In
The News
Rolling
Stone Letter
Experts
Gather In Chicago October 16-17 To Confront The
Demand Element In The U.S. Sex Trafficking Of Women
Local
Launch And Benefit For The Campaign Against The
Commercial Sexual Exploitation Of Children
Captive
Daughters Receives Grant From Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation
Demonstrators
At Los Angeles International Airport Target Sex Tour
To The Philippines
Captive
Daughters Press Room
OCTOBER 16,
2003
CAPTIVE
DAUGHTERS LETTER PUBLISHED IN ROLLING STONE
MAGAZINE
Rolling
Stone Magazine Issue #933 published the article
"Inside the Teen-Hooker Factory" (David
Critchell), an eye-opening account of sexual
trafficking within the United States, illustrating
how "nice girls" in Minnesota (and
elsewhere) can get roped into the frightening world
of prostitution.
We wrote a letter praising them for this
important article.
The
letter as it appeared in issue #935:
Thank
you for your article "Inside the Teen-Hooker
Factory" which brilliantly illustrated a
little-known fact: that sex trafficking is happening
in our own backyard, not just in developing
countries. The bottom line, however, is that without
demand, there would be no need for a supply. The men
whose desires fuel this multi-billion-dollar global
industry receive little attention from either the
legal system or our media. Our organization, Captive
Daughters, is hoping to change that. Thanks again
for drawing attention to this growing problem.
Our
original letter before editing:
Thank
you for your article "Inside the Teen-Hooker
Factory" which brilliantly illustrated a
little-known fact: that sex trafficking is happening
in our own backyard, not just in developing
countries. Research has shown that the majority of
girls on the streets in our country have been
coerced -- psychologically, physically or both --
into the sex trade.
Pimps know exactly how to manipulate naive,
insecure girls, especially those who are seeking to
escape troubled homes. The bottom line, however, is
that without demand, there would be no need for a
supply.
The
men whose desires fuel this multi-billion-dollar
global industry receive little attention from either
the legal system or our media. Our organization,
Captive Daughters, is hoping to change that by
co-sponsoring Demand Dynamics, a conference on
October 16-17 in Chicago at which more than 60
experts in prostitution and other
trafficking-related fields will discuss the demand
side of trafficking and develop strategies to
address it. Thanks again for drawing attention to
this growing problem.
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SEPTEMBER
30, 2003
EXPERTS
GATHER IN CHICAGO OCTOBER 16-17 TO CONFRONT THE
DEMAND ELEMENT IN THE U.S. SEX TRAFFICKING OF
WOMEN
Demand Dynamics: The
Forces of Demand in the Global Sex Trade
Press
Release Sponsored by Captive Daughters & International
Human Rights Law Institute College of Law, DePaul University
For Immediate
Release, September 30, 2003
mail@captivedaughters.org
310-669-4400
Conference
to Explore and Create Strategies for Eradicating
Demand
Sex
trafficking has proliferated into a multi-billion
dollar criminal activity, as profitable for criminal
syndicates as the global narcotics trade. Once
considered a third-world problem, sex trafficking
now profits from a major customer base in the United
States. The State Department and non-governmental
organizations estimate that 50,000 women and
children from around the world are trafficked
annually into the United States to satisfy the
demand of hundreds of thousands of men who pay to
consume them as sexual entertainment. Although these
men have propelled sex trafficking into a
multi-billion dollar enterprise, this “demand”
side of trafficking still receives little public or
media attention.
Captive
Daughters, California's oldest anti-sex trafficking
organization and DePaul University's International
Human Rights Law Institute of Chicago have assembled
some of the nation's leading authorities on human
trafficking, prostitution, and human rights for
"Demand Dynamics: The Forces of Demand in
Global Sex Trafficking". This two-day
conference, held at Chicago's prestigious Newberry
Library on October 16 and 17, will increase
understanding of those who purchase women and
children for sexual entertainment and develop
strategies to counteract them.
Demand
Dynamics will feature nearly 60 experts in fields
relating to trafficking. Speakers will address
topics including how consumers of sex trafficking
find their “supply”; how demand is manipulated
and maintained; what governmental policies or
practices enable the actions of consumers; and what
concrete measures can be taken to interfere with and
ultimately eliminate demand.
The
keynote speaker for the conference is Dorchen A.
Leidholdt, Co-Executive Director of the Coalition
Against Trafficking in Women and Director of the
Center for Battered Women's Legal Services at
Sanctuary for Families in New York City.
Among
the experts who will be addressing the conference
are: Dr. Laura Lederer, Senior Advisor on
Trafficking, Office of Global Affairs, U.S.
Department of State; Jackson Katz, a leading
anti-sexist male activist widely recognized for his
ground-breaking work in the field of gender violence
prevention education; Norma Hotaling, a former
homeless prostitute and founder of The Sage Project,
Inc. in San Francisco, who established the First
Offender Prostitution Program where “johns”
learn about the negative consequences of
prostitution; Kristen Houser, Director of
Programming, Nebraska Domestic Violence Sexual
Assault Coalition; and Dr. Mary Anne Layden,
specialist on the effects of pornography and
Director of Education for the Center for Cognitive
Therapy, Department of Psychiatry, University of
Pennsylvania.
“Sex
trafficking is one of the most challenging and
complex human rights crises of our time, yet it
receives little public attention,” says DePaul
University Professor Morrison Torrey, a nationally
recognized authority on violence against women and
member of the advisory board of the International
Human Rights Law Institute. Sandra Hunnicutt,
founder of Captive Daughters, noted that “while
there are many groups and governments diligently
working on victim assistance, unless we focus more
energy and resources on the market dynamics of
demand, we will not be able to develop the
strategies and commitment necessary to bring
trafficking to an end. This conference is an
important step forward in the effort to elevate
public awareness of some of the best expert thinking
on the subject currently available.”
As
a testament to the emerging importance of this
issue, President Bush recently warned the U.N.
General Assembly of the growing dangers of the
international sex trade. “The victims of sex trade
see little of life before they see the very worst of
life,” he said. “Those who create these victims
and profit from their suffering must be severely
punished. Those who patronize this industry debase
themselves and deepen the misery of others. And
governments that tolerate this trade are tolerating
a form of slavery."
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MAY 6, 2002
LOCAL
LAUNCH AND BENEFIT FOR THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE
COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Marlene O’Brien
MAY 6, 2002
310-669-4400
Captive
Daughters, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the
sexual trafficking of children, will host a benefit and local
launch for the Campaign Against the Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children (CSEC) on Sunday, May 19.
The
event will be held from 6 to 9:30 p.m. on May 19 at
the Rose Café, 220 Rose Ave., Venice. The keynote
speaker, Ms. Kelly Hill, is the founder of Sisters
Offering Support (HI) and Spokesperson for the
Campaign Against CSEC. Other speakers include Sandra
Hunnicutt and Aiko Joshi of Captive Daughters. The
event will include hors d'eouvres, cash bar, live
music and an auction.
The
suggested donation is $50. All donations to the
event will benefit the Campaign Against CSEC and
Captive Daughters' work against sex trafficking.
According
to a recent study, an estimated 200,000 to 300,000
children in the United States are sexually exploited
for commercial purposes each year. The goal of the
Campaign Against CSEC is to educate North Americans
about the use of children in prostitution,
pornography, and sex trafficking in Canada, Mexico
and the United States; to stop CSEC; and to help
rebuild the lives of the children involved in the
sex trade. The campaign includes 36 organizations
throughout the country that provide direct services
for exploited children or advocate against the use
of children in prostitution and pornography.
The
campaign was launched nationally by Dr. Richard
Estes of the University of Pennsylvania School of
Social Work on September 10, 2001, with the release
of a report summing up the results of a three-year
study about sexually exploited children in North
America. Dr. Estes said, "Child sexual
exploitation is the most hidden form of child abuse
in the U.S. and North America today - it is the
nation's least recognized epidemic." Dr. Estes'
report made front page news around the world until
the September 11th terrorist attacks.
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MARCH 8,
2000
CAPTIVE
DAUGHTERS RECEIVES GRANT FROM BILL & MELINDA
GATES FOUNDATION
Grant
to fund documentary exposing sex trafficking of
Nepalese girls to the brothels of India
LOS
ANGELES–Captive Daughters, a nonprofit
organization dedicated to ending the sex trafficking
of girls, has been awarded a $150,000 grant by the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to produce a
feature-length documentary film about the
trafficking of Nepalese girls into India.
The film will focus on the sexual
exploitation of Nepalese women and children in
Indian brothels.
"The
generosity of the Gates Foundation will help bring
the increasing problem of child trafficking to the
attention of the world," said Sandra Hunnicutt,
Executive Director and founder of Captive Daughters.
"This film will be a critical tool in our
effort to expose and end what is essentially
modern-day slavery.
We're very grateful that the Gates Foundation
has chosen to take a leadership role on this issue,
and we hope that others will follow their lead in
helping end trafficking."
"The
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is happy to
support the production of this film, which will
bring awareness to the tragedy of sex trafficking
that is harming thousands of children worldwide.
We applaud Captive Daughters and for their
commitment to stopping this crime and improving the
lives of children," William H. Gates, Sr.,
co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
said.
The
booming sex trade between Nepal and India has
resulted in the sexual exploitation of over 300,000
Nepalese women and children in Indian brothels.
The film, expected to be released next year,
will expose the entire trafficking process, from the
acquisition of girls in Nepalese villages to their
final imprisonment in Indian brothels, and will
explore factors that contribute to the growth of
girl trafficking across the open border between
Nepal and India.
Captive
Daughters
Since
its inception in 1996, Captive Daughters has focused
on raising awareness about sex trafficking in
America and abroad.
Captive Daughters asks individuals and
governments to change the attitudes and behaviors
that allow the practice of girl trafficking to
exist. For
more information call (310) 669-4400 or visit www.captivedaughters.org.
Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation
The
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is dedicated to
improving people's lives by sharing advances in
health and learning with the global community.
Led by Bill Gates's father, William H. Gates,
Sr., and Patty Stonesifer, the Seattle-based
Foundation has an asset base of $21.8 billion.
The Foundation's central priorities are
preventing deadly diseases among poor children by
expanding access to vaccines, and developing
vaccines against malaria, HIV/AIDS, and
tuberculosis. Other
major efforts include extending unprecedented
opportunities for learning by bringing computers
with Internet access to every eligible library in
the U.S. and Canada, and providing scholarships to
academically talented minority students with severe
financial needs through the Gates Millennium
Scholars Program (www.gmsp.org).
For complete information and grant
guidelines, visit www.gatesfoundation.org.
Contact:
Captive Daughters (310) 669-4400
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APRIL 18,
1998
DEMONSTRATORS
AT LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TARGET SEX
TOUR TO THE PHILIPPINES
CONTACT:
Marlene O’Brien
EMBARGOED UNTIL: 7:00 PM
CAPTIVE
DAUGHTERS
SATURDAY, APRIL 18,
1998
310-815-8742
Los
Angeles—“No More Perversion Excursions to the
Philippines,” “Women Are Not Commodities” and
“Bar Girls Are Moms and Daughters, Too” were
just some of the slogans represented on signs held
by demonstrators tonight at Los Angeles’ Tom
Bradley International Airport terminal. Philippine
Adventure Tours, a Ventura-based company that
provides sex tours to the island nation is the
current target of a broader campaign against sex
tourism by human rights groups in the United States.
The tour departs Los Angeles tonight for a two-week
stay. Upon arrival at their Manila hotel, the
tourists will also be met by demonstrators from
GABRIELA (General Assembly Binding Women for
Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership and
Action), the largest network of women’s
organizations in the Philippines holding signs such
as “Mabuhay (“welcome” in Tagalog) NOW GO
HOME!”
New
York-based Equality Now and Los Angeles-based
Captive Daughters organized the demonstration to
focus on the sexual exploitation of women and
children abroad by American men. GABRIELA Los
Angeles is also participating in the campaign. All
groups are calling on the United States federal
government as well as state Attorneys General and
District Attorneys to use existing legislation to
prosecute sex tourists and tour operators.
According
to Business Week Magazine, there are at least 25
such tour operators in the United States.
Destinations are developing countries such as
Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines where women
and children are desperate to support themselves or
exploited by family members and sex traffickers. The
fear of contracting HIV/AIDS through unprotected sex
with older prostitutes has increased the demand for
virgins and young children.
A
Philippine Adventure Tour will cost $1,645 for a
package that includes round trip airfare, hotel
accommodations and guided tours to the bars where
the customer can purchase sex from prostitutes. Tour
owner and operator Allan Gaynor promises that
customers “never sleep alone on this tour” and
recommends that the customer have sex with a
different girl every day, “two if you can handle
it.”
“It
is outrageous that men from the United States are
traveling to places like the Philippines on sex
tours and behaving in ways they wouldn’t dare at
home,” said Ken Franzblau, spokesperson for
Equality Now. “They should be prosecuted and
jailed if that’s what it takes to make them
stop.”
Captive
Daughters, dedicated to ending the sex trafficking
of girls, is supporting the efforts of Equality Now.
“Sex tours are just one of the ways that Americans
help create the demand for ‘commoditized’ and
trafficked women and children in other parts of the
world. We must take responsibility for our role in
this global network of exploitation and
abuse,“said Sandra Hunnicutt, Executive Director
of the organization.
Groups
supporting this demonstration have grave concerns
that many of the prostitutes in destination
countries are minors. In response, Norman Barabash,
owner of Big Apple Oriental Tours of Bellerose, New
York, is quoted as saying: “There’s no way of
knowing for certain. Short of giving women lie
detector tests, who can tell (Associated Press
article, March 15, 1998).” Annalisa Enrile,
Coordinator for GABRIELA Los Angeles points out,
“Al Gaynor accepts customer referrals from
Barabash.”
To
schedule an interview with any of the following,
please contact Marlene O’Brien at 310-815-8742:
Ken Franzblau, Equality Now; Sandra Hunnicutt,
Executive Director of Captive Daughters and Annalisa
Enrile, Coordinator of GABRIELA, Los Angeles.
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