SPOTLIGHT CASE Human Trafficking Awareness Thread

[Kimberlyd125]

I just can't find the words to speak about this at this time. I will do all I know to do and pray for the children that are imprisioned and abused.

 

[Kimster]

Belleyes, :blowkiss:

You don't know how much I appreciate the time you've taken to explain what has happened to the children that you love and opened your life to help! After my friend told me about his experience (which was THIRTY years ago, so this is NOT NEW you guys!), my first question was "WHAT HAPPENED TO THE KIDS"??? Now I know. It sounds like there are a lot of adults out there who were traffickers as kids and don't know enough to come forward!!!

My heart just aches......Let's continue to keep this as an awareness thread as we all try and soak in the truth and then we can start a "what to do" thread when the time is right.

:grouphug: to all the great links the rest of you provided! I love you all so much!

 

[Kimster]

Man Wanted In One Of Country's Largest Human Trafficking Cases - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

A thread about a man hunt for a man involved in trafficking back in August. I noticed that my comment at the time was pretty generic...I had no idea of the magnitude of trafficking in the US at that time.

 

[not_my_kids]

In Ghana, thousands of young girls are given away, not sold, GIVEN as tro-kasis to single men in the area. The belief is that by giving the girls away as fetish slaves (what the term means) they will break their bad luck and gain fortune.

In 1995, former prisoners of WWII finally got people to believe that they were taken from their homes in Japan and forced into comfort houses (brothels) with hundreds of other women to service the soldiers.

Dayna Broussard, beaten to death by her fanatical family at their commune in Oregon in 1991. There were also 53 other children enslaved at the commune. They had all been deprived of food, education and other essentials. The unlucky one was Dayna, she wasn't rescued in time.

I don't know about being sold, never been there. Been given away free, but never sold. But that's already on one thread around here, once is enough.

 

[Tricia]

Marc Klaas is going to be here on Tuesday for a live Chat. KlaasKids is a group that is front and center in the battle of human trafficking.

Tuesday 7:00 PM Pacific 10: PM Eastern.

Here are the instructions for the chat.

Chat open for discussion all day, every day! - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

 

[Kimster]

Sadly, while we as a society have failed to adequately register the importance of family on our children, those who prey on young people understand it all too well. According to a study conducted through the University of Pennsylvania, 75% of known child prostitutes work for pimps, who are adept at creating a pseudo-family environment by promising money, love and affection to children coming from dysfunctional homes who are seeking care and nourishment. These sexual predators then strip these children of whatever money they make and severely abuse them in order to establish a relationship of dependency.

So where does this leave the thousands of young people forced to sell themselves for sex every day just to survive to see the next day?

There are few cut-and-dried solutions. We can continue to throw money at the government -- with its task forces, sting operations and initiatives -- and comfort ourselves that something is being done. We can continue to give money to our churches and synagogues in the hopes that they will do something, perhaps by focusing on the inner cities and offering counseling and assistance to these cast-off children. We can even contact our representatives and insist that they get tough on crime by showing "no leniency" to sexual predators.

However, until each of us gets serious about this crisis, until we all start doing our part to target the underlying societal causes -- poverty, drug abuse and dysfunctional family units -- the gains will continue to be minimal. And tragically, it will be the children who pay the price for our neglect. <snipped>

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-w-whitehead/children-of-the-night-chi_b_115348.html

 

[Kimster]

Let's be sure we are ready for the chat with Marc Klaas tomorrow!!! He's been working on creating public awareness to this issue for quite awhile and I'm anticipating that his information will be invaluable.

 

[belleyes]

Sadly, while we as a society have failed to adequately register the importance of family on our children, those who prey on young people understand it all too well. According to a study conducted through the University of Pennsylvania, 75% of known child prostitutes work for pimps, who are adept at creating a pseudo-family environment by promising money, love and affection to children coming from dysfunctional homes who are seeking care and nourishment. These sexual predators then strip these children of whatever money they make and severely abuse them in order to establish a relationship of dependency.

So where does this leave the thousands of young people forced to sell themselves for sex every day just to survive to see the next day?

There are few cut-and-dried solutions. We can continue to throw money at the government -- with its task forces, sting operations and initiatives -- and comfort ourselves that something is being done. We can continue to give money to our churches and synagogues in the hopes that they will do something, perhaps by focusing on the inner cities and offering counseling and assistance to these cast-off children. We can even contact our representatives and insist that they get tough on crime by showing "no leniency" to sexual predators.

However, until each of us gets serious about this crisis, until we all start doing our part to target the underlying societal causes -- poverty, drug abuse and dysfunctional family units -- the gains will continue to be minimal. And tragically, it will be the children who pay the price for our neglect. <snipped>

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-w-whitehead/children-of-the-night-chi_b_115348.html

WOW thats powerful --thank you

 

[Jersey*Girl]

Let's be sure we are ready for the chat with Marc Klaas tomorrow!!! He's been working on creating public awareness to this issue for quite awhile and I'm anticipating that his information will be invaluable.

Kimster, I started a thread on something like this in The Political Pavilion last April. I didn't get very far with it ... maybe now, with Klaas getting involved in putting pressure on the FCC, it will spark more interest in people...especially those with children. My great country of America leads the world in human trafficking. We're supposed to have sooo much money, but if that's true, why aren't us citizens protected and aware? We give free medical to anybody that steps foot in a hospital, even if they aren't citizens, but our children can;t even go outside unprotected anymore. When I was going to college at FSU 20 years ago, I was taught to glance under my car before approachment, just in case somebody was waiting underneath to slice my ankles & kidnap me or steal my car. It's far worse now. Cuba & South America are just a hop skip & jump away from us, where our American $$$ is worth so much more to them than it is to us in the USA. I'll supply my quotes from my Cuban Embargo & Sex Trafficking thread next. Love you for starting this and while I don;t like what your friend did with regards to drugs, I applaud him for turning his life around and sharing his experience so that we may all learn & be informed from his mistakes. I send many prayers his way. Please relay that.

:blowkiss:

Jersey

 

[Jersey*Girl]

Marc Klaas is going to be here on Tuesday for a live Chat. KlaasKids is a group that is front and center in the battle of human trafficking.

Tuesday 7:00 PM Pacific 10: PM Eastern.

Here are the instructions for the chat.

Chat open for discussion all day, every day! - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

Thank you, Tricia. I'm going to try my hardest to be here. If I can't, at least I can try to supply whatever I can drum up. I love Klaas! I'm saddened by the FCC and our government's lack of concern. I understand that terrorism is at the forefront right now, but don;t they freaking understand that human (especially child) trafficking & prostitution is a HUGE money maker worldwide and it's so easy to launder those funds...filtering to whatever group they wish to fund? Certainly the US govt knows this, so the big question is why won't they do more about it? It's unacceptable to me for them to say they're working on it and just b/c we don't see everything they're doing doesn't mean they aren't trying to make a dent in it. All this talk of Russia, China, & Germany being at the top behooves me when all the info I find shows my wonderful country of America is the leader of the pact. Come on Obama - do something. Help these innocent victims!

 

[Jersey*Girl]

Here's a couple of posts from my Cuban Embargo & Sex Trafficking thread:

I wanted to start this thread b/c of the increasing debate between the U.S. & Cuba. There are no other developing industries in Cuba and prostitution has increased so much that it has become a major source of supplemental income for many Cubans. My question is this - If we lift sanctions against Cuba, if we allow for tourism to and from Cuba, will that increase the sex trade industry? It seems as though human trafficking is increasing, which Cuba doesn't recognize publicly, and it scares me when I realize exactly how "cheap" it would be to get what pedos & other sex rats want in Cuba - from what I'm finding it's $3 for yumyum - sick. If we lift sanctions, is there anything we can do to help Cuba crack down on these perverts, or will we make their prostitution industry more populous knowing that Americans lead the world now in sex crimes? Is there anything we can do in anticipation of this, in order to help prevent an increase in trafficking?

Please refer to this link, which is from June of 2008. I haven't found a more recent update yet, but I've been following this development for about 3 years now - it gets worse every year:
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher,USDOS,,CUB,484f9a0f2d,0.html

The following is a snippet from this article, as supplied by The UN Refugee Agency:
Cuba is principally a source country for women and children trafficked within the country for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Some families push child victims to prostitute themselves as a means of increasing family income. Cuban children and adults also may be exploited for forced labor. The full scope of trafficking within Cuba is difficult to gauge due to the closed nature of the government and sparse non-governmental or independent reporting. However, by all accounts, the country is a destination for sex tourism, including child sex tourism, which is a problem in many areas of the country. Cuba's thriving sex trade caters to numerous European, Canadian, and Latin American tourists every year. State-run hotel workers, travel employees, cab drivers, and police steer tourists to prostituted women and children and facilitate their commercial sexual exploitation, sometimes extorting money or pay-offs from victims. Limited sex trafficking of Cuban women to Mexico, The Bahamas, and Western Europe has been reported. Some Cuban nationals willingly migrate to the United States, but are subsequently exploited for forced labor by their smugglers. Cuba also is a transit point for the smuggling of migrants from China, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Lebanon, and other nations to the United States and Canada. Some of these migrants may be trafficking victims, who are subject to forced labor, sexual exploitation, and abuse.

The Government of Cuba does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. Exact information about trafficking in Cuba is difficult to obtain because the government does not publicly release information, and U.S. attempts to engage officials are viewed as politically motivated. Nonetheless, the Government of Cuba does not appear to have made tangible efforts to prosecute offenders, protect victims, or prevent human trafficking activity during the reporting period.

&

Thank you, SWAG! I am on the fence with regards to sanctions being lifted...reason being is that I feel so bad for the Cuban people. I do think that if sanctions are to be lifted, it should only be done so under certain terms...which is what Castro & his brother will NEVER agree to. I knew several latinos while living in Florida, and one of my most favorite places to visit was South Miami...and in Little Cuba the food is so good that nothing can begin to compare to it...but the crime is incredible. There's so much $$$ in Miami, and alot of it is due to money laundering. Living in Florida and going to college, I encountered some pretty crazy people...which I guess could have come from anywhere...except they were mostly beautiful. Why is it human nature not to second guess people that are nice and good looking, but to second guess people with straggley hair and no-name clothes? Why? Anyway, I can't tell you how many people KNEW about the prostitution even way back then - in Cuba! Living in Cuba is like living in certain parts of Mexico. In America, you might make $2k-$6K per month...there you might only bring home $10 per week (or even month). Women can prostitute and bring home $100 per week in Cuba, therefore being able to provide food & necessities for their families while working less hours! A bj that might cost $20-$30 in NYC only costs $3 in Cuba! This is what worries me, b/c Cuba is ALOT closer than some of these Asian nations that take a blind eye to such indiscretions. Since Cuba is so very close to America, and Puerto Rico is just a hop-skip-&-jump from Cuba, then I'm thinking that sanctions being lifted will only fuel this crime. I know for a fact that many illegals coming from Cuba is what put alot of Miami Americans out of business. Anything in construction gets done alot cheaper if you hire them. Laying asphalt anywhere in the U.S. costs at the minimum $10 per hour, but a Cuban or Mexican (illegal) will do it for half, even though it's under minimum wage! Same goes for drug smuggling. It's such a shame that the Intracoastal Highway / Waterway has become part of the drug runners' path! Makes me sick with all the beautiful marine life in there. I feel so bad for the Cuban people, though. I am just unsure as to the correct avenue to take here. There truly is no industry there, nothing that up and coming...only the rise of prostitution & child labor, plus the growth of various raw packaged drugs...which in turn are flown or floated into the U.S. to be dried, cut, separated, and sold. All for profit, which comes right back to money laundering. We all know Miami is the capital of money laundering, Argentina & Brazil coming in right behind. Makes me a bit scared.

 

[Kimster]

Jersey Girl!!! THANK YOU!!!! :blowkiss:

 

[Patience]

I wonder why there are so many sex offenders anyway. Can't these people control themselves? Why do so many want to have sex with children? I looked up the map of how many sex offenders are living near Shaynia's bio mother and there are far too many. Why are they being let out of prison or institutions? Here is the map.


http://sexoffender.ncdoj.gov/map.aspx

 

[PorcineGranny]

Patience, I guess this is a situation where the squeaky wheel gets the grease. We obviously are not aware of this grave situation even though we live among its vilest inhabitants. I think it was Pittsburgirl who said she didn't believe in the Death Penalty but in this case, she felt it was appropriate. ( Shaniya case) I want to state right here, that the death penalty should be used liberally on all those that seek to harm or abuse our children. There should be no second chance, no parole, no probation, no need for those electronic devices that alert others to their whereabouts. The penalty for this crime and every crime against a child in the USA where a child is harmed or killed should be death. There has to be enough fear to abolish even the thought of child abuse.

Alas , we know its not going to happen. These are the times we are living in. Guard your children and pray for their safety and at every opportunity voice your opinion in a voting booth.

 

[Jersey*Girl]

Patience, I guess this is a situation where the squeaky wheel gets the grease. We obviously are not aware of this grave situation even though we live among its vilest inhabitants. I think it was Pittsburgirl who said she didn't believe in the Death Penalty but in this case, she felt it was appropriate. ( Shaniya case) I want to state right here, that the death penalty should be used liberally on all those that seek to harm or abuse our children. There should be no second chance, no parole, no probation, no need for those electronic devices that alert others to their whereabouts. The penalty for this crime and every crime against a child in the USA where a child is harmed or killed should be death. There has to be enough fear to abolish even the thought of child abuse.

Alas , we know its not going to happen. These are the times we are living in. Guard your children and pray for their safety and at every opportunity voice your opinion in a voting booth.

Exactly. It's not as if these perps are defective machinery that can be repaired or have certain parts replaced...plus the injustice done to their victims far outweighs even a death sentence. I'm certain that these victims have to live with the knowledge of what they endured for the rest of their lives, that is if they're "lucky" enough to live through it without being murdered...whereas the offender gets the dp or lwop if the victim was murdered...or some measley sentence where they're back on the streets in mere years if the victim actually lives through their ordeal. Where the heck's the justice in that?What the heck good is a sex offender registry if it can't control the perps? It's great that it informs us innocent people so we can make educated decisions and spread awareness, but seriously, unless they're all on monitoring devices it does nothing for us or our kids. There needs to be stricter guidelines and cut out the gray area that certain states convict guys that are 18 having sex with a 15 y/o that lied about her age...those same states that allow 16 y/o's to marry.

Neighbors hardly speak up anymore. Gone are the days of small town America when every neighborhood had their own Gladys Kravitz. Everybody's too busy with double income families and trying to get their piece of the pie to keep up with the Jones' that trafficking & prostitution has taken a backseat in their knowledge bases. People are getting numb to feeling for strangers and making a difference. This crap has been around forever...just gotten prominently worse when we went to war. I wish the media could focus on this subject and report on it the way they glamorize Brangelina, or the way they report on court cases that have been dead for ages. This is a problem in the here and now and should be addressed right away as it's seriously out of hand, has grown to HUGE proportions involving several international countries, and is probably the wealthiest industry out there. If Obama doesn't recognize this soon and do his share in making a difference with regards to Human Trafficking and child prostitution, people will look at him the same way they did Bush - like he turned a blind eye to it all. That's fine and dandy if they're supporting work behind the scenes with Interpol, the CIA, etc, but if that's the case they should put their money where their mouth is imo. People that enslave & rape other people should be tried & convicted and be punished to corporal punishment in a public avenue - especially if their victim was an innocent child.

:furious: :furious: :furious: :furious: :furious:

 

[yanknrebel]

Thanks Kimster for starting this thread.
I had NO IDEA til Shaniya's case just how bad this is!
Instead of our politicians worrying about other crap,
let's get them started on this issue!
This human trafficing is getting worse than drugs!
We need each town to have petitions for politicians to address this 'secret' in USA!!!

There was a documentary on tv a few months ago about the widespread of human trafficking. Human trafficking is 2nd in money brought in to these scumbags only to drugs.

 

[yanknrebel]

Exactly. It's not as if these perps are defective machinery that can be repaired or have certain parts replaced...plus the injustice done to their victims far outweighs even a death sentence. I'm certain that these victims have to live with the knowledge of what they endured for the rest of their lives, that is if they're "lucky" enough to live through it without being murdered...whereas the offender gets the dp or lwop if the victim was murdered...or some measley sentence where they're back on the streets in mere years if the victim actually lives through their ordeal. Where the heck's the justice in that?What the heck good is a sex offender registry if it can't control the perps? It's great that it informs us innocent people so we can make educated decisions and spread awareness, but seriously, unless they're all on monitoring devices it does nothing for us or our kids. There needs to be stricter guidelines and cut out the gray area that certain states convict guys that are 18 having sex with a 15 y/o that lied about her age...those same states that allow 16 y/o's to marry.

Neighbors hardly speak up anymore. Gone are the days of small town America when every neighborhood had their own Gladys Kravitz. Everybody's too busy with double income families and trying to get their piece of the pie to keep up with the Jones' that trafficking & prostitution has taken a backseat in their knowledge bases. People are getting numb to feeling for strangers and making a difference. This crap has been around forever...just gotten prominently worse when we went to war. I wish the media could focus on this subject and report on it the way they glamorize Brangelina, or the way they report on court cases that have been dead for ages. This is a problem in the here and now and should be addressed right away as it's seriously out of hand, has grown to HUGE proportions involving several international countries, and is probably the wealthiest industry out there. If Obama doesn't recognize this soon and do his share in making a difference with regards to Human Trafficking and child prostitution, people will look at him the same way they did Bush - like he turned a blind eye to it all. That's fine and dandy if they're supporting work behind the scenes with Interpol, the CIA, etc, but if that's the case they should put their money where their mouth is imo. People that enslave & rape other people should be tried & convicted and be punished to corporal punishment in a public avenue - especially if their victim was an innocent child.

:furious: :furious: :furious: :furious: :furious:

I am glad to say I AM one of those Gladys Kravitz people. I have made than a few calls tot he single mom across the street to ask about her daughter or the car that shows up over there while mom is at work. She appreciates it. Not the daughter, so much. However I have 5 kids and I would rather that child be mad at me, then to get hurt by 2 male youths going into her home why mom is away. I hope and pray that my neighbors help me watch out for my kids as well. I hate it when I see a child out in our neighborhood riding their bikes. We live in a nice neighborhood but as we all know, child abductions happen EVERYWHERE and ANYWHERE. I am not willing to take that chance with my children. I never let them out front by themselves. They are always watched. I hate being like that, but the thought terrifies me. I wish we had more Kravitz/s in the world. Then Jaycee would have been found much much sooner, as would all these other babies.

 

[songline]

Thank you for this thread. I read about 15 posts and got sick.
I really mean I GOT SICK.
Aware that it exists it is still very hard to read this stuff.
I need a brake I will be back this is thread is so important for raising awareness.

 

[belleyes]

Thank you for this thread. I read about 15 posts and got sick.
I really mean I GOT SICK.
Aware that it exists it is still very hard to read this stuff.
I need a brake I will be back this is thread is so important for raising awareness.

Thank You for visiting, awareness is the first step to solving a problem. I know that I can be very graffic and I appologize for that, but the things being put in the media (and from myself) are mild compared to the whole story. I was silent for years ----I never wanted to exploit my kids any more that they already have but this board has really helped me to speak out without dragging the children "out of the closet".

Kimster THANK YOU again for helping to educate people so that change can happen. I continue to be amazed at how naive (some by choice b/c it is to painful to even fathom for us "normal" people) people are. I am not trying to bash or point fingers but I saw a response to my comment that these people truely have a tight knit undergroud gang so to speak. Responded with Yeah crack slums.
***THIS PROBLEM IS EVERYWHERE NOT JUST THE 'SLUM-CRACK HOUSES***

quite the opposite, the operation of trafficing children is quite an intricate operation.

 

[belleyes]

I wanted to add some more info ....( which has no link as it is my personal experience and conversations with the FBI)

This info may be a repeat if you were upstair earlier...

-People involved in child porn rings, prostitution and trafficing have certain "codes" to identify each other (just like different gangs have different signs ) Most times these are common nondiscript things like the way they word something and they are constantly changing to stay ahead of police. (a very rich famous talk show host did a show about pedophiles and talked about this--it was very informative and very accurate as to what my children experienced-I'll try to link but i'm not sure how to)

-NEVER EVER put childrens pictures on the internet---it may seem innocent but they may be used for very dirty purposes. Another reason is you may inadvertently be telling someone that your child is available. (my kids pic were on net when they lived in the house of horrors and the Feds showed me ---it looked innocent to me. To me it just sounded like a very trusting person bragging about her kids with pics along.---FBI said thats how they knew the momster was not at all innocent but actually sought out these men. It was a way of showing what she had to offer ( its hard to even type that)