As is well-known, human trafficking is something we are confronted with in our own neighborhood. Every so often, I share some of our encounters - but it is certainly something that I am forced to be mindful of on an almost daily basis. We get email updates from one of the central safe houses in Columbus. I thought I would share the most recent update...
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Hello,
I have been trying to call the number that I see on the internet for your program, but I only seem to ever get the voicemail and I really don't have a safe number for you to call me back at. I was wondering how I can possibly get in your program. I need help. I'm 26 and have been stuck with my pimp since I was 13. I just want out. I know I'm going to end up dead if I keep living like this. Please let me know how I can get into your program. A woman from a church gave me the website but I cannot get it to load and could only manage to get this email address as well as a phone number but, like I said, the phone always takes me to voicemail.
- Chantelle
I will never forget the day-July 24, 2009-when I received this email.
Two days after receiving this email, I was able to speak with "Chantelle" who told me her real name and location. Her story, although common to me, just seemed too much like a horror story and I needed to confirm the truth. I contacted Brent Currence from the National Missing and Exploited Children Unit at the Ohio Attorney General's office who put me in touch with the Attorney General's office in the state where Chantelle had been taken. It took them less than an hour to confirm her story...and it was all true. This young lady had been taken by a pimp when she was just a teenager. She traveled around the country with this man and now had become his bottom girl.
I heard that desperate sound in her voice and understood all to well the need for her to get out. Unfortunately, most girls on the good days don't think about leaving. It is only when there has been some type of physical abuse or a new girl has come on the scene and he, "the pimp," disrespects her that she is ready to leave. Chantelle had been beaten pretty badly and to make matters worse, she has lupus that was often triggered by stress...and she was now totally stressed out.
I immediately called Melissa Snow of "SharedHope" an organization founded by former Congress women Linda Smith, who advised me of what to do next. EleSondra DeRomano called her contact at the FBI who unbeknownst to me had begun to trace this young lady around the country. Over the course of the next several months, she was followed from Michigan, to Illinois, to Colorado, to Utah. This man had a ring that was truly going across the country and she was not the only girl he had. There was a large network of pimps and girls that were networking-exploiting these young ladies.
After the FBI got involved I lost contact and didn't know what happened to Chantelle, until December 2010 when I received a text message from Michael Cory Davis, founder of Artist United for Social Justice. I'd come to know Michael and his work in human trafficking after he did a documentary on the issue. Surprising to me, Michael asked me about Chantelle! How did Michael know I knew Chantelle? That was still a mystery to me until Michael informed me that he too had been in touch with her and she had told him of my involvement with her and her rescue. Chantelle's parents had given up on her and thought she was dead. They were eventually reunited with their daughter, not because of my efforts alone, but because of the efforts of a small group of people fighting for justice.
The State of Ohio has had some huge victories this year, inclusive of passage of a human trafficking law. Well, I can tell you that the rescue of that one young lady has also been a huge victory. I want to take this time to personally thank Linda Smith, Founder, Melissa Snow Program Director, EleSondra DeRomano, survivor, and Senator Teresa Fedor; and to all those who worked on getting SB 235 passed and signed into law in the State of Ohio. As we continue to work on the rescue and reunification of victims, it is good to know that there is a law in place to prosecute their perpetrators.
Because of a small group of committed people we were able to get Chantelle to a place of safety. I would like to say "Thank you" to Brent Currence, EleSondra DeRoman (survivor), Melissa Snow (Shared Hope, International) and you the body of Christ for your prayers and support.
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Human Trafficking: A Billion-Dollar Industry
Ted Strickland Signs 'Human Trafficking Bill,' Making it a Felony in the Buckeye State
Ohio was among the six states in the United States that did not have a stand-alone human trafficking law. On December 23, 2010, Governor Ted Strickland signed the bill into Ohio legislation, making human trafficking a felony in the state. There are five states that have not implemented a stand-alone human trafficking bill: South Dakota, Massachusetts, West Virgina, Wyoming, and Hawaii.
This bill will take effect March of 2011 and human trafficking will be punishable by up to eight years imprisonment. Senator Teresa Fedor (D Toledo) states, "Ohio is no longer safe for trafficking human beings, and that the gap between the state's criminal code and the reality of human trafficking is closed."
Toledo, Ohio, is the third-largest city for human trafficking and sexual slavery in the United States; just recently a Somalian sex trafficking ring was busted in Columbus. The Buckeye State is known for football, chili, and the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame. It now finds itself among the several states in America that have been confronted with the horror of human trafficking.
Crimes are being committed against the youth of this world. This is not something these young people have submitted to willingly. Their families and their lives are in danger if they do not comply to the perverse demands of their captors.
Slavery was abolished over a hundred years ago, yet runaways vanish into the night, child abductions have increased, and promises of false hopes have lured many young people to their enslavement. Human trafficking is a world problem, and teenage runaways are at greater risk to be abducted and beguiled into sexual enslavement. We need to educate our young people in hopes to prevent future human trafficking cases. Foreign Youths are being promised American jobs and financial gain only to find themselves in the land of the free - enslaved, abused, and drugged against their will.
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