Attorney General Mike DeWine’s Human Trafficking Commission released a report at a meeting Wednesday revealing startling facts about rampant sex trafficking throughout Ohio, putting simply: “Ohio’s response to child sex trafficking is weak.”

The report details factors that contribute to the state’s status as a sex trafficking hot spot, outlines the reforms already put in motion, and recommends what further steps must be taken to eliminate human trafficking in Ohio.

The Report

Victims from Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton, Cleveland and Toledo were interviewed over a 3-year period, providing data of over 300 women.

Over a hundred of those women were reportedly forced into the trade under the age of 18; some were as young as 12. Of those underage, most were recruited by women involved in the trade who first appeared friendly. The majority of recruits made by men were victims over 18, who first acted as boyfriends before turning abusive.

Many victims experienced childhoods full of abuse, rape and poverty.

The report also reveals customers of sex trafficking to cover a wide array of demographics, including drug dealers, businessmen, police officers, lawyers, truckers, athletes and politicians.

Pay can range from $10 to $150, depending on the requested services.

What’s already been done?

A similar study conducted by the Commission two years ago estimated that more than 1,000 Ohio children were trafficked every year, in addition to over 800 immigrants.

These facts prompted Representative Teresa Fedor of Toledo to introduce House Bill 262, turning human trafficking into a first-degree felony. The bill allows victims the ability to sue their traffickers for damages and see records of prostitution or solicitation expunged. Fedor calls it a “basic human rights issue.” Her bill, dubbed the “safe harbor law,” went into effect in June.

The bill followed Ohio Governor John Kasich’s decision to sign an executive order in March, which created a 90-day task force focused on studying police response to the problem.

“Can you tell me how a 13-year-old kid can be snatched, blackmailed, drugged, raped in our state, in our country?” Kasich said during an emotional signing of the order, thinking of his own 12-year-old twin daughters.

Such slow police response helps contribute to the problem, Wednesday’s study claims.

The report provides evidence of one police call featured on a Primetime special about child sex trafficking in Toledo, in which police took 90 minutes to respond to multiple calls from neighbors who witnessed screams and fighting.

Toledo is the forth largest sex-trafficking city in the U.S, following Miami, Portland and Las Vegas.

Why Ohio?

The report cites multiple reasons in addition to ill-prepared first responders as to why Ohio attracts many traffickers. This includes a growing pool of legal and illegal immigrant populations, its close proximity to the Canadian border, and a high rate of runaways in Ohio. It also reports that the three institutions that should assist in eliminating sex trafficking—the criminal justice system, the social service system, and the health care system—are “either ineffective or insufficient.”

Currently, most individuals prosecuted as a result of sex trafficking are those most easily caught: the victims.

But the juvenile justice system is “not the appropriate place for traumatized victims of the human trafficking,” the study says, and the child welfare system doesn’t provide clear enough language to provide assistance.

Not only do these toothless laws attract traffickers to Ohio—victims end up in a worse position after their arrest.

“Without some form of intervention, 77 percent of sexually exploited youth simply continue to be prostitutes in adulthood,” argued Fedor.

What happens next?

The report offers six recommendations to combat sex trafficking, including a focus on arresting and convicting buyers and engaging schools in the fight.

Very few resources exist for victims of sex trafficking in Ohio, which will change if advocate Theresa Flores has her way. Flores has written a book on her own experience as a sex trafficking victim and is in the process of obtaining a state license for a Columbus-area group home for victims. No such place in Ohio currently exists.

“We have allowed this to happen,” said Flores. “We don’t like to think that it happens here, but slavery is alive and well in the U.S.”

U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach of Cleveland agrees that a community effort is necessary to end sex trafficking.

“It’s all around, literally hiding in plain sight,” said Dettelbach, who has made human trafficking a high priority for his office. “If you see something, you have to say something.”

Dettelbach says anyone suspicious of trafficking should call the FBI at 216-522-1400.

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Over the course of the years since its independence from the British empire in 1947, Pakistan has tried to establish itself as a Muslim state that borders in between a liberal one and a more conservative Islamic country. The attempt at trying to find the right balance to accommodate the opposing viewpoints have led to some clashes, including the buzz of Maya Khan, a Pakistani morning talk show host who has taken it upon herself to chase down unmarried couples in local parks and publicizing their actions on a local TV channel. A relationship before marriage is largely frowned upon and is deemed immoral in the Islamic point of view.

Mehreen Kasana, an American/Pakistani student and a TEDxKinnaird speaker based in Lahore was outraged by Maya Khan’s action. Even though this incident happened a few months ago, Mehreen Kasana, a member of the younger generation of Pakistan has spoken out and stood up as part of the more liberal side of Pakistan by writing an open letter to Maya Khan.

Toonari Post (TP): What was your main reason behind writing the letter? Why did you feel compelled to even write one?

Mehreen Kasana (MK): I’ll put it bluntly: I had seen way too much of intrusion by media into personal lives on TV, newspapers and social media outlets, and I thought it’s about time I did my part even if it meant like jotting down a simple, open letter to one of these people who should display regard for ethics and privacy.

TP: Did you expect the the letter to go viral?

MK: No. I never knew a serious, slightly angry letter would garner so much attention. I guess I hit a nerve somewhere. I’m glad it did.

TP: Do you feel that your views might be influenced by the fact that you were born and raised in the USA?

MK: Yes and no. While there is considerable respect for personal space and privacy in the US where I was raised, there are ample instances of the same in Pakistan and other places in the subcontinent but, like I’ve said before, that regard is unfortunately rejected by a certain type of self-righteous moral police that believe that the sole purpose of their existence is to dictate what is perfect conduct according to them.

In this dictation they completely forget that the religion (Islam in this case) they’re using as an excuse to carry out this invasion of privacy, is the same religion that places emphasis on hiding the flaws of others, leaving private affairs between said person and Allah only. I think this problem is one of the consequences of conflating culture with religion. In the cultures of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, there are some men and women who believe that the ‘goodness’ of their character is determined by their ability to cleanse society of its ‘evil.’  Imagine if such a figure is given a microphone, camera and their very own morning talk show. Things can get messy.

TP: What is your personal view on unmarried couples hanging out in such public places?

MK: If you want my take on simple, unmarried couples taking walks in public parks or eating vanilla ice cream, it’s simple: Please let them be. One of the driving concerns of Maya Khan’s interrogation of the couple was that, according to her, perhaps they were indulging in sex trafficking. I understand that because it has happened in family parks and, yes, this is detrimental to the safety of the people (including children) in those parks but you can seek the help of law for that. Public vigilantism is not the way to go about it.

TP: Do you think that Pakistan is ready for more strictly imposed Islamic laws as they have in Saudi Arabia, whereby unmarried couples can be caught and fined?

MK: That’s enforcing Islamic law on everyone – including minorities that don’t follow these restrictions basically because they’re not Muslims to begin with. That’s wrong. In my opinion, no one should be penalized merely due to a theocratic state’s set of laws. It’s an infringement on their autonomy – something that is un-Islamic. While there are people in Pakistan who would happily endorse such a punishment, there are also a considerable number of people – including Muslims like yours truly – who oppose it.

TP: What do your friends and family think of the open letter? How has the public response been?

MK: I’ve received immense support and positive criticism after I wrote the letter along with some angry trolling too. It opened ways for dialogue concerning Islam, societal ethics, the obvious deteriorating state of professional journalism in Pakistan and a lot more. My mother laughed while reading the letter because she knew it took a lot for me to contain my disdain for invasive media.  My father has been my pillar despite our difference of opinion on religion, culture, politics, etc. He also supported the letter.

Unlike many Pakistani fathers, he refuses to give in to the public outcry that is, “Your daughter has brought shame to your family by having a male friend!” We’re from a very traditional family of landlords. The idea of a liberated, outspoken daughter is dangerous because the orthodox concept of ‘honor’ clashes with progressive, moderate followers of Islam – what we happen to be. There were some threats from the fans of Maya Khan. Someone said they’ll “show up at my college” and “teach me a lesson.” I waited for the lesson. It never came.

TP: If there is one thing you could say to Maya Khan, what would it be?

MK: Bearing no grudges against you, I am certain that you’ve realized you made a mistake by chasing those couples but I hope that, now that you’ve started another show, you’ll rise above your error and become someone worth admiring in terms of media ethics. Channel that energy for a good, legitimate cause.

For more of Mehreen Kasana, visit her personal blog.

The article Mehreen Kasana: Speaking Out Against Pakistan’s Moral Police appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

The movie “Taken” released in 2008 brought to light and grabbed the attention of millions across the world as the movie raised awareness about one of the fast growing industries in the world: Sex trafficking.

While the movie revolves around girls being smuggled as traveling tourists in western European countries, then addicted to drugs and forced into prostitution, there is one thing that the movie doesn’t recognize; this is not something foreign that is going on. It’s not just in Europe or Asia or Africa. It’s happening right here in the United States, in our very own backyards.

According to Sarah Vardaman, Senior Director of Shared Hope International, “the majority of the victims that we’re finding who are child sex-trafficking victims are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.” And According to the U.S. Department of Justice, sex-trafficking is growing at an alarmingly fast rate.

“In 2005, the Department of Justice reported there have been an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 sex slaves in the U.S,” reported International Crisis Aid on their website. They also pointed out that “in 2009, a University of Pennsylvania study estimated nearly 300,000 youth in the United States were at risk of being sexually exploited for commercial uses.”

One of the youths that represent this statistic is 16-year-old Brianna (her real name was changed for her own protection), who was 12 and living in New York City at the time that she was captured.  Brianna had gotten into an argument with her mother one evening and decided to leave the house for the night with plans to stay with her friend’s older brother.

Her plans of returning home in the morning changed in an instant when she found out her friend’s older brother was a pimp and she was now his property. From that point on, Brianna’s life changed forever and her childhood had been taken from her.

The first thing the pimp did was lock her in a room where he took several provocative pictures of her and then posted her on Backpage.com. This website is known to be the most advertised and popular website in America today for sex trafficking. According to AIM Group, “Backpage accounts for about 70 percent of America’s prostitution ads.”

Brianna  was repeatedly beaten and advertised on Backpage.com. After three years of living in fear, bearing sexual and physical abuse and being demoralized by men willing to pay to watch her perform sexual acts on the web, Brianna managed to escape. She ran away to a place called “Gateways,” which is a treatment center for girls ages 12-16 that have been victims of the sex trafficking trade.

New York Times’ Reporter, Nicholas Kristof claims Brianna, who is now receiving the therapy and support she needs, is one of the “lucky few.” According to the Huffington Post, “Brianna is one of one hundred thousand American girls exploited through commercial sex.”

Kristof believes that this is a growing epidemic, similar to that of the AIDS virus. The sex and human trafficking industries keep growing and if more people aren’t informed soon, or willing to raise awareness and learn about what’s going on right before their eyes, then many more young girls’ childhoods will be swiped out from under them and they will be robbed of having any future at all.

If you are interested in helping putting a stop to this rapidly growing industry and want to learn more about sex/human trafficking please join or check out the campaigns at:

WWW.HumanTrafficking.org & WWW.NotForSaleCampaign.org.

The article Childhood Lost: Becoming a Sex Trafficking Victim appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

The United States Commission on Civil Rights will hold a public briefing on Friday, April 13, 2012 at 9:30 AM ET to hear testimony on the effectiveness of federal enforcement of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA). The briefing will take place at Commission headquarters, 624 9th St. NW, Washington, DC 20425, 5th floor conference room. Interested persons are invited to attend, and no reservation is necessary.

The trafficking of persons has been called a modern form of slavery in which most victims are female. The TVPA established an interagency task force to combat trafficking with the participation of more than a dozen agencies. The Commission has requested information from the task force and the Departments of Justice, State, and Health and Human Services, as to enforcement efforts. The Commission will also hear testimony on sex trafficking as a form of gender discrimination. The briefing will include three panels of experts.

Panel I will include Maggie Wynne, Director of the Division of Anti-Trafficking in Persons, HHS, and Greg Zoeller, Attorney General of the State of Indiana and a representative of the National Association of Attorneys General.

Panel II will include Bridgette Carr, Professor and Director of the Human Trafficking Clinic, University of Michigan Law School and member of the Michigan Human Trafficking Task Force; Salvador Cicero, Cicero Law Firm and member of the Anti-Trafficking Task Force, Cook County, Illinois; Merrill Matthews, Resident Scholar, Institute for Policy Innovation and Chairman of the Texas SAC; and Karen Hughes, Lieutenant, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, manager of the Vice Section of the Vice/Narcotics Bureau.

Panel III includes Mary Ellison, human rights lawyer and Director of Policy, Polaris Project; Amy Rassen, Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Senior Advisor, SAGE Project; Rhacel Parrenas, Professor and Chair, Sociology Department, University of Southern California and author of ‘Illicit Flirtations:  Labor, Migration, and Sex Trafficking in Tokyo’; and Tina Frundt, Executive Director/Founder of Courtney’s House and a survivor of domestic child sex trafficking.

Deaf or hearing-impaired persons who will attend the meeting and require the services of a sign language interpreter should contact Pam Dunston at (202) 376-8105 as soon as possible.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is an independent, bipartisan agency charged with monitoring federal civil rights enforcement.  Members include Chairman Martin R. Castro and Commissioners Roberta Achtenberg, Todd Gaziano, Gail Heriot, Peter Kirsanow, David Kladney, Abigail Thernstrom, and Michael Yaki. Commission meetings and briefings are open to the general public.  The Commission’s website is http://www.usccr.gov.

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