The Power Of One

It has been a long time since I've posted in this blog. It's not that I haven't been involved in fighting human trafficking, I certainly have. I've been super-busy with several things, one of them being planning an event that took place this past Friday. It was called The Power Of One and it was amazing! We had Amber Robinson, author of Mercy Rising; Theresa Flores, author of The Slave Across The Street; Peter Everett, the Chief Operations Officer of Destiny Rescue; Rob Morris, co-founder of Love146; musicians, artists, over 15 organizations, and more. It was a great night.

You can watch what took place, it streamed live over the internet, and now it is archived on TheUGTV.

Watch live streaming video from theug at livestream.com

Rapha House Girl Visits Her Mother In Prison

Try and watch this and not be moved - it's a video of a girl whose mother is in prison for trafficking her kids. She decides she wants her mom to have a pillow and blanket, so she brings them to her (along with food and other things).

Wow.

Fragile By Ten Shekel Shirt

I owe the band Ten Shekel Shirt a lot - after all, listening to them and then reading up on what they were about was one of the ways I started on this journey towards becoming an abolitionist.

One of my favorite songs of their latest CD is the song Fragile. I was wondering if they were ever going to put a video with this song. And now they have! Thanks Lamont and Ten Shekel Shirt for what you stand for and what you stand against.

The Power Of One

It has once again been a long time since I've posted anything in this blog, but it's not because I have been slacking with fighting human trafficking! In fact, over the last couple of weeks, I've been working hard with a couple of others in planning what I think is going to be a great event!

It's called "The Power Of One", and it's going to be held at The Underground, which is a concert venue in Cincinnati. It will be held on 1.11.11 (get it? The Power of One?), which is also the official National Day of Human Trafficking Awareness. We are lining up guest speakers, musical artists and other artists, as well as trying to get other organizations in Ohio and beyond involved in helping us make this awareness event a success!

If you would like to help in any way, please contact me at young[dot]adam7[at]gmail[dot]com.

More information is on the way!

Ohio's Dirty Sex Secret

Here's an article about how trafficking is rising in the state of Ohio. Scary.

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A new report shows Ohio has become the new hotbed for human trafficking.

It's illegal, but some say state lawmakers aren't doing enough to stop it.

You may think this is all about prostitution and sex.

Surprisingly, we found people, many times children, are not only being forced to become sex slaves, but also forced into slave labor.

And, it could be happening right in your own backyard.

Ohio is often referred to as the Midwest with cornfields and solid family values.

However, the Buckeye State's image of good old fashion values has been shattered by a new report from the Trafficking In Persons Study Commission.

"It's a $44 billion a year industry. It's the second largest in a criminal enterprise in the world and the fastest growing and we don't even have a state law making it a felony," explained Debbie Porter of End Slavery Cincinnati.

Porter spent a day in Columbus in April urging state lawmakers to pass a law that will make trafficking in persons a felony offense.

"He drugged me, which I didn't know, and raped me," said Theresa Flores of Columbus. That is how Flores says her nightmare began when she was 15-years-old living in a Detroit suburb.

She says a student from her school raped her and had his cousins take pictures of the crime.

Flores says she was then blackmailed over the next two years and forced to have sex with men, with the promise that she would get the pictures back. She says they also threatened to kill her family if she didn't cooperate.

"Being locked away for person after person after person to come in until they decided to take me home," said Flores.

Flores, who now runs a shelter for child sex victims outside Columbus, went public with her story to bring more attention to human trafficking.

Jessica Donohue-Dioh with End Slavery Cincinnati says as shocking as Theresa's story is...it is not an isolated case.

"Several of the cases that we've had come up in Cincinnati have been forced labor cases. In a couple of the cases, they were recruited from other countries and brought to the U.S. on the grounds that they were going to have a wonderful opportunity here to build their life and have employment," Donohue-Dioh explained.

Donohue-Dioh says with few laws in Ohio to punish human traffickers, many are setting up shop in the state.

"They were put into housing with sometime over 15 people in a house and being charged things like $100 or $150 a week in rent. Well, they weren't being given enough work to earn enough to pay even just the weekly rent. So, what ended up happening is that they ended up being in debt bondage," added Donohue-Dioh.

Senate Bill 235 would make human trafficking a felony in the State of Ohio.

However, State Senator, Bill Seitz, from the 8th District, says he wants to be careful that the legislation doesn't target the wrong people.

"We want to target this legislation at the people we're really concerned about. The head of the tapeworm, the pimps, the organized rings of pimps who are forcing young women into these degrading activities. We want to get them, but we don't want to cast the net so wide that now we have our jails full of those who are at the bottom of the chain, those who patronize these prostitutes."

End Slavery Cincinnati says if you suspect someone is a victim of human trafficking, you can make an anonymous call to a national hotline.

The number is 1(888)373-7888.

In the meantime, Senate Bill 235 is still in committee at the Ohio Statehouse.

Senator Seitz says he would like to see the legislation passed by the end of the year.

If you would like to learn more about former sex-slave Theresa Flores and her story, you can read her book "Slave Across The Street".

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Rapha House Birthday Party

I thought this was really cool:

Aiden Palmer just celebrated her eleventh birthday. It wasn't your typical party for an eleven-year-old. But, then, Aiden is not your typical eleven-year-old.

The invitations to her party read: "My WISH is for a brighter life, not for me but for the victims of human trafficking." And her guests were instructed not to bring any gifts but only donations to benefit Rapha House.

Leading up to her party Aiden wore a different Rapha House tee shirt to school every day for a week. She called it "Impact Week" and wanted to tell as many people as possible about Rapha House and human trafficking. (Once she even wore her Rapha House tee shirt to the doctor's office and had a chance to talk her doctor about human trafficking.)

On the day of her party, Aiden wore another Rapha House tee shirt as she greeted her guests. During the party, they laughed and ate some cake that displayed a Rapha House logo. Then the girls watched a short homemade video about life in Cambodia.

My daughter Karen Johnson shared a little about Rapha House with the moms who attended. Altogether about $450 was raised at Aiden's birthday party to benefit the girls at Rapha House.

New Love146 Video

Love146 Overview from LOVE146 on Vimeo.

Help Love146 Win $50,000!

Have you got a Facebook account? If the answer is 'yes' then you can help! Check out this letter from the Love146 office:

Hey supporters & fellow abolitionists,

Our cause just entered in America's Giving Challenge, which gives us a chance to win $50,000!

Please donate today: http://www.causes.com/donations/select_donation_method?m=103f46b4&cause_id=1533

To win, between now and November 7th we have to get the most donations to our cause (every person can donate once per day and have it count as a unique donation). We can also win daily awards of $1,000 and $500 if we can get the most people to donate in any 24-hour period. The great thing about this Challenge is that it doesn't matter how much you give, but instead how much you do to encourage friends and family to get involved in our cause. We all need to come together and start promoting the Love146 (official) cause if we want to win.

Each of us has tons of friends on Facebook who we can ask to donate to our cause. But let's think big too—can you put our cause in your email signature, can you throw a party and get people to donate through the cause when they enter, can you organize other people to go out and fundraise from all of their friends? As you reach out to your friends be sure to tell them why this cause matters to you. The possibilities are endless so let's talk about what we can do to win on the Wall of the cause or by replying to this bulletin.

I think we can do it! But it's going to take all of us. Check out the Giving Challenge (www.causes.com?m=103f46b4), then visit our cause to see how we're doing so far and get involved.

Donate right now by going to http://www.causes.com/donations/select_donation_method?m=103f46b4&cause_id=1533

Let's win $50,000 to end child sex slavery & exploitation!

Some pics from the Global Forum on Human Trafficking

I wish I could have gone to this two day conference in California - alas, I heard about it too late. But I did record some of the audio from the conference because it was being broadcast live over the internet.

These pictures, found on Bobby Earle's blog page were the ones that inspired me the most. And Francis Chan is amazing.

Harrowing. Sad.

Victims

This is a great video. I wish I could go to that conference this week, but alas I found out too late.

Victims - Global Forum Promo from David Hepburn on Vimeo.

Chab Dai

When - not if, but when - I go to Cambodia, one of the places I will most definitely be visiting is the Chab Dai library in Phnom Penh. Chab Dai means "linked hands" in Khmer (language of Cambodia), and looks to be an amazing organization. If you go to their website, you can find some resources and you can download a pdf file that gives a list of recommended resources. There were several books and movies that I had not heard of, so I'm thinking that when I have some time, I'll be doing some searching for these resources.

I was talking with someone this week about human trafficking, and it fired me up again. I think that one of the reasons that we fail when it comes to acting on our beliefs and our passions is a lack of community. When we feel like we are the only one who cares about a cause - whether it be human trafficking, AIDS, etc. - I think our natural tendency is to think we can't make a difference. But when you find people who are like-minded and have the same convictions and want to do something about it, it helps keep you motivated. I'm hoping that this is the case and I'm excited about the possibilities that this meeting has created to make a difference in this area.

Sheryl WuDunn on Colbert Report

Sheryl WuDunn is the coauthor of Half The Sky (also married to the other co-author, Nicolas Kristof) was on The Colbert Report. Check it out:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Sheryl WuDunn
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Michael Moore

Somaly Mam's Story

Thanks to Rochelle who sent me this, I give you Somaly Mam's story. You can also read her story in her book The Road Of Lost Innocence.

Half The Sky

I can't wait to get this book and start reading it. Half The Sky is about the oppression of women worldwide and how a village, a community, a nation can improve the quality of life for all its people by empowering the women that live there.

Cooperation Between U.S. And Cambodia To Continue.

This is awesome news.

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Cambodia and the US will continue to expand cooperation to fight against human trafficking amid the global financial crisis, as vulnerable women and children, especially the poor, can still fall victim to traffickers, US Ambassador Luis Cdebaca director of office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

“I visited Malaysia and Thailand where also had Cambodian workers there. They have worked at underground economy and we also have concerned about the human trafficking cases and we do not sum up the data or clarified Cambodia in list yet,” he said at a press conference in the US embassy to Cambodia. “We need to further cooperation in combating human trafficking and we have to work team with cooperation other partners including non-governmental organizations,” he said.

“In working with the Cambodian Government, we also sent back home three Americans involved with pedophiles in Cambodia earlier this week,” he said, adding that his visit to Cambodia has been very productive. He met several government officials and other civic partners in fighting human trafficking.

“We need to cooperate the with Justice and Interior Ministries, and law enforcement agencies to strengthen the law, and we need to select specific cases to upgrade cases in fighting against human trafficking. We are concerned about women in failing into sex slavery or brothels.

Ambassador Luis Cde Baca, was appointed by US President Obama to direct the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at the State Department, where he serves as senior advisor to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.

Sex Tourists Arrested

This makes me happy - that these men were caught. Hopefully this becomes something that happens more often to deter others from doing so.


Three American men have been arrested in Cambodia and are being transported back to the United States under allegations that they were “sex tourists” having sex with children. They were arrested in Cambodia on charges related to child sexual exploitation, and they are charged in the U.S. under the PROTECT Act. The PROTECT Act allows federal authorites to prosecute Americans who travel to foreign countries to engage in illicit sex with children.

The arrests were a part of “Operation Twisted Traveler,” which involved the cooperative efforts of the Department of Justice, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to identify and prosecute child sex tourism in Cambodia. The three defendants were identified as a result of information provided to ICE investigators for Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE) and International Justice Mission (IJM).

The three defendants, arrested in separate incidents, are all convicted sex offenders with prior convictions in the United States. They were arrested in Cambodia on charges related to child sexual exploitation, and are expected to appear in court on Tuesday. They are Ronald Gerard Boyajian, 49, of Menlo Park, California; Erik Leonardus Peeters, 41, of Norwalk, California; and Jack Louis Sprich, 75, formerly of Santa Monica, California, and now a resident of Sedona, Arizona.

Boyajian was arrested by the Cambodian National Police (CNP) in February, where he allegedly engaged in sexual activity with a 10-year-old Vietnamese girl in an area popular with child sex tourists known as “Kilo 11,” outside Phnon Penh. Peeters is accused of sexual activity with at least three Cambodian boys, allegedly paying them $5 to $10 for sex. Sporich is alleged to have sexually abused at least one Cambodian boy, and is alleged to have driven down the streets of Siem Riep dropping money to attract children.

At a press conference, United States Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien and Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for ICE John Morton announced the prosecutions and indicated that more prosecutions are likely to follow.

“The men charged in this investigation apparently thought they could pursue their abhorrent desires by leaving the United States to prey on children in another country, but they were sadly mistaken,” said United States Attorney O’Brien. “We are now working closer than ever with officials in other nations and concerned private parties to take every effort we can to identify and prosecute sex tourists, as well as to provide every protection we can to the world's children.”

Assistant Secretary Morton stated: “Sexual predators cannot escape justice simply by traveling overseas to exploit, violate and abuse children. Working closely with our partners overseas, ICE will identify people who travel for illicit purposes. We must protect children from sexual exploitation, whether in the United States or abroad. Today's announcement should send a message that traveling overseas to exploit children will not be tolerated and will not go unnoticed.”

From The Examiner.

Cambodian Missions Trip

I don't know if anyone reads this blog anymore, I don't update it enough unfortunately - but if you do, please keep in prayer some friends of mine who are going to Cambodia for two weeks starting today. I was supposed to be on this trip as well, but things didn't work out unfortunately, so I will only be there in heart and not in person. They will be going to Rapha House, Child Rescue and other places in Cambodia, and I'm excited to hear when they get back all the incredible things that took place!

Here is the team:

Taken.

It has "taken" me a long time to watch this movie. I intended to watch it in the movie theater, but life is busy and I never had the time to go and see it. So I "redboxed" it yesterday and watched it with Debby while we were at her sister's house.

I loved the movie, not only was it on a subject close to my heart, but it was a very well-done film.

It reminded me of when I first saw the documentary CIY made on human trafficking called "Baht". After I saw it, I first wanted to throw up. Then I wanted to kill people who would do this to women and children. At the time, I wasn't thinking about Liam Neeson (who did a great job in this movie, but obviously it hadn't come out yet), I was thinking about what it would take to make an "Iron Man" outfit, and then go to the brothels of Cambodia and rescue every girl I saw and destroy the bad guys.

Those thoughts came back to me after watching Taken.

The problem is using violence, although satisfying I'm sure, can't solve the problem of human trafficking. If you get rid of a gang of Albanians who are profiting from trafficking, it only leaves a vacuum for another group to come in and fill. If you rescue a thousand girls from Cambodian brothels, the system will only replace them with a thousand more. That doesn't mean we shouldn't care or that rescue operations shouldn't take place, but there are deeper issues that need to be taken care of if we will ever see trafficking eliminated in our lifetime.

One of those is the "demand" side of trafficking. The reason why it's such a profitable business is because the demand for prostitutes, sexual torture and pedophilia is huge. That's a huge issue that needs to be addressed.

There are of course other issues involved as well: police corruption, etc.

But I did enjoy the movie. And I'm glad it has done so well and made a ton of money. Hopefully this will help raise awareness of the issue.

I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Outta Here!

I pretty much abhor most reality t.v. shows, especially any kind of celebrity reality t.v. show. However, this season of "I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Outta Here!" is tempting to watch. Why? Because it has Stephen Baldwin on it. And not because of his conversion to Christianity or anything like that. It's because the charity he's chose to play for is my favorite - Love146.

Here is Stephen on the Jimmy Fallon show talking about the upcoming reality event.