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Research, Advocacy & Community Outrage

Research, Advocacy & Community Outrage. A Case Study: Building a State-wide Response for Commercially Sexually Exploited Girls. Overview of Workshop . History of Issue in Georgia Building on Community Outrage Research Process Advocacy Process Breakdown of Strategies Demand Strategies

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Research, Advocacy & Community Outrage

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  1. Research, Advocacy & Community Outrage A Case Study: Building a State-wide Response for Commercially Sexually Exploited Girls

  2. Overview of Workshop • History of Issue in Georgia • Building on Community Outrage • Research Process • Advocacy Process • Breakdown of Strategies • Demand Strategies • Supply Strategies • Sustainability Strategies

  3. Objectives of the Workshop • Understanding of research methodologies to measure scope of CSEC supply and demand • Understanding of legislative and policy issues that affect efficacy of any CSEC initiative • Understand scope/depth/challenges of community coalition building necessary for a CSEC initiative

  4. History • 2000 - Misdemeanor to pimp minor in Georgia • 2001 - Passed law making it a felony to pimp minor • 2002 - Angela’s House opened; Rico Trials Take Place • 2003 – Juvenile Justice Fund received a multi-year federal grant (through 2007) • 2006 - Georgia first Human Trafficking law passed • 2007 - Social Action Philanthropist in Atlanta funded A Future. Not A Past. • 2009 - GOCF takes on the prostitution of children, GCCO is created • 2011 - HB 200 passed – amended GA Human Trafficking Law and made stronger penalties for traffickers while recognizing victims should be treated as victims, not criminals

  5. Community Organization

  6. Community Collaboration • First steps at collaboration • CSEC Network • Loosely joined to eliminate duplication of efforts • Coordinated for collective impact • CSEC Task Force/GOCF • 4 Sub-groups: • Prevention, Prosecution, Protection • Logic model to guide strategy • Agreement on shared outcomes

  7. Advantages Most issues cross sectors in either their cause or their effect Impact greater with collaboration More likely to achieve systemic change Easier to achieve legislative success Challenges Ego! Keeping eye on issue and not who gets the credit With increasing success harder to organize Challenges increase with increasing size and success Advantages/Challenges

  8. How We Did It • Starting Point • Private sector vs Public Sector Georgia started private and then moved to public • Foundational Activities • Research • Legislative Advocacy • Support services for victims • Training infrastructure Law Enforcement, Schools/Mental Health, General Public

  9. Research

  10. Research • Framed the issue as a business with a supply side and a demand side (2007) • Initially measured the scope of the supply-side of the problem in GA • Developed a tracking methodology and measured supply side quarterly • Measured demand side after GOCF picked up the cost of the supply side (2009)

  11. Initial Research:Guiding Principles • No way to study the problem directly • For safety of both researchers and girls • CSEC by definition is a commercial practice • Operates under basic rules that govern all businesses • Every girl must be “findable” • Girls are assets to the exploiters • If not findable then they are no longer assets • Means by which they are found is fourfold: • Street • Internet • Escort services • High-end hotel

  12. Research:Limitations • Does not count underground commercial sexual exploitation • Disproportionately affects Latinas and Asian girls • Only counts streets known to be ‘hot spots’ • Refine the methodology as we are notified of other streets that are active

  13. Research:Age Estimation

  14. Research: Assumptions • Turning probabilities into certainties

  15. Supply-side Tracking

  16. Demand Fuels Supply Facilitators DEMAND SUPPLY Buyers CSEC Victims CSEC Victims

  17. Georgia Demand Study METHODOLOGY • 218 surveys over a 2-month period in fall 2009 • Each interview recorded and coded for analysis • Data from Georgia tracking study (GOCF, 2009) • (i.e. average # of unique ads on same sites, average % of these ads that are for young females, probability that she is under 18) • Frequency of purchases and percentage of johns (34%) that use these sites (Durchshlag & Goswami, 2008) • See www.afuturenotapast.org for the full report

  18. Quantifying Demand • 7,200 men per month knowingly or unknowingly buy sex from adolescent girls in Georgia • 10% are openly, actively and directly seeking an underage female • Remaining 90% trying to remain willfully ignorant of the age • Embedded study with escalated warnings • 47% went through all three warnings

  19. Mapping Demand

  20. Demand Demographics Ages of Men Who Respond to Advertisements for Sex with Young Females • 40% Age 30-39 • 34% Under age 30 • 22% Age 40 or over

  21. Advocacy

  22. Laying the Groundwork • Build a grassroots network • Review state’s CSEC legal framework • Shared Hope’s Protected Innocence Project • Educate your legislature & identify a champion • Choose realistic legislative priorities

  23. Georgia’s Process • 2001: Pimping a minor becomes a felony • 2007: $140,000 for a new Georgia Regional Assessment Center • 2008: First lobby day, $560,000 additional funds to the GRAC, Senate Resolution 445 for a Joint Study Commission; lobby day 50 advocates • 2009: Second lobby day, SB 69 to expand mandatory child abuse reporting; lobby day exceeds 250 advocates • 2010: SB 304, lobby day exceeds 400 advocates • 2011: HB200, lobby day exceed 600 advocates • 2012: Moment of gratitude

  24. Linking Research, Advocacy & Community Outrage • White Rose Campaign • We Urge You Campaign 1) www.twitter.com/afuturenotapast 2) www.facebook.com/pages/A-Future-Not-A-Past/ 3)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe0Mlp6FA8Y

  25. Preserving Unity • SB 304 • To connect victims to services rather than incarceration • Preserves the child’s eligibility for victim compensation funds • Bill assigned to the Judiciary Committee • Controversy and compromise

  26. Strategies Demand-Side

  27. Demand Strategies: Legislation • Use Shared Hope’s analysis as basis • Review state laws for pimps, traffickers, panderers, facilitators • Review sentencing & mandatory reporting • Review provisions for asset forfeiture • Review appropriate fines/taxes • Choose priorities that are realistic for climate in your state

  28. Demand Strategies:Law Enforcement • Increase # of arrests and prosecutions state-wide • LE Roundtables • LE Training on GA 2006 Human Trafficking Law and then HB 200 • LE Outreach & training on identifying and working with victim • Train the Trainer for state-wide penetration • AFNAP has trained over 3,000 in 51 counties

  29. Demand Strategies:Law Enforcement • Law Enforcement Training Process • Develop and accredit curriculum (POST credits) • Train an experienced pool of certified instructors • Create training notice and contact Training Coordinator at local Sheriff’s Offices and PD state-wide • Schedule training and assign instructor • Promote training to surrounding agencies • Track and evaluate outcomes

  30. Mapping Progress

  31. Demand Strategies:Prosecutors • In partnership with Barton Child Law and Policy Center and GOCF, the Prosecutor’s Tool Kit was developed • AFNAP used this toolkit and a GOCF grant to develop our Prosecutors’ Training • Have trained district attorneys in all judicial circuits across GA

  32. Demand Strategies:Business • Want more than just token engagement • Are working with receptive hotels to develop a plan that they can support • Junior League is partnering with us to bring appropriate businesses to table with action items

  33. Demand Strategies:Community Awareness • Education of the jury pool • Allows prosecutors to spend more time on convicting perpetrators • Community Ambassador Trainings

  34. Demand Strategies:Billboard Campaign

  35. Strategies Supply-Side

  36. Supply Strategies:Legislative • Definition of child abuse • Prostitution Statute • Legal ability to access victim comp funds • Budget policy/allocation of funds

  37. Supply Strategies:Victim Services • Educate community and law enforcement that girls are victims and not criminals • Build capacity for restoration • Assessment Phase • Regional Assessment Center • Treatment Phase • Living Waters for Girls • Wellspring Living for Girls • Aftercare Phase

  38. Supply Strategies:State-wide Response RESEARCH + ADVOCACY + COMMUNITY OUTRAGE = SYSTEM OF CARE

  39. Supply Strategies:System of Care • Child/victim centric • Multi-disciplinary safety net • Widening the referral funnel • Role of mandatory reporters • Training of mandatory reporters

  40. Supply Strategies:Community Awareness • Keeps the issue alive at the grassroots level • Provides ongoing volunteer energy for existing initiatives • Provides support for victims in various safe houses

  41. Strategies Sustainability

  42. Sustainability:Funding • Must build local and state public will • Must be flexible public/private funding • Federal • TVPRA 2011 has not passed • Federal funding streams for trafficking victims? • State • In GA, this meant building it into the state budget in various places: DJJ and CPS • Local • Having committed private funders that can provide funding while you build the infrastructure. • Safety Gap Fund

  43. Sustainability:Policy & Legislative • Must build training into various state and local agencies that intersect with potential CSEC victims • Recognition of chronic nature of problem means that agencies will continue to train their personnel after time when you are doing it • Laws continue to hold perpetrators accountable

  44. Sustainability:Prevention • Prevention not usually seen as a sustainability strategy • Strong prevention interrupts the supply side of the business as much as strong laws interrupt the demand side • Must support preventive programs within any community

  45. Summary • Determine scope of the problem in your community (Research) • Review existing laws and determine additions/changes that are needed (Advocacy) • Review existing policy & procedure within law enforcement, CPS, juvenile justice system, etc. • Plan for changes in laws and policies • Raise public awareness of issue (Community Outrage) • STATE-WIDE CSEC RESPONSE

  46. Questions? Jennifer Swain jswain@youth-spark.org404.613.4555 YouthSpark (formerly the Juvenile Justice Fund) Stopping the prostitution of children by decreasing the demand through our A Future. Not A Past. Campaign and reducing supply by prevention through our Voices Project. afuturenotapast.org youth-spark.org

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