Why Her? How Pimps Target Trafficking Victims (Guest Post by Shared Hope)

In 1943, Abraham Maslow published “A Theory of Human Motivation.” His theory is that humans have a hierarchy of needs ranging from the most fundamental needs at the lowest level to the need for self-actualization at the highest level. Humans can’t reach the next level of “need” until they achieve the prior level.

Here is a simple example of this concept:

But today traffickers are using this theory to identify the needs of our youth.

Traffickers may follow a recruitment process similar to this:

1. Identify the need of the child
2. Fulfill the need
3. Remove any other sources of need fulfillment 
4. Exploit the child’s dependence for need fulfillment by forcing them into prostitution

One reason traffickers pray on kids is because they are more vulnerable than adults. They are more naive, and at-risk kids who have experienced abuse or extreme conflict in their homes may not only be eager to run away, but may also be desperate for the love and attention of an adult. Many kids who run away from home do so because they experience abuse, or because a member of the family is an addict, is violent, or both. If runaways have nowhere to go – no friends or other family members they can rely on and trust – they need to find food and shelter someplace else, which makes them especially vulnerable to trafficking.

Here’s how a pimp might use Maslow’s theory:

“It could never happen to my child”

That’s what Brianna’s parents thought too. Unfortunately, the scary, inconvenient truth is that unless your child has reached self-actualization and has no further needs, they could unsuspectingly fall victim to a trafficker.

Brianna was a 17-year-old high school student, involved in cheerleading, taking college courses for an early start on her nursing degree and worked at a local restaurant with her sister. She had no idea that friendly conversations she had with a regular customer could end with a trafficking ring planning to transport her to Arizona, likely to be sold.

You are not powerless.

On the contrary, you are the best advocate we have. Know why? Because you are here, reading this article about an issue that has still barely crept on to the radar of our society.

If you know or meet a girl who exhibits some of these signs, don’t be afraid to ask questions:

• At risk of being homeless or running away from home
• Severe family issues like drug addiction, alcoholism or abuse
• Signs of fear, anxiety, depression, tension or nervousness
• Hyper-vigilant or paranoid behavior
• Interest in relationships with older men
• Unexplained shopping trips or purchases of new clothing and/or jewelry, especially if the clothing is revealing or suggestive
• A “boyfriend” who seems overly-concerned with her whereabouts or is otherwise controlling

If she is in trouble, you may be the only one who tries to intervene. If you need help or guidance, or want to report a suspected case of human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline: 888.373.7888.




Thank you for this post Shared Hope!

http://sharedhope.org/2013/04/10/why-her-what-you-need-to-know-about-how-pimps-choose/

Shared Hope International

 

God, Me, and Sweet Iced Tea--Interview with Guest Rose Johnson

A big welcome today to Rose Johnson, author of the brand new book, God, Me, and Sweet Iced Tea, a refreshing collection of light, encouraging devotionals. Let's find out more!

Click Here to read a sample!

Why a devotional, Rose?

In 1977, when I made the commitment to make Jesus the Lord of my life, I starting reading a devotional every morning.  It was just what I needed to help me focus and structure my time. I’ve incorporated devotional reading in my quiet times with God for decades. I think most people could benefit from that format. God, Me, and Sweet Iced Tea evolved from my own spiritual journal writing.

Did you plan to be a writer? What got you started?

Actually, I did plan to be a writer.  I wrote some for a women’s club magazine and had a few things published in the 80’s.

Tell us a little about your life before writing.

I’m from a small Georgia town.  At the age of 19 I married and moved away to California.  I journaled, wrote poetry and articles, and wrote some for a women’s club magazine when my children were babies.  I have six children, so I have been a busy mother for many years.  After I started teaching full-time, I put my writing aside.  In 2008, I started writing again.

What is something God has taught you about Himself recently?

God has taught me that He wants us to be still and quiet in our souls and spend time with Him and listen to Him.  He is available to me.  The questions is—am I available to Him? 

Do you think writing is a good way to heal from hurt?

I do.  Journaling is very therapeutic.  For that reason, God, Me, and Sweet Iced Tea is a devotional journal.

What are your hopes for this book?

I hope it will be a real source of hope and encouragement to readers.  I’d like for it to show them the reality of God in everyday life.  I want them to meet the Lord in its pages and grow closer to Him.   “And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.”  1 John 1:4

Who is it for?

I know I should have a “target” audience, but I think this devotional would appeal to most any Christian.  It’s particularly suited to working mothers.  Many of the meditations concern parenting and work place relationships.

Has God drawn you closer to Himself through writing this?

The longer I serve God the closer I become to Him.  Writing has helped me because it causes me to search deeper in God’s word.  Most of my meditations involve a lot of Scripture reading and spiritual reading

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Thanks, Rose, for joining us today! Readers, feel free to leave a comment to encourage Rose or ask a question.

Click here to get Rose's new book at Amazon in paperback or e-book: God, Me, and Sweet Iced Tea 

 

Related Posts: New Book Sick & Tired, Today's the Day!

Laughing through Lymes-Guest Interview with Cartoonist John McPherson

Don't Waste Your Suffering--Video Visit with Joni Earekson Tada

Laughing Through Lyme's--Guest Post by my favorite cartoonist John McPherson!

Note: I was supposed to blog today about Job's friends and what not to do when a friend is suffering. However, I'm having a pretty yucky day, and thus have decided to take my own advice and admit it, and give myself a break. We'll get to Job later. =)

Today, instead, let's talk about something more cheerful! I'm so excited to introduce you to...

John McPherson, award-winning creator of Close to Home comics, my favorite book therapy when I’m sick or recovering. When I started working on the Sick & Tired series, I remember thinking it would be so neat to have his comics in my book. Since they helped cheer me up when I was feeling lousy, they could help others too! So, not expecting to hear back really, I looked him up and sent an e-mail, and was shocked when he replied that same day. Not only was he interested in being part of Sick & Tired, but he shared that he suffers with Lyme disease, so understands how it is to have a chronic illness. No wonder his comics about hospitals and medicine are so true-to-life!

 

If you, like me, are curious as to how someone becomes a cartoonist, here’s John’s story of how he got started…

How I got into cartooning:

People always want to know how you get into a profession like cartooning.  And for obvious reasons; we get to hang out on tropical beaches while we draw, scan the stuff into our syndicates and then tool around the world in leer jets until the next batch of cartoons is due in a month.  Ah, if only it were so (jet fuel has become too expensive for me to tool around much anymore).

My cartooning career began by accident in Bayonne NJ, in a squalid little apartment where three of my friends lived.  We were up one Sunday morning and were looking at the comic pages.  We were smart-alecky college kids and generally made fun of the comics at the time, being too foolish to see their true wisdom.  At any rate, one of my friends dared me to draw a cartoon, which I did.  I had no art background, but I scrawled out something inane and he laughed, so that’s what counted.   In the weeks that followed, I started tooling around a bit more with cartooning, merely to mail to my friends and entertain them (this was back in the days before cable TV, so good entertainment was hard to come by).

 
As I sat in college classes I started jotting down ideas for single panel cartoons until I had quite a stash of them.  

I got out of school with a degree in mechanical engineering, at a time when it was actually hard to find a job as an engineer.  It was really during this period of part-time jobs, living with my parents that I truly got into cartooning.  I started drawing up the ideas that I had, keeping them in a little drawing book.  At the same time, I finally got an engineering job near Albany, NY and settled in the quaint little town of Saratoga Springs. I sent some of my cartoons off to a little semi-monthly paper called The Glens Falls Chronicle, and oddly enough, the editor there, Mark Frost, liked my cartoons!  He was willing the pay me five buck a cartoon, which meant ten bucks a month for me.  Nothing like cold, hard cash to put a fire under one's feet.  I started drawing more cartoons, this time with an eye on the magazine market, where cartoonists could get paid $35 or $40, and be able to buy socks and groceries and deodorant.  
 
I began sending batches of cartoons off to magazines. I'd put together a batch of 8 or 10 cartoons and send them off to a particular magazine.  When they rejected my stuff (which of course they did!), then I'd send those same toons off to another magazine, and so on.  I would try to keep as many batches out in circulation as possible, thereby greatly enhancing my chances of getting more rejection letters.  My technique worked.  Rejection letters just poured in.  Fortunately, I was enjoying drawing cartoons so much that getting published wasn't that big a deal to me.

But then something very strange happened.  I got a letter from Campus Life magazine saying that they liked my stuff.  What I sent wasn't quite right, but could I send more?  So I sent off a batch of cartoons that was more school oriented, and amazingly, they bought 2 cartoons for $50 each.  It was so cool to get $100 for drawing some cartoons.

Now, years later, I’m making a little more than $100. I'm working on deadline these days, which is basically how I do it most of the time.  I have to submit work at a minimum of 11 days ahead of when they appear, and draw one week at a time.  I know some people have the notion that we cartoonists draw one cartoon a day and walk it down to their individual newspaper offices.  This of, of course, would be impossible, since Close To Home is now carried in over 291,000 papers around the world and I would have to walk to all those places and I cannot because I have a bad ankle.

Thanks, John, for joining us today! 

Feel free to leave a note for John below, or share what helps you when you're feeling down.

Be sure to get your copy of Sick & Tired: Empathy, Encouragement, and Practical Help for those Suffering from Chronic Health Problems, to see more of John’s hilarious medical comics! (Now available on Amazon for pre-order, or sign up at www.kimberlyrae.com for the newsletter so you can get exclusive offers for launch day.)