Have You Seen Me? Human Trafficking in NJ

Human Trafficking in NJ is a major problem.

We are a portal state with a very diverse population. Everyone in NJ looks like they belong here. No one necessarily sticks out based on how they look.

New Jersey is a major transportation hub with several seaports, a major airport, and we are positioned between the largest metropolitan area in the United States: New York City and Philadelphia, the fifth largest city in the country.

The Garden State is the eleventh most populated state and is very vulnerable to Human Trafficking.

Human SEX Traffickers are targeting your children. New Jersey children. These monsters use algorithms to spy on your children in social media. They know when your child is on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and all the other social media apps. They know when your daughter and your sons have had a fight with their boyfriend or girlfriend, or when they had an argument with you, when they get bullied, flunk a test, lose a game or get kicked off the team. They find your babies in a vulnerable place, and that’s when then they make their move. They use social media to get to your children. Computers, smart phones, and tablets can all be hacked. The Chromebook issued to your child in school has minimal filtering. These same devices are where your child can view the most violent pornography imaginable, perhaps even of trafficked children being exploited and raped repeatably. Because of the social media world we live in today, our children are more vulnerable than ever. Most children who are trafficked are trapped[GQ1] between 11 and 13 years old.

The Center for Garden State Families is taking a stand against the human trafficking epidemic. Recently the Center for Garden State Families participated in a S.O.A.P. Outreach training sponsored by the Church and Community Abolition Network (CAN). What is S.O.A.P.? It stands for Save Our Adolescents for Prostitution and it is literally a bar of soap with a sticker.

Nearly one million of bars of soap have been distributed. Find out more here https://www.soapproject.org/ The outreach began with a morning of training at Mountaintop Church in Mt. Olive, NJ. After the initial orientation, we mobilized to distribute our soap products to hotels in and around Bethlehem, PA. The Musik Festival in Bethlehem every year has over one million people in attendance over 10 days. The hotels were filled for miles around. The sad truth is that where there are large events like this, there are also victims of human trafficking being exploited. Multiple groups took a Saturday to travel to area hotels. One hotel worker told us when we dropped off the SOAP and information “You don’t want to know what I see. Thank you.” The results were promising. 97% of the hotels accepted the packets and bars of soap. 100 hotels were reached, 135 volunteers participated, we received 274 thank you’ s from hotel staff. And best of all, hotel staff recognized at least 3 children from the missing persons poster!

PREVENTION

The Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Prevention Act is designed to protect children form human traffickers and reduce their access to pornography through online portals.

This legislation is sponsored by Senator Steve Oroho and Senator Nilsa Cruz Perez S540 and Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz A878.

• Human Trafficking is the 2nd-leading crime in the world — including the U.S.[1]

• An estimated 1.3 million go missing in the U.S. every year, and 33,000 remain missing at any given time.[2][3]

• If a missing or homeless child is not recovered within the first 48 hours, there is a 1 in 3 chance they will be trafficked or solicited for sex.[1]

• 12-14 years of age is the average age of entry into child “prostitution” in the U.S.[4]

• If a person under the age of 18 is involved in commercial sex, they are being trafficked.[5]

• If a person is over 18 and has a pimp, they are being trafficked.[5]

• The majority of trafficking occurs in hotels and motels.[6]

• Although there is always a demand for sex, sporting events and large events that draw a great deal of people – particularly men – increase the demand for sex-for-sale.[7]

• 77% of all child trafficking victims will go on to participate in adult prostitution.[8]

[1] https://www.unicefusa.org/sites/default/files/assets/pdf/End-Child-Trafficking-One-Pager.pdf

[2] https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/196465.pdf

[3] http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/09/23/missing-persons-children-numbers/16110709/

[4] https://web.archive.org/web/20131115060108/http://www.sp2.upenn.edu/restes/CSEC_Files/Complete_CSEC_020220.pdf

[5] https://www.nij.gov/topics/crime/human-trafficking/pages/welcome.aspx

[6] https://polarisproject.org/blog/2016/02/10/human-trafficking-hotel-industry

[7] https://www.mccaininstitute.org/countering-human-trafficking-at-large-sporting-events/

[8]https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Celia_Williamson/publication/233376640_Domestic_Minor_Sex_Trafficking_A_Network_of_Underground_Players_in_the_Midwest/links/53e0dc9c0cf24f90ff60bd88.pdf