The UN calls trafficking "a crime that shames us all." When our fellow human beings are treated as commodities, our own humanity is diminished. Let us turn shame into action and remove this stain from our soil, from our souls.-Swanee Hunt
Chris Hansen's, 'To Catch a Predator' series, its a great way to see how Internet Predators do their dirt first hand. Which is exactly why I'm writing this post. Today I'm going to talk about which signs appear when a child is being targeted by a predator and what you, the parent, should do it you see anything strange.
Okay, if a child or teen becomes withdrawn from family and friends and starts to spend a lot of time online and/or quickly turns the computer monitor off or changes the screen if an adult comes into the room, just know that these are all signs.
If you find pornography on the family computer, depending on the family, this could be out of the norm. If it is then I suggest you back track and read a my last post on Internet predators.
You notice a child or teen receives phone calls from people you don't know or they call numbers you don't recognize, including long distance numbers. In our fast paced world of busy parents and independent teens owning their own cell phones, this is important to note. One solution is to keep them on the family plan as long as possible. I have a friend who is on her parents family plan while living in a different city. There's nothing wrong with it, especially when you notice your kids acting suspicious.
I don't think I have to say this next one, but if a child receives mail, emails, gifts, or packages from someone you don't know ... take action if you haven't already. This sort of thing is common with predators. Internet predators have even been known to send plane tickets to their victims.
And if you notice a child or teen using someone else's online account, it could mean the predator provided the child with an alternate computer account to maneuver around computer restrictions in the home.
So, if a child is targeted by an Internet predator what do you do?
A lot of the infromation I've mentioned can seem like normal behavior for kids and can be easily overlooked. This goes especially for those seemingly responsible teens.
First things first, if you see something suspicious, call the police immediately.
You make the call if a child or teen is sent pornographic or sexually explicit images or if he/she is sexually solicited in email, instant messaging or any other way online. Save any of these items to give to police when they arrive. (chat logs, web site addresses, email address etc.) Don't try to be the parent that settles the matter on your own if you don't have to. You may not have all the information and the child could still have ties with the predetor or others.
Check your computer periodically for pornographic material or any type of sexual communication.
Last, monitor all electronic communication your child has accessed.(chat rooms, instant messaging, email etc.) Online predators almost always meet potential victims in chat rooms first, then they continue the communication using email.
Remember, if a child is every caught up in some sort of sexual encounter with an adult, the child is never at fault. The adult will take responsibility for their own actions.
This is only 'how to spot a child being targeted by an Internet predator', next I'm going to go over 'how Internet predators operate'.
Till then enjoy a clip from 'To Catch a Predator' with Chris Hansen.
The last of the sentencing happened yesterday when 3 of 4 men received over 40 years in prison. 23-year old Jacob Tyler and 21-year old Robert Harris both were sentenced to 15 years in prison and 12 years probation. 23-year old Richard Johnson was sentenced to 10 years and one month behind bars with 10 years of probation. And Wednesday, the 23-year old Army E-3, Craig Corey was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in prison.
These men pleaded guilty to a number of charges, one including sex trafficking and enticement to travel in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution with Craig being the mastermind.
Seven days earlier ...
On Apr 23, a normal Friday night, students from Taylor University were found gathered together in silence. They were seeing first hand what sex traffick looks like. An exhibit called 'If I could Speak' using 6, 18 x 27 inch colored pencil drawings, illustrates victims of sex traffick. The work is done by Rachel Moore, a senior Studio Art major at Taylor. Rachel uses her passion and talent to be a catalyst for change.
"I think a lot of people [understand] the importance of sex trafficking, but so much of the funds and energy is geared toward awareness that no one has really taken the time and effort to put together shelters," Caleb said. "[We] need to rethink [about] where a lot of funds and energy are going. It's not just [important to raise] awareness, but [we need to fund] actually helping [the oppressed]. There's not much emphasis on that right now."-Caleb Barrows
'If I Could Speak' has also teamed up with a non-profit ministry called Gracehaven. Gracehaven is a shelter that deals specifically with sex traffick victims. Its set to open in the Fall and will be the third house in the country of its kind.
Caleb Barrows is a Taylor student who supports his dad in the Gracehaven ministry. When asked how someone can help fight sex trafficking, he said to keep in mind,
"If you're looking for something heroic, then you're probably not going to find it; but if you're looking for something tangible and useful, then that's probably going to be very easy to do,"
...
In February, the Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission released a report ranking Toledo the fourth largest human trafficking city in the country.
The report revealed a number of unusual victims including an estimated 1,078 children that will be forced into the sex trade, 2,879 American-born children ages 12 to 17 that are at-risk for sex trafficking and 2,534 foreign-born people that are expected to be at-risk of being forced into labor or sex trafficking.
The report also sited Toledo for having untrained first responders to address trafficking properly; arresting underage prostitutes and treating them as a criminal instead of the victim; protecting johns with a slap on the wrist or no punishment at all if caught; all while not recognizing human trafficking as a separate felony offense.
In March, just three weeks after the report, State Sen. Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo proposed a bill recognizing human traffick as a separate punishable crime. The Senator hopes to get the bill on the governor's desk before summer recess.
With human trafficking now one of the top 3 revenue earners for organized crime (Leach, 2004), it's safe to say that drugs, guns and forced prostitution go hand in hand. Keep in mind that that was an old stat.
I'll end with some of Rachel's advice ...
Get informed and do something. Support an organization that you believe in or start a group yourself. And most importantly, PRAY!
When I was first introduced to the term human trafficking, it was almost obvious to everyone that it was something that needed to be fixed, but I had a hard time explaining in detail what it was. So today, a complete definition. This definition comes from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Without a definition, you may be told there isn't a universal definition, but there is. Trafficking is also easily confused with migrant smuggling or kidnapping but its very different.
'Trafficking in persons' shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs."
Alright, we're back. Last month Lady Gaga said that celibacy was the way to go for her fans. After all shes been celibate for the past year so why not, right?
Regardless of what Gaga is saying, here are you next two tips.
Second tip, 'find someone who has done it, or someone you can do it with'. This is more of a possibility than you might think. Use someone whose succeeded to ask them questions about their decision and how they got through the tough parts. And if you can only find someone thats willing to support you the whole way through, but hasn't done it, then thats cool too. Use them as an accountability partner. Check in every week or so and describe how things have been going. My only suggestion with this is to make sure your accountability partner is the same sex as you.
The next step goes with number two. 'Get around people who are going to encourage you'. Stay away from people who think this sort of thing is a bad idea. And just like Gaga, have the confidence to stick to your guns when you are approached with opposition.
Most of us have seen the show 'To Catch a Predator' with Chris Hansen. I'm a big fan, so in this post I'm going to talk about what kids can do to minimize the risk of being targeted by Internet predators. This is a part of a series of posts, made to educate parents and kids about online predators.
Most people think that if the parents would just raise their kids right, then this online predator stuff would never happen. I agree to a point, but you gotta factor in the kid's ability to choose.
In the last HOW TO post, I talked about that. Everyone knows its important to educate parents, but today I'm going to give kids enough info to make the right decisions when responsible adults aren't around. My goal is to help take away the curiosity factor that plays a big role in most of the decisions that people make.
So lets get started. First things first, never download images from an unknown source. They could be sexual images, something you want stay away from as long as possible.
And if it does happen, let an adult know immediately. That goes for images that are sexual or anything that happens online that makes you feel uncomfortable or frightened.
You always have the freedom to stop any e-mail communication, instant messaging conversations, or chats if anyone starts to ask questions that are too personal or suggests something sexual.
Right up there with foreign passwords, you should choose a gender-neutral nickname. Get out of the habit of giving away personally identifiable information (phone #, address, email, age and gender) online; not to mention a series of photos of you in different phases of life.
I once had a friend on Facebook with thousands of photos of herself and just about as many friends. She was an aspiring model with a great personality. She attracted a lot of people, but since no one is that close to so many people, she become an easy target. Learn how to use social networking sites responsibly. Just make sure you have fun with ... be a little silly with the nicknames and try being elusive with the photos. If its too different, you might not stick with it.
With that said, don't be afraid to hold someone else accountable. Make a family agreement about Internet use. Write it down and post it by the computer to remind the whole house to protect their privacy on the Internet.
Keep in mind that this is only 'how children can minimize the risk of being a victim', there's more. Next, 'what do you do if you or a child you know is being targeted'.
In the meantime, enjoy a clip from Chris Hansen's 'To Catch a Predator'.
Last week in the post about Mac's Viva Glam campaign, Lady Gaga suggested her fans become celibate to protect themselves from the Aids virus. The campaign supports global HIV and aids projects.
As promised, I'm picking up were she left off, giving you the 'how to' on celibacy. Yes, its cool if this isn't your choice right now. And yes, these tips work! Today ... tip 1.
The first thing you want to do is 'make the decision'. Make sure this is something you really want to do. It can be great if you are doing it for the right reasons, but considered another waste of time if you don't start with the right attitude and fail early.
Do like Gaga. Be the first in your peer group to raise your hand and stand out. Even if your past is a little messy, Gaga says its still cool. But if I were you, I'd do it better than Lady Gaga.
The next tip ... May 1st. Stay with me on this. It gets good.
I came across a Facebook post a couple months which included a guy inquiring about teen prostitution. "... How someone could allow themselves to be pimped anyway", he says. So I took him by the hand and guided him to the right information and kept him informed on the whats, whys and hows of sexual exploitation, because there just isn't one answer.
After today you can say you know a little more yourself. The first thing you've got to know is no one volunteers to be exploited. Regardless of popular opinion, opportunists prey on young, weak and naive victims.
In the process, women and girls that are pimped or trafficked can go down many roads that all lead to degradation and humiliation for another person's gain. There are sometimes visible indicators of this typeof behavior in and around business establishments. These indicators include:
Most of us have seen the show 'To Catch a Predator' with Chris Hansen. I'm a big fan, but what this post is going to talk about is how parents can help their kids fight Internet predators.
First lets start with the thought process behind approaching kids about this sort of topic. Lets say all your attempts to guide the child away from certain situations has failed, keep in mind that it will never be the kid's fault. So, no restrictions here, just guidelines to follow and take with them after they leave the nest.
You want to talk to your kids about sexual predators and the potential online dangers that are out there. Curiosity will work against you in most cases if this is something you try to avoid.
Online privileges aren't a bad thing but know that children and chat rooms should never go together. There is too much at risk. If this is something you still want to do, then when the maturity level is right and the trust factor is there, let them know its okay to use the well-monitored chat rooms for kids. Even teens should be encouraged to use monitored chat rooms.
When kids are young, limit them to only the family email address instead of having their own accounts. As they get older, you can ask your ISP to set up a separate email address, but the kid's mail should still reside in your account.
Keep the computer with Internet access in a common area of the house, never in a private area in the house or the child's bedroom. It's a lot harder for predators to establish a relationship with your child when the computer screen is easily visible to parents and the rest of the household.
Instruct your children to never leave the public area of a chat room. Many chat rooms offer private areas where users can have one-on-one conversations.
If your children participate in chat rooms, make it your business to know what chat rooms they visit and who they talk to. Monitor the chat areas yourself to see what kind of conversations are going on.
Teach your kids to never repsond to instant messaging, emails, tweets, blog posts or Facebook entries from strangers without you knowing about.
When it comes to places outside your area of supervision, like the public library, school, or friend's house, find out what computer safeguards they use.
Remember, kids aren't the blame in any case. The offender always bears complete responsibility for their actions.
Keep in mind that this is only 'how you can minimize the risk of a child being a victim', but theres more to come. Next I'm going to talk about 'how kids themselves can stay alert and steer clear from predators'.
In the meantime, enjoy a clip from Chris Hansen's 'To Catch a Predator'.
STOP THE TRAFFIKis a growing global movement of individuals, communities and organisations fighting to PREVENT the sale of people,PROTECT the trafficked andPROSECUTE the traffickers.
Does research prove that pornography is behind this (sex trafficking) because so many people think that pornography is harmless?
The Department of Justice and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children both recognize that pornography is an element that adds to the serious problem of sex trafficking. Many traffickers are found with filming equipment and cameras to create and sell pornography. Increasingly, pornographers are seeking younger and younger girls and boys for their films and pictures; thus, they have to go where the children are unprotected and vulnerable to capture.
If porn fuels demand, what, if anything, is being done to curb Internet porn?
The Department of Justice has expressed its intent to prosecute major pornographic Internet companies that violate decency laws; their reports indicate a significant increase in prosecutions. One company, Extreme Associates, is currently being prosecuted and other investigations are underway. For more on this topic, including CWA’s concerns over enforcement and ways for citizens to encourage enforcement, see DOJ Busts Internet Web Site for Obscenity and Porn Industry Moans for Good Reason.
This question was answered during a Concerned Women of America convention with Janice Shaw Crouse, Ph.D
You notice a child or teen receives phone calls from people you don't know or they call numbers you don't recognize, including long distance numbers. In our fast paced world of busy parents and independent teens owning their own cell phones, this is important to note. One solution is to keep them on the family plan as long as possible. I have a friend who is on her parents family plan while living in a different city. There's nothing wrong with it, especially when you notice your kids acting suspicious.
On Apr 23, a normal Friday night, students from Taylor University were found gathered together in silence. They were seeing first hand what sex traffick looks like. An exhibit called 'If I could Speak' using 6, 18 x 27 inch colored pencil drawings, illustrates victims of sex traffick. The work is done by Rachel Moore, a senior Studio Art major at Taylor. Rachel uses her passion and talent to be a catalyst for change.
First lets start with the thought process behind approaching kids about this sort of topic. Lets say all your attempts to guide the child away from certain situations has failed, keep in mind that it will never be the kid's fault. So, no restrictions here, just guidelines to follow and take with them after they leave the nest.
Does research prove that pornography is behind this (sex trafficking) because so many people think that pornography is harmless?
