#BWFB- Black Women Fighting BACK!

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There are currently 75,000 MISSING BLACK WOMEN & GIRLS in AMERICA. That number is steady increasing as you read this blog. Girls as young as 5 years old are included. We are being abducted, in broad daylight. We are being hunted, harvested for our organs and melanin, raped, sodomized, experimented on, and murdered. Of course the news outlets aren't talking about this. Why? Because, NOBODY cares about us...UNTIL NOW!

Ladies, it is time that WE CARE! We must care enough about ourselves and each other to say NO MORE!!!! WE MUST & ARE FIGHTING BACK!!! Hence the hashtag #BWFB, Black Women Fighting Back! It is OUR responsibility to advocate for ourselves AND our children.

This could literally happen to any one of us!

Here are some facts and statistics that will illustrate how dire this situation with OUR women and girls has become:

• A victim of sex trafficking is an individual who has been forced into the commercial sex industry (such as prostitution) and held against their will by force, fraud, or coercion. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the average entry age into the sex industry is just 12-years-old.

• 62% of human trafficking suspects are Black

• 52% of all juvenile prostitution arrests are Black

• The top 10 cities with the most cases of human trafficking are:

-Washington D.C.

-Atlanta, GA

-Orlando, FL

-Miami, FL

-Las Vegas, NV

-Sacramento, CA

-Houston, TX

-Tampa, FL

-Columbus, OH

-Baton Rouge, LA

• The top 10 states with most reported cases of human trafficking are:

California

Michigan

Georgia

Nevada

Illinois

North Carolina

Pennsylvania

Arizona

Washington

New Jersey

• -The typical face of sexual trafficking in America today matches the faces of the 501 juveniles that have gone missing in the D.C. area in just the first quarter of 2017 alone. According to the FBI, 40 percent of victims of sex trafficking are Black, with that number being significantly larger in the major metropolitan areas. In Los Angeles County, the Black victim rate reaches 92 percent. In overwhelming numbers, the persons most likely to be victimized are vulnerable Black girls and women.

• - “Compared with other segments of the population, victimization rates for Black children and youths are even higher,” the National Center for Victims of Crime reports.

• - Per the FBI, 59 percent of all juvenile prostitution arrests involve Black women. Law enforcement officials more than likely see a Black sex trafficking victim as a prostitute and not as someone needing help.

• - Statistics show that Black men are overwhelmingly the individuals that kidnap and traffic the majority of America’s sex trafficking victims. However, these traffickers are marketing and selling the services of their victims to a largely white, affluent base.

• - In 2010, the Urban Institute conducted research in attempting to estimate the size of the underground commercial sex market in the United States. In the report that was released in 2014, in eight major American cities – Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Kansas City, Miami, Seattle, San Diego, and Washington – the 2007 economic worth of the market per city was approximately $40 million and $290 million, with pimps and traffickers that participated in the study reporting taking home between $5,000 and $32,833 per week. The study found that while street-level solicitation has declined, the proliferation of social media and websites such as backpage.com and craigslist.com (which has, since the publication of the report, removed its adult services section) have led to greater proliferation of the solicitation of those involved in the sex trade.

• - Racism and misogyny play their parts in the buying of sex from these victims.  These buyers are not the stereotypical ‘lonely guy’; they are married or have girlfriends, but they choose to buy these sex acts as an act of violence that dehumanize, humiliate, and hurt these Black women & girls.

• - Traffickers are more likely to target girls with questionable family networks, teenage runaways, homeless girls, girls in the foster system; girls that can be easily plied away and manipulated with enticements of love, a better life, a good high paying job, a way out of a bad situation, etc.

Traffickers are now ALSO targeting and kidnapping "everyday" Black women and girls. Theses are women/girls getting into/out of their cars in store parking lots, riding in Lyft and Uber for transportation, walking down the street, etc. These women, are being injected with paralytic drugs and thrown in the back of vans. Those who are riding with Lyft and Uber drivers are being taken against their will to warehouses. Black women AND girls are literally being snatched up, no matter who they are or what they are doing.

• Traffickers are not always random scary people; they are our boyfriends, husbands, and loved ones. They are people we trust.

• Pimp-controlled trafficking is the most common, followed by gang-controlled trafficking, but there is also family-controlled trafficking.

• Doctors, teachers, law enforcement officials, foster parents, nurses, pastors, and priests have been arrested as human traffickers.

• The demand for Black women for sexual exploitation is higher than the that of other races and the penalties associated with trafficking Blacks are less severe.

• Many experts say the Internet and social media has fueled trafficking as predators can follow young people on their platforms and attempt to lure them in.

Awareness is the first step to tackling any problem.

NOW, with all that information Stars, it is time to be DILIGENT and AWARE in all that we do and everywhere we go. Be sure to spread this blog along with any and all things pertaining to this epidemic in our community. Below are some tips to avoid being a victim of human trafficking, as well as signs to identify a victim of human trafficking and how to help. Share with your loved ones and be sure to check back in with us for the next step that #BWFB is taking in fighting back:

BE VIGILANT OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS

*Always be vigilant and aware of your surroundings. People are often distracted by their phones or other little things when walking. Make sure that you’re aware of what’s going on around you so that you can spot when something is off. If you notice a person or a car following you, alert the police and someone you trust immediately.

PARKING LOT SAFETY

*Keep an eye out for vans parked on the driver side of your car. Abductors are placing flyers on car windshields and as unsuspecting women go to retrieve it, they are quickly drugged and put into a van. If there is something on your windshield, LEAVE IT THERE, and take it off at a later time in a safe place.

AVOID WALKING ALONE

*Women have been forcibly kidnapped while walking on the street. You shouldn’t have to be restricted when you go out and it may seem unfair that you always have to be on the lookout, but for your own safety, try not to walk alone – especially in quiet areas.

ACT SWIFTLY IF SUSPICIOUS

*Go into the nearest building and wait for the person or car to leave. Alert someone in the building that you’re being followed or call someone to pick you up if you can. Also, let someone you know that you’re going out and what time they can expect you to arrive at your destination.

DON'T TRUST EASILY

*Some people who are trafficked are approached by strangers offering them a job or some kind of opportunity (like a modeling or singing career). Traffickers can approach you anywhere, on social media, at school, in the mall and even outside your house. Some traffickers might try to befriend you or form a relationship with you so that you trust them enough. Women can also be traffickers and are often used to lure victims because they seem more trusting than men.

USE SOCIAL MEDIA WISELY

*Be suspicious of strangers who approach you after you’ve posted something personal on your social media profile and they're suddenly offering you help, advice, money, a place to stay or a job opportunity. If you’re getting random messages from people on social media, check your privacy settings, turn off your location settings on social media and only make your posts visible to your friends (not to the public). Also avoid checking in to places on social media (while you’re at the place especially).

BE READY FOR ANYTHING

*Carry pepper spray with you on your key-chain. You also need to mentally prepare yourself to fight off the abductor. If you begin to be attacked, make a scene, yell for help, and fight back like your life depends on it (because it probably does).

USE YOUR PHONE

*Allow 3 of your closest friends or family members to track your phone via GPS so they know your whereabouts at all times.  You can do this on most cell phones and allow a select few to have access to your location for 1 hour, 1 day, or indefinitely.

TRUST YOUR INTUITION

*Listen to the intuitive voice inside your head. Check with family and friends for advice if you get offers that are too good to be true. Do Internet searches or background checks on the person wanting you to meet with them. Say no and see how they react. Look for signs of abusive or possessive behaviors. Is the person trying to isolate or turn you against family and friends? If so, avoid that person.

MEET STRANGERS IN PUBLIC PLACES

*Don’t let anyone know where you live until you get to know them. So for a date, meet them at a public place for the first few times until you get to know them and feel comfortable. Also stay in contact with friends and family if you’re out and about alone or with someone you don’t know very well.

INDICATORS FROM SOMEONE YOU KNOW:

Multiple reports of running away

Disconnection from family or other caregivers

Going off with a “boyfriend” and unknown new “friends”

Loss of interest in age-appropriate activities

Sexual activity/history of STDs and pregnancies

Large amounts of money, clothes, or accessories with no explanation as to how obtained

Landing a job in say, modeling or performing, that seems exciting and too good to be true

New or increased drug use

Controlled travel such as having a “driver”

Constant cell phone/computer use are other signs.

INDICATORS FROM PEOPLE YOU DON'T KNOW:

Appears malnourished and lacks medical care

Branded with barcode of number tattoos by pimps to show his/her ownership

Is not in control of his/her own money, no financial records, or bank account

Owes a large debt and is unable to pay it off

Is fearful, anxious, depressed, submissive, tense, or nervous/paranoid and avoids eye contact

For more ways to be safe and help those who are in trouble visit the link below:

https://humantraffickinghotline.org/faqs/safety-planning-information

To view #BWFB's mission and upcoming events click here.

The atrocities of human trafficking, organ harvesting, abductions, etc MUST come to an end and it is up to US ladies, to advocate for and protect ourselves and our children. It is quite clear that NOBODY else is going to protect and/or save us. WE MUST DO IT FOR OURSELVES AND EACH OTHER. WE ARE LITERALLY ALL WE'VE GOT! Remember, as the Mothers of Civilization, WE ARE THE FIRST!

*Have you seen the ground breaking documentary,” If My sisStar is in the Hood, That’s Where I Need To Be!”. This documentary has been featured in several Universities as case studies. Made by & for Black w­ombmen; this documentary is a video diary of their spiritual and personal journeys. Learn more here: Documentary.­­

#BWFB

#WEGOTWE