Category — Author: Bradley Myles

I am excited to share this major announcement with you. As you can see from the below press release, Google.org is providing a multi-year grant to Polaris Project, International Justice Mission, and Slavery Footprint to implement a unified initiative focused on  eradicating modern-day slavery.

This is a significant endorsement of the impact that all three organizations have achieved in holding traffickers accountable, helping survivors rebuild their lives and increasing public action against trafficking. We know that no single organization can achieve these goals alone. By combining our unique roles and expertise, we are building a powerful force that will mobilize millions of Americans in support of a world where everyone is guaranteed the fundamental human right of freedom.
This three-year initiative aims to achieve the following measurable outcomes:

1. Improve legislation that protects human trafficking victims and holds traffickers accountable;
2. Increase government funding for victims’ services and greater law enforcement capacity to fight human trafficking;
3. Provide simple steps that Americans can take to help eradicate human trafficking, such as calling the national human trafficking hotline at 1-888-373-7888; and
4. Increase demand for “slave-free” products.

Through aggressive, metrics-oriented activities, we will also bring a unique element of analytics and empiricism while tracking these outcomes.

I hope you are as enthusiastic over this announcement as we are.  This new grant will help to amplify and accelerate the impact of our work against modern-day slavery. We are thankful for Google.org’s generous $1.8 million multi-year grant, as well as the ongoing support you have shown to Polaris Project. Together, we are helping to build a nationwide network that is transforming the way communities work to end human trafficking.

If you would like to support Polaris Project’s vision for a world without slavery, please donate at www.polarisproject.org/donate.

Press Release
Google Blog Announcement
CNN
ABC
PR Newswire
NY Times Blog

This past weekend, we heard news that Craigslist removed the “Adult” or “Erotic” section from all of its global sites worldwide.  The action happened quietly, without much mention in mainstream media, perhaps because it’s not viewed as a newsworthy event.  However, for those in the anti-trafficking field, this is a huge change. It’s certainly newsworthy because we know that a major source of free advertising has been cut off for human traffickers worldwide. [Read more →]

This Thanksgiving I want to take a moment to express my gratitude for all that our advocates have done this year to support Polaris Project.  Many of you increased awareness about the issue of human trafficking, contacted your legislators to further an important policy initiative, signed a petition to increase resources for survivors, advertised the national human trafficking hotline number, and even made a personal donation to support our work.

Polaris Project was founded in the spirit of community members, just like our advocates, working together to build a movement to fight human trafficking and modern-day slavery.  I am grateful that we’ve been able to work together to make a huge impact within the anti-trafficking movement this year. [Read more →]

Bradley Myles with activists and Bush administration officials at the TVPRA 2008 bill signing

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) was signed on October 28, 2000, making last Thursday its 10-year anniversary.  At the time, this law truly was ground-breaking legislation because it was the first comprehensive federal law that addressed human trafficking in the modern era. One of its most important contributions was the formulation of a victim-centered paradigm for addressing the crime and a three-pronged approach that included: [Read more →]

As many people in the anti-trafficking field know, commercial-front “massage parlors” throughout the United States can sometimes be a cover for illegal prostitution activity and also for human trafficking.  These places have one reason of staying in business, the profits, and the profits only come from one place, the johns.  These businesses cater to johns, and sadly, there are so many people who buy sex that it’s easy to understand why the massage parlors stay open at all costs.  There’s just too much money to be made from the johns.

[Read more →]

On January 13 Peter J. Nickles, the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, announced that his office successfully shut down a number of illegal brothels either based in residential homes or those posing as legitimate massage parlors. [Read more →]

I distinctly remember a time, a few years ago in 2007, when craigslist became a point of focus at meetings and events throughout the anti-trafficking movement.  Sitting in conferences or at task force meetings, it became a frequent occurrence for a presenter from law enforcement or the victims services field to talk about how victims of human trafficking were increasingly being advertised in the Erotic Services section of the website. [Read more →]

I’d like to direct your attention to some recent media activity about Japan and an American journalist living there named Jake Adelstein.  Jake’s new book, entitled Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan, is a memoir of his experiences investigating the Yakuza, one of the largest crime syndicates in the country.  He recently discussed this topic on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and on NPR. [Read more →]

Fifteen minutes of sexual intercourse for $30 dollars cash.

That’s the going rate for men seeking to buy commercial sex from one of the major sex trafficking networks that spans throughout the United States.  Women held in these brothels are bought by a different man every 15 minutes.  Four different men per hour, like clockwork.  Maybe upwards of 30 to 40 different men per day, for 12 hours, 7 days a week. [Read more →]

Every night in downtown Washington, DC, there’s a specific 10-block area that transforms from a typical retail and business district from upscale clubs, office buildings, hotels, and restaurants to an open-air market where the sex trafficking of women and girls occurs [Read more →]