How to Stop Human Trafficking: Expert’s Answer Hits Close to Home

By guest blogger Elizabeth Oklevitch, Regent University Law School, Candidate for J.D., 2014.

I recently watched the documentary, Not My Life. Depicting the human tragedy and human depravity that is human trafficking, the film exposed real instances of sex trafficking, exploitive child labor, use of child soldiers, and other atrocities that make me grieve for the human race and wonder why God puts up with us. You can get a taste of the film by watching the trailer, and if you get the chance, it would be worth your time to watch the entire documentary.

 

I’ve seen several documentaries and read numerous articles on human trafficking. Not much surprises me anymore. But one interview in this film did. They interviewed a young, European trafficker in prison. The glimmer in his eye, the playfulness. He took delight in telling the world that specific women probably still had nightmares of the way he punched, raped, and sold them. The crimes were a game to him at the time. He didn’t need money; he traded in prostituted women for adventure. The crimes were a game to him now, as his smiling eyes evidenced.  I’m not accustomed to that kind of evil so close to the surface of a human face.

The interview with that trafficker was doubtless one of the factors that prompted a key question from the audience, a question which elicited a striking response. Robert Bilheimer, the director of Not my Life, and Eric Peasah, a Ghanaian on the front lines of anti-trafficking efforts and founder of Right to be Free, were present at the film screening to answer questions. One woman voiced an obvious, nagging question. She noted that the problem seems largely to be violence by men against women and girls and then asked how we can go about changing cultural attitudes, and how we can stop the abuse. Mr. Peasah’s answer: Fathers. He told how over the course of his work on several continents he had observed a trend: those most vulnerable to trafficking lack fathers.

“Fathers,” is not your typical answer to “How do we stop trafficking?” But I don’t think it’s a bad one, at least not a bad start. Going back to our young trafficker, I don’t know anything of his family history, except that he was “well off.” However, I find it difficult to imagine a person who had grown up watching his father model honor, respect, and deference toward his mother treating women the way the young trafficker did, without a hint of shame or remorse.

As to vulnerability, Mr. Peasah’s answer was drawn from experience. He has rescued numerous young boys who were forced to perform arduous, life-threatening work for African fishermen. As the documentary revealed, many of these boys were essentially sold to the fishermen by their mothers – well-intentioned mothers, struggling to feed their children and deceived by false promises of “businessmen” who turned out to be traffickers. All through the film, I kept wondering, where are the dads? Why is mom making all the critical decisions, and why is she alone saddled with the responsibility of feeding her children? I realize these are huge, culturally and situationally sensitive questions, and I’m not attempting to answer them, but merely to point out that we need to be asking them. Mr. Peasah’s answer, based on years of observation, drives one point home: dads are important. When it comes to protecting children, two are better than one. The boys, who, frequently unprotected by fathers, are sent off to work for strangers before they turn ten, often turn around (if they survive long enough) and purchase boys themselves when they are able. It’s not coincidental that the exploited are often fatherless.  Neither is it coincidental that in a world where men are not faithful to the women in their family, they and their sons are not respectful of women outside their family.

As Mr. Peasah highlighted, fathers have the potential for huge positive impact. By setting an example of honor and respect, each dad can play a role in fighting the cultural attitudes that allow human trafficking to flourish. The example doesn’t have to be perfect to be counter-cultural, to go against the self-serving mentality that others are to be used, to undercut the arrogant sense of entitlement that feeds the “demand” side of trafficking, and to avert the vulnerability that stocks the “supply.” With Father’s Day approaching, let’s remember and encourage the dads in our lives who have the power to impact culture.

 

For those in the Virginia Beach area, here are two great events celebrating fathers this week: 

Norfolk Family & Fatherhood Forum, Wednesday, June 12, 2012 (FREE Event)

Who:          Leaders and stakeholders in the areas of government, business, education, media, faith & community based organizations

What:         Forum will feature experts in the field of fatherhood and release data from a Norfolk Family & Fatherhood Report

When:       Wednesday, June 12,2013 from 11:30-3:00pm 

Where:      Murray Center, 455 E. Brambelton Avenue, Norfolk, Virginia 23510

 Norfolk Date With Dad Dinner & Dance, Saturday, June 15, 2013

Who:        Fathers, grandfathers, uncles, big brother, father figures, daughters, girls and ladies of all ages

What:       Dancing, Food, Fun, Games, Comedy, Photos and much more

When:      Saturday, June 15, 2013 from 5:00pm-9:00pm 

Where:    Norfolk State University, Scott-Dozier Dining Hall, 700 Park Avenue, Norfolk,  Virginia 23504

Registration at www.campdiva.org/datewithdadtour

Why Marriage Is Still the Best Default for Families

Lawmakers are looking for ways to actively strengthen marriages and families for the future.  In Florida, legislators filed a bill recently to create a Marriage Education Handbook designed to help strengthen relationships between couples. The handbook would be distributed through court clerks in the state to those applying for marriage licenses. 

"So many young couples getting married today come from broken homes and cannot draw upon a living example of how marriage works," said state Sen. Kelli Stargel, who filed one of the bills — SB 1586 . "Marriage is one of the greatest safeguards against poverty in our society and this handbook will be an invaluable resource to hundreds of thousands of newly married . . . to help them develop healthy and strong marriages." The handbook will include information on communication skills, conflict resolution, parenting and finance management. The book will also provide contact information for couples who may need personal or professional help with their marriages in the future. Private foundations will cover the production and design costs. Lawmakers will offer an amendment to the bill that will ensure the handbook includes resources to help victims of domestic violence. The amendment will also provide the clerk of the court with specific instructions outlining distribution of the handbooks.  Other states, including Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah have created marriage handbooks.

See the full article by Bethany Monk at CitizenLink.  

An equally important concern is the number of couples who are foregoing marriage and opting for cohabitation instead.  Though many of those cohabitants view living together as a step toward marriage, generally the opposite is true, as less than 40% of all cohabiting couples make the move to marriage.  This alternative relationship creates problems for the parties legally that they may be completely unaware of. 

My latest article published by the Penn State Law Review focuses in part on this issue in terms of estate planning.  You can access "Why Marriage is Still the Best Default for Estate Planning" at the Social Science Research Network (SSRN).  By analyzing the Tennessee bigamy case of legally blonde Reese Witherspoon's father, the New York same-sex marriage case of Windsor v. U.S., and the growing cultural trend toward cohabitation over marriage, this article discusses how and why marriage is the best estate plan to protect vulnerable parties as they age. 

The article examines how marriage assists vulnerable parties in avoiding potential conflicts in estate planning and distribution, particularly when those parties have entered into alternative relationships. Cohabitation does not afford the benefits of marriage, nor does it incentivize marriage or provide the benefits and protections often sought by those who enter into those marriage-like relationships. Find it at this link. 

By contrasting the protection marriage affords to a vulnerable party in estate distribution and the dilemmas presented by marriage expansion (as illustrated in Witherspoon and Windsor) with the cultural disquiet over the importance of the nature and meaning of marriage, the article illuminates estate distribution conflicts in the context of the paradox of contemporary American socio-legal marriage culture. Despite the pop culture confusion over marriage, this article demonstrates why it is still the best default for estate planning conflicts, and for family restoration.  

Read Professor Kohm's latest article toward Family Restoration by downloading it here. 

Law is a Calling in Abortion Protest Representation

...Law is more than a profession - it's a calling.

Toussaint Romain (Regent Law 2009) recently represented Mr. Flip Benham, of Operation Save America, who was charged with Stalking an Abortion Doctor in North Carolina.  Mr. Benham is known for his work on educating the public on abortion, which includes posting billboards and large posters of aborted fetuses on college campuses around the nation.  He is also known as a sidewalk preacher, and when he was charged several years ago with stalking, Romain represented him in that charge.  Romain calls the case "probably the biggest fight of my criminal career." The case lasted 3 years, 2 months and 54 days, but has now been voided by the prosecutor for failure to prove necessary elements of the crime - thanks to the hard work, legal education, faith, and perseverance of Romain.
 
Benham, Romain's client, created WANTED posters with an abortion doctor's picture on it, of which thousands were passed around by Benham and about 15 of his crew at the doctor's private practice and in the building (with hundreds of other tenants), at the abortion clinics he worked in, as well as at the doctor's exclusive Lake mansion.  When Benham went door to door, mansion to mansion, knocking on neighbors' doors and passing out flyers, the doctor called a detective who works with local police and with the Dept. of Homeland Security to "investigate." Benham was then arrested for stalking and became the defendant in a criminal trial where Romain became his attorney.

After losing a bench trial, defendant appealed and proceeded with a week long jury trial and lost there as well. After an appeal the NC Court of Appeals agreed with one of Romain's trial arguments and ORDERED a new trial. 

The new trial was set to begin Monday, May 13, 2013.  During the initial jury trial, however, Romain's questioning led the doctor to admit on the record that he was not afraid of Benham and that he was never present when flyers were passed out, two key elements of the stalking charge.  As a result, the District Attorney had no choice but to void the charge (since it does not meet the elements of stalking).  You can see the North Carolina Court of Appeals' Unpublished Opinion here. 

What is most interesting is that additionally NOVANT Health Insurance has since dropped the doctor from its insurance - which means this doctor is no longer performing abortions. 

Romain has called this case the "biggest fight of my life" and it has had other peripheral effects on his life, but he also calls this case "a win for the Kingdom; a win for this alum; a win for my Calling; a win for us!"  Romain shares, "I learned a great deal, and hope this experience can be helpful to others" in the battle to protect people in their defense of women, children, and families from abortion.  

...Law is more than a profession - it's a calling.

Nursing Homes, Family Restoration, and the Household Model

Earlier this year a frightening event occurred in a nursing home when a woman fell into cardiac arrest, and a 911 call recorded the facts that no one at the nursing home was authorized to provide CPR for the resident.  See the full story from Fox News.  

Knowledge and awareness are critical for elderly family members making health care and residential decisions.  Daryl Hayott, Regent Law 2013 Graduate, investigated the major factors in making an informed choice for nursing homes.  His presentation can be viewed here, and his fine article can be read  here.  Nursing home knowledge is key in the residential care decision making process.

A new alternative to a traditional nursing home is a residential facility that follows the household model.  John Dooley, Regent Law Graduate 2013, researched this area of elder law.  He writes, 

With the number of "Baby-Boomers" reaching retirement age, the long-term care industry has never been more relevant in the national consciousness as it is today. Long-term care facilities have come under a good deal of scrutiny in the past few years, not only on the basis of their financial accountability and marketing practices, but also for the care and environment they provide for residents. The term "nursing home" often elicits an almost visceral reaction from the general public, and often the image painted is one of the sterile medical environment, fluorescent lit hallways filled with wheelchairs, and those wheel chairs filled with patients whose medications have left them slumped over, incontinent, and incomprehensible. While this reaction is not entirely unfair, and while sadly it does reflect some of the environments that still exist, particularly for lower income elderly residents, the long-term care industry has been making strides towards a different approach to elder care. This change began to really grow feet in the 1980's, and the concept of retirement communities and long-term care communities truly took shape. Although long-term care homes had been in place since the early years of American history, most of these homes were church-run charitable organizations. The idea of the retirement community was the health care industries' response to a growing need for marketable care and mounting criticism of the lack of dignity preserved for residents of the traditional nursing home. ... The newest model of care is called the "Household Model." This model of care is meant to minimize the institutional aspects of long-term care, and create a closer proximity to a free-standing home environment that more closely mirrors the home environment the resident may have had prior to entering the facility. This model has a lot of positive attributes and has met with tremendous success in certain facilities.

You can read the entire article here.  

This type of knowledge is helpful and directive in making critical care decisions.  Elderly family members deserve support and assistance from their families in making these life-changing residential decisions.