Welcome! Wow! Speaking of demand and prevention.....
On October 9th, there was a nationwide prostitution sting in 8 law enforcement jurisdictions in Illinois, Arizona, California, Ohio, Nevada, and Virginia. They've dubbed this "The National Day of Johns Arrests." This was a pilot program - I'm hoping this was the first of many.
In an effort to stem demand, cops conducted sting activities in hotels, on the streets, in brothels, and over the internet to arrest individuals seeking to purchase sex (police commonly call these people "Johns"). According to the Chicago Tribune, a total of 233 people were arrested - 216 were seeking to patronize a prostitute. Total fines levied: $238,000.
In conjunction with this, the Cook County's Sheriff's office replicated more than 4,000 John's School DVDs and distributed these nationwide for use in law enforcement agencies. This was made possible through a grant from Demand Abolition (Under the Hunt's Fund Umbrella).
The John School is a treatment program used in a group setting to educate men charged with soliciting prostitutes. They learn about the negative affects of prostitution - the trauma to the woman, health risks, community impact, legal consequences and sexual addiction. Read more about John Schools in this CNN article.
On a sad note, I've been reading the comments people leave for these articles - it is truly heart-breaking to see how strong the deception is in America surrounding Prostitution and Domestic trafficking. These stings are GOOD NEWS for the women and children forced into the commercial sex industry every year. Remember, most prostitutes were forced into this industry between the ages of 12 and 14 - that is slavery. If they are now 27 and have remained "in the life" - they've lived a lifetime enslaved only to now be accused of "choosing this." By the way, most won't live to be that old - the FBI estimates life expectancy for a person that is being prostituted to be 7 years.
To learn more about prostitution, please take the time to read this article written by a survivor of prostitution, Nekome. As she says in her opening statement,
They say prostitution is a choice? How did I choose prostitution? I didn’t choose prostitution, it chose me. Just as child sexual assault and neglect had chose me. I was not a willing participant, but lured into a life I saw as my only option.
For those of us that are uncomfortable speaking about prostitution within the framework of Human Trafficking and slavery - please know that research clearly indicates that anywhere there are adults selling sex, there are also children being forced to sell sex. Domestic Trafficking in America occurs via the Commercial Sex Industry in America.
I have to give a shout out to one of my best friends and fellow abolitionist, Jenna, for sending me the link to the article in the Chicago Tribune (and many other articles and videos you'll see on this blog). We met because we are both passionate about rescuing enslaved, exploited people, Human Trafficking awareness, and our mutual best friend - Jesus. Her heart was broken for slavery from the time she was a child and she's been growing right along side most of the organizations out there. I'm sure Jenna will be a trailblazer in bringing Jesus' healing to people hurt by slavery. She's going to Cambodia in January - maybe she'll do a guest post? Thanks again, Jenna!
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