Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Modern Day Slavery - Our children's future!


Human trafficking, a term for modern-day slavery, is a $32-billion worldwide industry with more than 20.9 million people enslaved. It has been reported in all 50 states, and the number of victims in the United States is estimated in the hundreds of thousands.

Around the world, there are an estimated 20.9 million slaves today. This is more than at any other time in world history. Modern-day slavery, when it results in people being bought and sold for forced labor or commercial sex, is called human trafficking. Foreign nationals from multiple countries are trafficked into this country on an annual basis; and the U. S. Department of Justice estimates that anywhere between 100,000-300,000 American kids are at risk of entering the sex trade each year.

While illegal, human trafficking is a booming business, second only to drug trafficking. Traffickers recruit out of our schools, online, in shopping malls, as well as the streets and other locations. A large percentage of the people trafficked are women and children. Many of them are used in the sex industry. They are the prostituted people on the street and in private homes, and in legitimate businesses such as restaurants, truck stops and motels. They need to be identified and rescued.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Sex Trafficking Organizations in Colorado - Mile High Women's Outreach Center

Sex Trafficking Organizations in Colorado - Mile High Women's Outreach Center

Fighting Human Trafficking

How many times have you walked past a small massage business without any thought to what might actually be happening behind the opaque doorway and the glowing sign welcoming patrons? Have you ever given thought to the working conditions of the people washing the dishes at the restaurant you dined at last night? Would it shock you to know that modern slavery exists, that it is one of the fastest growing crimes worldwide, and that it is estimated to make more than $32 billion a year globally?

Human trafficking in the sex trade and labor industries is big business - very big business - denying freedom to millions of women, children, and men in the U.S. and around the world. It's organized, sophisticated, and nimble, and traffickers come up with dozens of savvy ways to control the people they exploit. A better way to think about trafficking is this: traffickers run enterprises wherever they believe they can make high profits with little risk, and their operations rapidly evolve to changing market dynamics. They adapt to change better and faster than many large corporations. The sophisticated human trafficking industry must be met head-on with similarly adept counter-marketing, legal mechanisms, policy reform, and other strategic interventions to expose and disrupt the networks and systems that profit off the pain, suffering, and exploitation of others. At its core, human trafficking is a business. We have to fight it like one.

That's why Clear Channel Outdoor and Polaris Project are partnering to significantly raise the profile of this crime. We've expanded our billboard campaigns from cities like Baltimore, Las Vegas, and Phoenix to New York City and New Jersey as more than 500,000 football fans descend on the region and when the eyes of the nation are turned east for the biggest sporting event of the year. Seizing this invaluable opportunity, our new campaign will make nearly 10 million impressions over a two week period around the Super Bowl.
To the public, our message is simple - you can play a role in stopping human trafficking by understanding the facts and reaching out to the national human trafficking hotline if you suspect someone is being victimized. To the men, women, and children being exploited, our message is a hopeful one - know that there is a way out and that there are resources available to help.

We know partnerships like these work. The trucking industry, through the organization Truckers Against Trafficking, has trained thousands of truckers about the signs of human trafficking and when to call the national hotline. As a result of these efforts, the national hotline has received nearly 800 phone calls from truckers, including calls with valuable tips and information.


The financial sector can also take steps to cripple the trafficking industry by reporting suspicious financial transactions that may be tied to human trafficking operations. The hospitality industry can partner with organizations to train hotel staff on preventing and detecting sex and labor trafficking. Workers can learn how to spot when pimps are controlling women and girls and are trying to use hotel rooms as a transient and anonymous venue for commercial sex. And of course, media can play a role, as Clear Channel Outdoor has, by exposing the trafficking industry, raising public awareness, and inspiring victims to seek help. By applying pressure points like these, we create more risk and make modern slavery less profitable.

Excerpt from Huffington Post, January 31, 2014