Amid Olympic Rush, Brazil’s Hotels Join the Fight Against Human Trafficking:
Showing posts with label ECPAT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ECPAT. Show all posts
Saturday, August 6, 2016
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Saturday, May 14, 2016
UBER SIGNS TOURISM CHILD-PROTECTION CODE OF CONDUCT, JOINING ECPAT-USA IN PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM EXPLOITATION AND TRAFFICKING
Source: ECPAT-USA
http://www.ecpatusa.org/
http://www.ecpatusa.org/
UBER SIGNS TOURISM CHILD-PROTECTION CODE OF CONDUCT, JOINING ECPAT-USA IN PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM EXPLOITATION AND TRAFFICKING
New York, NY (April 20, 2016) – ECPAT-USA is proud to announce a partnership with Uber Technologies Inc. to take a stand against the commercial sexual exploitation of children by signing the Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct (The Code) for initial implementation in the United States.
The Code is an internationally accepted industry-driven corporate social responsibility framework that helps companies in the travel and tourism industry. The Code’s six guidelines require companies to put in place policies and programs to protect children from sexual exploitation and trafficking.
Prior to joining The Code, Uber expanded their Code of Conduct to prohibit all forms of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children. Uber will continue to build their commitment to protect children and offer resources to drivers and report annually on their Code implementation.
“As soon as Uber’s Safety team learned about the role they could play in protecting children, they knew they had to get involved.” said Carol Smolenski, executive director of ECPAT-USA. “Uber demonstrated a genuine commitment to protecting children and preventing their exploitation.”
“Uber is committed to safety in the communities we serve and we want to do our part to help put an end to the transportation of trafficked children,” said Niki Christoff Head of Federal Affairs for Uber. “By partnering with ECPAT-USA, we are taking steps to promote awareness and educate drivers who sign up on our platform about this important issue.”
Uber and ECPAT-USA will be joined in Washington D.C. by anti-trafficking advocates Congressman Erik Paulsen (R-MN) and Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), who will provide remarks and witness the signing of The Code commitment.
For additional information about the Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct and how your company can be involved, visitwww.ecpatusa.org/code.
About ECPAT-USA: ECPAT-USA is the leading policy organization in the United States seeking to end the commercial, sexual exploitation of children through awareness, advocacy, policy, and legislation. ECPAT-USA is a member of the ECPAT International network, with offices in 73 countries. For more information, visit www.ecpatusa.org/code or contact Michelle Guelbart at (718) 935-9192 or michelle@ecpatusa.org.
Monday, June 10, 2013
ECPAT-USA Releases Ground-Breaking Report: “And Boys Too” | ECPAT USA
http://ecpatusa.org/2013/05/and-boys-too/?goback=%2Egde_2590126_member_246006084
SOURCE: ECPAT-USA
==============================
URL to report: AND BOYS TOO
http://ecpatusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/AndBoysToo_FINAL_single-pages.pdf
The long-existing commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in the United States began to gain
attention after the enactment of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) and its reauthorizations
in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2013. During this period, nearly all the attention of state and local governments, law
enforcement, and service providers has been focused on sexually exploited adolescent girls. While there has
been some increased awareness about sexually exploited boys in the U.S. over the past several years, most
law enforcement and services providers often miss them entirely or view them as too few to be counted or not
in need of services. The little notice given to boys primarily identifies them as exploiters, pimps and buyers
of sex, or as active and willing participants in sex work, not as victims or survivors of exploitation.1 Discussion
of boys as victims or survivors of CSEC is frequently appended to a discussion about commercially sexually
exploited girls. A panel discussion about commercial sexual exploitation often ends with these words: “…and
boys too.”
While awareness of commercial sexual exploitation of boys (CSEB) has paled next to that of commercial sexual
exploitation of girls (CSEG), two important studies in the past 12 years, The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of
Children in the U.S., Canada and Mexico by Estes and Weiner (2001) and The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of
Children in New York City by Curtis et al. (2008), have estimated that high percentages of commercially sexually
exploited children in the U.S. are boys. In order to examine why CSEB receive much less attention and to
question the widespread popular assumptions that they are willing participants or even exploiters and not
victims, ECPAT-USA has carried out a study to examine available information about CSEB, their participation in
CSEC, and services available to them. The study conducted a number of desk reviews that were supplemented
by interviews with 40 key service providers and youth agencies.
The research explored several questions relating to the existence and circumstances of CSEB: Do they exist?
What are their backgrounds? Who are their exploiters? At what age are they exploited? What are their needs
and what services are available to meet those needs? Although many of the answers were inconclusive, several
clear findings and messages stood out. Most significantly, responses from service providers clearly indicate
that the scope of CSEB is vastly under reported, that commercial sexual exploitation poses very significant
risks to their health and their lives; that gay and transgenders are over-represented as a proportion of the
sexually exploited boys; and that there is a shortage of services for these boys. The fact that boys and young
men may be less likely to be pimped or trafficked highlights the fact that even if there is no third party involved
in the commercial transaction, “buyers/exploiters” of sexually exploited children should be prosecuted under
anti-trafficking statutes.
Based on our research and responses from service providers, ECPAT-USA proposes a number of
recommendations. Two immediate needs are clear: first, to raise awareness about the scope of CSEB
and second, to expand research about which boys are vulnerable to sexual exploitation and how to meet
their needs.
1 For an example see: Cates, J. (1989). Adolescent Male Prostitution by Choice. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 6(2), 151-156. For further analysis see: Dennis, J. (2008). Women are Victims, Men Make Choices: The Invisibility of Men and Boys and young men in the Global Sex Trade. Gender Issues, 25(1), 11-25.3
========================================================================
1. Acknowledge the existence of CSE boys and young men, their risk for physical and mental health harm,
and their need for services. Include both GBTQ and heterosexual boys with attention to their different
circumstances and needs
2. Raise awareness among local and federal law-enforcement officers and foster-care agencies that boys in
the sex trade are victims whose fear of stigma and rejection exacerbates their denial and prevents them
from acknowledging their victimization.
3. Establish screening and intake systems for CSE boys at runaway and homeless youth centers and social
service agencies, and conduct sensitivity training of workers to recognize CSEB and to elicit information
from boys and to address shame and stigma.
4. Support the establishment of male-focused anti-trafficking agencies with staff trained to meet the need to
CSE boys.
5. When appropriate, encourage agencies and service providers that focus on girls to expand their mandate
to include boys, and hire and train male workers
6. Encourage collaboration among organizations that already address CSE boys and young men, and to
advocate for wider recognition among law enforcement, public health community, policy makers and the
public of their existence and harm to CSE boys
7. Conduct further research on LGBTQ youth on advantages and disadvantages of gender-specific or co-ed
service agencies.
8. Conduct research about the health impact of sexual exploitation on boys and young men.
9. Revise existing statutes to make it easier to prosecute exploiters of children even when there is no pimp or
trafficker involved.
SOURCE: ECPAT-USA
May 30th, 2013 |
ECPAT-USA:
"Today we release our report on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Boys in the United States, And Boys Too: An ECPAT-USA discussion paper about the lack of recognition of the commercial sexual exploitation of boys in the United States You can download the report by clicking here."
"Today we release our report on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Boys in the United States, And Boys Too: An ECPAT-USA discussion paper about the lack of recognition of the commercial sexual exploitation of boys in the United States You can download the report by clicking here."
==============================
URL to report: AND BOYS TOO
http://ecpatusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/AndBoysToo_FINAL_single-pages.pdf
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The long-existing commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in the United States began to gain
attention after the enactment of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) and its reauthorizations
in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2013. During this period, nearly all the attention of state and local governments, law
enforcement, and service providers has been focused on sexually exploited adolescent girls. While there has
been some increased awareness about sexually exploited boys in the U.S. over the past several years, most
law enforcement and services providers often miss them entirely or view them as too few to be counted or not
in need of services. The little notice given to boys primarily identifies them as exploiters, pimps and buyers
of sex, or as active and willing participants in sex work, not as victims or survivors of exploitation.1 Discussion
of boys as victims or survivors of CSEC is frequently appended to a discussion about commercially sexually
exploited girls. A panel discussion about commercial sexual exploitation often ends with these words: “…and
boys too.”
While awareness of commercial sexual exploitation of boys (CSEB) has paled next to that of commercial sexual
exploitation of girls (CSEG), two important studies in the past 12 years, The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of
Children in the U.S., Canada and Mexico by Estes and Weiner (2001) and The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of
Children in New York City by Curtis et al. (2008), have estimated that high percentages of commercially sexually
exploited children in the U.S. are boys. In order to examine why CSEB receive much less attention and to
question the widespread popular assumptions that they are willing participants or even exploiters and not
victims, ECPAT-USA has carried out a study to examine available information about CSEB, their participation in
CSEC, and services available to them. The study conducted a number of desk reviews that were supplemented
by interviews with 40 key service providers and youth agencies.
The research explored several questions relating to the existence and circumstances of CSEB: Do they exist?
What are their backgrounds? Who are their exploiters? At what age are they exploited? What are their needs
and what services are available to meet those needs? Although many of the answers were inconclusive, several
clear findings and messages stood out. Most significantly, responses from service providers clearly indicate
that the scope of CSEB is vastly under reported, that commercial sexual exploitation poses very significant
risks to their health and their lives; that gay and transgenders are over-represented as a proportion of the
sexually exploited boys; and that there is a shortage of services for these boys. The fact that boys and young
men may be less likely to be pimped or trafficked highlights the fact that even if there is no third party involved
in the commercial transaction, “buyers/exploiters” of sexually exploited children should be prosecuted under
anti-trafficking statutes.
Based on our research and responses from service providers, ECPAT-USA proposes a number of
recommendations. Two immediate needs are clear: first, to raise awareness about the scope of CSEB
and second, to expand research about which boys are vulnerable to sexual exploitation and how to meet
their needs.
1 For an example see: Cates, J. (1989). Adolescent Male Prostitution by Choice. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 6(2), 151-156. For further analysis see: Dennis, J. (2008). Women are Victims, Men Make Choices: The Invisibility of Men and Boys and young men in the Global Sex Trade. Gender Issues, 25(1), 11-25.3
========================================================================
TRAFFICKING MONITOR: From the body of the discussion paper:
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Acknowledge the existence of CSE boys and young men, their risk for physical and mental health harm,
and their need for services. Include both GBTQ and heterosexual boys with attention to their different
circumstances and needs
2. Raise awareness among local and federal law-enforcement officers and foster-care agencies that boys in
the sex trade are victims whose fear of stigma and rejection exacerbates their denial and prevents them
from acknowledging their victimization.
3. Establish screening and intake systems for CSE boys at runaway and homeless youth centers and social
service agencies, and conduct sensitivity training of workers to recognize CSEB and to elicit information
from boys and to address shame and stigma.
4. Support the establishment of male-focused anti-trafficking agencies with staff trained to meet the need to
CSE boys.
5. When appropriate, encourage agencies and service providers that focus on girls to expand their mandate
to include boys, and hire and train male workers
6. Encourage collaboration among organizations that already address CSE boys and young men, and to
advocate for wider recognition among law enforcement, public health community, policy makers and the
public of their existence and harm to CSE boys
7. Conduct further research on LGBTQ youth on advantages and disadvantages of gender-specific or co-ed
service agencies.
8. Conduct research about the health impact of sexual exploitation on boys and young men.
9. Revise existing statutes to make it easier to prosecute exploiters of children even when there is no pimp or
trafficker involved.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Largest U.S. Hotel Companies Work to Prevent Human Trafficking | Corporate Social Responsibility
http://www.justmeans.com/Largest-U-S-Hotel-Companies-Work-Prevent-Human-Trafficking/58562.html
Source: JustMeans.com
America's largest hospitality companies are training their employees to spot cases of human trafficking at hotels.
Last month, Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, a law that had expired in 2011 which seeks to prevent human trafficking in the United States. The day before the House vote, Governor Matt Mead signed the first anti-trafficking law in Wyoming, making his state the 50th and final U.S. state to illegalize the trafficking of individuals for commercial sex or forced labor.
Americans tend to link human trafficking with other "third world problems" like genocide and famine, but in 2011 there were 4,239 convictions in human trafficking cases across the country. Each year, between 15,000 and 60,000 individuals are brought into the United States and held against their will as victims of human trafficking.
Typical of these cases is the story of Maria, a Filipino woman who paid a large recruitment fee to come to the United States under a guest worker program. Promised housing, transportation and a lucrative job in the hospitality industry, Maria arrived to find no work and squalid living accommodations.
Maria's passport was seized and she was prevented from leaving the house. The recruiters, who were eventually indicted by a grand jury for conspiracy to hold workers in a condition of forced labor, fed Maria and the other captives chicken innards and responded to their complaints with threats of deportation.
Legislative efforts like the ones passed in Wyoming and at the federal level last month have helped curtail the worst of these abuses, but equally important has been the work of hotel companies that are working to prevent trafficking-related crimes on their properties. The United States hospitality industry has coalesced around an effort by ECPAT USA, short for End Child Prostitution and Trafficking, a nonprofit that introduced the Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct in 2004.
Carlson, owner of Radisson Hotels and other chains, was the first U.S. travel and hospitality company to sign "the Code," and has since been joined by the Wyndham Worldwide Corporation, the Real Hospitality Group and Hilton Worldwide, among several other U.S. companies.
"Some girls are tattooed with things like 'Daddy's girl,'" a sign that she may have been branded by her captor, said Brenda Schultz, who oversees Carlson's hotel training program, in an interview with the New York Times. Schultz added that housekeeping staff at Carlson-owned hotels is trained to identify signs of prostitution, like an unusually large number of electronic devices in guest rooms or several condoms in the wastebasket.
Hilton Worldwide, which already supported several ECPAT principles before actually signed the Code in 2011, has training programs at both the leadership and department levels to teach hotel employees to identify and recognize illicit activities and better understand the issues surrounding child trafficking.
The company has also taken it a step further, working with several nonprofit organizations, including the Somaly Man Foundation, Vital Voices and Room to Read, in order "to bring more resources and opportunities to survivors as well as strengthen organizations that are on the frontlines of fighting child sex trafficking," according to Jennifer Silberman, the company's Vice President of Corporate Responsibility.
"We decided to sign the ECPAT Code because it was important for us to support the principles that prevent and mitigate child sex trafficking," Silberman told Justmeans in an email. "We support ECPAT-USA's important mission to protect children from sexual exploitation and to bring greater attention to the issues surrounding child trafficking."
Jami Day directs the corporate responsibility efforts at the Real Hospitality Group, a hotel management company. Day recently emphasized the importance of EPCAT's work in a panel discussion hosted as part of the 2013 United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
"As a leader in the hospitality industry, Real Hospitality Group is proud to use our sphere of influence to do whatever we can to pragmatically impact the issue," said Day, who is a member of the ECPAT Board of Directors. "We are proud to be an ECPAT Code of Conduct signatory, taking a position of protecting those most vulnerable in our communities."
More information about ECPAT USA's work is available at the organization's website.
Image credit: Michael Gray, Flickr
Source: JustMeans.com
Largest U.S. Hotel Companies Work to Prevent Human Trafficking
America's largest hospitality companies are training their employees to spot cases of human trafficking at hotels.Last month, Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, a law that had expired in 2011 which seeks to prevent human trafficking in the United States. The day before the House vote, Governor Matt Mead signed the first anti-trafficking law in Wyoming, making his state the 50th and final U.S. state to illegalize the trafficking of individuals for commercial sex or forced labor.
Americans tend to link human trafficking with other "third world problems" like genocide and famine, but in 2011 there were 4,239 convictions in human trafficking cases across the country. Each year, between 15,000 and 60,000 individuals are brought into the United States and held against their will as victims of human trafficking.
Typical of these cases is the story of Maria, a Filipino woman who paid a large recruitment fee to come to the United States under a guest worker program. Promised housing, transportation and a lucrative job in the hospitality industry, Maria arrived to find no work and squalid living accommodations.
Maria's passport was seized and she was prevented from leaving the house. The recruiters, who were eventually indicted by a grand jury for conspiracy to hold workers in a condition of forced labor, fed Maria and the other captives chicken innards and responded to their complaints with threats of deportation.
Legislative efforts like the ones passed in Wyoming and at the federal level last month have helped curtail the worst of these abuses, but equally important has been the work of hotel companies that are working to prevent trafficking-related crimes on their properties. The United States hospitality industry has coalesced around an effort by ECPAT USA, short for End Child Prostitution and Trafficking, a nonprofit that introduced the Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct in 2004.
Carlson, owner of Radisson Hotels and other chains, was the first U.S. travel and hospitality company to sign "the Code," and has since been joined by the Wyndham Worldwide Corporation, the Real Hospitality Group and Hilton Worldwide, among several other U.S. companies.
"Some girls are tattooed with things like 'Daddy's girl,'" a sign that she may have been branded by her captor, said Brenda Schultz, who oversees Carlson's hotel training program, in an interview with the New York Times. Schultz added that housekeeping staff at Carlson-owned hotels is trained to identify signs of prostitution, like an unusually large number of electronic devices in guest rooms or several condoms in the wastebasket.
Hilton Worldwide, which already supported several ECPAT principles before actually signed the Code in 2011, has training programs at both the leadership and department levels to teach hotel employees to identify and recognize illicit activities and better understand the issues surrounding child trafficking.
The company has also taken it a step further, working with several nonprofit organizations, including the Somaly Man Foundation, Vital Voices and Room to Read, in order "to bring more resources and opportunities to survivors as well as strengthen organizations that are on the frontlines of fighting child sex trafficking," according to Jennifer Silberman, the company's Vice President of Corporate Responsibility.
"We decided to sign the ECPAT Code because it was important for us to support the principles that prevent and mitigate child sex trafficking," Silberman told Justmeans in an email. "We support ECPAT-USA's important mission to protect children from sexual exploitation and to bring greater attention to the issues surrounding child trafficking."
Jami Day directs the corporate responsibility efforts at the Real Hospitality Group, a hotel management company. Day recently emphasized the importance of EPCAT's work in a panel discussion hosted as part of the 2013 United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
"As a leader in the hospitality industry, Real Hospitality Group is proud to use our sphere of influence to do whatever we can to pragmatically impact the issue," said Day, who is a member of the ECPAT Board of Directors. "We are proud to be an ECPAT Code of Conduct signatory, taking a position of protecting those most vulnerable in our communities."
More information about ECPAT USA's work is available at the organization's website.
Image credit: Michael Gray, Flickr
Friday, March 15, 2013
Kimberly Ritter stands up to child sex trafficking in US hotels - CSMonitor.com
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/2013/0315/Kimberly-Ritter-stands-up-to-child-sex-trafficking-in-US-hotels
Source: CSMONITOR.COM
Kimberly Ritter of Nix Conference & Meeting Management will be honored by the FBI for her efforts to protect children from sex trafficking at hotels.
Nix Conference & Meeting Management
Kimberly Ritter discovered that some US hotels harbor a horrifying secret – child sex trafficking. Now she and her employer are urging the hospitality industry to confront the problem.
Source: CSMONITOR.COM
Kimberly Ritter of Nix Conference & Meeting Management will be honored by the FBI for her efforts to protect children from sex trafficking at hotels.
Nix Conference & Meeting Management
Kimberly Ritter discovered that some US hotels harbor a horrifying secret – child sex trafficking. Now she and her employer are urging the hospitality industry to confront the problem.
The first time someone mentioned human trafficking to Kimberly Ritter, she had only a vague idea of what it was. "Isn't that something that happens in third-world countries?" she asked
That was 2008. Today Ms. Ritter might be said to have two careers. On the one hand, she's still a meeting planner, a 20-year veteran of the travel and hospitality industry. But she now expends almost as much energy fighting child sex trafficking.
It all started with Ritter's largest client, the Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph. In her work as a senior account manager at Nix Conference & Meeting Management in St. Louis, Ritter books meeting venues for this group of Roman Catholic nuns. The sisters devote themselves to causes like opposition to the death penalty and the fight to stamp out disposable plastic drinking bottles. Ritter has come to greatly admire their stands, she says.
RECOMMENDED: 3 ways you can combat sex trafficking
But the sisters took her by surprise one day when they talked about an upcoming conference and said that they wanted to stay at a hotel that took a stand against child sex trafficking.
"I have learned so much from the sisters over the years," she says. So she began educating herself on child sex trafficking. What she learned came as a shock.
Ritter discovered that, according to UNICEF, about 1.2 million children are exploited each year in the global child sex trade. The crime falls under the larger heading of human trafficking, one of the fastest-growing illegal businesses on the planet, estimated by the United Nations to have an annual value of $32 billion.
Child sex trafficking – which differs from child prostitution – is part of this and occurs when a minor is tricked into prostitution by force, fraud, or coercion.
But perhaps what was most horrifying to Ritter, as a longtime worker in the hospitality field, was to discover how often US hotels are the venues for such crimes.
"It happens everywhere," Ritter says, and "that includes five-star hotels."
What the Sisters of St. Joseph wanted Ritter to do was to find a hotel for their next conference that had signed on to the standards created by a group called ECPAT (End Child Prostitution and Trafficking) USA. The ECPAT standards ask hotels to take a stand on child sex trafficking by – among other actions – training their employees to look for signs of it and asking all their suppliers to do the same.
Spotting the telltale signs
At hotels, this crime often leaves telltale signs visible to employees. When a third party arranges for a room for a guest, or when a guest shows up without luggage and doesn't spend the night, or when a young girl is dressed inappropriately or seems disoriented or confused – any of these could be signs of child sex trafficking.
But because hotel employees are not trained to recognize the problem or encouraged to report suspicious activity, it may go overlooked.
That's where the training mandated by ECPAT could make a difference.
What Ritter discovered, however, when she began canvassing hotels, was that many were reluctant to take any kind of stand on child sex trafficking. They feared that signing an agreement such as the ECPAT standard was tantamount to acknowledging that such crimes might be taking place in their hotels. Given the extreme public revulsion to the topic, they simply wanted to keep a distance.
As a result, some employees remain remarkably ignorant. (When Ritter surveyed several hotels asking them for their policy on human trafficking, one hotel worker replied: "We maintain and point out the crosswalk in front.")
But finally, Ritter scored a big success. The Millennium Hotel in St. Louis agreed to sign the ECPAT pledge. It did so during a special ceremony in July 2011, while the Sisters of St. Joseph were holding their conference there.
Ritter was initially delighted. But the day after the signing she realized, "That's not enough." In fact, it was just the beginning.
Online photos yield important clues
Ritter's company, Nix, was founded in 1985 by Richard Nix Sr. But today its seven employees are all women. Intrigued by Ritter's campaign, the entire group – led by principals Molly Hackett and Jane Quinn – decided to throw its weight into the fight.
Today Nix continues to work to inform hotel staffs about child sex trafficking and to urge them to sign the agreement. They have also developed standards that meeting planners can sign on to as well. (A letter that individual guests can present to hotels, urging them to sign the ECPAT standards, can be found at http://ecpatusa.org/take-action/promote-the-code/).
One effective gambit for Ritter has been to find images of children available for sex online. (She says that these images are only too easy to locate.) Often these girls are photographed (faces blanked out) in hotel rooms. Ritter studies the photos and can sometimes recognize the hotel, thanks to clues like wallpaper patterns or the view from the window. She then takes the photo to the hotel's managers.
The reaction, she says, is usually one of absolute horror.
Ritter has become an active member of the Human Action Network (of which Ritter is now a vice president and on the board of directors), which works with young women who have been able to flee the sex trade.
RECOMMENDED: Quotes from 10 people who have made a difference
Getting to know these young women is an eye-opener, Ritter says. The notion that most children being trafficked are runaways or come from unstable homes is inaccurate. A fair number, she says, are suburban teens from middle-class families. They have been manipulated in some way by pimps, who are extremely savvy about using a mix of drugs, attention, praise, and threats to bend the girls to their will.
Facebook and the local mall are favorite recruiting grounds. Handsome teenage boys are sometimes hired to make the initial approach.
Once coerced into "the life," it can be hard for a girl to get out, Ritter says. Pimps can be violent and will fight to protect their "assets."
That is why an educated hotel staff is so important. Ritter tells a tale she heard from a young woman who has since freed herself from the trafficking business. She had been brought to a St. Louis hotel for yet another sexual encounter when she decided to break away.
She fled the hotel room, leaving her pimp and the client behind, and ran down the hotel hallway shouting for help. She encountered a maid who spoke no English; not understanding the situation, the maid helped to return the girl to the pimp who was chasing her.
'You've got to keep doing this'
That's exactly the kind of situation in which employee training could have been crucial, Ritter says. In fact, she says, when she told this young woman about the ECPAT agreement, her response was: "You've got to keep doing this. You're going to get such a blessing."
The blessing has come already, Ritter says.
"This has been life-changing for all of us," she says of herself and her colleagues at Nix. "It has created a whole new world for us."
It also has taken the work of the Sisters of St. Joseph to a whole new level.
RECOMMENDED: 3 ways you can combat sex trafficking
"Kimberly realized that as a meeting planner she has a tremendous opportunity to influence hotels," says Sister Patty Johnson, the group's executive director. "She's reaching groups that we could not."
Public recognition is now following as well. In April Ritter will fly to Washington, D.C., to attend a national ceremony at which she will receive a community leadership award from FBI Director Robert Mueller to honor her work in the fight against child sex trafficking.
"Raising awareness goes a long way to preventing sex trafficking or any crime," states Dean C. Bryant, special agent in charge of the FBI St. Louis division, in the press release announcing the event. "By challenging their industry peers to raise awareness, Ms. Ritter and Nix are creating a force multiplier that could eventually have a nationwide impact."
• For more, visit http://ecpatusa.org.
Help protect children
UniversalGiving helps people give to and volunteer for top-performing charitable organizations worldwide. Projects are vetted by Universal Giving; 100 percent of each donation goes directly to the listed cause.
Here are three groups selected by UniversalGiving that support efforts to end child prostitution, abuse, and slavery:
• Children of the Night is working to provide former child prostitutes with a safe place to live. Project: Help pay direct expenses of former child prostitutes.
• Nepal Youth Foundation rescues girls in Nepal from work as child prostitutes and domestic slaves. Project:Rescue a girl from bonded servitude.
• Corazon Roxas Foundation gives educational grants to girls who are victims of abuse, trafficking, or abandonment. Project: Give an educational grant to a disadvantaged girl in the Philippines.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Justice under law for sex-trafficking victims is still beyond reach | WNN – Women News Network
http://womennewsnetwork.net/2013/01/10/justice-under-law-sex-trafficking/
Source: WNN – Women News Network
Source: WNN – Women News Network
Kelly Matheson – WNN Justice
A map from the WomenStats Project shows the countries and regions where women and girls are currently being trafficked. Image: WSP
(WNN/WITNESS) Atlanta, GEORGIA, U.S.: Sexual slavery is now happening inall six United Nations Regional Groups as human traffickers target women and girls. Most from poverty, broken homes and abuse. Because of this they are more vulnerable to manipulation and exploitation by traffickers. This first hand story by Kelly Matheson comes with an important video produced by ‘stop human trafficking’ advocates ECPAT-USA with the online human rights video documentary community site called WITNESS:
While at the convening of the U.S. Human Rights Network last December I did a pre-release screening of a new documentary co-produced by ECPAT-USA and WITNESS. The video, “What I Have Been Through is Not Who I Am,” tells the story of Katrina, a formerly sexually exploited teen who was arrested, when she should have been protected. No one in this small audience could believe that, in the U.S., we jail children who are bought and sold for sex, rationalizing that prison will protect them from their traffickers. Admittedly, when I first heard about this back in August of 2010, I did not believe it either. But we do do this.
In thinking about this reality for exploited children, I asked myself, if I am raped should I be imprisoned to protect me from my rapist? If my domestic partner physically abuses me in my own home, should I be imprisoned to protect me from my domestic partner? The answer is black and white. It’s no. And it’s this very contradiction in laws across the U.S. that the film Not Who I Am addresses and which our partner, ECPAT-USA is working to change.
In the documentary, Katrina, tells the story of being lured into the sex industry while still a teen, and the abuse she suffered from a trafficker who keep her in that life. Her compelling and emotional story takes us from Atlanta to New York City and to Atlanta again, from desperation to recovery and success. Her story illustrates the failure of the criminal justice system to help these youth and call on our state legislatures to stand up and make justice a reality for our country’s exploited children.
Here is Katrina’s story, a story that mirrors that of thousands of young girls and boys in every corner of my country:
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“What I Have Been Through is Not Who I Am” is a documentary exploring “the life” through the eyes of one of child prostitution’s many victims. Experts and legislators way in on what is being done to ensure that prostituted children are not treated as criminals as well as what obstacles still need to be overcome. This heart wrenching documentary is an informative look at the hidden world of commercial sexual exploitation of children and what government, law enforcement, and non-profits are doing to combat it. The trailer (3 mins) is available here: http://youtu.be/j4l7vSUhkew. This video is co-produced by ECPAT-USA and WITNESS.
(Video) Uploaded on Dec 6, 2011 (to youtube)
From http://www.witness.org & http://ecpatusa.org/ | "What I Have Been Through is Not Who I Am" is a documentary exploring "the life" through the eyes of one of child prostitution's many victims. Experts and legislators way in on what is being done to ensure that prostituted children are not treated as criminals as well as what obstacles still need to be overcome. This heart wrenching documentary is an informative look at the hidden world of commercial sexual exploitation of children and what government, law enforcement, and non-profits are doing to combat it.
You can watch the full length film (21 mins) on our partner ECPAT-USA's channel here: http://youtu.be/BmmRTjoL3R0
You can watch the full length film (21 mins) on our partner ECPAT-USA's channel here: http://youtu.be/BmmRTjoL3R0
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Monday, September 10, 2012
Where are the victims? Where are the prosecutions? | ECPAT USA
http://ecpatusa.org/2012/09/where-are-the-victims-where-are-the-prosecutions/?goback=.gde_4165508_member_161090904|
Source: ECPAT USA
Source: ECPAT USA
By: Ron Ratney
For the last several years, ECPAT-USA has been collecting news articles, press releases and, particularly, court documents that identify hotels that have been used as venues for the commercial sexual exploitation of children. By now, about 350 hotel properties have been found. This is by no means a complete enumeration of the hotels that have been used for child sex trafficking. Many of the source documents note that the pimps used one or more hotels but do not identify their names or locations. In some cases, the type of venue is not reported at all. Notable by their absence from the collection are hotels that were used by escort services or outcall dates in which the victim goes to the buyer’s location. Sixty of the hotels were unbranded and not members of any hotel chain. The rest were members of the common hotel chains with all the major chains being represented in the list.
The vast majority of the documents in ECPAT-USA’s collection were written by offices of the US Attorneys in connection with the prosecution of pimps who had been accused of child sex trafficking. The most useful documents were indictments and criminal complaints. Although the documents were initially collected as part of a project to identify specific hotels that were used for child sex trafficking, they also proved to be unique windows into the sadistic violence that pimps inflict on their victims using graphic descriptions that sometimes might not be acceptable in print and on-line media. In order to enforce their will on their victims, pimps tattooed, branded and carved their initials into their victims flesh. Rape, gang rape and violent beatings resulting in broken bones and lost teeth were used commonly. One pimp would attack his victim without provocation and without reason and in at least one case, a pimp caused his victim to abort the fetus that she was carrying. All of this, of course, is in addition to forcing their victims to sell their bodies ten to twenty times a day.
Although the documents in ECPAT-USA’s collection contain a lot of useful information, what is NOT in the collection may be at least as telling. As documents were being reviewed, it became clear that some offices of the US Attorney apparently had not been prosecuting pimps for child sex trafficking. The federal statute covering child sex trafficking is 18 USC 1591 (a). Using the PACER database maintained by the US court system, a search was conducted for all prosecutions of this statute that had been initiated from January 1, 2010 through April 2012. A total of 179 cases were found that had been prosecuted by 43 offices of the US Attorney. There are 94 offices of the US Attorney; 43 of those offices had not initiated any prosecutions of pimps under 18 USC 1591 (a); no data could be found for eight offices. (A list of offices of the US Attorney with the numbers of child sex trafficking cases shown here.) Apart from the offices with no prosecutions, several large districts had remarkably few cases: New York Southern (Manhattan) 3; California North (San Francisco) 1; Pennsylvania Eastern (Philadelphia) 1. Considering that it is estimated that there are about 100,000 children enslaved as prostitutes in the United States, the questions come to mind: “where are the prosecutions?”, “where are the victims?” Of course, it should be pointed out that local and state law enforcement agencies initiate their own prosecutions of pimps and there is no centralized database that would make it possible to count their cases. For instance, Operation Cross Country, a coordinated sweep by local, state and federal agencies that is conducted a few times a year, leads to the arrest of a large number of pimps and the rescue of a smaller number of child victims. Although, the sweeps are coordinated by the US Department of Justice, the resulting prosecutions are usually conducted at the state and local level. It is also important to recognize that the investigations and prosecutions of child sex traffickers are extremely difficult with extensive, detailed cooperation between law enforcement agencies at all levels needed to achieve convictions. Some cases have taken as much as five years from arrest through conviction. Each successful prosecution should be considered to be a triumph in which some of the most evil members of society are removed from circulation. On the other hand it would be a mistake to boast that these successes are making a significant dent in the incidence of child sex trafficking.
The fact that half the offices of the US Attorney are not prosecuting pimps who are exploiting children deserves detailed scrutiny. Available data suggests that child sex trafficking occurs all across the United States. There are more cases in large metropolitan areas but it appears that the incidence (the number of cases per 100,000 population) is similar in cities of all sizes.
Even an informal review of the documents in ECPAT-USA’s collection reveals some other things that are not there.
- Boys: None of the victims in any of the federal cases are boys. It is well known that there are teen-age boys working as prostitutes all across the country although there aren’t even any educated guesses as to their numbers. A study conducted several years ago byJohn Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Center for Court Innovation estimated that a little less than half the children exploited on the streets of New York City were boys. They tend not to work with pimps and they are frequently not apprehended by the police so that they will not be included in the usual criminal justice statistics summaries.
- Outcomes for rescued victims: Documents, particularly news articles, frequently report that victims are returned to their parents or placed in rehabilitation programs, many of which are operated by non-governmental organizations. Very few such organization report publicly on the length of time their clients are in their care, what their programs include, and more importantly what happens to their clients after they have been discharged or leave of their own accord. Victims are usually recruited into the “life” while they are in middle school or high school. When they are finally rescued, they have lost the most important years of their lives. A few weeks of psychological counseling will not prepare them to be reintegrated into society. There are numerous reports that rescued victims return to prostitution, become homeless or institutionalized but there have been few stringently run studies (not advocacy studies) that track victims’ lives after slavery. There are probably better studies on the life outcomes of whales, polar bears, lions and other wild animals than of people who are among the most vulnerable in our society.
About the Author: Ron Ratney is retired and works as a volunteer conducting research in support of ECPAT-USA’s efforts. It turns out that none of his professional career had anything to do with child welfare. He ran across ECPAT-USA through a web site that connects prospective volunteers with NGOs that need help. He started his professional career after he obtained his doctorate in chemistry, first working as a research chemist and then teaching chemistry at the college level. After teaching for 11 years he switched careers and became an industrial hygienist (protecting workers from toxic substances by measuring and controlling exposures, primarily airborne, in the workplace.) He worked for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and was a member of a professional committee that provides recommendations for safe airborne exposures. He lives in Boston with a pet greyhound that was rescued from the race track. His wife died in 2000; he has three children who live in Las Vegas, Connecticut and Jerusalem.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Sabre Joins Fight Against Human Trafficking - MarketWatch
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sabre-joins-fight-against-human-trafficking-2012-05-30
Source: MarketWatch
PRESS RELEASE
May 30, 2012, 8:58 a.m. EDT
Source: MarketWatch
PRESS RELEASE
May 30, 2012, 8:58 a.m. EDT
SOUTHLAKE, Texas, May 30, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Global travel technology company, Sabre Holdings, has joined members of the travel and tourism industry to fight sexual exploitation of children by signing the tourism Code of Conduct (The Code). A tourism-driven initiative to prevent child exploitation, The Code is co-funded by the Swiss Government (SECO) and private sector, and supported by Ending Child Prostitution and Trafficking (ECPAT) International network, with UNICEF and the World Tourism Organization acting as advisory partners.
Sabre is the first travel technology company and the eighth U.S.-based company to sign the Code, which has more than 1000 members worldwide. It joins many of its customers in fighting the sexual exploitation of children including Accor Group, Carlson Group, Delta Air Lines, Hilton Worldwide and Wyndham Worldwide.
"Human trafficking is one of the most lucrative, widespread and fastest growing crimes, and often the travel and tourism industry is an unwilling and unknowing participant used by traffickers. Consequently, we are uniquely positioned to be a driving force in putting an end to these horrific crimes," said Sam Gilliland, CEO and Chairman of Sabre Holdings.
As a member, Sabre will look at ways to condemn child trafficking and exploitation, including providing training to its 10,000 global employees so they are more informed about the issue. It will also explore ways to raise awareness about human trafficking with its airline, hotel, travel agency and corporate customers, as well as directly to travelers who use its online booking tools, Travelocity.com, lastminute.com and Zuji.com.
"We will look at adding useful information about human trafficking to a traveler's e-ticket receipt for example, so they can be better prepared to identify and report potential trafficking incidents. We'll also work with the travel industry and government organizations around the world to shine more light on this issue and encourage them to be part of the solution," said Gilliland.
Human trafficking is estimated to be a US$32 billion trade affecting 161 countries worldwide. Today over 12 million men, women and children are trafficked within and across international borders for commercial sex or forced labor, including in the U.S. where an estimated 100,000 children are forced into the sex trade each year.
"Having a global technology company like Sabre join The Code is an important step forward in child protection. There is great potential to leverage their technology to address exploitation," said Carol Smolenski, Executive Director at ECPAT-USA. "It is also encouraging that they are willing to associate their brand with an organization that works on a difficult issue. Corporations that are willing to take this step have a genuine passion for the industry and the welfare of children, and I hope we continue to find support from more of these altruistic companies."
Demonstrating its immediate commitment to The Code, Sabre has invited the Polaris Project, an organization focused on combating all forms of human trafficking, to educate more than 350 travel agents and technology professionals expected to attend the company's annual Technology and Marketing University event next week in Las Vegas.
Bradley Myles, Executive Director and CEO of Polaris Project, said: "Sabre's passion, expertise and resources add a new dimension to this cause, and it's great to see them already proving a commitment to leverage their resources by having us educate attendees at their Technology and Marketing University event."
The signing of The Code is part of Sabre's broader commitment to global corporate responsibility in areas of travel, tourism and the communities it lives and works in.
About Sabre Holdings: a global travel technology company, serving the world's largest industry -- travel and tourism. We provide software to travel agencies, corporations, travelers, airlines, hotels, car, rail, cruise and tour operator companies through our four businesses: Sabre Airline Solutions, Sabre Hospitality Solutions, Sabre Travel Network and Travelocity (including lastminute.com and Zuji). Sabre has approximately 10,000 employees in 60 countries around the world. It has large development and customer care centers in the United States, Argentina, India, Philippines, Poland and Uruguay. Sabre has won numerous awards for being a top employer and corporate citizen in Argentina, Brazil, India, Mexico, Peru, Poland, and the United States. Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, Sabre is privately owned by Texas Pacific Group (TPG) and Silver Lake Partners. For more information please visit: www.sabre.com
About ECPAT: the U.S. arm of ECPAT International, is focused on protecting children trafficked into the U.S., American children trafficked for sexual exploitation, and foreign children exploited by American tourists traveling abroad. ECPAT International is a global network of organizations working together for the elimination of child trafficking, child prostitution and child pornography. The network is comprised of 81 groups in 74 countries around the world. All ECPAT groups are independent grassroots organizations, working to combat child exploitation at the local level. For more information, visit www.ecpatusa.org .
About Polaris Project: is a leading organization in the United States combating all forms of human trafficking and serving both U.S. citizens and foreign national victims, including men, women, and children, and they operate the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline. For more information, please visit: www.polarisproject.org
Note to Editors
About child sex tourism: Child sex tourism is the commercial sexual exploitation of children by people who travel from one place to another to engage in sexual acts with minors. Often, child sex tourists travel from a richer country to one that is less developed, or they may be travellers within their own countries or region. Some child sex tourists (preferential abusers and paedophiles) target children specifically, but most do not usually have a sexual preference for children; they are situational abusers who unscrupulously take advantage of a situation in which children are made available to them. Child sex tourists take advantage of their anonymity as well as the socio-economic disparities in the locations they visit. They may try to rationalise their actions by claiming sex with a child is culturally acceptable or that money or goods exchanged benefit the child and community, or by setting their own thresholds for defining who is a child (under the CRC, a child is anyone under the age of 18).
SOURCE: Sabre Holdings
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