GlobalGiving.org: Safe Passage: Help 150 Girls Survive Trafficking

Miljana and Tamara: Twin JewelGirls!!!

Tanja Radovic — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:45:52 GMT

Miljana enjoying jewelry workshops!

Dear Friends!

At 10 years old, Miljana and Tamara were your every day sweet natured twin sisters growing up in an ethnically Roma community in Serbia. The girl’s mother struggled to keep food on the plates of the young girls and their little brother and they often went to bed hungry. The girls, like thousands of Roma children, were born undocumented and thus unable to receive most governmental assistance. Despite living in what the United Nations would define as “extreme poverty,” the girls were joyful and trusting.

One day, while walking home from school, the girls were kidnapped by a man who preyed upon vulnerable Roma girls like Miljana and Tamara. After days of exploitation and abuse, he decided to sell the girls to a sex trafficker in Italy. Sadly, this is a common plight of kidnapped Roma girls. Only, their mother fought back. With the help of local police, the girls were found and rescued. They live daily with the nightmares and memories of sexual abuse endured as victims of trafficking and they narrowly escaped with their lives.

Shortly after their rescue, the girls were connected to FAIR Girls and our local partner, ATINA, who offers care and shelter to women and girl victims of trafficking. Now, four and a half years later, Miljana and Tamara joined FAIR Girls’ program JewelGirls as the youngest girls in a group of 12.

Miljana says that at first when she joined FAIR Girls’ JewelGirls program as one of our first members, she was so impressed with the pearls and shiny pretty materials. She says that she liked it all so much that she could not decide what colors to use and so each necklace was a rainbow of colors. Tamara agrees! And, guess who else agrees? Milan, their little brother who also asked to join JewelGirls! He said it wasn’t fair that his sisters got all the fun, so we decided to let him join, too!

Now, four years later, Miljana and Tamara tell us that they have crafted their own special style. They also demonstrate to use very day exceptional leadership as young survivors. Just like hundreds of FAIR Girls participants, Tamara and Miljana get to learn how to use their skills in marketing, math, customer service and leadership at our regular jewelry sales parties, too! They welcome and help teach new girls who join our program each month. They are also trained in survivor leadership and policy advocacy! Each girl hopes to enjoy a life filled with love, family, and self sufficiency. We believed in Miljana and Tamara four years ago, and we still do today!

Thank you for believing in FAIR Girls! We could not continue to empower girls like Miljana and Tamara without your amazing support!

Tanja Radovic, Serbian Programs Director, FAIR Girls

Tamara learning to make jewelry!

Tamara & Milana's brother, Milan, Age 10

Links:

FAIR Girls web site

To FAIR Girls, from Little Miss N.. with love

Andrea Powell — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:29:44 GMT

Hi Friends and Board Members of FAIR Girls

Last night, I openned our FAIR Girls mail to find a small package. What was inside so deeply moved me that I wanted to share it with all of you. Inside the small brown package was $265.00 that came from a young woman who I'll call Little Miss N. Little Miss N was 19 when I first met her, and she is from rural Nepal. Her first memories are of tending goats and playing in the garden with her sisters. She's about 4 ft 8 inches and full of energy!

Little Miss N's family came to her on her 17th birthday to tell her that she had won a dream come true -- a U.S. visa lottery enabling her to move to the United States with a green card! LIttle Miss N was so excited to go to America, study, and become a school teacher. It was a dream come true!

Only, when she arrived to the U.S. Embassy in Nepal, her parents told her that they owed over $2000.00 to debt collectors and that she could help them repay her debt by marrying a man three times her age. So, LittleMiss N married him in desperation and honor for her family. She arrived to Washington D.C. full of promises of a new life. Only, she quickly learned that the beautiful life she had been promised was a lie. Her husband already had three other wives, and she had been bought to repay a debt and to work by day in a cafe and at night in a life of sexual abuse. She was constantly watched at all times by the father of the man who had bought her. Miss N had become a modern day slave.

Little Miss N was quiet. She followed their rules and never told a soul about her life of exploitation, sadness, and abuse. She served sandwiches to over 100 people a day -- no one ever suspecting her plight. Only, her sadness did not escape another girl who worked at the cafe. This American girl had also been a modern day slave and had been helped toward freedom by FAIR Girls just that very same year. She knew something was not right with Little Miss N. She noticed the bruises, shyness, and isolation that are symptoms of a girl sold into slavery. The American girl wanted to help Little Miss N.

One day, the American girl showed up at FAIR Girls doors with Little Miss N, asking for help. We let her in and quickly realized that she was a victim of trafficking despite having a green card. While we met with her, her husband/trafficker had his father circling the cafe looking for her. We knew that time was really short and even I was truly scared of what this man might do to her and to us. Little Miss N's employer came to our office two hours later giving us about $1800 dollars that he said she had earned in the past month. Somehow, I think that he added a little bit to that amount - a gift to help her toward freedom. We then gathered up a suitcase from a volunteer and clothes that had been donated to us. We put it all together and contacted a shelter out of state where Little Miss N could run to for safety. We stayed the night in in our office and figured out what to do. The next day, we took a taxi to the train station and bought the $265.00 ticket to the out of state safe house.

We didn't think we would ever hear from Little Miss N again. We told her not to call. We told her it was not safe. Only, just over one year later, she has saved $265 dollars and sent it to us. She said she's better now. She's in college and happily living her American dream of freedom. She even has a new boyfriend. She hopes that the $265 she sent will help the next girl. We know it will.

She can't read this, but I want to say thank you so much, Little Miss N. She did not have to give. We gave her a path to freedom with no expectations. We hope she is happy and we are so grateful to know she is free.

Thank you to everyone who is supports our work to empower girls like Little Miss N. Every dollar you give is truly needed and enables us to help more girls like Little Miss N. Thank you.

With love to Little Miss N and all the girls at FAIR Girls--
Andrea

"What is the difference between us & the girls in Russia"

Andrea Powell — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 18:30:06 GMT

Our D.C. JewelGirls meet Elena from Russia!

“What is the difference between us and the girls in Russia?” – Kia, age 15, a D.C. JewelGirl

Kia* was talking face to face with Elena and Veronica, FAIR Fund’s Russian staff who lead our JewelGirls program in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia. The girls in D.C. were so excited to meet them and learn about girls like them … in Russia!

This Tuesday started out pretty much like all other D.C. workshops: before the girls arrived, Adrienne (our amazing social work intern) and I picked up donated food for the girls; we turned on the lights at our shared space with Covenant House and sat out the girls’ gratitude journals for them to write in before the workshop; and the girls showed up around 4:30 PM. But we were extra excited because we had a surprise for the girls – our two Russian staff, Elena and Veronica, had come to see them!

As the girls started to all come in, they looked curiously at Elena and Veronica. After writing three good things that happened during their day in their gratitude journals and getting their hummus, pita chips, fruit and cookies, they sat down. We asked each girl to tell Elena and Veronica a little bit about themselves and why they loved being JewelGirls at FAIR Fund. Here are a few things they said:

“I like coming where there are girls like me who understand me.” - London*, 16

“I like knowing I have an oasis from my troubles.” – Karrie*, 15

“I just like being able to make jewelry and earn money!” – Tina*, 19

That is when Kia* asked Elena what the difference was between the D.C. JewelGirls and the JewelGirls in Russia. What Elena said surprised me. She told the girls that the only difference was language. At first, I didn’t agree because the girls we empower in Russia are typically orphaned, trafficked through forced labor, and left to fend for themselves in orphanages or on the streets. Also, most of our girls in Russia are only 12 years old and are so malnourished we often buy them clothes that would fit a six-year-old American girl. One in three Russian orphan girls will be sold into sex trafficking within three months of being kicked out of orphan care. In D.C., the majority of the JewelGirls are high-risk toward or have survived sex trafficking or sexual violence. They are, on average, 15-years-old and living in foster homes or have recently left homeless shelters. In fact, D.C. girls face the highest rate of poverty in the nation. Then, Elena said, “You are all the same because you want a better life for yourselves.; you want a chance and are willing to fight for it.” I completely understand it now. What defines our JewelGirls – whether in Bosnia, Russia, Serbia, Uganda, or D.C. – is their passion for their future, not the exploitation in their past!

The last two hours of the workshop was spent watching “Soul Surfer,” an amazing biographical film of acclaimed surfer, Bethany Hamilton, who lost her arm to a shark at age 13. The film was very intense and I saw a few of our girls tear up – including Elena! They clapped for Bethany when she competed for the regional surfer title in Hawaii just short of a year after she lost her arm. After the movie, the girls were full of ideas of what they wanted to fight for – jobs, education, and a place to live, and even a visit to Russia to meet their “sisters” abroad. They cheered when Bethany said she would never give up her dreams.

Now THAT is something that all girls at FAIR Fund can understand!

It was such a special and inspiring global day for the D.C. JewelGirls and our Russian team. I wanted to share it with all of you who help ensure that FAIR Fund can continue to inspire girls worldwide. We could not do our work without you! Thank you!

Andrea

*Names have been changed to protect the identity of our young clients.

Russian JewelGirls (and boy!) in Moscow!

A proud Russian JewelGirl learning English!

Links:

JewelGirls jewelry!

From JewelGirl to Barista!

Andrea Powell — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 14:27:51 GMT

JewelGirls getting ready for sales event!

Dear FAIR Fund Friends:
I remember so clearly my first job at age 16 at the little vegetarian café in my hometown in Texas. I was so proud of being able to earn my own money and start making some of my own financial decisions. Only, I didn’t need the money to pay rent or school uniforms. My parents took care of all of my basic needs. I didn’t know there were girls around the world who didn’t have parents who could make sure they had shelter, schoolbooks, or even food on the table at night. Years later, I do.

“I can’t believe it, they are going to hire me!!!!” was the sound most of downtown D.C. could have heard if they were anywhere near the café where one of FAIR Fund’s JewelGirls got her first job!

A few days ago, I walked with one of FAIR Fund’s JewelGirls to a nearby coffee shop. Her mom lost their apartment and each child in the house is staying at different places until she can get back on her feet. Just like most of the girls we serve at FAIR Fund, she has experienced serious hardships including exploitation, abuse, and homelessness. She’s trying to stay focused on school and is worried that she needs to get a job. I can see the worry written all over her face and that my hugs were just not enough to erase them. So, we went up to the counter where the baristas were busily making coffee and she shyly asked, “Are you hiring here?” The barista replied, “Yes, but you have to fill out an application online.” Then, she smiled at us and said cookies were on the house.

We ran out the door and back to the FAIR Fund office where we turned on the computer and got to work! There were so many questions! She wondered if they would even look at her application because it’s her first job. Yet, something started to change as she realized question by question that she has been building her job skills since the age of 14. You see, she’s a JewelGirl! This means she knows how to fill customer orders, be friendly and professional at the work place, manage money, stock inventory, create displays, and work well with coworkers. These are all the skills she learned for the past two years at FAIR Fund’s JewelGirls program. So, she may be only 16, but she has a real advantage over other girls her age!

After she completed the application, she decided to take a copy to the store. I encouraged her to go in on her own, and she called me proudly about an hour later to say she’d dropped it off directly in the hands of the manager. I asked her, “Did you smile and look the manager in the eye?” She replied, “Miss Andrea, of course I did!”

So today, she got a call from the manager and went in for an interview. She’s hired! She’s so excited that this might mean she can help her mom find a new place for them to live and get the family back together. I’m so proud of her, and I thought all of you reading this would be as well!

Thank you for all of your support. We could not empower the girls we serve without your support and faith.
Warmly,

Andrea

Excited JewelGirl shows off her handmade jewelry!

JewelGirls Expressing their inner business woman!

Links:

How to Make a Paper Pearl

Regina Kacwamu — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 21:11:51 GMT

First, you cut the colorful paper into strands

Dear Friends:

The past months have been full of colorful paper pearls for the teen girls who participate in FAIR Fund’s art therapy and economic empowerment program - JewelGirls - in Kampala, Uganda, where we share a space with the local youth shelter, UYDEL. It’s been two years since FAIR Fund’ program coordinator, Eve, flew all the way from Washington, D.C. to Uganda where she met many street involved and formerly trafficked girls. In Uganda, young girls from the rural areas are often lured into the capital city of Kampala by promises of work or education. Many are forced into domestic servitude and by the time they are teenagers, they are pushed out onto the streets where sex traffickers exploit them.

I was inspired by Eve’s stories of economic empowerment and art therapy that shaped the programs FAIR Fund offers adolescent girls in Washington, D.C. , Serbia, and Russia, so I asked her to help me launch JewelGirls for teen girls in Uganda.

Eve and I started out by bringing together some of the most vulnerable but strong girls I have ever met. These girls are mainly survivors of domestic servitude or sexual exploitation in local brothels. We began coming together each week to help the girls share their stories and gain strength as a group. Soon, I realized our new JewelGirls were ready to make change in their lives. So, we began to teach the girls how to create “paper pearls,” a growing eco-friendly trend in Ugandan art.

Now, two years later, the Ugandan JewelGirls have created thousands of paper pearls in pinks, reds, yellows, whites, purples, blues, greens, and yellow, which have be sold in the U.S. The income helps the girls rebuild their lives and they depend on it. But the support they gain by being a part of FAIR Fund’s JewelGirls program is more than just an income, because we are a kind of family.

Today, we have more than 50 girls in the Ugandan JewelGirls program, our youngest is 11 and our oldest is 21. All of the girls are creating a better life for themselves, paper pearl by paper pearl. This summer, one graduate of our JewelGirls program, Aldrine, joined us as a part-time staff person of FAIR Fund.

Warmly,

Regina Kacwamu, Programs Manager, Uganda

Next, you roll the tiny strands into pearls!

Then, you use non-toxic glue to make the pearls

Finally, PAPER PEARLS!!

Links:

FAIR Fund's JewelGirls Jewelry!

From the Russian JewelGirls with Love

Elena Timofeeva — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 01:40:48 GMT

Elena teaching Russian JewelGirls in Moscow

Dear Friends and Supporters:

This summer, Veronica, our Russian Program Coordinator, and I traveled from Moscow, where we already work with 17 children, to St. Petersburg to begin working with a new group living in a state shelter for trafficking victims. We provided training to the local shelter staff in St. Petersburg where they are now holding empowerment workshops, art therapy, and income generation sales parties to aid in the emotional and financial stability process that these vulnerable orphaned and trafficked youth face. The average age participant in our Russia program is 16 years old. However, we have participants who are as young as eight.

Many of the girls we serve are survivors of domestic servitude. We also started to allow a few boys to join to our JewelGirls program. I know that sounds a little funny, that boys are attending our jewelry making and art therapy classes, but these boys also suffered from labor trafficking situations, such as working in the fields. Just like the girls, we seek to empower, boys who experienced situations of sex trafficking and labor exploitation. After seeing all of the fun the girls have at FAIR Fund’s workshops, a few boys asked to join. The girls decided that they didn’t mind, so now we have "JewelBoys"! I think this is something that makes our programs in Moscow and St. Petersburg pretty unique.

In June, the U.S. Department of State's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Person's released their 2011 Trafficking in Person's Report where Russia was listed as a Tier 2 Watch List country. Thus, Russia continues faces serious challenges in identifying and assisting victims. There is no formal shelter for victims of trafficking, and so we utilize orphanages and groups like FAIR Fund often work with individual child and adult victims as best we can. In 2010, there was an increase in the number of overall reported victims of sex and forced labor trafficking.

Over the last couple months, the teen girls and boys in Moscow and St. Petersburg were busy creating more than 150 pieces of jewelry that was sold at sales parties and online. In just the first month of summer, the JewelGirls participants earned about 75 USD via online sales. This is a good start, but we are hoping to sell more in the upcoming months. Each of our teen girls and boys at FAIR Fund faces incredible challenges as they prepare to leave the orphanage or shelter where they live. Their past experiences and abuse leave long lasting emotional scars. And because they do not have family or friends who can help them find jobs or places to live when they leave, it’s really important that they start to learn how to earn money, find and keep jobs, and gain confidence in their community. This is what we bring them through our empowerment based programs at FAIR Fund.

Our two newest JewelGirls are Zoya and Veronica, 14 and 17 year old sisters who lived as domestic servants and victims of sex trafficking before being placed in a shelter. Their lives continue to be tough, but something rather amazing is happening and you can see the confidence in them grow by looking at the jewelry they create. In the beginning, when Zoya and Veronica first joined JewelGirls, they only made black jewelry. They were quiet, scared, and often seeming as if they were totally lost. After a few weeks, we noticed that Zoya started to pick out new colors – bright blues, pinks, and yellows. And Veronica started making amazing red jewelry. Everything she made was suddenly bright red! We asked them about their new colors, and they said that it reminded them of what life was like before…and we could see them beginning to “live again” and dream about a future.

Best wishes from Russia,

Elena Timofeeva, Russian Programs Manager, FAIR Fund

A Russian JewelGirl in St. Petersburg

Making jewelry at FAIR Fund in St. Petersburg

Links:

Elma and the JewelGirls

Andea Powell — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 18:33:32 GMT

Two Excited Roma JewelGirls in Belgrade

Dear Friends:

This July has been one of the hottest in a long time,” according to Elma, a 16 year old Roma girl and proud JewelGirls participant. We are all feeling the heat of summer, but it’s particularly warm for Elma and the teen girls who meet each Saturday at the Roma kindergarten where we hold our empowerment workshops. Our local Roma partner at the kindergarten ran out of funding, and resources are so limited in the Roma settlement that we have recently had to conduct some of our workshops without electricity.

Only, Elma considers herself one of the luckiest girls in her small Roma settlement camp outside Belgrade. She feels lucky to be allowed to come make jewelry and values each dollar she earns from sales to support herself and her family. Many Roma girls her age are forced to beg on the streets or are lured into sexual exploitation out of desperation resulting from extreme poverty and discrimination. Sadly, this has been the experience of many of the teen girls FAIR Fund serves.

I feel lucky myself to have spent part of July with Elma and the more than 30 teen girls in our JewelGirls art therapy and economic empowerment program in Belgrade. I have known some of the girls, like Elma, for years. I am meeting other girls for the very first time. This trip was filled with excitement because for the first time, we will be allowed to create JewelGirls sales events in Belgrade. Until recently, Serbian law did not allow for sales parties, meaning that the empowering experience of being a part of a sales event with customers and friends was just a dream for these teen girls who have seen photos other JewelGirls at sales events in D.C., Russia, and Uganda. So, despite the heat that makes the beads feel like they are melting in their hands, Elma and all of the teen girls in Serbia are eagerly attending each of the 40 workshops in July and August as they prepare to meet their customers and put their newly learned skills in communications and business to work.

The JewelGirls program has become so popular with the Roma girls in this refugee settlement that we have a list of teen girls waiting to join the program. They are waiting until we have enough staff capacity and resources to fully serve them. Yet, despite the heat and dim lights, the girls sing songs as they make jewelry and are passionately engaged in each workshop. They are excited for their first JewelGirls sales party, and so am I!

Enjoy the photos of the girls from my trip, and thank you so much for all of your support.

Warmly,

Andrea

A Busy JewelGirls Class!

Andrea and a special JewelGirl

Join Sweethearts for JewelGirls Valentine Campaign

Andrea Powell — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 03:21:35 GMT

Campaign Button

This Valentine's Day, FAIR Fund has created a special "Sweethearts for JewelGirls" campaign to honor the young women in our JewelGirls program. We would love for you to join us!

At FAIR Fund, we help empower high-risk and trafficked girls to regain love and trust in themselves and the world around them through art therapy and economic empowerment.

A trafficker pretends to be her sweetheart. He offers her a better life. He promises to love her. But, he is lying. He will sell her body. He will break her heart. Let’s mend her broken heart!

post a SweetHeart Valentine: FAIR Fund’s Twitter or Facebook

email a SweetHeartValentine: Amanda@fairfund.org

mail a SweetHeartValentine: FAIR Fund, PO Box 216565, WDC 20009

or, make a SweetHeartValentine: 2/10 sales party & campaign celebration!

Join us in D.C. this Thursday if you are in town for a free "LOVEraiser" event!

when: This Thursday, 2/10/2011 6:30 - 9:00pm
where: One Lounge 1606 20th Street NW
Come meet our celebrity SweetHeart for JewelGirls,
Gabrielle Christian (House, South of Nowhere, CSI Miami)
for
SweetHearts for JewelGirls Jewelry Sales Party & Campaign celebration
JewelGirls jewelry for sale
make-your-own SweetHeart for JewelGirls craft table
Hello Cupcakes complimentary cupcakes
cocktail specials

We hope to see you there!

Andrea

Celebrity Gabrielle Christian's Valentine Card

Exciting News and Thank You from FAIR Fund

Andrea Powell — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 22:13:56 GMT

Dear Supporters and Friends

A lot has happened since FAIR Fund’s launch of our Safe Passage campaign on GlobalGiving. We could not have done it without the support of our friends who gave to us during the past year. We sincerely thank each of you for making our work to keep high-risk girls safe from all forms of human trafficking and to provide compassionate care to those who have already been exploited.

We have some exciting news!

On December 9th, the Senate passed a groundbreaking bill that, if also passed by the House before the end of 2010, will provide $15 million Federal dollars to support the recovery of American child victims of sex trafficking. I believe that the passage of H.R. 5575, the “Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act of 2010”, marks a change in American attitudes toward child victims of sex trafficking.

On Christmas Eve 2008, I stood before D.C. Child Protective Services with a teen girl, “Mary”, who had just escaped her violent pimp. Instead of helping Mary find a place to stay, her social worker called her a “slut” and walked away. The one youth shelter in the area was full. For the next 24 hours, my staff and I searched for a safe place for Mary. Eventually, we found “Theresa”, a woman who had met Mary years before at her local church. Theresa took Mary into her home until we found more supportive housing. As we made call after call, Mary watched and worried, “where will I go tonight?”

Child sex trafficking is a serious human rights violation affecting thousands of children every year. The “Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act of 2010” will be the first bill of its kind to provide COMPREHENSIVE care to the girls and boys our society has, until now, left out in the cold. So often, the conversation centers around: did she have a choice? To be honest, that question is irrelevant – no child can legally consent to be engaged in commercial sex. So, let us flip the question around and ask: “when we had a choice to help her, did we?”

In the past year, there have been times when a hotel was our only option for emergency overnight client housing. Given that the exploitation of child victims like Mary has occurred in hotels where their pimps held them, one can understand how difficult it is for them to stay in yet another hotel reminding them of their horrific past. The passage of this bill will enable service providers across the country to better offer emergency and long-term safe housing for girls like Mary. It just shouldn’t be this hard to help a sexually exploited trafficked girl. These young survivors should be at the top of our society’s priority list.

Because of your support this year, despite the recession and truly challenging economic times, FAIR Fund has continued to support the girls and boys who need us the most. As you are celebrating the coming New Year, I want you to feel good knowing that if someone asked you the question: “When you had the choice, did you help her?”, you can say, “Yes, I did.”

On behalf of the young women and girls we serve, thank you so much for your support.

Sincerely,

Andrea and the FAIR Fund team

www.fairfund.org

Links:

Our efforts to stop sex trafficking via Craigslist

Andrea Powell — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 19:43:14 GMT

Dear Supporters and Friends:

On September 3rd, FAIR Fund and our partners successfully lead the charge to shut down Craigslist's adult services section. FAIR Fund organized local and national support around this effort and worked to educate and advocate publicly through appearances in national news networks CNN, the BBC, ABC and was quoted as an expert in the Wall Street Journal. Please visit our web site to see recent CNN video footage and a sample of all of the recent press.

Throughout our effort, we met with leaders in the fight against the scourge of human trafficking and with heroic young survivors, but it was the current victims who reminded us that while we are making progress, there is still so much more that needs to be done.

FAIR Fund needs approximately $3,000 to assist each of the teen girls we help and there are three specific teen girls who have come to us in the past month who need and deserve our support. While this is a modest goal, $9,000 will pay for a year of therapy and recovery programs for these three girls. Through a generous donation from one special donor, we have already received a pledge of $3,000! To make a donation visit www.fairfund.org today.

Children as young as 13 are being sold 10 to 15 times per night in the United States. Their traffickers prefer to use online avenues to avoid the police and to reach more people who want to exploit these girls and boys. Exploiters preferred Craigslist because it seemed somehow less exploitative to go to a site where apartments were being listed. Craigslist had consistently maintained that they screen every single ad posted on their adult services section of their web site to ensure that trafficking and exploitation, especially of minors, does not occur. Many of the young women FAIR Fund assists know that this simply cannot be true. They know this because they were being sold on Craigslist and other online search engines. Here is an example of the cold, harsh supply and demand reality of one girl's one-month experience being trafficked on Craigslist's adult services section prior to it being shutdown: Trafficker: $30,000 Craigslists $3,000 Trafficked Girl: $0

Your past support made it possible for FAIR Fund to help successfully advocate for Craigslist to shut down their adult services section. Your support helped remove one of the spaces where minors are easily, and without impunity, exploited and sold. There is much to be done to ensure that Craigslist and other web sites continue to help put an end to sex trafficking on their web sites. FAIR Fund will continue its work in the U.S. and around the world to support over 3,000 teens each year and we need your support.

Please help us continue to help even more young people in need right here in D.C. and around the world. Thank you for being a part of FAIR Fund's work. We need your support now more than ever. Every single person who we reach out to can help us make a difference to these three girls and the thousands more we assist in the nation's capital and around the world.

Thank you,

Andrea,

Links:

Young Survivor Speaks Out on Capital Hill

Andrea Powell — Tue, 11 May 2010 02:25:39 GMT

Congressional Briefing, May 4th 2010

Last week on May 4th, FAIR Fund's youth survivor and advocate, Asia, spoke out on a Congressional briefing alongside Congressman Chris Smith, actress Demi Moore, and two other young women survivors of sex trafficking in the United States. With more than 170 individuals in attendance, including many press outlets, I know that Asia's testimony had a critical impact in educating Congress and the public on the realities that young women survivors of sex trafficking face. Asia hit the audience hard when she stated:

"I was fortunate to escape trafficking, find FAIR Fund and get invaluable support and resources to build a renewed, stable life. But unfortunately, there are still many thousands of other young women and girls who are trapped in a vicious cycle of psychological abuse and sexual exploitation – and these girls are in our very own neighborhoods, the hometowns of our members of Congress, as well as the backyard of our nation’s capital. For those who do try to escape, critical resources and programs are hard to access and too scarce to meet the level of need."

Following the meeting, Asia and I went with colleagues to meet with Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) where Asia continued to propose policy change that would stop the buying and selling of American girls on Craigslist and provide more comprehensive services. In a followup statement, Asia reported that she is no longer a victim, but a survivor and is ready to "go on the offensive by working with FAIR Fund and getting a degree in criminal justice." When Congresswoman Schakowsky told Asia and I she plans to make shutting down Craigslist's Erotica site her mission, Asia replied that "you can name the law "Asia's Law." Asia's success is amazing. After just 14 months of freedom, Asia has a job, a place to live, is enrolled in college and starting to study criminal justice. I am deeply proud of her and her courage to speak out on the behalf of other girls and boys who are ensnared in sex trafficking.

Last Friday, a generous donor contacted FAIR Fund and has offered to pay, 100%, for Asia to attend any college in the United States that will accept her. Her future is bright, and FAIR Fund continues to work to help other young women gain the confidence they need to move on with their lives after trafficking.

Links:

Domestic Sex Trafficking in America

Are Haitian Children Being Trafficked?

Andrea Powell — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:10:57 GMT

On January 28th, 10 American Baptist missionaries were stopped by border control guards from the Dominican Republic while trying to bring 33 Haitian children into the country. The Americans have been charged with attempting to illegally take these children out of the country. Currently, these Americans remain in jail while awaiting another hearing before a Haitian tribunal judge. Could this be a case of attempted child trafficking?

In the past two weeks, warning of the increased danger that Haitian children face toward being sold into modern day slavery have been heard on Larry King Live, and the New York Times. Lack of security, unmet needs, families torn part, and a government at a loss for how to protect it’s youngest and most vulnerable citizens all make a horribly perfect breeding ground for the buying and selling of Haitian children.

However, I think it’s important to look toward a few rays of light that point toward hope. Look at the current case of the 10 Americans who were bringing 33 Haitian children across the Dominican Republic border. They were stopped. While these Americans most likely did not have had the intentions of trafficking Haitian children, they were attempting to bring children who clearly were not their own across the border. The Dominican Republic border guards rightfully investigated. Furthermore, the children were not immediately returned to their parents. Rather, they were carefully taken to a well-known international aid orphanage, the SOS Kinderdorf. While the children and their families may not see this as a positive thing, it speaks to the organization and dedication of the country to protect its children from being sold into slavery or trafficked across borders.

So, how can the Haitians protect the hundreds of thousands of other Haitian children from being potentially trafficked? A FAIR Fund advisor and world renowned author, Benjamin Skinner, reports that 300,000 Haitian children were enslaved as “restavaks” or “stay withs’ who were enslaved for domestic labor. These children have been used as the lowest form of labor in the country. Many are turned out on the streets in early adolescents, ending up in prostitution, petty crime, and often death. Child slavery is in fact hidden in plain sight.

How do traffickers get away with this horrible human rights violation? Traffickers prey on the vulnerability and desperation of others. Who are more vulnerable then children who have lost their families? Or, families who feel they can no longer provide basic needs for their children. These vulnerable children are now being thrust into a lawless situation with violent criminals who are now running loose from the Haitian jails. Haitian children were and continue to be extremely vulnerable.

What Haitian children need are dedicated and trained professional advocates who are able to work with orphanages, children’s homes, and even families to better understand how to evaluate potential trafficking situations. FAIR Fund educates children on how to protect themselves from trafficking, but in the case of Haiti, these conversations would only work when there are a dedicated team of child rights professionals working to protect these children.

It’s not just Haitian children who are at risk toward trafficking. In our past six years, FAIR Fund has assisted over 200 youth, some of whom are teenagers right here in Washington, D.C. They too are lost, without supportive families, going nights without food, and looking for a safer place. Those who pretend to offer them a “better life” are also luring them. FAIR Fund is here working with our partners, including law enforcement, to identify and assist these youth. Yet, of the 850 teens FAIR Fund educated about human trafficking in 2008, over 50% reported knowing another teen being exploited by prostitution. However, in 2008, 35 cases of child sexual exploitation were identified in D.C. We also need to work on our efforts to assist our most vulnerable teens.

A Child is a child. Exploitation is exploitation. No one deserves to be enslaved.

FAIR Fund's Anti Trafficking Work on ABC News

Andrea Powell — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:10:57 GMT

Dear Friends:

On December 30th, ABC news featured FAIR Fund in their story "Battling Sex Trafficking." I hope you will take a moment to watch and share with your colleagues and friends via email, facebook, or twitter.

In 2010, thanks to our wonderful friends like you, FAIR Fund is prepared to serve 150 high-risk and formerly trafficked youth, educate 2,000 high risk teens about human trafficking in Serbia, Bosnia, Russia, Uganda, and here in D.C.. As this ABC news story points out, the trafficking of youth in a problem right here in the nations capital, and across the United States. It's not just sex trafficking, either. Foreign born and American youth are also sold into situations of forced begging - including selling candy on the streets, working in nail salons, and working on farms. All of these young people deserve a better life, and we are working hard to reach them. FAIR Fund will also continue to train law enforcement, social workers, teachers and other community allies on how to better identify and assist trafficked youth. Our model of trafficking prevention is being replicated across the country, and our impact is that much stronger because of supporters. I would like to leave you with a quote from a young teen woman in Washington, D.C. who recently said to me "Most of the time, I don't feel like I have any hope. But, when I am with you all, I really learn how to take care of myself. I have hope." I will carry those words with me into 2010. I know we can continue to give hope and life-changing support to so many youth in D.C. and around the world. Thank you for being a part of FAIR Fund's team to prevent the trafficking of youth. Thank you for continuing to support our work. Sincerely, Andrea Powell Founder & Executive Director FAIR Fund, www.fairfund.org

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An Angel Donor helps bring holiday cheer to one teen girl in FAIR Fund's program

Andrea Powell — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 05:27:58 GMT

This weekend there was beautiful snow in D.C. The whole city slowed down, which is rare and really amazing to see. As we all settle into the heart of the holiday season, I wanted to share a true example of giving.

This week, one of the young women we support in our program approached me to ask me if I could help her buy some gifts and holiday food for her family. This young woman has been through truly tremendous ordeals and trauma, but almost never thinks of herself. She thinks of her much younger brothers and sisters and almost always puts their needs before her own.

I thought about what I could do. We had some donated clothes in our office, but they would not work for our young client and her siblings. I wanted her to have something special. I did not want her to feel like she did not deserve to have some of the things so many other children in the United States take for granted like stockings and holiday lights. I also couldn’t stand the thought of her being hungry on Christmas.

As I thought about what to do, I remembered a supporter who has often told me that she would help FAIR Fund if we had a young woman in need of food, clothes, or other basic needs. On Friday morning, I called this woman to ask for her help. As the storm approached D.C., she gracefully ran through town gathering all of the simple yet truly meaningful things that our client and her siblings needed. This amazing woman delivered the gifts to our door just as night fell. She didn’t ask questions or for anything in return, she just generously helped.

I arranged to meet with my young client today, but the snow… well, it slowed us down. The metro was not working, so my husband and I walked and walked to meet our client part of the way. I observed others walking with gift bags and families, and a few rather crazy folks driving around as if the 15 inches of snow were not there. Finally, we met our young woman, and we traded gifts. We made a call to our “angel” friend, and said thank you. Then, I gave our young client a hug and said goodbye, and she turned around smiling and disappeared back into the snowy white D.C.

Just a few days ago, the Senate passed an omnibus spending bill that will allow for a 25% increase in the Department of Justice’s spending toward providing services to victims of trafficking. What is particularly unique in this bill is that now, for the very first time, U.S. victims may also benefit alongside foreign victims. What this means is that finally FAIR Fund and our partner agencies serving U.S. born victims of trafficking will finally be eligible for assistance. For FAIR Fund, this means increased security that the United States government recognizes that any child, regardless of where they are from, deserves assistance if they are victimized through any form of human trafficking.

All around the world – in Serbia, Russia, Uganda, and D.C., FAIR Fund’s clients and staff are having small gatherings to celebrate the holidays and spend time together. I wish I could be there to see all these smiling faces and share in their holiday songs.

I honestly think that these last couple of days have helped me remember what true holiday giving is about. Happy holidays and thank you to each and every one of our supporters and friends. We really could not do it without you.

JewelGirls sell their jewelry in D.C. - a success story!

Andrea Powell — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:35:11 GMT

handmade jewelry by our interntional young survivors

On November 27th, FAIR Fund's "Jewel Girls" were invited to showcase and sell their handmade jewelry at a local D.C. store, WINK!. The store is owned by two amazing young women, Paige and Jaclyn, and they partnered with FAIR Fund to allow the girls to create their jewelry.

We had five young women attend and sell their jewelry. Collectively, they earned $800 that day! This week, the girls selected which kinds of gift cards they would like to have to spend their money. One young woman plans to buy art supplies because she hopes to go to art school one day. Another young woman wanted to have gift cards to Target so she could buy gifts for her mom and sisters. And, another young women wanted gifts cards to CVS to buy some basic things she wanted to have.

I was so proud of the young women who attended the sales party. First, they used their skills in communications and marketing to promote their jewelry. Second, they were very engaged with the customers and spread the word about how they are keeping themselves safe from human trafficking. Third, they chose to use the money they earned in ways that best benefited themselves and the people they care about.

All in all, it took two staff and five amazing volunteers to ensure the event was successful. One staff person and two volunteers were at the store at 10AM to set up the jewelry and make sure everything was in order. Another volunteer was getting snacks and lunch for the girls. Another volunteer arrived to work with the girls on their sales pitches and help attract folks from outside the store to come in and buy jewelry. The final volunteer and staff person were in charge of helping the girls get from their shelters or homes to the jewelry sales party.

One young woman whose past is particularly sad, is very shy. In previous events, she has struggled to reach out to customers and feel confident in the sales setting. This time, she felt particularly comfortable with one of our volunteers helping her, and she sold the most jewelry of anyone! This is amazing progress for her! The following after the workshop, we finally have seen her start to open up and ask for the support we knew she needed. Finally, these young women were also in charge for helping to market and sell jewelry by their international friends who are JewelGIrls in Serbia and Uganda. They also did an excellent job in helping these young women.

All in all, it was an excellent day, and a very generous photographer just gave us the photos. I wanted to share them with all of our supporters at GlobalGiving.com.

Handmade jewelry with coins and clay by our DC JewelGirls team

DC Jewelgirls jewlery on display at Wink! store

Safe Passage for U.S. Girls Victimized by Trafficking

Andrea Powell — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 03:23:12 GMT

Young D.C. Girl Selling Candy/Begging on the Streets

I founded FAIR Fund six years ago. I thought that we would be working exclusively in faraway countries. Our first youth anti trafficking prevention programs launched in Bosnia and Uzbekistan. We remain heavily committed to our programs for street-involved, orphaned, and trafficked girls in countries that include Serbia, Russia, and Uganda. This morning, I had the privilege of joining the Better World Campaign and the UN Foundation for a small lunch gathering with UN Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, Rachel Mayanja. Ms. Maynanja is from Uganda and spoke passionately about the need for better legal advocacy and partnerships to address violence and trafficking of girls in areas of conflict, such as northern Uganda. She surprised me when she also stressed that violence against girls happens right here in the United States and other developed countries. No place is immune sexual violence, human trafficking, and other forms of violence against women. However, the global community is bringing world leaders, community-based partners, and even young people themselves together to effect change. While walking through the streets of downtown Moscow, Russia this past Fall, my colleague and I discovered a 9-year-old girl being forced to work at midnight on the streets. We followed her and saw her several nights. I lamented and was frustrated that no one - not even other women's organizations we talked to - seemed to think anything could truly be done for her. I fumed at what I thought was a system of neglect and uncaring. Again, just a few days ago, I met another 9-year-old girl walking the streets, selling candy out of a dirty crate. Only this time, she was not in Russia or Uganda. She was in Dupont Circle - one of the most affluent neighborhoods of Washington, D.C. She told me she sold candy to help pay for a school trip to New York. She handed me an informational sheet printed on the back of a bar menu and I noticed her chapped fingers and frayed coat sleeves. A van was parked across the street and an older man appeared to be supervising her. I called Child Protective Services. I don't think anything was done. I have been looking for her ever since. On December 8, the LA Times reported that domestic child victims of sex trafficking are not receiving the care they need to truly recover. In November, a 5-year-old girl, Shaynia Davis, in North Carolina was sold by her mother to a man who planned to sexually assault her. She is now dead. The current news now verifies what FAIR Fund has known for the past three years - American girls and boys are also being victimized by sex and labor trafficking. FAIR Fund and our partners continue to find victims inside D.C. public schools, youth shelters, and on the streets. I believe that a child is a child and exploitation is exploitation. No one - in particular a child - deserves to be exploited through human trafficking, a form of modern day slavery. The holiday season is on us. I am once again hanging the holiday lights and making my famous chocolate mint cookies for friends. But, actually, what really makes me happy is the new hope I have for a 16 year old girl in D.C. who I will call Tara. Tara is has been exploited by her parents pretty much her whole life. She has been sold into prostitution and at times even thought she was okay with her situation. Just a couple of weeks ago, Tara decided she had had enough and walked out the door. It is true that there is not enough support for trafficked girls like Tara in D.C. or nationally. With limited housing options and untrained social workers, I am not sure where Tara's next steps will lead her. However, FAIR Fund and two local youth shelters pulled together, and Tara is getting a roof over her head, food, and is being supported 24/7 through FAIR Fund's JewelGIrls program. We are creating a safe passage for Tara. I truly think she is hopeful for the first time in her life.

Young Russian GIrl Begging on the Streets

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Gabrielle Christian joins FAIR Fund with a PSA campaign video!

Andrea Powell — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 21:19:43 GMT

Gabrielle wearing jewelry created by " JewelGirls" in Serbia

Gabrielle Christian, star of South of Nowhere and GirlTrash!, has joined FAIR Fund to help create a safe passage for girls at risk or victimized by human trafficking. Her video, created at the FAIR Fund office on November 23rd, tells viewers about her time with FAIR Fund in Serbia where she met many of our clients and conducted night outreach to help reach out to more girls in need.

Gabrielle Christian promoting FAIR Fund's anti trafficking work

Gabrielle Christian conducting night outreach with FAIR Fund

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