R.I.S.E. Together: March 2014

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Girl's Gone Wild in the Red Light District. - Video

I could explain this, but it's more powerful if you watch it first.

Like the description said, This video was an awareness campaign created by Duval Guillaume Modem and produced by monodot in support of STOP THE TRAFFIK. (Visit http://www.stopthetraffik.org/ to get involved.and the music was A-shja by Raveyards vs. DJ Uinkxxx.)

STOP THE TRAFFIK was started when Phil Lane worked at a day centre for vulnerable children in Mumbai, India.

“Phil was concerned about a 7 and 9 year old brother and sister who lived with their parents on Thane station, having attended the centre for a few months they suddenly stopped attending. Phil went to ask the father if the children were alright. Their father told Phil the two children had been sold to a man who offered them work for the equivalent of $20.

The children have never been seen since. Nobody knows for sure what happened to them. In that area of Mumbai children often disappear. They are kidnapped, sold and trafficked into sexual exploitation, forced labor, adoption and even child sacrifice. Phil was deeply affected by what happened and knew he had to do something to prevent it happening to others. At the same time a number of UK organisations with a global reach wanted to work together to commemorate the 2007 Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Stories and passions from around the world merged together andSTOP THE TRAFFIK was born.”

It’s such a sad, yet touching story. It’s something small, that happens every day all over the world. Many of you will remember our past blog about Demi and Ashton’s DNA Foundation (Here - http://avoiceforheather.blogspot.com/2011/11/sex-trafficking-demi-and-ashtons-dna.html) I'm so excited to see such new, creative, and powerful ways of reaching out and touching people.

STOP THE TRAFFIK site is VERY informative, artistic, and informational without being overwhelming. It even has real life stories you can read, or listen too. You can really feel the impact their campaign is having on the world and the hope real survivors have on the people who join.

Sophie - UK

SOPHIE - UK

"Two years ago everything changed. I was trafficked. I was fooled. I was deceived by a man who said that he loved me. The tragedy is that I believed him. Now I know that love is not shown by forcing me to work on the streets, beating me up, force feeding me and turning me into someone with no mind of my own. I had become like a frightened rabbit. I was terrified that he would kill me. Death too often felt like my only way to escape.

People are product. I was one of them. But I am a survivor.

I have a new life but I am haunted by the faces of those who used me, those whom I did not choose, those for whom I was nothing more than a ten-minute thing.

Please join STOP THE TRAFFIK and make a difference to people's lives... ... people like me."

So what are their plans for the future? Just to keep reaching out.

At the end of the two years momentum through the support of 1.5 million activists had been gained. It was clear this was the beginning of something rather than the end. STOP THE TRAFFIK became an independent charity, and it's founder Steve Chalke became a United Nations Special Advisor on Community Action Against Trafficking.

With your help STOP THE TRAFFIK will continue to grow and reach those at risk as well as inspire people to become voices against trafficking.

Read more at: http://www.stopthetraffik.org/

Check out more about R.I.S.E. at any of the following:

Website: avoiceforheather.tripod.com

Myspace: myspace.com/avoiceforheather

Blog: avoiceforheather.blogspot.com

Facebook:www.facebook.com/avoiceforheather

Twitter: www.twitter.com/VoiceforHeather

Email: VoiceforHeather@yahoo.com

Did you know? – Victim Restitution is in the Supreme Court?

Did you know if you were a victim of being forced to be in child porn, you can actually sue your abuser? The Violence Against Women Act provides that people whose images are used in child pornography can sue the viewers of the pictures and videos—the people who are convicted for possessing them. They can also sue the distributors and the producers.

A woman, only known as Amy Unknown, is filing with the Supreme Court to make it easier for victims of child pornography to collect restitution from people who view their images on their computers.

It all started when Doyle Randall Paroline, 48, was arrested in 2009 after an employee at a computer company found sexually explicit images of minors on his computer.

“Of the 150-300 incriminating images found on Paroline's computer, just two were of Amy. Paroline pleaded guilty and received a 24-month prison sentence. Amy, now her early 20s and living in Pennsylvania, was a child when her uncle sexually abused her and widely circulated images of the abuse, according to court records.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said it has found at least 35,000 images of Amy's abuse in more than 3,200 child pornography cases since 1998.
In at least 174 cases, Amy has been awarded restitution in amounts ranging from $100 to more than $3.5 million.”

In Paroline’s case, he is appealing an order holding him responsible for the full amount of losses, nearly $3.4 million. This amount was calculated by a psychologist working for James Marsh, an attorney for Amy. Though this seems like a ridiculous sum, the money is intended to cover the cost of psychological care, lost income and attorneys' fees.

“Advocates for child pornography victims say that holding defendants liable for the entire amount of losses better reflects the ongoing harm that victims suffer each time someone views the images online.
Last year, the full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans said in a 10-5 decision that victims do not have to show a link between the crime and their injuries.

The threat of a large financial judgment, coupled with a prison term, also might deter some people from looking at the images in the first place, the advocates say.
'The threat that a person in the child pornography market may well bear the entire cost of the harm done to the victim, even if they are a ''minor player'', is likely to be a large deterrent, especially when the harm done typically runs into the millions for a victim's lifetime of care,' said Marci Hamilton, a law professor at Yeshiva University. Hamilton wrote a brief in the case on behalf of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children.

The real question is whether a court must impose all of Amy's aggregate losses on each defendant. Regardless of the outcome of the court case, Congress could change the law. The U.S. Sentencing Commission recommended that lawmakers consider doing just that to eliminate confusion among federal judges about the right way to calculate restitution.”

However, the laws in that involve calculating restitution are not steady across the board. In another case involving Amy, The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco threw out a restitution order because it found there was not a sufficient link between a man convicted of possessing child pornography and the women.

Author Emily Bazelon said “I wrote about Amy and a second victim, who goes by Nicole, for the New York Times Magazine a year ago, and they both felt nervous about being the first to come forward and ask for restitution. It’s a hard role to play when your biggest fear is being exposed. But they’ve also taken increasing pride about paving the way for other victims to win compensation, especially to pay for counseling, which has helped both of them overcome their experiences of trauma. Both Amy and Nicole attended the argument on Wednesday. Afterward, Amy told me she was thrilled. And Nicole texted me to say, “I felt like the judges really grasped the issues and tried to hash them out.”

That’s what it’s really about, the money is secondary, but paving the way for healing is the most important part.