Transcript Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking:
Modern Day Slavery
Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; Maintain the rights of the poor and
oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy. Deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
Psalm 82:3-4
Say no to wrong. Learn to do good.
Work for justice. Help the down-and-out.
Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless.
Isaiah 1:17 (The Message)
What is Human Trafficking?
The Act: recruitment, transporting, harboring, sale and
purchase of persons
The Means: by threat or use of force, coercion, abduction,
fraud, deception
The Purpose: exploitation through prostitution, labor, removal
of organs to gain profit
Slavery: “occurs when one person completely controls another
using violence or threat of violence to maintain that control,
exploits them economically, pays them nothing and they cannot
walk away.” Kevin Bales, Free the Slaves
More slaves today than
at any other time in history
Fasting Growing Criminal
Industry in the World
Where?
Worldwide problem: Asia (Philippines, India, Cambodia,
Thailand, Nepal), Africa, Europe, Mexico, Central/South
America, and…USA
A Glimpse of Slavery Today…
Slavery 101 – worldwide
Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking – within the U.S.
Types of trafficking
Sex trafficking (forced prostitution, sexual slavery)
massage parlors/spas, strip clubs, pornography, truck stops,
neighborhood brothels, gangs/organized crime, Internet
Backpage.com (Village Voice) – implicated in selling minors for
sex in 22 states, 70% of online “adult service”ads = $22
million/yr
Prostitutes are most often victims NOT criminals
Labor trafficking/forced servitude
Domestic workers, restaurant/hospitality industry, nail salons,
other service industries
Agriculture/mining: chocolate, sugar, cotton, coffee, electronics
(blood minerals), tea, nuts, produce ….
Manufacturing: toys, apparel, carpets, bricks
Slavery touches our lives everyday in the products we buy!
Who is Trafficked?
70-80% Females, 50% children (worldwide)
Economically and/or emotionally vulnerable – poor, abused,
lack of options/family support, searching for better life
Domestic victims – often young girls/at-risk youth/children
Runaways, teens aging out of foster care system
1 in 3 lured into prostitution within 48 hrs of being on the street
Average age of entry into prostitution 12-13 yrs old.
Recruited, abducted from malls, schools, online by
“friend/boyfriend” (loverboy approach) – very calculated approach
Kept in “the life” through violence, drugs, trauma bonding
Foreign victims – seeking opportunity in U.S. only to have their
passports taken and forced into sex trade/labor (debt bondage)
Human Trafficking in the U.S.
13,000-20000 are trafficked into US each year (State Dept.)
Number of victims within the US thought to be much larger
Under-reported crime, victims often won’t testify/seek help
200,000-300,000 American children are at risk
100,000 children are forcefully engaged in prostitution/porn every
year in the U.S.
Trafficking has been reported in all 50 states
Trafficking in Boston
Boston is one of the top 10 cities for human trafficking in the U.S.
(Polaris Project). One of top 15 “port cities”
An estimated 11,000-20,000 people are currently enslaved in the
Greater Boston & New England areas (based on anecdotal
estimates from front line entities).
Boston serves as a transit and destination site for trafficking.
Both domestic and international trafficking occurs in the region,
with links to organized crime (gangs, mobs, cartels, drug
trafficking).
MA passed anti-trafficking legislation in Nov. 2011, enacted in Feb.
2012 – making it one of the last 3 states to pass legislation. First
arrest under the new law occurred March 22, 2012.
Trafficking Headlines in Boston
March 2012: “4 alleged leaders nabbed in sex trafficking ring,” Boston Globe
Well-organized, business operating in Chelsea, East Boston
12-14 females, sold for sex up to 15 times per day, deplorable living conditions
Feb. 2012 – Lynn prostitution ring disrupted
Linked to established ring operating from Central America/New York
Prostitute brought from Mexico, serviced 70 men for the week, unpaid
Trafficking investigation ongoing
July 2011 – 3 Cambridge brothels raided –operated by Chinatown crime ring
Women coerced/forced from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea
Also operating brothels in Allston and Boston
2010 – Danvers, “Mass. woman guilty of child prostitution charges”
2009 – “Two guilty of sex trafficking young girls” - recruited from foster
homes, schools, MBTA stops in Lynn, Boston, Hyde Park, Dorchester,
prostituted around Boston, trafficked along East Coast, brutally abused
Amirah House
Currently, there is no long-term residential care facility for
trafficking survivors in Boston/New England. The need is great.
Minors can receive services, housing through Child Protective
Services
Survivors often have criminal records for prostitution –ineligible to
stay at many homeless/domestic violence shelters (adults).
Only about 100 beds for child survivors. Fewer for adults – only 8
safehomes in the U.S. for adult survivors.
1st Safe house dedicated to restorative care for women (18yrs or
older) survivors of human trafficking in the Boston/New England
area
Emotional, physical, spiritual healing, immigration services, ESL,
life/ job skills, reintegration into society (transitional housing,
continued counseling, job placement)
What can I do? - Give your time
and/or resources.
Support Amirah – monthly donor ($5 and up), raise money
through yard sales, serve on a team: marketing,
events/fundraising, speakers, community outreach, blog,
grant-writing teams. www.amirahboston.org
Volunteer with at-risk youth
MyLifeMyChoice
BigBrother/Big Sister
Germaine Lawrence
What can I do? - Be informed.
Learn more about the issue:
Polaris Project - advocacy, aid to domestic survivors, operates National
Human Trafficking Hotline, state-by-state info
International Justice Mission (IJM)
Free The Slaves
Not For Sale – Massachusetts chapter
Shared Hope International – child sex trafficking
Sign up with IJM or Polaris, NFS-MA Facebook to receive
newsletters and updates on slavery, policy, advocacy issues.
Be vigilant. Know the signs of trafficking. Call the hotline if
you suspect.
What can I do? – Use your voice!
Become an advocate. It’s easy and effective!
MA anti-trafficking bill last was passed via aggressive
campaigns by NotForSale, IJM, other anti-trafficking groups
Use scripts from NFS/IJM/Polaris to contact your govt.
officials.
Follow progress of the Trafficking Victims Protection
Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) through Congress via:
http://www.ijm.org/justice-campaigns/tvpra (IJM)
http://www.polarisproject.org/take-action/advocate (NFS)
Sign the petition on change.org pressuring VillageVoice
Media to stop child sex trafficking on Backpage.com.
What can I do? Buy slave-free products when possible.
Find out how many slaves “work” for you based on the things you
purchase: http://slaveryfootprint.org/
Buy fair trade goods to ensure slavery is not in the supply chain.
Research products before you buy via:
www.free2work.org, Free2Work app
www.chainstorereaction.com
http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org (rates electronics companies)
Ask your favorite companies to root out forced labor from their supply
chains. www.chainstorereaction.com
Request that hotels, airlines sign the Code of Conduct www.ecpatusa.org.
Stay only at hotels that have signed on.
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
when it is in your power to act. Prov. 3:27,NIV
Never walk away from someone who deserves help;
your hand is God's hand for that person. Prov. 3:27,The Msg
"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the
overcoming of it. My optimism, then, does not rest on the
absence of evil, but on a glad belief in the preponderance of
good and a willing effort always to cooperate with the good, that
it may prevail.” Helen Keller
http://youtu.be/I3adFUYibqk