Rethink Resources

Which do you think is easier?

I was reminded of this question yesterday at a meeting here in Milwaukee that’s part of an effort to create a drop-in center for youth struggling with basic needs. A lot of plans have focused on connecting youth with adult run programs and agencies and that’s super common when adults plan efforts to address youth needs.

But one of the first ideas from an advisory group of local youth is to have peer counselors at the center and everyone seems excited about this idea. This made me happy as I’m a strong advocate of peer outreach and peer based programs.

Many times I’ve met youth in the sex trade who felt that talking with another young person is way easier than talking with an adult. My experience has been that teens are talking with each other about the sex trade (should they do it? what do you think of this offer - does it sound real?) Teens who are in or have been in the sex trade can be trained and supported to do outreach to other teens who are experiencing similar struggles.

This makes sense and is powerful in many ways. Teens can find other teens way easier than adults can sometimes, especially in reaching teens in the off-street sex trade. An adult outreach worker can’t easily be at that hotel party or someone’s basement where some youth hang out.

Often a teen can connect with another teen through shared language, experiences and styles that are super difficult, if not impossible, for an adult to do. Educating peers to be leaders in their own communities means supporting changes in the moment, not just at that specific group time or one to one meeting with an adult. If you prepare youth to have the information and resources necessary to support safer and healthier decisions, I believe you can reach way more youth.

More than being accessible, youth often talk with each other about really difficult experiences way before reaching out to an adult. Maybe you witnessed another young person’s helpfulness in other situations or feel like they’ll understand more.

Sometimes youth feel like adults are just untrustworthy or inaccessible. If you feel like adults aren’t listening, or aren’t around or are most likely going to tell other people about what you need to keep confidential - talking with another youth can seem a lot better.

But I’ve also talked with youth who feel like they would much rather talk with an adult because the youth they know can’t seem to keep a secret. So you confide in one youth and next thing you know the whole school or whole neighborhood knows. Or I’ve heard youth wonder why they would seek out assistance from another teen when what they want is someone with more life experience or knowledge or someone outside their social circle/peer group.

Sometimes youth who’ve had positive experiences with adults making things happen want to talk with an adult because it may mean more access to a program or resources. Or youth will seek out an adult if it’s about something really serious.

A few programs focused on teens in the sex trade have peer based projects like outreach or speaking to groups of youth and I’m excited about all the peer based work I was able to be a part of with YWEP. Unfortunately a lot of programs don’t make it a priority or believe strongly in adult leadership. I think we miss out on amazing opportunities that way.

It does seem like no matter if teens prefer to talk out dilemmas and solutions with other teens or with adults everyone wants to talk with someone nonjudgmental, supportive, with helpful resources and hopefully with similar life experiences.

Last month a report, “Who Pays the Price? Assessment of Youth Involvement in Prostitution in Seattle,” commissioned by the Seattle Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention Division of the Human Services Department was released at a community meeting.

The report gives a lot of detail about what youth social service workers know and don’t know about youth involvement in prostitution and some very honest assessments of what youth workers lack:

(Responses from interviews with social services providers)
• Prostitution is on the down low.
• Youth do not bring it up and we only learn through gossip.
• Prostitution gets talked about last. I have a client that strips but does not admit to
prostitution.
• We do not talk about it; there is a lot of shame.
• We see the signs of survival sex, sex for protection, or a new boyfriend every
week.
• I had two clients involved in prostitution, but it was a caseworker from another
agency that told me.

Reading through this list and the report I’m reminded that when social service workers admittedly know very little, this does need to be taken into consideration when thinking through the report. Gossip and signs of things are not reliable assessment measures. Perhaps the young women is just stripping. And as far as shame goes, I’m thinking a lot of adults think the shame is from youth but it can also be decidedly from adults.

Despite this, the report still found a great deal of detail:

Estimates of Youth Involvement
1. A planning estimate for the number of youth, ages 18 and under, involved in prostitution is 250 annually. This estimate stems from a review of 1,528 case files from six agencies, which included Spruce Street Secure Crisis Residential Center and Juvenile Detention Case Management, and identified 238 prostitution-involved youth in 2007.
2. A prevalence estimate of youth involved in prostitution in the Seattle area is 300-500.
3. Law enforcement reports likely underreport youth involvement in prostitution.
4. Prostitution-involved youth are often arrested for other charges and prostitution histories may not be known.
5. There were only 50 juvenile arrests for prostitution statewide in 2006.
6. There were 82 juveniles arrested and referred to King County Juvenile Court for prostitution (Offering & Agreeing) and prostitution loitering in 2007, a significant increase from the past year.
7. Young women of color are overrepresented in samples of prostitution-involved youth.
8. Youth with prostitution convictions reoffend and are seen repeatedly in the court system; 31 youth with prostitution convictions from 2004-2006 had an average of seven additional court referrals.

Service providers reported increased numbers of youth ages 13 and 14 involved in prostitution, and an increase in gang-affiliated prostitution, prostitution-related violence like pimp kidnappings, and youth being taken across state lines along the Pacific circuit. Of course the report identified a serious lack of services for youth as well.

Overall a fairly good assessment of Seattle social service workers know or understand to be true about youth involvement in prostitution. My one major disappointment is that they did not ask or include youth perspectives in the report at all: not a focus group, not a survey, not one youth voice. Interviewing adults who’ve been in the sex trade as youth in the past isn’t good enough. Right now this report needs to be reviewed by youth in Seattle to see if it makes sense with their experiences.

Ok, I’m back with some news items:

From New York, Cop guilty of pimping teen runaway:

An NYPD detective pleaded guilty Thursday to his role in pimping out a 13-year-old girl and agreed to a 3-1/2-year jail term in a deal with Queens prosecutors. The district attorney’s office said Wayne Taylor, 35, and co-defendant Zelika (Mommy Z) Brown, 29, “bought” a 13-year-old runaway for $500 and took the minor to parties where she would charge men up to $80 for sex. They were charged with kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, endangering the welfare of a child and promoting prostitution, but were allowed to plead guilty to attempted kidnapping.

Clearly he got a deal as a police officer since many people have had much more serious prison terms for the same actions. He had to resign from the force too.

Also from the NY area, What a pimp reads:

What sort of person subjects children as young as 12 to beatings and a life of prostitution? An evidence list [attached large pdf] submitted in the case of Corey Davis, a Queens man who billed himself as “Magnificent,” might provide some insight. Mr. Davis, 36, is facing a minimum of 23 years in prison after pleading guilty in March to a federal charge of sex trafficking involving a 12-year-old runaway.

I’ve been seeing a lot more media sources attaching court documents and direct evidence released by the courts which I find really fascinating as a legal outsider. The list reminds me of how things I’m so used to seeing in working with youth in the sex trade (like scribbled notes about where to meet someone for an outcall or receipts) become evidence in trials like these.

From National Aboriginal News in Canada, Aboriginal youth often trapped in underage sex trade

Fidgety and anxious, “Tia” is uneasy talking about herself and seems surprised that anyone would care. She reveals that she is currently in a foster home that she is anxious to leave since she rarely sleeps there. “They don’t care about me, they just care about the money,” she says, gritting her teeth in anger. “They’re a joke. The system is a joke.” Although she claims she is in the sex trade industry by choice, her body language tells a different story. Gaunt, fidgety and talking with a slur, she appears to be going through an uncomfortable drug withdrawal. She abruptly ends our conversation when a vehicle pulls up and a man motions to the pretty, obviously-underage girl. After a brief conversation, the vehicle pulls away and “Tia” asks me to leave since my presence is making potential clients nervous. Before I leave, she reveals a little more about herself. “A lady started pimping me. She and her boyfriend watch out for me, so you better get out of here,” she warned before walking away.

The article goes on to talk about the inquest report from Tracia Owen’s suicide and the sexual exploitation of Aboriginal youth with some estimates that at least 70% of youth in the sex trade in Winnipeg are Native.

From Toledo Ohio, Primetime focuses on Toledo teens’ abduction, forced prostitution:

Three years after their short walk for a frozen snack became every parent’s nightmare, the two Toledo teens forced to spend 10 days having sex with strangers for money will appear tonight on ABC’s midweek news magazine, Primetime Live.

You can find a written summary of the Primetime special here. The police chief is continuing to hear criticism for the cops’ failure to respond quickly in this case when the girls’ family members located the house one girl was being held in and the police took 90 minutes to respond to repeated calls for assistance from the family.

And last week I posted about the campaign getting flack for encouraging young people to strip on camera to raise donations of clothes for homeless youth, well Virgin Mobile Pulls Back Racy Campaign:

While the Warren, N.J., company said it limited submissions to strippers 18 and older and was screening the clips to police their content before posting them, the campaign quickly drew criticism from people worried that it would attract teenagers eager to shed their clothes. Further, some nonprofits that work with homeless teens said they weren’t comfortable with the stunt…In response to the outcry, Virgin Mobile is giving the campaign a facelift, renaming it “Blank2Clothe.” Instead of taking their clothes off, viewers will instead be asked to do anything they want — juggling, singing or standing on their heads, for example — to trigger views and therefore, more clothing donations.

Via Trudee Able-Peterson and Margo Hirsch at Safety Net for Youth

Virgin Mobile, in an effort to raise awareness about homeless youth and to provide homeless youth with donated clothing, has initiated a new website, strip2clothe.com that invites young people to submit videos of themselves stripping. American Eagle, Virgin Mobile’s clothing arm, will donate new apparel to homeless youth based on the number of hits the site gets.

…What’s the harm - to start with, we know that homeless, runaway and street-involved youth are far more vulnerable to sexual exploitation than youth from stable families. Street outreach workers have reported that up to 90% of youth involved in commercial sex work have histories of past sexual abuse. Commercial sex work includes trading sex for money, food, a place to sleep, and/or drugs. Young people take off their clothes in bars and at private parties for basic necessities. In exchange they get beat-up, raped, humiliated, and robbed. There is plenty of harm.

From another article in yesterday’s Minneapolis Star Tribune:

“Strip2Clothe” has sparked outrage among NN4Y’s own members. Some groups say they were never consulted about the concept and are appalled by the idea of young people stripping as a means to get clothes for other young people. The organizations’ names have since been taken off the site.

I’m thinking the folks over at NN4Y are getting an earful for introducing a campaign without getting feedback from most of their members. I wish they had stuck with the idea of txt2clothe.

I also see this as partly about a generation gap. I can see a lot of youth who are used to posting pics and videos of themselves wondering what the big deal is.

If you’d like to speak your mind to Virgin Mobile directly you can email them here: support@strip2clothe.com.

What do you think?

I’m trying something new today - a way for more people to participate in this blog. It’s just three questions. What would you like to tell people about yourself? What do you wish adults would do differently or better to support youth in the sex trade? What kinds of skills and strengths do you think youth in the sex trade have? Jessica and I have known each other for a long time and we met when I was directing the Young Women’s Empowerment Project (YWEP) in Chicago. Here’s a picture of Jessica that’s she sent along too.

Ok, well I really don’t even know how I could word my thoughts lately. Call it a block, and faze. It could be from the stress that I hide. But I am going to take a plunge.

I am Jessica B, my friends call me Casper, my clients call me B******. I am about to be 28 years old soon. Still really don’t know what I am going to do with my life, but I feel that I will soon, so we can leave that alone..lol. I have many choices for what I can do, its just all about when I will proceed. I am currently trying to kick myself to write my book, but I just cant seem to “get it out.”

I have been in the sex trade for a very long time….. I have done it by choice, and by force and neither way is a very settling feeling, but I will say this I have learned allot, and I truly don’t regret any day for if I had not been there I would not be the person that I am today. But I DO NOT WISH MY EXPERIENCES ON NO ONE ELSE especially a CHILD, and with meeting Claudine and being able to not only encounter other girls and woman who have done what I have done, seen what I have seen, and experienced what I have and more… I now feel like I have a meaning in life.

YWEP has been the best to me.. I have experienced great things and don’t even know how to explain them, from every workshop, to one on one encounters. I been able to interact with other people from all over the place been able to speak about my experiences hear about other experiences and found ways to make myself better and to help other women be able to do the same. I mean it is a feeling that always makes me feel so good to know that they are out there and they are always ready to accept you for who you really are, and help you be the beautiful woman that you can be and more…

My main concern with adults when it comes to youth in the sex trade is how they go about dealing with the situation as they would put it.. 1 I feel people don’t take out enough time to see whats really going on the youth, they are quick to either just throw them in jail or a institution and forget that the person exists. They stereotype the person like they are nothing, name calling, abuse, etc. whats really the deal? They don’t care how the youth feel.

Adults really need to take time, see whats really going on, place her some where she can be safe, give her the resources to become somebody, don’t put the girl in jail. If the law says that we can’t make a legal decision until we are 18 then they need to provide other ways to help the youth then just putting them away. Take more time finding the source, its not like the girl woke up one day and said I think ill trade sex for something today! It came from somewhere, an adult that is providing a way, isn’t that the crime at hand?

Youth in the trade have numerous skills and strengths, so many that I really don’t think I can name all of them lol….We are creative, open minded, great listeners, we have great communication skills, we can survive through anything, we are strong, willing to learn, we are girls and woman that are trying to make something of our lives so we can become something because we are not nothing!!!!!!

Now that you’ve read what Jessica had to say, maybe you’d like to contribute yourself! Just answer three questions: What would you like to tell people about yourself? What do you wish adults would do differently or better to support youth in the sex trade? What kinds of skills and strengths do you think youth in the sex trade have? You can send a picture too if you want. Just email me at claudine@rethinkresources.net.

Today while walking to the store in my neighborhood I was, to be blunt, hollered at by some random guy driving down the street who leaned over a female companion to get my attention. In trying to keep my attention he said something that I’ve heard on other occasions: “girl, just so you know, I got you. You need rent money, money for groceries - you let me know. I’ll take care of you. I got you.” What can you say besides “umm…thanks?”

Now mind you I’m not trying to be harsh on random dudes’ pick-up lines. Do what you’ve got to do.

It reminded me though of the workshop I did last week at a transitional living program here in Milwaukee where we were trying to talk about sex for gifts and survival needs and youth I meet often see that as both really different than the idea of prostitution and also completely normal in relationships.

Times are hard and an offer to pay someone’s rent at the cost of maybe listening to someone go on and on about themselves or doing something sexual, as long as it’s couched in the idea that “it’s not like you’re a prostitute or anything,” can sound very positive. I know youth who would not consider themselves in the sex trade at all who keep one or a few people in their pocket this way and I know youth who are formally involved in the sex trade (consciously escorting, stripping, or other ways) who do the same.

Perhaps they could be referred to as sugar daddies. Someone who’s willing to drive you around, buy you groceries, put a few bills in your hand, pay for dinner for the ability to chat you up, be seen with you, say sexual things someone would get slapped for other places, and on occasion (and as rarely as possible) do sexual things with them.

The above image is from an HIV prevention ad in Africa to address the issue of sugar daddies who offer to pay young people’s school fees and daily living expenses in exchange for sex.

Sex for gifts and sex for survival needs are more closely related than most people realize. Sometimes when something is offered as a gift it becomes more acceptable - they’re just being nice, helping me out, they aren’t making me feel needy or ashamed like the public aid office. Sometimes people judge from the outside and think she didn’t really “need” that but who’s to say?

Consider as well that people who are knowingly trying to recruit youth into the sex trade use gifts and helping someone out as a way to trick youth into believing you owe them. So someone pays my rent and buys my groceries and next week they’re saying, “hey, I helped you out. Now you need to help me out.”

We need more ways to reach youth who are trading sex or sexual stuff for money or other needs. If you develop an outreach strategy that reaches youth ‘on the track’ who are consciously involved in the sex trade, that is different than reaching youth who have a couple of guys in the neighborhood who peel off a few bills for your rent or pampers for the baby in exchange for a quick trip to the bedroom or nearest couch.

Yesterday reports all over the country detailed a national FBI sting operation allegedly targeting pimps who force youth into prostitution. However it’s clear from the numbers that the majority of arrests (at least 290) were of adult women alleged to have offered sex for money - adult women who could be 18 years old, 17 years old in some jurisdictions. Now the numbers of total arrests nationwide appear to be as high as 389.

Today’s report in the Reno Gazette Journal is illustrative on how the arrests played out.

Ten women and a 16-year-old girl have been arrested in Reno as part of a national FBI sting operation targeted at networks of pimps who force children into prostitution….Five of the adult women arrested during the two-day operation were from Oakland, while the remaining were local women, Sgt. Brent Teasley said. The Internet escorts were targeted because Teasley said the photos they post online could be deceiving, and the actual escort could turn out to be a minor.

How did this get anyone who’s pimped youth out?

The juvenile arrested was a 16-year-old Reno girl who dropped out of high school, Reno police said. Detectives called her mother that night. She told them to book her into the juvenile detention center.

Hmmm, that’s some “rescue.”

The ABA Journal cites two adult male arrests in Sacramento and four minors taken into “protective custody” (also known as jail).

In Las Vegas, some 67 arrests took place, but that number includes adults charged with selling sex, adults charged with buying sex and people identified as pimps. Some will face state charges but some will face more serious federal charges.

I find it important to note that in searching for more articles on this subject, I kept finding articles for another arrest binge federal law enforcement went on last month because of a similar number of arrests: 389 undocumented workers were arrested at the local Agriprocessors meatpacking plant.

The practice of massive arrests like this are to terrify and control people. I can assure you that both minors involved in the sex trade (including those being pimped out) and adults who are in the sex trade by their own decision or force will not feel reassured to trust law enforcement by these actions at all.

“345 arrested, kids rescued in prostitution busts,” that’s the headline from the Associated Press this evening. But when you read the article it turns out even though it’s framed as

Hundreds of people have been arrested and 21 children rescued in what the FBI is calling a five-day roundup of networks of pimps who force children into prostitution.

that 290 of those arrests are adults who are alleged to sell sex for money themselves. So how is that about arrests of pimps who presumably made up the other 55 arrests? Or maybe the youth were arrested too and those numbers are included. That’s highly likely considering the past actions of local and federal law enforcement. More from the article:

Since 2003, 308 pimps and hookers have been convicted in state and federal courts of forcing youngsters into prostitution, and 433 child victims have been rescued, Mueller said.

The cities targeted in this week’s sting are: Atlanta; Boston; Dallas; Detroit; Houston; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Miami; Montgomery County, Md.; Oakland, Calif.; Phoenix; Reno, Nev.; Sacramento, Calif.; Tampa; Toledo, Ohio and Washington.

I haven’t had the chance to post yet about the Allied Media Conference but one major theme of the conference was to challenge corporate media, especially the news and support communities to make our own media and report our own news. I’ve been increasingly uncomfortable with posting news items I find online about teens in the sex trade because they are so often like this article - covering up more than they reveal.

Ask yourself why someone who is 19 years old is supposed to be convicted of federal sex trafficking laws and someone who is 16 doing the same thing is portrayed needing to be rescued? Mind you, she’ll most likely end up in jail too on a material witness hold or charges to hold her in detention.

This is dangerous territory we’re in. This is nothing to celebrate.

I’m on my way to Detroit for the Allied Media Conference. I always learn so much at this conference with practical hands-on workshops, great analysis in presentations and amazing grassroots media all collected into one space.

Depending on access I might update with reports while I’m at the conference or via twitter. Or I might wait until I get back to post a report.