Sex Trafficking

• Police and government agencies report they have seen the phenomenon of child sex trafficking increase tenfold over the last two years, and the abuse is still on the rise.
• Craigslist is being used to advertise “erotic services” with juveniles photographed in ads. FBI Special Agent Minerva Shelton notes that hundreds of ads pop up on Craigslist every day using photographs of these vulnerable children. This problem is wide-spread.
• Police report that vicious pimp circuits and organized crime rings exist that force children and teenagers into prostitution.
• Police are successfully uncovering and prosecuting the perpetrators of this crime. However, one California Assistant District Attorney said, “We just never thought to ask ourselves the question – what are we were going to do with the children we recover? In our experience, most of them do not have a safe, loving home to return to.”
• “The greatest factor in promoting child sex trafficking and child sexual exploitation is the demand for younger and younger victims. Most women in prostitution are trafficked into the sex industry as children. Worldwide, the average age of entrance into prostitution is 13.” (1)

• Domestic sex trafficking of minors is a prominent and growing issue in the greater Sacramento area. In the last several years, a local FBI task force has recovered over 200 girls being sold for sex; the youngest was eleven years old. Of the 200 girls rescued in the Sacramento area, a large percentage of them have no home, no family, and no services to support them.(2)
• According to UNICEF, as many as two million children are subjected to prostitution in the global commercial sex trade.(3)
• Due to the hidden nature of the crime of sex trafficking, the exact number of domestic children being trafficked in the United States is unknown, but a University of Pennsylvania study estimated nearly 300,000 youth in the United States were at risk of being sexually exploited for commercial uses. The Justice Department’s National Incidence Study reported that 1.7 million children run away or are thrown away each year, with just 357,600 reported as missing to the police. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) estimates that at least 100,000 children are caught up in the insidious world of child prostitution each year: 55% of street girls engage in prostitution; 75% work for a pimp.(4)
• The average age of U.S. children being forced into child prostitution (i.e. sex trafficking) is 12–14 years old.(5)
• As late as 2009, there were only three homes for minor victims of sex trafficking in the United States with a total of 32 beds, none of them Christian homes. Today, that number has grown to approximately ten homes totaling over 150 available beds, which isn’t even enough beds for the children rescued in just the Sacramento area.(6)
• Nearly one third of Tanzanian girls experience sexual violence before they turn 18, a UNICEF survey recently found.(7)
• There are no homes for victims in the entire country of Tanzania for minor children being trafficked for sex. Courage House Tanzania is the first home of its kind.(8)
• Child sex trafficking is a big problem in the State of Hawaii. There are no homes for children rescued out of trafficking in Hawaii.(9)

Sex trafficking is not just happening in big cities like New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Houston; it is happening in smaller cities like Toledo, Sacramento, and Jackson. While law enforcement at the state and federal level is pleased with the increased arrests and prosecution (including stiff jail sentences) for the individuals that traffic these young girls, these same law enforcement officers express frustration and are broken-hearted at the lack of resources for the young victims that are rescued.

• IF the homes are determined to be safe and IF the parents want them returned. Sadly, the majority of them do not.
• Demographically, the majority of victims recovered average 14 years old and are runaways that have been sexually abused in their biological and/or foster home.
• Emergency children’s shelters, which accommodate children that are taken from their abusive homes by law enforcement or Child Protective Services (CPS).
• These shelters are not lock-down facilities and there are no means to force the girls to stay since they aren’t charged with a crime.
• The shelters have no tailored programs/therapy for the minor victims that specifically address the trauma associated with sex trafficking.
• The shelters do not provide for long-term care of any children as they typically place these children within a foster family within 30 days. Staying for only 30 days makes it impossible to build trust with the child victims, let alone begin any
  meaningful treatment. Many of the victims rescued from sex trafficking have already run away numerous times from a foster
  family or group home setting and will do so again.
• These sexually exploited children often pose a problem for this type of shelter, as local police and shelter staff report recovered victims often recruit other children at the shelter for their pimps.
• The last resort for law enforcement in cities where there are no long term homes is to take the children to Juvenile Hall.
• To stay here, the minors must be charged with prostitution or another crime, thus they are not treated as victims.
  However, law enforcement knows better than anyone that these children are victims, not criminals.
• Within the juvenile detention facility, treatment plans are only aligned with criminal charges, which are unrelated to sexual exploitation and therefore ineffective in addressing the health and emotional issues these children face.
• Left untreated, many of these children will return to a life on the streets after completing their sentences, where their
  chances for survival are slim.
• Law enforcement resists this option, but often finds it necessary to ensure the child’s safety and their testimony against the accused perpetrator.

• Courage House is not just a program; it is a home. The Courage House facility and program is intentionally designed to provide a long-term home as opposed to an opportunity to graduate from a program. Statistics show the majority of the young women who are victims of this crime do not have safe homes and loving families to return to once they have “graduated from the program.” Thus, at Courage House, “We will call them family.” Trauma specialists report that the timeframe of “just beginning” to recover from this type of complex trauma takes a minimum of 4 to 5 years.
• The location of Courage House is undisclosed so perpetrators cannot find the girls.
• Each girl will develop an individual Unique Life Plan (ULP) that will address her physical, emotional, psychological, educational, psychosocial and spiritual needs. In addition, resources will be provided and plans will be created to ensure each girl’s successful transition to independent, self-sufficient living.
• Whether a girl’s placement is voluntary or mandatory, we recognize these children are prone to run away because of their trauma and their difficulty in navigating and participating in healthy relationships. We will have protocols in place as part of each girl’s life plan to address the triggers of running away. In addition, Courage House offers a menu of activities that are intentionally designed to daily nurture the mind and body of each girl in a healthy, therapeutic way (i.e. horseback riding, kick boxing, art and dance classes, zip lines, and various educational and special interest courses, to name a few).
• There will be no minimum stay defined at Courage House. Girls can stay at the home until they are 22 years old. We anticipate establishing Courage House Too, a home for girls who are “aging out,” but who still require structure, therapy, and an assisted transition towards independent living whether that might be attending college, working a job, or vocational training.