Seattle Forward

Human Trafficking Awareness Day

Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day and the City Council and Mayor issued a proclamation expressing Seattle’s continued determination to fight this form of modern-day slavery.

We often think of human trafficking as a problem on the other side of the world. I certainly encountered this persistent injustice when I worked overseas as a poverty relief worker years ago. But we must acknowledge the painful reality that human trafficking occurs here, too.

Goldman Sachs Bails After Investments in Human Trafficking Exposed

Read Nicholas Kristof in Sunday's New York Times. It turns out Goldman Sachs was an investor in Village Voice Media, owners of Backpage.com, perhaps the leading human trafficking Web site in the United States. They specialize in providing a forum for pimps and johns to exploit women and girls, some as young as 13 or 14. 

Back in January, I blogged about the problem of coercive, exploitive prostitution in Seattle.  We documented that 67 individuals acting as pimps had victimized more than 78 girls and women in King County in a 42-month period; the vast majority of the victims were juveniles. Here's a chart that shows each of the cases and their final disposition.  

Well over half of the juvenile victims were exploited through commercial advertising on Backpage.com or other Internet sites. Shame on Village Voice Media and their investors for supporting and encouraging sexual exploitation of our children. 

Jim Larkin serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Village Voice Media, Inc. You can write Mr. Larkin here.

More Steps to Stop Human Trafficking

I’ll be at the Washington BEST (Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking) kick-off later tonight in Belltown. Washington BEST is a new business-led initiative to combat human trafficking. It's an alliance that encourages businesses to adopt policies that explicitly oppose trafficking and to follow practices that prevent it from occurring on their premises. The Council passed a resolution supporting this initiative two weeks ago.

Businesses can be a powerful resource in the fight against trafficking. For example, in the area of sex trafficking, cabs, restaurants, bars, hotels and motels, and even retail malls are often locales used by traffickers. Businesses can educate employees about the problem, train employees to identify and report suspicious activity appropriately and make their premises and operations unwelcoming and risky to human traffickers.

Victory for Minors Exploited Through Prostitution

Washington was the first state to criminalize human trafficking and today our State Legislature took another giant step by making advertisers accountable for their role in the exploitation of children. 

The State House of Representatives unanimously passed ESSB 6251 this afternoon. The Senate passed the bill earlier without dissent. The legislation prohibits knowingly publishing advertisements for a commercial sex act involving a minor and requires that advertisers—including online advertisers like backpage.com—keep records of the identification they use to verify the age of the person depicted in the advertisement or else face prosecution.

The unanimous bipartisan support for this bill signals that local and state policymakers continue to be united in our efforts to stop the horrific violence against children through coercive prostitution.

Read earlier posts on this issue here.

Human Trafficking: The Evidence is Clear

I'm going to Olympia this afternoon to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on a package of bills related to the growing problem of human trafficking.

Nicholas Kristof wrote an illuminating article yesterday in The New York Times that described how the Internet has become the primary marketing tool of those who "sell" young women for profit.  It's not a topic we will likely raise at dinner tonight, that's for sure.  But, the commercial sexual exploitation of our children demands moral clarity and a keen focus.

So what are the facts of sex trafficking in our region?

Yesterday, my office completed a compilation and review of criminal prosecutions in Seattle-King County over a 42-month period ending in August 2011.  We found that 67 offenders had been charged and prosecuted over the 42 months.  These 67 individuals had victimized more than 78 girls and women in King County.

We have gathered together key documents from these cases in one place so the public can gain a sense of the psychological abuse and violence committed against these women. As a warning, the documents contain graphic and disturbing information. Details on the cases and links to the case stories are available in this table.

The remarks I will be sharing with our legislators this afternoon follow the jump. 

One Easy Step Toward Ending Exploitation of Girls and Young Women

In recent years, we have become more aware of how prostitution almost always involves someone exploiting another person. Individuals coerced into selling themselves are frequently brutalized; and the violence involved in these cases is horrific.

CityStream Segment on Prostituted Children

The Seattle Channel began broadcasting this CityStream segment last week.  It's offers a quick overview of the problem of child prostitution and what the City government is doing in response.  You can read earlier posts on this subject here.

Seattle Channel Video can be played in Flash Player 9 and up

Standing Against Child Prostitution

These are remarks I delivered last night at Town Hall regarding the prostitution trafficking of our children.  Over 700 people packed the hall and heard several presentations from local experts and Deborah Richardson, a national advocate from Atlanta. You can watch video of the entire event here.

Good evening and thank you for coming out tonight for this important discussion.

Wow!  Seeing so many of you is very encouraging.  Your presence is a powerful statement that Seattle will protect our children.  We will not allow the exploitation and horrors of human trafficking to continue in our city.

In the summer of 2008, my first year as a Council member, I read a report that made me angry.  It was a city-commissioned study written by Dr. Debra Boyer . . . Dr. Boyer is here with us tonight.  The report documented the brutal reality of children being prostituted on our streets, right here in our own backyard.

I resolved right then that the City must do more to stop this terrible, terrible tragedy . . . do more to help rescue our children were being coerced into a horror that is unimaginable.  Some of these kids are 12 years old . . . twelve. 

Changing Course on Prostituted Children

Yesterday's Seattle Times carried the gripping and tragic story of Kelsey, a young woman from Everett caught up in the seamy and violent world of juvenile sex trafficking.  Susan Kelleher's article captures the reality for the children "recruited" into street and Internet prostitution. (Kelsey posted this photo of herself on her MySpace page. She has disappeared and is reported missing by police.)

But, Kelleher's piece doesn't tell about the dramatic shift in public policy and policing that has taken place over the past two years as parents, communities, police, prosecutors and public officials struggle with the growing problem of human trafficking, much of it centered on coercing children—some as young as 12 years of age—into a world of violence, neglect and horror. 

For example, Seattle police changed the name of their Vice Unit to the "Vice and High Risk Victims Unit," a change that reflects a fundamental shift in how police view women caught up in street and Internet prostitution, including juveniles.  I know that this name change isn't just artful packaging, either.  

Our "High Risk Victim" detectives have built highly successful cases against the predators (pimps and johns) who prey on these women and have worked with federal and regional authorities to break up gangs and other organized criminal enterprises who specialize in prostitution.  

Record Number of Children Rescued From Prostitution

Seattle police officers and detectives have so far rescued 45 children, age 17 and under, from being prostituted this year.  That's a record number, highest in the United States.  Last year, 30 children were rescued.

The problem of children forced into street prostitution in our region is well documented.  One of my proudest and most gratifying initiatives since joining the City Council is the successful launch of the safe-haven residential treatment facility where these kids can begin to get their lives back.  The Bridge, the program's official name, opened a few months ago.  Five