Saturday, May 14, 2016
Christian Examiner: $300 for one night with a 12-year-old? 'The Abolitionists' spotlights war on child trafficking
By Michael Foust, May 13, 2016, Christian Examiner
LOS ANGELES (Christian Examiner) – Many movies try to inspire the audience, but they rarely have an impact that "The Abolitionists" -- in theaters Monday for one night only – already has.
The fast-paced documentary goes undercover to follow former Department of Homeland Security special agent Tim Ballard as he travels around the world, working with American and foreign officials as they try to free children from the bondages of sex slavery.
During filming, 57 children in Haiti and Columbia were rescued from sex slavery and seven human traffickers were arrested and now face prison – an achievement that Ballard and the crew hope inspires moviegoers to get involved in the movement.
The movie itself is rated PG-13 for disturbing content and some sexual references, but it was filmed with the goal of being realistic without turning off a conservative
audience.
The executive producer was Gerald Molen, the same producer who made "Schindler's List." He calls the heroes in the film "modern-day abolitionists."
"I believe it's no coincidence that this film comes almost twenty years after we released Schindler's List," Molen said.
Nearly 2 million children around the world are the victims of human trafficking. Some of the girls seen in the film were forced into prostitution around the age of 12 or 13.
The street price for one night with a minor is $300 -- $1,000 if the child is a virgin.
More: www.christianexaminer.com
LOS ANGELES (Christian Examiner) – Many movies try to inspire the audience, but they rarely have an impact that "The Abolitionists" -- in theaters Monday for one night only – already has.
The fast-paced documentary goes undercover to follow former Department of Homeland Security special agent Tim Ballard as he travels around the world, working with American and foreign officials as they try to free children from the bondages of sex slavery.
During filming, 57 children in Haiti and Columbia were rescued from sex slavery and seven human traffickers were arrested and now face prison – an achievement that Ballard and the crew hope inspires moviegoers to get involved in the movement.
The movie itself is rated PG-13 for disturbing content and some sexual references, but it was filmed with the goal of being realistic without turning off a conservative
audience.
The executive producer was Gerald Molen, the same producer who made "Schindler's List." He calls the heroes in the film "modern-day abolitionists."
"I believe it's no coincidence that this film comes almost twenty years after we released Schindler's List," Molen said.
Nearly 2 million children around the world are the victims of human trafficking. Some of the girls seen in the film were forced into prostitution around the age of 12 or 13.
The street price for one night with a minor is $300 -- $1,000 if the child is a virgin.
More: www.christianexaminer.com
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
HuffPost: Dax Shepard Reveals He Was Molested At The Age Of 7
Actor Dax Shepard revealed that he was molested as a child during a taping of SiriusXM’s “The Jason Ellis Show.”
While talking about his battle with addiction, the 41-year-old actor opened up about being sexually assaulted by someone in his neighborhood.
“I was, I want to say, 7 and this dude was probably 18,” Shepard said, calling the incidents “minimal.”
“It took me 12 years to tell anyone that. And all that time I was like, ‘A) It’s my fault,’ as generic as that is, and ‘I’m gay — I must’ve manifested this because I’m secretly gay.’ I had all these insane thoughts for 11 years, 12 years.”
When the radio host, who shared his own stories of sexual abuse by his father earlier, asked the actor if he knew what was happening at the time, Shepard said, “Oh God yeah.”
More: www.huffingtonpost.com
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Calvina Fay, Executive Director, Drug Free America Foundation Appears on The Seth Leibsohn Show to discuss new Monitoring The Future Report on Marijuana Use and Abuse
Drug Free America Foundation, Inc. is a national and international drug policy organization promoting sound drug policies, education and prevention. www.dfaf.org.
Monday, November 23, 2015
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Online Child Sex Trafficking Meets A Powerful Voice In Cyber Crime Prevention
By Demi Moore, Dec. 1, 2014, Ocregister.com
Demi Moore is co-Founder and president, Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children
My eyes and heart were opened to the issue of sex trafficking almost eight years ago when I saw a documentary about children who were forced into sex slavery in Cambodia. I was horrified, and I knew I couldn’t live in a world in which this was taking place without doing something about it. I became even more enraged when I learned that this wasn’t an isolated issue. Millions of children around the world, including children here in the United States and in Southern California, are victims of this horrible abuse.
Over the past several years, I have had the opportunity to meet many survivors and hear their stories. While all of the stories fuel my passion to work on this issue, there is one in particular that I can’t shake. It represents how traffickers truly prey on the most vulnerable and steal the innocence from these children.
I met a young girl from Southern California who was taken in by her trafficker at 11 years old. He made simple promises – McDonald’s and trips to the mall. But, to this child, those were things she had never had and always wanted. To her, it represented someone caring for her. Her trust was quickly betrayed and, soon, her pimp had her given a nightly quota of making $1,500. If she did not deliver her quota, she was put into a tub of ice or beaten with whatever large object was close by.
Her trafficker would often take a group of little girls to another location, and on one particular trip he loaded all of them into the car to drive to Las Vegas. Since there wasn’t enough room in the car, he put the two smallest girls in the trunk. When they arrived in Las Vegas, he posted ads on Craigslist and other escort pages to activate business. None of the customers questioned her age, and the general anonymity of using the Internet to buy and sell sex provided the clients with a reassurance of safety. This girl was raped and sexually abused repeatedly for three days, then loaded back into the trunk and taken back to Los Angeles to start the cycle all over again.
Just as this child was sold online, thousands of children are advertised on the very online classified sites that people use to sell a bike or a couch. Pimps and traffickers use this technology to help market the individuals they are exploiting, and johns use it to look for an individual to purchase. When we looked at the response to this issue across the country, we realized it was missing one critical area of focus: If the perpetrators are using technology to exploit our children, why aren’t we channeling the best and brightest minds in technology to fight back? We decided to answer by forming Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children. Thorn focuses specifically on driving technology innovation to fight child sexual exploitation.
Read the full story: www.ocregister.com
Source: Human Trafficking Awareness USA
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Do Mother's Fully Understand How Daughters Identify With Body Image? Clinical Psychologist Explains The Parallels.
HuffPost: How Your Body Image Affects Your Daughter's Self-Esteem
By Dr. Margaret Rutherford / Clinical Psychologist, Mental Health / Midlife Blogger
Sometimes a post just hits a nerve.
Anne Parris' recent offering on Midlife Boulevard was that for me. It was about another Dove commercial. Highlighting the unintentional messages about body image that mothers give daughters. It's pretty shocking. Please. If you haven't seen the commercial, you need to.
It's called "Legacy".
The subject? Moms talking about what they liked and disliked about their bodies. Stating with assurance that they had only taught their daughters positive messages about their own. The daughters, interviewed separately, were asked the same questions. The result? The daughters mirrored their mothers' criticism of her body. Almost exactly.
The mothers' surprise and sadness was palpable. What they had honestly tried to prevent, they were creating in their daughters. Self-consciousness and even self-loathing.
I read it slowly. Appreciated Anne's frank words. Thought I would tuck away the message. Maybe ask my son if I had affected him somehow.
Instead, the video stuck with me. I mentioned it to patients, struggling with their own image.
What I got from my mom was just wrong.
"Ladies never eat everything on their plate". I left more bites of food than I like to think about.
"You have never looked better!", she once exclaimed. I was 21. I weighed 101 pounds, 25 pounds less that I weigh now. Had had double pneumonia. Twice.
"You really need to do something about yourself". My mother had sat me down. Expressed what would pass for condemnation. I had gained 12 pounds after being married for 1 year.
I promise, sadly enough, that I gave my parents lots of reasons to confront me.
This was the only time in my life she did so.
What effect did all this have?
Full-blown anorexia in college. Not allowing friends to visit before I got married because I had gained 3 pounds since I had seen them. Seeking diet pills in my later 20s that left me so hyped up, I felt like I was practically flying.
Starving before trips home. Knowing my body would be quietly assessed. Always putting on a false front.
Acting like none of this got to me.
My mom was caught in the same trapped thinking she taught me. Without a doubt, she did not mean to hurt me. She wanted me to feel attractive. Have wonderful self-esteem. Catch a man.
It's just sad.
After she died, many people said, "Your mother was so beautiful. Always so well-dressed".
If she just could have valued herself.
Read more: www.huffingtonpost.com
By Dr. Margaret Rutherford / Clinical Psychologist, Mental Health / Midlife Blogger
Sometimes a post just hits a nerve.
Anne Parris' recent offering on Midlife Boulevard was that for me. It was about another Dove commercial. Highlighting the unintentional messages about body image that mothers give daughters. It's pretty shocking. Please. If you haven't seen the commercial, you need to.
It's called "Legacy".
The subject? Moms talking about what they liked and disliked about their bodies. Stating with assurance that they had only taught their daughters positive messages about their own. The daughters, interviewed separately, were asked the same questions. The result? The daughters mirrored their mothers' criticism of her body. Almost exactly.
The mothers' surprise and sadness was palpable. What they had honestly tried to prevent, they were creating in their daughters. Self-consciousness and even self-loathing.
I read it slowly. Appreciated Anne's frank words. Thought I would tuck away the message. Maybe ask my son if I had affected him somehow.
Instead, the video stuck with me. I mentioned it to patients, struggling with their own image.
What I got from my mom was just wrong.
"Ladies never eat everything on their plate". I left more bites of food than I like to think about.
"You have never looked better!", she once exclaimed. I was 21. I weighed 101 pounds, 25 pounds less that I weigh now. Had had double pneumonia. Twice.
"You really need to do something about yourself". My mother had sat me down. Expressed what would pass for condemnation. I had gained 12 pounds after being married for 1 year.
I promise, sadly enough, that I gave my parents lots of reasons to confront me.
This was the only time in my life she did so.
What effect did all this have?
Full-blown anorexia in college. Not allowing friends to visit before I got married because I had gained 3 pounds since I had seen them. Seeking diet pills in my later 20s that left me so hyped up, I felt like I was practically flying.
Starving before trips home. Knowing my body would be quietly assessed. Always putting on a false front.
Acting like none of this got to me.
My mom was caught in the same trapped thinking she taught me. Without a doubt, she did not mean to hurt me. She wanted me to feel attractive. Have wonderful self-esteem. Catch a man.
It's just sad.
After she died, many people said, "Your mother was so beautiful. Always so well-dressed".
If she just could have valued herself.
Read more: www.huffingtonpost.com
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Virginia gets failing grade in human trafficking laws “We need to do better” says Fairfax County delegate
Virginia was recently given a near-failing grade for its human trafficking legislation by an international legislative watchdog group that also claims Virginia is the only state in the U.S. without a specific human trafficking law code.
Washington-based Shared Hope International’s Protected Innocence Challenge is a comprehensive study of existing state laws designed to combat human trafficking.
Under the challenge, every state receives a report card that grades it on 41 key legislative components in a state’s laws in order to effectively respond to the crime of domestic minor sex trafficking. In addition, each state receives a complete legislative analysis and practical recommendations for improvement.
The 2014 Protected Innocence Challenge report card, released Nov. 6, gives Virginia an overall grade of 62 out of 100, as well as a grade of “D” for its legislative initiatives toward battling human trafficking.
“This is the fourth year we’ve graded states on their laws against child sex trafficking. The first year, over half the nation failed,” said SHI spokesperson Taryn Offenbacher.
This year, the 56-page SHI report states that Virginia remains the only U.S. state without specific human trafficking code within its law books.
Read more: www.fairfaxtimes.com
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Mental Illness Should Not Be Punished As A Crime. There Is A Better Way.
Los Angeles D.A. Jackie Lacey Wants To Change The Way Police, Prosecutors Deal With Mentally Ill In Los Angeles
November 11, 2014, Scpr.org
The Los Angeles County criminal justice system – from police and prosecutors to judges and social workers – is failing to humanely and effectively deal with mentally ill people who commit crimes, according to a report District Attorney Jackie Lacey plans to deliver Wednesday.
The report, prepared by consultants with Policy Research Associates, Inc., calls for better training, coordination and resources to help the thousands of men and women who pass through the justice system each year.
L.A. County jails hold more than 18,000 people on any given night. An estimated 3,500 are mentally ill. Forty-three percent of them are African American, according to one study. (See the full report below).
The report comes as the U.S. Department of Justice seeks to impose reforms on the way the county treats mentally ill inmates. Lacey formally delivers her report to the Board of Supervisors Wednesday.
Too few police officers are adequately trained to de-escalate encounters with mentally ill people on the streets, the report says. In addition, there are insufficient resources for the county’s Psychiatric Mobile Response Teams.
Bottom line: It’s simply easier to take someone to jail than get them help.
“It is often more time efficient for law enforcement to book an individual into jail on a minor charge…rather than spend many hours waiting in a psychiatric emergency department for an individual to be seen,” the report says.
And while there are an estimated 1,800 hospital beds for psychiatric patients in L.A. County, “only a small percentage of those beds can actually be accessed by individuals who are uninsured.” Consultants collected much of their information during an all-day conference with law enforcement officials and social workers earlier this year.
The report describes a system in need of significant changes: In the jails, mentally ill people are receiving inadequate care. At the courthouse, prosecutors, judges and social workers often “lack alignment” when deciding whether its safe to divert someone from criminal prosecution into treatment.
Once someone is released from jail, there’s often no place to go for help. The Department of Mental Health “needs more resources to keep pace with the high volume of referrals and short time frames with which to link individuals to needed services.”
The report identifies five points at which the criminal justice system can divert a mentally ill person into treatment – starting with the moment of police contact. It recommends the Board of Supervisors fund more training for police officers and expand diversion programs. It also recommends creation of a resource center for “criminal justice/mental health technical assistance,” so the justice system can collect and share data on mentally ill offenders.
The report does not include budget recommendations, but mental health advocates have said treating mentally ill people will be cheaper in the long run than locking them up. The report acknowledges this.
“Alternatives to incarceration have gained momentum as a humane and cost effective strategy to reduce criminal justice costs, and improve access to needed services and support - without compromising public safety,” the report states.
“This is an excellent start,” said Peter Eliasberg, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. Other activists agreed.
“We think the report exposes tremendous suffering for mentally ill people,” said Marc-Anthony Johnson of Dignity and Power Now. The report also is further evidence the county should abandon plans to spend $2 billion to replace the aging Men’s Central Jail, he added.
“We think the Board of Supervisors should stop the $2 billion jail plan and move forward with a mental health diversion program that is comprehensive."
Source: www.scpr.org
The Los Angeles County criminal justice system – from police and prosecutors to judges and social workers – is failing to humanely and effectively deal with mentally ill people who commit crimes, according to a report District Attorney Jackie Lacey plans to deliver Wednesday.
The report, prepared by consultants with Policy Research Associates, Inc., calls for better training, coordination and resources to help the thousands of men and women who pass through the justice system each year.
L.A. County jails hold more than 18,000 people on any given night. An estimated 3,500 are mentally ill. Forty-three percent of them are African American, according to one study. (See the full report below).
The report comes as the U.S. Department of Justice seeks to impose reforms on the way the county treats mentally ill inmates. Lacey formally delivers her report to the Board of Supervisors Wednesday.
Too few police officers are adequately trained to de-escalate encounters with mentally ill people on the streets, the report says. In addition, there are insufficient resources for the county’s Psychiatric Mobile Response Teams.
Bottom line: It’s simply easier to take someone to jail than get them help.
“It is often more time efficient for law enforcement to book an individual into jail on a minor charge…rather than spend many hours waiting in a psychiatric emergency department for an individual to be seen,” the report says.
And while there are an estimated 1,800 hospital beds for psychiatric patients in L.A. County, “only a small percentage of those beds can actually be accessed by individuals who are uninsured.” Consultants collected much of their information during an all-day conference with law enforcement officials and social workers earlier this year.
The report describes a system in need of significant changes: In the jails, mentally ill people are receiving inadequate care. At the courthouse, prosecutors, judges and social workers often “lack alignment” when deciding whether its safe to divert someone from criminal prosecution into treatment.
Once someone is released from jail, there’s often no place to go for help. The Department of Mental Health “needs more resources to keep pace with the high volume of referrals and short time frames with which to link individuals to needed services.”
The report identifies five points at which the criminal justice system can divert a mentally ill person into treatment – starting with the moment of police contact. It recommends the Board of Supervisors fund more training for police officers and expand diversion programs. It also recommends creation of a resource center for “criminal justice/mental health technical assistance,” so the justice system can collect and share data on mentally ill offenders.
The report does not include budget recommendations, but mental health advocates have said treating mentally ill people will be cheaper in the long run than locking them up. The report acknowledges this.
“Alternatives to incarceration have gained momentum as a humane and cost effective strategy to reduce criminal justice costs, and improve access to needed services and support - without compromising public safety,” the report states.
“This is an excellent start,” said Peter Eliasberg, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. Other activists agreed.
“We think the report exposes tremendous suffering for mentally ill people,” said Marc-Anthony Johnson of Dignity and Power Now. The report also is further evidence the county should abandon plans to spend $2 billion to replace the aging Men’s Central Jail, he added.
“We think the Board of Supervisors should stop the $2 billion jail plan and move forward with a mental health diversion program that is comprehensive."
Source: www.scpr.org
Monday, November 10, 2014
Monday, November 3, 2014
Monday, October 20, 2014
Psychiatrist Convicted Of Child Sex Crimes
FORSYTH COUNTY — A Tennessee doctor accused of sex crimes against a minor in Forsyth County was sentenced to serve 40 years in prison.
According to court records, John C. Neale was convicted of three counts of child molestation that involved a 6-year-old female relative.
The well-known psychiatrist from Johnson City, Tenn., was 74 at the time of his arrest in November 2012, according to an article in The Johnson City Press.
“Once he was caught, other people came forward with allegations of abuse dating way back,” said Sandra Partridge, Forsyth’s chief assistant district attorney.
However, Neale could only be tried for one case in Georgia since the other incidents occurred in Tennessee.
Partridge said Tennessee did not bring charges against Neale, but alleged victims were able to testify in the Georgia case because of a state code that allows relevant offenses to be used as evidence.
His 50 years of psychiatry practice gave him expertise in keeping his victims quiet, Partridge said.
While the trial was expected to last until Thursday, the verdict arrived two days earlier. Chief Judge Jeffrey Bagley presided over the proceedings.
“We were all pleased there was justice in this case finally,” Partridge said. “He’s gotten away with it for 50 years, and it’s about time.”
Source: www.forsythnews.com
Thursday, September 25, 2014
California: Sex Trafficking Victims Resuced By The Long Beach Police Department
Well done Long Beach PD! Now begins the lifelong process of treating the victims and helping them heal so they can learn to live a better life.
Los Angeles News | FOX 11 LA KTTV
Los Angeles News | FOX 11 LA KTTV
Thursday, September 11, 2014
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