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Reported by: Olena Heu

Hidden behind closed doors and on the streets at night.

Outreach workers say sex trafficking in the state has drastically increased in recent months and more needs to be done to tackle the problem.

Outreach workers attempting to tackle forced prostitution and the sex trafficking industry in Hawaiisay numbers have climbed recently.

“They are from California, Vegas, D.C., New York, small towns even you know South Dakota as well asHilo or Maui or here in Honolulu,” said Kathryn Xian of Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery.

Victims are also brought to the islands from parts ofAsia and Micronesia to work the streets.

“Anytime you have something like the Pro Bowl or a big convention come to Hawaii you are going to see an increase in the number of victims,” said Jessica Munoz of “Courage to be you.”

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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Pick any night in Waikiki and you’ll see prostitutes plying their trade, pimps protecting their property, and the darker side of night life screaming “Sex for Sale.”

“This is a multi-billion-dollar a year industry,” said Kathryn Xian, co-founder of Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery (PASS)..

Xian calls sex trafficking the modern day slave trade.

On a global scale law enforcement ranks human trafficking second only to drug trafficking. Pimps force women and young girls into prostitution then move them from city to city.

With its high-turnover tourist population, Waikiki’s ripe for the sex trafficking circuit. Some girls on the street are local recruits but most are from out of town.

Beyond the high heels are horror stories. Xian hears them over and over.

“If they don’t do what they’re told they are severely beaten or raped or both, starved, other forms of torture,” she said.

“It’s all about power and money and greed,” PASS outreach worker “Danielle” said.

She didn’t want to use her real name because of her work with prostitutes who want to flee the streets.

“Danielle” was trapped in human trafficking where she experienced the strangle hold traffickers wield over their merchandise. She knows the desire many women have to escape.

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The other day Home Affairs minister Shamsi Vuai Nahodha drew attention to a growing crime that the country needs to do everything in its power to counter.

It is the crime of human trafficking that is fast growing in the country and has all sorts of negative implications on security and development.

It involves transporting youths and adults abroad by agents to illegally work as housemaids and in other informal jobs.

It also involves sometimes using Tanzania as a gateway to transport people from other countries to various destinations worldwide.

Although the minister would not disclose any figures, confining himself to warning that the illegal business had serious implications for the country, we know from various sources that there are agents in the country practicing and facilitating human trafficking.

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EFFORTS to stamp out human trafficking, the illegal business reportedly generating globally more than 32 billion US dollars annually, received a new boost yesterday as the government officially launched a national coordination committee.

Speaking at the official inauguration of the committee, the Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Shamsi Vuai Nahodha, said human trafficking business generates billions of dirty money around the world and ranks third after illicit drugs and arms business.

The 19-man committee under the chairmanship of Kinemo Kihomano with members from Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar (from public and private sectors) was appointed by the minister and entrusted with the duty to work out strategies to control the menace.

“According to Interpol reports, some Tanzanians are accused of taking part in human trafficking. We (government) are determined to intensify the fight through application of multi-faceted approach,” Mr Nahodha explained.

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A recent Interpol report has implicated some Tanzanians in human trafficking, a diabolical trade that mainly involves the selling of unsuspecting people, mostly children and young women, into slavery and servitude. It also involves immigrants.

The Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Shamsi Vuai Nahodha, has formed a 19-strong committee which has been instructed to study the situation closely and advise the government on how best to confront the growing social menace.

This is a commendable move, indeed. Human trafficking is an illegal business that generates billions in dirty money in various parts of the world, especially in Asia. It ranks third among illegal businesses after narcotic drugs and firearms.

In Tanzania the problem is already a serious matter going by available statistics. At the moment, however, the government strives to stem the tide of illegal immigrants who stream into Tanzania with the help of underworld human traffickers.

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SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – A national non-profit organization is teaming up with the California Trucking Association in hopes of teaching truck drivers how to spot and report sex trafficking suspects out on the road.

The group Truckers Against Trafficking says California is one of the worst states when it comes to human trafficking, but advocates hope to use the hundreds of thousands of truck drivers on the roads within the state to give investigators the edge.

Roughly 4,000 companies are members of the California Truckers Association. That translates to roughly 700,000 drivers who can be trained to spot the problem.

“They are going to be on the look out for human trafficking, sex trafficking and trafficking of young children,” said CTA spokesman Michael Shaw

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A man who forced girls as young as 13 years old into the lives of prostitution will serve more than 27 years in state prison, Stockton police said Thursday.

Christopher Chessmen, who previously was accused of pimping, pandering, rape and kidnapping, has pleaded guilty to several felony counts, according to a police news release.

He also will register as a sex offender.

Chessmen was first arrested in July 2010.

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by David Jackson

President Obama is declaring January to be National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

“We stand with all those who are held in compelled service,” Obama wrote in a proclamation issued today. “We recognize the people, organizations and government entities that are working to combat human trafficking; and we recommit to bringing an end to this inexcusable human rights abuse.”

Obama wrote that “trafficking networks operate both domestically and trans-nationally, and although abuses disproportionally affect women and girls, the victims of this ongoing global tragedy are men, women and children of all ages.”

In declaring National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, Obama noted that Jan. 1 is the 148th anniversary of the effective date of the Emancipation Proclamation.

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by Kathy Maynard

Helping sexually exploited children has become a life purpose for a Loomis sixth-grader and her family.

Sydney Jones, 11, is the driving force organizing this Saturday’s Community Spaghetti Feed and Concert to benefit Courage House, a home for girls rescued from sex trafficking. The event will be held at the Blue Goose Events Center at 6 p.m., Jan. 14.

“Once we got involved with Courage House as a family, I had a passion for being a voice for girls, so I planned this spaghetti feed, with my mom’s help,” said Sydney. “We got enough sponsors and donations to pay for all the food and supplies, so 100 percent of the proceeds will go directly for the kids.”

The event will feature a concert by The Music Room, a local band, who will also donate the proceeds from their next CD; a silent auction; and speaker Jenny Williamson, of Rocklin, with Courage To Be You, Inc. (C2BU) – the nonprofit organization which established Courage Houses in Northern California and Tanzania.

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BY MALIA ZIMMERMAN- A 16-year-old Hawaii girl and her mother met with lawmakers at the Hawaii state Capitol yesterday in a special hearing on human trafficking to offer details about the girl’s experiences as a sex trafficking victim in Hawaii.

Asking for the media to keep their names and images out of the news, the mother and daughter shared their horrifying story that started just 9 months ago when the girl’s cousin introduced her to a “Big John” that kidnapped her and held her against her will, beat and raped her repeatedly into submission, got her hooked on drugs and alcohol and then forced her into prostitution.

The terrifying experience lasted four months before she escaped. The girl did not run away because her captors told her they knew where she lived and would go after her family in retaliation.

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