#antislave

More often than not, we stumble across things every week that seem 'fishy' or out of the ordinary... but how often do we actually take the time to look into it, do some homework and find out what's really going on? Most of the time, we shrug out shoulders, say, 'we live in a free country and people make their own choices,' and we move on with our daily lives.

That's not what filmmaker Ruth Villatoro did when she noticed an article on cantineras 5 years ago in the Houston Press. She read a story about a man that fell in love with a cantinera and wanted to do a story on it... thinking that it was about a girl who drank alot. What she discovered the more she dug for information, was not what she originally had in mind. 

In a story published in the Houston Press titled, 'The Cantinera' exposes niche of Human Trafficking, Villatoro explains how she started filming a story about a man falling in love with a cantinera who drank a lot and ended up discovering that this is actually a form of sex trafficking. 

“A recruiter is an expert at identifying vulnerability,” she said. “They sell a story to a family, saying we have a restaurant in the United States. Your daughter will work as a waitress. They end up sending their daughter, not knowing what’s going to happen. The minute the daughter is separated from her family is when the threats start.”

Throughout the making of the film, she along with Dottie Laster, a legal representative for human trafficking victims and Cat French, director of the Houston office of Exodus Cry, an international, anti-trafficking ministry, the trio visited more than 160 sexually oriented businesses in the Greater Houston areas and identified 600 to 700 unverified ones. 

While cantineras can work freelance or be employed by a cantina, most cantina owners know how to protect their business from being shut down. Owners usually have legitimate liquor licenses but are not considered a “sexually oriented business,” which are subject to additional regulations, she said. A few tricks include registering businesses under different names and guises.

Sadly, the girls (cantineras) are the ones who take the brunt of police raids and usually end up being the ones arrested.

The positive note to this story is that change is happening and this crime is being brought to light. Sex trafficking and human trafficking in Houston, Texas, is being exposed thanks to this one citizen who took the time to do her research and study what was truly happening behind the story she originally read. 

“The most important thing is that the community is aware of the problem now,” she said. “ Business owners need to learn the signs and watch the businesses around them. That can make a huge a difference. It can make a change.”

The first step to making a difference is learning the signs of human trafficking. Trafficking is modern day slavery and no human being deserves to live in bondage. 

To learn more about slavery, see facts and stats on human trafficking or see current 2012 statistics, click on the links and educate yourself. Join Force4Compassion in the fight to end slavery and learn how you can get involved.

Human trafficking is a large problem but every person can make a difference. Don’t be overwhelmed by the statistics. Join the fight and together we can change the world one life at a time.

Often times people hear 'prostitution' and they automatically think that some girl has given up her dreams to exploit herself on the streets...

What people often don't know is what it actually took to coerce these young ladies into prostitution... many of the 'prostitutes' that are arrested, labeled, and thrown in jail, have been brain washed and trapped in the ring of human trafficking. Once they are in the cycle, they have no where to turn and go back to the 'pimps' who declare they can protect and provide for them. 

While this isn't always the case, it is true for more than the general public may think. In a story published by the Las Vegas Sun in November titled, Sex trafficking of children: Las Vegas' deep, dark secret, Andrea Swanson, the parent of a sex trafficking victim, shares her experiences and how her teenage daughter was convinced by a predator that

"worked his way into the family and stole its youngest member, a junior at Centennial High School in fall 2008 who fell for a boy."

This story is a prime example of how an innocent teenager with low self esteem was swept off her feet by a predator who appeared to care for her, but had alternative motives. Once he had gained the family's trust, he began to work with her insecurities to gain a recurring profit... which falls into the definition of human trafficking.

Human Trafficking Defined: Article 3, paragraph (a) of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons defines Trafficking in Persons as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.

There are thousands of stories similar to this one, and we encourage you to read the whole story HERE. The family saw signs of rebellion and defiance in the teen girl, but automatically assumed that it was due to drugs, which they thought to be the worst option. What they didn't know is that their daughter was coerced by the one who appeared to 'care for her' and exploited to gain a profit at her expense. Even when the mother set rules and guidelines on their dating relationship, it continued to happen. 

It is important that the general public learn the signs of human trafficking and child sex trafficking which is modern day slavery. Domestic child sex trafficking is a major issue that is kept in the dark and behind closed doors. 

This story represents how stealthy traffickers are and how vulnerable our youth are.

Together, we can abolish modern day slavery. First step is learning the facts. Click a link below to learn more:

Learn about modern day slavery

Human Trafficking Facts & Stats

Human Trafficking Statistics Report

Survivor Stories