The American Red Cross

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
posted by Janvier Morris

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/
posted by Janvier Morris

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
posted by Janvier Morris

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
posted by Janvier Morris

04 May 2010

A Crime That Shames Us All

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




National Human Trafficking
Resource Center (NHTRC)
1-888-3737-888
www.TraffickingResourceCenter.org
posted by Janvier Morris

HOW TO: Internet Predators Targeting Children

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.




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/25111041#25111041
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/default.aspx
posted by Janvier Morris

03 May 2010

A Week in Ohio Traffick

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!
posted by Janvier Morris

Not For Sale Campaign Teams Up With MMA





SOURCES:
posted by Janvier Morris

Traffick 101

Happy Monday!

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."
To be continued ...

SOURCES:

http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking.html?ref=menuside#What_is_Human_Trafficking
posted by Janvier Morris

01 May 2010

Do it better than Lady Gaga III

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.

Just make sure you do it better than Lady Gaga. Check out 'Do it better than Lady Gaga IV'.

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
posted by Janvier Morris

30 April 2010

HOW TO: How Kids Minimize the Risk of Internet Predators

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.

Use email filters.

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'.



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/25111043#25111043

http://www.microsoft.com/protect/default.aspx
posted by Janvier Morris

29 April 2010

Will Corrective Rape Be The Cure?






SOURCES:

http://gayrights.change.org/blog/view/five_hours_of_trying_to_rape_a_lesbian_straight

http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/world/africa/corrective+rape+in+south+africa+/3027797

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/12/eudy-simelane-corrective-rape-south-africa
posted by Janvier Morris

Do it better than Lady Gaga II

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.

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
posted by Janvier Morris
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