Mission tribe outreach went well tonight. More on that later...

Craig, Please Listen to Us

Kristie from SAGE shared this with me, she got it from the Initiative Against Human Trafficking, and they got it from the Huffington Post.

Malika Saada Saar, Executive director of the Rebecca Project for Human Rights

Posted: May 19, 2010 03:24 PM

Girl Victims stand up to Craigslist CEO Craig Newmark. The attached letter was published in the San Francisco Chronicle and posted on Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/malika-saada-saar/craig-please-listen-to-us_b_582237.html

Please read these words from sex trafficking survivors who were given refuge and assistance by the Fair Fund and Crittenton organizations.

Dear Craig,

Although we have not met, we are certain you would not want what happened to us or to thousands of girls like us to ever happen again.

Craig, I am AK. In 2009, I met a man twice my age who pretended to be my boyfriend, and my life as an average girl -- looking forward to college, doing my chores, and hanging out with my friends -- ended. This "boyfriend" soon revealed he was a pimp. He put my picture on Craigslist, and I was sold for sex by the hour at truck stops and cheap motels, 10 hours with 10 different men every night. This became my life.

Men answered the Craigslist advertisements and paid to rape me. The $30,000 he pocketed each month was facilitated by Craigslist 300 times. I personally know of over 20 girls who were trafficked through Craigslist. Like me, they were taken from city to city, each time sold on a different Craigslist site -- Philadelphia, Dallas, Milwaukee, Washington, D.C. My phone would ring, and soon men would line up in the parking lot. One Craigslist caller viciously brutalized me, threatening to dump my body in a river. Miraculously, I survived.

Craig, I am MC. I was first forced into prostitution when I was 11 years old by a 28-year-old man. I am not an exception. The man who trafficked me sold so many girls my age, his house was called "Daddy Day Care." All day, other girls and I sat with our laptops, posting pictures and answering ads on Craigslist. He made $1,500 a night selling my body, dragging me to Los Angeles, Houston, Little Rock -- and one trip to Las Vegas in the trunk of a car.

I am 17 now, and my childhood memories aren't of my family, going to middle school, or dancing at the prom. They are of making my own arrangements on Craigslist to be sold for sex, and answering as many ads as possible for fear of beatings and ice water baths.

Craig, we write this letter so you will know from our personal experiences how Craigslist makes horrific acts like this so easy to carry out, and the men who arrange them very rich.

Craig, we know you oppose trafficking and exploitation. But right now, Craigslist is the choice of traffickers because it's so well known and there are rarely consequences to using it for these illegal acts. We've heard that the Adult Services section of Craigslist brings in $36 million a year by charging for these ads. These profits are made at the expense of girls like us, who are lured, kidnapped, and forced to feed the increasing demand for child rape. New traffickers are putting up ads every day, because they know it's less risky and more profitable to sell girls on Craigslist than to deal drugs.

Please, Craig, close down the Adult Services section. Saving even one child is worth it. It could have been us.

Sincerely,

AK & MC
Survivors of Craigslist Sex Trafficking

Read This

The trade of young girls is happening here in the U.S. and it has to stop.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-rather/pornland-oregon-child-pro_b_580035.html

She was kidnapped and sold in the Bay area

Read this article. The website used to sell this girl is used by many of the people I know almost daily for legitimate reasons (searching for work, housing, reselling items) but it should never be used to sell people.

http://www.ktla.com/news/extras/ktla-sex-slaves-sweeps,0,3561067.story

Resources for fighting Trafficking:

Drafted this for a friend today and figured I would post it here. This is the short list there are way more books and websites out there, but this is enough to keep people busy.


Books:
Ending Slavery – Kevin Bales
Disposable People – Kevin Bales
Not For Sale – David Batstone

Organizations/Websites:
Free The Slaves – Research, awareness, supporting organization that facilitate rescue and aftercare
www.freetheslaves.net

The SAGE Project – Standing Against Global Exploitation
www.sagesf.org

The Sold Project – prevention in Thailand
Thesoldproject.com

Not For Sale- awareness, legislation, and project support
www.notforsalecampaign.org

International Justice Mission – Legislation, rescue, and after care
www.ijm.org

Invisible Children – Child solders in Uganda, legislation, awareness, and aftercare
www.invisiblechildren.com

Call and Repsonse – a movie and an organization working to end slavery
www.callandresponse.com

Responsible shopping:
chainstorereaction.com – see the responses of major companies to the request that they establish fair practices

www.transfairusa.org - Primary Fair Trade Website

www.tradeasone.com - Online store and resource center

Public Apology

My bad and super sorry about it.
A rant that was supposed to not be public went up recently and was immediately deleted - too bad google reader is faster than my delete key.
If you read it and you were offended/hurt/confused that it was on my abolitionist blog - sorry.

Children Enslaved to be Soldiers Will be Free... someday

This is exciting news. It is still a long road and these kids will need after-care, education, shelter, food and so much more, BUT it is still exciting! There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks IC!

What a better way to spend a Tuesday

The space was calm and the crowd was smaller than expected, but the atmosphere was inspiring. What seemed like a simple patio party in the back of a fabulous little wine bar was in reality a fund raiser for The SOLD Project and an awareness opportunity for California Against Slavery. It seems that parties like this are popping up everywhere, and really it makes a ton of sense. I mean lets face it we all enjoy either entertaining or being entertained. Most of us like to sip on a glass of wine after a long day of work, so why not ask the bar to donate 40% of the proceeds to a good cause, or just have some friends over and ask them for money over some great wine and food?

Tonight's event was classy and beautiful. the night air was crisp and the conversation refreshing. I had a great time. I made some new friends and I was inspired to do more, to do whatever I can. My current practice of hosting a monthly dinner to raise money for various non-profits is fun. I am hoping it grows.

For now here are some videos to raise your awareness of what these orgs are doing. Maybe after watching them you will be inspired to throw a party of your own.

The SOLD Project Human Trafficking Awareness Program from The SOLD Project on Vimeo.