Last Week’s NTDO Community Forum: Sex Trafficking: Myths and Misconceptions

Thanks as always to NTDO Chair Dianne McGuire for this writeup describing last week’s NTDO Community Forum.

Sex Trafficking: Myths and Misconceptions

Carole Kerr (Naperville Township Precinct 13 Committeewoman), Sean Tenner (Co-Founder of the Abolition Institute) and Ashley Pitariu of WAR (Women at Risk, International) combined their talents and knowledge to present an arresting and informative program dealing with modern day slavery and sex trafficking for the most recent meeting of the Naperville Township Democratic Organization.  Carole Kerr introduced the presenters by indicating that the topic of sex trafficking was chosen by Haddasah as their topic for study and action for the year 2015 and her feeling that many of our members would benefit from a presentation on this most timely topic.

Sean Tenner, former Naperville resident, has been very active on an international level with various campaigns dedicated to eradicating human rights violations across the globe.  The Abolition Institute was founded in 2013 by Sean Tenner , Bakary Tandia, a resident of Mauritania who was rescued from a life of slavery, Antwon Bailey, and Moctar Teyeb, former Mauritanian slave and now a resident of Canada.  In Mauritania, nearly 340,000 people are enslaved, despite the government’s declaring slavery illegal in 2007.  In Mauritania, one is born into slavery, based upon the darker pigmentation of one’s skin; lighter skinned Arabs are the masters.  Since 2007, only one slave owner has been prosecuted.

The Abolition Institute was recently awarded a three million dollar grant to help the organization support efforts in Mauritania to end the continued enslavement of so many people.

Ashley Pitariu and her associates from WAR (Women at Risk, International) helped educate folks on sex trafficking, a form of enslavement that takes place much closer to home and is far too prevalent. WAR, International, which was begun in 2006, now has representatives in all fifty states and in forty countries. Their presentation helped to dispel 4 Myths About Men Who Buy Sex:

  • Myth: Men who buy sex are lonely…Fact: They are regular people with family and friends
  • Myth: Men have insatiable physical needs beyond their control…Fact: Men have control
  • Myth: Men do not know they are hurting women…Fact: they are the most frequently identified perpetrators of sexual assault and violence against women in prostitution
  • Myth: Men who buy sex are not criminals…Fact: they create a demand for an industry that exploits women and buying sex in Illinois is a felony for the second offense

The WAR organization seeks to “create circles of protection and hope around at risk women and girls”. They offer medical and psychological counseling, job training / educational programs, and shelter for the time necessary to heal and to achieve economic independence.  The WAR Chest Boutique in Naperville offers for sale beautiful hand-crafted jewelry and other items either made by rescued individuals or provided by those who support the mission of WAR.

A brief review of the history of legislation in Illinois affecting prostitution and sex trafficking included the following:

  • Safe Harbor Laws: under Federal law, children under the age of 18 who have been induced into providing commercial sex are treated as victims of trafficking, not prostitutes;
  • Safe Harbor Laws vary from state to state; should provide both legal protection and a wide variety of services;
  • Only 15 states provide full protection, including Illinois (2010);
  • Penalties have also been increased for many activities related to fostering sex trafficking, moving from misdemeanors to felony charges
  • Prostitution is now a Class A Misdemeanor as of 2013: no longer a Class 4 Felony…recognizing the often desperate circumstances of the prostitute, as opposed to the felony charges for pimping
  • Illinois has a B rating (87%) based upon a number of factors including criminal provisions for traffickers and facilitators

Concluding remarks included an emphasis on communicating to congressional representatives  dissatisfaction with current national efforts to publicize human rights violations in Mauritania and to become more aware of legislation affecting the victims of sex trafficking.