Youth sports shape our future by teaching our kids kindness, teamwork, responsibility, confidence, leadership and so much more. I am proud to be involved with Rancho Buena Vista Little League and I feel we are truly the premier league in North County.
If you are a local business, we would LOVE your support - a financial sponsorship would be great! You will gain exposure to hundreds of families! We are also asking for donations of gift certificates or items for our annual Dinner Dance and Auction. Please contact me with your donation - no amount too small!
Not a topic I typically write about, but I hope you will take a few minutes to read and share this important information! I belong to a non-profit group Soroptimist International, the Oceanside-Carlsbad club. We are a group of business and professional women working to improve the lives of women and girls locally and globally. January 11th has been designated as National Human Trafficking Awareness, and I am dedicating my blog to increasing this awareness.
Wikipedia defines Human Trafficking as the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery. This has become an increasing problem and every year, human traffickers generate billions of dollars in profits by victimizing millions of people around the world, and here in the United States. Human trafficking is considered to be one of the fastest growing criminal industries in the world, second only to illegal drugs.
There are many misconceptions about Human Trafficking in the US; That it is human smuggling, that it only involves non-US or foreign nationals, that it only happens in border states, that Human Trafficking victims are probably better off in the US than in their home country and that this could never happen to me on anyone I know. THESE ARE ALL FALSE! There is not a consistent type or profile of a trafficking victim. Victims are men or women, adults or children, and foreign nationals or U.S. citizens. Some are well-educated, while others have no formal education. Some immigrant victims are currently in the U.S. legally, and others are undocumented. Some form of vulnerability tends to be the common thread amongst all different trafficking victims. Trafficking is happening in your state, your city and many times right in your backyard without you knowing it!
One of the largest growing segments of Human Trafficking, is the enslavement of women and girls for the commercial sex-trade industry. Statistics vary slightly, but about 80% of the victims trafficked are for use in the sex-trade industry, and almost 80% of those are women and girls. Sex slavery is caused by gender inequality that allows the demand for sex slaves to flourish—the belief that there is no harm to purchasing the bodies of women and girls. Girls as young as 12 and 13 years old are being forced into sexual slavery and prostitution. Here is another short video: http://youtu.be/ZOIPd5a5UaQ
What's next? What can you do? First off, take another look at how you view the commercial sex-trade industry and prostitution - it is NOT a victimless crime. These girls do NOT want to do this, they are NOT better off with all that money and they are NOT in it by choice! Secondly, educate yourself about the signs of trafficked victims, and have The National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) hotline handy 1-888-3737-888. Finally, get the word out, share with others, talk to your kids and grand kids and help them recognize the signs of slavery and trafficking, join a local organization like Soroptimist International, or Amnesty International. We can take back our country, even if it is by saving one person at a time.
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