Category: Survivors

Trump Gives $35 Million to Aid Human Trafficking Victims

Trump Gives $35 Million to Aid Human Trafficking Victims

Aug 4, 2020 | , , , , ,

Barr called human trafficking an “evil scourge,” and he thanked President Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka for working to end human trafficking and help survivors. Beyond the financial support, Barr said his department will do everything possible to “investigate, prosecute and punish” traffickers.
The $35 million in Housing Assistance Grants for Victims of Human Trafficking is being provided by the Office for Victims of Crime within the Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs to provide housing and services to human trafficking survivors.

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Likely trafficking survivor released on bond in homicide case

Likely trafficking survivor released on bond in homicide case

Jun 24, 2020 | , , , ,

Kenosha County, WI — Chrystul Kizer is out of custody after a Chicago-based aid organization posted her $400,000 bond. Kizer, 19, was released from Kenosha County Jail on Monday afternoon. She has been in custody for two years, awaiting trial for the June 2018 shooting death of a man prosecutors admit had been sexually assaulting Kizer and other underage girls.

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Lawsuit alleges three Aiken County motels knew about, profited from human trafficking

Lawsuit alleges three Aiken County motels knew about, profited from human trafficking

May 28, 2020 | , , ,

AIKEN COUNTY, S.C. — Three Aiken County motels are being sued for allegedly knowing about and profiting from sex trafficking that occurred at their property between August 2017 and 2018.

The plaintiff, represented by attorney Daniel R. Dalton of Mickelsen Dalton LLC in Mount Pleasant, is described as a female resident of South Carolina who is a victim of a “severe form of trafficking,” according to a complaint filed Thursday through the Second Judicial Circuit. At each location, the plaintiff was told by her trafficker to decline housekeeping; the trafficker paid for rooms in cash or with counterfeit money and a large number of men and women would enter and exit where the plaintiff stayed. The South Carolina Attorney General’s human trafficking force task force is comprised of more than 300 different agencies across the state, including some in Aiken, and is working to get to the root of the problem.

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Nonprofit estimates increase in human trafficking during pandemic/COVID-19 in NWA

Nonprofit estimates increase in human trafficking during pandemic/COVID-19 in NWA

May 14, 2020 | , , ,

Sex trafficking has increased in our area due to instability caused by COVID-19, according to area non-profit Hub of HOPE.
“Despite COVID-19, trafficking continues,” said Jenny Sorey, founder and executive director of Hub of HOPE. “We would estimate that it is actually increasing, simply because of the nature of trafficking. We know that it has a direct relationship with poverty and addiction, and are we not seeing an increase of poverty or an increase of a need for financial stability?”
“Having those great needs and being in a situation where they are at high risk, their vulnerability is increased. A traffickers pleas, a traffickers grooming tactics are going to be hard to dismiss because the promises are very good, but they’re very empty,” Sorey said. “They’re promised love or attention, companionship — who doesn’t want companionship during COVID time, right? — and so many people really lend their ear to those, really, lies, empty promises of a trafficker, and find themselves then caught in sex trafficking.”

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If you are a sex trafficking victim, there’s an effort underway in Texas to help you apply for clemency

If you are a sex trafficking victim, there’s an effort underway in Texas to help you apply for clemency

May 11, 2020 | , , ,

On Jan. 11, Human Trafficking Awareness Day, we applauded Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to pardon Robbie Ann Hamilton, a North Dallas sex trafficking survivor turned advocate who committed nonviolent crimes decades ago.
Hamilton, now 58 and an advocate and mentor for victims of trafficking and those suffering from addiction, described the state’s new path toward clemency as “monumental.” Thanks to decades of advocacy and education by nonprofits like Dallas-based New Friends New Life, she explained, “we better understand the impact of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking on the victims of these heinous crimes, and so can better address and care for the victims.”

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Victim assistance grants available

Victim assistance grants available

May 11, 2020 | , , , ,

TOPEKA – Five grant programs, serving victims of crime across Kansas are open for application, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced Friday.
More than $2.5 million in grant funds were awarded last year from five different state programs through the office of the attorney general. Funds are used to assist local and state crime victim assistance organizations across Kansas in providing direct services to crime victims, as well as in developing prevention programs to address violence.

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Delta Donates Tonnes Of Unused Food

Delta Donates Tonnes Of Unused Food

Apr 8, 2020 | , ,

Amid the COVID – 19 pandemic, Delta airlines has donated over 200,000 pounds of food so far in 2020. Delta sent food to hospitals, food banks, and other organizations worldwide to support the front-line workers. Several organizations include: Feeding America, Georgia Food & Resource Center and the Carthage Crisis Center in Missouri.
The donation includes both perishable and non-perishable goods. In Nice, France, Delta donated to a nonprofit called MIR and donated meals and coffee. MIR has been known to provide survivors of human trafficking free meals and shelter.

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Sold up and down the East coast: hidden world of sex trafficking moves close to home

Sold up and down the East coast: hidden world of sex trafficking moves close to home

Apr 6, 2020 | , , ,

In 2018, Polaris reported the highest number of sex trafficking survivors in the United States was 243, their ages ranged from 15-17 years of age. In 2018 the numbers reported to the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline illustrated that 7,126 women were trafficked and 2,378 minors were trafficked.
Jasmine’s story is featured in this article. Jasmine Grace was 19 when she met an older man. After graduating from cosmetology school, the trafficker sold Jasmine to men around the East Coast for five years.

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Steven Mayer and Valiant Consultants: A Shining Knight For Victims Of Sex Trafficking

Steven Mayer and Valiant Consultants: A Shining Knight For Victims Of Sex Trafficking

Mar 30, 2020 | , , , ,

Steven is the co-founder CEO of Valiant Consultants, a US-based firm that offers automation services for Amazon and helps survivors of sex trafficking. Each time an Amazon store opens with Steve’s team, 5% of profits go to Amazon partners that help prevent and work toward stopping sex traffickers. Steve has opened over 600 stores and has given back thousands of dollars to survivors of sex trafficking.

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Making candles — and a difference: Memphis company helps sex trafficking victims

Making candles — and a difference: Memphis company helps sex trafficking victims

Feb 3, 2020 | , , ,

Leah Gunn, has recently escaped sex trafficking after being trapped for nearly two decades, Leah is now working part time at RE+NEW+ALL, candle company in Memphis, TN, is providing survivors of sex trafficking the opportunity to have a new purpose. “In its earliest form, RE+NEW+ALL was not a business — it was art therapy.” Survivors are able to work part time and work on their goals whether it is reconnecting with a loved one or going back to school to get a G.E.D. Although, severe thunderstorms in January flooded their studio, their inventory was saved.
To learn more about RE+NEW+ALL and what they are doing in Memphis visit their website at https://www.renewallcandle.com/

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Gov. Abbott pardons sex trafficking survivor

Gov. Abbott pardons sex trafficking survivor

Jan 14, 2020 | , ,

While jailed in Austin, TX. Robbie Ann Hamilton asked God to help her quit drugs and to get out of that life. After participating in groups like Alchoholics Anonymous and New Friends New Life in rehab, she turned it around, committing her life to helping homeless addicts.

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Sex trafficking survivors thrive in new Las Vegas environment

Sex trafficking survivors thrive in new Las Vegas environment

Jan 2, 2020 | , ,

The Metropolitan Police Department has a human trafficking task force that includes the department’s vice unit; law enforcement agencies at the local, state and federal levels; Refuge for Women, the Rape Crisis Center, Seeds of Hope and a network of survivors who meet monthly to discuss how best to assist human trafficking survivors in the valley.

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Selah Freedom opens safe house for trafficking victims

Selah Freedom opens safe house for trafficking victims

Nov 18, 2019 | , , ,

Selah Freedom, a Florida-based charity organization with a mission to end sex trafficking, recently opened its newest, and largest, safe house at an undisclosed Kenosha County, WI location. It will offer a safe residential program for those rescued from sex trafficking, educational planning, job placement, trauma therapy, life skills, and medical assistance.

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Reflection Ministries prepares to open village for human trafficking victims

Reflection Ministries prepares to open village for human trafficking victims

Nov 13, 2019 | , , ,

Reflection Ministries of Texas is set to open “The Village” – a set of homes that will house victims of human trafficking – at the beginning of next year. Lisa Bownds, founder of Reflection Ministries, said they have several acres of land with five cottages. Four of the cottages will be used for housing and the last cottage will be a multi-purpose building used for counseling, therapeutic services and training classes.

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Trafficking victims can clear arrest records, but it isn’t easy

Trafficking victims can clear arrest records, but it isn’t easy

Nov 11, 2019 | , , ,

Florida law that passed in 2013 allows victims of human trafficking to clear records of arrests that resulted, but process can be slow and complicated. The Justice Restoration Center in Dunedin, FL, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping trafficking victims erase criminal records. Executive director Brent Woody said Florida has the best such law in the nation, and his organization has worked with more than 200 victims.

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Bombshell $10M suit claims two NYC hotels turned a blind eye to sex trafficking

Bombshell $10M suit claims two NYC hotels turned a blind eye to sex trafficking

Oct 30, 2019 | , , ,

The trafficker would always pay for the rooms in cash and when he didn’t have money for rooms at the Econo Lodge in N.Y.C., NY, he allowed hotel staff to rape the 10-year-old girl “in lieu of his payment for the rooms,” the papers show. There was even a bowl of free condoms displayed at the front desk that the victim would use when they ran out, the suit states.

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Kansas Made This Sex Trafficking Survivor A Criminal — She Wants Another Chance

Kansas Made This Sex Trafficking Survivor A Criminal — She Wants Another Chance

Oct 14, 2019 | , ,

Hope Joy Zeferjohn, a Topeka, KS native, became a victim of the commercial sex trade while in state custody, ran away, and was sent to prison for aggravated human trafficking. Despite federal and state laws that bar prosecuting children for prostitution, Zeferjohn is serving a nearly six-year sentence in the Topeka Correctional Facility and will spend a lifetime on the state sex offender registry.

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Sex trafficking victim sues Houston hotels

Sex trafficking victim sues Houston hotels

Sep 25, 2019 | , ,

A young woman out of Houston, Texas, was 15 years old when she was lured by sex traffickers. She’s suing three Houston hotels who at the time, in 2016 and 2017 when the allegations occurred, operated as Candlewood Suites, Clarion Inn and Suites – Westchase and Red Roof Inn. The young woman also claims she was even solicited by the guy working the front desk at the Clarion.

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Human trafficking survivor shares her story to create awareness about modern-day slavery

Human trafficking survivor shares her story to create awareness about modern-day slavery

Sep 9, 2019 | , ,

Maria Perez of San Antonio, TX was 25 when she fell victim to human trafficking. Perez said the man she was dating at the time suddenly changed and one night he kidnapped her—throwing her in the trunk of a car and driving across the border into Mexico. Perez is now a community activist, sharing her story and making it her mission to alert the community about the dangers that lurk around every corner in San Antonio and Texas.

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Dozens rescued, 37 arrested during undercover human trafficking bust: HCSO

Dozens rescued, 37 arrested during undercover human trafficking bust: HCSO

Sep 6, 2019 | , , ,

Led by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in Houston, TX, the six-night operation began on July 29 and used undercover officers to rescue those being held against their will and connect them with resources to escape their abusers. The operation ended Aug. 3, when officers made contact with human trafficking victims and their traffickers. The victims were detained and taken to a fire department where a team of social service providers were waiting to help.

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Pomona Police Rescue 3rd Teenage Human Trafficking Victim in 2 Weeks

Pomona Police Rescue 3rd Teenage Human Trafficking Victim in 2 Weeks

Sep 4, 2019 | , ,

Pomona, CA police working to combat human trafficking and prostitution in their city rescued the third teenage human trafficking victim in the past two weeks on Friday. “Upon further investigation, officers discovered that the female was actually a 17-year-old minor who had been the victim of human trafficking since the age of 15 years old,” the Pomona Police Department said in a written statement.

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The Essence of Evil: Sex with Children Has Become Big Business in America

The Essence of Evil: Sex with Children Has Become Big Business in America

May 2, 2019 | , , ,

“Children are being targeted and sold for sex in America every day.”—John Ryan, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Children, young girls—some as young as 9 years old—are being bought and sold for sex in America. The average age for a young woman being sold for sex is now 13 years old. Holly Austin Smith was abducted when she was 14 years old, raped, and then forced to prostitute herself. Her pimp, when brought to trial, was only made to serve a year in prison.

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‘Change the men’, say U.S. fighters against sex trafficking

‘Change the men’, say U.S. fighters against sex trafficking

Apr 19, 2019 | , ,

In St. Paul, Minnesota (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Schools where trafficking survivors teach men who buy illegal sex to “feel my pain” are growing and succeeding as a way to cut U.S. demand experts say. In a typical “john school”, police, therapists, lawyers and survivors tell first-time offenders about the health and legal risks of buying sex and the impact on women who sell their bodies – which many believe is key to ending sex trafficking.

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Advocate shares her story of sex trafficking survival

Advocate shares her story of sex trafficking survival

Mar 7, 2019 | ,

Sula Skiles is an advocate for sex trafficking survivors. She serves on the board of the The Trinidi Initiative, an extension of Lavished Ministries. As a survivor herself, she is using her story as a platform to help others.
“When I was 20, this was 15 years ago, I was a young, naive model in Los Angeles, went to just an event for the modeling industry,” Skiles said. One Skiles was overseas, she said what once was a dream come try turned out to be a nightmare. “Once I got there, I was forced to sleep with this monster along with other girls. They would come and go. Every night, there were new girls showing up,” she said.

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Florida Sex Trafficking Bust Sheds Light On Victims’ Needs

Florida Sex Trafficking Bust Sheds Light On Victims’ Needs

Mar 5, 2019 | , , ,

When authorities busted what they say is a multimillion-dollar human-trafficking and prostitution ring in Jupiter last month, law enforcement spoke out against the horrors endured by women taken as literal sex slaves. The trafficking, they said, was not a “victimless crime.” But nearly two weeks later, the majority of the victims remain behind bars as law enforcement seeks their cooperation in the case.

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Sex trafficking victims need community support

Sex trafficking victims need community support

Feb 14, 2019 | ,

A major sign of sexual abuse is a change in behavior, said Jean. Children may no longer want to participate in physical education out of the fear of getting undressed in front of others. They may also start to exhibit low self-esteem, poor peer relationships or eating habits. Some victims tend to wear extra layers of clothes regardless of the weather. They may also revert to infantile behavior such as bed wetting, thumb sucking and excessive crying.

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Sex trafficking victim sues Albuquerque motel

Sex trafficking victim sues Albuquerque motel

Feb 13, 2019 | , , ,

A woman who says she was sold for sex as a teenager is suing an Albuquerque motel and the now-closed Backpage website, alleging both businesses had a hand in allowing her to be trafficked. “The evidence is pretty strong (for) that hotel knowing what was going on due to the frequency of the visitors to the room,” McAdams said

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Survivors call attention to tattoos used in sex trafficking

Survivors call attention to tattoos used in sex trafficking

Feb 5, 2019 | , , ,

Sex trafficking survivors and advocates are working across Wisconsin to help communities recognize signs of exploitation, such as tattoos used to brand victims. Nancy Yarbrough is a survivor who started Milwaukee nonprofit Fresh Start Learning, Inc. to provide resources to women and children who are victims of sex trafficking. Yarbrough told Wisconsin Public Radio that tattoos are commonly used in the sex trade to show that a person belongs to a specific trafficker.

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Human-trafficking survivor raises awareness for ‘Light Up the Night’ event

Human-trafficking survivor raises awareness for ‘Light Up the Night’ event

Feb 1, 2019 | ,

Hope Green a human-trafficking survivor says, “there was never really a time when I did not get trafficked, as early as my earliest memory. Hope is one of the guest speakers this Saturday at the “Light Up the Night” event presented by Pasco County, FL. Sheriffs Dept. at Trinity College of Florida. Ticket are free.
Click “read more” for her story and more details on the event.

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Human trafficking survivor shares how she fell victim after Tinder date

Human trafficking survivor shares how she fell victim after Tinder date

Jan 23, 2019 | , , ,

When she was 19 she was planning to join the Air Force and moved to California, where she met someone on Tinder and eventually agreed to move in with him. Before she moved in he took her out to a nice dinner, placed her purse with her phone, keys and wallet on his chair and asked her how she was going to pay for what he was providing. “He said ‘OK now you’re going to be a stripper and an escort’ and the only thing I could say was ‘OK,’” Skirvin said. “One of the reasons human trafficking has escalated exponentially is that there is so much reward and there’s very little risk … there is very little chance they’ll get caught, and if they do a lot of times they’re not getting prosecuted,” Reyes said.

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Slavery in the shadows: Survivor tells her painful story for Human Trafficking Awareness Month

Slavery in the shadows: Survivor tells her painful story for Human Trafficking Awareness Month

Jan 23, 2019 | , , ,

A modeling gig set up by her boyfriend was the first night Sara was sexually assaulted. What followed was about six months of drug-hazed sexual servitude. The man she thought was her boyfriend became her trafficker. Sara was trafficked for sex from the Naples area to Miami, Tampa and Orlando in 2012. She was 21 at the time. “You don’t have to be broken,” she said. “It’s not the same recovery road for everyone. Not everyone will feel how I feel. Not everyone will surpass trauma the same way. It’s about how bad you want out.”

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Sex trafficking in SC: ‘Housing first’ model is key for 1st safe home for women

Sex trafficking in SC: ‘Housing first’ model is key for 1st safe home for women

Nov 28, 2018 | , ,

A small, spiral-bound notebook stays with a Greenville woman wherever she goes. For the past month, she’s been filling up the pages, growing her “thankful list.” She’s thankful to be alive. Thankful for a second chance. Thankful for a roof over her head. Thankful for a hot shower. It’s a new season of life for the 34-year-old since leaving a lifestyle of prostitution and drug abuse that began at a young age. The woman is one of five embarking on a two-year recovery program in Greenville that pulls survivors out of human sex trafficking, an industry that’s become a hidden epidemic across the U.S. and in South Carolina, particularly in the Upstate where Interstate 85 connects Atlanta to Charlotte, two of the nation’s trafficking hotbeds.

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Human trafficking victim escapes captors on Thanksgiving Day in Murfreesboro

Human trafficking victim escapes captors on Thanksgiving Day in Murfreesboro

Nov 28, 2018 | , , , ,

A Murfreesboro woman who was part of a human trafficking case managed to escape her captors Thanksgiving Day. The woman escaped her perpetrators by jumping out of a bathroom window in Murfreesboro and running to the Thornton’s on Old Fort Boulevard where she called her mother and then police. The 29-year old victim told police she had been sold, traded and swapped for money and drugs in the Bradyville and Readyville areas of Rutherford County, as well as Grundy County, and in Kentucky. According to a police report, the victim said she was given the drug ketamine, which induces a trance-like state, to make her sleep at night. Her captors also forced her to use cocaine during the day, she reported.

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Trafficking survivor helps put formerly incarcerated on path to higher education

Trafficking survivor helps put formerly incarcerated on path to higher education

Nov 19, 2018 | , , , ,

“Many of our clients have been charged with crimes they were forced to commit by their traffickers, or that their traffickers committed,” said San Diego attorney Jamie Quient, who started Free to Thrive last year. “They rarely speak up at the time for many reasons. Among them, they would rather serve time than cross their traffickers. They also don’t think they will be believed if they do speak up. As a result, society labels these victims as criminals.”

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Sisters file lawsuits in USA Gymnastics sex-abuse scandal

Sisters file lawsuits in USA Gymnastics sex-abuse scandal

Oct 31, 2018 | ,

Former Olympic gymnast Tasha Schwikert, left, answers questions from the media as she is joined by sister, Jordan, who was also a member of the national team, during a news conference Monday, Oct. 29, 2018, in Los Angeles. The two have sued USA Gymnastics for allegedly enabling and failing to prevent sexual abuse by the team’s former doctor, Larry Nassar. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

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