JANUARY 2017 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF LaShanda Pitts
CREATIVE DIRECTOR LaShanda Pitts
MANAGING EDITOR Angela Everett
CONTRIBUTING WRITER Tarrah D. Gales
DESIGN Jennifer Hardimon www.jennability.com
PHOTOGRAPHY Jason Byrdsell www.enphocusphotography.com
BE A PART OF THE NEXT CLASSY CHRONICLES For advertising or editorial contribution, please contact us at marketing@cls-volunteer.org, advertising@cls-volunteer.org, or chronicles@cls-volunteer.org.
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CLASSY CHRONICLES
#ENDTHEDEMAND H
uman Trafficking - “Trafficking in persons” shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs. As part of CLS’ strategic planning we spend a great deal of time at the beginning of the year thinking about organizations to partner, volunteer and highlight, and there is no doubt that last year human and sex trafficking chose US! With staggering statistics hitting so close to home, CLS welcomed the challenge to make a difference and launched our #ENDTHEDEMAND campaign to target efforts towards
ending the demand of modern-day slavery with a 3-pronged approach aimed to PREVENT, RESTORE AND DEMAND JUSTICE! We understand that Supply & Demand are the driving forces in any industry and in human trafficking, the demand to purchase sex-lies with the buyers… simply put, without the demand – there would be no customers for traffickers and therefore no need to victimize the many women and children impacted! January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month and Classy Living Society has plans to fill the calendar with efforts aimed to #ENDTHEDEMAND this month and throughout the year by: • Raising Awareness, • Supporting organizations and safe homes that provide medical care, education, and outreach and intervention services for survivors; and • Advocating for legislative changes that will impose stronger penalties and enforcement against perpetrators. CLASSY CHRONICLES
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n December 28, 2016 President Barack Obama proclaimed January 2017 as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, culminating in the annual celebration of National Freedom Day on February 1. As the President calls upon businesses, national and community organizations, families, and all Americans to recognize the vital role we must play in ending all forms of slavery and to observe this month with appropriate programs and activities, CLS dedicates this special issue of the Classy Chronicles to do just that. During the 3rd Annual Red Dress Gala in November, Classy Living Society announced our commitment to bringing awareness to human trafficking as we continue pushing forward efforts to #EndTheDemand. What Is Human Trafficking? Human trafficking is a serious federal crime with penalties of up to imprisonment for life. Federal law defines “severe forms of trafficking in persons” as: “(A) sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age; or (B) the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.” [U.S.C. §7102(8)] Fundamentally, human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. Every year, millions of men, women, and children worldwide are victims of human trafficking. Atlanta is lauded as the booming metropolis of the South; home to a multitude of fortune 500 companies, celebrities and high profile athletes; some of Hollywood’s biggest movie studios are flocking south to take advantage of tax breaks. Add to this the fact that Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International airport has remained the busiest passenger airport in the world in 2015 for the 18th year in a row, bringing more than 101 million passengers into the fastest growing city often dubbed as the ATL for its airport code. With its heavily traveled airport, a constant influx of new residents and corporations, local and federal officials say that the demand for illegal sex trade in Atlanta seems almost insatiable. In October of 2016, officials arrested nearly 70 people in Metro Atlanta as part of an international sex trafficking and prostitution sting . Officials say that a total of 239 traffickers were arrested suring a 2 day period. During that sting, authorities were able to rescue 82 minors. According to the FBI, the average age that a girl is forced into prostitution or sex trafficking in the U.S. is 11-14 years-old. Additionally, WSB News' recent estimates show about a hundred adolescent females are sexually exploited each night in Georgia and nearly thirteen thousand men in Georgia purchase sex with a young girl in any given month.
#EndTheDemand
Kasey's Mission
When Kasey McClure was three years old she was being sexually molested by her father but he was never prosecuted for his crime. By the age of 18 years old, Kasey followed her older sister to Atlanta to work at the world Famous Gold Club as a stripper. She fell into the trap of the sex industry and worked in strip clubs for almost 6 years.
“You're beautiful. You deserve better.�
In 2003, Kasey gained enough courage through the support of her church and husband to walk away from that destructive lifestyle. A few months after leaving the sex industry and over $60,000 in debt, Kasey was considering to return back to the sex industry. She was used to making an average of $1000 per night and was struggling financially. Kasey felt the sex industry would be the best route, but God had another plan. Kasey found out she was pregnant with her first child, Sarah, and knew she could not return. During her pregnancy, she felt God wanted her to show the women a way out of the sex industry like He showed her. She knew that having her daughter Sarah was a turning point in her life so she created 4Sarah, Inc. Kasey formed 4Sarah in 2005 and has established outreach teams that participate in monthly strip club outreaches and make random calls to escorts that work on Backpage.com and other online escort sites during call center outreaches. 4Sarah is a nonprofit faith based organization that empowers change in the life direction of women and girls working in the sex industry as a stripper, prostitute, escort, porn star, or victim of sex trafficking.
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Being Proactive!
Classy Living Society, LLC has supported the following organizations by collecting and donating Love Kits containing hygiene and other essential items for women and teen survivors and victims of sex trafficking as a small gesture towards letting them know they are thought of and cared for; and as a means to build trusting relationships that women can count on and reach out to for support when in need. Dream Center is a volunteer-driven organization that finds and fills the needs of over 40,000 individuals and families through approximately 70,000 encounters each month, with many accessing multiple services.
The mission of Eden House is to end human & sex trafficking, one woman at a time. Eden House empowers women to transform their lives through the healing power of life in commuding safe home, coordinating recovery services, and through advocacy, outreach, education, and love.
Off To A Great Start!
In June 2016, CLS traveled to New Orleans for a sisterhood bonding trip that included supporting victims and survivors of Eden House NOLA. When we officially launched in California, September 18, 2016, we supported women residents of The Dream Center by donating Love Kits and wearing our signature yellow in solidarity and support for the courageous victims and survivors and in memory of those we have lost! In November 2016, the Red Dress Gala honored 4Sarah, Inc. and presented the organization with Love Kits. Those Love Kits were distributed by 4Sarah to sex industry workers.
What's Up Next For CLS? Classy Living Society will join organizations across the nation as we continue our Going Global initiative to launch multiple cities in 2017. As we grow CLS on our movement to change the world we will continue partnering with local organizations that that need our help most as they fearlessly stand up in their respective communities as beacons of light when it comes to providing endless support to women and children survivors and victims of the horrid sex slavery industry. Our approach involves direct and indirect methods that have proven effective in bringing awareness, educating and even prevention in our quest to: PREVENT • Provide training to identify victims of sex slavery so they can be rescued and help bring their perpetrators to justice; • Challenge language that degrades women and normalizes sexual exploitation; • Be a conscientious and informed consumer. Review the Department of Labor’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor and encourage companies to take steps to investigate and prevent human trafficking in their supply chains and publish the information for consumer awareness. RESTORE • Support organizations and safe homes that provide medical care, education, and outreach and intervention services for survivors. • Collect and donate Love Kits to bring dignity to those rebuilding their lives. DEMAND JUSTICE • Take Action; • Volunteer and support anti-human trafficking efforts in the community; • Advocate for legislative changes that will impose stronger penalties and enforcement against perpetrators; • Mentor young men and help them to decode cultural messages about masculinity.
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UNDER SEIGE
Uncovering The Ugly Truth Attorneys are tackling human and sex trafficking, head on, in the most precise manner; Educate, Legislate & Litigate.
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ivil Lawyers Against World Sex-Slavery (CLAWS) is an Atlanta-based nonprofit organization offering pro bono legal assistance to victims of human trafficking and sex slavery. CLAWS’ approach is to use the civil justice system to bring pro bono lawsuits on behalf of survivors of sex slavery and empower them to take economic resources away from those who benefit from trafficking, and raise public awareness. fter his youngest daughter returned home from a mission trip to India in 2013 with horror stories of sex trafficking, CLAWS founder, David William Boone, learned that human trafficking was not this “off-shore” problem most Americans believed would never reach our coasts. However, what he learned through research was astonishing and today not only
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is human and sex trafficking a 9.5 billion dollar industry in the U.S., but Atlanta, where he and his family call home, ranks #1 in the U.S. trafficking more than 300 girls monthly. Having practiced as a civil lawyer over 30 years, David didn’t simply listen his daughter and read about the atrocities happening all over the world… he took action and CLAWS was born! odern day slavery has been able to thrive, in large part, due to outdated laws that existed nationwide aimed to punish and prevent prostitution. This resulted in law enforcement treating the victim as the offender and did nothing to distinguish or differentiate prostitution from trafficking, especially in cases involving minors. Those laws, however, proved inadequate to address the growing problem of human
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trafficking because we were not going after the actual offenders and instead charging sex workers, primarily women, with the crime while the offender was dealt a slap on the wrist at best. Over the past decade, states began changing laws that target the sex trade industry in a way that makes a clear distinction between prostitution and trafficking. In Georgia, House Bill 200, passed in 2011, finally recognized minors forced into sex slavery as victims and not criminals and requires law enforcement officers obtain training to recognize the signs and identify the victims of human trafficking. CLAWS is one such organization steeped in the fight to hold all those persons and entities that take part in the sex trade accountable and responsible for partaking, permitting and profiting from modern day slavery. The mission of CLAWS
IT’S TIME TO STOP SEX SLAVERY
Yesterday, a 13-year-old girl was forced to have sex 36 times.
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There are approximately 20 to 30 million slaves in the world today.
is to use Civil Laws to Restore Civility. LAWS invites all who are interested in helping to:
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Volunteer. If you’re an attorney or a paralegal, provide your professional services to bring civil law suits on a pro bono basis. Your dedication to helping one victim or a hundred helps eradicate sex slavery/trafficking. The more cases we can bring to trial, the more publicity we can generate. Awareness in the public arena and compensation for victims are key cornerstones in our battle. If you are not a lawyer, we can still use your help! Our mission is three fold: Educate, Legislate and Litigate. If you are interested in helping, we need volunteers who are willing to interact with our survivors, volunteers who are willing to teach the truth of our
Sex Slavery is a $9.5 Billion industry... just in the United States! The U.S. Department of Justice states that the average age of entry into prostitution is 12-14 years old. The average life expectancy of a child
issues to various civic organizations and we need volunteers to help us run our events and the business side of our Charity. Together, we can make a difference! Donate. Trials take time and money.
We need economic resources for filing fees, depositions, investigations, expert witnesses and trial presentation materials throughout the litigation process to help survivors break the bonds of their slavery, to counsel them and provide for their needs. Any amount is helpful. Please visit our website www.usclaws.org and donate today. Refer Clients. Survivors are everywhere, in shelters, community centers, houses of worship, any place of sanctuary, and
forced into the sex trade industry is 7 years, with homicide or suicide, drug overdose or HIV/AIDS as the main causes of death. Atlanta ranks #1 in the United States for trafficking approximately 300 women and children EVERY month.
on the streets. Tell these women and children help is available and connect us with them. Be Proactive. Your voice counts! Keep abreast of relevant legislation and support initiatives that provide resources to survivors and hold perpetrators accountable. CLAWS is always available to address any questions, suggestions, or concerns that you may have. For more information contact CLAWS at: info@usclaws.org.
-- Tarrah D. Gales
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MAKE A DIFFERENCE
GET INVOLVED!
PREVENT (Education/Awareness) Human & Sex Trafficking Awareness Training http://www.state.gov/j/tip/training/index.htm The Department of State’s TIP Office, in collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has developed awareness and training materials to help increase awareness and educate on the indicators of human trafficking. Visit their site to take the Human Trafficking Awareness Training. B safe (app) - http://www.bsafeapp.com/ bSafe you is a personal safety app in which users create a “social safety network” of individuals who are notified in case of an emergency or in situations where the user feels unsafe. ... In an emergency, the user can send an alarm to friends with their location information. The Slavery Footprint - http://slaveryfootprint.org/ The Slavery Footprint website shows consumers how their consumption habits are connected to modern-day slavery, showing them just how many slaves it takes to support their lifestyle.
RESTORE (Volunteer/Support) Atlanta Organizations to Volunteer & Advocate City of Refuge - House of Cherith (678) 599-0561 Georgia Cares, Inc. (404) 602-0068 Out of Darkness (404) 941-6024 , (404) 719-4854 Tapestri, Inc. (866) 317-0895, (404) 299-2185 Wellspring Living (404) 427-3100, (770) 631-8888 National Organizations Deep in the Fight to #EndTheDemand Don’t Sell Bodies - http://dontsellbodies.org My Sisters’ Place - http://mspny.org The Polaris Project - https://polarisproject.org
DEMAND JUSTICE (Advocate) Contact local and national leaders to voice your concerns CLS letter writing campaign https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials 10
10 Ways To Make A Difference Today
Each of us can join in the fight against human trafficking. Here are just a few ways to get involved and MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
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LEARN the indicators of human trafficking so you can help identify a potential trafficking victim. Human trafficking awareness training is available for individuals, businesses, first responders, law enforcement, educators, and federal employees, among others. STOP using words that normalize aspects of the sex trade and hide the damage it causes, such as “pimp” and “ho” and challenge those around you when they use similar language. DISCOVER your slavery footprint, ask who picked your tomatoes or made your clothes, or check out the Department of Labor’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor. Encourage your employer and other companies to take steps to investigate and prevent human trafficking in their supply chains and publish the information for consumer awareness. BE ALERT when traveling. Though most friendly strangers are authentic, Never agree to go somewhere with anyone or allow yourself to be separated from your group. People traveling abroad can be naïve, so arm them with safe traveling tips so they are not vulnerable to those who would exploit them. VOLUNTEER and support anti-trafficking efforts in your community. MEET with and/or WRITE to your local, state, and federal government representatives to let them know you care about combating human trafficking, and ASK what they are doing to address it. TEACH children to follow “internet smart” rules including not giving out personal identifying information: their phone number, address, school name or picture on the Internet. Encourage open dialogue with children so they feel comfortable reporting any improper or uncomfortable online activity and help them understand and identify inappropriate internet communications. ENCOURAGE your local schools to partner with students and include modern slavery in their curricula. As a parent, educator, or school administrator, BE AWARE of how traffickers target schoolaged children. BE WELL INFORMED. Set up a web alert to receive current human trafficking news. Become familiar with public awareness materials available from the Department of Health and Human Services or the Department of Homeland Security. REPORT your suspicions to law enforcement by calling 911 or the 24-hour National Human Trafficking Resource Center line at 1-888-373-7888. Trafficking victims, including undocumented individuals, are eligible for services and immigration assistance.
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