"Savor Me or Save Me," Sayeth the World

A quick intro:

Hello Mates!  Thanks for stopping by today and for your support.  As a writer I just want to say: "To everyone who has either dropped me a comment or has taken time out of his or her day to shoot me an email with some human connection, I dig that so hard, and I value each and every one of you for sharing and relating your personal journeys with me."  

"Savor Me or Save Me":

Have you ever heard the quote by E.B. White: "I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor the world).  This makes it hard to plan the day."  

Isn't that saying so true?  I've always had those 9-5 jobs, too, where you make a "to do" list while sipping your Chai Tea latte, and then 9 o'clock rolls around and the "shit hits the fan" (and the residual shit also hits the "to-do" list laying on your desk.  Life is like a box of underwear you purchase off Amazon, isn't it?  You never know what you're going to get.

So, this blog piece is just a short piece I wanted to share out of a place of love and for basic awareness.  Recently I learned that the sex and child/minor trafficking trade is a multi-billion dollar industry ($150 BILLION in profits each year to be exact, reported by "Human Rights First").  It's also estimated that $124 MILLION a year is spent fighting this criminal enterprise system.  

I'm not a parent.  I really love kids, but I never had children of my own.  Therefore, I feel like I didn't know signs or know what to look for before.  Sometimes, I look through the world through rose colored glasses.  In a way, ignorance can really be truly blissful.  Yet, after a basic understanding of the reality of what goes on day in and day out in our country (and the rest of the world), unreported often times by our media, and after reading a few articles and having the really tough conversations, I now feel more confident and better educated on a very basic level to better detect when something looks fishy.   Whoo, sorry, that last sentence was super long.  Feel free to take a deep breath.  

I want to start by sharing something I recently learned this year.  Poor and lower income communities are highly targeted by this criminal slave trade.  Younger people with broken homes and families are particularly at risk.  Trafficking isn't always getting drugged (like a Bill Cosby sleepover) or knocked in the head (like the monster Ted Bundy did), or even thrown in a trunk (like, in Liam Neeson and "Taken").  Jeffrey Epstein and his female "groomer" targeted low income girls from broken families.  He offered them and a better way of life.  These young girls started with a massage which led to rape (which is sex to a minor who does not know what to do in that situation).  Epstein didn't even tie these girls up against their will.  These girls came back willingly the next day, because the thought of a better life and getting out of their abusive home life seemed better.  And, then, before knowing it, they ended up in a gang bang or getting flow to meet rich men for sexual fantasies, and suddenly that way of life became their new normal.  Many of these girls ended up in the porn industry, the dark web, and addicted to hard drugs.  

For those who didn't know like me, "Grooming" is when you provide a maternal figure or a parental figure to show the love and support that someone may not have.  It's a form of manipulation to lure someone into a bond of trust.  A lot of traffickers use groomers.  So, this is just another facet to be aware of and to educate your children about.

Women (and men) and boys and girls can be abducted from anywhere.  And, by that, I mean literally "Taken."  This is the type of trafficking we usually see in film.  Being grabbed off the street and thrown in a trunk of a car or a van.  And, this includes an otherwise safe community and even gated neighborhoods.  We already know sexual predators and pedophiles can be anywhere: in day cares, malls, the Boy Scout troop, church, and schools.  These places were once thought to be a refuse or a solace for a child to learn, grow and expand.  And, now we are learned they are hunting grounds for sexual predators.  So, it goes without saying that children can be abducted from these same places.  And, it only takes a matter of seconds.  That's the scary part.

One thing I want to throw out real quick with a rampant human trafficking industry -- is that the mask mandates make it easier to abduct a child.  When a child is abducted in plain site, the perpetrator will duct taped the child's mouth to prevent screaming, and nothing will ever hide that better than a mask.  It's important to be vigilant about eyes.  Notice the eyes on a child who is holding the hand of an adult.  The eyes are the window to the soul and can tell you so much.

Another thing to keep in mind is that a trafficker can look like anyone.  We often have these "Hollywood" created versions of what a human trafficker is supposed to look like in our heads.  But, a great movie to watch and even let your daughter watch is "Traffik" with Paula Patton.  It's based on a true story about a sex trafficking ring out west that was busted.  And, it will "shock your socks off" when you discover who was behind it all.  I remember my mom calling me and telling me I should watch it.  Sometimes saying, "I love you" can sound like, "I think you should really watch this...especially for those times you may be out traveling alone.  You really need to be aware of your surroundings"

Also, my mom encouraged me to watch another movie on Amazon Prime called, "Apartment 407."  This movie is VERY difficult to watch.  But, it's the true story of one of the very few survivors of the industry.  This woman is so extremely brave to share her story out to help others.  Please watch this when you get a chance.  Another important fact to know is that escaping as a slave in this criminal system is almost unheard of.  Most will enter and die as a slave.  Some sex slaves will have children who are bred into the industry.  

So, what can you do as a law abiding citizen?  Trust me, it's doesn't take that long to help in saving the world if we all do our part.  And, then we can get back to savoring it, right?

Here are a few things to do can take a moment and stop and do should you see any kind of trafficking going on. (And, remember, besides sex trafficking, there are an array of different types of trafficking.)  Please note that the list is by no means all-inclusive, but it's a good start.

     1)  Know that you can remain anonymous.  In fact, as long as you give all the details you can think              of, it's perfectly fine not to leave your contact information.  

     2)  File a NCMEC cyber tip, and call them.  They answer the phone.

     3) Call 911.  Police department usually have an ICAC officer, but usually they're swamped. 

    4) When you Google what to do (like most people would) it brings up the Human Trafficking Hotline          (dot org).  From my understanding, you cannot get through to them on the phone line.  And, the              emails are not returned.  Again, they may be swamped with the tips received per day.  Do not use            this resource, even though it's listed first through Google.  

    5) Help spread awareness.  Have talks with your kids.  If you mentor children in any capacity, maybe          have an awareness day.  Plant the seeds.

   6) If you see a suspicious page on social media, report it.  Sometimes, the only thing that will happen        is the page is removed and will pop back up under a new name.  But, we should still report it to              Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or whatever outlet you obverse the instance/event on.

(please feel free to drop a comment with any additional pointers you have to offer!)

Thanks again for stopping by, friends, and if you like my content, please feel free to subscribe to Colorado Kimmie.  Have a lovely day and be the light you wish to see in the world!  Namaste