Civil Society

A Future Not a Past Strategic Planning, July 20, 2010

WOMEN'S FOUNDATION OF MINNESOTA

A Future Not a Past: End Children Being Prostituted
Strategic Planning Session - Tuesday, July 20

9:00 Welcome

Introductions at small tables
- Name, affiliation (if any), and how connected/interested in issue

9:20 The Issue

- Brief background on the AFNAP + Minnesota research on occurrence, frequency, current work

9:40 Analysis (Presentation and Large Group Discussion)

- Root causes (How/Why)
- Interventions (Theory of change)

10:30 Strategic Vision (Small Group/Large Group)

If we agree on root causes and interventions:
What changes are we seeking to make? What does it look like?
How do we define success?

11:30 Working Lunch

Action Plan and Organization
How do we support what is already being done?
What is needed to fill the gaps?
What are the strategies that need larger group coordination?

12:30 Structure for Implementing Plan

Identify roles and communication mechanism for moving forward

1:00 next Steps/Adjourn

Invitation: Strategic Planning, July 20, 2010

Invitation: Strategic Planning, July 20, 2010 - by Women's Foundation of Minnesota

You are invited to participate in a facilitated strategic planning meeting to end children being prostituted in Minnesota on Tuesday, July 20, 2010 (details, below).

On that day, we will gather and leverage the strengths and expertise of service providers, advocates, law enforcement, child protection services, prosecuting attorneys, funders and other leaders to develop a plan and advance a common vision across the state.

Details

Tuesday, July 20, 2010
9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
1917 Logan Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN

Lunch will be provided
RSVP required by July 15 to Nicole@wfmn.org or 612-236-1818.
Hotel accommodations will be provided for participants from greater Minnesota - just let Nicole know that you need a room.

Background

Let me give you a little background about this work and why the Women's Foundation of Minnesota is taking on a leadership role in convening and creating a shared plan and vision to tackle this interconnected and complex issue in our state.

The Women's Foundation is partnering with the Women's Funding Network in the national rollout of "A Future, Not a Past" (AFNAP), Georgia's successful campaign to stop the prostitution of children in their state. Minnesota will be one of nine states implementing this model across the country, which will ultimately result in national figures that measure the scope of domestic minor sex trafficking.

On March 15, 2010, we gathered a diverse team of stakeholders for introduction to the AFNAP model and research, and a facilitated discussion about Minnesota's strengths and gaps in preventing sex trafficking of minors. In the room were elected officials, law enforcement, judges, service providers, legal and policy advocates, funders, and other advocates in the community.

On April 21, 2010, we organized five leaders representing advocates, law enforcement, funding and faith-based communities to travel to Denver for a national training on AFNAP's model. Participants included U.S. Marshall Sharon Lubinski, Rev. Ann Tiemeyer (National Council of Churches, USA), Suzanne Koepplinger (MN Indian Womne's Resource Center), Vednita Carter (Breaking Free), and Kate Kelly (community leader).

On June 17, 2010, we will release our research, perfomed by the Shapiro group, which documents the extent to which girls are being prostituted in Minnesota through escort service and online. This research for the month of February 2010 found 80 girls were being sold in our state that month. This research will be repeated quarterly and a demand study may also be launched this fall to document the extent to which men want to buy sex from a girl.

The July 20, 2010 meeting will be a strategic planning session to develop a statewide plan for replicating AFNAP (or similar model) in Minnesota. We expect to gather over 75 participants representing the supply and demand side of this issue from all sectors that intersect with this issue. Representatives from WFN will be on hand at the July 20 meeting.

We see this work as a statewide issue that involves multiple partners and requires systemic and social change, and we envision three key roles for the Women's Foundation of Minnesota in this initiative:

1. Convener;
2. Researcher; and
3. Grantmaker (after the planning session we will raise funds from WFN and other national and state sources to carry out the work).

Most importantly, we want to hear from you - the skilled and passionate advocates in Minnesota that are working to end the sexual exploitation of children. Our hope is that with this project, we can enhance the local work that is already being done. We also want to ensure that our leadership on this issue will add value and impact.

If you have any questions, please contact Charlotte Flowers (Charlotte@wfmn.org) for more information. Thank you and I hope to see you on July 20. An agenda and pre-event survey will be sent to those of you who are attending by July 15, 2010.

Warm regards,

Lee Roper-Batker
President and Chief Executive Officer

Women's Foundation of Minnesota
155 Fifth Avenue South
Suite 500
Minneapolis, MN 55401-2626

612.337.5010
888.337.5010 (toll free)
612-337-0404 (fax)

Child Sex Slave Campaign - Resolution for Precinct Caucuses

Whereas, Haitian children and other children coming to Minnesota need protection from sex traffickers who sell them to one person for sex;

Whereas, Minnesota adopts more foreign children than any other state;

Whereas, one half of the 14,500 to 17,500 human trafficking victims brought into the U.S. each year are children;

Whereas, traffickers frequently use fraudulent visas to bring children into Minnesota;

Whereas, a recent United States Department Report was only able to verify the lawful use of the family reunification visa in 20% of the cases studied;

Whereas, Minnesota's anti-trafficking law does not provide for the prosecution of sex traffickers who sell innocent children as a child sex slave to one person;

Whereas, the wording of Minnesota's anti-trafficking law needs to be changed to deter sex traffickers from the selling of Haitian and other innocent children for sex;

Whereas, Minnesota law allows child sex slaves to be humiliated, and stigmatizes and impairs their credibility when they testify against their traffickers;

Be it resolved, that this caucus will support changes in Minnesota law to:

Support police action directed towards prosecution of all traffickers who bring innocent children into the United States to sell as child sex slaves;
Support police action directed towards prosecution of all traffickers and patrons (users) of child sex slaves;
Support provision of victim funds to protect, and provide for child sex slaves while they are waiting to be witnesses against the child sex slave traffickers;
Support change of Minnesota law to language which dignifies and provides victim support for rescued child sex slaves;
Support change in Minnesota law to enable collection of data in compliance with federal requirements so that Minnesotans can know how many sex traffickers and patrons are being prosecuted in Minnesota

Linda Miller, Child Sex Slave Campaign

Civil Society
1st National Bank Building
332 Minnesota Street
Suite E-1436
St. Paul, MN 55101
Phone: 651-291-0713
FAX: 651-291-2588
www.civilsocietyhelps.org

Protect Haitian Children from Sex Trafficking in the United States

The world watches in horror as we are learning that innocent Haitian children are likely to be victimized by human traffickers. Minnesotans need to protect these children who may be coming to Minnesota.

Minnesota anti-sex trafficking law does not protect all Haitian and other young innocent children from being sex trafficked. These young children in Minnesota are often sold to one party for sex. The internet helps to make this possible.

Minnesota Statutes 609.321, Minnesota's anti sex trafficking law, has a glaring gap. The law allows sex traffickers who sell children for sex to one individual to go free under the anti-sex trafficking law. This type of sex trafficking of very young children is common in Minnesota. We need to convict these sex traffickers under the Minnesota anti-trafficking law so that Minnesota law enforcement can notify the Office of Homeland Security that the trafficker was convicted of sex trafficking and request that they do not allow the trafficker to bring any more children into the United States.

Recently, Civil Society, which hosts the Minnesota Human Trafficking Crisis and Tip Line, has stopped the child trafficking of five children who the trafficker brought into Minnesota using five fraudulent visas. The trafficker was intending to use the five visas again in order to bring five more children into Minnesota! Civil Society was able to request that the Office of Homeland Security prevent the trafficker from bringing any other children into the United States. We were also able to report the probable international trafficking of a young Haitian girl in Minnesota to law enforcement.

One half of the 14,500 to 17,500 human trafficking victims brought into the United States each year are children. Minnesota has made our very young trafficked children more vulnerable to sex trafficking by retaining this gap in the law which allows safe of children to one party for sex.

Minnesota adopts more foreign children than any other states and we have recently seen that fraudulent adoption agencies operate in Minnesota. It is important to note that many good people may be seeking to bring Haitian children to the United States. Some of these good people, with their focus on the innocent suffering children, do not understand the importance of complete legal documentation for these children. Some of these traumatized children have an affective attachment disorder. Many adopting parents in Minnesota and other states give up on trying to form a good parent-child relationship and try to obtain foster placement for the children when there are problems in the home. This is occurring frequently in Minnesota. These adoptive parents, then, forget to complete the immigration paper work for the children. The children may end up going through attempted, unsuccessful foster home placements and frequently run away. Since they are undocumented, these children become very vulnerable to sex traffickers.

Other Minnesota law could be used to prosecute these traffickers, however, it is very important that law enforcement be able to notify the Office of Homeland Security that a trafficker has been convicted under our sex trafficking law so that the Office of Homeland Security can more readily prevent the sex traffickers from trafficking our very young innocent children.

Linda Miller, Child Sex Slave Campaign

Civil Society
1st National Bank Building
332 Minnesota Street
Suite E-1436
St. Paul, MN 55101
Phone: 651-291-0713
FAX: 651-291-2588
www.civilsocietyhelps.org

Child Human Trafficking Legislation Campaign

* Amend Minnesota Statutes to read:

Minn. Stat. 609.321. Subd. 7a. Sex trafficking.

"Sex trafficking" means:

(1) receiving, recruiting, enticing, harboring, providing, or obtaining by any means an individual to engage in a commercial sex act; or

(2) receiving profit or anything of value, knowing or having reason to know it is derived from an act described in clause (1); or

(3) inducing an individual through the use of force, fraud, or coercion on individual to engage in a commercial sex act;

(4) inducing an individual who is under the age of 18 to engage in a commercial sex act.

* Add to Minnesota Statutes:

Minn. Stat. 609.321. Subd. 15. Commercial sex act.

A "commercial sex act" is a sex act on account of which anything of value is given or received by any person.

Linda Miller
Executive Director

Civil Society
332 Minnesota Street
Suite E-1436
St. Paul, MN 55101

651-291-0713
office@civilsocietyhelps.org
www.civilsocietyhelps.org

Child Human Trafficking Legislation Campaign - Flier

MAKE A DIFFERENCE........ NOW IS THE TIME...
FOR THE MINNESOTA LEGISLATURE
TO ENACT LAWS THAT:

Help protect child trafficking victims here in Minnesota

THEY NEED YOUR HELP!!!

Minnesotans...

STOP ALL CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING
STOP CRIMINALIZING VICTIMS OF SEX TRAFFICKING
STOP TRAFFICKERS FROM GOING FREE WITHOUT PROSECUTION

NOW IS THE TIME TO ASK...

THE MINNESOTA LEGISLATURE
TO AMEND MN LAW TO WORK WITH FEDERAL LAW TO:

ALLOW PROSECUTION OF CHILD BRIDE TRAFFICKERS;
TREAT SEX TRAFFICKING VICTIMS AS VICTIMS;
REQUIRE DOCUMENTATION OF THE NUMBER OF VICTIMS AND THE SUCCESSFUL PROSECUTION OF SEX TRAFFICKERS AND PATRONS.

TAKE FLIERS TO YOUR PRECINCT CAUCUSES (download from Civil Society Website)

CALL YOUR LEGISLATORS AND INSIST ON A LAW THAT ALLOWS PROSECUTION OF CHILD BRIDE TRAFFICKERS, DECRIMINALIZES SEX TRAFFICKING VICTIMS, AND ALLOWS MINNESOTANS TO KNOW HOW MANY TRAFFICKERS ARE BEING PROSECUTED [call 651-296-2146 or 800-657-3550 (House), 651-296-0504 or 888-234-1112 (Senate) or consult www.leg.state.mn.us to find the name of your legislators]

CONSIDER SUPPORT OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN ITS EFFORT TO CREATE CHANGE IN MINNESOTA LAW BY MAKING A CONTRIBUTION, THROUGH PAYPAL AT www.civilsocietyhelps.org

Linda Miller
Executive Director

Civil Society
332 Minnesota Street
Suite E-1436
St. Paul, MN 55101

651-291-0713
office@civilsocietyhelps.org
www.civilsocietyhelps.org

YOU ARE INVITED! - OPEN HOUSE

Civil Society has received a federal grant dedicated to outreach for victims of human trafficking. Please join us in a celebration of this new grant!

Date: June 19, 2009
Time: 3:00-6:00 pm
Location: 366 Jackson Street, Lower Level
St. Paul, Minnesota 55101

Refreshments will be provided

Please contact Linda Miller with questions Phone: 651-291-0713
E-mail: office@civilsocietyhelps.org

Also invited are Congresswoman Betty McCollum, our subcontractors Youth Link, SEWA, Somali Education and Social Advocacy Center and La Conexion, and international human trafficking victim Bukola.

Sponsor A Victim of Slavery

Sponsor A Victim of Slavery!
(click to view; .docx 160kb)

Pictures from May 20 Human Trafficking Watch Meeting

Pictures from our Human Trafficking Watch Meeting - May 20, 2008

New legal clinic in St Paul

A weekly walk-in clinic at the St. Paul Urban League will be open. The clinic will be hosted every Thursday, beginning this Thursday, May 1, 2008, from 3:30 p.m. until 5:30 p.m.