Tuesday, June 29, 2010

DC SMS Walk

RM has a team! Please join us for the walk. Go to walk.stopmodernslavery.org to join us and help raise money for RM and the fight against modern day slavery happening here in Washington D.C. If you have any questions please call our office 202.544.1731. Thank you!

In addition, RIJI Green is having a fundraiser for the DC Stop Modern Slavery Walk. For the entire month of July, every Act Justly messenger bag you purchase, RIJI Green will donate $1 to the Walk.


These bags not only make great gifts for your friends and family, but also provide economic opportunities for survivors and people at risk of trafficking.
Check out the bags here: http://rijigreen.com/node/41

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

A Way to Get Involved

The DC Task Force on Human Trafficking is creating subcommittees and they are a great way for people to get involved. They are: Outreach/Awareness/Events 2. Training and 3. Communication. Start thinking about how and where you can serve. It is a great way to meet others who are interested in the movement and be involved in short-term projects instead of the long-term commitment that direct service requires. Individuals cannot join the TF but they can participated under RM.

For more information contact info@restorationministriesdc.org

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Secretary Clinton Announces Release of 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report

Article taken from: http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/clinton_2010_tip_report

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced the release of the 10th annual Trafficking in Persons Report on Monday, June 14, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. in the Benjamin Franklin Room at the Department of State. Secretary Clinton said:


"This report provides in-depth assessments and recommendations for 177 countries, some of whom are making great progress toward abolishing the illicit trade in human beings. Others are still doing too little to stem the tide. But behind these statistics on the pages are the struggles of real human beings, the tears of families who may never see their children again, the despair and indignity of those suffering under the worst forms of exploitation. And through this report we bear witness to their experience and commit ourselves to abolishing this horrible crime.

"Human trafficking crosses cultures and continents. I've met survivors of trafficking and their families, along with brave men and women in both the public and the private sector who have stood up against this terrible crime. All of us have a responsibility to bring this practice to an end. Survivors must be supported and their families aided and comforted, but we cannot turn our responsibility for doing that over to nongovernmental organizations or the faith community. Traffickers must be brought to justice. And we can't just blame international organized crime and rely on law enforcement to pursue them. It is everyone's responsibility. Businesses that knowingly profit or exhibit reckless disregard about their supply chains, governments that turn a blind eye or do not devote serious resources to addressing the problem, all of us have to speak out and act forcefully.

"Now, we talk often here in the State Department about shared responsibility. Indeed, it is a core principle of our foreign policy. So we have to ensure that our policies live up to our ideals. And that is why we have for the first time included the United States. As this report documents, cases of trafficking persons are found in our own communities. In some cases, foreign workers drawn by the hope of a better life in America are trapped by abusive employers. And there are Americans, unfortunately, who are held in sexual slavery. Some find themselves trapped through debt to work against their will in conditions of modern-day bondage. And this report sends a clear message to all of our countrymen and women: human trafficking is not someone else's problem. Involuntary servitude is not something we can ignore or hope doesn't exist in our own community.

"I'm very proud of the bipartisan commitment and leadership that the United States has shown on this issue over many years. For the Obama Administration, combating this crime is a top priority. And the United States funds 140 anti-trafficking programs in nearly 70 countries, as well as supporting 38 domestic task forces that bring state and local authorities together with NGOs like many represented in this room.

"It's been 10 years since the United Nations Trafficking in Persons Protocol was negotiated and the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act was enacted, and I was very proud to have worked on both of those in a prior life sometime back. And under the paradigm of the three Ps -- prevention, protection, and prosecution -- and thanks in part to the facts and focus provided by this annual report, governments, law enforcement agencies, international organizations, and families are working more closely together than ever. Now we call for the fourth P -- partnership. And that is making a real difference. More countries are updating their laws and expanding enforcement, more criminals are facing prosecution, and more survivors are being helped back into a life of freedom.

"This report is a catalogue of tragedies that the world cannot continue to accept. But it is also a record that deserves praise and recognition because it exemplifies hope and action because hope without action cannot be our goal. We have to provide the hope that then leads to the action that changes the reality that we describe."

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

“What belongs to you but is used more by others?”

It was the typical start of a Sunday program, I had searched hard for some form of ice breaker or question to engage the girls at the detention center with when they first walked in. Though hoping for a better tie-in to the theme of our discussion that day, I settled with a riddle I had seen multiple places online. The girls filed in, they took their seats, they responded to our greetings. It was the first riddle I asked, a simple mind trick that questioned “What belongs to you but is used more by others?”. The answer is, “your name”. However, it was I who was tricked by the question when without missing a beat, two girls simultaneously responded with “your body”.
‘What belongs to you but is used more by others?’ ‘Your body’.

Their response hit me like a ton of bricks, the ease and rapidity of their reply solidified the reality that these girls have experienced life in a body that is used more by others but is suppose to belong to them. It’s typical to learn that the majority of the girls we work with have encountered sexual abuse at staggeringly young ages. We give them surveys about their sexual experiences to determine if they have experienced trafficking and we frequently are returned with the x’s and checks marked next to “yes” when asked “Has anyone ever made you have sex when you didn’t want to, either through physical violence, threats, or making you feel like you couldn’t say no?”. Right beneath the question there is a space to indicate at what age they first experienced said trauma, I’ve seen girls answer as young as 2 ½.

For these young women, I think about how they never had a chance to grow comfortably into their bodies. I reflect on my own coming of age as the teenagers they are now, and the discomfort, the uncertainty, the unfamiliarity with my physical self that naturally through time was resolved. I had the privilege to grow into who I am and the body God gave me, it is part of how I find my identity in him and how I learn to reconcile the flesh with the spirit. I think again about the true answer to the riddle, ‘your name’, and how much our names, though not chosen by us, define who we are. We are identified by our names, we are identified by our bodies. But the two young girls who have identified their bodies as belonging to others, much like all the women and girls in prostitution, are trapped in a body that others have taken so much from, and left little identity to be found. I wonder in hurt of the difficulties they face in trying to find their true identity and home in Christ, and pray that they relate and understand his broken body on the cross as the core of their identity, beyond any body that any one has misused.

There’s a brief pause after they first answer my question, I absorb the weight of their response in a painful private moment, and move on.

“Every human body has been given a new hope of belonging eternally to the God who created it. Thanks to the Incarnation, you can bring your body home” -Henri Nouwen

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

           




2010 DC Stop Modern Slavery Walk

The 2010 DC SMS Walk is an event organized by the community to raise awareness and funds for the fight against human trafficking. It includes a walk, speakers, information fair, art exhibit, and music concert. This is an opportunity to get together with elected officials, artists, luminaries, businesses, professional athletes, and the community to celebrate the cause and galvanize the movement!

When: Saturday, September 18th, 2010

Where: Constitution Gardens, which is the area next to the Lincoln Memorial.

Who: All are welcome!

PRE-REGISTER: Join the many others who have pre-registered for the walk. Click Here to pre-register. Once you pre-register, we will send you a reminder when the official registration website is online.

For questions and to get involved, please contact walk@stopmodernslavery.org.

Please join us for the walk to show your support for Restoration Ministries and the fight against human trafficking. A portion of the money raised goes to RM. More updates to come!


If you have any questions e-mail Alysha Tagert at alysha.tagert@gmail.com