Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon has introduced in the Senate S2925, the ‘‘Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act of 2009,’’ “to establish a grant program to benefit victims of sex trafficking, and for other purposes.” It is likely you will be asked to sign a letter of support for this legislation if you haven’t already.
In a perfect world, the victims of human trafficking or sex industry are free to live a life happily ever after, once they are freed from the brutality of their pimps or traffickers. However, experts say the process of restoring a victim's life is much more complicated than what one might think it is. In fact, they argue that it takes more than counseling sessions or medical assistances for victims to be fully recovered from the bondage of sex industry or human trafficking.
There was a time when “domestic violence” didn’t exist. Merely forty years ago, society was silent when women were violated in the home; yet today, domestic violence is strongly prohibited, and programs and funding are in place to prosecute the abuser and protect and support the survivors.
They're not here for the game, though. They will spend several days fanning out through the city to rescue underage girls who have been trafficked to South Florida as sex workers.
``The Super Bowl is obviously a really big deal for prostitution,'' Sandy Skelaney, a program manager at Kristi House, a program for sexually abused children, told the group.
``We have a bunch of girls being brought down by pimps.''
Just as police, hoteliers, restaurateurs and retailers have prepared for the big game, so too have children's advocates. For weeks, volunteers have printed fliers, prepared scripts and organized outreach teams in an effort to identify -- and, with luck, rescue -- girls who are being forced into prostitution.
Last year, when the Super Bowl was held in Tampa, the state Department of Children & Families took in 24 children who were brought to the city to serve as sex workers, said Regina Bernadin, DCF's statewide human-trafficking coordinator.
``Miami is known as a destination city for human trafficking, and sporting events are generally recognized by the experts as magnets for prostitution,'' said Trudy Novicki, who heads Kristi House.
BIG DRAW
Under normal circumstances, Florida -- and Miami in particular -- draws more than its share of underaged sex workers, lured by large numbers of transient men, the glitz of South Beach and a steady stream of conventions, authorities say.
The Super Bowl is expected to generate as much traffic for prostitutes as it does for bartenders and bookies.
And though the girls on South Beach and in Downtown Miami may seem to be there voluntarily, authorities say they almost certainly are former runaways or foster kids who fell prey to human trafficking. Some are barely out of puberty.
Ernie Allen, who heads the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said girls typically enter prostitution at age 11 or 12.
``This is truly an example of supply and demand,'' Allen said. ``They use these kids as commodities for sale or trade, and go to where demand is the greatest, and where they can make the most money. That's why they follow events like the Super Bowl.''
Allen called child prostitutes ``21st-century slaves.''
Throughout the year, Miami-Dade police hold between 15 and 20 operations targeting underage prostitution. For major events, such as the Super Bowl, the department works with the FBI's Innocence Lost Task Force.
``At large events such as this, we increase our presence . . . with the ultimate goal being that no children are sexually exploited,'' Maj. Raul Ubieta, who works with the department's Strategic and Specialized Investigations Bureau, said through a spokesman.
At Kristi House Wednesday night, where the volunteers gathered, fliers sat on a desk with pictures of four missing girls, ages 14 to 17.
``What we're trying to do tonight is plant a seed of hope for someone,'' said Brad Dennis, a director with the Klaas Kids Foundation.
``Last year during the Tampa Super Bowl, the largest number of tips came in from hotel owners,'' he said.
The outreach workers are organized into eight teams, divvying up the Spanish-speakers and trying to have one man each. In teams of two, three or four, the volunteers -- who came from as far as New York City and Alabama -- spread out across Miami-Dade -- from South Beach to Hialeah to Downtown Miami.
The goal is to look for missing girls and underaged sex workers. When they find a promising candidate, they hand out a card with a rescue hotline number on it.
The volunteers have a script: ``I'm a volunteer that works with kids who are in the life. I know you may not have a lot of time, but this is our card in case you or someone you know needs help. It has a hotline number discreetly listed. This is so no one knows. Is there anything you need tonight?''
And general rules: Try not to approach big groups of girls. Don't walk up to anyone near a pimp.
Outreach workers carry a small, glossy pamphlet filled with the pictures of missing teenagers.
They are black, white and Hispanic, blonde, auburn and braided. The booklet includes a short introduction from the family of Amber Dubois, a 15-year-old Escondido, Calif. girl who vanished on Feb. 13, 2009, a short distance from her high school: ``I am a football fan, but this Super Bowl, the champions will not be the Colts or the Saints for me. It will be your search team. For every girl you find and rescue, it will be a game-winning touchdown all over again.''
The message was written by 70-year-old Sheila Welch, Amber's grandmother.
``To think that something that is supposed to be all-American, the sport of our country, actually has an underground of sex trafficking is horrible,'' Welch told The Miami Herald.
The girls pictured in the handbook ``all look like babies,'' Welch said. ``But they are not babies anymore. They lost their childhood.''
For the volunteers, reaching their targets is not an easy job. Novicki calls them ``a tough crowd.''
Said volunteer Eddy Ameen, the executive director of StandUp For Kids -- Miami: ``We are not seen as saviors.''
The girls the group encounters are streetwise, distrustful, hardened and fearful of strangers -- who can get them beaten if the girl's pimp feels threatened.
Some girls view their pimps as family: someone who fed them, clothed them, loved them when no one else would.
``Nobody is saying, `Thank goodness you came and saved me,' '' Novicki said. But on a good day, a girl may take the group's card and hang onto it. Some time later, she said -- maybe after a beating or a night of particularly rough sex -- a girl may find the card and use it.
BILLIONS IN REVENUE
The National Center estimates there are between 100,000 and 150,000 underaged sex workers who generate billions of dollars in revenue for their pimps. The girls can travel around the country in ``circuits.''
In May, DCF began identifying through the agency's hotline children who fell victim to human trafficking. To date, they have recovered almost 85 children -- the largest number, 17, last month, said DCF spokesman Joe Follick.
Shared Hope International, a research and rescue group, reported in May 2009 that during a five-year period of servitude, an underaged prostitute might be ``raped'' by 6,000 men -- assuming a five-night-a-week schedule.
And if the everyday job description of a child prostitute is bad enough, times of ``peak'' demand, such as a sporting event, are particularly disturbing.
``Children exploited through prostitution typically are given a quota by their trafficker/pimp of 10-15 buyers per night,'' the Shared Hope report says, adding, ``though some service providers report girls having been sold to as many as 45 buyers in a night at peak demand times, such as a sporting event or convention.''
For Carrie McGonigle, Amber Dubois' mother, finding her daughter as a sex worker would be a blessing, because all the other possibilities are arguably worse. ``It would be good news,'' McGonigle said. ``I've already dealt with what that would mean if we find her.''
Miami Herald staff writer Jared Goyette contributed to this report.
Miami’s criminal activity is not unique amongst metropolitan cities in the United States nor is its increased criminality during large sporting events (i.e. the Super Bowl, Olympics, or World Cup). Sex trafficking, however, is one crime more prevalent in Miami because of its attractiveness to potential buyers and its place as a hub for international business/immigration. Miami houses many immigrants (more susceptible to traffickers), both legal and illegal; some reside in unassimilated areas like Little Havana or Little Haiti, while others live in wealthy areas like Miami Lakes or Coral Gables. Business between US firms and firms in Latin America/Caribbean takes place in Downtown Miami/Fort Lauderdale which brings businessmen in and out of the cities on weekend trips with secret perks like massage parlors or street prostitutes.
Many victims of sex trafficking in South Florida are homeless or runaway children who fall into the hands of child predators, pimps and traffickers. StandUp For Kids Miami identified 2300 homeless youth in Miami-Dade county alone. Contributing to that number are missing foster children that should be monitored by the Florida Department of Children and Families, but have been lost over the last decade (See Rilya Wilson case, 2002). Urban poverty also contributes to trafficking in South Florida in communities such as Liberty City and Overtown where citizens have been priced out of expensive housing developments and were forced to live in shantytowns as late as 2007. Regardless of their background, one thing is clear: These children that end up on the streets are immediately targeted for the commercial sex trade. For these reasons, Kristi House, Stand Up For Kids, and KlaasKIDS Foundation will be out in the South Florida community on Super Bowl weekend to bring awareness of potential trafficking to area hotels, businesses, and citizens. By raising awareness of such a crucial issue, lives can be saved. Hopefully, Super Bowl XLIV won’t be the only memorable event from this weekend.
Source: Shared Hope International
Super Bowl is coming soon so are the traffickers Super Bowl is a big event for most Americans whether they are madly in love with football or not. This year, the national event will take place in Miami Florida, where people know how to party and have fun. Many people are currently looking for the tickets to attend the game at the very last minute. Tickets are sold for more than 1500 dollars a piece along with the tickets at an exclusive clubs and bars for late night party.
By the way, do you know what else is will be going on in Miami? Sex trafficking and prostitution of women and children. Experts are well aware that big sports event like this is always coupled with increase in sex trafficking and prostitution. They are particularly concerned that this year may be worse than others as Florida is a hub of sex trafficking and child prostitution.
You can argue that sex should be treated just like alcohol, a method of entertainment. You may even go further to say that sex industry should be treated like any other industries. But, here is the thing; the products, commodities, or the people who are sold in the sex industry are different from a bottle of Vodka or beer. They are human, not commodities, with mind and soul. Whether they chose to enter the industry or not, it is damaging to them in every way, and the damage lasts for a long time. They suffer through psychological and physical problems including, depression, insomnia, Post-Traumatic Disorder, distorted liver system, sexual organs, or even joint pain as a result of being a commodity in the sex industry. They feel the psychological and physical pain when the customer throws her away out of frustration, whereas a bottle of Vodka will be broken but with no pain suffered by the Vodka itself.
So, dear sports fans, I hope that you have as much fun as you can on the day of Super Bowl. But, I wish you do so responsibly. When someone offers sex in Miami, consider my argument and think for a second to see if you would want anyone to treat your sister, mother, or even yourself as a bottle of Vodka or beer– a thing that can be possessed, abused, thrown away, and trashed at the end for the sake of your entertainment just because you paid for it. You may not think that your purchase for sex will not change a bit about human trafficking and sex industry in the U.S., but you, by doing so, become another person to set a trend that a big sports event is coupled with increase in prostitution and sex trafficking in the future.
To check out more articles on human trafficking written by Youngbee Dale, visit Norfolk Human Rights Examiner.
Source: Restore. Minor grammar edits to original article.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12
None of us can escape the effects of spiritual warfare. We are all vulnerable, and the world fractures us in many ways throughout our lives. Consequently, we are unable to avoid traumas, some of which leave long lasting scars.
Particularly when they come during childhood, traumas can have profoundly detrimental effects. Even careful parents cannot keep children completely out of harm’s way. Kids will be traumatized one way or another, and many people spend much of their adult lives trying to overcome the effects of early traumas. Trying to overcome the effects of the early traumas is usually not recognized as such, because it takes the form of struggling through life, reading the latest self-improvement books, and feeling stuck with an annoying bad habit. These are attempts to change the trauma effects without looking at the trauma that produced the effects.
About a third of us have been traumatized as children in the form of physical or sexual abuse, many more suffer from the absences of good things that are necessary for emotional maturation, and help is not usually available. School failure, depression, anxiety, poor self-esteem, chronic physical illness, violent behavior, and disturbing sexual urges are some of the common after-effects of childhood traumas. When they go untreated, the children carry these effects along with them into adulthood. Woundedness, dividedness, isolation, and oppression are the result of leaving the trauma wounds unidentified and unhealed.
They really need for the people who love them to encourage them to find out where their pain is coming from, and to accompany them on their path to recovery. Without the help of a caring community around them, their woundedness, dividedness, isolation, and oppression will prevent them from getting to wholeness. The Life Model: Living From the Heart Jesus Gave You, page 21-22, Dr. James G. Friesen.
We at Beauty From Ashes™ are committed to providing the necessary survivor centered services for victims of commercialized sexual exploitation and sex trafficking.
In the aftermath of a trafficking experience, the physical and psychological control tactics used by traffickers, combined with the physical and sexual abuses perpetrated leave both deep emotional scars and physical damage. Hands That Heal: page XV, Beth & Cindy Lopez Hudlin.
Although their wounds seem daunting, our holistic, community-based approach gives them the best opportunity to heal as they embark on their path to recovery. Working with licensed Christian therapists and through community partnerships, we have been able to embrace the wounded and offer them the multi-faceted care they deserve.
Below is a quote from a resident, a former victim of domestic minor sex trafficking, currently living in our first FREEdom™ Home:
"While living in the FREEdom™ safehome, I am challenged by the commitment needed to pursue wholeness. I am encouraged by the fact that it’s not me healing alone, and it is God's power and presence in my life that is nurturing and healing me. The most impacting part of living in the FREEdom™ home has been the emphasis placed on an intimate relationship with Daddy God, healing and the importance of a healthy, safe and loving community. I’m learning what it means to live a life of abundance and joy here at the FREEdom™ home; I have celebrated my birthday for the first time, experienced Christmas in a healthy family setting, and even watched a football game while eating chocolate chip cookies. I am beginning to understand that through Christ's forgiveness and acceptance, I am clean. Seeing more brothers and sisters in Christ come alongside me is proving to me how much God wants me to heal."
Facing the new year in the middle of a national financial crisis, we need your help like never before. Will you please prayerfully consider coming along side us to help these precious women heal and experience healthy firsts? Your love gift will give a young woman hope that God truly desires wholeness out of her brokenness. It will help us to continue reaching, rescuing, restoring and advocating for them.
All donations are tax deductible. Write check to Beauty From Ashes and mail to 5100 S. Cleveland Avenue, Suite 318-148, Fort Myers, FL 33907 or give securely online HERE
For a minimum gift of $35 ($5 shipping), we'll send you our 10 song private label, Beauty From Ashes™ Child of God CD.
Thank you for partnering with us in supporting their path to recovery. Together we are better and are making a difference.
Out of the Shadows Human Trafficking Conference, Julie Shematz will be speaking on behalf of victims, January 20, 25 & 27th at Florida Gulf Coast University. Beauty From Ashes will also be exhibiting hand made jewelry, bags, artwork & items made by over-comers.
Strip Club Outreach, January 28th, Fort Myers Beach, FL
Stiletto Project Art Show, Julie Shematz showing & art auction of paintings by over-comers, February 6th, Gallery AK1511, Venice, CA. Proceeds go to Treasures & Beauty From Ashes. To view Julie's entry, CLICK HERE
Life's Healing Choices Bible Study & Meal, Mondays Ongoing, 5:30 - 8pm, Fort Myers, FL
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: Contact Us
PRAYER REQUESTS: Contact Us
SCHEDULE A BEAUTY FROM ASHES' SPEAKER/EVENT: Contact Us
In His love & passion to see victims become over-comers,
Steve, Julie & the FREEdom™ Team
