End Sex Trafficking

At 3 Generations, we are continuing to maintain a vital platform for victims of sex trafficking. We just released a video about Nikolaos, a male victim of sex trafficking in Chicago. We first  interviewed Nik three years ago and recently followed up with him upon learning that his health condition has been deteriorating. At 17, Nik’s life became centered on obligatory drug use and forced sex with predominantly straight men. As a consequence, he contracted HIV which has now evolved into AIDS. On film, he discloses a raw, fiercely emotional account of how his mental and physical trauma still plagues him on a daily basis. The goal of the video was aimed at raising money for Nik’s medical expenses, and we encourage viewers to visit our website to learn more about how to help him directly.

We will keep producing content like this so that Nik and others who have faced the same atrocities can have their stories heard and all of us can be moved to action.

Recently, the state department declared China as one of the worst offenders of human trafficking. The country fell to the lowest Tier 3 rating, joining others like Iran, Sudan, North Korea, Uzbekistan, and Venezuela. It is easy to ignore the truth, though, that this is a horror that occurs in the United States, in our own backyards.

One of our key tasks is tracking domestic attempts to curb sex trafficking. The legislature in Texas introduced a bill in late December that would allow special immigration status for young adult victims of sex trafficking. Washington State introduced a bill that would prohibit those convicted of sex trafficking crimes from having any contact with victims upon release from prison. Minnesota is already creating a strategy to prevent trafficking from taking place around the Super Bowl hosted by Minneapolis next year, while hotel and airline employees nationwide are being trained on how to spot signs of victims being trafficked.

Links:

• Video of Nik's Story

One year ago, 3 Generations produced a short documentary: "Miami-Dade Takes on Sex Trafficking". We captured how police, prosecutors and local activists have come together to revolutionize sex trafficking interdiction through collaboration in Miami, Florida.

Not all the U.S. States are taking similar actions to end sex trafficking. Lately, we’ve been tracking media on the sex industry in Texas. We learnt that direct intervention can only be part of the solution. In order to end child sex trafficking, it is crucial to look at the institutions and social spaces that child sex victims navigate.

In a recent editorial, The Texas Tribune reports how the state is home to over 80,000 child sex victims. This number not only reveals the ferocity of the sex trafficking industry but also the widespread failure of the child welfare system to shelter and protect vulnerable children. Most child sex workers have gone through multiple foster care homes or youth shelters - but bad living conditions and domestic abuses have led teenagers to fall into the grasp of pimps.

The child welfare system is broken mainly because of two interconnected reasons: there is not enough capacity to provide for all the children in need and the system is extremely under-funded. In February 2017, Texas leaders refused to provide more money to organizations trying to increase their capacity and quality of services. The Texas Department of Child and Family Services have outlined a crucial budget of $1 billion to make basic improvements to the child welfare system, yet lawmakers only proposed to allot less than one third of what the agency needs.

The 80,000 sex-trafficked children do not seem to be a priority for the Texan government. But at 3 Generations, we are committed to changing this reality. In February, we co-hosted a successful awards ceremony for the 4th Annual Malone Prize for Law Enforcement Vision and Leadership in Miami. Our Executive Director, Jane Wells, spoke out on the issues of sex trafficking and honored law enforcement officers who are working year round to end sex trafficking across the United States.

3 Generations will continue using our visual platforms to share the personal stories of victims and the brave efforts of those combatting sex trafficking.

Links:

• Miami-Dade takes on sex trafficking
• Article from the Rivard Report on funding for survivors in Texas
• Article from the Texas Tribune on broken child welfare system