Kristi House is gearing up to take model legislation from California and New York and promote it here in Florida!! Read more about the new laws.
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Associated Press
By CHRISTINA HOAG Associated Press Writer
Published: Saturday, April 18, 2009 at 2:18 p.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, April 18, 2009 at 2:18 p.m.
LOS ANGELES - By the time she was 8, Amanda had been sexually abused by her father's friend for four years. At 12, she was peddling crack. At 14, she was selling sex on the sidewalk.
Her pimp beat her weekly to keep her working, stitching up her wounds himself to avoid questions at a hospital. Her average earnings of $600 for a 13-hour day of turning tricks bought him a car.
Now 15, Amanda is rebuilding her life. Caught when a cop stopped one of her customers for a broken tail light, she was sent to Children of the Night, a residential program in suburban Los Angeles that rehabilitates teen prostitutes.
"All my life my plate was like overfilled with problems," she said. "I always asked God to give me something good, and this is it."
The fact that Amanda was rescued instead of arrested reflects not only a stroke of luck but a decidedly different take on tackling the juvenile sex trade. Courts and law enforcement are increasingly treating young prostitutes as child abuse victims - and their pimps as human traffickers.
"This is an institutional shift," said Nancy O'Malley, an Alameda County prosecutor who wrote California's new sexually exploited minors law. "It's about getting people to shift their attention and judgment from the minor and seeing what's beyond this criminal behavior."
New York also has a new law that calls for underage prostitutes to be sent to rehabilitation programs instead of juvenile detention, along with more training for law enforcement in handling the troubled teenagers and taking a harder line on their pimps.
In many other states, prosecutors are charging pimps with human trafficking, or the transportation of people for illicit commercial purposes. Convictions can land traffickers in prison for decades.
The approach comes as pimps are getting increasingly sophisticated and harder to bust. They run loose networks across states lines that distribute girls like drugs and set up Internet sex operations that are tough to infiltrate.
The result: Teen prostitution has spread to towns across the country, said Michael Langeman, who heads the FBI's Crimes Against Children unit. The FBI's work is also bolstered by federal trafficking laws to crack down on pimps.
In Nevada, a man was sentenced to life for transporting two girls from that state to cities around California to work as prostitutes in 2006. Last year, three people pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of children in San Diego for running an Internet-advertised sex ring with 14- and 16-year-olds.
"This isn't like the old days of a slap on the wrist," said Keith Bolkar, who heads the FBI's Cybercrimes unit in Los Angeles.
Rescuing the girls is an important part of the equation. In most cases, they're troubled, often sexually abused, lured into prostitution by "boyfriends" who shower them with the loving attention they lack at home.
Gifts and outings, though, turn into violence and emotional manipulation.
That was the case with Samantha, a 15-year-old from Orange County and now at Children of the Night. At 14, she said, she started using drugs and skipping school. She soon met an older man.
"He gave me money, drugs, clothes," she recalled. "I was having fun. Then he started hitting me."
The boyfriend took her to Arizona, made her pose for photos in lingerie and have sex with men who responded to Craigslist ads.
"I complained a lot so he gave me drugs," she said.
She was rescued when another girl was arrested and told police about her.
Children of the Night, which has 24 beds, is one of about four rehab programs for teen prostitutes around the country. The others are in New York City, San Francisco and Atlanta. Two more are planned to open this year in Oakland and Toledo, Ohio.
The dearth of programs means girls from all over the country are sent to Children of the Night.
Gladys, a 17-year-old from a Miami suburb, found herself there after she ran away from home to be with a boyfriend. The boyfriend advertised her as a prostitute on Craigslist and threatened to kill her if she didn't comply.
She was shuffled around motels over a two-month period until one of his other "girlfriends" got arrested.
"I was like 'thank God. I want to go home. What did I get myself into?'"
she said.
Now, she's completing high school and driver's instruction and looking for a job.
The Associated Press doesn't routinely identify the victims of sexual abuse. The names Amanda, Samantha and Gladys are pseudonyms.
Programs that build the girls' self-esteem, push them to finish high school and heal their trauma are ideal, but funding is always short for a cause that generally doesn't engender public sympathy, said Lois Lee, a sociologist who founded Children of the Night 30 years ago in her home and runs it on $2 million a year in private donations.
Once a girl becomes involved in prostitution, her prospects are bleak. An arrest usually offers the only hope for escape. Even then, there's a small chance the girl is offered rehabilitation - and accepts it. Lee said 61 percent of 94 girls at Children of the Night in 2008 completed the program.
Amanda, now studying for her high school diploma, realized that was her fate if she didn't accept Children of the Night.
"I said to myself 'If I go back to the streets, I'm there 'til I die,'" she said. "I knew this was my chance."
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
CSEC Working Group Meeting
Our next Commercially Sexually Exploited Children's (CSEC) Working Group meeting is next week:
Wednesday
April 8th
2:30-4pm
Kristi House
1265 NW 12th Ave.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Wednesday
April 8th
2:30-4pm
Kristi House
1265 NW 12th Ave.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Now This is Thinking Outside of the Box
NY Assemblyman Wants to Tax Patrons of Strip Bars
ASSOCIATED PRESS
March 11, 2009
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — You might call it a "pole tax." The New York legislator who brought the nation its first law against driving while using a cell phone is proposing a $10 tax for patrons of nude and seminude dance clubs and strip bars.
Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, a Bronx Democrat, says the revenue would go toward helping victims of human trafficking at a time when government budgets are being slashed.
The bill doesn't have a Senate sponsor yet.
In Texas, state lawyers are fighting to preserve their $5 "pole tax," a cover charge on strip clubs, is being challenged by business owners.
The Texas Legislature approved the fee in 2007, hoping to spend the money on sexual assault and health insurance programs, but a judge declared it unconstitutional. The state is appealing.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
March 11, 2009
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — You might call it a "pole tax." The New York legislator who brought the nation its first law against driving while using a cell phone is proposing a $10 tax for patrons of nude and seminude dance clubs and strip bars.
Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, a Bronx Democrat, says the revenue would go toward helping victims of human trafficking at a time when government budgets are being slashed.
The bill doesn't have a Senate sponsor yet.
In Texas, state lawyers are fighting to preserve their $5 "pole tax," a cover charge on strip clubs, is being challenged by business owners.
The Texas Legislature approved the fee in 2007, hoping to spend the money on sexual assault and health insurance programs, but a judge declared it unconstitutional. The state is appealing.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Miami Beach man faces federal pimping charges
This summary is not available. Please
click here to view the post.
Monday, February 23, 2009
FBI sting rescues child prostitutes around country
Miami Herald
Posted on Mon, Feb. 23, 2009
BY DEVLIN BARRETT
The FBI has rescued more than 45 suspected teenage prostitutes, including two in South Florida, in a nationwide sweep to remove kids from the illegal sex trade and punish their accused pimps.
Over a three-night initiative called Operation Cross Country, federal agents working with local law enforcement also arrested more than 50 alleged pimps, according to preliminary bureau data.
Agents in cities from Miami to Chicago to Anchorage took part in the operation. The teenage prostitutes found in the investigation ranged in age from 13 to 17.
Miami, Miami-Dade and Miami Beach police helped local FBI agents in the investigation last weekend, Special Agent Judy Orihuela said. They took a 16- and a 17-year-old sex worker off the streets, and local police filed 28 misdemeanor prostitution charges and one felony drug charge.
Historically, federal authorities rarely play a role in anti-prostitution crackdowns, but the FBI is becoming more involved as it tries to rescue children caught up in the business.
''The goal is to recover kids. We consider them the child victims of prostitution,'' said FBI Deputy Assistant Director Daniel Roberts.
'Unfortunately, the vast majority of these kids are what they term `throwaway kids,' with no family support, no friends. They're kids that nobody wants, they're loners. Many are runaways,'' Roberts said.
Most of the children are put into the custody of local child protection agencies.
The federal effort is also designed to hit pimps with much tougher prison sentences than they would likely get in state criminal courts.
Government prosecutors look to bring racketeering charges or conspiracy charges that can result in decades of jail time.
''Some of these networks of pimps and their organizations are very sophisticated, they're interstate,'' said Roberts, requiring wiretaps and undercover sting operations to bring charges.
The weekend's roundup marked the third such Operation Cross Country, and is part of a broader federal program launched in 2003 to crack down on the sexual exploitation of children.
Miami Herald staff writer Evan S. Benn contributed to this report.
Posted on Mon, Feb. 23, 2009
BY DEVLIN BARRETT
The FBI has rescued more than 45 suspected teenage prostitutes, including two in South Florida, in a nationwide sweep to remove kids from the illegal sex trade and punish their accused pimps.
Over a three-night initiative called Operation Cross Country, federal agents working with local law enforcement also arrested more than 50 alleged pimps, according to preliminary bureau data.
Agents in cities from Miami to Chicago to Anchorage took part in the operation. The teenage prostitutes found in the investigation ranged in age from 13 to 17.
Miami, Miami-Dade and Miami Beach police helped local FBI agents in the investigation last weekend, Special Agent Judy Orihuela said. They took a 16- and a 17-year-old sex worker off the streets, and local police filed 28 misdemeanor prostitution charges and one felony drug charge.
Historically, federal authorities rarely play a role in anti-prostitution crackdowns, but the FBI is becoming more involved as it tries to rescue children caught up in the business.
''The goal is to recover kids. We consider them the child victims of prostitution,'' said FBI Deputy Assistant Director Daniel Roberts.
'Unfortunately, the vast majority of these kids are what they term `throwaway kids,' with no family support, no friends. They're kids that nobody wants, they're loners. Many are runaways,'' Roberts said.
Most of the children are put into the custody of local child protection agencies.
The federal effort is also designed to hit pimps with much tougher prison sentences than they would likely get in state criminal courts.
Government prosecutors look to bring racketeering charges or conspiracy charges that can result in decades of jail time.
''Some of these networks of pimps and their organizations are very sophisticated, they're interstate,'' said Roberts, requiring wiretaps and undercover sting operations to bring charges.
The weekend's roundup marked the third such Operation Cross Country, and is part of a broader federal program launched in 2003 to crack down on the sexual exploitation of children.
Miami Herald staff writer Evan S. Benn contributed to this report.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Human Trafficking Conference at St. Thomas University
Join the LL.M./ J.S.D. Program in Intercultural Human Rights & the
Coalition of Catholic Organizations against Human Trafficking
for a conference on:
“Human Trafficking: Global and Local Perspectives”
Thursday, February 12, 2009
9 AM – 5 PM
Moot Court Room
St. Thomas University School of Law
16401 NW 37th Avenue
Miami, FL 33054
The most vulnerable members of our human family, the victims of human trafficking, in their silent pain call for help. Millions of them suffer each year from one of the greatest affronts to human dignity the world has ever seen. This shocking phenomenon now successfully rivals drugs and weapons, becoming one of the most lucrative criminal enterprises in the world.
The community of nations has stood up to face the challenge. The United States continues to be in the forefront of international efforts to combat this horrendous crime. Successes are great, but the challenge even greater. Governed by our duty as civil society members to help shed light on this phenomenon, but also to assess needs, analyze situations, and suggest solutions, academic and religious communities, non-governmental organizations and interested individuals gather to contribute their efforts to defeat this scourge. Through presentations and discussions, questions and answers the conference will play its modest role in battling this 21st century slavery.
Sessions will examine:
• Human Trafficking: A Human Rights or a Criminal Law issue?
• The Necessity of a Victim-Oriented Approach to Human Trafficking
• Trafficking Initiatives in South Florida
• Research and Training Needs in the Field and Incipient Responses
Open to the public. No reservations required.
For more information contact:
Dr. iur. Roza Pati, LL.M.
Executive Director & Adjunct Professor of Law
LL.M./ J.S.D. Program in Intercultural Human Rights
Phone: 305 474 2447
E-Mail: rpati@Stu.edu
Conference Agenda:
8:30 AM – 9: 00 AM --Registration and Continental Breakfast
9: 00 AM – 9: 30 AM --Welcome & Opening Remarks:
Reverend Monsignor Franklyn Casale
President of St. Thomas University
Dean Alfredo Garcia
Professor of Law & Dean, St. Thomas University Law School
Dr. iur. Roza Pati, LL.M.
Executive Director & Adjunct Professor of Law
LL.M./ J.S.D. Program in Intercultural Human Rights
9:30 AM-11AM
Panel I: Human Trafficking: A Human Rights or a Criminal Law issue?
Speakers:
Professor Dr. Ryszard Piotrowicz
University of Aberystwyth, Department of Law and Criminology
Wales, United Kingdom
Ann Marie Villafana, Esq.
Assistant U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Florida
Mark Kielsgard, Esq. LL.M., J.S.D. Candidate
Human Rights Expert
Karlyn J. Hunter, Esq.
Assistant U. S. Attorney, Southern District of Florida
11:00 AM-12:30 PM
Panel II: The Necessity of a Victim-Oriented Approach to Human Trafficking
Speakers:
Professor Dr. Federico Lenzerini
University of Siena School of Law, Siena, Italy
Ana Isabel Vallejo, Esq., LL.M., J.S.D. Candidate
Supervising Attorney, Lucha: A Women’s Legal Project
Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center
Jasna Vujin, Esq., LL.M.
Human Trafficking Expert, Serbia
Kara Franker
Legal Fellow
Shared Hope International
12:30 PM-1:30 PM Lunch
1:30 PM- 3:15 PM
Panel III: Trafficking Initiatives in South Florida
Speakers:
Regina Bernadin
Program Manager, International Rescue Committee
Florida Freedom Partnership
Maria Jose Fletcher
Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center
Martha Mino
Case Manager, Awareness Campaign & Victims Specialist
Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking
Janette Mendoza
Program Specialist, Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Program,
Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of Miami
Sandy Skelaney
Program Manager
Kristi House
3:15 PM- 4:30 PM
Panel IV: Research and Training Needs in the Field and Incipient Responses
Speakers:
Dr. Elzbieta M. Gozdziak
Research Director & Editor, International Migration
Institute for the Study of International Migration, Washington D.C.
Professor Dr. Johnny McGaha
Director, Esperanza Project
Florida Gulf Coast University
Professor Dr. iur. Siegfried Wiessner, LL.M.
Director, LL.M. /J.S.D. Program in Intercultural Human Rights
St. Thomas University School of Law
4:30 Wine & Cheese Reception
Coalition of Catholic Organizations against Human Trafficking
for a conference on:
“Human Trafficking: Global and Local Perspectives”
Thursday, February 12, 2009
9 AM – 5 PM
Moot Court Room
St. Thomas University School of Law
16401 NW 37th Avenue
Miami, FL 33054
The most vulnerable members of our human family, the victims of human trafficking, in their silent pain call for help. Millions of them suffer each year from one of the greatest affronts to human dignity the world has ever seen. This shocking phenomenon now successfully rivals drugs and weapons, becoming one of the most lucrative criminal enterprises in the world.
The community of nations has stood up to face the challenge. The United States continues to be in the forefront of international efforts to combat this horrendous crime. Successes are great, but the challenge even greater. Governed by our duty as civil society members to help shed light on this phenomenon, but also to assess needs, analyze situations, and suggest solutions, academic and religious communities, non-governmental organizations and interested individuals gather to contribute their efforts to defeat this scourge. Through presentations and discussions, questions and answers the conference will play its modest role in battling this 21st century slavery.
Sessions will examine:
• Human Trafficking: A Human Rights or a Criminal Law issue?
• The Necessity of a Victim-Oriented Approach to Human Trafficking
• Trafficking Initiatives in South Florida
• Research and Training Needs in the Field and Incipient Responses
Open to the public. No reservations required.
For more information contact:
Dr. iur. Roza Pati, LL.M.
Executive Director & Adjunct Professor of Law
LL.M./ J.S.D. Program in Intercultural Human Rights
Phone: 305 474 2447
E-Mail: rpati@Stu.edu
Conference Agenda:
8:30 AM – 9: 00 AM --Registration and Continental Breakfast
9: 00 AM – 9: 30 AM --Welcome & Opening Remarks:
Reverend Monsignor Franklyn Casale
President of St. Thomas University
Dean Alfredo Garcia
Professor of Law & Dean, St. Thomas University Law School
Dr. iur. Roza Pati, LL.M.
Executive Director & Adjunct Professor of Law
LL.M./ J.S.D. Program in Intercultural Human Rights
9:30 AM-11AM
Panel I: Human Trafficking: A Human Rights or a Criminal Law issue?
Speakers:
Professor Dr. Ryszard Piotrowicz
University of Aberystwyth, Department of Law and Criminology
Wales, United Kingdom
Ann Marie Villafana, Esq.
Assistant U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Florida
Mark Kielsgard, Esq. LL.M., J.S.D. Candidate
Human Rights Expert
Karlyn J. Hunter, Esq.
Assistant U. S. Attorney, Southern District of Florida
11:00 AM-12:30 PM
Panel II: The Necessity of a Victim-Oriented Approach to Human Trafficking
Speakers:
Professor Dr. Federico Lenzerini
University of Siena School of Law, Siena, Italy
Ana Isabel Vallejo, Esq., LL.M., J.S.D. Candidate
Supervising Attorney, Lucha: A Women’s Legal Project
Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center
Jasna Vujin, Esq., LL.M.
Human Trafficking Expert, Serbia
Kara Franker
Legal Fellow
Shared Hope International
12:30 PM-1:30 PM Lunch
1:30 PM- 3:15 PM
Panel III: Trafficking Initiatives in South Florida
Speakers:
Regina Bernadin
Program Manager, International Rescue Committee
Florida Freedom Partnership
Maria Jose Fletcher
Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center
Martha Mino
Case Manager, Awareness Campaign & Victims Specialist
Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking
Janette Mendoza
Program Specialist, Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Program,
Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of Miami
Sandy Skelaney
Program Manager
Kristi House
3:15 PM- 4:30 PM
Panel IV: Research and Training Needs in the Field and Incipient Responses
Speakers:
Dr. Elzbieta M. Gozdziak
Research Director & Editor, International Migration
Institute for the Study of International Migration, Washington D.C.
Professor Dr. Johnny McGaha
Director, Esperanza Project
Florida Gulf Coast University
Professor Dr. iur. Siegfried Wiessner, LL.M.
Director, LL.M. /J.S.D. Program in Intercultural Human Rights
St. Thomas University School of Law
4:30 Wine & Cheese Reception
Very Young Girls final dates on Showtime
The GEMS documentary Very Young Girls only has 4 more airdates, starting tomorrow Feb 5th at 7pm on SH3. Please tune in if you haven't seen it, and please tell your friends to watch it. More info is below...
And again, thank you for getting involved and invested!
************************************************
Very Young Girls, a powerful film that tells the heart-breaking and ultimately inspiring stories of barely adolescent girls who have been seduced, abused, and sold on New York's streets.
Broadcast throughout the country to living rooms, schools, community organizations, and public institutions, Very Young Girls has awakened viewers to the brutal reality of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking. Experience this compelling film for yourself, then join GEMS in its heroic efforts to empower sexually exploited girls.
Turn viewing into action
Watch Very Young Girls live or set your DVR.
Check the schedule at right for upcoming airdates on Showtime and its networks, including the next broadcast on Thursday Feb 5th at 7:00 PM on Showtime 3
View anytime on demand. Very Young Girls is available on Showtime anytime now through March 3, 2009.
Host a screening party for friends and family. Register your party with GEMS and our RSVP system will help coordinate your guest list; complete a short post-screening evaluation and receive a free copy of Very Young Girls along with other gifts from GEMS. Visit gems.memberlodge.org to register your event.
Get involved! Visit the GEMS website to donate and learn how you can help end the commercial sexual exploitation of our youth.
And again, thank you for getting involved and invested!
************************************************
Very Young Girls, a powerful film that tells the heart-breaking and ultimately inspiring stories of barely adolescent girls who have been seduced, abused, and sold on New York's streets.
Broadcast throughout the country to living rooms, schools, community organizations, and public institutions, Very Young Girls has awakened viewers to the brutal reality of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking. Experience this compelling film for yourself, then join GEMS in its heroic efforts to empower sexually exploited girls.
Turn viewing into action
Watch Very Young Girls live or set your DVR.
Check the schedule at right for upcoming airdates on Showtime and its networks, including the next broadcast on Thursday Feb 5th at 7:00 PM on Showtime 3
View anytime on demand. Very Young Girls is available on Showtime anytime now through March 3, 2009.
Host a screening party for friends and family. Register your party with GEMS and our RSVP system will help coordinate your guest list; complete a short post-screening evaluation and receive a free copy of Very Young Girls along with other gifts from GEMS. Visit gems.memberlodge.org to register your event.
Get involved! Visit the GEMS website to donate and learn how you can help end the commercial sexual exploitation of our youth.
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