The American Red Cross

31 May 2010

Teenage Girls Guide to Surviving Sex Slavery ft Eve Ensler



Happy Monday!!

30 May 2010

The Right Response Against Rape



Perfect for any young lady headed to college.

28 May 2010

HOW TO: Children at Risk of Internet Predators

In today's world of obsessions and high pressure demands, the demands of an online sex predator have never been more apparent. In my final "HOW TO", post my goal is to wrap up a series about how to fight online predators. If you've missed out on previous posts, be sure to follow the series in the sidebar for more information on how you and your family can fight online predators.

The first rule of engagement here states that regardless of the situation, any adult involved in any sort of sexual relationship with a child is entirely at fault and takes full responsibility for their actions. But I believe that we can do a better job of guiding our children away from these dangers, and do it without the typical paranoid behavior we all saw after 9-11. With that said, today's topic is going to make you aware of children that are the most vulnerable and walk you through exactly how a predator and even another teen can take advantage of a child in this situation; because not all predators are pedophiles.

27 May 2010

Y2K Pimpin'

A pimp that understand brand loyalty

In the following paragraphs my intent is to walk you through a young girl's story. It involves her new pimp, her experiences with sites like Craigslist, and most importantly her disappearance. Stories like this will help us reveal the person(s) really at fault.

She was a 16-year-old California girl looking for trouble on MySpace; he was a 22-year-old self-described pimp who liked the revealing photos she posted to her profile. Three weeks after they met on the social networking site, they were arrested together in real life outside a cheap motel in Sacramento, 50 miles from her home. She was turning tricks. On her arm, a fresh tattoo showed bundles of cash and her new acquaintance’s street moniker in 72-point cursive.

Last week, Marvin Chavelle Epps was held without bail on federal child pornography charges over a video found at his arrest, in which the girl is seen performing a sex act on him while he calls her "bitch" and slaps her in the head with a roll of bills. Though the girl, identified as "S.M." in court documents, denied to police that he was her manager, by his own account Epps is a new kind of pimp — a web-savvy exploiter who uses sites like myRedBook and Craigslist to broker his women.

A review of S.M.’s MySpace profile, which lists her age as 19, suggests she fits that description to a T. When she set up the account last July, the Stockton, California, girl immediately blogged that she was looking for someone to sell her pot and MDMA. A couple of months later, she shared that she’d just been arrested on drug possession charges. "I’m a lot more hood than you think", she wrote one of her 1,000 MySpace friends.


26 May 2010

I "BELIEVE" there is a solution

I believe that only by going to the root causes, which are corruption and the demand in destination countries, will we end the trafficking of women and children.


We need to urge all governments, NGOs, and faith communities to focus on reducing the demand for victims of sex trafficking and prostitution. All the components of the demand need to be penalized – the men who purchase sex acts, the traffickers, the pimps, and others who profit, states that fund deceptive messages and act as pimp, and the culture that lies about the nature of prostitution.

We could greatly reduce the number of victims, if the demand for them was penalized. If there were no men seeking to buy sex acts, no women and children would be bought and sold. If there were no brothels waiting for victims, no victims would be recruited. If there were no states that profited from the sex trade, there would be no regulations that facilitated the flow of women from poor towns to wealthier sex industry centers. If there were no false messages about prostitution, no women or girls would be deceived into thinking prostitution is a glamorous or legitimate job. - Donna M. Hughes
Professor & Carlson Endowed Chair in Women's Studies
University of Rhode Island

Source

25 May 2010

When Conditioning is Key

The Department of Health & Human Services, Sex Trafficking Fact Sheet states:
Sex traffickers use a variety of methods to “condition” their victims including starvation, confinement, beatings, physical abuse, rape, gang rape, threats of violence to the victims and the victims’ families, forced drug use and the threat of shaming their victims by revealing their activities to their family and their families’ friends.
The National Runaway Switchboard, a 24-hour hotline, says that one of every three teens living on the street is lured into prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home. Most runaways don't need the conditioning required to be in prostitution. Runaways are taught everything they need to know about sex through sexual experiences with an adult or older child. At the time, children feel safer on the street than at home.

Between 1.6 and 2.8 million youth run away each year. To understand more about teen runaways, contact the National Runaway Switchboard by calling 1-800-RUNAWAY or http://www.nrscrisisline.org/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Call 1-800-RUNAWAY if you are a teenager who is thinking of running from home, if you have a friend who has run and is looking for help, or if you are a runaway ready to go home through our Home Free program. Call if you are a teacher looking for information to pass along to your students about alternatives to running from home. Call if you care about a youth and want information on how you can help someone who may be at risk of running from home.

SOURCES:

24 May 2010

A Runaway Love

One in seven youth will run away from home before the age of 18.
David Finkelhor's conclusions about the effects and the impact of child sex abuse is transparently clear. Not unanimously agreed upon, but still clear.
1/3 will be approached to enter the sex trade with in 48 hours.
Obviously, there are a number of variables involved when you look at a person's response to sex abuse. Age, sex of the victim and the offender, the extent of sexual abuse, the relationship between the victim and the offender, the reaction of others to the knowledge of sexual abuse and other life experiences to name a few. But there are four general categories, all having to do with psychological and behavioral effects of a CHILD.
Runaways are often the victims of sexual abuse before they leave home.
#1 Traumatic sexualization. Included in the psychological outcomes of traumatic sexualization are aversive feelings about sex, overvaluing sex, and sexual identity problems. Behavioral manifestations of traumatic sexualization constitute a range of hypersexual behaviors as well as avoidance of or negative sexual encounters.
They feel that it's safer on the streets than to live at home ...
#2 Stigmatization. Common psychological manifestations of stigmatization are what Sgroi calls "damaged goods syndrome"43 and feelings of guilt and responsibility for the abuse or the consequences of disclosure. These feelings are likely to be reflected in self-destructive behaviors such as substance abuse, risk-taking acts, self-mutilation, suicidal gestures and acts, and provocative behavior designed to elicit punishment.
... so they run.
#3 Betrayal. Perhaps the most fundamental damage from sexual abuse is its undermining of trust in those people who are supposed to be protectors and nurturers. Other psychological impacts of betrayal include anger and borderline functioning. Behavior that reflects this trauma includes avoidance of investment in others, manipulating others, re-enacting the trauma through subsequent involvement in exploitive and damaging relationships, and engaging in angry and acting-out behaviors.
Unfortunately, runaways understand abuse.
#4 Powerlessness. The psychological impact of the trauma of powerlessness includes both a perception of vulnerability and victimization and a desire to control or prevail, often by identification with the aggressor. As with the trauma of betrayal, behavioral manifestations may involve aggression and exploitation of others. On the other hand, the vulnerability effect of powerlessness may be avoidant responses, such as dissociation and running away; behavioral manifestations of anxiety, including phobias, sleep problems, elimination problems, and eating problems; and revictimization.
[trauma, stigmatization, betrayal; they also know about being powerless]
 So a pimp doesn't have to put them thru the normal break-in process.



Even though they will try ...


...shes already broken.


SOURCES:
Song:Runaway Love - listen now
http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/usermanuals/sexabuse/sexabuseb.cfm

America Won't Respond to Rape

Curiosity Is Sometimes Deadly















TALK PLAINLY to your own; as it is one of the worst temptations not to know what we have to meet with. - Dr Carle C. Quale

22 May 2010

An Official Pimp Slap!

OUT with Human Trafficking

“We don’t want to create a hype around 2010 but we fear it [human trafficking] will increase for purposes of commercial sex work,” said Major Marike Venter, national coordinator of the Salvation Army anti trafficking task team.


Fears of increased human trafficking during the World Cup prompted the Salvation Army to launch a toll-free hotline, which was launched in Johannesburg on 27 January 2010, to take tips and assist victims of human trafficking in the country. The initiative is a joint project between The Salvation Army and BE HEARD, an organization with ten years experience in operating anonymous tip-off services. The number - 0800-RESCUE or 08000-737283 - is expected to operate 24 hours a day and will have operators answering calls in a multitude of languages.

SOURCE

A Victory for the Internet and Humanity


EXCLUSIVE: One Of The Heroes Behind the MetaFilter Human-Trafficking Rescue Speaks Out


Late Wednesday night, Kathrine Gutierrez Hines, 24, came across a frightening story—unfolding in real time on an online message board—about two young Russian women who, by the looks of it, were about to unwittingly become hostesses at a seedy nightclub. Now, less than 48 hours later, they are sleeping in her Chelsea apartment in Manhattan, and she is trying to keep them safe while helping them figure out their next move. In an exclusive interview with NEWSWEEK, she tells her story, which, unfortunately, isn’t over yet.
"Awesome story about Americans that still have a soft spot in their heart for strangers. Great read for anyone interested in success stories involving the Internet and sex trafficking"
[To read the entire article click here]


21 May 2010

Illegal and Inappropriate

Craigslist is by far the largest single advertiser of commercial sex in the world. The website has earned the title "Rich Pimp" with profits of US$36.3 from sex ads alone. With that said, are they THE problem?
As of 2008, prostitution on the Internet has been flourishing as many sex workers have moved to Internet sites such as Craigslist, MySpace, Eros.com and myRedBook to solicit sexual encounters. In turn, pimps have used these sites to broker their women.
Responding to pressure from the NCMEC and the attorneys general of 40 states, Craigslist placed new limits on its adult ads last November. Among other reforms, the site now charges $5 for the formerly free postings, allowing it to collect and store the poster’s credit card number and name, making it available to law enforcement subpoenas in any future criminal investigation.
"Misuse of Craigslist for criminal purposes is unacceptable, and Craigslist continues to work with it's partners in law enforcement to eliminate it. Of the thousands of U.S. venues that carry adult service ads...Craigslist has done the best and most responsible job of combating child exploitation and human trafficking." - Jim Buckmaster, CEO

Posting volume in our ‘erotic services’ category is down 85-90 percent" as a result of the measures. Those ads that remain are much more compliant with our terms of use." - CEO Jim Buckmaster in an e-mail
Nevertheless, a month after the measure was adopted, an underage girl missing from New Jersey turned up in a prostitution post on Craigslist. Police spotted her nude photo in an ad offering in-call services in Miami, 1,200 miles away from her home. She was rescued, and her alleged pimp, Ali Hakim, was indicted last month on sex trafficking and related charges.

Tech-savvy pimps use social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace or Twitter to recruit young, troubled, and often underage users.
"We’re seeing kids who are getting into this stuff that do not match society’s stereotype ... These are not just kids in poor families who have no other options. We’re seeing kids from the full spectrum of society, and a lot of that is due to recruitment over the Internet." - says Ernie Allen, president and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, NCMEC

Last June, a 14-year-old Ohio girl ran away with a 30-year-old Florida pimp named Alan Townsend, after meeting him on the social networking site Urbanchat.com. According to court records, Townsend used his senior prostitute, 27-year-old Courtney Shine, to gain the victim’s trust and convince her that a career in modeling awaited if she drove with them to Florida.
"This happens, and it happens a lot more than people realize ... We don’t want to terrify parents. But if their kids are at risk, they’re at more risk online." - Parry Aftab, founder and director of WiredSafety, which advises children on Internet risks.
THIS JUST IN:
UNDERCOVER VIDEO: THE CRAIGSLIST PROSTITUTION STING
Is illegal prostitution still rampant on website?

SOURCE:

20 May 2010

A National Disgrace



A prostitute is someone who will love you
No matter who you are or what you look like
Yes, it's true children! ... BUT WHO WILL LOVE THE PROSTITUTE?



SOURCE:
teen suicide

Movie Review

Title: The Bridge to Nowhere - 2009

Genre: Fantasy | Crime | Drama

Status: Released 17 August 2009

Rated: R for drug use, pervasive language, sexual content and violence.

Director: Blair Underwood

Staring: Ving Rhames, Bijou Phillips, Danny Masterson and Alex Breckenridge
This movie is filled with real life situations and dilemmas. The acting isn't the best, but the director's point comes across crystal clear. This will remind everyone that an easy way out will probably take us nowhere fast.

I recommend it for Friday night entertainment or an educational tool involving a handful of young men and women. I rate this movie a 8.5 out of teen, mainly because of the "okay" acting. - Janvier






----------------------------------------------------------------------
Plot: The Bridge to Nowhere is the story of four young 20-something men from the rough Upper North Side of Pittsburgh. They are stuck in dead-end jobs and struggle with dysfunctional family lives. The guys, inspired by the images of pop culture and the desire to break away from the neighborhood, regularly scheme to make extra money by running minor underground activities, including: sports booking, poker tournaments and house parties. One night during an evening out the four young men stumble across the "new neighbors", two independent prostitutes, Jasper and Sienna, who end up inspiring a new business idea. Trapped in her own existence, Jasper, agrees to join forces with the young men to create, quite accidentally, what turns out to be an empire that launches each of them into financial riches. Along the way each character battles their own demons regarding the choices they have made. In the end, however, their world comes crashing down on them in grandiose fashion. It's the city of bridges, where water separates the haves and have-nots, the bridge they sought so desperately to cross ultimately ends up being The Bridge To Nowhere.
Contains: profanity, organized crime, violence, nudity, racism, prostitution, drug trafficking

19 May 2010

Convenient Porn App

 
When you have trouble admitting your porn addiction, X3watch may be the solution. X3watch is a FREE accountability application designed to help with online integrity. When you browse the Internet and access a site which may contain questionable material, it records the possible objectionable sites with the date and time they were visited. The accountability reports will go out every one to three weeks to your accountability partners, depending on your preference. This application can be used on your phone or computer.


Brought to you by XXXchurch.com.
"After all, addiction isn't about our drug of choice. It's about all the fears and resentments and isolation that we flee by going into our addictive behavior. Recovery is about addressing all those deeper needs and becoming not only sober but free and blessed in a whole lot of ways we never even dreamed ..." - former porn addict

18 May 2010

Do it better than Lady Gaga VI

From painting to photography▬Steven Klein's experience as a fashion photographer is extensive to say the least. After working with names like Calvin Klein and D & G, Steven's photos can be described as a story filled with fashion, fantasy and sex, all caught in one shot. But celibacy ... I think not. Its a shame, because he's now the director of Gaga's new video for the song Alejandro.

If you remember last month it was celibacy for Lady Gaga. She told her fans that celibacy was a good solution against the Aids virus, especially since [she's] been without sex for the past year. This month she's somewhere between celibacy, a Steven Klein photo shoot and walking around Sweden in see-through underwear. Which is cool ... no sense in being extreme.

On to my next step about celibacy. Yes you can practice celibacy in a relationship until you get married, if both agree. I actually suggest it. Its a great way to grow closer and put real issues on the for-front; and you do it without all the cuddle time. Trust me, the less you make out when you're dating, the better the first year of marriage will be when you tie the knot.

I heard a doctor tell a story about a young couple who has to live with STDs the rest of their life. The father said that he was always safe with his wife when they had sex. But he forgot to tell her about that prostitute he slept with when he was seventeen. He got herpes when he lost his virginity, so now she has it and so does their new born. The baby was born with brain damage, which is how the doctor realized what happened. So what does SAFE mean anyway? Who knows, just make sure you protect yourself, make the decision and stand by it.

With all the distractions of sex in today's media working against a long lasting relationship, it may even be best to spend more time away from each other before the marriage than you expected. I'm going to go into that a little more next time in our last and final post of the series. For now, do all that you can to do it better than Lady Gaga.


SOURCES:
http://macaidsfund.org/
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/04/12/pro.abstinence.celebs.tf/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1264165/Lady-Gaga-gets-lippy-The-pop-star-teams-Mac-raise-Aids-awareness.html
http://www.wikihow.com/Live-a-Life-of-Celibacy
http://perezhilton.com/2010-05-06-gaga-does-idol
http://globalgrind.com/channel/gossip/content/1568527/lady-gaga-half-naked-lost-the-queens-underwear-photos/
http://www.stevenkleinstudio.com/www/index.html

17 May 2010

Steadfast Modesty Clothing

Steadfast Modesty Clothing is asking you to support the women of Rahad's Hope; an organization that rescues women from the sex trade in India. Steadfast Modesty is committed to giving 20% of their profit from their primary line and 50% from their hand-sewn line. Rahab's Hope is responsible for the rehabilitation of 1600 former sex workers since 2004.

14 May 2010

HOW TO: An Internet Predator's Profile and [MO]

By now most adults have seen the show 'To Catch a Predator' with Chris Hansen. But the problem with that is most teens and kids know very little about it. I know this from experience. Today I'm covering what online predators look like. The profile of an Internet Predator and how they operate will be very useful as everything in our daily lives goes tech.

What does a predator look like?
  • Male
  • Seductive
  • Introverted
  • Sadistic
  • Sexually indiscriminate

This is the thing, you don't know what they look like. They could be anyone. But instead of being paranoid about every strange male you meet, educate your kids on whats normal behavior and whats not. Be their source for solutions; don't be the one they run from when things at home are tough.

Their Method of Operating:

First you have to understand that kids in social networking, blogs, chat rooms, instant messaging, e-mail, discussion boards, and other Web sites are easy targets.

Some predators have been known to gradually seduce their targets through the use of attention, affection, kindness, and even gifts.

They are willing to devote considerable amounts of time, money, and energy to this process as you could imagine.

They know the latest music and hobbies that are likely to interest kids, and will listen to and sympathize with kids' problems.

They also try to lower young people's inhibitions by gradually introducing sexual content into their conversations.

Other predators are faster workers: they engage in sexually explicit conversations with children immediately. This more direct approach may include harassment or stalking.

Lastly, a predators could also be evaluating the kids they meet online for future face-to-face contact, which is very likely.

Its impossible to try to attack each one of these items separately. Get a game plan together with your family if your the parent. Plan ahead for potential dangers. Live free without the worry of something happening, but be prepared incase something does.

This is just a portion of information about predators and how the work. Next time I'm going to cover the most important topic of 'how kids become vicimized' and 'what kid are potential victims'. This will be the last post of the 'HOW TO' series, so stay tuned. Till then enjoy a showing from Chris Hansen's 'To Catch a Predator'. Enjoy!



SOURCES:
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/special_initiatives/wa_resources/wa_shared/backgrounders/online_predators.cfm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25111014#25111014
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/parents/social/predators.aspx

13 May 2010

Do it better than Lady Gaga V

Okay, for those that don't know about this, I've been doing a series on Lady Gaga's comment about celibacy last month. Today I'm going to throw you another bone on how to actually BE celibate. This way we can all do it better than Lady Gaga! It's been a week since the last entry so lets get started.

Your fifth on how to become celibate is probably obvious, but you wanna 'avoid temptation of any kind'. Keep things out of sight (like tv shows, sex scenes in movies, songs with certain lyrics etc) that may get you in a different state of mind. And for men, you have to control your staring at women. There is a book for this.

My sixth piece of advice is to 'do things alone'. Sure book clubs are fine and sports teams are cool, but the time you spend alone will be what helps you grow and even give you a chance to challenge yourself in ways that you would miss if you were just too busy.

Alright, most of us know about Gaga's appearance on Idol last week. Well the producers cut a lot of the performance out because of time, thats right, so here it is. 6 minutes of Gaga performing Bad Romance and Alejandro. Thanks perezhilton.com. Remember to always do it better than Lady Gaga. Enjoy!


SOURCES:
http://macaidsfund.org/
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/04/12/pro.abstinence.celebs.tf/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1264165/Lady-Gaga-gets-lippy-The-pop-star-teams-Mac-raise-Aids-awareness.html
http://www.wikihow.com/Live-a-Life-of-Celibacy
http://perezhilton.com/2010-05-06-gaga-does-idol

12 May 2010

The one that got away

Dedicated to the girl with a dream.

She was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi to parents that were never married. She was conceived from only one sexual encounter. Her mother was a housemaid, and her father was a coal miner and then a barber before becoming a city councilman. They broke up shortly after her mother became pregnant.

After she was born she traveled north with her mother and grandmother to spend her first six years in rural poverty. They were so poor that when she was a child she wore dresses made from potato sacks. She was often picked on by other kids. Her grandmother taught her to read before the age of three and took her to the local church, where she was nicknamed "The Preacher" for her ability to recite Bible verses.When she was 6 her and her mother moved to an inner-city Milwaukee neighborhood. Her mother, who was less supportive than her grandmother, worked long hours as a maid.

A a young girl, she was molested by her cousin, her uncle and a family friend, starting when she was just 9-years old. At 13, after suffering years of abuse, she ran away from home. When she was 14, she become pregnant, her frustrated mother sent her to live with her father and her son died shortly after birth.
Most kids given this plight in life would have given up or been given up on. Fortunately, she had one person in her life that gave her the support that would changer her and our world, her father.

Her father was strict but always encouraging, always making her education a priority. She became an honor student, was voted Most Popular Girl, joined her high school speech team and placed second in the nation in dramatic interpretation. She won an oratory contest, which guaranteed her a full scholarship to Tennessee State University to study communications.

When she was a teenager her first job was at a local grocery store. And as a child she played games interviewing her corncob doll along with the crows on the fence of her family's property. Later on she acknowledged her grandmother's influence, saying it was her grandmother who encouraged her to speak in public and "gave me a positive sense of myself".

Born in rural poverty, and then raised by a mother on welfare in a poor urban neighborhood, she became a millionaire at age 32. At age 41 her wealth reached a net worth of $340 million, she replace Bill Cosby as the only black American on the Forbes 400.

Today she is considered to be the world's most influential woman. As of September 2009, she is reported by Forbes to be worth over $2.3 billion, is the first black woman billionaire in world history and has over taken former eBay CEO Meg Whitman as the richest self-made woman in America.

This is the rages to rapes to riches story of a woman who overcame impossible odds to get to the top and has decided to bring lots of people with her. This woman is Oprah Winfrey. With her Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls and her support in the election of Barack Obama, earning him over 1 million votes, whether you agree with her or not, she'll force you to become inspired and rethink your own situation. Oprah is truly "the one that got away". She has showed us that you can become whatever you want in this world, so what are you waiting for!
SOURCES:
theamazingmind by Lynn Zook

11 May 2010

Another Old Stat




















ILO global child labour figures for the year 2000 estimate that there are as many as 1.8 million children exploited in prostitution or pornography
worldwide. - another old stat

SOURCE:

10 May 2010

Childhood Sexual Abuse & Mother's Day Weekend

Two mothers convicted and sentenced for selling their daughter for sex during Mother's Day weekend.

This weekend two mothers were convicted of selling their own daughter for sex to strangers. The first victim's abuse started in 2000 when she was 12-years old. Her mother and a man she was living with trained the girl to engage in sadomasochistic sex acts with him and others.

The man's name is Todd Barkau. When the girl was 14 Todd set up a website, called the girl “Mistress Alisha” and recieved payments for services, offering her for in-person and online sexual encounters. Todd also recieved DVD players or cappuccino machines and other items in exchange for her services. This all happened while the mother knew about the business, witnessed some of the sessions and benefited economically from her daughter’s sexual encounters. This happened for five years.

And another 12-year old in Australia was forced into the prostitution business by her mother and another man. That man is Gary John Devine. The story is as follows ... Gary and the mother rented a hotel room for two nights charging men $100 for half an hour and an extra $50 if the men didn't want to wear a condom. Making $2000, and spending three quarters of it on drugs for the mother.

For another month, Gary ran the prostitution business out of his house. Every weekend, from Thursday to Sunday, the girl would see more than 100 clients. The girl has been examined and diagnosed with genital warts and chlamydia.

How to cope?

Taking Matters Into His Own Hands



"I made him scream just like he made them women scream,” says Collins.

Teen Dominatrix

"I was reduced to an object and a paycheck by my own mother..."

07 May 2010

Message in a bottle

















GET THE MESSAGE?

Cyber Slave Market

This time the news reporters have it right. ABC has a load of current information on sex traffick and whats being done to curve the problem. A new story was created today with an old problem. By now law officials and even the victims know that sex traffick itself isn't the root of the problem. The problem has always been about how people view the crime. This determines how soon we respond to someone's need, or if we respond at all.

Things you should be asking

So, if you're past the initial shock of the sex trade in America, then you're probably asking questions about whats being done by law enforcement and politicians". You may even ask about how this crime could affect your family. From what I've seen and read, this crime has the potential to secretly creep into the lives of everyone in society. Because of the Internet, prostitution has become a covert business model, that can easily blend in with our homes and businesses.

Do you know the laws on human trafficking in your state, country or province? Do police arrest minors forced into prostitution? Are you aware of sex tourism laws in your country?

Most johns admit that fines, public ­exposure, employers being informed or the risk of a criminal record would stop them from buying sex. But discovering whether or not the women were ­trafficked, pimped or forced into prostitution wasn't enough to make them decide not to use those individuals.

"They would just send me to jail and keep me here for like a couple of months, then they'd release me thinking everything's good ... I was scared to run to the police or cops or something because you know ... I don't think they'd really listen. They try to set up a date with you knowing that you were a minor. They didn't care." -former traffick victim



SOURCE:
abcnews

06 May 2010

Small Victories Show We're Advancing

It hasn't been easy to believe human trafficking happens right here in our big cities and small towns. After researching the crime, its even harder to believe that someone escaped an organized criminal operation.

Austin, TX.▬On January 2, 2010, a man escaped from a window of a first floor apartment where he and a group of smuggled immigrant men where being held without food and water. The man, whose name is being concealed, made it to a store a couple blocks away from the apartment nearly naked, bleeding and wearing only one shoe. Two men were arrested with one pretending to be one of the men smuggled.

Vancouver, Wash.▬Back in December 2009, Brianna agreed to dance in a Seattle strip club for two nights. She gave two men most of the money, but not before they convinced her to clean out her bank account and give them that too. Three days later, the 18 yr old still hadn't returned her dad's car and had a cell phone that was dying so she headed home.

Her plan was to drop off the car, get an ex-boyfriend to pick her up and drop her off in Kelso. Then link up with her new friends and start making all this money. This could even take them to Phoenix, except the ex-boyfriend got suspicious.

He called his parents. His dad happened to hear Linda Smith speak recently so he decided to call police Lt. John Chapmen who was working with Linda on some sex trafficking cases in Clark County. Not long after, Brianna's mother was called and told to be at the ex-boyfriend's house before Brianna showed up.

By the time Brianna got to her boyfriends house everyone was there. Before she knew it she was sitting beside Linda Smith on a bed talking about what was about to happen if someone hadn't intervened before she got to Kelso.

She was fingerprinted before going into the strip club so police would have considered her just another stripper turned prostitute.

Later Brianna said she remembered some weird moments and admits she "was walking blindly into this trap".

Linda says shes learned some things too. Up until recently her focus was rescuing sex traffick victims who were very young teens. Now she sees young women, 18 or 19 that are smart, successful, on the brink of adulthood and independence being vulnerable and deserving the same protection from society.

"I used to say the vulnerability was highest among those 11 to 14 ..."-Linda Smith
This comes just in time. Gov. Chris Gregoire signed Senate Bill 6476, which increases penalties for sex traffickers and makes their victims under 18 eligible for crime-victims' compensation, safe shelter and counseling.(click here for entire story)


SOURCES:

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/crime/victim-escapes-human-trafficking-ring
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011511320_sextrafficking03.html
http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/apr/02/i-was-just-walking-blindly-into-this-trap-brianna/
http://www.sharedhope.org/press/lindasmith.asp
http://www.kboi2.com/news/local/82514537.html
http://twitter.com/SharedHope/status/10290596147

Officer Caught With His Pants Down

April▬Atleast five police officers where charged, convicted or fired because of their involvement in a series of sex acts while on duty.


This is a funny photo. A cop pretending he's not enjoying the festivities. Seems harmless, but there are others who weren't so lucky.



Kim Scott Graham, a former Cottage Grove police officer, was sentenced on April 20, 2010 to serve 60 months in prison for his possession of child pornography.

Sergeant Dennis Bell, a Capitol Police officer, was arrested on April 15, 2010 after police raided his home and recovered computers with child pornography.

Nicky Ray Bryant, a former Knoxville police officer, was arrested at his residence on April 19, 2010 on a felony offense, he used a computer to download pornographic images of girls. Nicky was already facing charges for giving teenage girls alcohol in his home.

Sgt. David Schauwecker was fired after the Board of Aldermen and the mayor heared evidence from the investigation centered around child pornography being found on a work computer.

Detective Michael Roger Owen Thomas, formerly of Newport, Gwent, was convicted early in April of 2010 after a jury found him guilty of 11 counts of making indecent images, 10 counts of distributing indecent images and one count of possessing an indecent image of a child.

I've always been curious to know how habits like this start. Last but not least is a guy that you may already know. Three years ago this week, James Randy Moss, a Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper, was accused of receiving oral sex while on duty from a Knoxville porn actress, Barbie Cummings, in exchange for ignoring drug and traffic violations.

In October of 2007, James was indicted on six counts of official misconduct, two counts of official oppression and two counts of tampering with evidence in two separate incidents. The second incident was with an unidentified woman during a separate traffic stop.

Along with being accused of receiving oral sex, the victim accused James of taking photos and video with his cell phone and sending her copies.

The porn star wrote about the encounter on her blog, complete with the photos and video. Someone filed an anonymous complaint against Moss the next day. He resigned May 24, the same day the agency moved to fire him. (click here for the entire article)

I heard a preacher recite words from Romans 12.
2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
He also said, "you become what you think about, or expose yourself to often". I immediately thought about porn; child porn to be exact.

Two suggestions: the government could step in, set new and separate punishments for offenders like the policemen I have described, or we the people can vote to observe a special human sacrifice held once a year for these offenders. You decide, my vote is already in.




SOURCES:


http://www.wkrg.com/technology/article/patrol_car_porn/15928/Jul-15-2008_10-20-am/
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/05/03/hero-cop-on-child-porn-charge-115875-22229978/
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local-beat/Veteran-Cop-Charged-After-Child-Porn-Raid-91070874.html
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/35920.html
http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/gwentnews/8091846.Gwent_cop_guilty_of_child_porn_charges/
http://www.ethiopianreview.com/news/79885/
http://www.wptz.com/news/23211961/detail.html
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/apr/17/ex-cop-faces-another-charge/?partner=RSS
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jan/18/former-trooper-gets-probation-porn-actress-traffic/

05 May 2010

Do it better than Lady Gaga IV

If Lady Gaga thinks that its easy to be sex free in a sex-crazed world like ours, shes wrong. Last month in an interview in Lady Gaga said that her fans should be celibate. Gaga and Cindi Lauper are a part of the Mac's Viva Glam campaign which supports global HIV and aids projects.

Fourth tip on how to remain celibate: 'Get a life'.

The worse thing you can do is (no, not be alone, but) be with people that set you off sexually. The ones you can't say no to will be a huge distraction, especially if they haven't made the same decision as you. No cuddle or make-out sessions. Get into a hobby that takes your mind off of things. Read some books that you've had on your list for a while, pick up a new sport or find a new volunteer opportunity. I'd try them all!☺

What ever you decide, make sure you do it better than Lady Gaga.

Gaga says, "and I can’t believe I’m saying this – don’t have sex. I’m single right now and I’ve chosen to be single because I don’t have the time to get to know anybody. So it’s OK not to have sex, it’s OK to get to know people. I’m celibate, celibacy’s fine."


SOURCES:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/04/12/pro.abstinence.celebs.tf/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1264165/Lady-Gaga-gets-lippy-The-pop-star-teams-Mac-raise-Aids-awareness.html
http://www.wikihow.com/Live-a-Life-of-Celibacy

69% Develop PTSD


PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event which results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity, overwhelming the individual's ability to cope.

The percentage of combat war veterans to develop PTSD is 69% ...


People most likely to develop PTSD: veterans or those exposed to combat, rape victims, battered women, childhood sexual abuse, a person experiencing psychological or physical torture, witnessing the death of a loved one, natural catastrophes, bad trip on drugs, prostitutes and/or porn stars.




... The percentage is the same for PROSTITUTES.


SOURCE:

wiki