MEETING TO DISCUSS COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN, SEPT 30
You are invited to attend a special public information meeting sponsored by the Fort Worth League of Neighborhoods on commercial sexual exploitation of children.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
6:30 p.m.
Fort Worth Firefighters Association Hall
3855 Tulsa Way
Fort Worth, TX 76107
(Tulsa Way is one block south of Camp Bowie Blvd, just west of Montgomery)
Speakers include:
— Deena Graves, Executive Director, Trafficking 911
Child Trafficking in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, North Texas: What are the consequences?
— Sergeant Cheryl D. Johnson, Fort Worth Police Department, Supervisor, Human Trafficking Unit
— Kathleen Murray, Fort Worth Police Department, Program Coordinator, Human Trafficking Unit
Signs of Domestic Sex Trafficking
Domestic commercial trafficking of adolescents is a growing phenomenon in the United States. Some citizens are used to hearing about such trafficking in other countries, but now the issue is growing here, at home. The National Human Trafficking Hotline receives more calls from Texas than any other state – and 15 percent of those calls are from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. An assessment conducted in 2006 by Shared Hope International found that the average age of entry into prostitution in TarrantCounty is 14.2 years old. SHI’s 2009 national report on child trafficking included Fort Worth in its study of 10 American cities where trafficking is an issue.
The Fort Worth League of Neighborhoods is presenting this meeting to raise awareness about child traffiicking among neighborhood residents, teachers, education adminisistrators, Code Blue/Citizens on Patrol members, PTA members, parents, social service agencies, elected officials and other concerned citizens. Cities in which major sports events are held (such as the Super Bowl coming to Arlington – Fort Worth – Dallas in February 2011) are known to attract adults and the children they traffick. See article on the Super Bowl and trafficking here. Since 2006, the City of Fort Worth has received $1.2 milion to deal with international trafficking but domestic child trafficking has not received substantial funding.
If adults know the warning signs of child trafficking and how to counsel young girls and boys to stay away from it, they may help curb the growth of the industry – and, more importantly, keep young lives from being destroyed. Awareness about the perpetrators of these crimes can also lead to their arrest and conviction.
Our entire community has an interest in eradicating commercial sexual exploitation of adolescents. Please join us on Thursday, September 30.
Sincerely,
President of FWLNA
Read more about it:
ABC News Child Trafficking story