Interstate 65 stop leads to human trafficking charges

A traffic stop last week on Interstate 65 near Dayton could be linked to human trafficking out of Mexico, according to court documents filed Thursday in Tippecanoe County.

Twelve people, including an 11-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl, were found riding in the five-passenger SUV. One child was allegedly sitting on the floor under another passengers' legs.

Read more from jconline.com

Transformed Women Meet to Discuss Book on Anti-trafficking

Fall Creek Wesleyan Church in Fishers, Indiana, is sponsoring a book club open to all interested women.

Led by Indy-area author, Heather Gemmen Wilson, the group’s first book will be "Not for Sale, the Return of the Human Slave Trade and How We Can Stop It" by David Batstone.

Read the book before the group meets; no other preparation is required.

Meet on Friday, August 28, 7:00-9:00 p.m. at Borders book store at Hamilton Town Center in Noblesville. Contact Heather (thisheather@gmail.com) with questions.

Transformed Women meets quarterly to discuss relevant books, because they believe that “words are a form of action, capable of influencing change” (Ingrid Bengis).

Americans Buying Sex "Must be Sensitized to the Harm they Cause Women": Cong. Chris Smith

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) chaired a joint briefing of the Congressional Caucus on Human Trafficking and the Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus last week which featured the unveiling of a new report on sex trafficking of minors in the United States.

"The United States has come far in the fight against this modern day slavery, yet there is still a lot of work to do, particularly regarding the sex trafficking of minors," said Smith, a senior member of the House International Relations Committee, and one of the most outspoken pro-life congressmen. "It is a problem all over the world and the United States is no exception. There are new victims in our country every day."

The National Report on Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking, America's Prostituted Children, commissioned by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and performed by Shared Hope International, details domestic child sex trafficking.

The report assessed four components of domestic minor sex trafficking: identifying the victims; prosecuting the traffickers; combating demand; and providing protection, access to services and shelter for the victims - mostly teenage girls.

Experts estimate that at least 100,000 American minors are victimized in America each year...Read more

Attorney General named to national group with federal, state and local officials

Crime-fighting trends, election fraud among Zoeller's committee assignments

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller last week joined a top-level committee of state attorneys general, county prosecutors and U.S. Attorneys that will focus on setting crime-fighting priorities.

Zoeller visited the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington D.C. last week in his new role as a member of the Executive Working Group on Prosecutorial Relations or EWG.

The committee includes the state attorneys general of Indiana, Colorado, Delaware, New Jersey, Louisiana, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Wisconsin, as well as several U.S. Attorneys from federal court districts and county prosecutors and district attorneys from cities around the nation. Elkhart County Prosecutor Curtis Hill is also on the EWG.

"Serving in the Executive Working Group on Prosecutorial Relations gives Indiana a seat at the table as all levels of law enforcement compare notes and evaluate the crime trends we should focus on in coming years," Zoeller said. "My predecessor, former Attorney General Steve Carter, was a co-chair of the EWG that helped zero in on issues of immigration and human trafficking; and I recognize the importance of this partnership."...Read more

Child trafficking a serious threat here: NGOs

newsdesk@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: Child trafficking in Malaysia is a serious threat but there is no proper collaboration amongst government agencies to combat it, said Rumah NurSalam adviser Dr Hartini Zainuddin.

“Not one of the 15 cases against arrested child traffickers have made it to court since the Anti-Trafficking in Persons (ATIP) Act was implemented in 2007,” she added. Read more

Modern-day slavery rears its ugly head around the globe

Human Rights

Tom Porteous, the director of Human Rights Watch in London, told Deutsche Welle that "the major factor contributing to sex slavery is supply and demand. There is a huge demand for prostitution and an equally huge supply of participants because of the economic situation in the world."

An estimated half a million women are trafficked annually for the purpose of sex slavery. They are exported to over 50 countries including Germany, Britain, Italy, Japan, Canada and the United States. Sex slaves are smuggled taking a route known as the "Eastern route" from eastern European countries, through Poland and subsequently into European Union countries. The cities of Prague, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt are common final destinations for the slaves.

Continue Reading

USA: Activism to Stop Human Trafficking

Global Voices


Human trafficking in the United States is an often undetected problem because the victims are usually hidden from the public view. The victims are enslaved into illegal jobs often in the sweatshop labor or clandestine sex services. Frequently the victims are minors brought into the United States by organized crime cartels.

The organization Stop Child Trafficking Now estimates that over 2.5 million children—most of them girls—are sold into the sex trade every year. Victims can be as young as 4 or 5 years of age, who often are abducted from their homes never to be heard from again. Human rights groups and individuals are working towards educating the local community about this issue as well as making efforts to combat human trafficking in the U.S. and helping victims caught up in the human trafficking networks.... Read more

Indianapolis' Dirty Little Secret: Human Sex Trafficking

By daily cup of faithVision (7/22/09)

This is Mary’s story. Brought up in a strict Indianapolis home, Mary* started hanging out with the wrong crowd during her senior year of high school and met a much older man. They began dating, and eventually, he raped her and she became pregnant. He later married her so he could own her. Now that he ‘owned’ Mary, it wasn’t long before he invited other men to party. At those parties, he would sell Mary to the men, forcing her to perform sexual acts against her will. Read more

Basu: An Iowan taking on the world

Earlier this month, Luis DeBaca attended a reunion. It wasn't a nostalgic gathering of old classmates or friends from his Huxley childhood or Iowa State days, not an event replete with fond memories and school pride. The memories would best be forgotten. The pride was of a different kind.



The anniversary marked the end of 250 people's enslavement as forced laborers. Ten years ago, as a prosecutor against human trafficking at the U.S. Justice Department, DeBaca had been pivotal in freeing them from an unscrupulous garment-factory owner in American Samoa. The workers had been brought from Vietnam and kept through threats, beatings, indebtedness and food deprivation. Things came to a head after one dared to resist and was beaten to the point of losing an eye.



The survivors have moved on and up. And so has DeBaca. He recently left Justice for the State Department, and prosecutions for diplomacy. President Barack Obama appointed him ambassador-at-large for trafficking in persons.



Continue reading

Children forced into prostitution being arrested

Children who are forced into prostitution are often being arrested for a multitude of offenses and sent through the juvenile justice system instead of being treated as victims, according to a nationwide report released this week.

Shared Hope International, a nonprofit that helps victims of sexual exploitation and violence, looked at data from cities throughout the country, including San Antonio. The group released its study at a congressional hearing on human trafficking and comes as Texas tries to create statewide groups to tackle the issue.

Continue reading

American Child Sex Slaves Are Being Arrested, Not Rescued

PR Newswire (press release)

Ambassador Louis C. de Baca of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at the U.S. Department of State will present findings from the 2009 TIP Report and panelists from the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Criminal Division will discuss domestic child sex trafficking, followed by an NGO panel led by Congresswoman Linda Smith and highlighting Ernie Allen, President and CEO of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

"From our investigative research gathered from 11 cities across the nation, we've found so many victims of domestic minor sex trafficking that are misidentified, and labeled as prostitutes. They are sold every day, every night in every city in America," said Smith. Watch human rights surveillance video instantly here: Read more

Human trafficking experts call for police training in D.C. bill

By: FREEMAN KLOPOTT
Examiner Staff Writer
July 7, 2009

The District is rated as one of the top 10 locations for human trafficking in the country and several nonprofit groups told D.C. Council members that police officers should be trained to recognize human trafficking cases as the city steps up its efforts to fight it.

Representatives of groups like Polaris Project, Free the Slaves and Fair Fund made their request during a public hearing on a human trafficking bill Monday. If passed in its current form, the bill would make human trafficking for the purposes of sex and labor a crime. It would allow victims to sue their pimps and require the city to keep statistics on trafficking cases.

On Monday, the anti-human-trafficking groups also asked that the bill include training for police officers and other first responders.

"Young people are not able to express their victimization in ways that clearly identify it," said Andrea Powell, co-director of Fair Fund. "Cases that are not reported result in continued abuse."

The groups said District police officers received periodic training between 2004 and 2007, but it was cut when federal funding went dry. A police spokeswoman could not immediately confirm the training history....Read more

Lee County at forefront of slavery fight

In just four years, Lee County has become a national leader in the fight against slavery.

Those who battle the crime point to swift and effective law enforcement, wide and energetic outreach and enviable interagency cooperation.

"We're light years ahead of other communities," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Molloy, who's prosecuted 20 slavery and human trafficking cases throughout Southwest Florida over the past decade, freeing 50 victims. "Because of our united community efforts, we're in a place most areas aspire to."

To read the full story, click here.

A New Place to Heal

The L.A. Dream Center in the heart of Los Angeles, California, is taking a key step forward in the fight against human trafficking. They are in the process of building a shelter for women and young girls who have been rescued – where they can receive the long-term love and support, medical care, job training and counseling they need to make a new start.

“The abuse that these women and girls go through is all encompassing,” says Program Director Brittany Hernandez. “It’s emotional; it’s physical; it’s psychological. Read more

Helping to bring an end to child trafficking is in your hands

June 30th www.examiner.com

Do you watch the news, read news articles, or blog posts and question what you can actually do that will make a difference? Feel you are stretched for time or don't have any money to give? Well there is something that you can do today to help end child trafficking. Help those in the field, and other concerned citizens like yourself to pass the Child Protection Compact Act of 2009 (HR 2737). The bill was introduced by Chris Smith, U.S. Representative for New Jersey’s 4th District, a leader in the fight against modern slavery. However the introduction of the CPCA is only the beginning in what is often a long legislative process, one that can only be successful with a united voice of the American voter. Read more

Indiana: Prison guard faces sex misconduct count

State Government Watch, Friday June 26, 2009

A former correctional officer at the New Castle Correctional Facility faces criminal charges over her alleged dealings with an inmate.

25-year-old Jamie A. Shelley of Richmond, is charged with sexual misconduct by service provider with detainee, a Class C felony carrying a standard four-year prison term, and trafficking with an inmate, a Class A misdemeanor with a maximum one-year jail term.

Under state law, the felony misconduct charge applies to "a service provider who knowingly or intentionally engages in sexual intercourse or deviate sexual conduct with a person who is subject to lawful detention."... [Read more] (6/26/2009)

2009 Trafficking In Persons Report

Voice of America - USA
On June 16, the US Department of State released the 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report. The report, which this year looks at conditions in 175 countries, ... read more

Of Hunger and Human Trafficking

The fact remains that the report’s rating of over 170 countries is both thorough and largely consistent with facts as observed, reported by the media and examined in other comprehensive reports pertaining to the same issue. Indeed, the UN’s own Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, launched by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in February 2009, affirms much of the State Departments’ findings regarding the pattern of abuses reported around the world, most noticeably in Africa, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.

The report examined the calamity and governmental responses to the exploitation of people, including children, for the purposes of forced labour, sexual servitude and stolen organs. At least 12.3 million adults and children are used to sustain the thriving business of modern-day slavery. One can only predict that the number is much higher, considering that human traffickers have little interest in divulging exact data.

Read more

Khaleej Times Online , Of Hunger and Human Trafficking

Ramzy Baroud (Issues), 24 June 2009

Local Non-Profit Organization Awarded $100,000 to Help Victims of Human Trafficking

MEDIA ADVISORY, June 23 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the award of over $2 million in grants to state and local organizations to identify and help victims of human trafficking.

Learn more

Modern Day Slavery Exisits in America

Many Americans may think of modern day slavery as existing exclusively within the informal service sector in far off lands — usually sex slavery or domestic servitude — and thus do not consider it to be a problem related to free trade, or America at all. Although countries with large informal sectors are more likely to be a source of slave labor, Americans would be shocked to learn that, not only does modern day slavery exist in America, but there are plenty of goods consumed in this country that were made with slave labor somewhere along a complex global supply chain. Shrimp imported from Bangladesh and Thailand, found at Costco, and some textiles from India are just some of the examples that Lagon cited.

Click here for the full story.

U.S. Secretary of State Comments on Human Trafficking

“Human trafficking flourishes in the shadows and demands attention, commitment and passion from all of us. We are determined to build on our past success and advance progress in the weeks, months and years ahead. Together, we must hold a light to every corner of the globe and help build a world in which no one is enslaved.”

 

- U. S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

Recession boosts global human trafficking

The global financial crisis has increased the worldwide trade in trafficked persons, says a State Department report released Tuesday. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the report aims "to shine the light brightly on ... modern slavery."

The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report also says trafficking has increased in Africa and slaps six African nations on a blacklist of countries not meeting the minimum standard of combating trafficking. The report, mandated by Congress, features data and statistics from 175 countries around the world regarding the amount of human trafficking that goes on within their borders.The report cites the International Labor Organization, which estimates that at least 12.3 million adults and children are victims of forced labor, bonded labor and sex slavery each year.

- CNN News

2009 Trafficking in Persons Report Read more

Take A Stand. Join Us.

Stand Against Trafficking (StAT) is a coalition of Indiana citizens networking to abolish human trafficking through Awareness, Education, Response, Prevention, and Resources. Over 27 million people are currently victims of human trafficking. Men, women, boys, and girls are being used as sex slaves and labor slaves all over the world, including Indiana. Bring a group and join us for a Community Forum.

TIME:

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.

PLACE:

Heartland Church Auditorium in Fishers (I-69 & 96th)

Take A Stand. Join Us. Learn more about the event.

The Slave Next Door exposes human trafficking and slavery in America today

"Most Americans believe that slavery in our country ended with the Emancipation Proclamation. They are wrong. As Kevin Bales and Ron Soodalter document in this excellent volume, human bondage is a reality for thousands of children, women and men living in the United States. The Slave Next Door exposes slavery in today's America in all its forms, and sounds a call to arms to government, corporations, and private citizens alike."
—Kerry Kennedy, Founder, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights Read more

Fighting Human Trafficking By Genetic Identification

Next October, the Southern Spanish city of Granada will host DNA-Prokids 1st International Conference: genetic identification against children trafficking. Scientists, NGOs, international bodies, representatives of security forces and experts from judicial systems will gather in this meeting with the aim of creating an international alliance against children trafficking by making the most of new genetic identification techniques. Read more

WHI’s “Never Silent: The Abolitionist” Anti-Trafficking Forum a Success

World Hope International's (WHI’s) first-ever Anti-Trafficking Forum was a great success, ringing together anti-trafficking experts and concerned citizens from all over the globe to discuss the impact and implications of human trafficking in today’s world. The forum was an effort to raise awareness and brainstorm innovative ways to fight human trafficking. There are an estimated 27 million people enslaved today. In every nook and cranny of the world, people are still being bought and sold; then forced into labor or commercial sexual exploitation. Read more

Avon police make arrests in prostitution ring

Avon, Indiana - After a six-month investigation, Avon police have arrested several people accused in a prostitution ring. Read more

Secretary-General and celebrities unite against human trafficking

Academy-award winning actor Nicholas Cage, Alec Baldwin, fashion designers Calvin Klein and Donna Karan, and a host of other celebrities joined the Secretary-General in honouring New York artist Ross Bleckner, appointed UN Goodwill Ambassador to Combat Human Trafficking.  The event featured an exhibition of some 200 paintings created by former child soldiers and abducted girls from Gulu, northern Uganda, who had benefited from an art therapy project by Bleckner. Continue reading

Official: Craigslist to replace 'blatant Internet brothel'

Wed May 13, 2009 CNN

Craigslist will replace its controversial online "erotic services" listings with a section where ads are individually checked by Craigslist employees before they are posted, according to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

The popular classified-ad Web site, which Blumenthal called "a blatant Internet brothel," has been accused by law enforcement officials across the United States of promoting prostitution through its erotic ads. Continue Reading

The world is waking up to scope of the problem of human trafficking

May 13, 2009, United Nations Headquarters

"The world is waking up to the scope of the problem of human trafficking. We see it in movies, novels and talk shows," Mr. d'Escoto noted in a statement delivered by Maged Abdelaziz of Egypt, Vice-President of the Assembly at the start of the day-long event entitled the Interactive Thematic Dialogue on Taking Collective Action to End Human Trafficking.

There are plenty of anti-trafficking efforts being carried out around the world - locally, nationally, and regionally. but thus fare the y have been poorly coordinated.  Continue Reading     More

$400m to hit human trafficking networks

The Federal Government will unveil a $400 million package to combat people-smuggling in next week's budget as it employs an aggressive strategy to extradite bosses of crime networks for prosecution in Australia. Continue reading.

Norway to punish sex buyers

OSLO - AS NORWAY rang in the new year it was to introduce a new law making the purchase - but not the sale - of sex a criminal act, threatening even to put Norwegians who buy sex abroad behind bars. The new law, which is modelled on similar legislation in Sweden, aims to clean up the streets and protect the prostitutes by outlawing the buying of sex, but not the sale. continue reading

Amenesty International Celebrates 60th Anniversary in a Unique Way

Amnesty International in Germany celebrated the 60th anniversary of human rights in 2008 with “Frau im Koffer”, an ambient advertising campaign at German airports. “Woman in Suitcase” stunt involved putting a woman in a transparent suitcase and sending her around the baggage carousel with what appeared to be official airport stickers. Upon closer inspection airline passengers discovered that this was a protest against human trafficking. View videos

Container Exhibit Highlights Plight of Trafficking Victims

VIENNA, (UNODC) - A unique art installation that maps the journey of a victim of human trafficking is coming to Vienna this February.

"The Journey Against Sex Trafficking" uses seven transport containers to illustrate the brutal and harrowing experiences of women sold into the sex trade. This interactive exhibition is based on the real-life stories of young women who leave their home countries in search of a better life but are deceived or coerced by traffickers and forced to work in the sex industry. Read more

This would be awesome to have Emma Thompson bring this to the U.S.

Odessa, Ukraine is a haven for human trafficking of children

May 5, 2009

Odessa, Ukraine, is a haven for human trafficking of children, says Sergiy Svystun, director of World Hope Ukraine. Mr. Svystun, whose organization created a drop-in centre that helps hundreds of children in Odessa annually, was in Ottawa last night to give a talk. Read more

Testing ping.fm. Admin for social networking.

PCMN partnered with World Hope International

PCMN has partnered with World Hope International’s Anti-Trafficking Program Director ( Asia ) Kristin Wiebe to conduct the training on Hands That Heal, an international curriculum to train caregivers of trafficking.... Read more

Dr. Kevin Bales Speaking at Anti-Trafficking Forum

Dr. Kevin Bales, president of Free the Slaves will give the keynote address at the opening banquet for Never Silent: The Abolitionist. Dr. Bales is a leading expert on modern day slavery and child trafficking. Learn more

Prosecutors Say Man Made $1.5M Trafficking Human Body Parts

LOS ANGELES — A man accused of buying and reselling human body parts donated to a university medical school reaped about $1.5 million in the scheme with the...continue reading.

60 nations meet in Bali to discuss how to end international smuggling and trafficking of human beings

The two-day ministerial conference, held on April 14-15, 2009, is part of a continuing "Bali Process" first commenced in 2002 to curb people smuggling, people trafficking and other forms of transnational crime. Co-chaired by the governments of Indonesia and Australia, the Bali meeting was financed by Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the United States. Read more

Ashton Kutcher Twitters and Next Cause is Human Trafficking

Kutcher publicized his "chosen charity, www.malarianomore.org," and called attention to his next cause, fighting human trafficking. "Kutcher gets new media." Continue reading

Sara Groves Joins IJM on Capitol Hill to Advocate for Victims of Human Trafficking

INO Records’ Sara Groves recently returned from Washington, D.C. after meeting with the offices of Minnesota Congress and Senate Aides on behalf of International Justice Mission as a part of the Day of Advocacy. Continue reading

Lured at 13: Held Captive As a Sex Slave

Seduced online…even one mom's strict rules couldn't protect her daughter. Plus, a plea from America's Most Wanted's John Walsh. Get the facts you need to know. Read more

Slavery Reaches Historical High

Yemi Oshodi of World Hope International says it's hard to be sure of numbers since the trafficking world is so covert. But there are millions currently being trafficked as labor and sex slaves.

On May 8 and 9, World Hope International will hold a forum in Alexandria, Virginia to discuss human trafficking, in Cambodia specifically. The forum will help to raise awareness about modern day slavery, as well as provide examples of ways that everyone can get involved to put an end to it. Read more.

What Planet is Mars On?

35% of the world’s cocoa comes from the Ivory Coast, a nation in West Africa. Research supported by the ILO suggests that in the Ivory Coast alone there are at least 200,000 children working in slave conditions on cocoa farms. Thousands of these children have been trafficked into the Ivory Coast, originally from neighbouring countries such as Mali, Togo and Burkina Faso Read more.

United Nations Launches Handbook to Combat Trafficking

“Combating Trafficking in Persons: A Handbook for Parliamentarians” – created in collaboration with IPU – contains a compilation of international laws and good practices developed to combat human trafficking, and offers guidance on how national legislation can be brought in line with international standards. Read more

Scientology Accused of Human Trafficking

In the Scientology world plaintiff experienced, 12-year-old children are taken from their homes, asked to sign employment contracts and put to work. . Read more

Pope Calls for Action to Stop Trafficking

Pope Benedict XVI today called for urgent global action to halt human trafficking, recalling last week's tragedy when more than 200 migrants heading for Europe drowned off the Libyan coast after their overloaded boat capsized.... Read More

No Specific Fed Funding for U.S. Trafficking Victims

In the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2008, Congress authorized tens of millions of dollars to fund services for U.S. citizen and foreign national victims of human trafficking in the U.S. None of these funds can be released until Congress passes a separate bill to appropriate the needed funds. Learn what you can do to help.

Blue Heart Campaign

United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT) was launched two years ago to coincide with both the two hundredth anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade and the bicentennial of the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire.

March 25th is International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Read more

Sex-trade Workers Trafficking Victims?

Ohio State Highway Troopers taught how to recognize human trafficking. Read more

STOP Child Trafficking Now Targets Sex Predators

(EP News)--STOP Child Trafficking Now (SCT Now) is a global campaign that targets the source, namely predators who drive the criminal sex industry worldwide. The organization works with specially trained elite operatives to infiltrate, investigate and bring to justice the predators victimizing children. SCT Now Founder Lynette Lewis said the need is great. “The day you rescue a child, two more will be brought in to replace that child if the demand continues to exist,” she said. UNICEF, the UN organization charged with the protection of children worldwide, estimates 1.2 million children are trafficked each year within countries, as well as across borders.

Amazing What You Can Find on Craig's List

Two recent articles expose source of trafficking. Read article about Craig's List. Even Channel 13 recently exposes Craig's List in Indianapolis.

Natalie Grant: Advocate for Victims of Human Trafficking

Kicking-off March 19 in Columbus, Ohio, the "Make It Matter Tour" is slated to hit St. Louis; Baltimore; Indianapolis; Omaha, Nebraska; Elkhart, Indiana; and Asheville, North Carolina, among other cities before concluding April 26 in Martinsburg, West Virginia. Read more