The Reality of Child Trafficking Rings

Sargon of Akkad created a video about child sex trafficking rings. He did so in response to some readers insisting that he cover “Pizzagate”. Pizzagate is an internet conspiracy theory suggesting that Hillary Clinton and some of her aides operated a child sex trafficking ring out of a pizzeria. The accusation and wild reactions online led to an armed man taking it upon himself to investigate the Comet Ping Pong Pizzeria.

The accusations about child rape appear to be false. There is no evidence showing that anyone involved with the pizzeria committed any sex offense, let alone that they run a child sex ring or that Clinton is involved in any way.

Sargon argues in his video that some people have responded to this lack of evidence by saying that this sort of child sex ring simply cannot happen. He lists a number of well-investigated examples showing that to be false.

Help Restore the Anchor House

Back in April I wrote about the Anchor House. It is an organization that takes in trafficked boys. The group faced a backlash from the community as the people living near the group’s chosen location feared the boys would be violent. The Anchor House did find a location and manage to find funding as well.

I do have a criticism of the group, which is that they are a religious group. While it does not appear that they force Christianity onto any of the children, it is part of their platform. I do not see the need to inject religion into the situation. Nevertheless, the Anchor House is one of the few organizations that assists male victims of human trafficking, and I think people should support them.

This more necessary now, as the location was devastated by hurricane Matthew. The home was due to open in March 2017. Given the level of water damage, that has been delayed. Worse, the group’s flood insurance did not apply as they were still within the waiting period. They estimate it will take $80,000 to repair the damage.

The Anchor House has a GoFundMe fundraiser to try to cover the damage. They are hoping to raise $30,000, and the time of writing this they are at $5,745. I encourage people to support fundraiser. Any amount you can spare can help. Donate the money for your daily cup of coffee, a movie night, or that video game you already know will suck.

If you can, please donate. It is for a very good cause, one that rarely gets any attention.

Stop the Abuse: Hagar International

Often times people want to help others but do not know how. This cannot be any truer than when it comes to helping abused men and boys. The resources sometimes are not apparent and are often difficult to find. Sometimes the resources are hidden or even barred by other groups who wish to polarize the issue. The intent here is to provide those who wish to help male victims with the opportunity to do so.

Please remember that you do no have to empty your wallets to help. Even a small donation can go a long way. And for those on the other side of the issue, it would go a long way to demonstrating real concern for all victims if you donated as well.

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Hager International

Hagar restores to wholeness the lives of women and children in Afghanistan, Cambodia and Vietnam that have been torn apart by human rights abuse. Walking the whole journey of protection, recovery, empowerment and integration with each individual is the whole reason for Hagar.

Established in Cambodia in 1994, Hagar launched programing in both Afghanistan and Vietnam in 2009.

In 2004, the U.S. State Department named Hagar founder Pierre Tami as one of the its six international heroes in the struggle against the modern-day slave trade.

Because we believe that broken lives can become whole again.

Hagar’s name derives from the biblical story of Hagar in Genesis 16 and 21. Read the Hagar Biblical Story.

Currently, Hagar supports 1,200 women and child victims of trafficking, domestic violence and exploitation in Afghanistan, Cambodia and Vietnam. They were among the world’s most broken and despondent people… but not now.

Please donate and help make a difference.

Taliban exploits child rape to kill Afghan police

As terrible as this is, one must give the Taliban credit for their creativity:

The Taliban are using child sex slaves to mount crippling insider attacks on police in southern Afghanistan, exploiting the pervasive practice of “bacha bazi” — paedophilic boy play — to infiltrate security ranks, multiple officials and survivors of such assaults told AFP.

The ancient custom is prevalent across Afghanistan, but nowhere does it seem as entrenched as in the province of Uruzgan, where “bacha bereesh” — or boys without beards — widely become objects of lustful attraction for powerful police commanders.

The Taliban over nearly two years have used them to mount a wave of Trojan Horse attacks — at least six between January and April alone — that have killed hundreds of policemen, according to security and judicial officials in the province.

“The Taliban are sending boys — beautiful boys, handsome boys — to penetrate checkpoints and kill, drug and poison policemen,” said Ghulam Sakhi Rogh Lewanai, who was Uruzgan’s police chief until he was removed in a security reshuffle in April amid worsening violence.

“They have figured out the biggest weakness of police forces — bacha bazi,” he told AFP.

It is a brazen yet still impressive tactic to use a culture’s pedophilia against them. It also apparently works. The authorities have no idea how to deal with this, largely because the authorities are often the ones keeping boys as sex slaves. The article mentions an instance in which a checkpoint commander’s sex slave killed seven policemen, including the rapist commander, as they slept. He then let the Taliban forces in to ensure everyone was dead.

The Taliban denies using any boys as attackers, yet the evidence clearly shows they do it. And why would they not. Consider this:

Christian Couple Prepares to Open First U.S. Home for Sex-Trafficked Boys

While I am not a fan injecting religion into solving human rights issues, I do welcome support for victims of sexual violence when it seems genuine. In this case, it appears completely genuine. A Christian couple decided to open a home for boys used for sex trafficking:

Chris and Anna Smith, who are poised to open the first safe house in the United States for sex trafficked boys, didn’t set out to be trailblazers. They founded their Christian ministry, Restore One, in 2012, hoping to open a facility for girls in Greenville, N.C.

Anna, a sex trafficking survivor, worked as an intern at a similar facility, Hope House, in Asheville, N.C. When Hope House founder Emily Fitchpatrick learned the Smiths wanted to open a home, she asked them to consider taking in boys.

“That wasn’t something we wanted to pioneer,” Anna Smith told me.

Then the Smiths heard Tina Frudt, human trafficking survivor and founder of Courtney’s House, describe the plight of boys who came to her program.

“There are no places that boys can go,” Frudt told The Daily Reflector.

According to one study, as many as 50 percent of sexually exploited minors are males and yet there are few resources for them, including residential treatment facilities.

“That’s when we said yes to boys,” Anna said.

The Anchor House, the name the Smiths chose for the home, faced immediate problems. The first was that they could not find a suitable location for the home. It took them a year to find a location large enough for their needs. They eventually found a spot in Greenville, North Carolina. That led to the second problem:

Stop the Abuse: Urban Light

Often times people want to help others but do not know how. This cannot be any truer than when it comes to helping abused men and boys. The resources sometimes are not apparent and are often difficult to find. Sometimes the resources are hidden or even barred by other groups who wish to polarize the issue. The intent here is to provide those who wish to help male victims with the opportunity to do so.

Please remember that you do no have to empty your wallets to help. Even a small donation can go a long way. And for those on the other side of the issue, it would go a long way to demonstrating real concern for all victims if you donated as well.

Special note: One of the individuals who works with this group emailed me. She asked about my blog and the type of work I do. She was interested because of my posts about trafficking of men and boys. Urban Light is one of the few organizations in the world that reaches out to specifically male victims of sex trafficking.

They are based out of Thailand, which has a very high rate of sex trafficking, especially with children. With so few organizations that help abused boys, it is important to support those who. I urge readers to spread the word about the organization. You can link to this post or (better) link to the organization’s website or Facebook page.

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Urban Light

The Reality

According to the United Nations, there are over 27 million modern-day slaves in the world. These numbers are often under-reported but Urban Light exists to change that. The stories of these young men can no longer be neglected. Many of them are forced to move from the hill-tribe villages of Chiang Mai into the night life of the red light district. In order to find work and provide for their families, many fall victim to a harsh life stuck in the sex trafficking system.

Urban Light is one of the only organizations of their kind to specifically focus on helping young men and providing an outlet for safety, health and renewal. Most people in Thailand and around the world don’t want to acknowledge the existence of male sex trafficking and exploitation – but Urban Light is here to educate, advocate and bring attention to the dark realities these young men face.

Please donate and help make a difference.

First all boys shelter for male sex trafficking victims built in Central Florida

This is great news:

While there are multiple safe homes for women, there are no safe homes available for boys, LoSasso said. More troubling, he estimates 10-15 percent of sex trafficking victims are boys.

Now, the Florida Dream Center is helping organize the first-ever in the country sex trafficking safe house just for boys. Most times, law enforcement have no where to take the male victims they recover, and many male trafficking victims never seek help, LoSasso said.

“Males seem to have, still to this point, a very stigma attached where they don’t even want to tell anybody,” LoSasso said.

It is rare to see services reaching out to male sex trafficking victims, let alone a service dedicated to assisting them. The safe house will start with five beds and expand as they include more safe houses. The Florida Dream Center will provide one-on-one attention to the boys by keeping in “a small, family-like environment to recover and receive counseling.” They will also provide in-house schooling in order to prevent traffickers from searching for the boys at public schools.

I looked into the Florida Dream Center and they are a religious organization. However, it does appear they genuinely want to help people. From what I can tell, they are not forcing the religion on anyone, so I think it is worthwhile to back them. Please support the organization by donating to them. Every little bit helps.