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Preventing Abuse Conference

"Through this and other conferences untold thousands of children and women can be saved and our communities secured to pursue the blessing of "...life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness..."

Tony Nassif
President,
Cedars Cultural and Educational Foundation

Conference Goals and Focus

"Sexual Trafficking is the movement of women and children, within national or across international borders, for the purposes of prostitution or other forms of commercial sexual exploitation. It includes the recruitment, transportation, harboring, transfer, or sale of women and children for these purposes.

Initiative Against Sexual Trafficking

Human Trafficking of Women and Children

The Preventing Abuse Conference will educate the public and assist in broadening public awareness and build bigger and stronger coalitions between the public and front line organizations, governmental agencies and law enforcement. Working together, these groups have the potential to effectively stop the humiliation, degradation and abuse of women and children trafficked and kidnapped for commercial sexual exploitation.

Child Abduction

This conference will also focus on educating the attendees on ways to help protect children. Steps assisting prevention. What to do if the child is abducted and what steps to take in the restoration process as well as other insightful and helpful points of information.Additionally this information will be helpful for parents, families and neighbors to learn the warning signs of a potential predator.

America Affected, America in Danger

Prior to entering WWII most Americans were isolationist and did not want to get involved because the war didn't affect them. When the war came to Pearl Harbor, their attitude changed.This conference will provide earthshaking and awakening information showing how Americans are affected by trafficking and child abduction. Right here at home and what can be done to protect the victims and deal with the perpetrators.

"...the sex slaves are a high-risk group for HIV infection..."

The Weekly Standard
Donna M Hughes, 2-24-03

Note: Who then are they infecting and who are those people infecting? What are the social, economic, healthcare costs as well as the exponential human suffering?

"...Revenues from pornographic sites go towards financing extremists and terrorist groups..."

Dimitriy Chepugov, Head of Moscow's
Interior Ministry Department

"The threat of trafficking does run through Al Qaeda's tapestry of terror. Since the advent of the war in Afghanistan reports have indicated that the Taliban engaged in open abduction of women and girls..."

Initiative Against Sexual Trafficking
Spring 2002

1. Geographic Focus
   

   The first Preventing Abuse Conference will focus on the local impact on Los Angeles and Southern California in context with national and international scope. Each expected and subsequent conference will do the same with regard to the location of the conference.

2. Impact on America
   

   The conference will endeavor to demonstrate how the problems of abduction and trafficking of women and children have a personal, local, state and national and personal impact.

   Unfortunately, many believe if it isn't affecting them they don't need to be involved. They may change their mind after attending the conference.

   Problems regarding child kidnapping and human trafficking of women and children are relative abstracts to the general public because there doesn't seem to be a relevant connection.

   Most people feel that when a child is kidnapped it's the parent's problem. Most people, while sympathetic, think "it doesn't affect me".

   One focus of the conference is to show the impact and danger of human trafficking of women and children affects more than the direct victim(s).

3. Examples of Areas Affected by Human Trafficking/Abduction of Women and Children.
   
   
   1. Health care costs
   2. Society and social values
   3. Economic costs and impact on
   4. Legal--resource drain, etc.
   5. Social services and more
   6. Victim, and Victim's Family
   
   
4. The Demand:
   

   The root of the problem is the demand. The conference will endeavor to identify the demand for kidnapped and trafficked women and children. How it can be dealt with.

   Areas to be addressed relating to the demand:

   1. Demographics of the customers and the perpetrators
   2. What is the fuel of the kidnap and trafficking problem?
   3. What role does the popular culture have?
   4. How the entertainment industry can assist?
   5. What role does pornography (hard-core and "soft-core") play?
   6. The role terrorism.
   7. The impact of the Internet.
   
   
5. Legislative
   

   The state of legislation (federal, state, local) and its effectiveness in addressing the problems of child abduction and human trafficking and what corrections and/or improvements can be done. The impact grass roots groups and individuals can have legislatively.

6. Law Enforcement
   

   What is effective and how can it be made more effective? What does law enforcement lack and how can it be provided? How the public can help.

7. Child Abduction Prevention:
   
   
   1. What steps can be taken by parents, friends, neighbors, community, city, state, nation, that can help prevent abduction? We want to "connect the dots" between individuals, the public, law enforcement and grass roots organizations on the front lines in the struggle against abduction.
   2. What steps can be taken with children to help protect them from being abducted.
   3. What obstructions are there to prevent and protect from abduction and trafficking. How best to deal with the problem.
   4. How can the public help prevent and protect against abduction.
   5. What are the warning signs of possible predator and what to do about them?
   
   
8. Rescue and Recovery
   
   
   1. Abducted children
   1. What steps to take if child is abducted?/li>
   2. What steps to take upon recovery?/li>
   3. How rescued victims can be restored/li>
   4. Each organization and/or speaker will present different perspectives.
   
   
   2. Trafficked Women and Children
   1. Reasons why trafficked women and children don't try to escape and what can be done./li>
   2. Each organization represented at the conference will present various perspectives toward rescue and recovery of kidnapped/trafficked women and children.
   
   
9. The Reality of the Problem: The Responsibility to Act.
   
   

   "Three of the worst crimes committed against a child are rape, molestation and...inaction."
   

   National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

   OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Prosecutors announced state and federal charges against 19 people for alleged child prostitution and sex trafficking of children...As many as 13 underage girls, and several women over 18, were involved, he said.
   

   Associated Press Writer May 11, 2004

   "Silence is 'action'. Therefore, silence in the presence of evil makes one complicit with the evil perpetrated."
   

   Tony Nassif
   President of the Cedars Cultural and
   Educational Foundation.

Special Guest Speakers