Justice Hope Freedom Podcast

Multnomah County Commissioner, Susheela Jayapal; Claire Barrera Program Manager at El Programa Hispano's UNICA and Joyclyn Bell a survivor and activist join me for this important conversation about Oregon Senate Bill 274.

Introduction: Charging children with prostitution is counter to our values as a community. Given that children cannot, by law, consent to sex, it is inherently contradictory to criminalize them for prostitution. They are experiencing a crime, and should not be treated as committing one. Experiencing arrest, prosecution, and/or custody by law enforcement is deeply traumatizing, especially for sex trafficking survivors of color who have already faced trauma, systemic racism, and trafficking.

SB 274 Priorities: prevention, decriminalization, reducing barriers.

SB 274 focuses on decriminalizing prostitution for minors -- including removing the ability to arrest and/or charge minors who are experiencing sex trafficking with prostitution. Sex trafficking disportionality impacts Black and Brown minors, so making this adjustment would directly support reducing the unnecessary criminalization of these populations.

Senate Bill 274 would reduce further systemic trauma and protect minor sex trafficking survivors from incurring legal consequences and penalties for being trafficked. It would also address reports of child abuse involving survivors of sex trafficking.

The ​Human Trafficking Awareness Day​ ​event hosted by the Junior League of Portland, on January 11, 2021 at 6pm PST, will include a keynote presentation about human trafficking, specifically addressing the issue of how black girls and women & Native American girls and women have been historically, currently and repeatedly targeted and harmed and how our systems are a part of the problem.

This is a free event to attend.

Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/human-trafficking-awareness-day-virtual-event-tickets-131646517277

Keynote speakers include:

• Sarah Nedeau, Director of Community-based Programs at New Avenues for Youth

• Susheela Jayapal, Multnomah Co. Commissioner, District 2

• Adrienne Livingston, Director of Anti-Sex Trafficking Initiatives at WorldVenture

Christen Price serves as Legal Counsel for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation Law Center. She joins me to talk about the case, Charleston v. State of Nevada, where they will argue that Nevada's pro-prostitution law conflicts with federal laws that ban sex trafficking and violates the Thirteenth Amendment's ban on any form of involuntary servitude. endsexualexploitation.org

NotSafeForWomen.org

This episode is The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) Webinar addressing the case: Charleston vs. state of Nevada.

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) Law Center will be arguing that Nevada's pro-prostitution law conflicts with federal laws that ban sex trafficking and violates the Thirteenth Amendment's ban on any form of involuntary servitude. More details about the plaintiffs' stories, and the legal briefs can be found at NotSafeForWomen.com.

https://endsexualexploitation.org/

Panelists:

Rebekah Charleston, Survivor of Nevada's Legal Brothels, Plaintiff in this case.

Christen Price, Legal Counsel, National Center on Sexual Exploitation; Co-counsel in this case.

Jason Guinasso, Attorney; Lead attorney in this case.

Melissa Holland, Founder, Awaken; Provides direct services to women in prostitution in Nevada & leads local efforts to overturn NV's prostitution laws.

Angela Delgado-Williams, Survivor of Sex Trafficking in Nevada.

Aashima Samuel heads the Children at Risk project with Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFIC@R) as the National Director. Her desire is to see that the churches and communities arise and come together to eradicate Human trafficking.

Caitlin Roper is an activist, writer and PhD candidate at RMIT university in Melbourne, Australia where she is researching female-bodied sex dolls and robots. Caitlin is the Campaigns Manager at Collective Shout (collectiveshout.org) which is a nonprofit that works toward a world free of sexploitation, a grassroots campaigns movement challenging the objectification of women and the sexualization of girls in media, advertising and popular culture. Caitlin is a Founding Member and Chair of Adopt Nordic Western Australia to fight sex trafficking and a Huffington Post blogger. Her Twitter handle is @caitlin_roper. Checkout campaignagainstsexrobots.org.

Laura is the Founder of The Liberty Project and in Pemba Mozambique which was started in 2016. Their work is to see the chains of sexual exploitation, abuse, trauma and severe cultural oppression broken! Working with Mozambican women to see them healed, confident and whole, through the redeeming love of Jesus, education, and practical empowering skills!

Justin Euteneier is the Program Director of The EPIK Project (Everyman Protecting Innocent Kids) which is a nonprofit which serves to mobilize male allies to disrupt the commercial sex market, equipping them to combat the roots of exploitation and encouraging them to collaborate effectively with the wider anti-trafficking movement.

Rachel Nelson is the Executive Director of the Freedom Businesses Alliance. They exist to employ survivors of human trafficking and those at risk of being trafficked, investing in their personal and professional development. From hand crafted goods to coffee shops to technology and everything in between, these businesses are united by the common vision of preserving freedom for the most vulnerable.