Time to Refresh the World

Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher are supporting GEMS for the Pepsi Refresh challenge--hopefully you will, too. (It's easy!)

Mr. and Mrs. Kutcher have been very vocal advocates against human and child sex trafficking over the past several years.  Their latest step in this area was to launch the DNA Foundation--D and A, get it?--on January 25.  As part of this initiative Demi Moore submitted her Refresh Idea on behalf of GEMS to win Pepsi's $250,000.  The grant would go toward 10 outreach workers to help thousands of girls get help, counseling, etc. for exiting the sex trade and be reintegrated into society.


Go to http://www.facebook.com/refresheverything to learn more and cast your vote.

Special thanks to my sweet Aunt Martha for telling me about the DNA Foundation after seeing it on the Today Show!

GEMS Girls: We Are Millions

GEMS Girls put together this beautiful video called "We Are Millions."  Imagine my surprise when I saw that I'm in it!!

Thank you for a beautiful tribute.  I hope this video brings all of the encouragement and love it has the power to.

GEMS Girls and You Will Survive

GEMS Girls and the Council of Daughters are asking for your photos of support.

In conjunction with the launch of a song re-recorded specially for GEMS by Sinead O'Connor and Mary J. Blige called "This is to Mother You," the organizations are collecting encouraging photographs from people all over the country with the message "You will survive."

Here's how it works:
Go to this website and download a PDF sign for printing.  Take a photo of yourself or a group holding signs and email it to motheryousong (at) gmail.com by November 25th.

I LOVE this idea.  Given all of the harm that has been done to girls trafficked for pornography, I hope that by turning the camera on ourselves we will send a visual encouragement to these girls that they are survivors and that we are behind them.  (Side note--due to reflections you'll probably need to use a mirror to take the picture so it's readable!)

"This is to Mother You" will be available for digital download from GEMS and at select retailers on December 2, which is the international date for the abolition of slavery.

So with Shaniya Davis fresh in our minds and the eyes of the U.S. suddenly focused on human trafficking, whip out those cameras, mobile phones or webcams and send a message of support to those who have been exploited on our streets and in our backyards.

Human Trafficking in Charisma Magazine

Diana Scimone has written an amazing piece on human trafficking in the November issue of a Christian publication called Charisma magazine. She highlights the issue of trafficking as well as all of the fantastic organizations who are lending a hand in the fight to end it (and even mentions this blog in the "Everyday Abolitionists" sidebar--thanks so much, Diana!!)

Please check out the piece in full here!

I hope this article continues to open eyes and hearts toward the full realization of abolition.

Child Sex Trafficking of Runaways in the U.S.

Photo by Sunny laid back L.A.

I read a great article in the NYTimes today, and it was especially relevant on the heels of yesterday's big news.

"For Runaways, Sex Buys Survival," looks at the business of trafficking runaways for sex on America's streets. It's a growing problem according to law enforcement and child protective service agencies, and the Internet plays a large part in attracting "clients."

“It’s definitely worsening,” said Sgt. Kelley O’Connell, a detective who until this year ran the Boston Police Department’s human-trafficking unit, echoing a sentiment conveyed in interviews with law enforcement officials from more than two dozen cities. “Gangs used to sell drugs,” she said. “Now many of them have shifted to selling girls because it’s just as lucrative but far less risky.”(excerpted from NYT article)

The article featured interviews with convicted pimps, who talk about the tactics they use to ensnare young girls into prostitution--including targeting girls with large backpacks on, who have clearly just left home. The pimps' bottom line was that they recognize these girls' starvation for love and attention, and they can easily "hook" them with a few gifts of jewelry and nice dinners.

One of the pimps put it this way:

"With the young girls, you promise them heaven, they'll follow you to hell."

NYTimes content doesn't stay free and available for long, so I'd recommend reading the story as soon as you can. Ian Urbina has put together 4 pages of an extremely important and well-written look at the reality of sex trafficking in America.

The question I'd ask now is--does it matter that these girls are runaways? Does it make them less worthy of our attention and care, as opposed to a little girl on the other side of the world who has been kidnapped or sold? Do we care more or less that this is what sex trafficking looks like in our cities and on our streets?

GEMS, Netflix, and the One and Only Beyonce

You might remember a post I wrote last year about the work GEMS (Girls Educational & Mentoring Services) is doing and the film "Very Young Girls." Thanks to @cfpdx for alerting me to the next development in the program--something that the likes of Beyonce, Halle Berry, and Netflix have teamed together for.

On July 7, Netflix will begin streaming the Showtime documentary "Very Young Girls," and high profile musicians and actresses will be using live events and "e-activism" to draw more attention to the fact that between 100,000-300,000 American children are victimized by child traffickers and pimps each year.

Beyonce says that she saw the documentary 6 months ago and has been inspired to try to help in whatever way she can. Besides visiting the girls at GEMS, Beyonce is inviting a group of the girls to be her special guests at an upcoming concert in New Jersey. She says,

"I realized that they were no different than I am. If I grew up with some of the struggles and challenges they have had to deal with and live with every day, I could have possibly been them and vice versa. After hearing the shocking stories of what those young ladies have gone through, I want to use my voice to do what I can to bring awareness to this horrific sex trafficking that happens right here in America."

You can find more information at The Council of Daughters and GEMS websites, and show your support by becoming a fan of Girls Are Not for Sale on Facebook here.

Between Beyonce's support for GEMS, and Paramore and The Fray spreading the word for Love146 at their concerts, it's good to see the music world taking an active interest in fighting child sex trafficking in America around the world.

Fashion Statement

Get it off your chest, by putting it on your chest!
Here are a few ideas of ways to raise awareness and get a conversation started. Click on the shirt to see more details.

Punk'd

Want to see Ashton Kutcher, of MTV and That 70's Show fame, get serious about something?

He knows his stuff when it comes to child sex trafficking, and he and Demi are speaking out about it whenever they can--whether that's with Lisa Ling on this Oprah video or Tweeting stats from his Twitter account while meeting with the founder of GEMs.  

From reading other blog/media commentary on the celebrity duo's proclaimed commitment to end slavery within their lifetimes, it's apparent that a lot of people are pretty cynical about their involvement in the cause.  But I think they're legit--and to be perfectly frank, I don't really care even if it does turn out to 

be a flash-in-the-pan publicity stunt.  Like they say in Hollywood, no publicity is bad publicity.  

I see more and more people getting in line to care about something other than themselves, and in my mind, children being trafficked and exploited are one of the most important and pressing issues out there.  As Demi notes while speaking with Lisa Ling, 

"There's something very timely about this... Not that this hasn't been talked about, not that people haven't done incredible documentaries and exposed us to this information... but I think that now there's a readiness to really make a change, and really end this." 

Picture of Ashton Kutcher by Eugene. 

The Present

Think you have to travel far to see trafficking and child sexual exploitation?  

I did.  But we're wrong.

Two videos.  In the U.S.

In 2008.

If you haven't cared much 'til now, it's time to start.  This is in our backyard.

UPDATE: Sorry guys, this is just going to have to be a sad, disgusting post.  Saw on the news today that 170 people have been arrested in a global child pornography investigation.  CNN says that 61 of those were right here in the good ole' US of A.  So far the investigation has rescued 11 girls, ages 3 to 13, in the United States, who appeared in the videos.  

An official said ringleaders primarily targeted prepubscent female victims to satisfy their customers, but noted that other groups produced photos and videos of boys and girls of all ages--or even infants.  "For this subset, that's what turns them on," the official said.