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>View discussions about this entry Country: United States
Organization: TAPS - Trafficking & Prostitution Services
Sector Focus - Other
Year the initative began (yyyy) - 1987
Project URL: http://www.tapsdirectory.org
Positioning in the Mosaic of solutions
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence? - To give public voice to the survivors of sex trafficking so that their voice will serve as a call to action about the deeper roots of how these rings are run and they can be rooted out. People respond faster to the cry of a victim - then just facts.
Describe your innovation. What makes your idea unique and different than others doing work in the field? - The other groups I've been talking to or aware of - either are just dispensing information to the public and thus not providing any "direct services" to the victims, or they are going after this problem like it only happens to non-US citizens. This lets a lot of American citizens thinking "it won't happen to my child". Going after non-american victims of trafficking is great - but it furthers the denial of it going on right here to American women and children and also the feelings most Americans are having like this problems isn't one that affects them - or can endanger members of their family. We believe that by helping victims escape trafficking, put together new lives with not only freedom from being trafficking, but also freedom from the shame and stigma associated with it - which can give them this sense of empowerment by showing them that their story, their pain, can be transformed into a vehicle of healing and rescue for other victims, and as a call for change in this country as well as other countries. Too often Americans think a "global" problem means that it only affects other countries - and that the USA is not included as part of the global community that is not only affected by a problem - but as one that has to take an active role in changing how it treats the problem.
Delivery Model: How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing? - Victims who survive are afraid to come forward and use their real faces and real names out of fear of being hurt or worse back into silence or discredited. I propose we can use their stories in our "anonymous" format to convey their truth without risking their safety. The use of media, video, youtube, the internet, publishing, music, magazines, radio, cable, and even the use of a documentary format can be used to spread the information from victims, to victims, and to not only rescue victims, but build a stronger network of resources to reach out and help more. The process of allowing them a voice not only helps the victims - but will have an impact on the demand for this type of commercial sex product. When people realized how veal was made - changes were made into how it was made - and also into the demand.
How do you plan to grow your innovation? - By just keeping on doing what we are doing. Every week we help more and more of the victims. The demand for our services to victims is ever increasing - but what we need to continue to provide these services is more funding. It's not cheap to rescue these women and children - and set them up in new lives from the old ones that have been destroyed. The more victims we save - the more people we have telling their story. The more people telling their story - the more people realize this is affecting their world today - and the more people get involved. It becomes a snowball effect - by building more rescues - we build more people to help put an end to this and to help the victims.
Do you have any existing partnerships, and if so, how do you create them? - This field has not been completed. (166 words or less)
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact. - For every victim we personally reach out and save - there's a ripple effect of the idea of hope being planted that help is out there.
How many people have you served or plan to serve? - Since 1987 - I've worked with an estimated 250,000 women. We average about 3 calls a day now. Out of these calls - we are now averaging one woman or child a week that needs full scape rescuing - they need to be picked up; given food; provided safe shelter; clothed; medical examinations to be done; therapy provided; and then set about setting up a new life free from sex trafficking. Ongoing support is vital because fear is one of the biggest reasons one might go back - a guaranteed roof and three meals a day often times more inviting than not knowing if they will have shelter or food the next day during our rescue efforts.
Please list any other measures of the impact of your innovation? - Right now we have many survivors we have helped directly to escape trafficking - but who are too scared for a variety of reasons to let any one know they are even alive - yet alone tell their story. We know we have had an impact when even the existing survivors feel safe enough to come forward to tell their story publically without hesitation - and with pride they have survived.
Exactly who are the beneficiaries of your innovation? - Everyone. We concentrate on helping the victims to escape and build new lives. Just bringing their voices to the public about what they have survived - will do more to stamp out the problem, reduce demand, increase criminal penalities, and encourage others to come forward to prosecute these traffickers, and give hope to others to escape and survive.
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)? - So far it's been out of my own pocket and my mother's. But my mother died last year and I've had to stop working and go on SSI. So we need another source of funding. In our experience - survivors who escape trafficking often take about three years to become financially independent (able to take care of themselves). During this time they can't contribute financially to our work as they are often barely able to take care of themselves. About the time they do start to become financially stable - their dreams for their futures kick in and they often start going back to school to get a degree or take some kind of career/vocational training. Again this life cycle makes it hard to contribute financially to our work - despite the fact we are still providing support and guidance to them. When many graduate and go on to profitable careers - it then becomes very difficult for them to have a public association with us without risking their new found lives. New husbands may not know about their past - and they are afraid to share it with them out of fear of losing them. New careers and employers often aren't told about their past for fear of being held back, or even fired. This is why we need more government or corporation help.
If known, provide information on your finances and organization - Annual budget;
Annual revenue generated; Number of staff: I'm the main person who is always here. We have anywhere from 1 to 20 volunteers at one time depending on where the survivors are with their new lifes outside of sex trafficking. At this time we have not received any grants or significant donations - and need to start generating some in order to keep operating. What is the potential demand for your innovation? - Endless. As the sex industry grows - the demand for trafficked victims increases. The more people are thinking trafficking only exists in other countries - the more the problem right here with American women is being ignored and denied - let alone addressed.
What are the main barriers to financial sustainability? - I think the stigma. I read that the Gates Foundation gave a grant to one organization to go and rescue women out of a brothel in India. For that they receive a lot of credit and recognition. I think if the Gates Foundation gave us a grant to do rescue work on local illegal US brothels - they would be viewed as being "prudes" or even "religious extremists". Too often people associate wrongly helping victims with being only a christian issue - when in fact it's a human rights issue of interest to any religion that values human life and freedom.
What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story. - My own life. As I rescued women - other women came to me for help. As some women were rescued - they told me of others that needed rescuing. We would then organize efforts to go and get more free. And on and on. Word of mouth in this underground world is more effective than TV shows that most victims aren't even allowed to watch or newspapers they aren't allowed to read. The fact I have "been there" myself and believe them also allows them to trust me enough to come to me and also tell me what's going on. Knowing I'm not going to use the information against them in a court of law - also allows them to be open and honest with me.
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material - I used to work in the sex industry. I witnessed sex trafficking going on then - and used to use my resources and connections to rescue these victims back then. When I quit the sex industry - other victims would come to me because they knew I believed them and would help them. I have been helping victims escape forced sex work continually - and in a more organized fashion since 1987 when I formed Sex Workers Anonymous.
Contact Information:
Jody Williams
Director TAPS - Trafficking & Prostitution Services (individual volunteer peer driven) sexworkrecovery@yahoo.com Box 3535 Tonopah, NV 89049 United States Tel: (775) 482 5920 x 111 Fax: (702) 421-3978 Website: www.tapsdirectory.org Discussions about this entry |
TAPS - Trafficking & Prostitution Services
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Hello Jody,
I see that you have left this question blank: "Do you have any existing partnerships, and if so, how do you create them?" I'm curious about any partnerships you may have. Particularly, I'm wondering if you have any relationship with local law enforcement? I really like your idea of creating jobs for the victims through sharing their stories and helping others who have gone through similar situations. Are there any places where this is being done? Or, do you have any proposal of how it could work?
Based on the fact that the project has been running on money from you and your mother - how do you plan on financially sustaining your work for the long term?
Thank you for converting your own negative experience into something positive to help others.
Keep up the great work.
Best,
Dana Frasz
Ashoka's Changemakers
Many of those who help us to help others - probably wouldn't if the public knew about our relationship. A lot of what I do is what they can't do - and they don't want their donors to know about it. Because I'm doing work they don't want their donors to know about - they will tend to deny us in public. For example - one national teen runaway program had pimps showing up at 2:00 a.m. with guns demanding their hookers be returned that had fled there. Having no choice - they returned the children to the pimps. They started having this happen so often - they had a choice of either not taking in runaway prostitutes anymore because of the danger to staff - or refer them to me. They decided to refer them to me - but can't admit it in public. I used to have some great relationships with law enforcement that allowed me to help hide many victims from their pimps in pursuit of bringing them back. However, those wonderful people have all retired over the years. It's difficult these days to find someone who is willing to help us in law enforcement because it often means going against their friends and higher ups as many pimps now have a lot of law enforcement, the courts, etc., on the payroll now. I don't know of any other group doing what we do right now - it's what keeps me going - knowing if I don't - that no one else is there to take up any slack. I know that I'm going to have to have a system set in place to sustain the work after my death - which is why I need to raise the money to incorporate ourselves as a 501c3. With that - I can then pursue some grants and set up a system/program that will continue to help after I'm
Jody, your hard work on this issue is impressive, especially seeing as how the practice involving American women continues to be hidden in the United States. How do American women get caught in sex trafficking? Which women tend to be the most vulnerable here? I'm interested in your anonomous story-telling idea, although I'd suggest that the main insight addressed on that front would be "Mobilize peer groups and communities to raise awareness." How would the story-telling work? Do you have any ideas for partnerships that could leverage your experience and bring in valuable funding?
I'm glad that the issue has been made more public through movies about human trafficking in other countries - but the flip side of that is the impression that only women from other countries are human trafficking victims. Sadly we have just as many, if not more, american women born and raised, as sex trafficking victims. The advent of the internet and the expansion of porn has substantially increased the demand that has to be filled somehow. The only counter to that is a "counter" media campaign of the story telling. It's important that the stories come from the victims directly - second hand stories are always discounted or the person making the report is discounted in these cases. Many survivors are "hiding" out and no one knows about their past. When they hear the stories - this encourages them to contact us. There are many stories out there - but the victims are afraid of many things if they were to reveal their name and/or faces to tell them - so this is why I say we need to have them told "anonymously". I think if we started putting these stories on DVD and in book form - we could use it as a product to do fund raising for our group - and also train our members in jobs like book sales, fund raising, telemarketing, etc. I haven't found major companies want to be seen as donating to us - while you see Gates donating to helping trafficking victims in other countries - I haven't heard of him or others like him donating to groups that work right here in the USA. I think it's because no one wants to hear about it existing here - because then we'd have to face our own demons in our own backyard. This is why we need to incorporate, and publish and start raising money for ourselves with some seed money.