HerlandVoice-2015-11-v33-no04_ocr.pdf
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- HerlandVoice-2015-11-v33-no04_ocr.pdf
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WHAT’S INSIDE
Holiday Greetings 2
What’s Happening 3
Health Initiative 4
Paper Training 4
Yes All Daughters 4
Gimme Shelter 5
Call for Poetry 5
VOICE
herland
VOLUME 33 No 4 WINTER 2015
Human Trafficking in Oklahoma: Who, How, And Why?
In 2010, Oklahoma City was listed as the
number one city for child sex trafficking yet
most Oklahomans would be shocked to
hear that. The murder of 19-year-old Carina Saunders in Bethany in 2011 was the first
time many people became aware that Oklahoma City was sitting right in the middle
of the human trafficking epidemic. But in
fact, a 2003 Department of Justice report
ranked Oklahoma fourth in the nation for
the number of trafficking survivors.
Saunder’s body was found two weeks after
she was reported missing. She had been
tortured and murdered to frighten other
women into cooperating with a human
trafficking ring. Saunders grew up in Mustang and police do not believe Saunders
was involved in illegal activities, but was
simply a random target because she was
loosely associated with people who were
involved in the trafficking.
So why Oklahoma City? The answer is in
part due to geography and transportation.
into trafficking. In the United States, nearly
100,000 people each year are forced or
coerced into becoming slaves. Most of
them are girls who are forced into the sex
slave trade. Other types of trafficking include child pornography, do“With the young girls, if you mestic servitude, organ traffickBut also, Oklahoma ranks
promise them heaven,
ing, child brides, and traveling
near the top in many high- they’ll follow you to hell,” sales crews.
risk categories for human
a convicted child
trafficking including perSome of the factors contributing
sex trafficker.
centage of women incarto the rise in human trafficking
cerated, domestic abuse,
and the sex trade include societeen pregnancy, children in poverty, lower ty’s lack of awareness of the issue, sexualieducation, and youth homelessness. Okzation of children, peer pressure, social
lahoma City ranks in the top 10 cities for
norms, drugs, schools with a lack of fundinternet searches for “porn.”
ing and overworked teachers, and family
conflict, disruption, or dysfunction.
The scope of human trafficking
The vulnerabilities of youth in relationship
Worldwide more than 2 million children are to human trafficking
captured into sex slave trade annually and
So who are the vulnerable? Primarily runthe U.S. is the top destination for child sex
aways and throwaways, often as young as
trafficking. Victims can be smuggled into
12. Victims are usually recruited and come
the U.S. willingly and then forced or sold
The city is at the crossroads of three major
interstates in the center of the U.S. And
much of the movement of human slaves
through Oklahoma comes from Texas
which ranks 2nd in the nation for human
trafficking.
Herland Sister Resources 2312 NW 39th St Oklahoma City 73112
405.521.9696 www.herlandsisters.org herland@herlandsisters.org
Regular hours 2nd and 4th Saturdays from 1-5 pm
Trafficking
(cont. from page 1)
from low income families with abusive
and/or drug addicted parents. Many
of the kids have been in and out of
foster care. They are often on the
street or in a shelter and may become
commercially exploited after engaging
in “survival sex” to meet daily needs for
food and shelter. (In addition to runaways, some youth are actually trafficked or pimped by their own family
members.)
Traffickers look for new victims around
malls, 7-Elevens, and the bus station.
Traffickers are experts at spotting a
vulnerable youth with emotional or
physical needs not being met. Traffickers are willing to invest a great deal of
time and effort to break down the natural resistance of the potential victim.
Victims are lured and tricked by gifts, a
place to stay, and promises of a loving
relationship. Only later is the trafficker’s true intent revealed. Traffickers
use psychological manipulation and
threats, violence, or forced drug addiction and victims often feel trapped and
powerless to leave.
Holiday Greetings
As the year comes to an end, Herland
would like to take a few minutes to thank
you for your participation and support.
After more than 30 years, Herland continues to offer women resources to
strengthen, enrich and support them,
and to promote a world free of prejudice, oppression, and exploitation.
Let’s just take a glance back at some of
the Herland events and happenings of
the past year:
Identifying human trafficking victims
Some signs to watch for:
A history of sexual abuse and/or
running away
Signs of physical abuse
Multiple STDs
Unstable home life
Substance abuse by the youth or
family members
Involved in child welfare or foster
care system
Unexplained gifts that don’t fit the
youth’s situation
Presence of an older boyfriend
Lack of interest in previous activities
Gang involvement, especially
among girls
Travel to other states or staying in
hotels during a runaway incident
participating in the Pride Parade.
Supporting the community by participating in the MLK Parade, Jazzy
Fest, Pride Parade, Peace Festival,
YES All Daughters protest in Norman, the SISU Youth Shelter fundraiser, Freedom OK Marriage Equali-
ty Day celebration, and collecting
donations to support the YWCA
Women’s Shelter, and many other
events.
Fall and Spring Retreats - providing a
getaway weekend for 40 to 60 parUpcoming Herland events include our
ticipants with great food, music,
annual White Elephant/Dirty Santa Party
workshops and a general good time. and Potluck Dinner on December 12th at
6:00 pm and the annual New Year’s Day
Open House.
Monthly Supper Clubs - where as
many as 30 women gather to enjoy
conversation, community, and some Your participation is the reason Herland
has remained strong through the years.
of the best food OKC has to offer.
As you know, Herland is a volunteer organization and we have never had any
The Health Initiative - a group that
paid staff. We rely on your generous
gather once or twice a month to
support and use it wisely. During this
discuss nutrition and exercise with
topics such as healthy snacks, weight Holiday Season of giving, we ask that you
continue your commitment to Herland
loss, vegan vs non-vegan, and preby making a financial donation.
venting Alzheimer’s.
Lending Library and Internet Cafe open two Saturdays per month and
providing classic feminist, LGBT, and
other relevant literature and reading
materials.
Pride Weekend - celebrating with
the community by hosting a Pride
Picnic where all are welcome and
To donate online please go to
www.herlandsisters.org and click donate
or you can mail your donation to Herland Sister Resources, 2312 W I44 Svc Rd,
Oklahoma City, OK, 73112.
Thank you for keeping Herland in your
heart. We wish you a full and happy Holiday Season!
The Herland Voice is a publication of Herland Sister Resources, 2312 NW 39th, OKC,
OK 73112. Our center is open the second and fourth Saturdays from 1-5 pm. Call
us at (405) 521-9696 or email us at herland@herlandsisters.org. Visit us on the web
at www.herlandsisters.org or on Facebook at Herland Sister Resources.
What’s Happening
MEMBERSHIP MEETING
4:30 pm, Saturday, Dec 12
Herland
HEALTH INITIATIVE
4 pm, Saturday, Feb 13, Herland
Topic: Whole30 Program
POTLUCK AND
HOLIDAY PARTY
6 pm, Saturday, Dec 12 at Herland
SUPPER CLUB
5:30 pm, Saturday, Feb 13
Golden Palace Chinese Buffet
1500 S Meridian
NEW YEARS DAY
OPEN HOUSE
1 pm, Friday, Jan 1 at Herland
HEALTH INITIATIVE
4 pm, Saturday, Mar 12, Herland
HEALTH INITIATIVE
4 pm, Saturday, Jan 9 at Herland
Topic: Eating Disorders
SUPPER CLUB
5:30 pm, Saturday, March 12
Mama Roja Mexican Kitchen
9219 Lake Hefner Parkway
SUPPER CLUB
5:30 pm, Saturday, Jan 9
Ingrid’s, 3701 N Youngs
NEW YEARS DAY
Potluck &
Open House
SAVE THE DATE—
DECEMBER 4TH
SISU Youth invites you to their
charity gala, When the Lights
Go Down In the City.
For more details, please see
page 5.
Friday
January 1
1 - 4 pm
Herland
2312 NW 39th Street
Start your New Year with Herland
and it’s bound to be a great one!
Bring your favorite dish to share,
and we’ll provide the black-eyed
peas, ham and beans, cabbage,
cornbread, apple cider and eggnog.
This is the perfect opportunity to
catch up with old friends and
make some new ones!
December Potluck & White Elephant Party
This is our December Supper Club
and we hope you’ll join us on Saturday, December 12th at 6:00 pm
for this really fun event! Bring a
dish to share for the potluck, and
a wrapped gift (up to $20 or regift) if you’d like to participate in
the White Elephant / Dirty Santa
gift exchange.
In the spirit of the season, we will
also be collecting new toys for the
kiddos at the YWCA Women’s
Shelter and the Open Arms Food
Pantry.
Herland Health Initiative
Eating Disorders
There are many misconceptions in our
society about what causes eating disorders. Eating disorders are rarely about
food or wanting to be thin. Instead,
sufferers use food and unhealthy be-
haviors like dieting, starving, bingeing
and purging to cope with unpleasant
and overwhelming emotions and
stressful situations. At least in the short
term, these behaviors relieve anxiety
and stress. Long term, however, they
actually increase anxiety and stress and
create other serious
complications. Please
join us on Saturday
January 9th at 4 p.m.
to see how this may
help inform and enlighten you about the
effects of eating disorders on your body and
your mind.
It’s All About Our Planet
Saving paper saves money and since Her- Voice to those that specifically request it.
land is a nonprofit organization, every
All others will be switched to the e-mail
little bit helps. But really, it’s about our
version.
planet. Cutting down trees to print a paper newsletter just doesn’t make sense
If you do not have access to the internet
when most people access the internet or
or email, just drop us a line at Herland,
e-mail every day of
2312 NW 39th St, OKC,
their lives.
Over 40% of wood pulp goes toward the pro- OK 73112 or call us at
(405) 550-2312 to let us
duction of paper.
Herland is striving to
know and we will continbe part of the soluThe United States alone, which has less than ue to mail a paper copy
tion and would like
5% of the world's population, consumes 30% to you.
your cooperation in
of the world's paper.
going green. Over
If we already have your
300 of our subscribPrinting and writing paper equals about 1/2 email address, you don’t
ers have already
need to do a thing. If
of U.S. paper production.
gone electronic and
you think we don’t have
we thank you!
The average office worker uses 10,000 sheets your email address and
you would like to continof copy paper each year.
Starting in 2016, we
ue receiving The Voice,
would like to e-mail the Voice to every
please send your email address to:
person still on our paper copy mailing list
herland@herlandsisters.org.
(about 200 addresses) who has internet or
e-mail access. This edition of The Voice
Thank you for helping us help our planet!
will be the last that we mail out to the 200
Sincerely,
addresses on our paper copy mailing list.
Your Planet-Loving Friends!
We will only mail a paper copy of The
Whole30 Program
The Whole30 program is a month long
clean-eating program that promises a
bevy of health and emotional benefits.
Developed by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig, a team with backgrounds in sports
nutrition, anatomy, and physical therapy, the program aims to reset your
metabolism and reshape your relationship with food.
The Whole30 program could be a
good option for individuals looking to
give themselves a healthy reset or discover what food sensitivities they might
have. Please join us on Saturday February 13th at 4 p.m. for discussion.
Yes All Daughters
Yes All Daughters is thrilled to announce that we're collaborating on
a national campaign to empower
young people to stand up against
sexual violence! The program is set
to launch next month and we're
looking for pilot locations nationwide. If you'd like to join us, please
private message us on Facebook
and we'll share details.
Sheltering Our Homeless Youth
According to the Oklahoma State Department of Education, youth homelessness
has reached near epidemic proportions. In the Oklahoma City metro alone,
over 9,000 students qualified as homeless.
Resources offered to these young people
can be quite limited, and for those in the
Oklahoma City metro area, the options
can be almost non-existent. The most urgent need at this time for metro youth is
emergency shelter. Youth under the age
of 18 who are not accompanied by a parent or who are not in the care of OKDHS
currently have no shelter options, and the
only shelter options available for youth
over age 18 are the adult homeless shelters, which can feel extremely frightening
to a young person first experiencing
homelessness.
We are relieved and elated to be able to
report to you that through the tireless
Since June 5, 2014, Sisu Youth has been
dedication of the Sisu Volunteer Team and
operating a volunteer based day center to
the overwhelming support
help connect
of the OKC community (our
youth (ages 15 to
Sisu Family) we have found
24) to basic need
Nearly 44,000 Oklahoma students
and begun the move into
support (food,
qualified as homeless during the 2013clothing, person2014 school year, putting Oklahoma 5th our 16-bed overnight shelter
space.
al care items)
in the nation for child homelessness.
and case managJoin us on Friday, December
ers in health
4th, at Plenty Mercantile,
care, housing,
employment, and education. The work has 807 N Broadway, for an evening of celebration as we mark this milestone in the
been fantastically successful. However, we
life of our city. Tickets to our charity gala,
have found in this year, that THE most
When The Lights Go Down In The City, are
important resource that we could possibly
available at sisuyouth.org or by calling
offer these kids is a safe place to sleep at
night.
(405) 459-SISU. Help us help them.
Poetry Submissions for Voice
We want your words/poems/stories for our February edition of the Herland Voice! Any style,
including contemporary or experimental are welcome. Please send submissions and any
questions to: herland@herlandsisters.org.
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Oklahoma City, OK
Permit No. 861
HERLAND
2312 NW 39th St Oklahoma City, OK 73112
Return Service Requested
Sandy Ingraham, J.D., M.S.W.
Attorney-at-Law
Ingraham & Associates, PLLC
Estate Planning, Wills, Trusts, Probate, Adoption, Contracts
333629 E Kickapoo Valley Rd
McLoud, OK 74851
Ofc (405) 964-2072
SandyJoIngraham@gmail.com
Part of Herland Voice : v.33: no.4(2015)