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proverbialwisdom

(4,959 posts)
2. Backstory: Child Rescue Emergency Campaign 'Not One More Child'
Wed Nov 28, 2012, 05:22 PM
Nov 2012

Also relevant to locked thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014319676

http://protect.org/tools/articles/8-articles/1575-emergency-talking-points

Talking Points and Frequently Asked Questions for Organizers and Public Speakers

Child Rescue Emergency Campaign
“Not One More Child”

November 2011


What’s Happening Now

• A national coalition of groups, the Not One More Child Coalition ( http://www.notonemorechild.org/ ), has launched a national campaign for child rescue, kicked off by the release of a new public service ad.


http://vimeo.com/31974447


• The ad features child abduction survivors Elizabeth Smart and Alicia Kozakiewicz [pronounced: Ko-zuh-kev-itch] and was produced by a team led by Len Fink, creator of the Coca Cola polar bears.

• Alicia, Elizabeth and the Coalition are calling upon President Obama and all 50 Governors to declare a state of emergency (or disaster) to rescue children from of hundreds of thousands of child pornography traffickers known to law enforcement.


Background: The Crisis

• Law enforcement has identified hundreds of thousands of suspects in the U.S., trafficking in video and images of young children being raped, tortured and sexually abused. These images are often called “child pornography,” but they are actually crime scene photos and child rape videos.

• The U.S. Department of Justice testified before Congress that there are “hundreds of thousands” of criminals in the U.S. engaged in child pornography crimes. The FBI testified these individuals have “hundreds of thousands” of child victims (not all victims are victims of child pornography; many are sexual assault victims of individuals who happen to also have child abuse images). Video of testimony:


http://vimeo.com/31828582


• These suspects have not only been identified and logged in government databases, their locations have even been plotted on satellite maps. These maps are the subject of the Not One More Child ad campaign.

• Very conservative estimates indicate at least 1 in 3 of these known suspects is a hands-on offender, sexually assaulting children in his community. (Compare UNH Study: http://www.nsvrc.org/publications/reports/child-pornography-possessors-arrested-internet-related-crimes-findings-national , Butner Study: http://protect.org/resources/1482-the-butner-study-redux-a-report-of-the-incidence-of-hands-on-child-victimization-by-child-pornography-offenders )

• By analyzing their ocean of leads, law enforcement can zero in on those suspects who are most likely to have local victims, with a high degree of accuracy. That means for the first time in history, we have the means to detect, locate and stop child predators on a massive scale… and find and help their victims.


Our Government’s Refusal to Provide First Responders

• Yet, while authorities now know where these child predators are—and in many cases have evidence leading to the doorstep of their victims—less than 2% are even being investigated, due to lack of resources.

• As a direct result of this failure to protect, thousands of children are being raped, tortured and sexually abused every night in entirely predictable and preventable attacks.

• Important Note: Who are these children? Some, like Alicia, are victims of child pornographers or abductors. Most are victims of abuse in their own families and by trusted adults. The important thing is that they can be found if their abusers uploaded, downloaded or shared child abuse images on the Internet.

• Even those suspects who are not “contact offenders” are committing terrible human rights crimes against children, turning them into sexual commodities and creating a crushing market demand for more children to be raped and abused to supply their child pornography “product.”


Why Declare a State of Emergency?

• Because it IS an emergency, and action cannot wait. Thousands of children are being raped, tortured and sexually exploited right now, and law enforcement knows where they are but is not rescuing them. They need search and rescue underway, immediately!

• Because Congress has refused to act. And members of Congress have proven they WILL not act, even when presented with maps showing child rape victims in their own districts. The same can be said of state legislatures. Executive branch action is needed.

• Because “emergency powers” are absolutely required to cope with the scale of this emergency. When the President or a Governor declare an emergency, two things happen. First, they can waive regulations and red tape that prevent swift action. Second, they can use all of the financial resources of government.

• Without an emergency declaration, no single agency of government has the resources to cope with the emergency. There is not time to hire and train large numbers of new cops for ICAC task forces, for example, nor will that happen. An emergency gives the President or Governor the authority to pull police in from many agencies and mount a coordinated response.

• Because every day we fail to act, more children will be assaulted.


But isn’t calling for a state of emergency a little extreme or naive?

• Absolutely not. What is naive is believing that Congress or state legislatures will fund law enforcement properly and in time to secure the rescue of hundreds of thousands of children who are being tortured and abused right now.

• Governors have declared states of emergency to respond to gray wolves, bad fishing seasons, price gouging at the gas pumps and crime along the Mexico border. Presidents have invoked emergency powers on behalf of the human rights of people in Serbia, the Congo and Syria. (see White Paper)

• In California, nine counties have called upon the Governor to declare a state of emergency over quaggas, an invasive species of mussel.

• Many government and political insiders will scoff at the idea of a state of emergency, implying it is naive and totally impractical. Remember that the vast majority of these people will have little or no experience with the issue at all. They really just don’t know what they’re talking about. The handful of government employees who have dealt with emergency declarations will know full well they are routinely declared for far less important crises.

• Some critics will say that—while terrible—child exploitation is not a true emergency, like a hurricane that strikes with little notice. But in 2005, the Governors of Arizona and New Mexico declared states of emergency to deal with long-simmering crime problems along the Mexico border.


Other Talking Points:

• This is a fiscally conservative argument. This campaign is not asking for increased funds (although funds absolutely should be). We are asking for states and the federal government to use EXISTING resources.

• Some people might have difficulty believing there are really “hundreds of thousands” of criminals at large who are trafficking in child abuse images. Here’s a frame of reference that might help: There are over 700,000 “registered sex offenders” in the U.S., and the majority had child victims. These sex offenders who are “tagged and released” are clearly just the tip of the iceberg. So “hundreds of thousands” of criminals trafficking in child rape video should not surprise anyone. The U.S. Justice Department has confirmed this (see link above).

• Some people might have difficulty believing there are really “hundreds of thousands” of child victims. Here’s a frame of reference for that: If there are 300,000 individuals producing, distributing or possessing child abuse images (a very conservative estimate), and 1 in 3 is a hands-on offender (a very conservative estimate), then these individuals would have 100,000 victims if they only had an average of 1 victim each. All research indicates these predators have many more victims than that.

• Remember, you don’t have to be an expert on any of this. Just a citizen who demands immediate action to rescue children in peril.






2011 Crimes Against Children Conference Keynote Elizabeth Smart

http://vimeo.com/28367371
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