RESOURCES FOR SEX TRAFFICKING VICTIMS
When our group started this movement to have sex trafficking not only recognized as "real" by this country, but also to have systems set up in place to help us get away from the trafficker, and find recovery from our experiences, we of course were considered the "go to" person for information because we had started the first hotline for adults to call in for help.
Now anyone can put together a list of drug treatment programs. However, the best drug treatment program in this country doesn't mean it's good for us. Let me give you an example of what I mean. There is a woman now dead because of Chris Batham. http://www.laweekly.com/news/a-drug-rehab-mogul-built-an-empire-that-s-now-being-probed-by-the-fbi-da-and-state-of-california-6390686 Now I"m the first to say that this article could totally be a smear campaign against the guy so I'm not publishing this simply because of what the article said about him. I'm publishing it because of what women who have been inside the program who wish to remain "anonymous" have told me about the program.
When a man, or woman, goes into drug treatment, they're usually in a locked down facility where they're sleeping and bathing. I've heard horror stories of women who have been in the kitchen making dinner when they've been assaulted by one of the staff who then threatens to throw them out into the street if they report what happened to anyone. I've heard about other clients who sneak into their rooms at night and rape them who the next day go "she's just a whore are you going to believe her?" when the lights go on the next day. Some of you may remember Covenant House had an accusation against Father Ritter who was supposedly molesting the male prostitutes in his program for over 10 years before getting him out of their program.
Now let me ask you - would you leave a child alone with a daycare provider who was a convicted child rapist? Of course not. There's special screening in place for pedophiles because it's a known accepted fact that they seek out jobs where they can work with children to get access to their "drug of choice". However, for some predators their "drug of choice" is to be a rapist, or molester, or even a trafficker, of someone and what better choice than a person who is going into drug treatment who is a "known" prostitute? With not one single rape conviction I've seen yet in this country where a prostitute has won a judgment against her rapist to date I'm aware of - it's open season on us. We don't have special screenings in place and I certainly can't state publicly, or in print, that I've got 10 members of SWA who have reported to me they got raped by a certain person at a treatment program, or within a jail, or even personally for that matter. But it doesn't mean I don't know it.
I did rescues of women who were being trafficked by Snoop Dogg during his now confessed 2003 tour. I have evidence to back up this claim including evidence of the person who first called me to help the first case because the police didn't want the press of getting involved. However, I couldn't say one word about what I saw or knew until HE DID in his "Rolling Stone" confession because then I'd be opening myself up for a slander/defamation lawsuit against his lawyers. So I can know about something to be totally true - doesn't mean I can print anything or even say anything about it to outsiders.
Meaning I knew about Chris Batham before this article came out. Meaning I'd heard the reports about Father Ritter before he was accused publicly. So when I was operating the ONLY hotline for adults in this country to call for help - I was able to make some pretty good calls on good places to send someone for help. Meaning I have a personal rule we go by with our hotline - we don't refer anyone to another person or program unless we've (1) seen it with out own eyes, and (2) personally talked to people who have gone all the way through the program or sessions, classes, etc. so we know what everything is like behind closed doors and once the press and public have gone home.
So when we referred someone to a residential program for example - not only would we see that person graduate said program, but we knew they'd be safe from harm by the staff, and that they would get what was represented to them they'd get, and that things were "kosher". For example, we didn't refer someone wanting to leave the porn industry to a therapist who would offer to take out the sessions "in trade", or the counselor who would expose himself to his clients, or the psychiatrist who would offer to give drug prescriptions to their clients who would give him blowjobs.
But since Polaris has come on the scene - we can't compete with their billboards so what winds up happening is we don't get all the calls for all the adults who need help any longer. Many callers are now shown resource guides such as https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/orr/traffickingservices_0.pdf Now the problem I'm hearing with resource directories like this is that they're very incomplete. On top of that, those who are giving referrals are often doing so from a "faith based" perspective (meaning within their church), and/or their own views if they're trying to honor the TVRA of 2003.
What happens is I'm hearing people tell me that they are "turning away survivors because there is no beds or housing" for example. I'm hearing they are being denied treatment because there is "no beds". What's even worse is when I'm hearing the horror stories again. I've got a woman for example in Virginia reporting to me that her doctor is not only pressuring her for sex, he is literally using her as a subject for a research project on B12 vitamins in survivors. So he's not advising her of things she may need medically because he's controlling her for this research. Don't get me started on the horror stories I heard about Mercy Ministries and their "safe house" which put up an adoption application right on their "safe house" website.
What ethical program would even THINK of asking a woman to make a life effecting decision like adopting out her child when she's just been put into a "safe house"? Meaning she probably has less than a year clean from drugs. She hasn't even been on her own two feet yet in her own life yet. She's going to be in extreme PTSD if not dissociation and someone is asking her to adopt out her child permanently? There's no way I would ask a survivor with less than one year clean to make such a permanent and painful decision. Sure enough there was an expose about how abusive they were in the media - but we weren't referring anyone to them on our hotline because we saw all these red flags before the media did!
I keep getting these calls from people saying they "can't find resources". I look on this directory and I don't see many resources there I know exist. Good ones. As for us, professor Sharon Oselin finished her 10 year study into the top three programs in the country and not only did we come out on top, but we're also the only program in her study STILL OPERATING! We have plenty of testimonials up at www.leavingtheliferadio.com
So I go to contact the people at this office to see about getting included in this directory - and guess what I find? Katherin Chon is Director of the Offices of Trafficking in Persons http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/endtrafficking/about/leadership Who is that?
She's the wife of Bradley Myles, who is the director of Polaris.
That explains a lot. Seems like a huge conflict of interest also if you ask me. Especially considering Polaris is now on the survivor council being put together funded by our government to advise on who gets funding and support in this country. Especially since our hotline, and program, have been excluded from the directory used by social services in this country (ironic since we were the first ones training them on how to work with these victims back in the 1980's), and since we have a program that is the largest, and oldest, one in this country, who has generated the most numbers of recovering survivors, who now have the longest amount of time in recovery without relapse also. This certainly might explain why everyone who is receiving grants from these offices is refusing to even speak to us any longer - despite the fact our services, and program, are still needed, and still quite effective, and we're growing daily. Just because our survivors are choosing to remain "anonymous" doesn't mean I think their voices shouldn't be heard - in fact maybe more so.
Our members aren't likely to testify at Congress because many of them are married today, or in jobs they could lose, or even having custody of children they could lose, if word of their past gets out. We have members of SWA who are doctors, lawyers, professors, wall street traders, real estate investors, mortgage bankers, and a few even work at NASA from what I'm told. So no I don't think they're going to want to risk ruining their new lives by plastering their faces all over the internet. Especially when to do so can be quite disastrous for some of us.
She's not a member but take one look at what happened to Suzy Favor-Hamilton when one of her clients exposed her to the world for what she was doing. I've seen people fired, their husbands leave, banks foreclose, even CPS come out to take the kids, etc.
I got to tell you though - I've seen mobsters that could take some shake-down lessons from this couple! Talk about cornering a market! This might explain why the people in their directory won't even return our calls when we have a victim sitting right in front of us needing help of some kind or asking for help to prosecute their traffickers. I've tried finding a way to reach Katherine and find none. There's no contact information for her on the HHS website, nor on facebook, or any other source I can find anyway.
Guess who is suffering? So you know what Katherin Chon and Bradley Myles - we may not be able to publish many of the things we know online, but we can still publish one heck of a resource guide that won't be biased and only filled up with people who agree with our viewpoints. The only thing I"m concerned about is the needs of these men and women bravely stepping out to leave the sex industry for any reason. They deserve knowing the options that are out there, and to make the best informed decisions for themselves on what they need and who they want it from.
I will keep you posted as the guide develops. Subscribe if you'd like to see the final directory.
Now anyone can put together a list of drug treatment programs. However, the best drug treatment program in this country doesn't mean it's good for us. Let me give you an example of what I mean. There is a woman now dead because of Chris Batham. http://www.laweekly.com/news/a-drug-rehab-mogul-built-an-empire-that-s-now-being-probed-by-the-fbi-da-and-state-of-california-6390686 Now I"m the first to say that this article could totally be a smear campaign against the guy so I'm not publishing this simply because of what the article said about him. I'm publishing it because of what women who have been inside the program who wish to remain "anonymous" have told me about the program.
When a man, or woman, goes into drug treatment, they're usually in a locked down facility where they're sleeping and bathing. I've heard horror stories of women who have been in the kitchen making dinner when they've been assaulted by one of the staff who then threatens to throw them out into the street if they report what happened to anyone. I've heard about other clients who sneak into their rooms at night and rape them who the next day go "she's just a whore are you going to believe her?" when the lights go on the next day. Some of you may remember Covenant House had an accusation against Father Ritter who was supposedly molesting the male prostitutes in his program for over 10 years before getting him out of their program.
Now let me ask you - would you leave a child alone with a daycare provider who was a convicted child rapist? Of course not. There's special screening in place for pedophiles because it's a known accepted fact that they seek out jobs where they can work with children to get access to their "drug of choice". However, for some predators their "drug of choice" is to be a rapist, or molester, or even a trafficker, of someone and what better choice than a person who is going into drug treatment who is a "known" prostitute? With not one single rape conviction I've seen yet in this country where a prostitute has won a judgment against her rapist to date I'm aware of - it's open season on us. We don't have special screenings in place and I certainly can't state publicly, or in print, that I've got 10 members of SWA who have reported to me they got raped by a certain person at a treatment program, or within a jail, or even personally for that matter. But it doesn't mean I don't know it.
I did rescues of women who were being trafficked by Snoop Dogg during his now confessed 2003 tour. I have evidence to back up this claim including evidence of the person who first called me to help the first case because the police didn't want the press of getting involved. However, I couldn't say one word about what I saw or knew until HE DID in his "Rolling Stone" confession because then I'd be opening myself up for a slander/defamation lawsuit against his lawyers. So I can know about something to be totally true - doesn't mean I can print anything or even say anything about it to outsiders.
Meaning I knew about Chris Batham before this article came out. Meaning I'd heard the reports about Father Ritter before he was accused publicly. So when I was operating the ONLY hotline for adults in this country to call for help - I was able to make some pretty good calls on good places to send someone for help. Meaning I have a personal rule we go by with our hotline - we don't refer anyone to another person or program unless we've (1) seen it with out own eyes, and (2) personally talked to people who have gone all the way through the program or sessions, classes, etc. so we know what everything is like behind closed doors and once the press and public have gone home.
So when we referred someone to a residential program for example - not only would we see that person graduate said program, but we knew they'd be safe from harm by the staff, and that they would get what was represented to them they'd get, and that things were "kosher". For example, we didn't refer someone wanting to leave the porn industry to a therapist who would offer to take out the sessions "in trade", or the counselor who would expose himself to his clients, or the psychiatrist who would offer to give drug prescriptions to their clients who would give him blowjobs.
But since Polaris has come on the scene - we can't compete with their billboards so what winds up happening is we don't get all the calls for all the adults who need help any longer. Many callers are now shown resource guides such as https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/orr/traffickingservices_0.pdf Now the problem I'm hearing with resource directories like this is that they're very incomplete. On top of that, those who are giving referrals are often doing so from a "faith based" perspective (meaning within their church), and/or their own views if they're trying to honor the TVRA of 2003.
What happens is I'm hearing people tell me that they are "turning away survivors because there is no beds or housing" for example. I'm hearing they are being denied treatment because there is "no beds". What's even worse is when I'm hearing the horror stories again. I've got a woman for example in Virginia reporting to me that her doctor is not only pressuring her for sex, he is literally using her as a subject for a research project on B12 vitamins in survivors. So he's not advising her of things she may need medically because he's controlling her for this research. Don't get me started on the horror stories I heard about Mercy Ministries and their "safe house" which put up an adoption application right on their "safe house" website.
What ethical program would even THINK of asking a woman to make a life effecting decision like adopting out her child when she's just been put into a "safe house"? Meaning she probably has less than a year clean from drugs. She hasn't even been on her own two feet yet in her own life yet. She's going to be in extreme PTSD if not dissociation and someone is asking her to adopt out her child permanently? There's no way I would ask a survivor with less than one year clean to make such a permanent and painful decision. Sure enough there was an expose about how abusive they were in the media - but we weren't referring anyone to them on our hotline because we saw all these red flags before the media did!
I keep getting these calls from people saying they "can't find resources". I look on this directory and I don't see many resources there I know exist. Good ones. As for us, professor Sharon Oselin finished her 10 year study into the top three programs in the country and not only did we come out on top, but we're also the only program in her study STILL OPERATING! We have plenty of testimonials up at www.leavingtheliferadio.com
So I go to contact the people at this office to see about getting included in this directory - and guess what I find? Katherin Chon is Director of the Offices of Trafficking in Persons http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/endtrafficking/about/leadership Who is that?
She's the wife of Bradley Myles, who is the director of Polaris.
That explains a lot. Seems like a huge conflict of interest also if you ask me. Especially considering Polaris is now on the survivor council being put together funded by our government to advise on who gets funding and support in this country. Especially since our hotline, and program, have been excluded from the directory used by social services in this country (ironic since we were the first ones training them on how to work with these victims back in the 1980's), and since we have a program that is the largest, and oldest, one in this country, who has generated the most numbers of recovering survivors, who now have the longest amount of time in recovery without relapse also. This certainly might explain why everyone who is receiving grants from these offices is refusing to even speak to us any longer - despite the fact our services, and program, are still needed, and still quite effective, and we're growing daily. Just because our survivors are choosing to remain "anonymous" doesn't mean I think their voices shouldn't be heard - in fact maybe more so.
Our members aren't likely to testify at Congress because many of them are married today, or in jobs they could lose, or even having custody of children they could lose, if word of their past gets out. We have members of SWA who are doctors, lawyers, professors, wall street traders, real estate investors, mortgage bankers, and a few even work at NASA from what I'm told. So no I don't think they're going to want to risk ruining their new lives by plastering their faces all over the internet. Especially when to do so can be quite disastrous for some of us.
She's not a member but take one look at what happened to Suzy Favor-Hamilton when one of her clients exposed her to the world for what she was doing. I've seen people fired, their husbands leave, banks foreclose, even CPS come out to take the kids, etc.
I got to tell you though - I've seen mobsters that could take some shake-down lessons from this couple! Talk about cornering a market! This might explain why the people in their directory won't even return our calls when we have a victim sitting right in front of us needing help of some kind or asking for help to prosecute their traffickers. I've tried finding a way to reach Katherine and find none. There's no contact information for her on the HHS website, nor on facebook, or any other source I can find anyway.
Guess who is suffering? So you know what Katherin Chon and Bradley Myles - we may not be able to publish many of the things we know online, but we can still publish one heck of a resource guide that won't be biased and only filled up with people who agree with our viewpoints. The only thing I"m concerned about is the needs of these men and women bravely stepping out to leave the sex industry for any reason. They deserve knowing the options that are out there, and to make the best informed decisions for themselves on what they need and who they want it from.
I will keep you posted as the guide develops. Subscribe if you'd like to see the final directory.
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