Victory! Jury Convicts Man of Human Trafficking in Cook County

Being a “pimp” isn’t cool anymore in Illinois. Instead, pimps are being recognized for what they really are—human traffickers.

This week a man was convicted by a jury in Cook County for human trafficking. This is the first time a jury has convicted a human trafficker in Cook County. According to the State’s Attorney’s Office:

Troy Bonaparte, 46, who went by the name, “Magnificent” targeted and recruited women to work as prostitutes for profit. Bonaparte would rent motel rooms at various locations in the city and surrounding suburbs, where women would service 5 to 25 customers per day. Bonaparte kept all of the money the women earned and threatened to beat or kill them if they didn’t comply with his demands to perform the sex acts.

He was caught in a hotel in Elk Grove Village (prostitution happens in the suburbs too!).

CAASE and our End Demand Illinois campaign send big congratulations to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Human Trafficking Initiative and the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Vice officers, who helped bring the case against this trafficker.

Bonaparte’s case shows that our law enforcement is changing the way they approach bringing down prostitution rings—they are recognizing that in many cases, women are forced into the sex trade and are controlled by traffickers like Bonaparte. Instead of simply arresting the women whose bodies were being sold, law enforcement looked deeper and took the time to bring a case against the trafficker.

Our End Demand Illinois campaign is working to raise awareness about cases like this one—we partner with law enforcement and social service agencies to bring traffickers to justice and to improve services for survivors of prostitution. To learn more, visit www.enddemandillinois.org.

How Lawrence Taylor Bought a Child

Yes, Lawrence Taylor, you are the cause of prostitution. Taylor has become the latest spokesperson for our societal ignorance around the issues of prostitution and sex trafficking. And he’s living proof that the way to end exploitation is to make sure more johns get “busted.”

In case you haven’t heard, Taylor is an NFL player who was sentenced to probation this week for purchasing sex from a 16-year-old girl. While listening to him defend his actions, and witnessing the lack of accountability and punishment for the harm he caused this young woman, all I could think was: Who do we want to protect?

Let’s hear from Taylor about how he bought a child:

"It's the world of prostitution," he said during the Fox News interview. "You never know what you're gonna get. Is it gonna be a pretty girl, an ugly girl or whatever it's gonna be”. When asked about purchasing a 16-year-old, he responded: "I don't card them. I don't ask for a birth certificate."

This young woman was a victim of trafficking. There is no such thing as “child prostitution” because children cannot legally consent to have sex with adults. This victim was also beaten and forced into the trade—other elements of human trafficking. At the most fundamental level, Taylor raped a child. So how can we protect other children and adults from being exploited in the sex trade? Jezebel identifies the crux of the problem quite nicely, and then proposes a solution that will never, ever work:

“Nearly everyone agrees that ending trafficking, both of children and adults, is a moral imperative. How can we do this? One start would be to draw a clear line between trafficking and voluntary prostitution, and to severely punish those who have sex with trafficking victims.”

The clear and concrete line between “voluntary” prostitution and trafficking is imaginary:

• Many people we call “prostitutes” are victims of violence and control under a pimp. That means they are being trafficked.
• Many prostituted people are raped, beaten and forced to sell their bodies to more than 10 people each day. That means they are being trafficked.
• Many of these same people were recruited into the sex trade when they were 12, 14, 15 years old, which meant that they were trafficked.

Do we really think that people like Lawrence Taylor, the people who buy sex, care about victims of trafficking? The only way to protect vulnerable people from being exploited in the sex trade is to end the demand for paid sex. Stop the arrest and re-arrest of prostituted people, and start “busting” people like Taylor who are buying sex and fueling the trade.

Taylor says it himself, describing how infrequently johns are punished: "You never think you're gonna get busted because everyone does it until you get busted, and then it's more embarrassing than anything else."

He shouldn’t be embarrassed. He should be in jail.

CAASE believes that we can end the sale of people’s bodies for sex, by ending the demand for prostitution. Don’t buy sex, and don’t tolerate it when other people buy sex. To learn more about these issues, check out our Myths and Misconceptions fact sheets here.

To join our campaign to end the demand for paid sex, visit www.enddemandillinois.org.

Action Alert: Help Victims of Sex Trafficking Seek Justice

Did you wake up this morning and think “I want to help someone today?” Well, then March 15 is where it’s at: Our End Demand Illinois campaign has new legislation in committee and we’d love your help convincing legislators that this is a bill to support. Here’s the breakdown:

What is Happening?
Many people who have been convicted of prostitution were actually victims of trafficking. The Illinois Senate Criminal Law Committee is considering SB 2191, which would allow someone to ask a judge to vacate their prostitution conviction if they were a victim of sex trafficking at the time of the offense. The bill extends the filing timeline for these victims because they often endure years of abuse at the hands of traffickers and customers before they are able to seek help. Want to learn more? Download the fact sheet here, complete with the list of supporting organizations.

When?
The Committee will have a hearing about SB 2191 tomorrow, Wednesday, March 16, 2011 at 10:35 a.m.

How Can You Help?
Call the committee members' offices TODAY, Tuesday, March 15, 2011. You can leave a message with staff answering the phones, and say "I am calling to ask the Senator to vote yes on SB 2191 when it comes up for a vote in the Criminal Law Committee." Calling all the offices will only take a few minutes of your time and will make a real impact as they consider this legislation!

Who Should You Call?

Committee Chair Michael Noland*(D)
Senator 22nd District - Elgin
(217) 782-7746
* thank Sen Noland for co-sponsoring!

Committee Vice Chair Kwame Raoul (D)
Senator 13th District - Chicago
(217) 782-5338

William R. Haine (D)
Senator 56th District - Alton
(217) 782-5247

Dan Kotowski (D)
Senator 33rd District - Park Ridge
(217) 782-3875

John Mulroe (D)
Senator 10th District - Chicago
(217) 782-1035

John J. Millner (R)
Senator 28th District - West Chicago
(217) 782-8192
* thank Sen Millner for co-sponsoring!

Tim Bivins (R)
Senator 45th District - Dixon
(217) 782-0180

Kirk W. Dillard (R)
Senator 24th District - Westmont
(217) 782-8148

Thomas Johnson (R)
Senator 48th District - Wheaton
(217) 782-8022

Let us know if you have questions!

Northwestern Incident and Porn: Things to Consider

We’ve been asked what CAASE thinks about the Northwestern University sex toy incident. If you haven’t heard about it, catch up here. Our initial concern was for the people in the audience—had they been given enough opportunity to avoid viewing this? Certainly what’s been described could have been traumatizing to anyone, but especially to those who have experienced sexual assault or abuse. We wonder if the value of witnessing this act was worth the potential trauma it could inflict on the viewers.

If you’re upset about the idea of students being exposed to this, I invite you to examine your beliefs and actions regarding pornography. I wonder what would be happening if Northwestern students had been shown this act on video instead of live on stage? Would we even be having this discussion? And really, sex acts on video deserve a lot more scrutiny than this. Why? Because, as icky as I personally think it was, the couple at Northwestern say the “performed” because they both wanted to and enjoyed it. That’s called consent. And that makes this act different from some pornography. Here’s why:

When watching porn online or on a DVD, there’s no such guarantee that the people you’re watching have given consent. Many sex traffickers are found with filming equipment and cameras with the intent to create and sell pornography. Some women in the sex industry are coerced or even physically forced to act against their will in order to create this “entertainment.” People who consume porn may unknowingly contribute to the assault and abuse of women and children, even if watching the final “product” doesn’t make that apparent.

Then there are the harms that porn causes to people who watch it. One 1994 study found that men exposed to violent pornography were six times more likely to exhibit rape behavior, and a second one in 1995 found pornography use was the strongest correlate of sexual aggression. Pornography changes the way we think about sex and the way we think about people—as objects, instead of human beings. One man interviewed about the effects of porn said:

"Porn makes more men try things. Men who are shown porn at a younger age categorize women more and see it as a harmless crime, because they don't see them as a person."

How does this relate to what happened at Northwestern? What happened at the university was sexually graphic, and that’s scandalizing and surprising a lot of people. And yet pornography is generally accepted as something that’s just part of life, and not worth examining or questioning. If you’re concerned about exposing our college students to graphic and damaging material, it’s time to take a stance on pornography.

Learn more about these issues on the CAASE resource page. Specifically we have a sheet with myths and facts, along with action steps you can take. You can also contact us to make a presentation or to host a screening of "The Price of Pleasure," a documentary on the realities of the sex industry.


-Kristin Claes is CAASE's communications manager. She can be reached at kristin@caase.org

Victory! Cook County Board Approves Amendments to Fund Rape Crisis Services by Serena Curry

Last week, the Cook County Board unanimously approved two budget amendments that will provide $275,000 in funding for six area rape crisis centers for the second consecutive year. This is a huge victory for CAASE and its partners who greatly benefit from these funds, including Rape Victim Advocates, Mujeres Latinas en Acción, and the YWCA, to name a few. Under the direction of Advocacy Director Lynne Johnson, I worked closely with Communications Manager Kristin Claes, and Advocacy intern Lindsey Lapointe to encourage County Commissioners to continue funding rape crisis services in the community.

Rape crisis services are a vital, valuable resource for rape and sexual assault survivors. In Cook County, the rape crisis centers that we work with provide around-the-clock bilingual and culturally sensitive counseling, legal and medical advocacy, and outreach services. Unfortunately, funding these services is difficult during an economic crisis, especially with the threat of State budget cuts and a lack of support from the City of Chicago. The grant that each rape crisis center receives from the County helps them to effectively serve the members of their communities, and improve each client’s quality of life.

While working with County Commissioners to advocate for funding, I was given the opportunity to meet with rape crisis providers and ask them specifically about how the grants have made an impact in their communities. I was able to collect survivors’ stories, and learn more about how absolutely crucial rape crisis services are to an individual’s mental and emotional well being. We then used this information to create a document which shared the survivors’ experiences at each rape crisis center to encourage the County Board to continue their funding.

The opportunity to meet one-on-one with clients and providers offered me a whole new perspective on CAASE’s advocacy efforts and the significance of the work that we do here. One woman that I spoke with at Mujeres Latinas en Acción explained that the services she received helped her come to terms with the fact that she is a survivor of rape, and empowered her to move forward with her life. Another woman explained that she received services that helped her re-build a relationship with her children. By working to maintain funding from the County, CAASE is helping improve survivors’ lives, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of these efforts.

-Serena Curry is a volunteer and intern for the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation.

Notre Dame Rape Victim’s Case Parallels Experiences of Women in Chicago

The Chicago Tribune has a story today about a Notre Dame student who reports being sexually assaulted and how her family is speaking out about the treatment she received in the wake of her attack. The writers draw parallels to the case of Lizzy Seeberg, who took her own life this fall after allegedly being raped by a Notre Dame football player.
We are saddened and angry for both of these women and their families, and we want you to know that there are many, many people here in Chicago who are going through similar experiences in the wake of a sexual assault. CAASE and our partners in the community are witnessing an epidemic of victims who are attacked by acquaintances and who find a lack of resources to hold their perpetrators accountable.

The terrible reality is that people who are assaulted are often doubted at every turn—by police, prosecutors, and even their own loved ones. The problem of disbelief is often worse for women like those at Notre Dame who were attacked by acquaintances during incidents involving alcohol. Rather than believing these women and continuing a fair investigation that could lead to a trial, it seems that university officials did everything they could to protect the attackers from prosecution. CAASE sees the same issues here in Chicago, and we fight to counteract this through direct legal representation and advocacy. We must believe people who come forward after they are assaulted.

Our legal director, Kaethe Morris Hoffer, helps rape survivors to navigate the criminal justice system and to seek out options in civil court. She is a compassionate advocate for victims’ rights, and thanks to a generous grant from the Department of Justice, CAASE’s capacity to offer these free services is expanding. Kaethe meets with survivors and their families every week who simply want to be treated fairly.

The Tribune quotes the victim’s father as saying: "If there was a prompt, thorough and comprehensive investigation conducted and they came to the conclusion in consultation with the prosecutor that they could not successfully prosecute the individual, I would rely on that.” In Chicago even this approach doesn’t guarantee justice, as there is a lack of transparency about the way the Cook County State’s Attorney approaches sexual assault cases.

A study released last week by the Chicago Justice Project revealed that it is rare for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office to pursue felony assault charges. The report states that while the police had filed more than 1,500 incident reports, only 288 sexual assault cases were approved for felony charges in 2009. That means fewer than 20% of reported sex crimes are being tried as felonies in Cook County.

The Notre Dame victim’s experience mirrors that of many people in Chicago—victims are kept in the dark about their cases, and they are asked over and over again if they really want to go through with pursuing charges. Even if the victim does stick with it, prosecutors may reject the case during their felony review process. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office declined to provide data or information about their felony review process for the CJP report. Until the State’s Attorney’s Office provides transparency and more complete data, it is nearly impossible for advocates to analyze and improve our community’s response to rape.

CAASE urges the Chicago community to read the CJP report about our local law enforcement’s response to rape. Be educated about the realities of this problem right here at home, and know that CAASE stands with survivors of sexual assault every day as they seek justice. We know that our services are needed more than ever.

To learn more about CAASE’s legal services for survivors of sexual harm, click here.

Photo courtesy of Nigsby.