Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Demi Moore: Child Sex Trafficking Is a Dirty Secret 

We Need to Confront



Earlier this year, actress Demi Moore and her husband, Ashton Kutcher, started the DNA (The Demi and Ashton) Foundation, which aims to eliminate child slavery worldwide. Shortly afterward, as part of the Pepsi Refresh Celebrity Challenge, she and Kevin Bacon battled to see who could get more fans to vote for them and their philanthropic causes. Moore triumphed, and as a result, the New York City-based nonprofit organization GEMS (Girls Educational and Mentoring Services) won a $250,000 grant from Pepsi. GEMS plans to use the funds to train 10 former victims to serve as outreach workers who will assist and rescue underage girls currently in the sex industry. PARADE spoke to Moore about why this issue is so important to her and what she would like Americans to know about sex trafficking.
PARADE: How did you first become interested in this topic?
MOORE: Ashton and I got involved after seeing a TV special about sex trafficking in Cambodia around two years ago. Some of the girls in it were so young, like 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 years old. We felt we couldn’t live in the world where that is allowed. As we started to delve into and educate ourselves on the issue, we were overwhelmed and horrified to discover how prevalent trafficking is. As we looked around, we saw we had a chance to contribute and make a difference. Twenty-seven million people are enslaved today around the world. We’ve tried to scale back our efforts to what connected us in the first place, which was children and sex slaves. Yet our ultimate goal is to participate in bringing an end to slavery as a whole. I don’t think any parent can watch that special and see these tiny little girls going up to men, girls who have Barbie lunch boxes. It’s just wrong, and I think it’s something we can all agree on. It needs to be stopped. It’s a matter of getting in there and getting the support to end it.
We were shocked by how large the commercial sex industry is in America. The average age that a girl enters the industry is 12 to 14. As a mother, I have to say, “Let’s put this in perspective, this is someone’s sister, someone’s daughter. It’s a little girl.” There’s a general misperception that people have about the girls in the industry, that these girls are choosing it. Enslavement is not just physical but also mental manipulation. We’re talking about people preying upon the most vulnerable among us—our children. I’ve met foreign victims who were brought in from Mexico to the United States. Ashton and I have plans to travel and connect with more. I’ve had the opportunity to meet [Cambodian activist] Somaly Mam quite a few times.
Q: What is your connection to GEMS?
A: We went to GEMS offices and met quite a few of these girls and heard their stories. One of them was 11, another was 13, one had been “guerilla” pimped by a trafficker who was traveling the country with underage girls. He was caught by the FBI. What was so moving is that in our country, except in the state of New York where the Safe Harbor Act was passed and it treats underage girls as victims of rape as opposed to teen prostitutes, the law tends to criminalize these girls. Meanwhile, the johns and pimps often get minimal penalties. A pimp can make $150,000 to $200,000 a year from one girl. How can we shift the focus from the criminalization of these girls and place a greater focus on who is creating the demand? The men who are soliciting them look at these girls as having chosen the industry even though they’re 12 or 20. The average john is a 30-year-old married man with no criminal record. We’d like to humanize the victims and also bring names and faces to the johns. I think if we had greater accountability, we’d have a chance of reducing the demand for young prostitutes.
Q: How did you hear about GEMS?
A: Once you start to open the door, you find the organizations and the NGOs that are making a difference, and we heard about Rachel Lloyd and GEMS. It’s a survivor-led organization and the largest organization for victims that exists in the U.S. I had a chance to see what they’re trying to do, and their model is one that can be replicated in the country. Right now, they have a limited outreach. GEMS makes such a huge difference, transforming the girls they reach into positive and productive individuals who give back. Yet they struggle to have the funds to operate.
GEMS is trying to assist juveniles who are extracted from sex industry. They’re helping them getting high-school diplomas if they don’t have them and going to college. I love the fact that GEMS also trains the girls it rescues from sex trafficking to serve as outreach workers in their communities. One outreach worker can reach 100 girls. The former victims have a level of understanding in reaching out to girls who are not open and under control of pimps, and they’re able to break through that. They often go into the juvenile-justice system to find girls to help, because where do you put them, except for justice system or foster care?
Q: Are you concerned with working against sex trafficking on a domestic or on a worldwide level?
A: We have a worldwide interest in sex trafficking, but for now we want to ground it domestically. We went down with the Department of Homeland Security to the border at San Diego and met some victims who had the enormous courage to testify against their trafficker. The girls were 19 and 20, and they’d been smuggled over the border. Trafficking was a family business, and this man’s mother and brother were also involved. The trafficker told these girls he loved them and said, “If you love me, you will do this for me.”
We want to put the issue of sex trafficking at the top of people’s lists of concerns and not just part of the list. One of the things we’re trying to do is to work on changing policy in the states where trafficking is not a felony. We approached the Governor of Massachusetts and asked him why human trafficking there is not a felony under state law there. That’s also true in Hawaii, Alabama, Ohio, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Washington, D.C, I think.
Q: What would you like PARADE readers to do?
A: People should see “Playground.” It’s a wonderful documentary about children in America who are victims of sex slavery. In general, I’d like to ask them to educate themselves about the issue. Awareness is the beginning of creating great change. Our society needs to identify slavery and call it what it is and look at it in the U.S. People should also find out, what laws and programs do you have place in your state to protect girls? Is there a task force? The issue is understaffed and underfunded.
When one person is enslaved, we’re all enslaved. We’ve been tweeting to the Senators on the foreign relations committee to ask them to support change. Sex trafficking is this dirty little secret, but I think people are now prepared to hear about it. It’s our obligation to come together and end slavery. Before I end this interview, I want to thank Pepsi. Not only did it support us with our issue, the company provided an opportunity for us in the form of the Pepsi Refresh Celebrity Challenge to go out and get the public to vote on our idea. We won a huge grant for GEMS. Pepsi is affecting change and helping us reach an incredible audience.
source:http://www.parade.com/news/what-america-cares-about/featured/100509-demi-moore-interview.html
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This is the fight of our professional careers. Are You In or Out?

What's taking so long? This is the fight of our professional careers. Are You In or Out? "Hell has a special level for those who sit by idly during times of great crisis."
Robert Kennedy

The Art of SETTING LIMITS, Its not as easy as it looks.

Art of Setting Limits Setting limits is one of the most powerful tools that professionals have to promote positive behavior change for their clients, students, residents, patients, etc. Knowing there are limits on their behavior helps the individuals in your charge to feel safe. It also helps them learn to make appropriate choices.


There are many ways to go about setting limits, but staff members who use these techniques must keep three things in mind:
Setting a limit is not the same as issuing an ultimatum.
Limits aren’t threats—If you don’t attend group, your weekend privileges will be suspended.

Limits offer choices with consequences—If you attend group and follow the other steps in your plan, you’ll be able to attend all of the special activities this weekend. If you don’t attend group, then you’ll have to stay behind. It’s your decision.
The purpose of limits is to teach, not to punish.
Through limits, people begin to understand that their actions, positive or negative, result in predictable consequences. By giving such choices and consequences, staff members provide a structure for good decision making.
Setting limits is more about listening than talking.
Taking the time to really listen to those in your charge will help you better understand their thoughts and feelings. By listening, you will learn more about what’s important to them, and that will help you set more meaningful limits.
Download The Art of Setting Limits

SYSTEMATIC USE OF CHILD LABOR


CHILD DOMESTIC HELP
by Amanda Kloer

Published February 21, 2010 @ 09:00AM PT
category: Child Labor
Wanted: Domestic worker. Must be willing to cook, clean, work with garbage, and do all other chores as assigned. No contract available, payment based on employer's mood or current financial situation. No days off. Violence, rape, and sexual harassment may be part of the job.

Would you take that job? No way. But for thousands of child domestic workers in Indonesia, this ad doesn't just describe their job, it describes their life.

A recent CARE International survey of over 200 child domestic workers in Indonesia found that 90% of them didn't have a contract with their employer, and thus no way to legally guarantee them a fair wage (or any wage at all) for their work. 65% of them had never had a day off in their whole employment, and 12% had experienced violence. Child domestic workers remain one of the most vulnerable populations to human trafficking and exploitation. And while work and life may look a little grim for the kids who answered CARE's survey, it's likely that the most abused and exploited domestic workers didn't even have the opportunity to take the survey.

In part, child domestic workers have it so much harder than adults because the people who hire children are more likely looking for someone easy to exploit. Think about it -- if you wanted to hire a domestic worker, wouldn't you choose an adult with a stronger body and more life experience to lift and haul and cook than a kid? If you could get them both for the same price, of course you would. But what if the kid was cheaper, free even, because you knew she wouldn't try and leave if you stopped paying her. Or even if you threatened her with death.



Congress Aims to Improve Laws for Runaway, Prostituted Kids

by Amanda Kloer

categories: Child Prostitution, Pimping

Published February 20, 2010 @ 09:00AM PT

The prospects for healthcare reform may be chillier than DC weather, but Democrats in the House and Senate are turning their attention to another warmer but still significant national issue: the increasing number of runaway and throwaway youth who are being forced into prostitution. In response to the growing concerns that desperate, runaway teens will be forced into prostitution in a sluggish economy, Congress is pushing several bills to improve how runaway kids are tracked by the police, fund crucial social services, and prevent teens from being caught in sex trafficking. Here's the gist of what the new legislation is trying to accomplish:

Shelter: Lack of shelter is one of the biggest vulnerabilities of runaway and homeless youth. Pimps will often use an offer of shelter as an entree to a relationship with a child or a straight up trade for sex. In the past couple years, at least 10 states have made legislative efforts to increase the number of shelters, extend shelter options, and change state reporting requirements so that youth shelters have enough time to win trust and provide services before they need to report the runaways to the police. Much of the new federal legislation would make similar increases in the availability and flexibility of shelter options.

Police Reporting: Right now, police are supposed to enter all missing persons into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database within two hours of receiving the case. In reality, that reporting doesn't always get done, making it almost impossible for law enforcement to search for missing kids across districts. This hole is a big problem in finding child prostitution victims and their pimps, since pimps will often transport girls from state to state. The new bill would strengthen reporting requirements, as well as facilitate communication between the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the National Runaway Switchboard

We Must Never Forget These Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen and Women

We Must Never Forget These Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen and Women
Nor the Fool Politicians that used so many American GIs' lives as fodder for the fight over an english noun - "Communism"