Bill to shield child prostitutes touted in Senate

Published: Sunday, April 25, 2010

By Abbe Smith

NEW HAVEN — When a young girl finds herself out on the street, selling her body to pay her pimp or because she has a drug addiction, it’s not prostitution — it’s coercion, abuse, slavery.

That’s the premise behind a new bill making its way through the state Senate that would protect children from being prosecuted for the crime of prostitution. The proposed “Safe Harbor” bill creates the presumption that children and teens who engage in prostitution are victims of sexual exploitation.

“They are coerced or forced into this trade, and they should be treated as victims instead of criminals,” said state Sen. Rob Kane, R-Watertown, who sponsored Senate Bill 153.

“The big thing is, this needs to be brought up and it needs to be talked about. It can’t be swept under the rug.”

Specifically, the bill says anyone under the age of 16 cannot be prosecuted for crimes of prostitution. For 16- and 17-year-olds facing prostitution charges, “there shall be a presumption that the actor was coerced into committing such offense by another person.”

Kane said he hopes to have a vote on the bill before the Senate’s current session ends May 5.

The bill has faced some opposition. In testimony to the Select Committee on Children in Hartford, Chief State’s Attorney Kevin Kane spoke against the bill, which he argued “seeks to address a problem that does not exist in the state of Connecticut.” He went on to state that “the Division of Justice is not in the business of prosecuting the innocent victims of human trafficking” and notes that under existing state law, children under 16 cannot be prosecuted for prostitution because they cannot legally consent to sex at that age.

Advocates of the proposed Safe Harbor bill agree the state has not had many cases of minors arrested for prostitution. However, they say the legislation will do more than just protect minors from being prosecuted for crimes of which they are victim, it will also raise awareness about the problem of child sex trafficking and exploitation.

“The goal is to intervene in (the victims’) lives and make available services to let them know they have another choice, to let them know they do have rights, that the law works in their favor,” said Kathy Maskell, U.S. advocacy director for New Haven-based Love 146, an organization that fights child sex slavery and exploitation at home and around the globe.

EVEN IN CONNECTICUT

Children get recruited into the sex trade at alarmingly young ages. The average age that a girl enters the world of prostitution is 13 years old. Child victims face lower life expectancies stemming from the devastating consequences of sex trafficking: depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, physical abuse, risk of suicide, sexually transmitted disease. They have a greater chance of being murdered during their lifetimes.

At Love 146’s safe house in the Philippines for female victims of sex trafficking, survivors expressed deeply troubling self-images as a result of their harrowing ordeals.

“I feel like a dog. I feel like dirt. I could never return home, I feel worthless. These are the words they use to describe themselves,” Maskell says. “I don’t think it would be a stretch to say U.S.-born victims would feel the same way.”

Supporters of the bill say the problem of child sex trafficking is not relegated to foreign countries; they say sexual exploitation of children happens right here in the United States, even here in Connecticut. Since 2008, the state Department of Children and Families has identified 25 youths in Connecticut as victims of child sex trafficking, according to testimony in support of the bill by Connecticut Voices for Children.

Also in 2008, two men were sentenced in federal court for their roles in prostitution rings that had victims in Connecticut and New York. Dennis Paris was sentenced to 30 years in prison for prostituting minors as young as 14 years old in the Hartford area. Authorities said Paris recruited young girls from troubled backgrounds, some of whom were addicted to drugs. Corey Davis was convicted of trafficking more than 20 females, including a 12-year-old girl, and forcing them to work as prostitutes and strippers.

Experts say those most at-risk for being coerced into prostitution are child runaways and victims of sexual or physical abuse. But the reality is that sexual exploitation of children through prostitution can happen anywhere, at any time, according to Maskell.

“Because of the Internet, it really does open it up to anyone in any socio-economic community,” she says.

A number of local nonprofit organizations, state agencies and youth advocates have banded together in support of S.B. 153, including the state Office of Victim Advocate, the Connecticut Commission on Children, Love 146, Connecticut Voices for Children, ECPAT-USA, the Essex-based Paul and Lisa Program, and the Clinton-based Barnaba Institute.

Alexis Taylor Litos, executive director of the Barnaba Institute, says even though not many minors get arrested for prostitution in the state, children who are exploited through sex trafficking often get picked up for other offences. Instead of getting intervention and the help they need to get out danger, these kids get lost in the legal system, she says. Being treated like a criminal sends victims spiraling deeper into despair.

“It is instilling that self-blame and making them feel it is their fault,” Litos says.

In some cases, she adds, the teens give false identification to police to appear older. Litos says better training in the area of sex-trafficking and sexual exploitation of children would enable first responders to do a better job of identifying red flags and clues that a child or young teen is being abused or trafficked.

Of all the people who went before the state Select Committee on Children or sent letters to express support for the “Safe Harbor” bill, the most profound voice belongs to an 18-year-old Connecticut woman, who herself was a victim of sexual exploitation. In a letter to the committee, the woman wrote that she was a scared kid who ran away from home and ended up trapped in a life of prostitution by the age of 14.

“I didn’t know what I was getting myself into to. I have been raped and beaten many times and I still have these memories that will be with me for the rest of my life. I was 14 years old. I did not try to tell anyone because I was scared,” the unidentified woman wrote.

The woman said she got help and was able to escape the world of prostitution, but it was hard.

“I just wish that everyone that goes through this can get the support that they need rather than a jail sentence,” she wrote.

Respectfully submitted from: http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/04/25/news/new_haven/doc4bd3b5e07a5fa364395395.txt
Posted by Carrie Eigbrett at 8:40 AM 0 comments
Labels: child prostitution, human trafficking, NH, sex trafficking

They don't belong to YOU!

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Southwest Florida children sold as sex slaves

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Posted: Jan 18, 2010 5:07 PM EST Updated: Jan 18, 2010 7:48 PM EST

LEE COUNTY: The disturbing underworld of sex slavery is the fastest growing crime in the world. But what people most don't realize is that it's happening right here in Southwest Florida – from areas you might never expect.

In this world that many people do not even know exists, children are exploited and sold for sex.

NBC2's Marisa Brahney spoke to a woman named Liz who explained it is something she has first-hand experience with.

"I was six when my birth mother sold me into prostitution," she said. "She said, ‘You know, if you love me, you'll do this.' And any little girl wants to please their parents."

For 10 years, Liz's mother used her - she says - to pay the family bills by convincing and conditioning her to believe that sex was all she was good at.

Liz: I had this tunnel vision of, I'm a prostitute.
NBC2: At six-years-old?
Liz: At six-years-old - I'm a prostitute, that's what I do. I'm going to be the best prostitute out there.

Detective Mike Zaleski, with the Lee County Sheriff's Office, specializes in human trafficking investigations.

He told NBC2 that in 2008 in Lee County, the unit rescued one trafficking victim.

In 2009, that same unit rescued 22 victims.

"We have domestic victims. We have foreign victims. We have victims from affluent families and we have victims from poor families," he said.

One recently-rescued victim, Zaleski said, was plucked right out of an upscale Gateway neighborhood.

"The trafficker promised her everything," he said.

The young girl from a wealthy family was lured by money, clothes, and a fast lifestyle. Zaleski says the trafficker quickly got the girl addicted to drugs, forcing her into prostitution with violent threats.

Zaleski: She was posted on the internet as a prostitute, on a prostitution site. Fifteen hours after that she was in her first act of prostitution.
NBC2: And this is right here in Lee County?
Zaleski: Right here.

And officials we spoke to said Lee County's problem isn't unusual for Florida. In fact, it's the number two state for human trafficking and it's the fastest growing crime in the world. Sadly, 50-percent of victims worldwide are children.

"As long as there's a demand out there, you're going to be paid well. And unfortunately, the price was high enough to make it acceptable for my birth mother to do that," said Liz.

Liz explained she ran away at 16, trying for a new start. But she says she knew nothing else and ended up falling into the same lifestyle she was raised in.

"Because I became so numb to that, I could rationalize it - that it didn't matter, that it didn't hurt that bad, that it wasn't as heinous as it actually is," she said.

Remarkably she made it to college in Tampa where she continued prostituting. But by then, she says she knew she wanted out.

"All my life I had wished that somebody would look at me and say, ‘Liz, you're valuable. What are you doing?'" Liz said.

That's when she found Julie Shematz.

Shematz is a victim herself. She worked in strip clubs for years until one day, while cocktail waitressing, the lifestyle took a very dark turn.

"The club owner set me up to sell sex for money. And it was coercion - it was fraud," she said.

Shematz eventually escaped, overcoming a drug addiction, graduating from Purdue and deciding to dedicate her life to helping other victims.

"They find me online, they read what happened and they feel safe connecting to me," said Shematz.

Her non-profit organization, Beauty From Ashes, helps sexual-exploitation victims.

Shematz does outreach in local strip clubs, educating the girls about her own experience. She also runs a safe house in Lee County where she teaches victims their value and what it's really like to be loved.

"The majority of victims don't even realize they're victims," she said.

Shematz said a lot of the girls are just like Liz – girls who are who are learning how to live a normal life and learning how to connect emotionally.

Liz is now interning with Beauty From Ashes and said last month - for the first time in a long time – she was able to cry.

"It's the fact that I know that I'm loved. I believe it and I've never been able to say that before," Liz said.

Click here to learn more about Beauty From Ashes. You can also call the toll-free help line at (877) 423-2767.

You can also click here for information Wings of Shelter Int'l Inc. – another site dedicated to ending sex slavery. They can be reached at (239) 340-2980.

And at FGCU, from January 20-27, there will be a series of events about this very topic. It is called, "Out of the Shadows - End Slavery in Your Neighborhood:

Click here for a schedule of event for the week.

By Marisa Brahney

Southwest Florida children sold as sex slaves - NBC-2.com WBBH News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral & Naples, Florida

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Human Trafficking Unit Hits Streets - San Antonio News Story - KSAT San Antonio

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Rosenda Rios, KSAT 12 News Reporter

POSTED: Sunday, November 22, 2009
UPDATED: 8:58 am CST November 23, 2009

SAN ANTONIO -- The impact of local human trafficking shocked San Antonio a few weeks ago when we first introduced the problem of teenager girls, being snatched, drugged and forced into performing sexual acts.

Authorities say it's no longer just a problem overseas, but a problem that's now in our own back yard.

In order to help fight the problem, the Bexar County Sheriff's Office created a Human Trafficking Unit a couple of years ago.

Since then, many local agencies have gotten involved such as Catholic Charities to not only help get young victims of prostitution off the streets but get medical help and education.

Detectives Ochoa and Garza, the county's HT Unit, allowed us to ride along with one evening. We discovered the unit will sometimes work regular shifts during the day, then put in extra hours beginning around midnight into the early morning hours, patrolling the city, looking for young victims of human trafficking.

"We're finding more and more of our own citizens being forced into prostitution, " Ochoa said while driving the streets of San Antonio.

Their goal is to be on the look out for underage prostitutes.

Detective Garza has been part of the unit for several years.

"We don't do this to arrest the girls, we do this because we care about them, because they've been mistreated, sometimes even treated like dogs by their pimps, that they don't realize that people care about them and that's our message to them, we want to help get them off the streets," said Garza.

Members of the unit said they have taken a number of minors off the streets but their work is far from over.

"When you see an 11-year-old girl out on the street who knows how much to charge, the positions types of sex, its just heart wrenching," said Ochoa.

On this particular night, the streets were quiet, perhaps it was because the night air had quickly turned cold but even on cold nights, the detective say prostitutes will work the streets.

"What's going on?", asked Detective Ochoa as he and Garza approached a couple of street people sleeping under a Westside bridge.

It was past midnight and the deputies were familiar with this couple, he a known drug addict and the woman, known for prostitution in the past.

Although they both admitted to leading a clean life, they were asked if they had seen any minors working the streets.

Older prostitutes tend to want to help authorities remove teenagers and younger girls and boys from the streets and avoid a life of crime.

But this time the couple had no new information.

Later, the detectives spotted a woman who appeared to be talking to a john in a pickup truck.

The driver drove off quickly and the Human Trafficking Unit began questioning the woman.

Although she denied working the street, she admitted seeing other woman in the area but had no information on minors working as a prostitute. The detectives warned her of the dangers of working the streets and told her to go home to her little girl.

A never-ending job for the County's Human Trafficking Unit.

http://www.ksat.com/news/21694184/detail.html

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