My Life My Choice

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My Life My Choice (MLMC), a Boston, Massachusetts-based program of the Justice Resource Institute, is a survivor-led non-profit organization fighting to end commercial sexual exploitation of children. [1] [2] Through their survivor-led model, My Life My Choice provides a continuum of services including survivor mentorship, prevention education, professional training, and advocacy and leadership development. [2] [3] Founded in 2002, My Life My Choice's mission is to harness the strength and power of survivors along with creating a network of allies to fight Commercial sexual exploitation of children [4] My Life My Choice is nationally recognized for its prevention curriculum, which is used to empower and educate youth on recognizing the signs of perpetrators and the dangerous reality of the commercial sex industry. [2] [5] [6] My Life My Choice mentoring services are available for girls ages 12–18 in Eastern Massachusetts and, since the launch of a pilot program in 2014, boys and transgender youth ages 12–18 in the Boston area. [7]

Contents

My Life My Choice has been featured in many different media campaigns, including Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's documentary, A Path Appears, with Blake Lively. [8] [9] My Life My Choice works to influence legislature and government action, for example Associate Director Audrey Morrissey worked closely with the Attorney General of Massachusetts, Martha Coakley and the My Life My Choice leadership corps discussed the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 with Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy III. [10] [11]

History

My Life My Choice was co-founded by Lisa Goldblatt Grace LICSW, MPH in 2002 after the death of a 17-year-old girl, Latasha Cannon. [12] [13] Before her death, Latasha was living at a Child Protective Services funded group home and unknown to adults in her life, was being commercially sexually exploited. [12] After Latasha's brutal murder, [13] Boston's leaders came together and discovered that this was not an isolated incident, it was just one of many similar cases [12] My Life My Choice was born out of Latasha's death to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children. [12] My Life My Choice has grown into a nationally recognized organization in the fight against the commercial sexual exploitation of children. [5] [12]

In 2006, My Life My Choice was recognized as a national model for sex trafficking prevention by the United States Department of Justice. [12] [14] [15] The My Life My Choice curriculum is being used nationwide as a preventative model to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children. [16] [17] Additionally, in 2009 My Life My Choice became a part of the Justice Resource Institute. [12] The Justice Resource Institute (JRI) is a non-profit organization in Massachusetts that works in partnership with community members "to pursue the social justice inherent in opening doors to opportunity and independence". [18] My Life My Choice is one of the twelve 'Community Based Behavioral Health Services' programs at the Justice Resource Institute. [19] In 2010, My Life My Choice was recognized as one of Root Cause's Social Innovators of the year. [12] [20] The upward growth of My Life My Choice can also be seen in their 2011 and 2014 award of the highly competitive United States Department of Justice "Mentoring for Child Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Domestic Sex Trafficking Initiative" grant. [12] [21]

Mission

"The mission of My Life My Choice is to prevent the commercial sexual exploitation of adolescents through survivor-led programs that educate and empower youth to find their voice and create a positive life path while working to eliminate the violence and victimization of commercial sexual exploitation. We have a laser focus on strengthening the power, and amplifying the voices, of those who are most vulnerable and of those who have survived exploitation. We are building a network of allies to stand up to the force of the illegal sex industry and create long-lasting social change". [4]

Structure

My Life My Choice uses four main methods to fight back against the commercial sexual exploitation of children: survivor mentorship, education, training and advocacy.

Survivor mentorship

The survivor mentorship program at My Life My Choice pairs exploited youth or youth that are at high-risk of being exploited with an adult female survivor. [7] [14] The survivor mentorship provides one-on-one support, guidance, tools to become a healthy and successful adult in society, a place of belonging, and a sense of hope for exploited or high risk youth. [7] [14] The survivor mentorship program maintains a long term focus of recovery – always maintaining contact and support for the youth they serve. [7] [14] Anti -trafficking activist and creator of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services Rachel Lloyd has said "My Life My Choice is the gold standard in mentoring programs for commercially sexually exploited and trafficked girls". [7] [14]

Prevention education

My Life My Choice has a ten-session nationally acclaimed prevention curriculum that is used to educate and empower youth on recognizing the signs of perpetrators and the dangerous reality of the commercial sex industry. [2] [5] [6] The prevention curriculum groups are offered all over the United States in schools, group homes, or other community settings. [6] An example of the My Life My Choice curriculum in use is at the R.I.S.E. House (Residential Intervention for the Sexually Exploited) in Redwood City, California. [17] The curriculum is delivered in ten sessions by trained staff, including at least one licensed clinician and one survivor of commercial sexual exploitation. [22] The goal of the curriculum group sessions is to change the youths perceptions of the commercial sex industry, in addition to building self-esteem and personal empowerment in fighting against commercial sexual exploitation. [6] [22]

Professional training

My Life My Choice offers elementary and advanced training on the commercial sexual exploitation of children to law enforcement and service providers. [23] Trainings focus on general education about commercial sexual exploitation of children, risk factors of exploitation, techniques for identification of exploitation, and how to support exploited youth and connect them to services. [23] The purpose of training professionals is to increase the identification rate and improve the response of providers to exploited youth. [23]

Advocacy and leadership

My Life My Choice brings the voices of survivors of sexual exploitation to the forefront in the fight against commercial sexual exploitation of children; [24] collecting and harnessing the resilience of a collective group of survivors and allies to strengthen the message that this crime is unacceptable. [24] My Life My Choice partners with other organizations who are also working to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children, for example the SEEN Coalition and the Massachusetts Attorney General's Anti Trafficking Taskforce. [24] [25] Additionally, My Life My Choice provides opportunities for the youth they mentor to participate in leadership and advocacy roles through the MLMC Leadership Corps. [24] Leadership Corps members engage in a variety of activities including serving on an advisory committee to the SEEN Coalition and the Boston Police Department, meeting with Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy III to discuss the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015, and creating materials for My Life My Choice to improve their work. [11] [24]

Board

My Life My Choice has a board of twelve members who possess knowledge about adolescent development, marketing, legal services, non-profit management, and government. With this knowledge, the board members provide guidance and support to the MLMC senior staff. [26] Board members can be found here:

Media coverage

A Path Appears

My Life My Choice was featured in Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's three part PBS documentary, A Path Appears, and with Blake Lively. [8] [9] A Path Appears, Episode 1 sheds a light on the issue of sex trafficking in the United States as well as effective solutions that have been implemented. [9] During Episode 1, Blake Lively and Nicholas Kristof visit My Life My Choice to learn about the work they do and to investigate the sexual exploitation of young girls and women. [9] [27] Blake Lively during this documentary stated, "The most powerful thing is for women not just to be the beneficiaries of the change, but to be agents of it ... My Life My Choice is such a powerful organization because it utilizes survivors". [28]

Coverage

Related Research Articles

Child prostitution Prostitution involving a child

Child prostitution is prostitution involving a child, and it is a form of commercial sexual exploitation of children. The term normally refers to prostitution of a minor, or person under the legal age of consent. In most jurisdictions, child prostitution is illegal as part of general prohibition on prostitution.

Commercial sexual exploitation of children

Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a commercial transaction that involves the sexual exploitation of a child, or person under the age of consent. CSEC involves a range of abuses, including but not limited to: the prostitution of children, child pornography, stripping, erotic massage, phone sex lines, internet-based exploitation, and early forced marriage.

Sex trafficking Trade of sexual slaves

Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, including sexual slavery, which is considered a form of modern slavery. A victim is forced, in one of a variety of ways, into a situation of dependency on their trafficker(s) and then used by the trafficker(s) to perform sexual services to customers. Sex trafficking crimes can involve acquisition, transportation and exploitation; this includes child sex tourism (CST), domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) or other kinds of commercial sexual exploitation of children, and prostitution.

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), formerly organized as Morality in Media (MIM) before changing its structure, is an American non-profit known for its anti-pornography stance and anti-sex trafficking advocacy based on abolitionist principles. When it was MIM, versions of the group once campaigned against obscenity, sex shops and sex toys, decriminalization of sex work, comprehensive sex education, and various works of literature or visual arts the organization has deemed obscene, profane or indecent. The group was started as a part of the religious right and primarily Catholic. Transformed into the National Center on Sexual Exploitation in 2015, the group's current president is Patrick A. Trueman and the organization describes its goal as "exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation".

Prajwala

Prajwala is a non-governmental organisation based in Hyderabad, India, devoted exclusively to eradicating forced prostitution and sex trafficking. Founded in 1996 by Ms. Sunitha Krishnan and Brother Jose Vetticatil, the organisation actively works in the areas of prevention, rescue, rehabilitation, reintegration and advocacy to combat trafficking in every dimension and restore dignity to victims of commercial sexual exploitation.

Rachel Elizabeth Lloyd is a British anti trafficking advocate, author and the founder of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services. She is known for her work on the issue of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking and has been a leader in helping shift the perception of trafficked girls from criminals to victims and now to survivors and leaders. She immigrated to the US in 1997 and began working to end domestic sex trafficking, primarily focusing on addressing the commercial sexual exploitation of children and young women. In 1998, she established the Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, which is based in Harlem, New York.

Human trafficking in Canada is prohibited by law, and is considered a criminal offence whether it occurs entirely within Canada or involves the "transporting of persons across Canadian borders. Public Safety Canada (PSC) defines human trafficking as "the recruitment, transportation, harbouring and/or exercising control, direction or influence over the movements of a person in order to exploit that person, typically through sexual exploitation or forced labour. It is often described as a modern form of slavery."

Human trafficking in the United States Trade of people in the US

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Shared Hope International (SHI) is a nonprofit, non-governmental, Christian organization that exists to prevent sex trafficking and restore and bring justice to women and children who have been victimized through sex trafficking. SHI is part of a worldwide effort to prevent and eradicate sex trafficking and slavery. The organization operates programs in the United States, India, Nepal and Jamaica. Shared Hope leads awareness and training, prevention strategies, restorative care, research, and policy initiatives to mobilize a national network of protection for victims.

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"the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power, or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs."

Prerana

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Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015

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Sex trafficking in the United States Overview of sex trafficking in the United States

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Shandra Woworuntu was a member of the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking and a survivor of human trafficking and domestic violence.

The Dreamcatcher Foundation is a Chicago-based non-profit organization that helps women who want to stop working in the sex industry, especially female prostitutes. They offer services to help the women reintegrate into society. The non-profit organization is working towards creating a facility of their own where the women will be able to stay while getting help. They have saved 87 women since their foundation.

References

  1. ↑ "About Us". My Life My Choice. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Suzanne Piening, Theodore Cross (May 2012). "From "The Life" to My Life: Sexually Exploited Children Reclaiming Their Futures – Suffolk County Massachusetts' Response to Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC)" (PDF).
  3. ↑ "What We Do". My Life My Choice. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  4. 1 2 "Mission". My Life My Choice. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  5. 1 2 3 Becker, Deborah; Dooling, Shannon (2014-01-24). "Sex Trafficking Survivor Works To Protect Girls Before Super Bowl". wbur. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Prevention Education". My Life My Choice. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Survivor Mentorship". My Life My Choice. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  8. 1 2 "Blake Lively: What I Learned from Meeting Sex Trafficking Victims". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Film – A Path Appears". A Path Appears. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  10. ↑ "Back as AG, Coakley rebuilt her name, for both spirited advocacy and caution – The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  11. 1 2 "Congressman Kennedy Meets Young Leaders of My Life My Choice". My Life My Choice. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "History". My Life My Choice. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  13. 1 2 "Death and the Maidens | Boston Magazine". Boston Magazine. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Child Recovery and Reintegration Network : Survivor Mentoring Intervention". www.childrecovery.info. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  15. ↑ "Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children". www.ojjdp.gov. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  16. ↑ "My Life My Choice | CharityWarriors Challenge". charitywarriorschallenge.com. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  17. 1 2 "Off the Track: Where to Call Home for CSEC". The Chronicle of Social Change. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  18. ↑ "Mission | Justice Resource Institute". www.jri.org. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  19. ↑ "Justice Resource Institute". www.jri.org. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  20. ↑ "2010 Social Innovators". www.rootcause.org. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  21. ↑ "Office of Justice Programs". ojp.gov. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  22. 1 2 "Confronting Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Minors in the United States – Institute of Medicine". www.iom.edu. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  23. 1 2 3 "Professional Training". My Life My Choice. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 "Advocacy and Leadership". My Life My Choice. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  25. ↑ "Back as AG, Coakley rebuilt her name, for both spirited advocacy and caution – The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  26. ↑ "Board". My Life My Choice. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  27. ↑ "A Path Appears". My Life My Choice. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  28. ↑ "Blake Lively Meets With Survivors of Sex Trafficking: "Not Everybody Is Free"". usmagazine.com. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
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