Keeping vigil: efforts aim to end child exploitation

PLATTSBURGH | Sexual assault survivors shared stories of courage in finding their voice to overcome childhood exploitation, trafficking and trauma. They spoke of abuse brought on by family and neighbors, trusted family friends, sports cohorts, and from older men who promised wealth and attention. A quiet candlelit vigil and walk through Plattsburgh on Saturday night delivered a message to light the way out of darkness. Over 100 people met at Trinity Park to learn how sexual violence and human trafficking impact the community as a whole. The vigil was coordinated by Show Up advocate J.J. Murnane, welcoming speakers who have actuated local, state and national change: Connie Mandeville, a survivor and member of the Show Up board. Bridie Farrell, a competitive speed skater and founder of AmericaLovesKids working to eliminate child sexual abuse. Farrell was lead advocate for the Child Victim's Act. Marie Striebel author, survivor, advocate and founder of Bondage2Freedom, a project aiming to eliminate child trafficking and abuse; and Joyce Muchan, founder of All Voices International (.org), who is now co-coordinating a new survivor/victim-led task force. All four women spoke frankly and urgently about the need to address even basic protection services and support training for trafficked and sexual abuse victims in rural regions of northern New York. Vigil support was brought together by the task force with the SUNY Plattsburgh Title IX office, Planned Parenthood of the North Country and the Mental Health Association of Essex County. To reach North Country Survivor Led Task Force via email: NorthCountrySurvivors@gmail.com MORE THAN RAISING AWARENESS Muchan took a sobering look at facts and action steps. "Sex trafficking, sexual assault and exploitation remain deeply prevalent in the North Country. Don't think that it doesn't," she said. "What is not prevalent, however, are accessible resources, comprehensive education, and the most critical, the voices of survivors and victims." Officials, organizations and educational institutions have to do more than raise awareness, Muchan said. "Being informed is like saying 'There's a fire.' Being responsive is showing up trained and ready to put out that fire. And right now, our community is failing to respond to the needs of those trafficked and sexually exploited." The North County Survivor Led Task Force focus grew, she said, from a meeting with 22 women who shared stories of how the North Country support structures failed them. When she brought their concerns to authorities, she was asked to obtain notarized affidavits from the women. "This does not happen in other places. What do you think would happen with their names? This is one of the reasons why sexual, generational trauma exists in the North Country." Even law does not protect young women from predators. "In New York State, it is not a felony (for a predator) to buy sex from a 15, 16 or 17 year old," Muchan said, "even though those same young people cannot legally consent." Community has taken up its own form of enforcement. Muchan described the actions of a vigilante group that operates in a neighboring county. Its members pose as teenage girls to lure men from dating apps. They set up a meeting, confront the predator, and beat them up, she said. "Does the county know about this? Yes," Muchan said. "Does the local police department know about this? Yes. Did the vigilante group tell the police? Yes. "There are several issues here," she said. "One is that: why isn't that county educating the community on the issue that men in their community are soliciting fifteen-year-old girls? Why aren't law enforcement not facilitating a sting operation themselves? "You have the right to ask (law enforcement officials) about those issues," Muchan said. 'TAKE IT DOWN' Though resources are available at no cost for schools and law enforcement to use to help prevent abuse and exploitation, they are not utilized here. "There's a nationwide digital application created by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) called 'Take It Down.' If a young person shares an explicit photo, NCMEC can remove it and track the sextortion attempts, because once sextortion occurs, youth suicide occurs six hours later." NCMEC has agreed to train organizations in the North Country to use this app, she said. St. Lawrence County is using "Take It Down," but not the other counties. "Why are schools not using this?" she said. NCMEC provides free training and resources. And Planned Parenthood provides educational resources on trafficking in collaboration with NCMEC. Muchan said much of the region's hospitality industry is also not following legal requirements to help stop exploitation and trafficking. "In New York State, it is a law that every hotel and motel is required to train employees to recognize victims of human trafficking," Muchan said. Lodging facilities are also required to post information about resources for victims along with the number for the national trafficking hotline. The information is supposed to be placed in a hotel or motel location accessible to guests and staff. "Almost every hotel and motel in the region is out of compliance," Muchan said. "One county has known this since last March. Why is it that the North Country does not want this information in every hotel and motel? " The North Country's survivor and victim-led Task Force is for anyone: a survivor, a parent, a child, a sister, a friend, a partner and a victim. "Change in the North Country is needed and the voices of survivors and victims are missing from that change. Your commitment is what you want and need it to be. Email us and talk to us later." "It's up to our own communities to bring voice to this. What is happening in the communities right now is very dangerous." Mandeville spoke about the surge in sexual violence as the country faces leadership that ignores and hides abuse. "What message does that send to survivors like me?" she said "It tells me that I won't be believed and that speaking out doesn't matter. This violence will continue to happen and no one will be held accountable." Mandeville said she knows there are gaps in support for survivors, and nothing will change unless community demands it. "The next step is making sure that we have the resources that survivors need to not only survive but to thrive." ................................ CHILD VICTIM'S ACT Training as a speed skater in Saratoga Springs at age 15, Farrell was molested by a champion speed skater who was 33. The abuse continued for months and ended after the 1998 Olympic trials held in Lake Placid. The abuser went on to compete in the Nagano Olympics and later became president of U.S. Speed Skating. After trying to move on with her life, Farrell said a return to speed skating brought up the darkness of those days. She told her story and named the perpetrator, who apologized publicly. Farrell went on to create the Child Victim's Act in New York State and founded America Loves Kids, an advocacy organization with resources and support for exploited children. Her work on the NYS Child Victim's Act extended the statute of limitations for survivors to file civil litigation, which resulted in 11,000 legal complaints, she said. But that was just a fraction of survivors throughout New York. "The truth of the matter is that, for child sexual abuse, it's one in four girls and one in six boys. That means there were a lot of other people that still didn't feel comfortable and safe in coming forward. ... It's a huge decision to speak up. But with that, if people don't speak up, a change will never happen." And, she said, when people show up just because they love their neighbors, change can happen. "It took me seven years to pass that law, but we passed it," Farrell said, drawing applause. ............................. 'WHERE ARE THEY?' Marie Striebel author, advocate and founder of Bondage2Freedom, shared the stories of three young children who were exploited and trafficked, one by a stepfather, another lured to an online predator; and the third story was her own. Abandoned at age 13, she was taken in by a trusted family friend who sold her out of their apartment for a year. Escape led her into the arms of another trafficker who sold her along with 33 other children as "party favors" at extravagant parties that included high-profile, affluent people. "I am a survivor of child sex trafficking," Striebel said. Silenced for decades by survivor's guilt, Striebel said she spoke out because she sees that what happened to her in the 1980s is still happening today. Child abusers are not just the creepy men in dark basements, she said, they walk among us. "Just look at the headlines today. According to the Polaris Project, from January 2020 through August 2022, 44 percent of sex trafficking victims were trafficked by a member of their own family. And 39 percent were trafficked by an intimate partner." Children face threats to keep them silent: threats of being placed in the family services system or abandoned by their parents. Often they are forced into drug use. "If you think this doesn't happen in your community, think again. According to the Office of Juvenile Injustice and Delinquency Prevention and the FBI, 460,000 to 800,000 children go missing each year in the United States alone. Where are they? "Predators are master manipulators, they will threaten to harm your children or harm you (their adults) if they tell anyone. "We need to teach our children at a young age about body safety. What if (a child) is told that 'hey, when someone does something that makes you feel uncomfortable, you can say No. Teach them what a safe secret is and what an unsafe secret it. They need to understand the difference. "We need to encourage victims to break their silence. By telling their stories, they can save lives. You never know who's listening or who needs encouragement." Speaking up about abuse, she said, turns the shame they carry into strength. For resources, information or help for victims and victim support: America Loves Kids: americaloveskids.org Bondage2freedom: bondage2freedom.org AllVoicesInternational: allvoicesinternational.org Sexual Assault Services Hotline. Planned Parenthood of the North Country: 877-212-2323 In Clinton, Essex and Franklin County, call locally: 518-561-4430 Services include accompaniment, crisis counseling, compensation claims assistance. ...................................................................................... OCTOBER IS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH PLATTSBURGH | SUNY Plattsburgh is hosting several Domestic Violence Awareness programs this month, according to Title IX coordinator Kim Irland. In addition to Light the Dark last Saturday, the university is installing the Clothesline Project at the Angell College Center for the month of October. At 11 a.m. on Oct. 6, students, faculty and staff can stop by the project table to design a tee shirt that represents their experience with violence. "If anyone is thinking about making a tee shirt, but they don't want to do it in a public space at the table, they can take the shirt and return them to my office for inclusion on the clothesline," Irland said in a news story provided by Gerianne Downs, associate communications director. If the hours of 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. don't work, people can reach out to Irland in her Angell College Center office and make a shirt later. A new Domestic Violence Awareness Month initiative, Purple Thursday, will take place on Thursday, Oct. 23. "A collaborative, creative idea between Irland and Michael Thompson, Affirmative Action officer and special projects coordinator in the campus DEI office, Purple Thursday will bring people together for a photo calling attention to domestic and dating violence awareness," the news release said. Coordinators are recruiting people to wear purple and meet on Oct. 23 at Memorial Field at 2 p.m. "I'll have a number of purple shirts branded for SUNY Plattsburgh, available first-come, first-served," Irland said. "We'll gather on Memorial Field Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. and form the shape of a purple ribbon and take an aerial photo. We'd love a good turnout." SUNY is also hosting a candlelight vigil sponsored by Behavioral Health Services North on Saturday, Oct. 25 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Warren Ballrooms, Angell College Center with a tentative gathering at the firepit in Courtyard Plaza to follow. "The whole month is designed to call attention to the way domestic and dating violence affects people in different ways and to alert people to behaviors that lead to harm," Irland said. For more information on Domestic Violence Awareness Month initiatives, the Clothesline Project at SUNY Plattsburgh and Title IX, call Irland at 518-564-3280 or by email title.ix@plattsburgh.edu To find out more online: plattsburgh.edu/plattslife/health-safety/title-ix/events

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Keeping vigil: efforts aim to end child exploitation

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