What is sex trafficking?

Sex trafficking is modern day slavery in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion.  It is estimated that just over 50% of the victims of sex trafficking are minors. The average age of entry in the trade is 12-14 years old.  The average victim trafficked is forced to service between 20-40 clients per day.

Sex trafficking is present in many countries all over the world, as well as in all 50 states.  It is very difficult to give an accurate number of people currently enslaved in the world; The estimated number is 27 million people worldwide. It has been published that every 30 seconds a person is trafficked worldwide.

Although the majority of people trafficked are women and children, there is no consistent face of a victim. This happens to people of all different social statuses, classes, and nationalities.

There is also no consistent face of a trafficker. There is a wide range of operations in trafficking. This includes, individual pimps, small ring operations, even large business like operations.  Most often, they are loose knit decentralized criminal networks.

There are many ways in which a person is trafficked. Traffickers recruit women and children through a variety of deceptive means. One typical situation is promises of employment to people in less than favorable life situations. This happens here in the United States and overseas. Most frequently in the U.S the victims are teen runaways or illegal immigrants. Overseas, the victim is typically a person who is desperate to provide for their family. They are transported to another country, promised a job and all identification documents are taken from them. The perpetrators prey on people in vulnerable life situations and sometimes take months to gain the trust of the victim. Usually, they pose as a love interest, other times befriending them.

Who is doing something about it?

The current federal law in place again trafficking is the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. It was originally introduced in 2000 but has been reauthorized with modifications in 2002 and 2005. It has reintroduced for 2011 and on October 13, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the TVPRA by a vote of 12-6. The Senate bill is now ready to be voted on by the full Senate.  This law authorizes the annual Trafficking in person report and established a global minimum stand of confronting trafficking.  In this U.S the TVPRA established trafficking as a federal crime. This act also requires assistance be provided for victims and visa protection be granted for victims trafficked across international borders.

Each state has different laws, for Virginia in specific there are no laws that are specific regarding trafficking. There is a statue for abduction and in 2010 that statue was expanded. The expansion included abduction for the purpose of subjecting the person to forced labor or services and raising penalties for pimping.

House Bill 1898 passed in 2011, changing the penalty for any person who abducts a minor with the purpose of prostitution or manufacturing porn to a class 2 felony. The bill also provides that any person who receives any money on account of causing any person to engage in forced labor, prostitution, or the manufacture of child pornography is guilty of a Class 4 felony.

HB 2190 also passed in 2011. This bill is for victims of trafficking to received services from the department of social services. This would require that the commonwealth DSS would provide service for the victims to which they may be entitled to.  This bill also require that education and training programs be made to increase awareness of trafficking and services available to victims.  Also, this bill provides assistance for victims to return to their place of origin if they desire.

What can you do about it?

Step 1: Prayer. Gather a group of friends, church groups, or even individuals. We all know the powerful impact of prayer. The victims need prayer for hope and restoration. A big need is also prayer for the “johns” and their spiritual healing. After all, we know this is a spiritual battle.

Step 2: Awareness. There are many organizations that are in need of your help. Each of us have a gift from God and it is important that we use that good to fight in this battle against injustice.

Step 3: Giving.  We all have something to give; this could me prayer, hope,  time to volunteer, or monetary gifts.

There have been great strides in the past few years to the problem of human trafficking in Virginia, but there is still much progress to be made. There are many grassroots organizations in need of community assistance and volunteers.

If you would like to get further involved in this cause or want to learn more, please contact International Justice Mission, Regent University.

-IJM meets monthly to raise awareness and educate the community of the problem and how to be a part of solution. This includes students and citizens of Hampton Roads.

ijm@regent.edu

www.regentijm.wordpress.com

For anyone that knows me, it is common knowledge that I served 5 years in the United States Navy. During this time, I had the amazing opportunity to visit 5 continents while serving.  Although I have been all over the world in many different countries, I have barley explored my own continent, the United States.

Recently, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to New York City.  This trip was filled with many first time experiences for me.

A good friend of mine is a fabulous clothing designer, not only is her product amazing but she too fights injustice. Her company is called Elegantees, the marriage between Elegant and T-shirts. Katie makes comfortable, affordable and versatile tops that are suitable for all body types, ages, and styles.

Katie makes modest, fashionable clothing to fight again sex trafficking. Elegantees is a growing business,  soon all profits from sales will go towards the fight against injustice. Even though it is only about one year old, this company is being noticed and supported by many. The short term goal of Katie and the Elegantees team is to travel to Nepal and set up sustainable sewing employment for women rescued from sex trafficking. In Nepal, they will be teaming up with the Nepali Rescue Project. This amazing twenty year old organization rescues thousands of women each year from dark world of sex trafficking.

While in NYC, I was not only able to see her new line, I actually walked in her fall fashion show.  What an amazing experience! I met many amazing women, supported a great cause, and even explored the big apple for the first time.

This experience was terrifying for me, I have never traveled alone. Even in the military, you must always have three people when traveling. I took a bus, which was also a first. I traveled on the subway alone, but did not get lost (surprisingly).  I even spent an entire day exploring the city alone, total self reliance. I had no plan, I just had little bit of money, my cell phone, and a subway pass.

The one site I really wanted to see was the 9-11 memorial. Not just because I am a Veteran, but because I am an American. Even for those who were not affected directly, it changed history, and our country.  The museum was beautiful; there were pictures of the victims from wall to wall. What hit me the most was the wall of missing posters. Initially, they were missing people until they were found in the collapsed building.  I just couldn’t imagine experiencing that. There were books of little notes different visitors to the museum wrote.  I found it wonderful that they notes were written in all different languages from people all around the world. They all supported American, they were all affected, and they were sharing love and support to the families left behind. This was simply beautiful to me.

During my trip, I saw the Wall Street protesters. Without getting into my personal opinion on their protest, I did want to talk to some people. I wanted to understand. Why are you here? Why are over 1000 people living in this small park with music and signs? I listened, which honestly is all they want. These citizens just want someone to listen, someone to care, and someone to understand. I do understand; I hope that the people they are trying to reach do too.  I admire their compassion and their dedication. I do not know many people that would live in the park to take a stand on any cause.

My first trip to NYC was not just about a fashion show, or even the cause that God has placed on my heart. This trip was about fear; the good kind of fear. The kind that makes you grow and teaches you to trust yourself. I knew that it wouldn’t be easy to make this trip; I struggled with the decision in so many ways. I knew I needed to go, and I am so glad that I did. I made new friendships, strengthened others, showed Gods love, and became more confidence In myself. I would most definitely call that a success  three days.