Don't Mess with (sex trafficking in) Texas

On May 27th, Texas proved it's taking the fight against trafficking very seriously.

AUSTIN -- Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today joined Gov. Rick Perry today at a ceremony where the governor signed human trafficking prevention legislation into law. The new law, which was sponsored by Sen. Leticia Van de Putte and Rep. Senfronia Thompson, implements legislative recommendations from the Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force, which is chaired by Attorney General Abbott.

(Excerpt courtesy of Star Local News; Staff Reports)

Under this enhanced law, convictions will carry harsher sentences and child victims will be given greater protection. A tremendous victory!

Read the full report from Star Local News: http://www.scntx.com/articles/2011/05/27/news_update/414.txt

New York News

This past week, three men from Suffolk County, LI, were arrested, charged and later convicted on Thursday of sex trafficking. Operating out of Latin-themed bars, victims were lured with promises of 'waitressing jobs' and were forced to perform sex acts on patrons, only to be raped or beaten if they refused.

While more traffickers continue to operate here in New York, the US and beyond, the conviction of these men is still a victory.

Read the full article, written by Timothy Bolger, on LongIslandPress.com:

http://www.longislandpress.com/2011/05/27/3-men-convicted-of-sex-trafficking-women-at-suffolk-bars/

(photo courtesy of Ethan Stokes/LongIslandPress.com)

Watch Rachel Lloyd's Senate Testimony

Rachel Lloyd is one of the most celebrated and powerful activists within the anti-trafficking community and is the founder of GEMS, an anti-trafficking organization and the only one in NY state that assists young girls and women who have been commercially exploited and domestically trafficked.

Click on the link below to watch Rachel and Shaquanna, a GEMS employee and former trafficking victim, testify before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law about human trafficking. This 20-minute video provides an amazing account of the nature of trafficking and how anti-trafficking services can help girls rebuild their lives from two very inspirational and powerful women.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HBo9vREVBQ

To learn more about GEMS, visit their website:

http://www.gems-girls.org/

In Their Own Words

There's no better way to learn about human trafficking than from victims themselves.

Visit the Polaris Project link below to read survivor stories:

http://www.polarisproject.org/what-we-do/client-services/survivor-stories

Know Your Neighborhood: Residential Brothels

Residential brothels are increasingly becoming a popular location amongst traffickers, with victims (women and children) predominantly coming from Latin America. Such brothels are known to cater only to Latino men and operate out of private residences.

While trafficking is sometimes advertised and marketed online or in newspapers, services from residential brothels are publicized by distributing business cards ("tarjetas") and when johns hear of the brothel's existence "through the grapevine." It is through this form of advertisement and verbal communication that johns pay $30 for 15-minutes of sex, with women and children each "serving" up to 48 men every day. With a 7 day work week, victims may be having sex with as many as 336 men a week.

Who are the victims?

Frequently, victims are undocumented and unfamiliar with their surroundings. They may have been smuggled into the country with traffickers taking their passports and forms of identification upon arrival. If victims are illegal immigrants, the chance for traffickers to manipulate them remains high, as the women may feel, and are, completely vulnerable. An aggregate of conditions including financial instability and geographic unfamiliarity form a dangerous combination that leave women and children vulnerable to trafficking. This applies not just to victims in residential brothels, but to all trafficking victims.

Remember- someone is being trafficked if they are forced, coerced or fraudulently lured into the industry.

For confidential assistance and information on trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center's national trafficking hotline number: 1-888-3737-888

Quick and easy way to take action!

Want a quick and easy way to make a difference?

Right now there is a petition on Change.org that is urging the Department of Justice to end sex trafficking in Latino residential brothels.

Sign it and send to a friend:

http://www.change.org/petitions/doj-stop-sex-trafficking-in-latino-residential-brothels

Visit Change.org as often as you to help advocate for change at the local, state and federal levels.

Prostitution is Trafficking

We'd like to help dispel a common misunderstanding when trying to decipher between prostitution and trafficking. Many assume that if a woman selling sex is not chained up or shackled, then she is doing it at will and is just trying to make a living. But what we may not realize is that many women and girls who are deemed 'prostitutes' are in fact doing it because they are tricked, coerced, brainwashed and threatened. Many are brainwashed to believe that their pimps love them and they have no other choice. So, in our anti-trafficking community, we consider these girls 'trafficked' and in need of rescuing.

Yet many of the victims are arrested and charged with prostitution. Particularly when it's an emotional chain that binds them, it's just not that apparent to the outside world, particularly law enforcement.

Because trafficking can be masked as prostitution, it's easier for pimps, johns and traffickers to remain industrious. The victim may accept her prostitution charge while remaining silent about the nature of what is actually happening to her. Traffickers, through various forms of manipulation, keep their victims silent so as to maintain profitability and physical proximity (women may be too scared to leave).

You can learn more about this particular topic within the world of trafficking by visiting GEMS @ http://www.gems-girls.org/about.

Rachel Lloyd, a former victim of trafficking, has made it her life's mission to help these women and girls who are commonly mistreated and mistaken for prostitutes. She has devoted her life to dispelling this myth so that these girls are no longer prosecuted but instead SAVED.