Ending Human Trafficking

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182 – Where Your Support Goes Oct 07, 2018

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak reflect on all that the Global Center for Women and Justice are involved with because of Ending Human Trafficking listeners! Partnerships with agencies, organizations, industries, leaders, and listeners far and near really do broaden the message for ending human trafficking and support the vision of the GCWJ! By supporting the podcast, you are directly supporting these programs and the growth and impact of the GCWJ, thank you.

Key Points

Through the support and resources from partnerships, GCWJ has been able to implement:

Resources

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Transcript

Dave: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 182, Where Your Support Goes.

Production Credits: [00:00:09] Produced by Innovative Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave: [00:00:29] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie: [00:00:35] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave: [00:00:37] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. And you are making a difference in ending human trafficking by listening to this show, by continuing to study the issue So, that you can be a voice and make a difference in this issue. And you by virtue of the fact that you’re listening to us right now, you are a supporter of the work that Sandie does, the larger strategy of the Global Center for Women and Justice, and of course, most importantly ending human trafficking. So, thank you on behalf of both of us, thank you for listening, supporting us whether this is the very first time you’ve listened to this episode or you’ve been listening with us all along since we began back in 2011. And we wanted to do something a little bit different with this episode. We have just completed the annual Priceless Event, Sandie. And it’s an important time for the center as far as strategic vision forward and what’s next. And we wanted both to spend some time today to thank you as a supporter of us for where we have gone thus far. And perhaps as important if not more importantly where we are going next, right Sandie?

Sandie: [00:01:59] That’s right. And Priceless was an amazing opportunity to celebrate the work that we’re doing, to cast a vision for the future, and to really join forces with our community. And the people that attend are from all walks of life, Attorneys, judges, police officers, women business leaders, men in the business. They were all there and my husband was there. And baseball player Albert Pujols was there. His wife, DeeDee Pujols, was our keynote speaker.

Dave: [00:02:37] Past guest on this show.

Sandie: [00:02:40] That’s right. And he came to show his support for her and she did knock it out of the park, it was amazing. As she drew attention to the fact that we not only need to have restorative programs for victims, but we need to have programs that help the most vulnerable become more employable and have a future.

Dave: [00:03:05] Sandie, it’s also, such a great example of partnerships So, much of the work that they have done personally as a family but also, has translated to more visibility through the Angels organization and even through a day at the park last year.

Sandie: [00:03:19] Strike out Slavery. We were there the week before, it was great.

Dave: [00:03:23] It’s just a great example of how partnerships really do broaden the messages and the support that otherwise people may not be aware of what’s happening. And like many people who have partnered with us and with the center over the years and supporting this. There are So, many others that are not yet aware or if they are aware, they’ve maybe heard something in passing about trafficking.

Sandie: [00:03:45] Or they think it’s happening someplace else. One of the things about, and I could do this in almost any community, but I’m in Orange County. So, we had a map that our task force provided for us that showed some of the most recent cases where they were located, and they were in places like San Juan Capistrano and Laguna Hills. Those kinds of places where you think this isn’t happening here. And our task force investigators they were there on site to answer people’s questions.

Dave: [00:04:17] There’s So, much that has been done. And I thought it might be helpful for us to just spend some time highlighting some of the things that the Center has been working on and of course what’s next. And there are at least 10 areas you highlighted during the Priceless event that I think could be helpful for us to spend some time looking at in detail.

Sandie: [00:04:38] Well let’s do it. We really will. We’ll put that [00:04:42] graphic [0.6] in our show notes. But this idea that we have these building blocks and we’re actually building a structural agenda to combat human trafficking and these are the ways that we’re doing it.

Dave: [00:04:56] One of the big ones, of course, has been a longstanding important part of the center’s vision and presence in the world is the Ensure Justice conference. The annual conference, Sandie, for those who may not have heard about us talk about the conference before, what is the aim of the conference and what’s next for the conference in the coming year and years?

Sandie: [00:05:16] Ensure Justice started in 2007, and 2019 the theme will be When Home Isn’t Safe. Because we know that the vulnerabilities that are often characteristic of victims are people who are fleeing violence, kids who are running away from a home where there is sexual exploitation or sexual abuse, people who find themselves homeless. The opioid crisis has created a huge gap in services to children of addicted parents, So, Ensure Justice will be When Home Isn’t Safe, and we’re going to try to respond to how we can make homes safer and how we can bridge that gap. And our partners will be from all across the U.S., DEA will be here again, we’ve already confirmed that. And we will have CEUs for nurses and continuing education for attorney...

181 – Strengths-Based and Survivor-Informed Aftercare Sep 25, 2018

Show notes

Joining Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak to discuss holistic care is Stephanie Taylor. Stephanie is the Program Coordinator for The Salvation Army’s Anti-Trafficking Services Program in Orange County, is part of the core leadership team for the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force, and is an Adjunct Professor at Vanguard University teaching the importance of holistic after-care services to human trafficking victim-survivors.

Key Points

Holistic care addresses the needs of a person, both biopsychosocial and spiritually, by bringing value to the whole person, seeing them as more than their trafficking victimization.
Strengths-based aftercare is approaching a survivor with the knowledge that they have survived their difficult circumstances and can now use the strengths they have adapted to heal from the trauma they’ve experienced and thrive as an individual beyond their trauma.
Survivor-informed is a constant learning experience for everyone in the field to learn from the survivors themselves. This includes using surveys, feedback, and their opinions so that we can shift programs based off of someone that’s experienced the program.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 181, Strengths-based and Survivor-informed Aftercare.

Production Credits: [00:00:09] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave: [00:00:30] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie: [00:00:35] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave: [00:00:38] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. And Sandie today we have a friend with us.

Sandie: [00:00:47] That’s right. I’ll let you introduce her.

Dave: [00:00:50] I am glad to welcome to the show today Stephanie Taylor. She is the program coordinator for the Salvation Army’s Anti-trafficking services program in Orange County. She serves as part of the core leadership team for the Orange County human trafficking task force and works with the United States Department of State International Visitors Delegation providing training on best practices in Orange County addressing human trafficking to delegates from countries around the world. Through a grant awarded by the California Office of Emergency Management Services, Stephanie travels throughout the state providing training to law enforcement and victim advocates on identifying victims of human trafficking, along with best practices, and serving victims of human trafficking after they have left their trafficking situation. She also, works as an adjunct professor at Vanguard University teaching the importance of holistic aftercare services to human trafficking victims survivors. Stephanie, we’re so, glad to welcome you to the show.

Stephanie: [00:01:51] Thank you so, much. Thank you so, much for the invite.

Sandie: [00:01:53] Well you have such a broad experience base, you lived in a Phnom Penh for a while as well working with international human trafficking issues, correct?

Stephanie: [00:02:05] Yes. That’s kind of what launched me into going back to grad school and being able to get an education, so, I could serve the population.

Sandie: [00:02:12] Well when we think about providing aftercare for human trafficking the idea of holistic care comes up over and over again, comes up in your bio, comes up in your syllabi because you teach at Vanguard, I see those things. Can you kind of give us a little context for what that means? Its way out there and people have different ideas about what holistic means.

Stephanie: [00:02:35] Holistic from the way that we approach it as a framework is Maslow’s hierarchy, the framework that we’re all very familiar with. And it’s just addressing the needs of a person, both bio-psychosocial and spiritually and that looks different for every survivor. So, it’s just bringing value to the whole person, seeing them as more than their trafficking victimization, seeing them as a person that has goals and dreams that are you know mothers, daughters, partners, and grandparents even to others. And so, we see that when we bring them into our program and that’s kind of how we approach them. We know that their trauma is a piece of who they are, but it’s not all of who they are.

Sandie: [00:03:15] So, when the Salvation Army here in Orange County started years ago being our partner with the law enforcement to serve victims, they really took the lead especially with international victims. Can you give us a couple examples of the diversity of survivors that Salvation Army serves?

Stephanie: [00:03:39] Well currently to date we have served survivors from up to 38 countries. We worked with survivors from about 18 or 19 different dialects of language. You can see that is a broad range of survivors we worked with. Each culture is different, each approach to life is different. And so, it’s really important that we do enroll a survivor into our program. That cultural competency is a big piece, that’s a big piece of the holistic services and that we just get to know them for who they are, what their needs are, what their dreams are. And we also, understand that in some cultures collectivism is the primary piece of their culture. So, we know that that’s a big piece of the healing process in getting them connected with a community, whether it’s a community of their own from their own culture or getting them connected to a new community depending on the level of safety. And so, that’s part of the holistic services where there are times when some programs are unable to kind of address all of the needs. We kind of see where thee needs are and we have a great collaborative team through the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force that helps us meet those needs so, that we’re not just providing basic needs or just the psychological needs, but we’re also, working toward self-actualization, like in the Maslow’s hierarchy framework. If that is our goal in working with the survivors, then we’re going to cover a lot of things in working with them. And it’s their choice on where they go in the process and what they choose to address. But you know our biggest goal is just to walk alongside them, you know help them access resources, help them access what they need in the healing process until they become ...

180 – The Role of Resilience When Facing Adversity: Part 2 Sep 09, 2018

Show notes

For part two, Dr. Jackie Parke joins Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak again to further discuss resilience in adversity. Jackie is a licensed psychologist and Assistant Professor of Psychology at Vanguard University in Southern California who focuses on resilience-building among youth, evidence-based treatment for mental health disorders, and refugee mental health. Jackie provides more insight into the 5 factors related to resilience and how we can help build resilience in others.

Key Points

According to Grotburg, resilience is “the human capacity to face, overcome, and be strengthened by or even transformed by the adversities of life.”
The five factors related to resilience are social support, coping and self-regulation, problem-solving, hope and a sense of purpose, and meaning-making.
Social support is the idea that someone has a team, a group of people who are trustworthy, who love them, who care for them unconditionally, and who are there for them.
Coping and self-regulation is the idea that people have a menu of choices at their disposal so that when they are experiencing strong emotions, they can make choices about how to self-regulate and cope with those emotions.
Problem-solving is being able to clearly identify a practical life problem, being able to generate multiple potential solutions for that problem, and then being able to experiment by trying one of those solutions.
Hope and a sense of purpose will drive them forward in a positive way into the future. This involves having goals for the future, having aspirations, being able to dream about the type of life that they want to have or the type of person that they want to be.
Meaning-making is being able to look at our life and what’s happened in the past, what is happening now, what might happen in the future, and being able to assign meaning in a way that is accurate but is also life-giving and hopeful.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 180, Building Resilience Factors: Part 2.

Production Credits: [00:00:08] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave: [00:00:28] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie: [00:00:33] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave: [00:00:36] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, on the last episode we began a conversation with Dr. Jackie Parke on the role of resilience when facing adversity. And today she is back to continue that conversation and to really do a deep dive on some of the building resilience factors, some of the critical ones that we should know about. And so, for those who didn’t listen yet to Episode 179, if you didn’t, by the way, you can go back and listen, what should people be remembering from our previous conversation, Sandie?

Sandie: [00:01:15] Well, Dr. Jackie Parke is amazing and her experiences, you can go back and listen to her bio, but she is also, a colleague and valued friend at Vanguard University. And her work with adolescents and with refugees, she just brings a wealth of experience and I love the definition she introduced us to on the last podcast. So, welcome back Dr. Jackie Parke, and why don’t you remind us of the definition of resilience that we’re working with.

Jackie: [00:01:48] Sure, So, we were talking about a definition of resilience that I saw in a literature by Grotburg in 1995. So, the definition is that “resilience is the human capacity to face, overcome, and be strengthened by, or even transformed by the adversities of life.”

Sandie: [00:02:13] Wow. Just like last time, I’m just So, inspired by the idea of transformation because of adversities. And you introduced us to two ends of the spectrum of risk factors and the protective factors. And one of the things that really inspired me about protective factors is that you identified those also, as preventative. And when you are working with adolescents how does that prevention mentality inform how you do that?

Jackie: [00:02:49] Yeah there’s a paradigm that some people look to when they’re working with youth and it’s called positive youth development. But it’s basically this idea that we want to as much as possible identify and highlight the protective factors that are present in a person’s life. We also, want to shore up their psychological resources by if possible increasing the number of protective factors in their life. So, we want to highlight the protective factors that are there. We want to build in more protective factors as possible, with an understanding that this may even prevent them from suffering future difficulties if we can shore up their resources for being resilient.

Sandie: [00:03:37] I love that. And So, for me sometimes it’s the idea that it’s like brushing your teeth with toothpaste that has fluoride in it. I don’t have to have a cavity and take you and get it filled. I just have to teach you how to protect your teeth. And we don’t have to wait for the risk factors to overwhelm a young person or someone who has survived some kind of trauma, but we can actually build those protective factors. So, we talked about two things the last podcast and we’re going to add three. But let’s go back and review social support, Dr. Parke.

Jackie: [00:04:18] Social support is the idea that someone has a team, they have a group of people whether his family, or friends, or professionals who are caring for them. There are people who are trustworthy, and who love them, who care for them unconditionally, and who are there for them. They have a tribe in a sense.

Sandie: [00:04:41] I like the term tribe. I had a conversation recently with someone who was running an aftercare program for adult women with substance abuse issues. And she said, “oh no we’ve got three empty beds because we had three people who broke the rules. And So, now they’re no longer there and So, we can take blah blah blah.” and it’s like well I don’t want to put them there because it feels like that unconditional part. And So, building that support. How would you respond? I had nothing to say, I just got really quiet. How can you have some social support in really difficult circumstances?

Jackie: [00:05:23] Yeah, maybe I have nothing to say too. No, I’m just kidding. It’s a difficult question but I think what my mind goes to is that the love, and support, and the care are unconditional. But unconditional love and care and support do include boundaries. It does include limit setting it does include safety but that may have to work differently from setting to...

179 – The Role of Resilience When Facing Adversity: Part 1 Aug 26, 2018

Show notes

Dr. Jackie Parke joins Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak to discuss the role of resilience in lives with high-risk factors. Jackie is a licensed psychologist and Assistant Professor of Psychology at Vanguard University in Southern California who focuses on resilience-building among youth, evidence-based treatment for mental health disorders, and refugee mental health. Together they examine risk factors and protective factors that influence a person’s vulnerability, as well as how resilience plays a role in their future.

Key Points

According to Grotburg, resilience is “the human capacity to face, overcome, and be strengthened by or even transformed by the adversities of life.”
Risk factors include individual, family, and social or community characteristics that are associated with increased vulnerability in a person’s life.
Researchers think that the total number of risk factors a child experiences may weigh more heavily on vulnerability than the particular type of risk factors they experience.
Protective factors include the individual, family, and social or community characteristics that are associated with positive adaptation.
Two of the five factors related to resilience are social support and coping or self-regulation skills (factors continued in Part Two).

Resources

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Transcript

Dave: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 179, The Role of Resilience when Facing Adversity: Part 1.

Production Credits: [00:00:10] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave: [00:00:31] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie: [00:00:36] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave: [00:00:39] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, I don’t know how often we say the word resilience, but certainly, that word comes up for me just about every time we record an episode of thinking about not only the resilience that all of us need in this work against human trafficking. But of course, the resilience most importantly of the people who are affected by this. And I’m really thrilled to welcome our guest today. She’s a pal of ours at Vanguard University and her name is Jackie Parke. Dr. Jackie Parke is a licensed psychologist who serves children, adolescents, college-age young adults, and their families. She’s currently an assistant professor of psychology at Vanguard University of Southern California. Her clinical and research areas of focus include resilience building among youth, evidence-based treatment for mental health disorders, and refugee mental health. And I know she’s going to really be helpful to us Sandie on some more perspective on this. Jackie, we’re so glad to welcome you to the show.

Jackie: [00:01:45] I’m so excited to be here. Thank you both for having me.

Sandie: [00:01:48] Well Jackie, when I first met you, you opened a door for me when I’m working particularly with survivors and aftercare for human trafficking but also with a lot of my kids who have come out of some kind of domestic violence situation because one of the things I’ve seen is trauma-informed care is very helpful. But why are some of my kids doing really well and others not? And it was like you showed me the next step. So that’s why I was so excited to have you bring that to our listeners, so welcome to our show. And where we’re going to start off with let’s just talk about the definition of resilience. \.

Jackie: [00:02:35] So there are different definitions of resilience in the literature. So, researchers kind of debate, and I’ve seen you know over the past few decades this debate happening, but there’s one definition that I lean toward in particular because it has more of a positive emphasis. And I saw this in the literature by Grotberg in 1995, “Resilience is the human capacity to face, overcome, and be strengthened by or even transformed by the adversities of life.”.

Sandie: [00:03:12] Wow. So, the “transformed by adversities of life” that caught me by surprise.

Jackie: [00:03:19] Me too, and that’s the piece that I really appreciate about this definition is that it’s saying yes people have adverse experiences that they face, that they can overcome but perhaps there’s even a pathway there where by way of the adversities they have faced, people can actually be transformed by those experiences.

Sandie: [00:03:44] So the idea that resiliency is like a little rubber ball that when you squeeze it regains its shape is really different in the context of this definition. And I think for a lot of us in this field and not really thinking through about resiliency we’ve sort of had this okay either it’s going to regain its shape or it’s not.

Jackie: [00:04:10] I think that’s what most people would imagine when they consider resilience you know can this person get back to who they used to be. You know when I talk with clients sometimes in therapy when they’ve been through adverse experiences sometimes they’re thinking of OK I need to get back to who I used to be, my old normal, my old self. But a hopeful, futuristic post-traumatic growth view of this would say well actually you’ll find a new normal and is it even the case that you might emerge from these really difficult experiences with new strength and new capacities and a new degree of transformation that wasn’t there before.

Sandie: [00:04:53] And looking at it from my perspective, I’m thinking I don’t want her to go back to her old normal because that’s why she was so vulnerable and so I want her to have a new strength. So, tell us how that works especially from a child perspective, you’ve done a lot of work with adolescents.

Sandie: [00:05:13] Well first off, I think thinking about an example that you just gave of not wanting someone to go back to the vulnerable self that they were experiencing. I think what happens is that people have to develop a capacity to dream and to hope of a new, better future. And so, it takes them, and it takes the people around them coming together to have a creative vision for who they can be. You know, loving the person for who they are now, but creating that new hope for future and vision of who they can become. So, part of this in terms of child psychology, child psychologist talks about developmental pathways. And this is basically a term for just the trajectory of a person’s life over time. And it’s complex, is not linear, it’s not formulaic but it’s basically this mysterious combination of what are the risk factors a person has experienced and with their liv...

178 – How to Champion Advocacy in Government Aug 12, 2018

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak invite Sara Catalan, deputy chief of staff, to the show. They discuss women in government and how that impacts human trafficking. As well as how women can take steps to get more engaged with politics.

Key Points

When crafting policy for the future, it’s important to know history in order to avoid repeating the mistakes from our past.

Modernizing legislation is a critical component in the fight against human trafficking by giving law enforcement the tools they need to stop the traffickers.

For young people wanting to make a difference, research and preparation are crucial. It is also important to learn your own interests, motivations, and passions by always accepting any opportunity that comes your way.

A great first step for women to get involved in political positions is to get engaged locally through appointed offices.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 178, How to Champion Advocacy in Government.

Production Credits: [00:00:08] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave: [00:00:28] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie: [00:00:33] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave: [00:00:36] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, longtime listeners of this show even listeners who have just come to the show will recall and remember how much we talk about partnership, partnership at every level of organization and in government. And today’s guest I know is going to be helpful to us in really some of the perspective on how to advocate especially in government.

Sandie: [00:01:04] Absolutely. We are so happy to welcome Sara Catalan, deputy chief of staff to Representative Ed Royce to our show. Sarah, thank you for joining us.

Sara: [00:01:17] I’m excited to join you.

Sandie: [00:01:19] Well when I first met you through Congressman Royce’s office you were leading and directing and setting up all kinds of exciting opportunities for our community to engage with your office. And even though the congressman spent most of his time in Washington D.C. and I began to understand the role that you have as very influential and very significant to the issues that your office supports. And it reminded me a few years ago when our U.N. general secretary on International Women’s Day. And I’ve never told you this, Erin I’ve known you now for years, but when he’s said General Ban Ki-Moon said that countries with gender equality with women leaders perform better. I thought of you because you are such a presence in the congressman’s office, and locally in Orange County, and then by extension to Washington D.C. You’ve been a leader in policy advocacy on anti-human trafficking, so kudos to you. How many years have you been in this role?

Sara: [00:02:44] Well thank you, Sandie. That was very nice of you. I’ve worked for the congressman for 16 years.

Sandie: [00:02:49] Wow, that’s pretty outstanding. And when I think about some of the major accomplishments just in anti-human trafficking, I think you are the organizer and maintainer of the advisory committee. Can you talk about that just for a moment?

Sara: [00:03:11] Sure. I think the way that our office approaches human trafficking is a little bit different than some other local representatives and that’s because as you know Congressman Ed Royce is chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. So, in our perspective we always have that kind of international angle, so we focus a little bit more on international trafficking than we do on domestic. But the reason that we decided to kind of jump in this unique way was as I was getting more engaged with the issue of human trafficking I was getting overwhelmed because it’s such a diverse issue from labor trafficking, to sex trafficking, to minors, adults, foreign nationals, native-born, every single subset has their own issues, their own struggles. So, we really kind of grappled with this idea of like how do we get a holistic view of what the problem actually is. So, my solution was to develop a human trafficking congressional advisory committee and so I pulled this board together. And thank you, Dr. Morgan, for sitting on it, you are a critical member to have on the board with your knowledge and your expertise. And the model is just very unique in that we have members from law enforcement, we have social workers, caseworkers. We have members of the nonprofit community that come alongside the county services to provide a lot of services to our survivors of human trafficking. And then we also have the prosecutors and the federal law enforcement represented on the committee as well. And this committee meets with the congressman personally, regularly to keep him abreast of all the issues and all the challenges we’re facing with human trafficking. And as you’ve seen in some of our committee meetings, there are times when the congressman is able to solve a problem there at the meeting.

Sandie: [00:05:01] It’s amazing. We start talking about this problem, and he’s like, “Sara, can we do something about that.” And Sara says, “Well yes.” And the next thing you know someone is making a call and there we have a solution right on the table.

Sara: [00:05:17] Yeah. So, it’s a really unique model but it’s worked very well for us. And I think the other benefit is law enforcement and the non-profit community rarely speaks to one another. So, at these roundtable meetings in addition to communicating with the congressman, as you’ve seen Sandie, they communicate with each other. And there are times when I adjourn the meeting and people will sit in my office for another 30 minutes just to kind of you know catch up with one another because you just don’t have that opportunity when you’re in this full time.

Sandie: [00:05:51] Well and I have to tell you before the meeting starts in the little waiting area as we arrive, I’ve gotten in the habit of getting there as early as I can because that’s a chance to see people I don’t ordinarily see and find out what’s going on in their world. So yeah, congratulations on such a good job on that. You know the other thing that has always stood out to me is how you’ve used your position to educate in the community and to extend advocacy on behalf of women. And you know I’m a professor at a university, so I have a lot of young women and you’ve been on campus and I mean they look at me and I’m you know I have grandchildren they look at you in there like I want to be that. And so, I kind of want to start back from the beginning of how you prepared to do somethin...

177 – Three Actions Men Can Take That Move Us All Forward Jul 29, 2018

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak consider the impact of patriarchal attitudes. They make evident that everyone has a responsibility of moving forward the equality of women, in order to create progress for all. There are three actions that men specifically can take to begin empowering women and engaging in a process that’s going to break down patriarchal stereotypes.

Key Points

Three actions men can take to start empowering women are to create a space for women in leadership, demonstrate authentic value and respect for what a woman brings to the table, and nurture talents and gifts so that women can grow in their own right.
According to research from the U.N., countries with more gender equality have better economic growth. Countries with more women leaders perform better. Peace agreements that include women are more durable. Parliaments with more women enact more legislation on social issues such as health, education, anti-discrimination, and child support.
A triangle to model empowerment includes opportunities, access, and achievement. Opportunity without access is not true equality. However, with both opportunity and access, you can have the third closing line of achievement, and we want to see achievement.

Resources

Scars Across Humanity

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Transcript

Dave: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 177, Three Actions Men Can Take That Move Us All Forward.

Production Credits: [00:00:10] Produced by Innovative Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave: [00:00:30] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie: [00:00:36] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave: [00:00:38] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, glad to be back with you for another conversation on how we can inch forward, jump forward, occasionally crawl forward, but move forward on this issue as we are always working to do every time we get together.

Sandie: [00:01:02] And it’s such a complex issue, Dave. So, I enjoy the opportunities we have when it’s a discussion between the two of us and we’re able to explore some of the less direct aspects of this. And I was really privileged to do an author interview with Dr. Elaine Storkey for her new book Scars Across Humanity and it might be something you’d be interested in reading although it’s a little depressing.

Dave: [00:01:33] Well, we’re seven years in on this podcast and I’m still feeling positive about what we’re doing so I can handle a little depression.

Sandie: [00:01:42] Well in her book she discusses the scope of the problem of violence against women and the impact of patriarchal attitudes. And I keep hearing this same theme as people are in the #metoo movement, transition from Boy Scouts of America to Scouts of America. The idea that we have to break down some of those generational attitudes of patriarchy, men over women. So, I thought it would be interesting to really start there. When I asked Dr. Storkey about where violence against women starts she said and I’m going to quote this from her, “It starts in the womb, in places like India and China where boys are valued more than girls for reasons of religion, family, and economics. This leads to girls being aborted at alarming rates, starts in the womb. In other countries, we see the practice of female genital mutilation to assure sexual purity for marriage. And the next horror I found was child marriage, little girls violated by their husbands, losing everything their education and their independence.” That’s overwhelming. And a person could easily say wow I’m going to leave that to somebody else. But it takes men being involved in the response. And just in the recent days, there was a news release from India with a landmark ruling. And you think about their legislative, and law enforcement, and judicial environment and it is predominantly led by men. So, this ruling isn’t about women winning, it’s about men becoming involved. And so, the ruling states that sex with a child bride is always rape. And this was a massive win for girls’ rights. So, you look back at what Dr. Storkey said about little girls violated by their husbands, losing everything their education and their independence. And you realize this is a big win, yes. But there is more to it. What is the more to it? We have to end that opportunity for men to have that kind of power over a little girl because instead of being in a marriage where now it’s going to be called rape, instead of being in a marriage shouldn’t she be in school? Shouldn’t she be pursuing her future, her education? How can that become part of the bigger picture?

Dave: [00:04:47] One of the things that I’ve become more aware of because of you Sandie and certainly Bonnie, my wife, is noticing some of the patterns that I think I wouldn’t see otherwise without the perspective of a woman’s look into the situation. And I’m struck by how many times you or Bonnie or someone has just pointed out to me things that happen in everyday conversation even within our own friendships and household that can be very patriarchal and are things that some of us brought with us, I know I did from childhood and generations ago of things that you know society was different. And so, it’s easy to hear stories like the ones you just shared and think like oh gosh we live here. I mean for speaking for us, we live here in Southern California, we’re very enlightened because we are past a lot of these things. And yet we all have a place to move forward on this where we all have the responsibility I think to identify the things that we are still doing in relationships that contribute to this and sometimes are not as apparent as they may be like with the law you just cited. But in our own households, and how we interact, and what kind of language we’re using with boys and with girls. And we think a lot about that in parenting.

Sandie: [00:06:14] And you have a boy and a girl.

Dave: [00:06:17] We do, and the boy is older and so there are some natural things that I mean an older child tends to be more of the aggressor. I know this from my childhood, you know two brothers. That said, you know we have a lot of conversations around what respect looks like. And you don’t get to touch the other sibling without their permission. And Bonnie and I talk a lot about how really setting the expectation for that at an early age at age 4, 5, 6 years old of respect. And I do see even in our own family how we can, I shouldn’t say anyone else, I can certainly fall into some of those patterns if I’m not thinking about it. It’s easy to miss it just because that’s the environment that I grew up in and others grew up in.

Sandie: [00:07:01] And you bring up a really good point that these things come from your childhood, these perceptions. And how do w...

176 – Field Trip to the Athens Asylum Center Jul 15, 2018

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak discuss Sandie’s recent visit to an asylum center in Athens, Greece. They shed light on the challenges for refugees to receive asylum and the continued hardships of integrating into a new culture. They also discuss how asylum seekers are causing challenges for the country itself.

Key Points

Greece’s geography, proximity, and of course being adjacent to the ocean makes it the country of destination for asylum seekers.

Greece is a country of 11 million people. About five million are of the age where they’re working and unemployment is about 30 percent. So you have an economically stretched country that is tasked with receiving hundreds and thousands of these refugees.

About 47 percent of refugees will receive asylum. And by asylum, that means they have a residency permit, protection rights, their kids can go to school, and they can work while they wait for the final decision.

5 myths surrounding asylum are: the refugee crisis is over, we can easily separate refugees from economic migrants, telling human stories is enough to change people’s minds, the crisis is a threat to European values, and history is repeating and there’s nothing we can do about it.

Resources

143 – Why Was Sandy in Istanbul?

Greek Forum of Refugees

The UN Refugee Agency

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Transcript

Dave: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 176, Field Trip to the Athens Asylum Center.

Production Credits: [00:00:09] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave: [00:00:30] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is David Stachowiak.

Sandie: [00:00:35] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave: [00:00:37] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. On the last episode we talked about studying the issues in Athens, Greece and we explored some of the big pictures, goals, and outcomes that came out of Sandie’s recent trip there with the Global Center for Women and Justice team. And we talked about student involvement and so many of the takeaways that happened. On this episode, we’re going to zero in on a much more of a micro conversation, Sandie, on one particular piece and one particular experience of being in Greece during that time. And we’re going to really look at in some detail the asylum center that you visited.

Sandie: [00:01:27] I tell you when we arrived at this center and we saw the way the gate is positioned with the kind of metal guides like you were in line to go through security at the airport and it just whines and whines, back and forth. And knowing that refugees show up there at 6 o’clock in the morning waiting for the office to open at 8:00 a.m. trying to get in first. And they have their whole family with the mom, dad, three or four kids and they’re waiting there to get inside. And to begin to understand what that means. And you know, you think about asylum, finding a safe place that you can legally stay. That’s the goal. And so many of the pictures that are emblazoned on our minds from the news reports of boats capsizing and people being pulled out of the water to safety. That’s just the beginning because now they have to figure out how to build a new life, and they need to build it in a safe place.

Dave: [00:02:45] I have so many things I’m curious about the experience and the experience of the center, Sandie. I’m curious first, and I know there’s not an easy answer to this question, but who are the refugees who show up in this line. Where do they come from? What’s their story to the extent that you know?

Sandie: [00:03:03] Well, in that part of the world, the majority of the refugees that we met and encountered were from conflict areas in Syria. Some were escaping for some of the other issues that are related to how you seek asylum for religious persecution. We met asylum seekers from Iran, from northern Iraq Kurdish areas, from Syria, and from Turkey, but they all had the same goal in mind. We want to be in a place where we are safe and our children have a future.

Dave: [00:03:43] So a lot of what we’ve been hearing on the news in the last few years are the conflicts in the Middle East and of course the Syria conflict. You were front and center of the people who have now emerged from that and showed up in Greece seeking that protection.

Sandie: [00:04:02] And here’s the thing that makes Greece a little unique. What I learned from our NGO partners that we were working with, is that refugees that made it further west in Europe are being sent back to their country of entry to the EU, because they didn’t qualify for asylum or for residence. The numbers were cut off in countries like Germany and Norway and so on. And so, the country they entered in with a boat falling apart, was Greece. And so, they’re coming back and now they’re starting the process again there. So even though people say well the crisis is over, right? Greece is a country of 11 million people. About five million are of the age where they’re working and unemployment is about 30 percent.

Dave: [00:05:06] Wow.

Sandie: [00:05:07] So you have an economically stretched country that just is emerging from austerity measures that we also followed and they are the ones tasked with receiving hundreds and thousands of these refugees. And you know, once you come in, they took us in just like we were refugees, they brought us in. And once you get through the front gate, then you’re in this big holding area. We stopped and we took some pictures, and you start thinking about why you’re here. And there’s a little area for children to play, and there’s a little center where you can draw pictures. And I’m looking at the pictures, and I’m going to give it to Andrew and see if he can’t post it somehow on our page. But one 14-year-old girl and this was the story told to me, drew this picture. It was very simple black and white, and it was one arm clasping another arm. So, my hand around your elbow, and your hand around my elbow. But I can’t see you because you’re underwater, but I’m pulling you up. And so, when you’re at the border in one of these landlocked countries and you close the door, they can’t get in, but they’re still standing on dry land. In Greece, what are you going to do, throw them back into the sea? So, this con...

175 – Study the Issues in Athens, Greece Jul 01, 2018

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak discuss Dr. Morgan’s recent trip to Athens, Greece. She explains what her team did and shares her personal experience, including the high and low points.

Resources

Bridges Humanitarian Initiative

Salvation Army – Green Light Project

UN National Rapporteur – Greece Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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Transcript

Dave: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 175, Study the Issues in Athens, Greece.

Production Credits: [00:00:08] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave: [00:00:29] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie: [00:00:35] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave: [00:00:37] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in Ending Human Trafficking. Sandie, one of my favorite things about you is that in addition to being a scholar and being one who has helped us to study these issues so much in depth over the years, as we’ve talked about many times on this podcast, is that you are someone who is also out there doing amazing work on the ground. Multiple times a year you are flying around the world, meeting people all over the place, forming partnerships. And I think this is probably the sixth or seventh or eighth episode we’ve had talking about one of these incredible trips and journeys you’ve been on. And today we’re going to look at what you’ve learned and the value of really engaging young people in some your work. You were just recently back in Athens, Greece and I’m really excited to hear about your adventure this time and what came out of it for both you and also the people you visited.

Sandie: [00:01:42] Well I always loved going back to Athens, and just a big shout out to my friends and colleagues there, because they always make sure that we eat well. You realize Mediterranean cooking is the best way to go. And so big shout out to them. This was our second year to do a partnership with two non-profit NGOs, they’re humanitarian initiative bridges and Salvation Army. And so, the global center literally cosponsored, co-organized a series of conferences while we were there. But I didn’t just go, I took a whole team with me. And I think one of the things that I especially appreciate about being at Vanguard University in an academic setting doing anti-human trafficking work is education has to be an across the generational process. So, bringing students with me instead of going and doing it and then coming back and telling them in the classroom and giving them a quiz, it’s an entirely experiential learning. And the value goes way beyond data that they learn. But it’s transformative in their worldview and in their relationships across borders.

Dave: [00:03:13] I’m so curious. Who are the students that went with you? Like what are their backgrounds and what kind of students do you pull from? And I’m also curious, what do you tell students in advance, like how do you set them up for an experience like this of going across the world and engaging in efforts on ending human trafficking?

Sandie: [00:03:34] You know Dave, every year I try to get better at preparing them for what they’re going to face no matter what country we’re going to. And it never fails to astound me at how shocked they are when we actually get there and see the circumstances. But we do prepare. They have reading things they do before they go. Everybody that goes on a Global Center for Women and Justice trip takes Intro to Women’s Studies so that they understand the issues that are particular to gender discrimination and sexual violence and those kinds of things. And so, they had that kind of preparation. They prepared by studying some of the Live2Free scripts because we use them in some of their prevention strategies. And they prepare by having regular meetings. This trip, because we knew we would be working with refugees, we did some preparation around resiliency because we know that these are folks who have been in a long-term traumatic situation. So, team preparation is great and we try to do some team building exercises but nothing does the job as much as getting on an airplane and going. And on the ground, your team is your backup for everything.

Dave: [00:05:04] You mentioned some of the partner organizations that were part of this. Tell me about those and how did that fit into the outcomes that you were looking for from this experience?

Sandie: [00:05:14] Well, if you recall last year we went and we did a three-day conference and we had about 30 folks that joined us from different NGOs and state agencies, and we also had five representatives from the anti-human trafficking task force in northern Iraq, and a representative from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. And so, there was a lot of response “are you going to do something again next year?” Different people wanted different things so the team, meaning our partners there, decided that we wanted to do four different one-day conferences to be able to kind of respond to everybody’s requests. So, the first conference was a conference designed for nonprofits, NGOs, and state agencies. And I think I mentioned about 30 people last year, 175 people came. And the representation was really across the board, international NGOs as well as local. And our partners, the Salvation Army and Bridges, did a great job of setting the stage, making all of the arrangements. And of course, our kind of secret sauce is Derek Marsh and I co-teach this class. And together we co-presented the law enforcement perspective as well as the victimology and some of the trauma-informed issues that we want to address. So, the conference was very well attended. The interaction was amazing and the after conversations also drew in the other partners. So, we weren’t the only presenters, so it was very well represented from the important sectors in Greece. So, we had representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that endorsed the conference from the UN special rapporteur. We also had a representative, a major from the Athens police training director, and that was an amazing outcome. And so, we invited him back to one of the other days and he came back. So, I was especially excited about how organic the conference was where presenting some people show up, they have ideas, they’re able to become part of the conversation in the room right that moment. So, we invited our new friend from the police department that came, [00:08:08] Spiros Brotsokis, [1.6] to just take over one of the sessions that Derek had been scheduled to do. And he was very happy to do that. And it really built what was happening in that comm...

174 – Misconceptions about Sexual Compulsivity Jun 17, 2018

Show notes

Dr. Sandra Morgan and Dave Stachowiak talk to Dr. Sibylle Georgianna about sexual compulsivity and discuss common misconceptions.

Key Points

Even if there is a lack of consensus on how to define problematic behaviors, sexual compulsion needs to be taken seriously.
Even if free will exists, the complexity of the impact on (drug induced) addiction on women’s’ sexuality cannot be underestimated. The presence of an addiction impairs decision making (including the ability to consent).
Even if problematic behaviors stop, a comprehensive treatment and multi-faceted level of support to replace addictive behaviors with long-term, holistic health is needed.
Underdeveloped decision making, information processing, and lack of emotional maturity (including trauma bonding) are likely in individuals affected by trauma and addiction.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 174. Dr. Sibylle Georgianna Misconceptions About Sexual Compulsivity.

Production Credits: [00:00:11] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave: [00:00:31] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie: [00:00:37] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave: [00:00:39] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, one of the great assets I believe that we have at the Global Center for Women and Justice, is the academic work and research that’s so much a part of us being integrated highly into the higher education institution at Vanguard University. And of course, a big part of our work is studying the issues. And I’m so glad today that we have a guest who’s an expert in studying these issues that will really help us to also get some really new perspective on something I don’t think we’ve talked about much before.

Sandie: [00:01:25] Absolutely. So, I’ll let you take it away and introduce her.

Dave: [00:01:28] I’m pleased to welcome to the show today Dr. Sibylle Georgianna. She is a clinical psychologist and the founder of The Leadership Practice and its affiliates sexual health of Orange County California. As a certified sex therapist, certified sex addiction therapists, certified clinical partner specialist, and certified EMDR therapist, Sibylle is treating teens and adults experiencing sexual difficulties and compulsions. She is also an assistant faculty of Vanguard University of Southern California, where she teaches and oversees the graduate research programs of Vanguard’s masters of organizational psychology students supposed research and publications are focusing on self-regulation and self-leadership. She enjoys her family surfing and Southern California’s weather. We’re so glad to welcome you to the show, Sibylle.

Sibylle: [00:02:09] Thank you for having me. The weather, I had to put that in the description.

Sandie: [00:02:14] Yeah, well and I know you know you come from an area in Europe where it’s much colder, right?

Sibylle: [00:02:20] Yes, I grew up in Germany and went to school there and it was very much like the northern and north-west coasts here in the United States. So, I appreciate any little bit of sunshine that we can get here.

Sandie: [00:02:32] Well, for me it’s been such a delight to get to know you this year and I’m so glad you’re at Vanguard. And you spoke it Ensure Justice where we began a conversation that I hadn’t really studied a lot before. And what I understood was that we in our communities often have a lot of misperceptions about sexual compulsivity and if anybody is listening and you missed Ensure Justice, we’ll put a link to the recordings and you can hear Dr. Georgianna and many others by clicking on that link.

Sandie: [00:03:11] But let’s jump into this, and look at just a few of these perceptions that we have and talk about those. So, the first one is that sexual addiction and compulsivity does not exist. So, talk to us about that. Dr. Georgianna.

Sibylle: [00:03:30] Yes and I appreciate to share on this because we don’t really have guidelines that are fully accepted in the medical community in the psychiatric community. And they are just listed as a condition to explore further and need more research. And at the same time, we know that individuals that are being studied using brain scans for describing sexual compulsivity to the providers coming in, that they have a very similar brain as to cocaine addiction that we see in addicted individual’s brains. So, the complexity, even if we don’t have clear guidelines yet, that are embraced in the treatment community. However, we see that there is physical evidence that nowadays technology can provide. We do hope that this physical evidence will be used to then also supports a clear diagnosis and something that is being embraced as a viable diagnosis in the medical community.

Sandie: [00:29:20] OK. And I think it’s important for some of our listeners with a professional background, to understand that part of that is taken from the DSM4 so that we understand that we’re talking about classifications that are tracked and recognized across the psychological, intellectual community so to speak. And because you are so precise, I made really a lot of notes so that I can be equally as precise. I admire your attention to detail. You’re one of the most accomplished research professors on this subject that I’ve ever met. And so, when you were speaking at Ensure Justice, one of the misconceptions that you addressed is that sex work is a choice that women consent to it and can make a lot of money. And that was really a departure from your normal language, but it captured the attention of so many people who were attending Ensure Justice. Can you speak to that and why that’s not true?

Sibylle: [00:30:16] Thank you for that background. I think what is so difficult in this conversation, is that we do have some medical information, and we have some studies and surveys, and then we have information that for instance, everybody can basically broadcast through social media. And that piece of the misperception, that this is something that people choose. And there are really no strings attached, apart from generating an income source, is really reflected more on what we see in let’s say, YouTube videos, and what is so commonly portrayed in the media or social media. However, if we really would then have a survey assess interview really go in-depth with the person who may have presented themselves in the social...

173 – Harmony Dust talks about Survivor Leadership Jun 03, 2018

Show notes

Dr. Sandra Morgan and Dave Stachowiak talk again to Harmony Dust about her book Scars and Stilettos and the work she is doing with Treasures, a Los Angeles, CA, based outreach and support group for women in the sex industry.

Key Points

The commercial sex industry is ANYWHERE sex is being bought or sold, including porn, stripping, escorting, prostitution, dominatrix, and many others.
89% of women in the sex industry want to leave but feel like they don’t see any other option.
There is a very small percentage of people who chose to be in the sex industry by preference, but they are a very loud group.
Make sure any survivor who wants to share their story is truly ready, that they’ve put in the work in their own healing journey.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 173, Harmony Dust talks about survivor leadership.

Production Credit: [00:00:09] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave: [00:00:29] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie: [00:00:35] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave: [00:00:37] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, one of the many opportunities and blessings we have of having this show going now for seven-plus years, is that we’ve been able to learn and grow along with many of our guests and today we are going to be welcoming back a past guest to the podcast, who is continuing to learn and grow herself. So, this is an adventure and a constant state of learning for all of us as we so focus on in the Global Center for Women and Justice, don’t we?

Sandie: [00:01:18] Yes, I’m really excited. If you didn’t meet Harmony Dust before, go back and listen to podcast number 37. Harmony is the founder and executive director of Treasures, a Los Angeles, California based non-profit organization for women in the sex industry. When completing a master’s degree in social work at UCLA in 2003, Harmony founded Treasures as a dream born from a broken past and a heart healed by the love of God. Treasures is the first and only organization of its kind in the adult industry capital of the world, San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County and one of the few survivor-led organizations in the country. The mission of Treasures is to reach, restore, and equip women in the commercial sex industry and victims of sex trafficking in order to help them live healthy, flourishing lives. And we’ll talk some more about the Treasures outreach as we engage. But welcome to the show Harmony.

Harmony: [00:02:25] Thank you. Thank you for having me. It’s good to be back.

Sandie: [00:02:28] Well I’m really excited because when I heard that you had written a Scars and Stilettos second edition I preordered my copy and it came last week.

Harmony: [00:02:41] Yay.

Sandie: [00:02:41] It’s so, so exciting. Tell us what’s new in it.

Harmony: [00:02:46] Yeah, well first and foremost people who are familiar with the first edition will notice the facelift, a completely new design and just updated with the times. But also in addition to that, there is a new epilogue, some new endorsements. And I went throughout and re-read the entire thing and was able to just use the past almost 10 years of experience since I wrote the first edition to insert new insights that I’ve had, a background of a person and as a leader and new parts of the story that I wasn’t necessarily completely comfortable sharing before, but I thought were important to include for the sake of giving other people hopefully some insight.

Sandie: [00:03:28] Dr. Henry Cloud, who I’ve read all of his books he says that your book exposes the realities of the commercial sex industry and inspires hope that freedom and healing are possible. That was amazing. Amazing.

Harmony: [00:03:44] Yeah.

Sandie: [00:03:45] And I think one of the things people don’t understand is that the hypersexualized media stories that we see in our movies and sitcoms that end in 30 minutes or whatever, those are not the realities. And so, it isn’t an easy thing to write this kind of story.

Harmony: [00:04:09] No, yeah, it’s not.

Sandie: [00:04:09] So tell us about what that’s like.

Harmony: [00:04:11] Well, first of all when I first started Treasures almost 15 years ago, I just really felt like there was such silence, especially in the church around stories of any kind of sexual brokenness at all. And so, for me, the charge that I felt was to break the silence and to encourage myself and the women around me who have similar shared experiences that our story matters. And it doesn’t matter if the church is uncomfortable, it doesn’t matter if the world at large is uncomfortable with hearing the truth and the reality of the commercial sex industry. We have to be willing to tell the truth. And so that’s kind of how things were about 15 years ago.

Harmony: [00:04:48] Now the pendulum has swung a little bit and now there’s a lot more not just tolerance for survivor stories but a desire to hear them. So, we have to be careful not to unintentionally exploit survivors by using their stories or asking them to share them when they’re not ready. So now my new message is my story matters but it doesn’t define me.

Sandie: [00:05:11] Can you back up just a little bit and define for everybody what is the commercial sex industry that you’re talking about?

Harmony: [00:05:18] The commercial sex industry includes porn, stripping, escorting, street prostitution, dominatrix, any area where sex is being bought or sold and people are being bought or sold for someone else’s sexual gratification.

Sandie: [00:05:37] Well and I always love the fact that you used the term commercial here because it clearly is a business and the business plan is to make money. So, it’s all about profit and greed. It’s really not about the sex.

Harmony: [00:05:51] Yeah and they’re such a facade of glamour around it, that I’m really passionate about exposing the truth and the reality behind it. And I think that not only is ...

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Resources 143 – Why Was Sandy in Istanbul? Greek Forum of Refugees The UN Refugee Agency

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Resources Bridges Humanitarian Initiative Salvation Army – Green Light Project UN National Rapporteur – Greece Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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143 – Why Was Sandy in Istanbul?

Greek Forum of Refugees

The UN Refugee Agency

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Bridges Humanitarian Initiative

Salvation Army – Green Light Project

UN National Rapporteur – Greece Ministry of Foreign Affairs