EXPLOITED: Crimes Against Humanity 11/12/20

Replay of 12/03/2020

The grooming and recruitment of teens in sex crimes often takes place in a school setting. Sometimes a student's behavior changes. They start to dress provocatively, or leave school early. Sometimes they are regularly sleepy or hungry. A younger girl may suddenly have a new older boyfriend and seems to be controlled or dominated by him. In 60% of sex trafficking cases the younger girl is recruited by another girl and they all start missing school. Over 9000 kids a day in the US are being blackmailed because they sent a naked or sexual photo to someone they want to care about them. This often shows up as a change in behavior as the victim is trapped and being threatened. More than 50% will meet with their perpetrator before they will tell a parent. They may start cutting, or become emotionally withdrawn or volatile. Some may consider suicide. The signs a student is a victim of exploitation can be recognized if adults are educated on what to look for. This week join us..

The bottom line for large scale sex trafficking enterprises is generating millions of dollars in revenue and then finding unique ways to sanitize the money so it will not be connected back to illegal activity. Our guest this week is Dr. Ian Oxnevad. He is a political scientist and political economist who is an Instructor at UC Irvine. His research focuses on overlapping issues of economics and security, an area called Threat Finance. Please join us this.............

The Center for Disease Control has estimated that 18,000 kids a day will send a naked photo online. And that was before social distancing and Covid isolation and online learning. Have you ever thought about where naked photos “go” when you hit “send” This week we are going to talk about the global phenomena of sexting and sending illicit videos and photos and the psychological impact they have on the sender. Certainly, there is the obvious, you can be blackmailed, bullied, and sexually exploited but what about the long term effects of not knowing who has seen them, and how it will affect your self-image and future romantic and family relationships? A simple act of making a bad decision when hormones rage can change your life forever. That is true if you are 15 or 65.

This week we have a very special guest, Mary Bawden, with Dance Awareness- No Child Exploited. This organization has been a powerful catalyst in teaching young people, especially at risk youth, the power behind DANCE. Mary has years of experiencing dancing herself and has conducted thousands of hours of research on the impact positive dance can make on an at risk teenager. When a young person learns graceful and energetic dance it has a significant impact on their self esteem, exploring their identity and helps them feel free and included. Dance provides both guys and girls a way to connect with their inner feelings as well as empowers them to release negative feelings. Join us for an informative and upbeat interview with Mary Bowden. Very quickly you will be a fan as you realize that a simple act of DANCE can change even the most difficult child.

Parents often ask me what they can do to make certain their child is not a victim of sexual exploitation whether it is sextortion, social media exploitation or sex trafficking. The answer may surprise you. I believe character is the single biggest element in teaching your child to stand against predators, pimps, pedophiles, gangs, and organized crime. Don’t get me wrong. That is not to suggest victims of exploitation did not have character. But over the years we have learned that there are two critical factors in how predators identify and seduce their victims. The most common grooming tool is to look for their weaknesses and exploit it. Usually it is a desire to be loved, admired, included and cherished. They seek out young people on dating sites and live streaming apps that may be looking for excitement, adventure, affection or hookups. They also are looking for people (of any age) that are willing to take a short cut to earn easy money.

In 2016, California voters passed Proposition 57 which stated that non-violent offenders could be considered for early release from prison with the idea of helping relieve the over crowding of California prisons and assist rehabilitated prisoners to leave incarceration and begin a new life. The challenge was that no one defined what a non violent offense was . It turns out that there are only a few crimes in the California Penal Code that are considered violent. Sex with a minor, sex with a dead person, sex trafficking of a minor or assault on a law enforcement officer were not considered violent. Proposition 20 is designed to improve on that situation. While not a perfect solution it does redefine 51 crimes under the California Penal Code as being considered Violent and providing Judges the opportunity to deny early parole. Sex Trafficking of a minor is one of those crimes. This weeks show we will discuss the background behind California Proposition 57 and why Prop