Liberty Line: How ICE Perpetuates Sexual Exploitation of Immigrants in Detention Centers, Kalamazoo Pastor Charged for Trafficking Minors, and How COVID-19 Is Hindering Anti Trafficking Efforts
Listen to a podcast about how Egyptian women are leading the fight against sexual assault and listen to a family counselor discuss the role of pornography in sex trafficking and abuse.
Good morning activists,
This week we would like to provide our readers with information and resources that highlight the intersectionality of human trafficking with other key issues. Human trafficking is deeply connected to social inequities, prison and detention forced labor, the sexual exploitation of marginalized communities, and the worsening of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our job as activists is to be aware that our fight against human trafficking is on multiple fronts and we all play a key role in the battle for justice. Collectively, we can educate, empower, and prevent future generations from experiencing abuse. Thank you for the support we’ve received thus far and as a reminder, all feedback is welcome!
Our “Why”:
The United Nations defines human trafficking as any form of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving a person by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, or deception, for an improper purpose including forced labor or sexual exploitation.
600,000 and 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders annually and, of these, 80% are women or girls and 50% are minors. Trafficking exploits individuals in some of the most heinous ways imaginable, raking in an estimated $150 billion for traffickers. This effects men, women, and children, both globally and domestically.
For information on trafficking in your state, click here
For trafficking statistics in your country, click here
Our desire is that this newsletter would build and bring together a community that’s fiery about this topic, informing individuals to action through the sharing of stories, initiatives, and people who are spearheading the counter-trafficking movement.
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In a letter written by the late Edmund Burke,
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
And without further delay,
This Week..
ACTIVIST OF THE WEEK:
Sheila White
An empowered trafficking survivor herself, Sheila White has dedicated her life as an educator and activist to raise awareness on this issue and establish early intervention practices in order to rescue young girls from exploitation. She also provides peer counseling and preventative education to girls and women in detention centers, group homes, and schools throughout the country. In 2012 she was featured in a CNN documentary called “Not My Life” and was acknowledged by President Obama in his speech at the Clinton Global Initiative. Sheila is also a member of the U.S Advisory Council on Human Trafficking.
FOR YOUR EYES:
ICE Guards “Systematically” Sexually Assault Detainees in an El Paso Detention Center, Lawyers Say
Kalamazoo Pastor Charged With Human Trafficking, Child Sex Abuse
Anti-human trafficking organizations are struggling under COVID-19
FOR YOUR EARS:
The Take- Is Egypt (finally) reckoning with sexual assault?: (podcast)
Red X Podcast Tasha-Levert Role of Pornography: (podcast)
👉 If you enjoy staying informed about the stories, initiatives, and people within the counter human trafficking movement, share to tell others about it:
FOR YOUR EYES:
ICE Guards “Systematically” Sexually Assault Detainees in an El Paso Detention Center, Lawyers Say: A Texas advocacy group has filed a complaint to the local district attorney and federal prosecutors alleging that detainees are being systemically and routinely sexually abused by guards in a facility overseen by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The allegations made by several detainees state a pattern of sexual abuse in camera blinds spots, threats, and fear of retaliation. Last year 4,556 reports of sexual abuse were made on behalf of immigrant children throughout ICE detention facilities and various lawsuits have been filed against CoreCivic, a company that owns and manages various prisons and detention centers around the nation for engaging in human labor trafficking practices.
👉To better understand why prison and detention center forced labor practices are directly related to human trafficking read this blog post by Polaris Project
“Most recently, in a May federal court filing in Houston, a Mexican woman said that she was in an ICE facility in 2018 when she and two female detainees were moved to an isolated cell. Around midnight, three men wearing facial coverings entered the cell. They raped and beat them, according to the complaint. The immigrants were bused to Mexico hours later.”
Kalamazoo Pastor Charged With Human Trafficking, Child Sex Abuse: This Tuesday Rev. Stricjavvar Strickland, of Kalamazoo’s Second Baptist Church, was charged with 11 felony criminal sexual charges including three counts of child sexual abuse and four counts of trafficking a minor for sex dating back to 2015.
👉Last year 364 human trafficking cases were reported in Kalamazoo according to the Human Trafficking Hotline. Anyone who suspects human trafficking can call local authorities or the National Human Trafficking Hotline at (888) 373-7888.
“Strickland and Hills spoke to members of the media in February 2019 about the allegations. Both denied any wrongdoing whatsoever.”
Anti-human trafficking organizations are struggling under COVID-19: According to research and advocacy groups, NGOs around 120 different countries including the United States, are severely struggling to provide human trafficking victims and survivors with adequate support and basic services due to the pandemic. Social inequities and online predation has also exacerbated the rate at which children are approached by traffickers.
“Since the outbreak of COVID-19, 21 percent of the female trafficking survivors said they had been approached about entering the sex industry, while 14 percent had been offered ‘illicit’ employment in other sectors. In the United States, anti-trafficking organizations say they are particularly concerned about the long-term consequences that COVID-19 is likely to have on women of color and those from other marginalized groups.”
FOR YOUR EARS:
The Take- Is Egypt (finally) reckoning with sexual assault?: (podcast, 10 minutes) For years, women in Egypt have fought to end sexual violence in their country. A movement has emerged to raise awareness, dismantle the legal barriers to reporting sexual assault, and empower women to defend themselves. For the first time, authorities are listening to their grievances.
“A UN study from 2013 infamously stated that 99% of Egyptian women reported being sexual harassed and women have been fighting to change that for years, some of them, literally.”
Red X Podcast Tasha-Levert Role of Pornography: (podcast, 55 minutes) The goal of this podcast is to raise awareness of human trafficking and empower communities to help survivors and hold perpetrators accountable. In this episode, host and into- trafficking activist Nicole Bernard talks with Dr. Tasha Levert about the connection between Pornography and sex trafficking.
“79% of American men view pornography monthly and 1 in 8 American men purchase sex, which is daunting. ”
COMING UP:
Upcoming Online Summit: Second Annual Anti- Trafficking Summit Sponsored by Legacy Hope International, LIFE107, and Mars Hill University
This training will be a collaboration of anti-trafficking specialists gathered to train students and the general community!
When: Monday September 19th, 9:00am-3:00pm CDT
“There will be several main speakers, each with a different expertise in the fight against modern day slavery. This year we will focus on a wide range of topics to include Minorities and Human Trafficking, Labor Trafficking, Inclusion, Equality, and Diversity, and Ending The Demand, just to name a few. The Summit will also include a special round table session for professionals to discuss best practice. Participants will receive a certificate of participation upon completion and full attendance of the conference.”
👉To register for this webinar and check out the scheduled programing, click here!
We hope you’ve enjoyed this issue of Liberty Line, a weekly newsletter dedicated to providing you with the most pertinent information surrounding the stories, initiatives, and people within the counter human trafficking and sexual exploitation movement. To learn more about the The Liberty Coalition, visit: www.thelibertycoalition.com