SoroptiVoiceBLOG

This week’s SoroptiVoice blog comes from Michelle Bart, President of Soroptimist International of Southwest Washington and the Northwest Conference Against Trafficking & Film Festival Chairperson. January 2012, as proclaimed by President Barack Obama, was National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month and February 1 is observed as National Freedom Day, proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln, who signed the original resolution to outlaw slavery.  We asked Michelle to reflect on Human Trafficking and what we can do as Soroptimists to continue helping to eradicate this global issue.

In the time it takes you to read this, thousands of young girls will be convinced by advertisers and the media that the sexier they look, the more they will be valued by society. By the time you read this, children will be sold in America to Americans by Americans. By the time you read this, children in Cambodia, Nepal, Canada, and in all 124 Soroptimist International countries will be sold for sex and/or labor and much of society ignores the madness. It is undeniable; the sexual exploitation of women, girls and children remains at epidemic proportions. We as Soroptimists can be the voices for the voiceless. We must never stop being a part of the solution to this world-wide epidemic we know today as Modern-Day Slavery.

I was first introduced to this global issue when I was a member in Desert Coast Region over five years ago. At that time Human Trafficking in the United States was ranked third in criminal activity. Today it's number two behind drugs. I predict within the next two years we will see Human Trafficking out number drug trafficking not only in America but around the world – you cannot resell a drug but you can reuse a precious human life; some survivors (both young and old) have told us their bodies have been used by strangers and even people they know as much as 50 times a day 6 days a week, you do the math…should these numbers continue to be ignored? 

I am proud of the stand Soroptimist International took many years ago but we must not stop our efforts because the epidemic is far from being eradicated. We must continue being the voice for the voiceless; if we choose to turn our backs or give up and move onto other issues, we are failing the victims – as Anuradha Koirala from Friends of Maiti Nepal says, “pretend the precious lives we speak of are your children, would you quit trying to help them?”

Soroptimist International of Southwest Washington, SI Vancouver, and SI Camas/Washougal had a DREAM in 2009, to help educate the public to this Modern-Day Slavery in our own backyards. In 2009 NWCAT was launched, and today the Northwest Coalition Against Trafficking has become known for one of the most powerful conferences on Human Trafficking Prevention, Awareness, and Solutions on the West Coast of the United States.

The DREAM of three clubs has now become the dream of an entire region (Soroptimist International Northwestern Region) and throughout our Federation, SIA. The biggest compliment to NWCAT came from SI President Alice Wells in 2011 when she said “NWCAT is the model for others to follow”. Many regions in SIA have done just that! To us, being the solution and voice does not and should not come from just one region or one club but by all those that have the privilege to call themselves a Soroptimist International member!

NWCAT throughout the year brings together national and international speakers, journalists, NGOs, and celebrities to help inspire, empower, and educate the public!  NWCAT started in 2011 the Survivor Network where survivors of human trafficking can bond and feel safe with others who survived the “life” and this group [S2S = Survivor 2 Survivor] has also received local and national media attention on such networks as CBS and CNN.

SIA Past President Cathy (bottom left) on Issues, 2010.

Since NWCAT’s inception in 2009 we felt one area in which we could make a huge impact for victims and survivors alike was to embrace and educate the media. In 2010, Jane Velez-Mitchell, host of “Issues” on HLN not only partnered with us on this effort but she became a member of Soroptimist International! Thus began our movement to bring the awareness to the public through media and in particular an international audience.  Today with partners from CNN, CNN International, HLN, CBS and Lifetime Television we are on the right course to making media matter. As Jane Velez-Mitchell said:

"Fighting the “war on women” must become a priority in our society…this can be accomplished only by making it a priority in our national dialogue.”

NWCAT and Soroptimist International are without a doubt making it a priority to keep the conversation going about Human Trafficking and we must not stop until slavery no longer exists in our society. So you ask who are the victims? Anyone can be a victim of human trafficking. Victims can be:

U.S. citizens or foreign nationals

Male or female

Child or adult of any age

Rich or poor

Educated or uneducated

It is essential to remember that education, wealth, age, or social standing does not guarantee invulnerability to being trafficked. Traffickers often target people who are hoping for a better life, lack employment opportunities, have an unstable home life, or have a history of sexual abuse – conditions present in all portions of society. 

By day I’m a media consultant / publicist. I represent families of kidnapped children. The one trend I have seen way too much is that our law enforcement agencies tag teens too many times as runaways. We must understand that many of these children are not runaways but were lured away – these are two different scenarios and we must try to teach our children to be careful online. It’s so hard to locate any missing person with budget cuts and lack of resources, so the best defense in combating these epidemics is prevention. If we can prevent one child from being lured away or kidnapped, the lack of supply will stop the demand and vice versa.

SI Northwestern Region clubs through NWCAT’s partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children are taking 25.  Designed to raise awareness of the issues surrounding missing and exploited children, the Take 25 campaign encourages parents, guardians, educators, and others to take 25 minutes to talk to children about safety.  We encourage all clubs and regions to get to know NCMEC’s TAKE25 Program (www.take25.org).  As an Advisory Council Board member of Take25, I am here for any clubs that would like an introduction to this arm of NCMEC…prevention is the best weapon of defense and this is a simple cost effective way Soroptimist members in our region have gotten involved to help stop the trafficking of future victims.

To learn more about NWCAT please visit us at www.NWCAT.org.  For any information on partnering with other reputable organizations doing good work on recuing, restoring and educating victims, survivors and the public on Human Trafficking please contact us at info@nwcat.org and we will be happy to make the introductions to you.