John Irwin’s film Sold was chosen as a semi-finalist out of over 15,000 submissions for Ridley Scott’s “Your Film Festival”

Sold is a story based on the realities of human trafficking in America and worldwide. It’s about a young journalist who is inadvertently captured into a human trafficking ring while investigating the treatment of undocumented immigrants in America.

If Sold is voted by the public into the top 10, the creators will be flown to Venice, Italy to open the Venice International Film Festival with the film! Even more amazing, if Sold wins, Scott Free Productions will award a $500,000 grant for John to make a movie with
Ridley Scott’s company!

Johns says, “ I’m thrilled by the prospect of going to Venice Film Festival as a filmmaker, but also for the opportunity to use this film to spurn discussions about the topic of human trafficking and to gain exposure for the cause against it.”

You can go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5xKsdAz1Uw&feature=youtu.be to see a video John made to generate awareness for the project or you can go directly to the film itself at http://www.voteforsold.com. If you like it, click the red “VOTE” button to the right.

Voting ends on July 13th and people are allowed to vote once a day.

I have never seen a case where a child approached an adult and said ‘Ok, can you be my pimp?’ A pimp is typically a man who has developed a relationship with her, claiming that he loves her, and this child really, truly feels that she loves this man.  —Linda Watson, Probation Officer, DeKalb County Juvenile Justice Department – from Hidden in Plain View, a study by the Atlanta Women’s Agenda, 2005, p.18

Children exploited through prostitution are usually children who had been sexually and physically abused their whole lives. Once recruited into the sex trade they can be sold more than 10 times a day, 7 days a week, exposing them to sexually transmitted diseases, rape, beatings, and possibly fatal acts of violence. The long term health effects including post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic illnesses including HIV, and unhealthy pregnancies. How can we add to the trauma these children face by threatening them with prosecution and incarceration for their own sexual exploitation and abuse?

This is a human rights nightmare that plagues children across the globe, from Thailand, South Africa, Ukraine, and—you got it, the United States. This real-life tragedy plays itself out right here in Connecticut. Despite the fact that the United States has an anti-trafficking law that explicitly states that anyone under 18 who is induced to perform a commercial sex act is considered a victim of severe human trafficking, under state laws across the U.S., including Connecticut, children can still be charged with and prosecuted for prostitution offenses. CT law considers them too young to consent to sex and yet the criminal statutes still leave open the possibility of prosecution.

When a minor faces charges for prostitution, the legal process as well as the time spent in the juvenile justice system actually re-traumatizes the young person. As one young person put it as reported by Shared Hope International: “I always felt like a criminal. I never felt like a victim at all. Victims don’t do time in jail, they work on the healing process. I was a criminal because I spent time in jail. I definitely felt like nothing more than a criminal.” (http://www.sharedhope.org/dmst/national_report.asp,10)

Love146, The Barnaba Institute, and ECPAT-USA (End Child Prostitution and Trafficking), in conjunction with other anti-trafficking and youth advocacy organizations, law enforcement, social services, and government representatives are working together to urge the Connecticut General Assembly to pass the “Safe Harbor” bill (S.B. 153). It will create a presumption that any minor child who is arrested and charged with prostitution is a victim of trafficking in persons.

In addition to expressing support for the current “safe harbor” bill (S.B. 153), we believe it requires additional language to make it effective and to distinguish it from existing human trafficking law. First, the presumption of being a victim of human trafficking is not enough. The bill must remove any possibility that the child can be prosecuted. As the language exists now, children under 16 would never be charged with prostitution, but 16 and 17 year olds would only be presumed to be victims. In keeping with our belief that these vulnerable youth are victims, rather than criminals, we encourage the Judiciary Committee to improve the bill’s language by preventing prosecution for all such youth who are under the age of 18.

The act of officially charging the child with a prostitution offense is humiliating. It also opens up the chance that his/her sealed juvenile record could be opened by the court later if compelling need for the records is proven. We also recommend the bill encourage the courts to consider a child’s history of sexual exploitation if he/she is arrested for other offenses. Commercial sexual exploitation and sexual abuse can are often the root cause of delinquent behaviors in a traumatized child.

Pure and simple, a minor cannot consent to commercial sex acts– a “Safe Harbor” law would help to cut against the culture that assumes that boys and girls who are being commercially sexually exploited are at fault for their own abuse. All children who are trafficked by a pimp, relative, boyfriend, or who traded sex for survival qualify for rehabilitation services and counseling. Instead of throwing sexually exploited minors in into detention centers, judges could refer child victims to existing and much needed social services such as crisis intervention, health care, and other community-based programs as needed. When we treat these children with care and dignity, their trust in their community and in law enforcement will grow.

“Johns” and traffickers will continue to be prosecuted for breaking Connecticut law with the passage of SB 153. In 2008, our state saw the successful prosecutions of Dennis Paris and Corey Davis. Both received well-deserved and lengthy sentences for their role in exploiting girls as young as 12. Men like Davis and Paris are criminals who deserve to serve hard time behind bars. But children exploited through prostitution are always victims. The trauma and brutality they endure on the streets and in the hands of traffickers cannot be overcome with prosecution and jail time. Prosecution only further humiliates the child and inflicts her or him with a criminal record that may become a lifelong stigma. Recovery requires a safe and secure environment with counselors who understand their needs. It is not prosecution but this caring environment that will restore their dignity and sense of strength.

S.B. 153 currently sits in the Senate, introduced by Senator Rob Kane. Please contact your local Senator today and ask him or her to support “Safe Harbor” before May 5th.

A similar “Safe Harbour” bill passed in New York State in 2008. With the passage of the new improved S.B. 153, Connecticut will become a leader in the United States in demonstrating its commitment to protecting its young people.

Written By,
Christine Fantacone, ECPAT-USA

Kathy Maskell, Love146

Alexis Taylor Litos, The Barnaba Institute

The Honorable Andrew McDonald
Legislative Office Building
Room 2500
Hartford, CT, 06106
March 16, 2010

RE: S.B. 153 – An Act Providing a Safe Harbor for Exploited Children

Dear Senator McDonald,

I am writing on behalf of the Barnaba Institute, a Connecticut 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization against modern-day slavery and sexual exploitation.

I request that S.B. 153,  an “Act Providing a Safe Harbor for Exploited Children” be raised in the Judiciary Committee and sent to the Senate floor for a full vote. This bill, with the substitute language passed by the Select Committee on Children, will help protect Connecticut’s most vulnerable children.

S.B. 153 addresses a stark reality in Connecticut of youth being sold in the commercial sex industry, whether that be in brothels, street corners, or arranged through the Internet. The majority of U.S. children involved in prostitution are runaways and are past victims of sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect, and/or other forms of trauma. These youth are manipulated by adults to engage in sexual acts in return for a fee and are coerced into continued prostitution by sophisticated psychological, emotional, and physical means. But not all are runaways. Some come from affluent families in towns such as Avon and Madison, who fell prey to men promising them the world through Internet chat rooms and social networking sites.

Recognizing that youth engaged in prostitution are victims, S.B. 153: 1) prevents the prosecution, but not the arrest or detainment, of youth for the crime of prostitution, 2) promotes the referral of such youth to appropriate social services for recovery, and 3) stiffens the penalty for those who promote commercial child sexual exploitation.

In practice, Connecticut law enforcement and government officials do tend to treat these children as victims rather than as criminals.  The Department of Children and Families already has a new procedure in place to identify and serve prostituted children. However, current Connecticut law does allow children who are victims of commercial sexual exploitation to be prosecuted for the crime of prostitution. Passing this bill is necessary to ensure that Connecticut’s child victims of commercial sexual exploitation are served appropriately.

In keeping with our belief that these vulnerable youth are victims, rather than criminals, we encourage the Judiciary Committee to improve the bill’s language by preventing prosecution for all such youth who are under the age of 18 by changing the language in Section 1(a) and thereafter deleting the presumption language for 16 and 17 year olds in Section 1(c). As the bill currently reads, children in Connecticut ages 16 and 17 could still be treated as criminals despite their victimization.

Thank you so much for your consideration of this matter. We urge you to raise and consider S.B. 153 in the Judiciary Committee and to vote it out of Committee to the Senate floor.

Sincerely,

- Alexis Taylor Litos. 3:15 AM

Happy Holidays! This year has been a busy year and a year of new opportunities. It has also been a difficult year in many respects, but the Institute was able to operate well during this economic downturn. Our education and outreach programs are strong and effective and our work load in outreach is greatly expanding. The Institute is fortunate to have a great group of high school and college volunteers and an active Board of Directors, providing both valuable program assistance and direction, respectively, to help us carry this additional workload.

Our national professional training pilot program with the Covenant House is progressing well. The Institute staff trained Covenant House Atlantic City, New Jersey, this past spring and we’re scheduling the next training session for early next year in Atlanta, Georgia. As part of this pilot program, we are in the final stage of developing two manuals; one for intervention staff on how to identify human trafficking victims and provide assistance, and the second manual directed to victims and survivors of trafficking. The Survivor’s manual is an insightful, encouraging and practical guide with steps to help transition youth and young adults back into mainstream society.

Here is an excerpt from a letter we received from Covenant House Atlantic City after training their staff:

Dear Alexis,

It is with pleasure that I am writing to you today. Covenant House Atlantic City can’t begin to thank you again for such an intriguing and educational human trafficking training this past month. The hands on experience that Ed, Frank and you brought to the training was very instrumental in understanding why human trafficking has become such an important topic to bring awareness to. Although human trafficking has gotten more attention in recent years, our young population has been battling this crime for much longer and it is only necessary for our staff to truly understand how our youth are becoming involved in these criminal circles…

We truly appreciate your support and are very thankful that you were able to come to Covenant House Atlantic City…Thank you again for such a heart felt and enlightening training experience!

Sincerely,
Veanna Knoeller
Covenant House Atlantic City
June 5, 2009

The Institute’s preventative education program, funded through the Connecticut Office of Victim Services, is flourishing. This year, we have reached out to over 550 students and adults in-person. We focus on small classes and groups of adults in order to better facilitate questions and provide attendees with valuable information. For students, this consists of tools on how to avoid sexual predators and traffickers, online and in their communities. For adults, our education program teaches them how trafficking occurs in their communities and how adults can intervene in suspected cases of trafficking, thus becoming the eyes and ears of their community. Here is an excerpt from a letter we received from St. John’s Episcopal Church in Niantic after a lecture we gave:

 Alexis,

I just wanted to drop you a quick note to say thank you so much for today.  Both you and Mr. Barnaba are incredibly special people and I am grateful to have met you both.  The forum was very well received despite all we had going on at church today.

The statistics and facts were truly sobering.

Sincerely, Sandy Clarke

In July, the Institute’s outreach program centered through New London’s Community Meal Center received international attention with a grant through the British-based Body Shop Foundation.

Outreach through a soup kitchen is a unique program that is proving to be a powerful intervention technique. Outreach staff members have a better opportunity to reach out to youth and young adults who are at-risk or who are being exploited in a safer environment, such as a soup kitchen.

Recently, outreach staff members have seen an increase in mothers with very small children. One such woman is Alicia,^[1] who gave birth to a healthy baby boy one month ago. Alicia was 2½ weeks to her due date when she met outreach staff. She had little but the clothes on her back and was living in a shelter. Her mother, who lived close by, was willing to help watch the baby when it was born, but did not have the money to buy the baby clothing or supplies.

Thanks to Julie Riggs and Kathy Molusis (and her friends), both active supporters of the Barnaba Institute, Alicia’s baby boy has bags and bags of new and gently used clothing and baby supplies. And because of generous individual donors like you, the Institute was able to purchase several boxes of diapers to help Alicia.

The intergenerational consequences of homelessness, prostitution and trafficking are detrimental to families and communities. But the Barnaba Institute is making a dent in this national issue, one person and one family at a time.

But the need is urgent and getting worse and we need your help. The Institute has successfully operated on a smaller scale for the past year, but we see an opportunity in 2010 to expand and grow to meet the increasing needs.

The Board ^[2] of the Barnaba Institute has pooled in excess of $5,000 as a matching challenge to you. Please consider making a donation today in any amount – and your gift will be matched by the Board through December 31st. Appreciated securities are also accepted; please contact Alexis at 860-447-2060 to inquire about this option.

Thank you for your time and for your past financial support.

Best wishes,
Alexis Taylor Litos, Executive Director

[1] Name changed to protect her identity.
[2] Includes Board members and their immediate families.

October is Fair Trade Month, which celebrates the organized social movement promoting rights and assistance for producers in underdeveloped countries. It advocates for higher wages and an improved standard of living for producers; especially those who export handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, sugar, tea, bananas, honey, cotton, fresh fruit, chocolate and flowers. Supporters purchase goods that are Fair Trade Certified, which ensures the good was produced under agreeable conditions. This movement ultimately impacts the victims of human trafficking.

Those who recognize Fair Trade Month can explore how consumers can go the extra mile by ensuring that Free Trade goods are available in their local grocers and propose necessary legislation to their government or write to retailers.

Throughout the country, the movement is leaving its imprint. Alderwoman Toni Preckwinkle from Chicago’s 4th Ward is currently sponsoring a resolution to make Chicago a Fair Trade city. Earlier this month, the SVP of Starbucks held a live online discussion with the TransFair USA CEO to discuss how they plan to improve the lives of farmers.

In addition, the Fair Trade Month website (http://www.fairtrademonth.org) posts a new fact each day and an easy way to support the movement. For example, today’s suggestion is to host a Fair Trade Coffee Cupping Event. These small acts can go a long way in the lives of farmers but it ultimately paves a way for victims to escape human trafficking. With farms adhering to fair wages and workers rights, local women are able to work in safe and sustainable work environments.

The Emancipation Network’s (TEN) MadeBySurvivors© program shows the relationship between Fair Trade and human trafficking in full circle. When victims are rescued, they usually have nowhere to go. Many were forced into slavery at a young age and know no form of independence. TEN assists survivors of slavery, prostitution, forced labor and refugee camps by offering economic alternatives and education to rescued women and girls. Survivors are involved in designing TEN products and receive dignified and fairly paid work to rebuild their lives. MadeBySurvivors© sells their handicrafts through their web store, home parties and wholesale (http://www.madebysurvivors.com).

By promoting the Fair Trade movement and purchasing certified goods, consumers can improve the communities and livelihoods of farm communities in underdevloped countries. This ultimately combats poverty, one of the strongest contributing factors to human trafficking.

By Tanya Benedicto (10/15/09)