Such another beautiful day and the Clematis has popped open! Golly, I love Spring and just so lucky to have this glorious weather. I'm back in my fabulous cabin today and sewing up more pretty masks, I made 30+ yesterday.... It's a good cause but I'm struggling with them because I do find it a bit boring lol...😬 looking forward to making some creative bags again soon and I'm loving the fact that I've also rediscovered my love of reading and I'm going through lots of books! How about you guys in these weird times? Happy Tuesday lovely ones. Much love, Jo x ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ #theseasidesew #sheshed #girlshed #mycabin #myworkspace #clematisflower #coastalliving #mygardentoday #florallove #workingfromhome #stayhome #happysewing #tuin #itsalifestyle #mumsofinstagram #mumssupportingmums #wherethecreatjvitybegins #ithappenshere #mycreativebiz #mycreativespace (at The Seaside Sew) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-9NILYlaro/?igshid=cgf3rrwk7aq0

#Repost @missingkids • • • • • • ➡️➡️ “Child sex trafficking is a heinous crime that has a devastating impact on the victims. My job includes reviewing CyberTipline reports from the public about possible child sex trafficking. So, I ask that you never assume what you have seen is insignificant.” Jayleen - Analyst, Child Sex Trafficking Team . . . #EndHumanTrafficking #HumanTrafficking #ItHappensHere #ItsNotOkay #EndIt #WeCanEndIt #NeverStopSearching #ShineALightOnFreedom #RiseUp #hiddeninplainview #DemandChange #SlavesNoMore #AwarenessIsKey#DoSomething #NoSuchThing #kidsarenotforsale #PimpsAreLiars #NoSuchThing #EndDemand #EndTrafficking #CanYouSeeMe #HumanRights #FightHumanTrafficking @instagrambodybuilding https://www.instagram.com/p/B43nalenDtr/?igshid=aeqzaeforxf3

💯🖕LMMFAO🤣😂 #calmtfdown #crackiechan #sadbuttrue💯 #ithappenshere https://www.instagram.com/p/B3F_vH5BN2bTaU6Opj93r9TkF_-R0O1nFcxxQ40/?igshid=1pcrbz0fwrjuc

T-shirts for #ItHappensHere a Virginia Tech student organization dedicated to preventing and raising awareness of sex trafficking: https://www.facebook.com/ItHappensHereUS #sextrafficking #humantrafficking #screenprinting (at Blacksburg, Virginia) https://www.instagram.com/p/BvpRFYVBCJX/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=68xwtlcw11tq

I didn't know

TRIGGER WARNING: These stories may contain explicit descriptions of rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, relationship abuse, and other forms of personal violation that may be triggering for survivors of sexual violence.

I didn’t know I was raped. I didn’t know, until years later when age and wisdom opened my eyes to what had happened. I was in a violent and abusive relationship for a while at college. Frequently my partner would force me to have sex with him, I didn’t put up much of a fight because it was a marginally preferable alternative than the physical violence, which would often follow anyway. I didn’t know that it was okay to say ‘no’ even if you were in a relationship, I didn’t know that having sex with your partner even if you didn’t want to was rape, I didn’t know how to say 'no’. It took me years to be able to say that my ex-partner raped me. I could always quite easily say 'my ex was violent’, or 'I experienced domestic violence,’ even 'my ex beat me up’ - it seemed as though this was easier to say than 'I was raped’. Even now, years later, the word sticks in my throat, as though I wasn’t really a victim because I somehow let him do it. I never reported any of it to the police, though my neighbours frequently called them during violent incidents, I would always deny anything had happened. Eventually, I ended the relationship. It wasn’t easy to get away from him, and it took another year after the break up before he finally left me alone for good. Looking back, I just feel angry and disgusted with myself and with him. 

November 2012

TRIGGER WARNING: These stories may contain explicit descriptions of rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, relationship abuse, and other forms of personal violation that may be triggering for survivors of sexual violence.

I went out with some people from my course for a Christmas thing, we went to the markets and drank mulled wine, hot chocolate with amaretto and warm cider. I was drunk too quickly but felt safe with the people I was with. At some point in the evening, someone suggested we go to a club that we always went to, an indie disco that played all my kind of music. Although I was wasted, I was happy to go along with everyone else, I just knew I didn’t want to drink anymore. But that was fine. I can dance without drinking. In the club I lost my friends really quickly, the place was packed, drunk, sweaty bodies everyone, jumping up and down to an anthemic indie track. I remember when he approached me, he was big, tall and well built - he carried himself with a certain aggression that I can still feel now. He asked if he could buy me a drink and I said ‘no’, I knew I’d had too much and I knew, already, that even if I hadn’t, I didn’t want a drink from him. I didn’t want to be obligated to talk to him, or give him my attention. I walked away, moving through the club to try to spot my friends on the dancefloor, I was tired, drunk and I knew I needed to get home. Soon, he was with me again, offering me a bottle of water, I’m not sure what happened next. The next thing I remember is I’m lying face down on a bed, in a room that I don’t recognise, there are smells I don’t recognise and he is on top of me. Inside me. I am repulsed and terrified, gripped by fear and an overwhelming urge to be sick.  I try to speak but I don’t think I can, I try to move, but I don’t think I can. He carries on, he tells me to stop moving and to be quiet. When he is finished, he asks me to give him oral. He grabs my head violent and pushes me down, I just do it because I’m scared and I hate myself for not resisting. Afterwards he brings me water and calls me a cab. A couple of weeks later, I get a text from an unknown number, asking if I ‘want to meet up for a repeat’. I’m sure it’s him. I don’t reply. I am so disgusted and repulsed by my behaviour, that I complied, that somehow he has my number - did I give it to him? Why did I give it to him? I got STD tests very soon after and was all clear, I’ve never told anyone. And I don’t think I ever will. I’m too embarrassed and ashamed of myself. 

Happy Long Weekend all! Hope you catch as many great sunset pics as Neil! @Regrann from @neil_zee - Away from the mountains, away from the crowds, away from the smoke. We are in our happy place in the #cypresshills. #explorealberta #sunset #ithappenshere #canadianbadlands#ReGram (at Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park)

#Repost @thedrybar with @get_repost ・・・ All hail the Southern Belle collection. 🙌Southern Belle Volume-Boosting Powder is the first of this collection to be used on DRY hair! Drop a heart if you’ve already tried this baby. 💛 . . #gotvolume #pumpupthevolume #liftoff #southernbelle #drybarhonolulu #kakaako #kakaakolife #productiseverything #blowout #blowoutstyles #honoluluhawaii #honolulu #thedrybar #barflymembership #hawaiidrybar #drybar #ifeelpretty #lookgoodfeelgood #bebeautiful #instabeautiful #hawaiistylist #comein #getitwhileitshot #destination #ithappenshere #style #hairstyle (at Drybar) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0t1xqrDEVT/?igshid=1flccbkg9uicg

Hope is all they have With out HOPE there is no Justice Hope keeps them alive #Repost @missingkids • • • • • • Hope Bags provide survivors of child #sextrafficking with the basic items they need for those first few hours and days after they are recovered. To learn how you can help visit: missingkids.org/theissues/trafficking . . . #HumanTrafficking #ItHappensHere #ItsNotOkay #EndIt #WeCanEndIt #NeverStopSearching #ShineALightOnFreedom #RiseUp #hiddeninplainview#DemandChange #SlavesNoMore#AwarenessIsKey #DoSomething #NoSuchThing #kidsarenotforsale #PimpsAreLiars #EndDemand #CanYouSeeMe #HumanRights #FightHumanTrafficking #EveryChildFree #EndTrafficking https://www.instagram.com/p/B5HA6A0n3hn/?igshid=qglfczlxrjxn

          While young children are being taken advantage of by being drugged, raped and exploited for money, while people are being labored trafficked; we look the other way. We look the other way to what is considered as modern-day slavery because we teach ourselves to think “It can’t be happening here.”

           So if you are one of those people who think that it is not happening here or you are one of those persons who do not know about human trafficking, let me educate you by giving you some numbers from the National human trafficking hotline and Polaris’s BeFree textline. These are resources that provide survivors of human trafficking vital support and a variety of options to get help and stay safe from their abusers. They are the largest available database on human trafficking in the United States.

           If we take a look at a ten-year timeline between 2007 and 2016 there as been 31,659 case of human trafficking that were reported by reaching out to the National human trafficking hotline and Polaris’s BeFree Textline. In 2016, the number is 7,572, which is an increase of 35% compare to 2015.  Out of these 7,572 survivors 5,551 (73%) are victims of sex trafficking, 1,057 (14%) are victims of Labor trafficking, 268 (4%) are victims of both sex and labor trafficking and 696 (9%) did not specified the abused they endured. 

Every year those numbers have risen. How? Why? Because we let them.

Super Bowl and Child Sex Trafficking: Facts and Fiction

By Staca Shehan and Barbara Worth

If only everyone traveling to the San Francisco Bay area for Super Bowl 50 were only going there to watch the game.

If only.

Away from family, friends, and work, sexual predators are well aware that their actions can more easily go unnoticed. Some of them seize the opportunity to buy children for sex. Traffickers know this. They crassly regard events attended by large numbers of people as business opportunities and they bring missing children to the host city and surrounding communities to meet the increased demand for commercial sex with children. But this doesn’t mean the Super Bowl is the only, or even primary, venue for child sex trafficking in the United States. That is a common misconception and one of many surrounding the issue of child sex trafficking. For the record, The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children seeks to dispel:

Five Myths about Child Sex Trafficking

1.       Myth: Child sex trafficking in the U.S. is only a problem during large sports events, such as the Super Bowl. 

We know that child sex trafficking is demand driven. Large events bring many people together, which can mean an increase in demand. We also know that traffickers follow the money, and therefore bring victims to these events to capitalize on the possible money to be made. Traffickers have concentrated opportunities to sell children aged 17 or younger for sex at sports events, business conventions, and tourist attractions – any time or place that attracts a lot of men. But reports to NCMEC reveal the sale of children for sex occurs year-round, 24/7, in cities and towns across the U.S. and around the world.

2.       Myth: At the Super Bowl, 10,000 children are likely to be trafficked for sex.

There is very little data about the quantity of children victimized or what the actual increase is during the Super Bowl. It is damaging to the cause when inaccurate statistics like this are used. What we do know is sex traffickers and predators commit their crimes in a dark, secretive world and often employ tactics that include violence, abuse, torture and manipulation to control their victims and prevent disclosure. So, we really can’t know how many children will be trafficked at events like the Super Bowl. However, there is enough data available to prove trafficking is a consistent problem throughout the year, that children (especially runaways) are at risk, and that they need our help. For example, in 2015, 1 in 5 of the more than 11,800 runaways reported missing to NCMEC was a likely child sex trafficking victim. That’s up from 1 in 6 in 2014. Our figures might not account for every case of child sexual exploitation but they do establish a link between runaways and thousands of children sold for sex nationwide.

3.       Myth: Children and teens involved in commercial sex are “willing participants” who “choose” to trade sex for something of value.

According to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, children who are exploited through commercial sex are viewed as victims of a severe form of trafficking. This issue is about traffickers preying on the vulnerabilities of kids. It’s not an issue of choice. Children are targeted, tricked and traumatized. Traffickers target vulnerable children and lure them into sex trafficking using physical and psychological manipulation, and they sometimes resort to violence. Any child may be vulnerable to such a person who promises to meet his or her emotional and physical needs. Often traffickers will create a seemingly loving or caring relationship with their victim in order to establish trust and allegiance. This manipulative relationship tries to ensure the youth will remain loyal to the exploiter even in the face of severe victimization. These relationships may begin online before progressing to a real-life encounter. The buying and selling of children is not an issue of prostitution. It’s an issue of abuse, torture and violence.  

4.       Myth: Only girls can be trafficked for sex and they are usually younger than 10.

When thinking about child sex trafficking, the imagery that comes to mind or that is utilized in the media, on TV and in films often includes a 6-to-10-year-old girl. While that has occurred, it does not accurately reflect the totality of what we are seeing. Both girls and boys, including LGBTQ youth, are victims of child sex trafficking. While most known victims are girls, at NCMEC we have seen a rise in the number of boys being exploited through child sex trafficking. Historically boys made up less than 1 percent of child sex trafficking victims known to NCMEC. However, in 2015 we saw this reach 4.3 percent. We are also seeing evidence that traffickers are targeting teens. Today, the average age of child sex trafficking victims reported missing to NCMEC is 15 and one-half. Children are recruited, bought and sold in rural and urban communities in every state in this country. Victims could be anyone – your sister, neighbor, or nephew. Knowledge and awareness are key in keeping your loved ones safer.

5.       Myth: Child victims of sex trafficking can walk away, leave or easily escape whenever they want.  

No, they can’t. Traffickers are predators who seek out vulnerable victims. While any youth can be targeted by a pimp, runaways or any children experiencing trouble at home are especially vulnerable. Traffickers know these children have emotional and physical needs that are often not being met, and they use this to their advantage. It can take a great deal of time and effort to break down a victim’s natural resistance and suspicion. Given the potential monetary reward, traffickers are willing to make that investment – buying the children gifts, providing a place to stay, promising a loving relationship – before revealing their true intent. Frequently victims do not realize the deceptive nature of their trafficker’s interest in them, viewing their pimp as a caretaker and/or boyfriend. A pimp’s use of psychological manipulation causes the child to truly believe the pimp cares for his or her well-being. That coupled with physical control, violence and abuse can make a victim feel trapped and powerless to leave. This “trauma bond” is difficult to break and specialized intervention and services are often necessary.

NCMEC applauds the hotel workers around the Super Bowl who are training their staff to identify possible trafficking incidents. We commend the local and state law enforcement and FBI child exploitation task forces for taking a more victim-centered approach by making the connection to support, safety and stability offered through service providers a primary concern. We are grateful to the victim service providers who are already at work near the stadium, offering the victims hope and a way out. Each of you can also get involved this weekend and every day throughout the year. Travelers to the Super Bowl and other events are urged to report suspected trafficking to law enforcement, hotel management, and NCMEC (1-800-THE-LOST, 1-800-843-5678; http://www.cybertipline.com.) Book your travel arrangements with hotels and companies whose web sites confirm they train their employees to recognize and report trafficking according to ECPAT’s Tourism Child Protection Code of Conduct http://www.ecpatusa.org/traveler.

Child sex trafficking is a huge, complex problem, but even one person’s efforts can save a child. If you see something suspicious, report it.  And be sure your own children know that there are people in the world who don’t have their best interests at heart.

*Trigger warning*

Sexual assault happens here, at Brandeis University. For more information about the Brandeis Rape Crisis Center or National Sexual Assault Awareness Month, please visit brandeis.edu/rcc or nsvrc.org/saam.

Via the Brandeis Rape Crisis Center

This is what happens when I think about sex trafficking in the Kentucky, Jan van Eyck, and the sea. #painting #ithappenshere #housepaint #wip

I know I'm not the only one

TRIGGER WARNING: These stories may contain explicit descriptions of rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, relationship abuse, and other forms of personal violation that may be triggering for survivors of sexual violence.

So I’m not the only girl in my on my course who this has happened to. I have two other friends (that I know of) who this, or something similar, has happened to. I was date raped. Went out with a few friends, did a few Sambucas, but normally I can drink around 4/5 of those without feeling a thing, and we’d only done a couple. Anyway me and my friend got chatting to this guy at the bar and then to be honest I don’t remember anything until I woke up around 3am with him having sex with me. I didn’t really even look at his face. I just remember his shirt. I could see I was at my friend’s house, in her room on the floor. I pushed him off, and I mean what I did next isn’t great but I just got up and ran and didn’t wake my friend because I just wasn’t thinking, I couldn’t see her and I had to get out of there. I called her a few times when I was outside but she didn’t answer. So then I went back, I really didn’t want to, but I was more scared for my friend. So I went back and rang her bell a few times, she answered and said the guy was gone. She couldn’t really remember what he looked like either but the next day we went down to the police station. I had to do some tests and the policewoman was kind of insensitive, she said stuff like, “did his business”. But I’m glad I reported it even though nothing has come of it.