping programs, notably Freedom Datamap, which crowd sources information about where anti-trafficking organizations work and provide services globally. Freedom Datamap enables professionals, lawyers, service providers, government agencies, and international organizations to share critical trafficking information in a single space. Users submit their information through various media (e.g. email, Twitter, web reports), which is then aggregated into direct reports and plotted on an interactive map. With this program, users can easily access and share data, thereby empowering them to enhance collaboration efforts, learn best practices, and identify gaps in knowledge.

As we have seen here, technology can play a critical role in combatting the trafficking problem. Whether it’s raising awareness of the issue through Facebook or sharing the latest research through a webinar, anti-trafficking work has great potential to improve as technology continues to advance. For many, this could mean a life free from the violence, exploitation, and abuse endured under the conditions of modern-day slavery.

Special thanks to Founder and Executive Director of Survivors Connect, Aashika Damodar, who agreed to discuss her organization’s anti-trafficking work.