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How not to end human trafficking

By on January 19, 2013 in blog, Forced Labor, Human Trafficking, Jesse's Personal Viewpoints, Solutions, What you can do

As a human rights advocate I subscribe to just about every social media feed out there to learn what others are doing and how we can do our job better. In the process, I’ve learned quite a bit on how not to end human trafficking. I thought I would share a few of them with you.

Let’s call these the “three pillars of how not to end human trafficking”.

1. Scaring people won’t make caring people

2. Celebrity endorsements are a joke.

3. Stop looking to the government.

 

While these may sound harsh, please allow me a moment to explain.

1. For some reason when people get turned onto human rights or animal rights for that manner, the natural inclination is to inundate their fiends via social media with horrid stories of abuse, frightening statistics and a general alarmist tone. THIS DOES NOT WORK!!!!!

Case in point: The ASPCA and Sarah McLaughlin. By this point we’ve all seen the video and we’ve all felt helpless and sick when we see the pictures and hear the sad sad styling of “eyes of an angel”. The youtube video garners about 300,000 views give or take. Compare that to the great video “Ultimate Dog Tease” which is a clip of a guy messing around with his dog and adding a voice over track to it. At last count that video has 128,358,369 views on youtube. Imagine if the positivity and fun of Dog Tease was combined with the message of the ASPCA. You’ve got a winning combination.

If you want to end human trafficking, don’t focus on all of the horrific aspects of the crime, focus on tangible positive aspects that people can do. During an interview a couple of years ago a gentlemen told me about the concept of “buycot”, not boycot. You tell people to avoid a product and it’s inherently negative, but if you promote a product people are more likely to hear your message. If you want more info, check out our 3ways blog post or New Years Resolution Post on positive things you can share to end human trafficking.

2. Celebrity endorsements are a joke. Ok, I know already that I’ll catch some flack for this but I don’t respect celebrity and I know many others don’t as well. Within the human rights movement I’ve seen celebrity after celebrity lend their names to items only to be trashed sooner or later by some indiscretion. It’s great that they want to be a part of something and testify before congress or make a PSA but the simple fact of the matter is that celebrities aren’t experts in the field and many make their money in some pretty unethical ways. Case in point Jada Pickett Smith who learned about human trafficking through her daughter and the KONY2012 video in the spring and by summer is testifying before congress regarding the passage of an intense and integral piece of human trafficking legislation. If a celebrity is truly serious about human rights issues, where is the ethically made clothing line they endorse, the viral music video about promoting literacy and ending poverty and their continued message of peace and good will. There is a serious difference between wanting one’s name associated with doing good and actually doing good.

If celebrities want to make a difference they should use their status to promote sustainable, ethical and repeatable solutions to making the world a better place; not just lend their name to a cause.

3. Stop looking to the government for leadership and guidance in human rights issues. For some reason the American public has forgotten that we play an inherent role in the government, the formation of policy and the enforcement of laws. Each presentation I do on human trafficking someone naturally asks “why isn’t the government doing anything about human trafficking”? I instantly respond with “if you’re not doing anything to end human trafficking why should the government care”? Slavery in all of its forms is illegal as outlined by the U.S. Constitution and numerous supporting court cases. To respond to the illegalities as outlined, numerous government agencies work on a daily basis to end human trafficking including ICE, HHS and the Department of Labor. In short, the government is doing quite a bit to end human trafficking. We the people need to step up and take some responsibility for our human rights issues and stop looking to the government to do it for us. The government has what, a couple of million employees? The US population is well over 300million, which group of people will have a greater impact if they choose to act?

 

I know that this blog post is a bit more cynical than most of what I write. I’m in a bit of a cynical funk right now after contacting numerous media agencies regarding the 8 missing girls in Youngstown, Ohio. I was told that it really wasn’t a story, or it wasn’t in their coverage area… yeah, who would care about 8 teenage missing girls in 9 months in one city.

So that’s it for now, I’ll try to be less cynical in the coming weeks.

- JB

 

 

 

 

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Explination of our 3ways posts

By on January 13, 2013 in blog, Education, Forced Labor, Human Trafficking, Prevention, Solutions

One of our Imagine Foundation supporters asked us to clarify on our popular 3ways to end human trafficking social media posts.

Here you go:

While many people advocate against sex trafficking, it is only one small part of the whole of human trafficking and one in which human rights advocates participate in the least. So our 3ways postings represent simple ways to act locally to change globally.

Many Ways that you can end human trafficking:

Plant a tomato garden (or any vegetables/produce for that matter): Agriculture is an area known to use both child and forced labor. By producing your own food locally, you are helping to remove the financial incentive growers and agricultural producers have to financially exploit workers. Check out the Coalition of Immokalee Workers for a great organziation striving to remove exploitation in our food stocks.

Drink/eat/buy anything fair trade: The Fair Trade moniker means that the grower/producer recieves a fair wage for their product. This helps to remove the financial incentive involved in exploiting workers. It’s important to note that fair trade does not mean exploitation free, it just represents a way to lower the possibility for exploitation to occur within the product lines. Check out Fair Trade USA to learn more.

Buy from Companies that prescribe to the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act: In 2010, California passed an act that “requires companies to report on specific actions taken to eradicate slavery and human trafficking in their supply chain. Your company must report if it meets these three criteria”:

  1. Your company files its California taxes as a retailer or manufacturer.
  2. Your company does business in California as defined in the California Revenue and Taxation Code.
  3. Your company earns more than $100 million in worldwide gross receipts

Learn more about SB 657, the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act.

Purchase Vintage Jewelry: Gold, precious metals and gemstones are known to use child and forced labor. Everybody watched Leonardo Dicaprio in the movie “Blood Diamond“, and a bunch of people remember KONY2012. These situations exist because we buy the items that allow such exploitation. If we remove the finances that warlords use to enslave and exploit workers, their tyranny folds. By going with vintage jewelry, the bad guys don’t get the money to do future damage.

Don’t buy sex: We’ve got an unhealthy relationship with sex. Now don’t get me wrong, sex is an inherently good thing, but when kids are getting sold to meet customer demand, something is horribly wrong. Commercial sex involves any form of porn, prostitution or stripping/exotic dancing. Sex trafficking is hidden within preexisting commercial sex markets. It is near impossible to tell the difference between a willing consensual prostitute and a scared little girl who’s being forced into it. Now the uneducated commercial sex consumer would say that they could tell if someone was being forced into it and therefore wouldn’t partake. Unfortunately one can’t discern the difference between willing and unwilling partners. Buy removing the financial incentive to exploit others for sex, the system folds and there isn’t sexual exploitation.

Education & Sharing: I’ve been talking about human trafficking for around 5 years now and am constantly amazed by others who say “that’s going on around here”? We have to peacefully pollute the Internet and airways with the information that people need to end human trafficking. Without education, exploitation will flourish.

That’s it for now. I’ll continue to update this and add more as we figure out more easy ways that we can end human trafficking together.

Imagine what’s possible if we just try.

- JB

 

 

 

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10 ways you can end human trafficking in 2013

By on December 13, 2012 in Abolition, Forced Labor, Human Trafficking, Prevention, Solutions

Will you work for others freedoms as others worked for yours?

Here is our list of some easy ways to end human trafficking in the year 2013.

1. Fair trade products whenever possible: Fair Trade products are less likely to use forced or child labor due to the requirements to label fair trade. Also, the producers receive a fair wage for their product so they are more likely to pay employees.

2. Eat local: Food and agriculture are known areas to employ both child and forced labor. The intense agricultural regulations of the US & knowing the grower means that you are less likely to inadvertently eat food produced by slavery.

3. Go Vintage with precious metals & jewelry: Kony 2012 did a great job showcasing the horrors of child soldiers but didn’t talk about where the funding for such small armies come from. Gold, precious metals & diamonds are known to fund human rights violations such as slavery & child soldiers. Vintage products do not support current or future exploitation. There’s no such thing as a used diamond.

4. Grow a garden: For the same reasons as #2, growing your own garden helps to end the burden for profit in commercial agriculture, lessening the need for low cost and potentially exploitable workers.

5. Stop looking at porn: I know, sounds like we’re up on a soap box here but porn promotes the oppression and objectification of women which eventually leads to sex trafficking. Additionally, many Eastern European countries have lax or no laws against child pornography.

6. Promote literacy to kids: Human trafficking is directly related to the inequality faced by the have’s and have not’s. One of the major reasons traffickers get into the game is lack of other viable forms of income, victims are taken advantage of due to lack of education. Care about human rights? Teach kids & give them an economic future through education.

7. Good clothing choices: Check the labels on your clothing, buy items made in the US and from companies who clearly outline in their social responsibility statements that they use no forced or child labor.

8. Quit buying illegal drugs: Many view drugs as a victimless crime, they’re not. They just transfer the victims to an area far away, the murders in Mexico are a direct result of the US’s drug habit. Drug lords are known to traffick victims for sex & use child soldiers to protect their wares. End their funding, end the crime.

9. Donate social media posts to equality: Let’s be honest here, many of us are trolls on the internet. Share messages of equality & hope, post an NGO’s positive uplifting work, give the oppressed a voice.

10. Play matchmaker: This one may be hard to handle, but help guys meet girls. The few instances of reputable interviews with John’s (people who purchase commercial sex) talk about the intense loneliness they feel. If you help people meet people & develop a social life, they are less likely to purchase commercial sex. If they are less likely to purchase commercial sex, traffickers won’t have financial incentive to exploit others. ( I know this one may be controversial)

 

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Don’t lose sight of the positives

By on August 23, 2012 in Human Trafficking, Jesse's Personal Viewpoints, Slavery, Solutions, What you can do

I wake up every morning to fight losing battles. It’s not a negative statement, it’s just the truth. No matter how hard I try, work & struggle there is no way that I will see the complete ending of slavery and the implementation of equality and human rights in my lifetime. I will lose in this but that doesn’t mean that I’ll give up or even consider slowing down.

As a human rights/human trafficking advocate it’s really easy to get swallowed up by the darkness and lose sight of the positives in the world.

I’ve found that many organizations and individuals focus on the problem by using alarming statistics or figures or imagery. It’s a ploy to almost shame a person into caring. Each time I see something like this I usually tune out and completely miss their message. Trying to get people involved through fear or anger is easy but it’s not sustainable. Generally speaking people don’t like to live in a constant state of fear or alarm.

If you really want to get people involved, show them the positive side of the work. Show someone how powerful they are to enact meaningful change. Show a person that they can truly make a difference and they will pick up that cause as their own and continue on. Eventually working within that cause won’t be something that they just “do”, it will be something that they become.

If we truly want to enact meaningful change in our lifetimes, leaders will have to look past the problems to see the solutions. Empowered, educated, economically sound, caring people are the solution.

We are the solution.

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Traffickers & Johns

By on April 28, 2012 in Abolition, Domestic Trafficking, Education, Human Trafficking, Prevention, Solutions, The Cleveland Freedom Center

Human Trafficking advocates are very victim centered as we should be, but we also need to expand into johns & traffickers as well.

Traffickers don’t just wake up one day and say “hey… I really want to start selling people today”. There is some untold journey there that takes a person and shapes them into a monster.

Johns don’t just decide that they want to buy time with a 13 year old girl, there’s something that we’re missing.

Traffickers exist due to economic disparities, we know that. Human trafficking isn’t a crime of anger or hatred it’s money and that’s well documented. A sex-trafficker can pull down close to a half million a year if they are good & don’t get caught. To work with traffickers or potential traffickers they need to be given other viable educational and economic alternatives to deter them away from selling people. Sure our political rhetoric now surrounds locking up people & throwing away the key; but that’s not financially or ethically sound thinking. We have the largest incarcerated population in the world, locking people up is not working.

From the johns perspective our social and historical culture objectifies women. For the Johns they are lacking in their lives in some way and our cultural objectification of women, they believe justifies their behavior. No John would allow someone to pay for sleeping with his or her mother or daughter ( I would hope) but due to to the Pretty Woman effect Johns; view prostitutes/trafficked victims as willing or needing their financial help. Some communities have John Schools or shame Johns into submission by publicizing their pics on billboards or newpapers; this isn’t working either. Johns exist because they are lonely, can’t control their physical desires and have little or nothing to actively contribute to.

As we discuss the victim centered approach of dealing with sex trafficking we must remember that it’s a triangle, supported with traffickers, johns and victims holding each corner. All three must have interventions if we expect any substantial results.

These thoughts that I’ve been blogging about recently surround The Cleveland Freedom Center, a prevention center that aims to tackle the causes of human trafficking in conjunction with the effects. It’s a model that if proved successful could be duplicated on a large scale. Unfortunately it’s also a model that doesn’t exist yet, we’re working on that though.

 

 

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Cause & Effect

By on April 10, 2012 in Education, Human Trafficking, Jesse's Personal Viewpoints, Project SAFE, Solutions

I won’t comment on my viewpoints on Ohio’s governor. This blog isn’t a place to be remotely political. The political arena is not a place to debate human rights. There is no debate. Human trafficking is wrong. It is a violation of the very principles of human existence. With that being said I am proud of Kasich, Ohio’s Governor and his new fight against human trafficking.

I will say that I am concerned about his approach. His viewpoint is to lock up the offenders and throw away the key. Nowhere in any of his speeches does he talk about trafficking survivors services, safe houses, medical treatment or trafficking prevention programs. His rhetoric is one of reacting to human trafficking. I hope that we are proactive towards human trafficking.

We often compare things to cause & effect. Americans (myself included) are focused on effect. What actually happens. We look at the little girl who has been sold and our heart just breaks. We want to imprison the monster who did this to her. We want him to be jailed forever and to never see the light of day again.

Unfortunately that viewpoint does nothing to bring down the system of human trafficking. We have one of the largest prison populations in the world. We spend more on incarcerating each individual than on educating that same individual. If there is one thing we learned over the past twenty years, prison is not a deterrent. Locking up someone and throwing away the key does nothing to stop the crime. It is a punitive system rather than a preventative one.

So about this time I’m accused of being soft on crime. No, I’m realistic about crime. If we really want to stop human trafficking we shouldn’t just look at the effects of this heinous act; we need to look at the causes.

Trafficking exists because of economic and educational disparities.

Traffickers get into this business because there is quick money to be made, and a lot of it. But they also get into illegal enterprise as many of them have no other option ( more on this in a future blog). People need to be able to support themselves if they can’t they will turn to crime. Traffickers also get into this as schools have failed them. They were never taught about effective ways to legally earn a living. They were never taught about human rights, self respect or self efficacy. They were never taught.

Trafficking victims were never taught about the possibilities of human trafficking in school. This is the third largest crime worldwide, students are taught about guns and drugs but mums the word on slavery. Most believe that it ended with the final shot of the civil war.

So as we talk about locking up the perps and throwing away the key., we also need to include long term education, socialization and rehabilitation for both victim and trafficker. We also need to put in place large scale educational programs giving students the skills they need to avoid such situations; both in terms of trafficker and victim.

The key to ending human trafficking long term isn’t a dramatic speech on a podium surrounded by law enforcement; threating traffickers. The key to ending human trafficking is to view the entire system as one of cause and effect.

To end the effect, counteract the causes. Never fixate on the problem, focus on the solution.

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Who are traffickers?

By on March 28, 2012 in Education, Human Trafficking, Slavery

My blogging is often human trafficking survivor centered as it should be. These people are put through hell and if they make it through deserve the very best re-start to their life (unfortunately they’re not getting it yet but that’s a blog entry for another day).

Today I want to write about traffickers, the people who sell other people.

I’ve seen them work, seen them sell people. I’ve talked to them.

It’s a difficult concept to stomach, speaking with someone like that. It’s a concept so foreign to us, talking to the enemy.

We have this built up idea in our heads that traffickers get into the slavery business because they somehow hate people, that they somehow like inflicting pain on others.

This isn’t true, traffickers get into this business to make money and there is lots of money to be made.

Siddhartha Kara outlines in his book that a sex trafficker can pull in around $600k per year. It’s a sobering statistic.

Current research indicates that many street gangs and organized crime syndicates are incorporating human trafficking in their illicit money making enterprises. Guns and drugs can only be sold once where people can be sold again and again. From a legal perspective there are dozens of officers on gun and drug task forces and very few investigating human trafficking.

The traffickers I’ve interviewed are fairly intelligent as well. They set up their operations along the highways and have police scanner apps on their cell phones. They hear if law enforcement is making a move and can be out of a cities jurisdiction in minutes.

So how do we stop human traffickers?

Human trafficking and slavery exist because of educational and economic disparities. This is applicable for both victim/survivor and trafficker.

There are many people working to prevent individuals from falling prey to traffickers, I don’t know of any working to prevent at-risk individuals from becoming traffickers themselves.

As we are involved in discussion in ending human trafficking we also need to consider preventative measures to educate, socialize and rehabilitate the person who will become the trafficker.

 

 

 

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Follow the path

By on March 12, 2012 in Abolition, Child Slavery, Human Trafficking, Jesse's Personal Viewpoints, What you can do

Even on your worst day, you are someones best hope for freedom.

Fighting human trafficking can be exhausting and awful, terrifying and horrid. Sometimes it feels like you’re fighting a losing battle.  I know the feeling.

I know what it’s like to go to bed wishing you could do more and waking up knowing that you’re going to try and try and try and barely get anywhere today.

I know what it’s like to hope for the future and to pray to reach that one person, to free that one soul.

I know what it’s like to feel like you’re completely isolated, that nobody is listening or cares or is willing to work for the freedom of others.

You’re not alone.

Just by reading this you are a part of something bigger than yourself. You are part of a freedom movement. It may feel like you’re not getting anywhere, but believe me; together we are.

Years ago human trafficking wasn’t even a term, now people are talking.

Keep doing what you’re doing, keep living your passion. Keep working for freedom.

After all, it’s not about us is it? It’s about them.

Even on your worst day, you are someones best hope for freedom.

 

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Why?

By on March 11, 2012 in Domestic Trafficking, Education, Forced Labor, Human Trafficking, Slavery, Solutions, What you can do

Slavery and human trafficking exist because of disparities in economic and educational conditions. Far too often we equate slavery with hatred or race, gender or sex. People are exploited because there is money to be made.

Prevention is fairly simple (on paper) but will take a lifetime to implement.

1. Educate those who are at-risk of exploitation.

If individuals are educated about the warning signs of human trafficking they will be less likely to fall prey to it this includes those trafficked for sex, labor, child soldiers organ trafficking etc. However the issue of voluntary prostitution turned human trafficking  and workers forced to labor still linger on. If we can give voluntary prostitutes (who may be at risk to fall into trafficking situations), commercial sex workers and those at-risk of trafficking situations viable economic alternatives i.e. job training and retraining, high school, ged, college; they will have other forms of viable income.

2.  Remove the profit for traffickers.

It’s accepted that the average sex-trafficker pulls in about $600 grand a year with a stable of girls. It’s going to be very difficult to dry up the demand for sex but it is possible to make their business difficult in training hotel/motel workers to report and spread awareness among the johns that they may be purchasing forced sex. In the labor market, generating awareness among consumers that their purchases and lifestyle may be directly responsible for the enslavement of others could help to dry up the profits for the labor traffickers. If the profits are minimized, traffickers will seek easier money.

These aren’t finished answers yet, they will be works in progress to be accomplished during our lifetimes. I know though that these thoughts represent a start, one that will someday come to fruition.

Imagine what’s possible if we just try.

 

 

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Change

By on January 16, 2012 in Abolition, Human Trafficking, Jesse's Personal Viewpoints, Solutions, What you can do

She’s about 16 and she works the streets near a coffee shop I frequent. I’ve seen her out a number of times, it’s heartbreaking. To people just going about their business she looks like a typical teenager, one that dresses a little too old for her age. Very few people pay attention when the car pulls up and she gets in only to return  a couple of hours later.

This work isn’t always rewarding or satisfying. It’s hard. Like waking up every morning just to fight losing battles. Months and months of planning for one small step. One small change.

Jerry Garcia (yes that Jerry Garcia) once said “somebody has to do something, and it’s just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us”. I always chuckle when I think of that.

It’s true, the change isn’t going to come from the rich or the powerful. It’s not going to come from the lawmakers or the politicians or the famous.

The change is going to come from us, the average. The millions of people who daily get up, clock in, clock out and then go home. We represent the change. The mediocre represent the best possible solution for freedom and human rights and that is truly amazing.

For the first time in history it’s not the kings or the queens, the presidents or the titans of industry; it’s us!

Together we are a powerful force, once we realize it. Together we can truly accomplish anything if we just try.

Together we can stand and state once and for all that we will no longer tolerate the abuse and exploitation of our brothers and sisters. We will no longer accept the sale of our sons and daughters. We can stand together and be the change.

The change we always talk about in bars and restaurants, churches, temples and synagogues. The change that so many of us look to the government for. The change that we expect from our employers or celebrities. We are the change, not them.

I keep going to that coffee shop and meeting with people who are beginning down their own path, their path to change. Their path to hope and freedom. I keep seeing that young girl sold on the streets and someday know that the change will reach her. That her life will no longer be valued in flesh and money but in hope and contribution.

The change is coming, hope is coming. The only question is if you’re going to be a part of it or if you’re just going to watch.

Imagine what’s possible if we just try.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thank you Cleveland Scene

By on December 30, 2011 in Domestic Trafficking, Forced Labor, Human Trafficking, Prevention, Solutions, The Cleveland backpage report

Many thanks to Cleveland Scene magazine & Maude Campbell for including us in their coverage of human trafficking in N.E. Ohio. We do however publicly call on Scene to remove it’s advertisements for commercial sex & end it’s affiliation with backpage.com

These articles are a start. Hopefully soon the Scene will help to lead the way to ensure human rights & end human trafficking in N.E. Ohio.

Thanks Cleveland Scene.

 

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When one is enslaved.

By on November 9, 2011 in Education, Human Trafficking, Slavery

Our differences are vast but we are all brothers and sisters in humanity.

We have been endowed by our creator (be it a physical, metaphysical or just plain old universal chance) with certain inalienable rights; among those are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

It seems every now and again we lose focus, caught up in our differences. It’s time to re-evaluate and base our relationships on similarities.

Christianity: Isaiah 61.1 : The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound

Judaism: Leviticus 25:42: For they are my servants whom I took out of the land of Egypt;they shall not be sold as slaves.

Islam: Sura 90.13: Ah, what will convey unto thee what the Ascent is! It is to free a slave and to feed in the day of hunger.

Hindu mantra: Lokah Samastah Sukino Bhavantu: May all beings everywhere be happy and free

Buddhist Precepts: Right Livelihood, Right Action: Brute Force, no matter how strongly applied can never subdue the basic human desire for freedom HHDL

 

Paul Mccartney stated “I worry that religions start wars”

Today I worry that religions don’t stop them.

As of today up to 27 million are enslaved, that represents roughly 1 in every 350 people.

Imagine if for just one day, everyone claiming religious affiliation stood up and said “No”! We will no longer tolerate the sale of our brothers and sisters. Regardless of their skin color, or gender; putting aside their religion or political affiliations we are bound by humanity and have a basic human responsibility to free them from captivity.

Unfortunately that day isn’t today. But it will come.

When one is enslaved, we all are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Kudos to Reddit

By on October 22, 2011 in Domestic Trafficking, Human Trafficking, The Cleveland backpage report

The other day I blogged about the “jailbait” section of Reddit & how it allowed individuals to make sexual comments and post provocative pictures of children.

Reddit has stepped up and set an example for the internet. They censored the “jailbait” section. 

We thank Reddit & the internet community at large for their responsibility & attentiveness regarding this matter.

Now if only Backpage.com would follow their lead. Currently 46 state attorney generals are calling for backpage to censor itself over human trafficking alligations within their website.

 

 

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October 1st. The Cleveland Backpage Report

By on October 1, 2011 in Abolition, Child Slavery, Domestic Trafficking, Human Trafficking, Slavery, The Cleveland backpage report

I hope today that thousands of individuals are reading this blog entry. Today we have released The Cleveland Backpage report. An investigation into online commercial sex and human trafficking in Northeast Ohio.

Human Trafficking is the act of delivering an individual into one of the many forms of slavery. In this case, sex slavery. This is different that prostitution (which is still illegal in Ohio) in that the person is forced to perform sexual activities for the profit of another.

We can definitively state that the website Cleveland.backpage.com is profiting from an illicit activity (commercial sex) and at most may be a vessel for human trafficking to take place. We can also state that a group of 46 State Attorney Generals are calling for it to immediately cease and desist it’s advertisements for commercial sex.

We can also state that some of the most wealthy and influential Northeastern Ohio suburbs are involved with an inordinate amount of commercial sex advertisements that may meet the criteria for human trafficking.

According to our data, areas of concern are as follows:

The Hotels/Motels surrounding Cleveland Hopkins airport.

The Hotels/Motels surrounding the intersection of I-77 and I-480 in Independence

The Hotels/Motels surrounding the intersection of I-271 and Chagrin in Beachwood

The Hotels/Motels surrounding the off ramps of I-271 and I-90 in Mentor, Euclid and Willoughby

We publicly call on all residents of Northeast Ohio to take this seriously and to work to prevent the sale of women and children in our communities. This report represents a first step in Northeast Ohio working to end human trafficking and declare itself Slave Free.

Please read The Cleveland Backpage Report to learn what you can do as an individual and what we can do as a community to ensure the safety of our women and children.

 

 

 

 

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The truth hurts

By on September 27, 2011 in blog, Human Trafficking, The Cleveland backpage report

The Cleveland Backpage report launches on October 1st. It’s our first public study (Thank you to Operation Broken Silence for co-authoring) and we’re very proud of all the work that went into it. I only wish that it wasn’t necessary.

Backpage.com owned by Village Voice media is at a minimum profiting from illegal enterprises (commercial sex) and at the most may be a vessel for human trafficking to take place. I’m not even asking you to take my word for it, listen to a consortium of State Attorney Generals . Backpage responds with freedom of speech and internet censorship, never mentioning that at a minimum they are profiting from an illegeal enterprise (prostitution) and at most may be a vessel for modern day slavery to take place. Just fyi, they’re making about 2 million/month for hosting the advertisements the State Attorney Generals are calling for them to censor.

We spent three months investigating the commercial sex advertisements on Cleveland.backpage.com to see if there were patterns, to learn what was really going on. Unfortunately we found human trafficking. We also found that there were an unusually high number of commercial sex advertisements coming out of some unexpected places in Northeast Ohio.

For the last 6 months we have been quietly compiling data, researching and writing. The day has come to be loud. Our children are being sold, our sisters, our aunts our women and girls are subject to being sold for sex and a major media corporation is profiting from it.

The time has come for it to stop.

I am asking for your help. On Saturday at noon our study goes public on our website. Share it, spread it, read it etc… It has to go viral. Make sure that it can’t get buried. We’re about to take on a media giant who buys ink by the barrel and accepts that part of their paycheck comes from the suffering of women and children.

To show the severity of the situation, please watch our video “The Cleveland Backpage Report” this is just one of the stories we uncovered during our research. Imagine all of the stories we weren’t able to catch.

This isn’t the end. It’s only the beginning.

We now know what to look for and where, who’s doing this and where they’re doing it. How much they’re charging and who’s profiting.

The truth hurts, but now that we know that there is truly a problem, we can take effective steps to stop it.

 

Backpage.com profits from the sale of women and children

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Labor Day

By on September 5, 2011 in Abolition, Domestic Trafficking, Events, Forced Labor, Human Trafficking

Today we celebrate American Labor and the American worker. According to the Department of Labor, one of the founders, The Carpenters & Joiners union declared that Labor day was to celebrate “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold”.

We flock in droves to the airshows and carnivals, the street fairs and family picnics; but one group is still forgotten.

The people who are forced to labor, even today. The American Slave.

Around the country women and children are being victimized sexually, migrant workers are being coerced and abused in horrific farming situations, mail order brides are being smuggled into the country only to find themselves in situations they didn’t agree to. In the streets of inner-cities drug addicted youth are being forced to carry guns and kill to protect those who have beaten them into the very life they are afraid to leave.

I don’t mean to be a downer, today I’ll enjoy Labor day with the rest of everyone else.

Remember though that someone in the past worked very hard to give you your rights and freedoms. Someone worked to give you this day off.

Pay that favor forward and work for someone else as well.

Help to end human trafficking and slavery.

Will you work for others freedoms as others worked for yours?

 

 

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Prevention is key

By on August 28, 2011 in Human Trafficking, Solutions

There are great atrocities going on around the world, one of the worst is human trafficking and slavery. So many think that it’s just an overseas problem, but it’s happening right in our own backyard. It’s estimated that there are appx. 100,000 children at-risk of being sexually exploited. There are no accurate representations of the abusive exploitations of migrant workers, people smuggled in or of-age people enslaved in the U.S.

I’ve been struggling lately with the solutions, it’s hard to think of easy ways to end a system that has been following us throughout human history.

I find myself constantly coming back to literacy and education.

If a person can read, anything is possible

The problem lies in the accessibility and availability of a decent education. Even though our country guarantees access to education doesn’t mean that it’s available and equal for all.

 

 

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Names, never forgotten.

By on August 24, 2011 in Abolition, Human Trafficking, Jesse's Personal Viewpoints, Slavery

Their names teach us a valuable lesson

 

 

So why do we even care about slavery, I mean at least it’s not us right?

Or is it?

Slavery and human trafficking is the most horrific human rights violation in history and it’s going on right around us right now. Talking to most people, they have no clue that it’s even happening.

Recently I got to go to the National Underground Railroad Museum & Freedom Center. In the far end of the room, unassuming and under-visited was this slab of wood. It contains the names of slaves, listed as property in John Anderson’s will.

During their life they were abused and forgotten, treated like animals and discarded when they died. Today their names are a testament to what is right in the world, freedom.

They teach us a valuable lesson, a century after they lived. People aren’t property, they aren’t statistics, they’re not a cause; they’re us.

When one of us are enslaved we all are.

When one suffers we all do.

When one turns their head in indifference and apathy, we all do.

 

 

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It’s hard to hear

By on August 12, 2011 in Human Trafficking, Jesse's Personal Viewpoints, Project SAFE, Slavery, What you can do

Recently we had a booth at a local event and a gentleman came up and started reading our information. He didn’t know that human trafficking and slavery still existed. He stepped back for a moment when he read the reports regarding Ohio.

Awareness is the first step, but it’s not the only step. In order to make the situation right, we must commit ourselves to figuring out the solutions.

We’re working on this report about human trafficking in N.E. Ohio and it seems that the areas with the largest probabilities of human trafficking also have some of the largest concentrations of school age children.

Solution #1: Protect our kids.

Our schools are vulnerable and we need to correct that. Every school in N.E. Ohio needs to be equipped with the information to identify and assist a child victims of human trafficking.

We’re going to call it Project Safe: Save adolescents from exploitation.

The goal is to equip every school in our area with a 20 minute dvd outlining what they can do and a binder of information to do the same.

Right now we don’t have funding, but hopefully soon that will change.

Our children are the future and they must be protected.

There are problems in the world, but there are also solutions.

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A Delicate Balance

By on August 10, 2011 in Forced Labor, Human Trafficking, Jesse's Personal Viewpoints

It’s a delicate balance in what is acceptable to talk about within the harsh realities of human trafficking and slavery. Right now I’m reading a book regarding regarding the illicit trade in human organs. At first everybody thinks of the old urban legend about the guy waking up in the bathtub filled with ice, but this stuff is real. They’ve addressed it in governmental sub-committees.

What the research is suggesting is that oppressive governments illegally arrest people on a trumped up charge. While in jail they force them to work, making products for export sold by the state or a third party which gives a kickback to the state. The prisoner is executed when another third party harvests their organs for transplant, again kicking back money to the state or party members.

This one is rough for me to handle. I’m going to look for more proof and if I find it I’ll report out on it.

 

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