RADIOHEAD Supports Campaign Against Human Trafficking

Radiohead has partnered with the MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) to produce a new music video for ‘In Rainbows’ track ‘All I Need’. The video depicts the juxtaposition of a child in an affluential lifestyle with a child in a vulnerable and exploitative setting. The Video will premier on MTV around the world on Friday, May 1. To read more visit First For Music News.

Supply and Demand

Human Trafficking is a multi-billion dollar a year industry. It is the second largest criminal industry in the world today, just behind drug smuggling and recently having risen above arms smuggling. The selling of children for sex and is a HUGE business, and just like any other business it is driven by supply and demand. Supply, in the case of child sex trafficking and exploitation, is the vulnerable children. The demand is those who choose to pay for sex with these children. Following the simple rules of supply and demand we know that supply would not exist if there was not a demand for it. Child prostitution and commercial sexual exploitation would not exist if men and women were not traveling around the world to have sex with minors, purchasing child pornography, or supporting businesses that do. Demand creates supply. There are millions upon millions of children in high risk of becoming a victim of the sex trade due to poverty, genocide, war, lack of education, or orphaned… and there is a lot of work to be done to prevent, rescue, and restore these children (I won’t ignore that). However, the demand side of this problem is often overlooked. I have read that 25% of child sex tourists are US citizens. How that stat has been proven, I do not know. I would not be surprised if that percentage wasn’t a lot higher.
So now what? It is my belief that the demand side can only be stopped if WE (as in YOU and ME) begin talking about this issue, making it a household reality, and bringing the humanity back to this issue. These men and women who pay for sex with children do not see these children as human beings, but as objects. They may not even realize the damage that they are doing to a young life. I have met countless children in recovery from working the streets in Thailand and here in the US… there is hope, but it is a long and painful journey for them. My hope is that through our film and through educating others that this issue ends, but if that does not happen hopefully the men and women who are thinking about it will think again.
To understand more about the demand side and what the US government is doing about it, visit the Immigration and Customs Enforcement web-site.

Coffee By The Books: tips as donations

In the early-2000’s Coffee By The Books baristas made a unanimous decision to give whatever money was made in tips away to a charity decided upon by the staff. For some in our community, this decision seemed asinine. However, it was the feeling of the staff that we are all blessed beyond measure and thus we wanted to put our belief that those who are in need are worthy of our sacrifice above any desire for some extra weekly pocket change. Oddly enough, once the idea took off, the community really got behind it. We have multiple people who send us literature on charities every month and when people see that our tips go to charity they often donate more. There is also the added perk that when someone appreciates our customer service they throw down a couple extra bucks and the charity we are featuring benefits. I think this also drives many of us to take better care of our customers because the ethos of customer service extends beyond ourselves and benefits others.

Over the course of roughly five months, we were able to raise exactly $1323.54 for The SOLD Project.

Earlier this year we chose to raise money for The SOLD Project. Over the course of roughly five months, we were able to raise exactly $1323.54. All of this money came from people dropping a dollar here and 25 cents there in our little counter tip jar. It’s pretty amazing when you think that pocket change gathered over half a year can generate that kind of profit. It has been a privilege for Coffee by the Books to be a part of raising funds for so many amazing Not-For-Profit organizations and we highly recommend other Cafes to get behind the idea because while it’s nice to make an extra $15 a month in tips, it is much more rewarding to know that those extra dollars are making a difference for someone else.

Coffee By The Books is located on Fuller Seminary’s campus in Pasadena, CA. Check out their web-site/blog to learn more. http://cbbcoffee.wordpress.com

Bangkok: Smuggling vs. Human Trafficking

Thai law requires that cases of human trafficking require an act of exploitation. When 120 Burmese job-seeking people were smuggled across the Thai border yesterday and intercepted, their case was treated as a smuggling case rather than a human trafficking case. The hope is to prevent cases of human trafficking, yet the law requires action rather than intention to convict. While interception of smuggling cases before they turn into trafficking cases is obviously the goal, it also means that smugglers are able to walk away with less of a penalty because their intended actions were never carried through. Visit the Bangkok Post to read more.
For continued discussion read this article that was written on Friday April, 25th

I’d love to grab coffee sometime…

This week we’re hoping to bring home the importance of starting conversations about child sexual exploitation. From the beginning one of our biggest goals as been this: to make people aware of this injustice in our world and create a catalyst for conversation. A couple of weeks ago I was at coffee (go figure) with a mentor of mine from Westmont College, and he shed light on the importance of conversations within a family. His suggestion, specifically, was daughters approaching their fathers. If you are a daughter whose father travels to Thailand, or any foreign country on business… tell him about the sex tourism industry and ask him to advocate and protect the children of these countries. By bringing this issue into our homes, communities, work places and churches, we are bringing this issue into the ears and hands of those who are willing to fight against it, those who could potentially be the demand factor behind it, and those who, like us, will dedicate their time and energy to standing up against this. So I want to encourage you to be intentional: educate yourself on this issue so that you can be a resource to others as you initiate conversations. We’d love to plug you in, give you resources, and continue collaborating with you. Check out our “Learn it” page under “Movement” for resources… let’s get a conversation going.

Joshua Morey : Conversation Starter

When I moved to Los Angeles in 2007, little did I know that the simple act of apartment hunting would change my life forever. My roommates and I found a great (and cheap) place in Korea town that had just hit the market. Wood floors, fresh carpets, new counters, you name it! It never occurred to me why the place was so cheap. Little did I know the impact that this new apartment would have on my life.

The first week was an adventure. The LA Department of Water and Power refused to turn on our utilities over the phone, saying I needed to come downtown in person and sign the paper work. Making my way out of the apartment, two Hispanic men walked up to my doorstep. Confused at seeing me come to the door, they looked at each other, apologized, and walked away. “What the heck was that about?” I was scared and confused at the same time. I shook it off and continued downtown. When I arrived at the DWP told me that in most circumstances I would have been able to do this over the phone, and to contact my landlord for why the power and been completely shut off.

On my way home I called our landlord, and he proceeded to tell me that the week before we moved in, our apartment had been raided by the FBI, and that the men taken away were part of the largest human trafficking bust in LA history.

On my way home I called our landlord, and he proceeded to tell me that the week before we moved in, our apartment had been raided by the FBI, and that the men taken away were part of the largest human trafficking bust in LA history. “Thanks for telling me now!” Frustrated that he hadn’t told before, I hung up the phone and raced home. That night I scoured the Internet for information regarding human trafficking in LA. It had never occurred to me that women and children were being trafficking from foreign countries into LA for sex and labor. I didn’t sleep much that night as each article continued to fuel the fire burning within me.

I found myself getting sick to the stomach as I pictured the helpless women and children who had been in my apartment even just the week before.

I found myself getting sick to the stomach as I pictured the helpless women and children who had been in my apartment even just the week before. It made me cry and want to punch holes in the wall at the same time. The next few months I would continue to wrestle with this and the more I learned the more I knew I needed to do something. Yet, this was the beginning of my journey.

Since then I’ve sought every opportunity possible to shed light on the issue, even meeting with the head of the human trafficking unit of the LAPD. I sometimes wonder why I had to move into an apartment that was previously used to sell women and children, but I’m beginning to realize that in order to conquer the darkness, you must expose it to light. My job is to illuminate the dark where humans are being bought and sold.

Oakland, CA : City Comes to Grips with Teen Prostitution

The city of Oakland, CA is acknowledging the problem of child sexual exploitation and trafficking within it’s community. Vulnerable girls between the ages of 11-17 are being prostituted by pimps on the streets. The younger the girl means more money that can be made. In the past 10 months, at least 170 kids between 11 and 17 have been referred to a local counseling agency because they’d been peddled on the streets for sex. This is a growing endemic in Oakland, and as Assistant District Attorney for Human Exploitatoin and Trafficking, Sharmin Eashraghi Bock, says: “It takes a village to prosecute a trafficker,” Bock said. “You can’t do this kind of case alone.”

To learn more, please read the article at Inside Bay Area.

Get SOLD

In an effort to continue to raise awareness on the plight of the millions involved in child trafficking YOU can make a huge difference. Starting Today (4/14) we’re asking the thousands that are connected with The SOLD Project to bring the idea of human trafficking right to their corner of the internet. Keep your picture on your profile until at least 4/22 (Earth Day) to raise awareness and start conversations about child sex trafficking. Read more

Freedom

Every day I’m reminded how real this all is: and how easy it is to pretend that “it” is not really happening. That children are being bought and sold for sex. It’s an absolutely heinous crime that, like Rachel likes to point out, you just can’t argue with. There is no way to justify exploiting children, after all. It’s just not right. But it happens - and therefore, we have to fight it. We have been given freedom: freedom to fight for those that have been stripped of their freedom. This idea of being ‘blessed with a burden’ became a reality to me through a conversation with a young woman in the brothels of India a few months ago. She acknowledged my freedom, and her captivity, telling me that she “did not choose this life. Her life was not like mine. She was not free to come and go like I was”. With our freedom comes a level of responsibility if we choose to accept it: to advocate on behalf of the vulnerable and to find hope and healing in moments of darkness. This is a movement of people willing to stand for justice and fight for change in the lives of the vulnerable and the exploited, and we invite you to join us. We need you to join us. Together, we can make a difference.

Child Prostitution Highlighted on Mike and Juliet Show

This video with Lisa Ling recently aired. It highlights child sexual exploitation in Texas and addresses the draw that young girls have towards this supposed profession. Read more

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