Filtering by Category: Human Trafficking,Religious Freedom

  •   Human Trafficking, Justice   •  

Raising awareness for child sex trafficking in Orange County

Raising awareness for child sex trafficking in Orange County Raising awareness for child sex trafficking in Orange County LONGWOOD -- The people who are involved in raising awareness about child sex trafficking in Central Florida count the Aaron George case as a victory.

George learned Wednesday that he will spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted on human trafficking charges.

A 16-year-old told the court that George threatened her to have sex with him and his "clients."

Tomas Lares is the founder of Florida Abolitionists, a group that is trying to prevent further exploitation and to raise awareness about this form of modern-day slavery.

"We had another case a few weeks ago in the U.S. Court where a gang member received almost 20 years in prison for trafficking a 14-year-old girl between the Florida Mall and the Mall at Millenia," Lares said, referring to the Xavier Villanueva case. "She was literally locked in a room, and the gang members would guard her 24 (hours a day), seven (days a week)."

These are just some of the harsh and heartbreaking truths Lares and other anti-child sex trafficking advocates shared with the congregation at Longwood-based Northland, A Church Distributed.

Anthony Davis. Sr. also shared his perspective. He is a former law enforcement officer and member of the Greater Orlando Human Trafficking Task Force.

"One thing we have to understand about this in law enforcement with this is we're fighting money," Davis said. "We're fighting greed and those that are looking at the fact that they don't think they can be prosecuted."

It's a problem that hides in the shadows, but child advocates said recruitment happens in the light of the day — at schools and online.

One 14-year-old survivor met her exploiter in downtown Orlando.

"That's when she met her pimp," Lares said. "She thought it was her boyfriend. A lot of these pimps will lure by becoming a friend and, eventually, a boyfriend. And really, their end goal is to exploit them and put them into a sex trafficking ring."

Several child advocates said human traffickers use social media, smartphones and even games with chat functions to recruit more victims.

There will be an informational meeting about child sex trafficking from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, at Lake Eola. For more information go to http://gohttf.org/.

You can report suspected child sex trafficking to 888-373-7888.

SOURCE: http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2015/1/10/child_sex_traffickin.html?utm_content=buffer0cb60&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

View Post

  •   Religious Freedom   •  

Faith leaders: Exempt religious groups from order barring LGBT bias in hiring

Faith leaders: Exempt religious groups from order barring LGBT bias in hiring

Fourteen prominent faith leaders — including some of President Obama’s closest advisers — want the White House to create a religious exemption from his planned executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against gays and lesbians in hiring.

A letter to the White House, sent Tuesday and made public Wednesday, includes the signatures of Michael Wear, faith director for Obama’s 2012 campaign; Stephen Schneck, a leader of Catholic outreach in 2012; and Florida megapastor Joel Hunter, whom Obama has described as a close spiritual counselor.

The letter reminds Obama of his own earlier faith-based opposition to same-sex marriage, as well as the government’s massive partnerships with faith-based social service groups that work on issues including housing, disaster relief and hunger.

“While the nation has undergone incredible social and legal change over the last decade, we still live in a nation with different beliefs about sexuality. We must find a way to respect diversity of opinion,” said the letter.

“An executive order that does not include a religious exemption will significantly and substantively hamper the work of some religious organizations that are best equipped to serve in common purpose with the federal government.,” it said. “When the capacity of religious organizations is limited, the common good suffers.”

Obama announced last month that he would sign an executive order barring discrimination by federal contractors on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. He did this after failed efforts to get through Congress the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would make it illegal under federal law to discriminate in the workplace — not just for contractors.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, a gay equality advocacy group, nearly 90 percent of the Fortune 500 already ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. And while many see full gay legal equality as a foregone conclusion, this week’s decision at the Supreme Court — saying corporations may claim religious rights in denying workers contraception coverage — shows that legal tensions between religious liberty and rights around sexuality and reproduction are far from resolved.

The 14 signers of the letter include leaders of some of the country’s largest faith-based charities, notably Catholic Charities USA and World Relief, the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals.

The signers said they supported the executive order — “we have great appreciation for your commitment to human dignity and justice, and we share those values with you” — but said an exemption is essential.

“Americans have always disagreed on important issues, but our ability to live with our diversity is part of what makes this country great, and it continues to be essential even in this 21st-century,” the letter said. “Without a robust religious exemption . . . this expansion of hiring rights will come at an unreasonable cost to the common good, national unity and religious freedom.”

None of the groups mentioned in the letter have explicitly said they would pull out of their partnerships with the White House if they do not get an exemption.

The White House declined to comment, but Schneck said faith groups remain in conversation with the administration and are “hopeful.”

Schneck, who runs the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies at Catholic University, said he did not see any contradiction between supporting gay equality and the exemption.

“I think these things fit together pretty well,” he said. “Of all federal contracts, these [faith-based ones] are such a miniscule portion. The recognition of the divisive nature of these kinds of efforts [such as the executive order], it just makes perfect sense for the White House to give the faith-based groups time to work this out. It’s not that long ago when Obama himself was where these faith-based groups are now.”

Views are deeply divided. World Vision, a massive Christian relief nonprofit that received $179 million in 2013 from the government, announced a few months ago that it would allow employees to be in same-sex marriages and then immediately reversed itself after an outcry by donors.

Michelle Boorstein is the Post’s religion reporter, where she reports on the busy marketplace of American religion.

SOURCE:

View Post