Proposal to Fight Sex Trafficking in North Texas

Team 2: Birds In Flight Eugene Cassel Barbara Jordan Paul Turney Jonathan Taylor Jau-Hung Liou Nathan Paul

Even the Darkest Nights come to an End

INTRODUCTION Battered. Bruised. Broken. Three heart-wrenching words to describe the aftermath of many young men and women that have experienced the heartbreak and the atrocities associated with sex trafficking. Brittany, a young woman looking for a job at a restaurant, was lured into a dangerous situation under the assumption that she was to be offered a job at a restaurant. Forced to consume large amounts of alcohol and drugs at gunpoint, Brittany fell into a drunken and disoriented state. She was then locked in a hotel room without access to a phone. For the next three days, Brittany was beaten, drugged, and forced to have sex with over 60 men. She finally managed to escape and find help (Polarisproject.org, 2013). However, the emotional, physical, and psychological toll that she suffered, is more than any human being should have to experience. Brittany faced the horrific realities of sexual slavery for three days. The appalling reality is, thousands of young men and women suffer these atrocious experiences for much longer, some for months and some even for years. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, human trafficking has become the second fastest growing criminal industry just behind drug trafficking with children accounting for roughly half of all victims (Baldas, 2012). This should be a startling wake up call to the citizens of the United States of America. How could we possibly claim to be the home of the free and yet remain blissfully ignorant to the horrific violations of the Constitution by those who are involved in commercial sex trafficking? According to the Fort Worth Police Department and the North Texas Trafficking Task Force, the number of young girls being victimized in the North Texas area is on the rise (Solis, 2012). How is it that we remain silent while, young boys and girls that are desperate for food, shelter, jobs, and opportunity, are forced into sexual slavery by those who would dare to degrade human life by classifying it as property? How can we sit idle and go about our business, as young men and women all over the United States are sold everyday into sexual slavery? It is our duty as American citizens to expose commercial sex trafficking as the disgusting cancer-like disease that it is. We must take a stand to ensure that the freedom of our young men and women is not imperiled by the likes of those who would exploit helpless young men and women for profit. Mosaic Family Service is a premier example of a group of people that are committed to battling the rise of commercial sex trafficking in North Texas. Mosaic Family Service is committed to rescuing and restoring lives broken and marred by the monstrosities of commercial sex trafficking. It is for this reason that the Mary Kay foundation has decided to sponsor a Fun Run event subsequently followed by a volunteer day at Mosaic Family Service. All proceeds raised at the Fun Run event will be donated to the Mosaic Family Service. It is vital that we put an end to this abysmal disease. We must put an end to commercial sex trafficking. We, as a city, must be a leader in the fight against this horrific violation of human rights, and we must begin the fight in North Texas. BACKGROUND, PROBLEM, AND PURPOSE By U.S. Federal law, human trafficking is defined as an illegal criminal business responsible for enslaving people and making them perform acts of prostitution as well as forced labor. Unfortunately, commercial sex seems to be a very big issue pertaining to human trafficking. Often times children anywhere from ages 12-14 are usually victim to this heinous crime (CaseAct, 2012). Many ask how exactly people are being forced into slavery. People are forced into slavery either through force, debt bondage, fraud, or coercion. Because of the generation we live

in, people are unaware that modern slavery could very well be going on right in front of their very own eyes. Human trafficking is not only rampant in the U.S., but all around the world. Victims are either beaten to death, contract life-threatening diseases (HIV, AIDS, mengitis, etc.), or overdose on drugs they are forced to take (CaseAct, 2012) Based from International Crisis Aid, the Department of Justice recorded that there has been an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 victims of sex trafficking since 2001 and about 1.2 million children are being trafficked yearly from over 127 different countries. That means that every 2 minutes a child is being forced into slavery or hard labor. If you were to calculate the total market value of illicit human trafficking you would be astounded at the numbers; estimating at an excess of $32 billion dollars (International Crisis Aid, 2010). Based from the data gathered by the World Resources Sim Center, we are able to observe the different categories of human slavery.

(wrsc.org, 2012) The problem with human trafficking according to Bill Bernstein (Deputy Director) is, People dont call out for help and self-identify as someone who is being trafficked and thats really the main obstacle for these cases being uncovered. This being said, it is very hard for police officials and agents to stop human traffickers due to that fact that most victims are too embarrassed or afraid to ask someone for help. This makes resolving the problem even more difficult. (Solis, 2012) Even more shocking is where human trafficking occurs in the U.S. The 2011 Super Bowl in Dallas is a primary example. According to Forbes magazine, 133 underage teens were arrested for prostitution. Statistical data and reports show that human trafficking is becoming more prevalent; especially in the U.S. The number of victims is increasing exponentially by the minute and it is important we act on this matter soon. Although, human trafficking/slavery occurs all around the world we can help out by working with people within our own community or city. There are already several Dallas based organizations that focus on sex trafficking. One of the largest is the Mosaic Family Services. This organization has served over 250 victims of human trafficking in Texas. They provide shelter, counseling, and legal assistance as well as offer volunteer opportunities (ESL, Life skills, Computer skills, etc.) for anyone interested (Mosaic, 2003). Mosaic has helped with many different past events such as the 2012 Champion of Human Rights Luncheon, Stop the Traffics 5k, and many more (Mosaic, 2003). Because many people are unaware that modern day slavery even exists, we feel the best approach to aid this

cause is by first increasing as much awareness as possible. If we are able to give people insight and knowledge about the issue than we believe other people will be more motivated in helping to further this cause. We feel the company we are with Mary Kay Foundation, is the best candidate in planning and coordinating a charitable event to bring about awareness. In 1996, Mary Kay Ash started The Mary Kay Foundation. What makes this organization unique, in comparison to other companies, is our strong belief in the golden rule. Mary Kay has granted $25 million dollars to different organization fighting against cancer and violence against women. Mary Kay has received numerous honors and awards such as the Horatio Alger Award (largest provider of scholarships in the U.S.) and Junior Achievement awards. The Junior Achievement Organization works with local organizations to help with financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and workreadiness). Also, the Mary Kay Foundation has helped medical scientists who are currently trying to find a cure for different diseases. They have also provided grants towards different community outreach programs. Our company has worked with numerous organizations and charity events in the past; so, we have plenty of knowledge in coordinating and planning events. Fortune magazine has also recognized us as one of the top 100 best companies to work for in America, which makes us a very respectable and well-known company. Our top priority is to first increase peoples awareness and we feel we can accomplish this by utilizing the media as our vehicle. We have seen other similar organizations successfully use this method. The Children at Risk organization partnered with Houston Restore Coalition to launch a broad media campaign to build public awareness and has resulted in much of their success. If every 2 minutes a child is being forced into slavery then why arent more people getting involved in the movement? We often see movements pertaining to breast cancer awareness, or banners that try to stop world hunger. Nobody really sees modern day slavery going on, but it does indeed exist, and it has become even more widespread than ever. We must work together and help this cause and help seek justice for those who have been wronged and are victims of this dreadful crime. To assist you with your evaluation of the project, the following SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis is presented below. While we identified some threats and weaknesses, we believe these are very small and would not endanger the success of the project. Strengths: We represent a Fortune 500 company. Limited awareness of child trafficking exists in the Dallas area. We utilized many volunteers to reduce operation cost. Our sponsored events will raise enough revenue to have a positive return on the investment. We have a targeted marketing base, as we will offer raffle tickets to all Mary Kay customers.

Weaknesses: The subject of child trafficking may be offensive/sensitive to some customers. Our customer base is mostly female.

We are only sponsoring two public events, which may limit our influence on the entire Dallas population.

Opportunities: Our primary opportunity is to educate the Dallas community on the sex trafficking problem in Dallas. This project will continue to show how Mary Kay Cosmetics is a leader in the community by protecting all children.

Threats: Our primary threat is the subject of child trafficking could hurt the Mary Kay image. The Fun Runs we are sponsoring could produce injuries to some participants.

PROPOSAL, PLAN, AND SCHEDULE In order to raise awareness of sex trafficking in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Mary Kay will be teaming up with the Mosaic Family Service to increase awareness. We will be hosting a Fun Run and a subsequent volunteer day at the Mosaic Family Service facilities. Additionally, there will be an ad campaign to raise awareness. The Fun Run will be held on May 11, at White Rock Lake. There will be three different races: a 10K and a 5K for serious runners, and a 2 mile walk for more casual runners or families with young kids. In order to attract a greater variety of people, there will be fun activities for children, such as a bounce house, tables for other organizations that fight sex trafficking, such as Children at Risk, and Alert Ministries. Companies will also be welcome to attend to promote their products. Additionally, at the Mosaic Family Service tent and the pre-registration tables, there will be a sign-up sheet for the volunteer day. In order to participate in the race, participants fill out and submit a form online. This form will be available on both the Mosaic Family Service and Mary Kay websites. The form will have contain the following information: which run the participant would like to run in, their age, sex, and t-shirt size, as well as their name, phone number, email address, and street address. Online registration will be closed at 9:00 p.m. CDT on the Tuesday before the Fun Run. If they prefer not to register online, the online registration form can be filled out and mailed to Mosaic Family Services (postmark by the Monday before the Fun Run.) Participants will also be able to register on race day, but there will be limited slots, so this will not be advised. Starting from the Thursday before the race, registered participants will be able to pick up their race number at the Mosaic house. There will also be tables at the race for participants to pick up their numbers before the race. When the participants pick up their numbers, they will also be provided with a goodies bag, which contains a t-shirt, a wristband, and some Mary-Kay product samples. Check-ins will begin at 7:00 a.m. CDT, and the first race, the 10K, will begin at 8:00 a.m. CDT. The races will go through the morning and early afternoon. Event workers for the Fun Run will consist of volunteers from local colleges, and universities. For all races there will be water stations at various points along the course. There will also be a raffle that will be held in conjunction with the run. The prize will be a Lexus ES 300h. Each raffle ticket will cost $100. Every person who buys a ticket will be presented with a complimentary certificate for a free Mary Kay product. Participants can buy tickets at the time of registration or on race day. Additionally, Mary Kay representatives will

visit the surrounding areas in the metroplex to sell tickets to customers. The drawing for the prize will occur when all the races have been completed. The person with the winning ticket must be present at the drawing. If the person, whose name is drawn, is not present, another name will be drawn after 5 minutes. The ad campaign will mainly consist of highway billboard to raise awareness on sex trafficking as well as to promote our Fun Run. To complement billboards, we will have some television and radio commercials to raise awareness and promote the Fun Run. There will also be posters and cardboard cutouts at various Mosaic and Mary Kay locations. Lastly, flyers will be distributed at several college campuses and the Dallas-Fort Worth area as well as other highvolume areas. The Mary Kay Foundation would also like to put on a volunteer day within two weeks of the fun run event. Our goal is to create an opportunity for people to reach out and connect with these children in a positive way, while maintaining a safe and healthy environment. Our plan to execute this is by acquiring volunteers at the fun run, and also through a radio, newspaper, and billboard ad campaign. We believe a volunteer day is instrumental to raising awareness because it associates a face with the cause, and allows people to become involved. The first step is obtaining quality volunteers. There are several quality community service organizations, in the Dallas Fort Worth area, that could be notified. We also plan to have a sign up for volunteers at the fun run to increase our chances of having an efficient amount of people for the volunteer event. Once the volunteers have been gathered; the people who work at Mosaic must preform a background check on the volunteers before granting them access to the facility. This will ensure a healthy environment for the kids and volunteers. Once the volunteers are cleared we will be able to proceed with the actual event. For the volunteer day, we are planning several different workshops or stations where the kids can learn and have an enjoyable time. There are several activities listed on Mosaics actual website that we can use. The website list several educational options including tutoring in subjects such as: Math Science Reading ESL And other subjects (Mosaic 2003).

There are also several fun games that volunteers can play with the children to keep them entertained. Alternatively, there are other activities that volunteers can do to help the well being of the center itself. For example, maintenance around the center, planting, and organizing data, are all opportunities for people to help the shelter. Through these measures, we hope to execute a successful volunteer day to follow up our fun run. Our plan to achieve awareness about our cause and our event is through a carefully planned and well-executed advertising campaign. We plan to use newspaper ads, radio ads, and billboards to reach not only volunteers, but runners as well. STAFFING The Mary Kay Foundation is highly involved in protecting young adults. We have planned three events to add awareness and raise funds to assist trafficked young adults. We will have three fulltime positions that are employed by the Mary Kay Foundation. The remaining staff will

come from volunteers from local universities. The following staffing requirements will be utilized to manage our events. The first position is our event chairperson. The event chairperson will be a part of the full time staff employed by the Mary Kay Foundation. The person in this position will be responsible for the organization and coordination of all the aspects of each event. The event chairperson is the one that will make the event a success. This is the person that will ensure that all participants, sponsors, and vendors are delivering what they promised to deliver. It begins as a desk job making all the contacts for vendors and site selection. Listed below are some of the details that must be attended to: Event site Event dates Transportation Parking Vendors Spacing along the event Staffing Room accommodations for out of town participants Prizes Inclement weather alternatives

The first event is a fun run to be held in downtown Dallas. The second event is the raffle of the Lexus ES 300h at the fun run. Our third event is the volunteer day at Mosaic Family Services. At this event, volunteers will work with young adults who are sheltered at the Mosaic house. The Event Chairperson will begin by working with the team to learn all the statistics on young adult sex trafficking in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. They will decide the event concept and the general date for each event. The second position is the Event Coordinator. This position will assist the chairperson with specialized task elated to each event. This is the position that will contact most of the vendors and determine the logistics for each project. Our next position is the Public Relations Specialist. They will determine the best way to advertise and promote all the events. They will contact the radio and news media to gain access to as much free publicity as possible yet still work within the assigned budget to maximize results. The Mary Kay representatives will sell the raffle tickets to their customer base. The remainder of our staff will come from volunteers as indicated below: Fun Run: Two hundred volunteers will be utilized for the fun run. These volunteers will cover the race water locations and assist runners with any information. They will also work with the vendors to promote their products.

The next event will be an Awareness Day for the Mosaic center. Our objective will be to help prepare all associates to return to society by gaining new skills to enter the work force. The skills training will be as follows.

Skills Training: Financial training on managing money and a budget. Technical skills for the workplace. Working with the social workers to help the victims reentry into society. The awareness day will be held at each of the local universities to seek volunteers to work the fun run and the Mosaic training.

BUDGET There are going to be three races taking place during the event: a 5k, a 10k, and a 2 mile walk. The entry fees are $15, $18, and $20 respectively. It is assumed that there will be 1260 runners for the 5k, 1000 runners for the 10k, and 1000 runners for the 2-mile walk. It is also assumed there will be 200 volunteers for this event. After the event, there is going to be a prize raffle. The prize is a Lexus ES 300h priced at $39,250, but acquired at $33,362.50. Raffle tickets will be sold at $100 a ticket. The people who purchase a ticket will be given a gift bag containing goods that will cost the company $20 per bag. It is assumed that only 1630 people would be willing to buy a raffle ticket. T-shirts will be manufactured at $6.50 and will be given away to volunteers and runners. They will also be sold at a retail price of $15 to anyone else. Wristbands for the occasion will be manufactured at $0.65 and will be given away to volunteers and runners. They will be sold at a retail price of $2. Income 5k Entry fee ($15 per runner) 10K Entry fee ($18 per runner) 2mi Walk Entry fee ($20 per runner) Raffle tickets sold ($100 per ticket) T-shirts ($15 per shirt) Wristbands ($2 per band) Expenses Police/Traffic Food ($6.00 per runner/volunteer) T-Shirts ($6.50 per shirt) Wristbands ($0.65 per band) Medals ($2.00 per runner) Timing ($3.00 per runner) Entertainment Port-a-Johns Promotion Tent rental Misc. Rentals PA systems Insurance $18,900.00 $18,000.00 $20,000.00 $163,000.00 $48,900.00 $6,520.00

$275,320.00

($25,000.00) ($20,760.00) ($42,380.00) ($4,238.00) ($6,520.00) ($9,780.00) ($5,000.00) ($4,890.00) ($7,500.00) ($5,000.00) ($7,500.00) ($2,000.00) ($2,000.00)

Bib numbers ($0.25 per runner) Professional fees Photographer/Videographer First-Aid Raffle Prize Misc. Expenses Total

($815.00) ($10,833.34) ($3,000.00) ($5,000.00) ($33,362.50) ($32,600.00) ($228,178.84) $47,141.16

CONCLUSION From the information given, it is vital to carefully consider what is at stake here. Even as you read this now, thousands of innocent young lives are being trafficked. We, as citizens of a country that calls itself, the land of the free, and the home of the brave, must now ask ourselves, What will we do with the truth? Can we truly in our hearts claim to be a country of freedom, when many of our innocent young men and women are being sold for pleasure on our very own streets? Drastic action is necessary. Whether we wish it or not a fight is upon us, and if we do not raise the alarm and make our citizens aware of the horrid sickness that is festering in our own city, this sickness will only continue to feed on the young and the innocent, until it has grown into an epidemic. People must be made aware of the harsh reality that many young people have to face. Our citizens have a right to know the full extent of the problem and also have an opportunity to provide a solution to this problem. It is our duty as responsible Americans to expose this dreadful problem and bring an end to the suffering endured by young innocent lives that are being sold everyday.

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References Baldas, T. (2012, January 1). Human trafficking a growing crime in the u.s.. Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2012-01-22-us-human-trafficking_N.htm CaseAct. (2012). What is human trafficking?. Retrieved from http://www.caseact.org/learn/humantrafficking/ Human trafficking pie chart. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.wrsc.org/attach_image/humantrafficking-pie-chart International Crisis Aid. (2010). Trafficking statistics. Retrieved from http://www.crisisaid.org/ICAPDF/Trafficking/traffickstats.pdf Mosaic (2003). Retrieved from http://www.mosaicservices.org/ Polaris Project. (2013). Brittany | escort sex trafficking. Retrieved from http://www.polarisproject.org/what-we-do/client-services/survivor-stories/352-brittany-escort-service-sex-trafficking Race Director Resource. (2011). Sample race budget. Retrieved from http://www.racedirectorresource.com/sampleracebudget Solis, S. (2012, September 21). Human trafficking on the rise across north texas. Retrieved from http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2012/09/21/human-trafficking-on-the-rise-across-north-texas/