Traffick Free

What Does Demand Have to Do with Human Trafficking? Part 1 of 2

Posted June 14, 2013 in:


Photo Courtesy of Jaclyn Simpson Photography

Oftentimes, engaging in a conversation about the issue of human trafficking is not easy. Especially when statistics are usually best estimates based on educated aggregation of data, only so much can be communicated in a short amount of time, and this crime is one of the most hidden in society.

After our 2013 Freedom Forum in May, we received a very passionate inquiry of disbelief that housing and social services did not actually reduce the number of victims of sex trafficking. As we dialogued about the need to address the demand side of human trafficking, we realized that perhaps this was a greater question you may have as well. So here is Part 1 of 2 of our answer. Check back in next week for Part 2...

Since you asked about Chicago specifically, let us first point you to the cases that have broken in Chicago. Since the media has been covering the topic increasingly better over the years, it is not hard to do an internet search of Chicago cases - namely Operation Little Girl Lost which broke in August 2010 and resulted in the arrest of 9 gang members. A case like this is essential in looking at how we fight human trafficking, specifically sex trafficking, in Chicago. While we would love to focus efforts on just rescuing those enslaved, that approach is inefficient. You cannot separate the issue of supply (those enslaved) and the demand (johns and pimps). Most of the victims we see in Chicago have been emotionally manipulated and even if they are "rescued," they likely run away and go back to their pimp.

Is it likely that if we just focused on rescuing girls that pimps would just continue to recruit more victims? Yes. Keep in mind, however, these pimps are running a business and when you run a business, you don't wait for inventory to be low to restock; you make sure you're always stocked. Many times, they have colleagues or a "bottom bitch" constantly recruiting.

So we don't just focus on rescuing those enslaved. Catching, arresting and prosecuting johns and pimps go hand in hand with social services. Going after demand is the only way to actually reduce the number of victims and I'm really proud to work in a city, county and state that has done this well thus far.

To address a specific question you had about whether johns ask for trafficked girls - no, this does not happen. Part of the fantasy of purchasing sex is that these johns are paying for the guise that the victims want to be with them. This is part of the drive for demand - if johns knew that what they were paying for was actually against the victim's will, that would decrease the drive. So, instead, girls are forced to fake excitement and lie about their age if they are under 18. That's why our education includes talking to men specifically about what they are paying for if they purchase sex, go to a "gentleman's club," or watch porn. Educating men that they are actually paying to rape someone goes a long way.

by:  Laura Ng, Executive DIrector

Freedom Forum 2013

Posted May 9, 2013 in:

 

 

Traffick Free hosts our annual Freedom Forum featuring a panel of experts in the area of housing and social services. Today, there are less than 600 beds in the entire United States and an estimated 16,000-25,000 victims of human trafficking in Chicagoland alone. You do the math. The need for housing and social services for survivors is significant. This Freedom Forum will showcase leaders in Chicago who specialize in meeting this need in the areas of homelessness and trafficking. 

A classical guitar performance by Jeff Ganim, light appetizers from Overflow Coffee Bar (1550 South State Street, Chicago, IL) and fair trade wine donated by Lemon Creek Winery (Berrien Springs, MI) will be served and a number of our partners (like WAR International - Naperville) will be involved at this event. $15 suggested donation to attend. Get your tickets by clicking REGISTER below!

Panelists include:

Sponsored by:

   

Exploitative Attitudes Diminish The Dignity of the Human Body

Posted April 15, 2013 in:

I volunteered at a Human Trafficking Awareness event this past weekend hosted by Buy Art Not People and Traffick Free. There was a great interactive art project called Skin Sells that really resonated with me. On a table there were a variety of popluar magazines. The instructions were to go through the magazines and cut out any pictures of skin. We were to cut out just the skin avoiding clothing, hair, jewelry, etc. These cut outs would then be used to create a collage from all the images.

It was surprisingly easy to find things to cut out. Even from magazines that were geared towards teenagers.

The purpose of the Sex Sells project was to create awareness of "the need for accountability in the way the body image is used so as not to promote exploitative attitudes that diminish the dignity of the human body. "

I couldn't agree more. Our culture objectifies women. It views sexuality as a tool to promote a particular brand and sell product. Simply taking my kids through the checkout line at the grocery store subjects them to all kinds of images on the covers of magazines that I prefer for them not to see. Images of women barely dressed or with only hands covering their breasts. This type of advertising demoralizes woman and creates a hyper sexual society. It contributes to an exploitative attitude towards women. An attitude where pimps see a young girl as a means to make money. Where he strips her of all dignity because the demand is there.

The moral standard for what is considered acceptable is sinking lower and lower. The FCC is currently under fire since it announced it is considering to allow network television and local radio stations to air the f-word, the s-word and to allow programs to show frontal female nudity, even during hours when children would very likely be watching and listening.

Rom 12:1-2a Therefore, I urge you,brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world.

The pattern of this world is that Skin Is In and Sex Sells. Unfortunately, the pattern of this world tells us that these 2 statement are true. But God calls us to a higher standard.

For information on contacting the FCC go here

by: Donna Gauthier, Traffick Free Volunteer & Blogger for One Small Voice

Registration is Open for the 3rd Annual 5k Run Against Traffick

Posted April 5, 2013 in:

CHICAGO, IL (Apr 5, 2013) – The 3rd Annual 5k Run Against Traffick, to be held this year on Saturday, September 7, will give attendees a chance to participate in raising awareness for the injustice of human trafficking in Chicago.

According to the Illinois Rescue and Restore Coalition, upwards of 25,000 women and girls are victims of commercial sexual exploitation in Chicago every year. The average age of entry into this life is now estimated to be as young as 11 years old. Once drawn into the life, the average future life expectancy is just seven (7) years. Combining sex trafficking, labor trafficking and domestic servitude, an estimated 27 million people are enslaved around the world - more slaves than spanned the entire 400 years of the transatlantic slave trade.

Traffick Free is doing something about it. We are working in an environment where we can celebrate innovative legislation like the Illinois Safe Children Act that immediately recognizes all those found engaged in commercial sexual exploitation under the age of 18 as victims; progressive collaboration like the weekly Law Enforcement Working Group that engages prosecutors, officers, and social workers to ensure that all cases are victim-centered and not victim-driven; and continued increase of trauma-informed services across the Chicagoland area.

In order to support our current education and awareness initiatives, as well as Traffick Free’s long-term goals to run round-the-clock social services, we are asking hundreds of participants to go the distance, 3.1 miles to be exact. Their presence will help us fulfill our mission to provide the greater metropolitan area of Chicago with tools and sustainable programs to combat human trafficking and transform the lives of victims, perpetrators and communities.

Registration is now open for only $30.00 and includes a takeaway that participants can wear every day to remind themselves what they have accomplished and use as a conversation-starter to engage others in the issue. Goody bags will also include relevant material from several of our partner organizations. This is a family-friendly event from strollers to walkers! As an added bonus, those registering as a group will get the sixth registration free. All information, including the course map, can be seen at .

The 5k Run Against Traffick, born simply from the knowledge that we needed to engage a larger Chicago community, began in 2011 with only 500 participants. With the 5k almost doubling in size this year, and continuing to grow, we invite attendees to make this an annual event.

Portraits of Slavery

Posted April 2, 2013 in:

2012 was the most amazing year for my career that I've ever had.

Our wedding photography business (www.ChicShotStudio.com) blew up and we were doing tons of shoots all over the country and booking tons of shoots for the following year. The commercial & editorial side of our photography business (www.JeremiahStanley.com) was also doing very well and included my being selected as one of 100 photographers worldwide to attend an elite workshop in NY (Eddie Adams Workshop) where I was introduced to the worlds top photographers, editors, and art buyers. I had meetings with world renowned advertising agencies, JWT & R/GA, on Madison Ave and met with Reader's Digest, Maxim, National Geographic, and Esquire to name a few.

It was while I was sitting in a meeting on the 34th floor of the Hearst Tower overlooking all of Midtown Manhattan during the Esquire meeting that I thought to myself, "This is it. All the hard work, the long hours, the shoots, the designing, the editing, all of it was about to pay off. The commercial photography business that I had been dreaming of for years was about to happen."

What did happen was completely shocking to us and it changed our entire outlook on what we do. My wife and I were introduced through a friend to the world of sex trafficking and slavery. What we saw and read absolutely astounded us.

The more we researched, two things began to happen. The first thing was that we realized how dark and evil the world of slavery really is. Poverty, lack of sanitary water and food, AIDS, Cholera - all of those are massive world problems, but none of them seemed as utterly and absolutely evil as sex trafficking and slavery did to us. The second thing that happened was that we began to realize that not only did the average person not really know that this was happening around the world, but also that there are very few people documenting it. There are a lot of really great organizations out there, like Traffick Free, doing some really amazing work, but there's very few photographers out there trying to communicate to the world what sex trafficking and slavery actually looks like. We knew then that we had to do something.

Personally, we felt that God has given us some amazing gifts and talents, and we need to do more with them than just make money. We need to leverage what's been given to us to fight for those who are unable to fight for themselves. Imagine a world in which everyone used their skills and gifts to leverage and fight for those who cannot fight back? I realize it sounds ridiculous and maybe it is, but there would be much less slavery in the world if that happened. The only way to find out if it could happen is to begin taking the first steps yourself.

We decided to launch a portrait project to begin documenting all the different types of slavery in the world and to show exactly what it looks like. We brainstormed and researched for weeks and weeks about where we should go, what we should do, and how we would get there. We eventually decided to begin to tackle the issue of sex trafficking because it's the most lucrative type of slavery, the most exploitative, and the hardest to believe. Although we could have worked in just about any country in the world, including the U.S., (because sex slavery exists in every one of them) we decided on Greece because it's the "gateway" into Europe for slavery traffickers. Literally 90% of all trafficking victims entering Europe, enter through Greece.

Last week we kicked off our fundraising efforts through a crowd-funding site called USA Projects and we're almost 1/3 of the way to our goal of $15,000 which will allow our team to work in Greece for the month of July 2013. We've partnered with a few organizations that have teams already on the ground in Athens and Thessaloniki where we'll be doing the bulk of our work. We'll be using the images we make to launch future slavery projects when we get back and they'll be using the images to help market and fund-raise for their respective organizations.

We need all the help we can muster to get this project in front of individuals, companies, groups, and social justice teams. Please click this link, or watch the video below and share it within your network of friends and contacts to begin taking steps toward ending modern-day slavery.

 

Thank you so very much for your help and support!

Jeremiah Stanley

Traffick Free is an initiative to end trafficking in Chicago.

We exist to elevate justice and communicate the reality of human trafficking in our world. We work to end modern-day slavery by developing awareness campaigns, educating local communities, partnering with organizations that combat trafficking and aid victims, intervening in at-risk situations, promoting enforcement of legislature, and encouraging the prosecution of traffickers.