Diana Scimone

18 reasons why Born2Fly is thankful for YOU

It's Thanksgiving weekend in the US and we've got lots to be thankful for at Born2Fly--and you're at the top of our list!

Through your contributions, prayers, reading this blog, and sending lots of encouraging words and comments, here's what you've helped us accomplish in 2011 (and we still have a month to go!):

1. Completed successful test of the B2F anti-trafficking program in Bulgaria this summer with more than 100 at-risk gypsy children.

2. Launched the test phase in Russia at 3 orphanages (continuing through spring 2012).

3. Began testing in Thailand at a safe house near the Myanmar border.

4. Started testing in the Philippines in villages with plans to expand to public schools.

5. Trained parents and teachers in all these locations

6. Translated B2F anti-trafficking curriculum into Spanish, Russian, and one of the largest languages spoken in the the Philippines.

7. Spoke with a translator about a possible Arabic translation of the curriculum.

8. Teamed with an organization to possibly test B2F in India (still looking into this).

9. Networked on Twitter with 200+ local, national, and international anti-trafficking organizations and 2,600 individuals.

10. Posted regular updates on this blog to increase awareness about child trafficking around the world and in the US.

11. Guest-posted or was interviewed on other blogs about child trafficking, particularly regarding the tragic death of the child in the Philippines last month.

12. Continued posting on B2F's cause page on Facebook with nearly 1,000 fans. (If you're not one of them, please like us!)

13. Promoted the prevention work of B2F in many publications and websites including Reject Apathy and others.

14. Profiled in The Dragonfly Effect, new book on using social media to drive social change.

15. Talked with numerous reporters for stories, interviewed on TV and radio, and spoke frequently about the efforts to stop this pandemic.

16. Met regularly with the Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking to help stop child trafficking.

17. Spoke at Human Trafficking Awareness Day outdoor rally in downtown Orlando attended by 1,500+ people.

This is all possible because of you!

This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for you and all that you've enabled us to accomplish this year at The Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking. We never could have done it without you.

On behalf of all the children who will never be trafficked because of B2F: Thank you!

* * * 

Yes, I said "18 reasons" and only gave you 17! I've got even more good news. Click here for reason #18....

 

US Senate passes domestic minor anti-sex trafficking bill

The US Senate unanimously approved the Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act.  The bill would aid victims of modern sexual slavery and give law enforcement the tools to investigate and prosecute sex traffickers who exploit underage girls and force them into the sex trade. 

The bill now moves to the House of Representatives.

Sponsored by U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), the Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act would create a 6-state pilot program to help law enforcement crackdown on pimps and traffickers and create shelters, provide treatment, counseling, and legal aid for  underage girls who are forced into sexual slavery. 

According to the FBI, more than 100,000 underage girls are exploited for commercial sex in the U.S. each year--including underage girls who are forced into the sex trade.


“Senator Cornyn and I have long believed that sex trafficking is modern day slavery and the poor young women forced into the sex trade are victims of the real criminals--the pimps and traffickers,” Wyden said.  “Today, the United States Senate agreed with us.  Not only will this bill create a working model to help these young women break the cycle of exploitation for good, it will provide new tools for law enforcement and prosecutors to put these modern-day slave owners behind bars.”

Added Senator Cornyn, “Our nation must remain committed to ending the scourge of human trafficking. This legislation will provide valuable assistance to state and local governments on the front lines of battling organized criminal syndicates and violent gangs that traffic humans for labor and sex.”

The Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act would authorize block grants to 6 locations deemed to have significant sex trafficking activity, require a workable plan to provide comprehensive, wrap-around services to sex trafficking victims--including the establishment of a shelter facility--and require demonstrated participation by all levels of law enforcement, prosecutors, and social service providers.

Each grant will be funded at $2-2.5 million per year with the option of renewal for 2 more years. Some of the items that can be funded by these block grants include:

• A shelter for trafficking victims
• Clothing and other daily needs to keep victims from returning to the street
• Victims' assistance counseling and legal services
• Education or job training classes for victims
• Specialized training for law enforcement and social service providers
• Salaries for police officers and prosecutors
• Investigation expenses--wire taps, expert consultants, travel, other technical assistance expenditures
• Outreach, education, and prevention efforts, including programs to deter offenders

The bill will help encourage and boost prompt reporting of missing and abducted children to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database. With the help of more timely reporting, law enforcement will be able to identify repeat runaways who are statistically more likely to be lured into prostitution.

"Now it’s time for the House of Representatives to go to work and not leave Washington before this job is done," said Sen. Wyden. "I’m calling on all of you to contact your Congress member as soon as possible and let them know that they need to stand up for all the children who are being exploited for sex.

"Tell them not to leave Washington without passing the Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act (S. 2925)," he adds. "Call 202-224-3121 or email your member. Sex trafficking is slavery pure and simple. Let’s end it now."

Twitter helps rescue 2 girls from sex slavery

This is why I love Twitter. (Please take note, people who think all we tweet about is what we eat.)

A few days after the earthquake in Haiti last January, I saw a tweet from someone standing outside an orphanage in Haiti where traffickers were soliciting orphans. The person was desperately tweeting for someone to send law enforcement or media to stop what was happening.

I knew my colleague Pat Bradley, prez of International Crisis Aid, was already on the ground in Haiti.  Pat has rescued kids from slavery in many countries; you may remember what I wrote about him in Begging last year. 

As soon as I saw that tweet, I retweeted it (forwarded it) to Pat in Haiti and he got back to me within moments.  His team was understandably overwhelmed at the orphanage where they were already helping kids--and sadly could not get to this one.

Side note: Someone did get some international media attention on what was happening at the original orphanage--all thanks to Twitter.

Flash forward to this week. Here's what Pat emailed me:

Hey Diana

Since you sent me an email in Jan regarding trafficking in Haiti it never left my mind. Please read below, you are responsible for this happening.

Bless you
Pat

Well I'm not sure if I'm responsible, but here's what happened:

Dear all

Dennis and I just found a red light district that is as bad as Addis [Ethiopia], if not worse. We saw several small girls also.

The place is located on the road to the orphanage in Leogane, Haiti.

Girls are paid $1.00 for services, there are several hundred girls. To say these are horrible conditions is a gross understatement.

Not sure what we will do about it yet because we just now left the place BUT WE WILL DO SOMETHING.

The experience was like I had in Ethiopia. I felt led to ask about sex trafficking/prostitution and we found ourselves right in the middle of it.

Pray for wisdom that we know what to do and resources to do it.

Bless you
Pat

Then the next day:

Dear all

We went back to the red-light district yesterday and gave out the gift packs to about 200 girls. They told us it was the first time anyone did something nice with no strings attached. It went very good.

Today we returned with a group from Trinity Fellowship from Amarillo Texas. While walking around I felt God point 2 different girls out to rescue.

We are going to set them up with a roadside kiosk selling a variety of different products. We explained that if they are successful it will make it possible for us to rescue others from this horrible situation. I also explained to them that God picked them out specifically to be the first ones that He is rescuing. We explained that His heart breaks for them and all the other girls and He wants them to be set free to live His plan for their lives.

So all that to say we now have a Safe Campaign in Haiti. I had no plans to do this but God saw differently.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this possible.

Pat

Pretty amazing, huh? You can read more here:

ICA's blog
Follow Pat on Twitter: @IntlCrisisAid
Follow me on Twitter: @DianaScimone
Learn how Born to Fly International works to reach kids before the traffickers do: www.born2fly.org

"You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so people can no longer terrify them" (Psalm 10:18).

You = you. And me. Thank you for making stories like this possible.

Absolutely Nothing

I'm taking a break this weekend: I'm not posting anything about child trafficking. Instead I'm reprinting something I've posted for the past 3 years on Easter Sunday called "Absolutely Nothing."  Here it is--along with a question for you to answer at the end.

***

I recently had an opportunity to spend 10 days in Israel to write two feature stories for Charisma magazine and to research Adventures With PawPaw: Israel (hopefully published soon).

Visiting a country with 6,000 years of history can be a dizzying experience, and I came home with a notebook full of information, sights, sounds, and quotes. One of the most memorable quotes was from the tour guide at the garden tomb:

"Millions of people come here from all over the world to see absolutely nothing."

Our tour guide spoke those words outside the tomb where Jesus' body was laid to rest.  Three days later on a Sunday morning, Jesus rose from the dead--and 2,000 years later the tomb is still empty.

I always wondered why many of my friends who go to Israel come home with the exact same photo:  a picture of themselves peeking out of the empty tomb with a big grin on their face.

Now I know why; there's something about looking into that empty tomb carved out of the side of the hill and seeing the evidence of your faith.  It's empty!  It's true!  He is risen!

Naturally I had the same grin on my face and had to have the same photo.  So here, direct to you from Jerusalem, is my Easter photo, along with my prayer that the hope represented by that empty tomb will fill your life with joy and meaning this day and forever.

"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.  And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.  Do you believe this?'" (John 11:25-26).

Good News

It's always nice to post some good news in the otherwise dismal world of human trafficking--and there's lots of good news today:

In London early this morning, 7 women were rescued from sex trafficking.  The raids followed a 10-month investigation into organized crime rings that specialized in human sex trafficking.  Read more here.

In India, 8 girls were rescued from a brothel in Mumbai where they were regularly subjected to involuntary prostitution, brutality, sexual abuse, and prison-like conditions.  International Justice Mission worked with the deputy commissioner of police in Mumbai to free the girls and arrest the perpetrators. Read more here.

In Botswana, police recently broke up a human trafficking ring suspected of trafficking more than 1,000 people into Canada for slavery and sex exploitation.  Read more here.  

Great news!

Absolutely Nothing

I'm taking a break this weekend: I'm not posting anything about child trafficking. Instead I'm reprinting something I've posted for the past 2 years on Easter Sunday called "Absolutely Nothing."  Here it is--along with a question for you to answer at the end. 

***

I recently had an opportunity to spend 10 days in Israel to write two feature stories for Charisma magazine and to research Adventures With PawPaw: Israel (hopefully published soon).

Visiting a country with 6,000 years of history can be a dizzying experience, and I came home with a notebook full of information, sights, sounds, and quotes. One of the most memorable quotes was from the tour guide at the garden tomb:

"Millions of people come here from all over the world to see absolutely nothing."

Our tour guide spoke those words outside the tomb where Jesus' body was laid to rest.  Three days later on a Sunday morning, Jesus rose from the dead--and 2,000 years later the tomb is still empty.

I always wondered why friends who went to Israel all came home with the exact same photo:  a picture of themselves peeking out of the empty tomb with a big grin on their face. 

Now I know why; there's something about looking into that empty tomb carved out of the side of the hill and seeing the evidence of your faith.  It's empty!  It's true!  He is risen!

Naturally I had the same grin on my face, and had to have the same photo.  So here, direct to you from Jerusalem, is my Easter photo, along with my prayer that the hope represented by that empty tomb will fill your life with joy and meaning this day and forever.

"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.  And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.  Do you believe this?'" (John 11:25-26).

How 1 US City Helped Shut Down an International Sex Slave Ring

It happens all the time.  Carla (not her real name) thought she was was signing up to be a housekeeper in the US.  She signed all the papers, paid her money, did all the right things--and assumed the people helping her would do the right thing, too.

They didn't.

Like millions of other women each year, Carla got sucked into the dark world of human trafficking. 

Only it didn't happen in some faraway country.  It happened right here in the US. 

Thankfully the Clearwater (Florida) Task Force on Human Trafficking and local police agencies worked together to rescue Carla.  They didn't stop there, however. They continued the investigation and managed to shut down the international sex slave ring that held Carla and many others hostage.

It's a great example of how local community organizations can work together with law enforcement agencies to stop the traffic.

You can read the story in the St. Petersburg (Florida) Times.  Just remember that Carla's saga is not unusual; it happens all the time in the US. That ring was just one of many still operating throughout the US.

Congratulations to YOU

Last night the US Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. 

It was a great way to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights--and is great news for trafficking victims all over the world.

If you made a call to your congressional reps as I urged back in September, congratulations! You helped get TVPA reauthorized for another year. 

TVPA went into effect in 2000 and is the first major comprehensive U.S. legislative effort to address the global epidemic of human trafficking--and it's making a difference. Each year Congress has to reauthorize it, and I'm thrilled they did again this year.  

The full name of the act, by the way, is the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Wilberforce (1759-1833) was a social reformer and abolitionist who was instrumental in bringing an end to slavery and the slave trade in the British Empire.

If you oppose human slavery...if you called your congressional reps asking them to reauthorize TVPA...if you've read a blog or written a letter to the editor or said a prayer for trafficking victims, then congratulations.  You are a modern-day abolitionist.  Wilberforce would be proud of you. I am, too.

Makin' a List; Shoulda' Checked It Twice

Yesterday I shared with you a list of people to follow on Twitter who are involved with non-profits, human rights, and social justice. 

How could I leave off the amazing Beth Kanter who writes a super blog on how non-profits can use social media?  You can read Beth's blog here. You can follow her on Twitter @Kanter. 

Want to see what social media can do in just 3 hours to make a difference?  Here's what Beth wrote this morning:

The theme for Social Media Breakfast #11 in Boston this morning was "Social Media for Social Good." To kick off the event, Bob Collins and I organized a call to action for the group. Tyson Foods was willing to donate 100 pounds of protein to the Boston Food Bank per comment on its Hunger Relief blog.  

As everyone at the breakfast took their 1st sip of coffee, Beth and Bob asked them to get on Twitter and ask their followers to leave a comment on the Hunger Relief blog. Within 90 minutes, they had 300+ comments--enough for 1 truckload.  

Within 2-1/2 hours, they had 800+ comments and a 2nd truckload.  I think they've since filled a 3rd truck. 

Amazing.  The power of social media. 

Now doesn't that just get your creative wheels turning? Notice no one talked about a recession, "the economy," or all those other phrases I'm growing to hate. 

Want to read more?  Emily Bain Murphy was at the breakfast and contrasts it with a talk-only meeting she'd been to the evening before.

How can you use social media for change in your world? Got ideas? Share them here. 

Lots to Be Thankful for in the Fight Against Child Trafficking (Really)

There really is lots of good news in the fight against child trafficking. Since this is Thanksgiving weekend in the U.S., here's my list of what I'm thankful for:

Zambia's new president signed the Anti-Human Trafficking Act this week. Now traffickers can be prosecuted and victims must receive protective services. (Sounds like a given, but in many countries it's not.) 

In Kosovo, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe launched a campaign against human trafficking last week. Kosovo is a place of origin, transit, and destination for women and children trafficked for sexual exploitation and forced labor.

In Washington DC, high-school students are learning about child prostitution through a curriculum sponsored by the Fair Fund. It's part of a 4-year effort in DC to break up child-prostitution networks and help kids rescued from the streets. 

In Miami, 9 immigrant women were rescued from sex slavery and 4 men were arrested on suspicion of trafficking the women. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said the rescues and arrests were part of an intensive investigation of a large criminal organization operating in south Florida.

On the India/Nepal border a few weeks ago, anti-trafficking volunteers rescued 9 Nepalese girls, almost all minors, who were being held captive and transported to New Delhi to be child prostitutes. An estimated 100,000 girls and women from Nepal are forced to work as sex slaves in brothels in India.

In Nigeria, police have uncovered a ring of "baby farms" where pregnant teenage girls are held captive and their babies put up for sale. In some cases, girls were held for years while they were raped and then forced to sell their babies for nominal sums. About a dozen farms, disguised as orphanages, clinics, etc., have now been shut down and the traffickers arrested. 

Join me in thanking God for each of these victories.  Each one represents a life rescued. If you know more good news in the fight against child trafficking, you can share it here.  

Don't Let Child Abuse Travel

File this under "good news." (Hat tip, Season of Light.) Today the World Tourism Organization (WTO) launched a new awareness campaign in partnership with the International Task Force for the Protection of Children in Tourism. The goal? To stop exploiting and trafficking children in the tourism industry.

 

Each year more than 1 million children are trafficked for se x around the world--including through organized child s ex tourism. That's in addition to the huge number of kids who are already trafficked. 

WTO is encouraging the travel industry to enforce its Global Code of Ethics for Tourism to protect children from harm. 

 

WTO encourages the tourism industry to:

• Use the campaign's logo.
• Distribute the logo, sticker, and other print materials.
• Link tourism websites to www.unwto.org/protectchildren.
• Organize community campaigns.
• Plan events on November 20, Universal Children's Day.
• Distribute the campaign video.

For more information: www.unwto.org/protectchildren or protectchildren@unwto.org

Cambodia: A Filmmaker's Blog

I've been following the blog of a group of filmmakers who arrived in Cambodia earlier this month to make a documentary about the effort to stop child trafficking. They have some good insight into what works and what simply reinforces the system.  

Their film will focus on the work of AIM 4 Asia.  Remember the Dateline special a few years ago called Children For Sale?  It showed a raid on a brothel in Cambodia that was filled with children. After the raid, the building was locked and vacant for 5 years. Last year AIM leased it and reopened it as a community center reaching out to kids, including some of the very same little girls who were once held captive there. Pretty cool, huh? AIM also has a home where "wounded, broken girls" can live in safety.

Child trafficking is far from over in Cambodia, of course. That was one children's brothel out of many. In fact, Cambodia has one of the worst rates of child trafficking on the planet. One of the ways to help stop it is to show what is happening--which is what this new film will do along with offering hope and solutions that are working. 

You can read the filmmakers' blog here.  And if you've ever wondered how a parent could sell his or her child into slavery, read what the filmmakers wrote about Cambodia's Recent History: The roots of child se x slavery. It explains a lot.

Here's a photo I took at few years ago this very week at the Thailand/Cambodia border crossing:

To comment on this post, click here.

When Dr. Phil Talks...

...people listen.  Remember last week when Dr. Phil devoted an entire program to child trafficking in the US?  

Thanks to his efforts to draw attention to the pandemic, the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline had 198 calls in one day!  The Polaris Project, which operates the hotline, says that's a 1000% increase over the usual call volume. 

The calls were from concerned parents and grandparents who believed their kids were in positions of forced labor and pros titution. Those stories, of course, are not good news--but the fact that these people had somewhere to turn is good news.  Hotline staff were able to give them immediate access to resources and assistance, connecting them with local organizations and law enforcement.

It's one week later and calls are still coming in.  

Want to know how to recognize red flags and potential indicators of human trafficking?  Visit the Polaris Project's Action Center website.  If you suspect a potential trafficking situation or would like more information on human trafficking, call the hotline at 888.373-7888 or email NHTRC@PolarisProject.org. 

Good News

I'm starting a new category on this blog called "Good News"--and the first entry is this great report about the decline in child trafficking that takes place across the border between Guinea-Bisseau and Senegal.

The reason?  Better collaboration among local residents, civil society groups, and government--which means more people are now watching out for suspicious movement of children.

"A whole new set of actors are involved who weren't in the past--border police, governors, even truck-drivers unions," said Karyna Gomes, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson in Bissau. "We receive information from surveillance committees every two to three weeks about what is going on."

Community village chiefs, local governments, and border police in Guinea Bissau and Senegal have set up surveillance committees that work with local authorities to report suspected transport of children across the border. 

Imagine the trauma of those kids--but there's even a procedure in place to help them: Welcome centers where kids are cared for and receive medical attention while they wait to be reunited with their families.  

Now that's good news.

You can read more in Africa News and comment on this good news here.