I spoke this past weekend at the Southwest Conference Against Human Trafficking and Abuse. As a Advisory Member of the National Women’s Council Against Violence and Exploitation (www.nwcave.com), it has been and is my commitment to be a part of the war to end human trafficking of women and children.
The average age of a trafficked child is 12 years of age. I hope this shocks you into the reality of what our world is doing to children. The human trafficking business is a 31.7 billion -yes BILLION – dollar business which is more than Walmart, Mobil Oil, and other well known companies. It is the THIRD largest international crime industry in line behind drugs and arms. I hope this shocks you into action as well.
It is estimated that the number of human slaves in our world today is 20-30 million according to the International Labor Organization.
Who is the trafficker? He/she is more than just the stereotypical pimp, although they are traffickers. But here is a small list of who these individuals are:
Politicians, doctors, law enforcement officers, prior victims of exploitation, brothel owners, business owners, guardians, lawyers, drivers, chef’s – you get the point – anyone and any profession has traffickers in it.
Who are the victims? Children who meet on line predators promising modeling careers and other things the teen is missing in their lives. A runaway who leaves an abusive home and finds that within 3 days of leaving (the average time it takes for a runaway to gets introduced to a trafficker) gets trafficked, children born into this life due to mothers being victims of trafficking, and so on. It is not only children who get trafficked but teens and adults as well. But the victim is mostly women and children who trafficker predators find vulnerable in one way or another.
I don’t mention this to make anyone upset and say, “Oh this is so overwhelming and I can’t do anything.” In fact, just the opposite. We should all be saying “This is an enormous problem and let’s all help solve it together in anyway we can.”
A passion for action makes all the difference in the lives of victims of abuse. So here are some simple steps you can think about doing as your “passion action plan” to help:
1. Be Aware: look at young children/teens who might be in homes where there is abuse and give them your “ears” to listen and your “heart” to love and show empathy to
2. If you are traveling and see a teen or child traveling alone or with other children and they look fearful, or have signs of bruising on them and have the body language of fear – go up to them and ask some questions like where are they going, why isn’t there family with them, are they afraid, do they need help, etc.
3. Provide housing for victims wanting to leave their pimp but have no resources and financial assistance. One victim told the story of how she would go back to her pimp simply because she had no feminine products nor money for them, much less money for food, rent, clothes, taking care of her own child. It is the little things we can give, support, and assist with that makes a difference. ASK a victim trying to get her life back together what she needs and how you can help her.
4. Provide financial support to agencies already working to restore a victim. They need volunteers, money, housing, education services, etc. to sustain and restore our fellow human beings in their path to freedom from trafficking.
5. Get involved. No matter what you decide to do – involvement is important. If you do nothing you get nothing. If you put your money where it changes lives – you are involved. If you put your heart and soul where it benefits a broken and bruised hear and soul – you can’t help but be involved. Action + Awareness = Change. That is my motto. My other motto is to have a “Passion for Action” so that our world becomes a better place.
There are so many agencies that you can get in touch with beginning with www.nwcave; www.transitionsglobal.org; www.crittenton.org; national center for missing and exploited children; www.gems-girls.org; www.run2rescue.com; and more. Law enforcement also has resource information and special teams for finding victims and slavers.
Agencies are out in your state and possibly your community that finds and hunts slave hunters to stop them. There are agencies in your state and community that are there to help a victim of slavery. Be informed so you can make a difference.
Look beneath the surface of your community to see what is really going on – pornography, brothels, message parlours, street children, prostitution, runaways, etc. that reside or abide there. Human Trafficking is modern day slavery that is such a big business that is devastating our world. Yet we can stop it if we all get involved. Identify and then help. There are safe housing, health, immigration, food, income, employment, legal and interpretation services available. Contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children if you don’t know who to contact.
MSNBC will soon launch a new series, “Slave Hunter: Freeing Victims of Human Trafficking,” which reveals, in captivating detail, what happens behind closed doors in the sex trafficking underworld. The series highlights the groundbreaking work of human rights advocate, Aaron Cohen and his partner, former Las Vegas vice detective, Chris Baughman. Together, they seek out and try to help trafficked women in New York City get out of “the life.” Cohen and Baughman gave MSNBC and Peacock Productions unique access to document their efforts which were conducted in conjunction with Abolish Slavery, a California-based anti-trafficking organization.
MSNBC’s cameras follow Cohen and Baughman as they first identify trafficked women via on-line ads and then arrange to meet them in New York City hotel rooms with Cohen posing as a potential john. When the women are open to help, Cohen and Baughman put in motion a plan to allow them to escape their bonds and build a new life outside of sex trafficking. In some cases, their efforts are successful; other times, the trafficked women sadly succumb to the powers of their “pimp.”
Aaron Cohen has traveled the world, often working undercover, in his ongoing crusade to stop human trafficking. For his efforts, he has received numerous awards from government and human rights organizations. Cohen is the author of “Slave Hunter: Freeing Victims of Human Trafficking” which was just issued in paperback (Simon & Schuster).
Chris Baughman, as a vice detective for the Las Vegas PD, pioneered innovative techniques to combat human trafficking. He has taught these tactics to law enforcement officials from around the world. Baughman hopes this series “will educate hundreds of thousands of viewers about human trafficking – and help make women more aware of the methods pimps use to lure women into their web.” Baughman is the author of the Off The Street series; his most recent book is Off the Street: Redemption (Behler Publications).
Make a difference and save a life from human trafficking and abuse!!!
