Attention Ladies

So I go to a church here in Cleveland that does things a little differently. One of the coolest things they do is invite the people who attend to go to small groups that meet throughout the city weekly with 12-15 members who sit around, eat and talk about God. Really neat discussions and super valuable insight on life, love and what it means to be Christian.

That being said, some months ago one of my very good friends and a woman who went to my group brought up during discussion an e-mail her mom sent her. It was a forward that her mom had gotten from friends but it was different than any other forward. It was a prayer request for a little baby in India named Sweetie. Sweetie isn't just any regular baby, she is the same age as my friend and I's daughters and she is tied to a pole being beaten, neglected and abused so that she will not know love and be a perfect submissive prostitute. If you don't know love how can you complain when you don't get it? If you are accustomed to being beaten, why would you raise a ruckus when it happens? This tiny baby was born to a woman who is owned for prostitution in a brothel. When this happens, the children are raised to also be prostitutes. This was my first encounter with Human Trafficking and it absolutely broke my heart beyond measure.

Wait Christie this doesn't sound right. Is this like one of those Nigerian Prince schemes? You tryin to get ma money?! No I'm not. And this is real. I know this because there is a missionary organization who is trying to save her. They send pictures and updates. And the worst part is, Sweety is just one of hundreds upon thousands.

Why am I writing about this? Because my friend made a commitment to that group the day she told us that story, to wage a war on the sexual exploitation of women and children. To combat and fight tooth and nail to end this. I then and there vowed to help her as best I could. During our research and education, we have found that this is a tragedy happening on our doorsteps. Right in our own backyard. Cleveland and Toledo are 2 of the top cities for Human Trafficking in the country. Which made my resolve that much higher since I live in Cleveland and am from Toledo.

So what is Human Trafficking??? I don't understand? People tying babies to polls? Human Trafficking is modern day slavery. It is people being bought and sold or held, against their will through force, fraud or coercion for the purposes of sexual exploitation or labor. It can be through recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining a person in anyway for the purposes mentioned above. These all, in any combination, constitute Human Trafficking. This underground crime is the fastest growing branch of crime in the world. It is second only to drugs and revenues more than 32 Billion dollars a year. That's more than Nike, Starbucks and Google COMBINE. It is an epidemic. The traffickers are smart criminals who know what to say and do to keep victims silent. They addict them to drugs, beat them, steal identification paper work, blackmail them and threaten their lives and the lives of those they love. The upside to switching to human trafficking versus other forms of criminal activity is the fact that the same human being can be used over and over again, while weapons and drugs can only be sold once.

Seriously I thought this only happened over seas like Taken style. Actually it is approximated that 800,000 - 900,000 victims are trafficked across international borders annually. Between 18,000 and 20,000 are trafficked INTO the United States. Nearly half that number are thought to be children used for sex. That statistic should appall you.

How many people are actually affected by this in Ohio? What does Ohio have to do with anything? First of all due to Ohio's location and it's extensive highways it makes it a mecca (so to speak) for traffickers. It's easy to get almost anywhere very quickly. We also have may areas with hotels right off of major highways that are considered "hot spots" for trafficking. American born youth in Ohio at risk to be trafficked for sex is 2,879 yearly. Youth in Ohio actually trafficked for the purposes of sex are 1,078 every year. 

This is a very underground crime that only started to have a voice 5 years ago. It has been happening for decades but most people never knew about it. Mostly due to the fact that victims either didn't know what was being done to them was a crime, blamed themselves for the situation, or were simply brainwashed never to speak of it. Needless to say legislation is just now being created to punish traffickers. Now victims are BRAVELY stepping forward to give their stories. To tell people this is happening where you live, and to educate people so the problem can be stopped.

It's a whole new war of crime that can happen anywhere and affect everyone. I am a trained speaker/presenter on the subject and could and can literally talk for hours on the subject. The purpose of this blog post was to create awareness. The number one action step to helping fight this and prevent more victims in through education. Always educating. So please, share this blog post. Not to promote me or my blog, but to raise awareness, to get people involved and most importantly give this crime a voice. If it has a voice it can't be silent. Women and children don't have to suffer silently anymore. They should know that people who don't know them are out there caring and trying to save them.

If you want to further educate yourself on Human Trafficking, please visit one of the following websites or feel free to contact me personally anytime.

www.collaborativeinitiative.org  This is the organization I was trained through and where my statistics come from
www.warinternational.org  VISIT THIS SITE!!!!!!! These are the people helping Sweetie
www.traffickfree.com Website of trafficking victim Theresa Flores
www.bjcb,org Help our youth!
www.polarisproject.org

Additional websites:
www.imginefreedom.org
www.sctnow.org
www.notforsalecampaign.org
www.rights4girls.org
www.abolitioninternational.org

If you have seen something suspicious or know someone who may be in trouble please call this anonymous toll free number to report it: 1-888-3737-888. They will take any reports or claims seriously and launch a case file which in turn gets handed over to local authorities to launch investigations.

Please consider being part of the solution to end this atrocity. Thank You.

*All statistics came from Collaborative Initiative to End Human Trafficking and are part of the presentation I have been trained to give. Additionally, further information has been gained through my own investigation and education on the subject matter or given to me by my very good friend and leader of our front.*