The problem of sex trafficking has gained recognition among lawmakers in recent years. States have introduced laws mostly consisting of harsher punishments for offenders and affirmative defenses or safe harbor laws for victims. More can be done as new laws focus on the criminalization of the abuser, but fail to recognize that a victim still suffers the effects of the abuse, regardless if their abuser was brought to justice or not.[1] Victim rehabilitation and prison for offenders place a heavy financial burden on the government and the taxpayer.

To avoid this heavy financial burden and proactively stop the problem, states and non-profits are beginning to introduce prevention programs. The purpose of these programs is to educate those most vulnerable to sex trafficking how to recognize the signs of being coerced into trafficking and avoid becoming involved in dangerous situations. One such program is the Runaway Intervention Project in Ramsey County, Minnesota. This program requires girls who have not yet been sexually abused to take a course on empowerment.[2] The populations of girls most vulnerable to trafficking are runaways and homeless girls, which also creates the need to implement housing solutions in prevention programs.[3] A good prevention program includes both an education aspect and a housing aspect, both costly measures, but long term very beneficial.

High costs are unavoidable for both preventative and reactionary measures, but preventative measures make long term impacts. With high incarceration costs and states spending between 5-10% over their budget on the correction system[4] the federal government has recently begun bi-partisan talks for a Justice Reinvention Initiative.[5] Reinvention initiative programs take the money invested in the incarceration costs of repeat offenders and instead invest that money into programs for repeat offenders and preventative measures. The idea of justice reinvention can be transferred to the specific problem of trafficking with the goal of spending less on incarceration costs and using that money to invest in government sponsored prevention programs for trafficking victims. Reinvention programs take money out of incarceration and put it toward prevention, making prevention even more cost effective.

Current bills and funding are mostly directed toward reactionary measures, making sure offenders are prosecuted and victims find recovery. For example, SB 192, recently passed in Hawaii, has been praised for increasing the penalty for soliciting a minor and extending the statute of limitations for coerced prostitution.[6] Although steps such as this are necessary, without prevention programs they can only lead to higher incarceration rates and costs associated with incarceration. If prevention programs are put into place, the number of trafficking victims would lessen, therefore there would be fewer violations, fewer trials, and fewer incarcerations as a result of human trafficking and less government money spent in these areas.

Recently, a Minnesota research group conducted a cost benefit analysis on the costs of human trafficking prevention programs versus prosecution and incarceration. The results showed that preventative measures were the more cost effective solution by a remarkable $34 saved per $1 spent in a prevention program.[7] The quantitative research was very cautious by only analyzing financial burdens that came as a direct result of the trafficking, and where research was minimal, always taking the conservative estimate. These numbers showed that despite the high cost of prevention, taxpayers would still save $5,120 per individual in the first year alone.[8] These estimates do not include social benefits that survivors will be able to contribute to society, which would make the economic benefits even higher. The social benefits include women being able to continue in the workforce and not be on public assistance or be unable to contribute to society as a result of the harms suffered by a trafficker. This research concludes that prevention programs are the best option to handle human trafficking and should be initiated more.

In addition to short term financial benefits, prevention programs should also decrease incarceration and court costs over a longer period of time. At the beginning, both prevention and criminal prosecution programs will need to be in place. However, as time progresses, the prevention programs allow for fewer children to become victims and therefore fewer cases being prosecuted and hence, lower incarceration rates. If the prevention programs remain strong, over time the hopes would be to eliminate the problem completely, reaffirming the importance of implementing prevention programs nationwide.

The results of the study were very careful not to consider any benefits provided by NGOs. However, state sponsored prevention programs in conjunction with NGOs that offer shelter and education to at-risk youth, will create an even larger differential between the amounts spent on prevention centers versus the amount spent on responsive measures. Although there are not nearly enough resources offered to trafficking victims, there are shelters set up across the United States offering resources.[9] These organizations would help relieve some of the burden from government and would create a bigger financial relief than what has already been calculated.

Being a victim of trafficking also leaves certain physical and emotional scars that have a negative impact on an individual’s production within society. This also includes life impacting diseases and traumas that negatively affect a person’s ability to contribute to society. Emotional wounds can also cause problems that lead a person to not be able to be productive later in life.[10] The lack of productivity in the survivors adds to the costs of reactionary measures toward trafficking and each individual with these problems as a result of being trafficked become a heavier burden on society. Completely preventing physical and emotional health issues creates more productive citizens and supports the importance of prevention programs.

Economic research supports that prevention programs will be the most financially beneficial strategy for combating human trafficking and should be the leading way to deal with human trafficking across the nation. Additionally, prevention is the most moral approach to the problem as well. Financially, it is expensive to both take care of victims’ pre trauma and post trauma, but there is a moral victory knowing that someone never had to suffer as a result of being a victim of human trafficking. Prevention programs are important for the health and safety of vulnerable children. Additionally, they will save the government money and lower incarceration rates. These programs should be the focus of new legislation to minimize human trafficking as opposed to harsher criminal sentencing.

The post A dollar of prevention is worth $34 in prosecution. appeared first on Renewal Forum.

Since the law’s passing in 2008, 11 states have followed suit and passed similar Safe Harbor laws. While some states have passed some measures that fall in line with some of the Safe Harbor provisions, there are still a total of 38 states that have yet to pass true “Safe Harbor” laws. That means in 38 states children can be arrested, prosecuted, and convicted as criminals when they are being sold for sex. The government recognizes the fact that children do not have the mental capacity to consent to a sexual act, but at the same time is holding them responsible for a criminal act. On top of their lack of the ability to consent, these children are immersed in an environment of constant duress, suffering from physical and sexual abuse from their trafficker or pimp. When these children are committing these acts they are doing so in a very confused and damaged mental state created by their trafficker or pimp.

With increasing awareness of the sex trafficking of children it has been acknowledged that these children are not criminals but victims, but both the laws and enforcement of child sex trafficking have not yet been modernized thus these children are not always treated as the victims they are. It is imperative that Safe Harbor laws are passed and implemented in the 38 states that have not already done so.

Even though there are 12 states that have Safe Harbor laws, few of them have yet to properly enforce their laws. Minnesota, one of the states to pass such a law, has been the first to make substantial efforts to enforce the legislation. “Safe Harbor laws go into effect August 1, 2014 and will shift the paradigm for at risk and sexually exploited youth, viewing them as crime victims rather than criminals,” said Linda Riddle, the program manager of Safe Harbor at Life House, a grantee agency in Duluth [2]. Since the law’s passing, Minnesota has allocated 2.8 million dollars for the provisions of the Safe Harbor laws which include training for law enforcement when dealing with child trafficking victims as well as housing for rehabilitative services for child victims [1]. While this is a substantial amount of resources diverted to these necessary programs, the estimated amount of money required to fully implement the Safe Harbor laws is 13.5 million dollars [1]. “The 2.8 million the Legislature allocated last session is about 21% of what we need to fully fund Safe Harbor,” stated Vednita Carter, executive director of Breaking Free [2]. Even Minnesota which has been pushing Safe Harbor into implementation can be doing more to increase and improve its efforts.

While New York was the model for the law itself, Minnesota will be the model for the law’s enforcement. Hopefully other states will follow Minnesota’s example and realize how essential Safe Harbor laws are for our children.

Sources

[1] https://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2014/06/minnesota-s-first-shelter-child-victims-sex-trafficking-prepares-open

[2] https://www.breakingfree.net/files/breakingfree/files/Safe%20Harbor%20Press%20Release.pdf

The post The Necessity of Safe Harbor Legislation and Its Implementation appeared first on Renewal Forum.

Each year, Operation Cross Country increases awareness of child sex trafficking around the country with its annual campaign. Operation Cross Country grows regularly every year; last year the operation spread across 76 cities with 105 children rescued and 150 pimps arrested (2); the year before that 57 cities were investigated with 79 children rescued and just over 100 pimps arrested (3). The large increase of the operation’s size can be attributed to the realization of how effective the operation is and can be. The operation continues to expand to better fight child sex trafficking in more cities around the country. Yet for all the expansion of the operation it still only occurs during one brief week during the year.

The FBI reports that the total number of children it has rescued with its Innocence Lost National Initiative, which also runs Operation Cross Country, is 3,600 (1). The total number of children that have been rescued by Operation Cross Country is almost 600. That means nearly 1/6^th of the children rescued by the FBI over the course of 11 years since the founding of the Innocence Lost National Initiative were rescued in only about 5 weeks (not including the assumed months of preparations and intelligence gathering), the combined length of all Cross Country operations. These numbers attest to the incredible success of the operation.  Because of the effectiveness of these operations by the FBI,  it is a surprise that this operation is contained to only one week a year. There needs to be a continual and focused effort of responding to child sex trafficking by law enforcement.  This operation rescued an average of 24 children a day. 24 children are now off the streets and are receiving much needed help after one day. Imagine what it would be like if this was an ongoing operation, everyday hearing in the news that dozens of children have been saved from the horrors of sex trafficking. With an average of 24 children rescued a day, a full year Operation Cross Country would result in 8760 children rescued, which is a small proportion of the 250,000 kids estimated to be in trafficking (4), but still has a much larger impact than 168 children rescued from a one time annual enforcement action.

Operation Cross Country should be encouraged and pursued on a more regular basis than annually. The operation has done invaluable work for many children who have been abused and taken advantage of and will hopefully continue to combat the sex trafficking of children.

Sources

(1)    https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/june/operation-cross-country

(2)    https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2013/july/operation-cross-country-recovering-victims-of-child-sex-trafficking/operation-cross-country-recovering-victims-of-child-sex-trafficking

(3)    https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2012/june/nationwide-sweep-recovers-child-victims-of-prostitution/nationwide-sweep-recovers-child-victims-of-prostitution

(4)    https://renewalforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Victim-Population-Estimates.pdf

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Yet the bill, which was proposed last year, failed to pass in 2013. This year’s legislative session ended with the bill still locked in a stalemate. Governor Andrew Cuomo had included the bill as a part of his ten-point proposal entitled the “Women’s Equality Act,” which contained a highly divisive abortion provision opposed by many in the State Senate. Instead of voting on the ten proposals as a group, the Senate voted on each individually, passing nine of them. The Assembly leadership, however, refused to allow separate votes on each of the bills, holding the TVPJA hostage in order to pass the Governor’s act as a whole. Under pressure from the Governor and with the urging of the New York Times [2], the Assembly refused to pass anything but the Women’s Equality Act in its entirety. Despite Assemblywoman Paulin’s objections, the TVPJA never even came to a vote in the Assembly.

The Assembly has kept a common-sense law from being implemented in order to use it as a political weapon. Governor Cuomo has already begun to attack what he describes as a “failure” [3] of the Senate, promising to use his influence to punish those who opposed his agenda. Cuomo and the Assembly leadership have chosen to sacrifice the dignity of the men, women, and children exploited by human trafficking in an attempt to gain power over political opposition. Human trafficking is not a partisan issue, and it is unacceptable for politicians to construct barriers between victims of human trafficking and the laws that would help them.

[1] https://www.lohud.com/story/opinion/contributors/2014/06/15/amy-paulin-new-york-sex-trafficking-womens-equality-act/10556605/

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/14/opinion/keep-the-womens-rights-bill-intact.html

[3] https://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/06/8547663/cuomo-what-senates-failure-will-mean

The post NY Legislators Block Anti-Trafficking Bill in Order to Advance Political Goals appeared first on Renewal Forum.

Criminalizing prostitution created barriers to reporting crime primarily because victims of prostitution felt that society and the authorities looked down on them. This view of prostituted persons as criminals also led to an increased risk of them “losing their livelihood, their home and their status within their wider community, as well as the risk of being alienated by family and friends and the risk of losing custody of their children.” (Jacobs Ms.Magazine 2104) (Jacobs ImpoliteConversation 2014) Casting prostituted persons in a criminal light leads people to “judge them, look down on them, and by some they are deemed ‘unrapable.” (Jacobs Ms.Magazine 2014)

In one interview, Kate, a victim of prostitution, stated that “I felt [the rapes] would be categorized as ‘alleged’ rapes, with question marks over my reliability and circumstances … and that feeling would be too hard to handle.” (Navarro 2014) She went on to say, “It’s like I have to take responsibility for everything: being in the wrong place at the wrong time, being raped, not fighting back, not trying harder to get away and now not letting it happen to anyone else.” (Navarro 2014)

With the implementation of the Merseyside Model, police not only categorized violent crimes against prostituted persons as hate crimes, but they also began to collaborate with programs “that offer services such as harm reduction, counseling and outreach”, which in turn made victims of prostitution “feel safe reporting crimes committed against them.” (Huffington Post)

How the Model Changed Reporting and Violence against Prostituted Persons 

Categorizing violence against prostituted persons as a hate crime led to a 67% conviction rate for rape of sex workers in 2010 and an 84% conviction rate for crimes against prostituted persons in general. (Jacobs Ms.Magazine 2014) This is compared to the United Kingdom’s national conviction rate of 6.5%. (Jacobs Huffington Post 2014) More prostituted persons felt safe, and were more willing to report incidences of rape and violence against them. (Jacobs Ms.Magazine 2014) By prioritizing protection of prostituted persons, over the enforcement of actions against prostitution, women have reported crimes against them at a much higher rate. (Summerford 2014)

Possible Drawbacks of the Merseyside Model

Although the Merseyside Model has significantly impacted the conviction rate for rape and violence against prostituted persons, and has led to increased reporting by victims to law enforcement, there are still some possible drawbacks to the approach overall.

To begin with, the Merseyside model does not offer any rehabilitative services for the victims of prostitution. The strict focus on conviction of people who are violent toward prostituted persons, although well-intentioned, does not provide for any supportive mechanism that women and men can turn to in trying to escape the prostitution industry. A rehabilitative mechanism is essential, because without such a measure, it both very likely and possible that victims will end up right back into the system.

Another major drawback of the Merseyside Model is that it does not provide a sufficient prevention method for preventing the violence against prostituted persons in the first place. Although the categorization of violence against prostituted persons as a hate crime may de-incentivize some prospective violent offenders from raping or assaulting victims, it does not provide any formal mechanism that could be put in place to stem the tide of violence occurring in the first place. The Merseyside Model is an ex post system designed only to correct past wrongs without really preventing future ones.

Also, in terms of prevention, the model does not prevent victims from being lured or forced into prostitution in the first place. This once again reflects the ex post nature of the system. It works to bring justice to prostituted persons in terms of punishing violent offenders after they have already been raped or assaulted, but it does not consider the preclusion of the man or woman from entering into the prostitution industry.

A final drawback of the Merseyside Model is that it does not criminalize the pimps and sex traffickers who lure, force, and keep men, women and children into the prostitution industry. It is true that if a victim reports that their trafficker raped or beat them, the trafficker will be subject to the hate crime laws at hand. However, if there is no report of violence toward a prostituted person, or there is no violence toward them in general, but instead just psychological and mental manipulation, the trafficker themselves will not be subject to punishment under hate crime laws.

What Could be Done to Improve the Model?

The aforementioned weaknesses of the Merseyside Model could be remedied by making the model more inclusive of prevention and rehabilitation considerations essential to the eradication of the sex trafficking industry in general.

Law enforcement could collaborate with programs to ensure that once a crime has been reported, the victim has established and reliable resources to which they can turn. In addition to helping victims escape their situation without financial fear or fear of retaliation, collaborating with prostituted persons help programs will assist in preventing victims from re-entering the system.  These programs also provide a safe place where people can feel comfortable reporting the pimps and sex traffickers that lured and kept them in prostitution.

In considering how the model could be improved, it is important to note that the act of selling sexual services is legal in the United Kingdom, whereas, with the exception of Nevada, it is illegal in the United States. Thus, implementing the Merseyside model in the United States may be much more difficult due to the fact that when law enforcement gets in touch with prostituted persons, they may be more interested in arresting them for committing the crime of prostitution, than making sure that any violent offenders are brought to justice. Due to this difference, the model may need to be altered so that it fits with American law.

Conclusion

The Merseyside Model, although a step in the right direction, has room to improve. It does not provide sufficient mechanisms to prevent the violence, rehabilitate victims, or criminalize their traffickers. Overall, however, the model provides a successful and innovative approach to a growing problem. More academic research and peer reviewed examinations on the effects of the model could shed light on additional strengths and weaknesses as well as provide a guideline on the best ways to implement it. Once more information is collected, law enforcement and other institutions can begin to look at whether the model is an effective tactic that should be used in the efforts toward ending domestic sex trafficking.

Sources

Jacobs, Ruth. “The Merseyside Model–Why Crimes Against Prostitutes Are Hate Crimes.” .

https://msmagazine.com/durr/2013/03/13/cry-for-the-merseyside-model/ (accessed May 14, 2014).

Jacobs, Ruth. “Policing Prostitution – The Merseyside Hate Crime Model That Prioritises

Protection of Sex Workers.” The Huffington Post UK. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ruth-jacobs/prostitution-law-merseyside-model_b_4731381.html (accessed May 14, 2014).

Summerford, Jackie, Ruth Jacobs, and Alex Bryce. “Petitioning Rt Hon Mrs Theresa May MP:

Make the Merseyside hate crime model of policing prostitution law UK wide.” . https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/rt-hon-mrs-theresa-may-mp-make-the-merseyside-hate-crime-model-of-policing-prostitution-law-uk-wide (accessed May 14, 2014).

Jacobs, Ruth. “The Merseyside Model Saves Lives So why is it not being rolled out nationally?.” .

https://impoliteconversation.co.uk/merseyside_model?utm_content=bufferfc6f3&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer (accessed May 14, 2014).

The Oxford Dictionary. “Definition of Model.” model: definition of model in Oxford dictionary

(American English) (US). https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/model?q=model (accessed May 14, 2014).

Navarro, Donna. “Looking at the Merseyside model.” Womens Views on News RSS.

https://www.womensviewsonnews.org/2013/05/looking-at-the-merseyside-model/

(accessed May 14, 2014).

Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner. “Jane Kennedy pledges support for National Ugly

Mugs scheme.” Jane Kennedy pledges support for National Ugly Mugs scheme. https://www.merseysidepcc.info/News/News-Archive/2013/Jane-Kennedy-pledges-support-for-National-Ugly-Mugs-scheme.aspx (accessed May 14, 2014).

CliffsNotes. “Police Stategies.” . https://www.cliffsnotes.com/more-subjects/criminal-

justice/police-function/police-strategies (accessed May 14, 2014).

The post The Merseyside Model appeared first on Renewal Forum.

Lauren Hersh, New York Director of Equality Now and head of its Sex Trafficking program, states, “Prostituted persons are not only dehumanized by the act of prostitution but by society treating prostituted persons like second class citizens.” The negative stigma places prostituted persons at a higher risk of violence by abusers who act with impunity. In hope of getting rid of the negative stigma, governments around the world have been legalizing prostitution.      

Rachel Moran, a formerly prostituted person, stated (when talking about the possibility of registration as a prostituted person), “I understand exactly why many reject that and work illegally to avoid it, because if I had been forced to choose between working in secret or being officially tagged a prostitute I would have done exactly the same thing. The pro-prostitution lobby would say I was suffering from the ill-effects of ‘whore stigma.’ No. The only ill-effects I was suffering from were the ill-effects of prostitution.”

Many countries legalized prostitution in hopes of getting rid of the stigma. For example, in the past thirty years, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Australia legalized prostitution in hopes of getting rid of the negative stigma and underage prositution. Today trafficking still exists in both the legal and illegal sector. According to Prime Minister John Key, there are no significant reductions in sex trafficking and underage prostitution because of the legalization. The negative stigma still exists and is still used against prostituted women. (article)   

Rachel Moran wrote about her stigma in a book titled “Paid For”, which focuses on her story of being a victim of sexual exploitation. At the age of fourteen, she was brought into state custody and within one year she became homeless. Due to the lack of resources, Moran had no option but to prostitute herself. During the seven years of being prostituted, she was repeatedly raped, physically harmed, exploited, and more. In her book, she recounts not only her experience but also expounds on the negative effects of the legalization of prostitution.

The Renewal Forum believes prostitution is the buying of a person’s organ and treats people as objects; it is inherently against the dignity of a person to pay a person not for the work of a person or a service provided but for their body parts. It contributes and adds to violence against women and we must see prostitution for what it is: the objectification of a person and violence against women.

“To be prostituted is humiliating enough; to legalize prostitution is to condone that humiliation, and to absolve those who inflict it. It is an agonizing insult”, stated Rachel Moran. Check out Rachel’s story and how she overcame being prostituted. (to see more)

The post Legal Prostitution Condones Humiliation of Women appeared first on Renewal Forum.

At the age of thirty-six, Heather, a survivor of the sex trade, shares her story. By working with Selah Freedom, a nonprofit organization focus on working with sex trafficking victims, she is now working towards her future goals and dreams. Though free from the sex trade, she continues to struggle finding jobs because of her arrest records. What do we do with people like Heather? Do we hold her past against her? 

 Her story starts out at the age of three, when she was raped by her stepfather. Growing up, she witnessed her mother being beaten and raped as well as her sister being raped. When she was ten, she coped by indulging in alcohol, marijuana, and sniffing paint to escape reality. A year later she became a runaway where she met her “boyfriend”, Conan, who supplied her with shelter, food, drugs, and care. Conan groomed Heather for prostitution by making her believe sexual exploitation was a part of love. He allowed friends to receive free sexual services from Heather and if she did not comply she would be beaten or locked up. At one point, Conan had more than twelve girls in his house behind an elementary school. He would take the girls to migrant camps. Returning to Conan’s house, the girls would cope by getting high while watching cartoons.

 During middle school, Heather was continually prostituted. She was diagnosed with a learning disability and forced to participate in special education, then became pregnant and attempted suicide. At the hospital, she had an abortion and opened up about her stepfather raping her. The police conducted a lie detector test on the stepfather but he passed, so no one believed her about the rape. After the hospital, she was sent to live with her biological father and his wife. Instead of things getting better, things got worst. Heather was introduced to meth and encouraged by her father to continue prostitution. She became pregnant and her father fled due to owing drug dealers money. She was beaten and raped by the drug dealers, which caused her to have a miscarriage.

 By the age of eighteen, she had a sixth grade education and suffered serious physical and mental problems. Even though she moved back into her mother’s house, she continued being prostituted. She ended up being picked up by a pimp who took her to Miami, where she got branded with a tattoo of his name. Being the oldest, she was the “bottom girl”, and she cooked, cleaned, and recruited younger girls. Though Eugene beat and prostituted the girls, he would also take them shopping and out for dinner. In one incident he took Heather to Disney World for the day, but at night he prostituted her in order to pay back the expenses for the day.

 With arrests in various states and warrants out for her arrest, she was sent to a twenty-four month program at Teen Challenge. Within eight months, she fled from the program and was back on the streets. One of her customers ended up taking her back to his trailer, where he put a trash bag of nitrous oxide over her head, while she was high on crack. She woke up while she being put into a trash bag because he thought she was dead. This situation turned her life around and she started to seek help.

 At the age of thirty, she started to seek help at Selah Freedom, which gave her a second chance. Now at thirty-six, she recently graduated from beauty school and is searching for a full time job. With her arrest record, it is hard to find an employer who is willing to hire her. Heather is one of the many survivors who still have a criminal record even though they were victims. Throughout Heather’s childhood, she had minimal resources to help her get out of her situation. When she tried to seek help, people did not believe her. There was no point where she could leave, and when she tried, she ended back on the streets. Though it is great that Heather got treatment from Selah Freedom, it is sad it took this long for her to escape a life of exploitation.(see article)

Heather had no choice but to be a part of this lifestyle. When could she have left the prostituted lifestyle? She tried seeking help from authorities; no one believed nor helped her. Nor did she choose to live this way. Victims do not voluntary ask to be prostituted. Prostituted people should not be viewed and charged as a criminal, but instead looked at as victims. Though there are Safe Harbor laws in place in various states , there also needs to be training with police officers to help identify trafficking victims instead of arresting them. Survivors like Heather should not have their records held against them. Instead their records should be expunged so survivors are able to start with a clean slate. States should provide resources for these victims by creating resources for their needs and accountability programs so they do not go back into the prostituted lifestyle. There needs to be an easier way to leave the life of exploitation. We as society should continue supporting organizations like Selah Freedom and the resources they provide. The more resources available to victims, the more likely they are able to become survivors and contribute back to society.

The post Heather’s Story appeared first on Renewal Forum.

According to Robert W. Peters, co-author of The Slave and the Porn Star: Sexual Trafficking and Pornography, states, “The relationship between, pornography, sex trafficking, and prostitution is real and cannot exist without one or the other”. Pornography is an advertisement for prostitution. It degrades, dehumanizes, and corrupts not only our views on women but it is also normalizing prostitution and commercial sexual exploitation. We no longer see women with respect but instead as a sexual object used for pleasure, where women are just a commodity in the business world.

Catherine Mackinon, a feminist professor at Harvard Law School states, “Consuming pornography is an experience of bought sex” and thus it creates a hunger to continue to purchase, objectify, and act out what is seen. And in a very literal way, pornography is advertising for trafficking, not just in general but also in the sense that traffickers and pimps use pornographic images of victims as specific advertising for their “products.”

Many hotels worldwide play pornography on their pay-per-view channels for their guests. After working with UNICEF’s campaign on human trafficking, Peter Stordalen, owner of Nordic Hotels in Scandinavia, decided to stop playing pornography in his hotels. Though pornography is a social norm in today’s society, he decided to make a big change. Stordalen hopes to start a revolution with banning pornography for hotel viewing just like how his hotel chain were the first to ban smoking. “The porn industry contributes to trafficking, so I see it as a natural part of having a social responsibility to send out a clear signal that Nordic Hotels doesn’t support or condone this,” said Stordalen. (article)

            Last summer, scholars wrote letters to different hotel chains across the nation to remove pornography from their businesses. Many hotels such as Omni Hotels and Resorts have stopped selling pornography, while others like Marriot and Hilton are still continue sales. In the letters, scholars focused on the studies of pornography and the negative consequences it has on viewers. Pornography not only reduces respectable views on women but it is also changes the views on relationships such as in marriage in society. “Our views are being deceived by making society believe that lust and satisfaction is considered love instead of being respected and fulfilled”, stated by Ana Stutler, Covenant Eyes writer.

            Cooperate businesses need to step up and start following Stordalem’s lead by not being engaged with pornography. All it takes is one person to make a difference and Stordalen’s lead has started making other people see the connection. Pornography does add to sex trafficking. It advertises prostitution and makes it seem like it is okay. Society needs to take a step back and realize the things they engage in actually do affect their views and behaviors.

The post Banning Pornography at the Hotel Level appeared first on Renewal Forum.

Because of the lack of safe houses trafficked children needing a place to stay will be forced to live either in group homes, foster homes, or facilities for abused and abandoned children. Foster homes place other children at risk as trafficked children will continue to be targeted in these homes. Many pimps see this lack of housing as an opportunity for more profit. Since it is easier to get into these types of facilities sometimes pimps will hire assistants to get someone to go inside these facilities to exploit children. One example was at the Joshua House foster care facility where a woman went undercover to manipulate children. She had false documents which allowed her to get into the foster care program. Once admitted, she convinced three girls between the age of 13 and 14 years old to go to a McDonalds where they were kidnapped and drugged. The three girls were placed in a sex house where they were abused then thrown out on the streets. The woman was soon arrested when attempting to do the same act again.

There is a big difference between a safe house and a group home. A safe house is more secured and more intense when dealing with residents. There are no visitors allowed at any time. Natasha Nascimento from Department of Children and Families states “That’s because the girls are brainwashed and traumatized; they’re loyal to their pimps and want to go back”. Nascimento read from a 14 year old victim’s journal, where the girl had written about how it is okay to love the ones that abuse us. With the lack of housing and treatment, trafficking children have little chance of recovering.

Though the Safe Harbor Act increases charges from $500 to $45000, these increases are nothing compared to what pimps are making from trafficking. According to DePaul University, studies shown that the median for pimp earnings were $350,000.link Pimps are working fast to get children off the street without the fear of being charged. These children need a safe environment but they also need the right treatment. They also need to have a stable environment and not constantly having to move because of the lack of space .

A safe harbor law is a start by not letting children being prosecuted, but there is a lot of work to be done to keep these children off the streets. In order to be successful with this Act, there needs to be more safe houses and treatment facilities.

The post Florida’s Safe Harbor law is good, but needs more provisions for services. appeared first on Renewal Forum.

With limited research already available, it is difficult to know just how prominent the problem of male trafficking is. Very few female victims are reported each year compared to the actual number of cases, and males are reported even less. Often it is the fault of the law enforcement officer and the perception of boys being strong and able to avoid this type of situation. There is also shame associated with a boy being a victim of trafficking, and the victim may be worried of the stigma associated with his situation.

Vulnerability in boys showed similar trends to vulnerability in girls. Many are runaway or “throwaway” children introduced into the trade to meet their basic survival. Others begin in the industry to support a pre-existing drug habit or a habit forced upon them from their traffickers. Those pimping boys are not often referred to as pimps but as “market facilitators” finding work for the boys. The research showed that boys are often introduced into the trade slightly earlier than girls. The average age is between 11-13 for boys and 12-14 for girls.

When considering boys as trafficking victims there is often an assumption that the boys are homosexual. However, the majority of boys identify as heterosexual or as not knowing their sexuality. Homosexual boys introduced into the sex trade have a different experience than heterosexual boys. Many end up in the streets because they were kicked out of their home for being homosexual. One boy said he entered sex trading on his journey looking for true love. This population of victims needs to have individual research conducted to really understand their vulnerabilities.

Boys being trafficked are present throughout the United States. On the west coast, the population is mostly Hispanic, in the mid-west Caucasian, and on the east coast the majority are African American. They suffer from hardships resulting from the industry such as STI’s, physical injuries from abuse, depression, and even suicide. But there are not as many resources available to boys as there are to girls in similar situations.

Many boys are not able to access the same services because they are not referred to them. Law enforcement officials find boys and do not see them as victims. A common thought is that they are boys so they could get away if they want to because boys are strong and girls are weak. However, this is not the case. Boys suffer from the same treatment as young girls, with threats of abuse and possible death if they try to escape. Another limitation to the services offered to boys is that the boys themselves sometimes do not refer to themselves as victims. Some identify as hustlers to cover the shame associated with being trafficked. By not being reported male trafficking victims are not referred to services and there are also fewer services available to them.

What could serve to help these boys is more education on the problem. Training should be given particularly to law enforcement officials, so that they know how to identify male victims as well as female victims and refer them to appropriate services. Additionally, not all services are currently available to boys, such as shelters. There will need to be more available for boys as well as girls who are victims. In order for more services to be available, there needs to be more research done on the topic. With more research, the need will be better assessed to determine the need.

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