activist

In the Booth with Ruth – Founding Member of The NO Project

“About twelve years ago, I happened to read an article in a Sunday paper, which described a young woman, eighteen years old, who had hung herself in a toilet using her own stockings. She was a young foreign woman – a girl really – being used for commercial sexual exploitation in a city in northern Greece. That article pretty much changed my life… That is no way to die. She had been trafficked.” The No Project, a global anti-slavery public awareness initiative that focuses on the role of demand and specifically targets youth awareness through music, the arts, film, dance, education and social media.

Ruth Jacobs's avatarRuth Jacobs

The No Project

What inspired you to support the movement against slavery and exploitation?

About twelve years ago, I happened to read an article in a Sunday paper, which described a young woman, eighteen years old, who had hung herself in a toilet using her own stockings. She was a young foreign woman – a girl really – being used for commercial sexual exploitation in a city in northern Greece. That article pretty much changed my life – kudos to the power of journalism. More than likely she had left her country thinking she would have a better life elsewhere. This better life resulted in her death in some toilet in a foreign land. That is no way to die. She had been trafficked.

Can you tell me about your organisation?

The NO Project is a global anti-slavery public awareness initiative that focuses on the role of demand and specifically targets youth awareness through…

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In the Booth with Ruth – Stella Marr, Sex Trafficking Survivor, Anti-Sex Trafficking Activist and Advocate, Executive Director and Founding Member of Sex Trafficking Survivors United (Survivors Connect)

Sex trafficking survivor and anti-sex trafficking advocate and activist, Stella Marr, gives a powerful interview. “I was trafficked in prostitution in New York City for nearly ten years… Two of my friends from the life were murdered. My beautiful friend, April, died of suicide because the madam she’d called promised to send help then did nothing. April died waiting – to me it feels like another murder. My best friend Gabriel, who’d been trafficked from age sixteen, died of AIDS at age twenty-four. His family kicked him out when they found out he was sick, so he had to spend his last days living with a john who made him buy life insurance with the john as beneficiary. I fill with tears when I think of it… After being trafficked in prostitution, you feel linked to all the others who’ve been there. You want them to be okay. You are no longer merely yourself; you are part of a whole…”

Ruth Jacobs's avatarRuth Jacobs

Stella Marr

How did you become involved in the movement against sex trafficking and sexual exploitation?

I was trafficked in prostitution in New York City for nearly ten years, from the early 1980s to the early 1990s. Two of my friends from the life were murdered. My beautiful friend, April, died of suicide because the madam she’d called promised to send help then did nothing. April died waiting – to me it feels like another murder. My best friend Gabriel, who’d been trafficked from age sixteen, died of AIDS at age twenty-four. His family kicked him out when they found out he was sick, so he had to spend his last days living with a john who made him buy life insurance with the john as beneficiary. I fill with tears when I think of it.

The public needs to understand that prostitution is sex trafficking. The term ‘sex trafficking’ reflects an…

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In the Booth with Ruth – Erica Greve, Anti-Human Trafficking Advocate and Non-Profit Founder

“The average age of entry into prostitution in the USA is thirteen years old. These are little girls who are being raped for profit. Unfortunately, when these kids come into contact with the police, they are often arrested and taken to juvenile detention centers… These kids are victims not criminals. They don’t need jail time – they need restoration care services.” Erica Greve, Anti-Human Trafficking Advocate and Non-Profit Founder.

Ruth Jacobs's avatarRuth Jacobs

Erica Greve

What inspired you to support the movement against child sexual slavery and exploitation?

I first came into contact with children who had been sold for sex in America a few years ago, while I was completing my MSW degree from UC Berkeley. At the time, I was interning as one of the emergency department social workers, and my job was to conduct the initial interview of physically and sexually abused youths who were brought into the emergency department for treatment. My job during this time was to capture the story of the child and/or parent/social worker who brought the child to the ER department and to provide the child with all appropriate support services and to develop an aftercare treatment plan.

During the course of my internship, I began to encounter children who were brought into the ER who had been sold for sex and I began to notice patterns…

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