See what the major news outlets are writing about. Stay up to speed on current events in Atlanta and across the country in the fight against child sex trafficking.
A 28 year old Waikiki resident named Mukadin Daquin Gordon allegedly kidnapped a thirteen year old girl and held her prisoner in his apartment last year. Gordon forbade her from reaching out to others or leaving and pimped her out of the Waikiki apartment until she was able to reach out to her sister for help. Gordon has been sentenced to ten years in prison.
Source: Hawaii News Now
After 2,750 signatures were gathered in support of a human trafficking recognition training class being taught by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), Change.org reports sucess. The ACEP has officially accepted the proposal to include a continuing medical education course that would teach ER staff to recognize cases of human trafficking and the appropriate methods of addressing it. ACEP will release its final decision in January of 2012.
Source: Change.Org
A Boston study indicates that over 27% of people victimized by traffickers will seek out emergency health care at some point. However, only 3% of medical staff are trained to recognize the signs. Get more info at Meet Justice Medical.
Missouri currently ranks number 2 in the nation of child pornography related arrests. Missouri officials describe the ever changing use of technology like peer-to-peer file sharing software to exploit children sexually and the ways in which officers use it to arrest perpetrators.
Source: seMissourian.com
In 2000, the State Department Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons established the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) to respond to the crisis of global and dosmetic human trafficking. The act created visas and assistance for victims of trafficking, defined trafficking as a federal crime, set a global standard for all countries to address trafficking based on a three-tiered system, and authorized the annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report. (View the most recent TIP Report by clicking here.)
The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) was introduced in the Senate in June of 2011. Authorization will both extend the bill for another three years and
- Authorizing the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Office to negotiate child protection compacts with designated focus countries to increase resources and political will to eradicate child trafficking (the essential provisions of the Child Protection Compact Act).
- Providing resources to allow the TIP Office to respond quickly to requests for technical assistance from foreign countries.
- Instructing the State Department regional bureaus to designate anti-trafficking specialists in our Embassies abroad to collect information on trafficking and communicate U.S. concerns to foreign government officials. (IJM)
On September 30, 2011, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act is set to expire. Organizations and activists have rallied together to raise awareness and mobilize people to contact their senators. On September 8, join these activists for National Call In Day. Take a few minutes out of your day and call your senator to let them know that the TVPRA is important to you as their constituent, and encourage them to sign on as co-sponsors of the bill.
International Justice Mission provides an easy template for registering to call and also provides a way to search for senators by zip code. They even have a script right there on the website to use, so there’s no way to feel silly or uneducated. At Innocence Atlanta, we encourage you to excercise your voice as a constituent and take a stand for victims of human trafficking in the United States. Make the call. Make a change in someone’s life.
To check out the Event Page for National Call In Day, click here.
The Marietta Daily Journal released a story today (August 30, 2011) that has highlighted two important truths about pimps: they are not always male, and they’re not always strangers who creep out of the shadows and into victims’ lives. Marietta resident Rebecca Wiggins was sentenced to Life in Prison plus 20 years for commercially sexually exploiting her neice over the span of several years. Wiggins provided access to her neice to David A. Ray in exchange for about $10,000. She also physically took part in the sexual assaults by restraining the victim on occassion. The abuse began when the victim was 7 years old. Ray killed himself in 2009 after being initially approached by police.
Source: Marietta Daily Journal
Read the full story here. (Warning: Somewhat graphic.)
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