Activism

The Case Against SB357—Black, Vulnerable and Trafficked—Why Us?

Motivated to protect trans, Black and Hispanic people from persecution by police, State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) sponsored the Safer Streets for All Act. Passed by the Senate Public Safety Committee on June 1, 2021, and the Assembly on Sept. 10, 2021, SB357 repeals provisions of California law that criminalize loitering for the intent to engage in sex work. But the impact of the bill goes far astray from the author’s intent.

Published

3 months ago

March 9, 2023

Oakland Post

“The Caged Mind Does Not Move Forward.” Photo courtesy of Sable Horton.

Part 1

By Tanya Dennis and Vanessa Russell

Motivated to protect trans, Black and Hispanic people from persecution by police, State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) sponsored the Safer Streets for All Act.

Passed by the Senate Public Safety Committee on June 1, 2021, and the Assembly on Sept. 10, 2021, SB357 repeals provisions of California law that criminalize loitering for the intent to engage in sex work.

But the impact of the bill goes far astray from the author’s intent.

The uptick in trafficking and prostitution started even before the law was formally adopted in January, and SB357 ties the hands of police to do anything but observe or do a sting.

After the bill passed in the Legislature, “The Track”—where most prostitution occurs in Oakland—along International Boulevard near 15^th Avenue turned into a “drive-thru” akin to a fast-food eatery as the ‘Johns’ lined up to make their choice.

SB 357 is seriously harming the neighborhood on 15th Avenue. Girls are not allowed to take restroom breaks and are defecating in the alley and standing naked in the streets directing traffic on The Track.

This writer has seen a photograph of a little girl having a birthday party in her front yard while a transaction was going on across the street.

To take the pressure off 15th Avenue and give residents some peace, a public official at a recent town hall has even said that the city was considering accommodating the Johns by doing cut-aways on International Boulevard so they can turn around and get back in line.

Wiener says SB357 was the first legislation initiated by the DecrimSexWork CA Coalition, but this first step toward legalizing prostitution turns a blind eye to human trafficking, opponents say.

Before the law passed police were able to recover seven minors who had been forced into prostitution but none have been rescued since.

The Post will present an eight-part series to provide an inside view of why SB357 has left minors, and victims of human trafficking vulnerable. Forty percent of those who are trafficked in the U.S. are Black women and girls. Why is this happening and why is Oakland ground zero for a growing supply of Black bodies to purchase?

How It Began

Black people’s vulnerability to trafficking, violence and abuse in the United States began with slavery in the 1600s. During the slave era, Black people were forced not only to work but engage in sexual servitude to their owners. Black women and men were forced to make themselves sexually available to the slave owner, enduring many levels of violence or oppression to survive. Black mates and fathers learned they could not protect themselves or others.

Slavery and human trafficking are the same beast.

In fact, human trafficking was labeled as modern-day slavery by The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA).

Although slavery in the U.S. was “abolished” in the 1860s, the effects of slavery are on display today in the fragile Black family, a condition that makes Black people vulnerable.

Sixty-four percent of Black families are led by single mothers in the United States. Those family members are four times more likely to experience poverty, seven times more likely to experience teen pregnancy, more likely to use drugs and alcohol, and more likely to experience prison and human trafficking.

The trauma and displacement that Black communities and families have been and continue to experience is heavily impacting children. A study conducted by West Coast Children’s Clinic involving 113 youth ranging in age from 10 to 24 highlighted the correlation between human trafficking and foster care, homelessness, and addiction.

For many Black youth, their desperation to be loved and to belong makes them sitting ducks for exploitation and predatory people, systems, and policies.

One Black girl shared that she would “do whatever as long as you keep telling me that I’m important.”

As we explore the history of human trafficking in Oakland, we invite you to evaluate whether the sex industry is empowering or oppressing the Black community and what you can do to uplift, rebuild and restore.

For more information go to the Post electronic copy of this article for more information and facts.

Online only:

Racial-Disparties-FactSheet-_Jan-2021.pdf (rights4girls.org)

Human Trafficking | Key Legislation (justice.gov).

Children in single-parent families by race and ethnicity | KIDS COUNT Data Center

nationalfatherhoodinitiativefatherabsencecrisis.png (492×1147) and Healthy Alameda County :: Indicators :: Single-Parent Households

WCC_SEM_Needs-and-Strengths_FINAL1.pdf (westcoastcc.org)

Tanya Dennis serves on the Board of Oakland Frontline Healers (OFH) and series co-author Vanessa Russell of “Love Never Fails Us” and member of OFH.

“I’ll Do Whatever as Long as You Keep Telling Me That I’m Important”: A Case Study Illustrating the Link between Adolescent Dating Violence and Sex Trafficking Victimization. | Semantic Scholar .

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of May 24 – 30, 2023

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 24 – 30, 2023

Published

3 days ago

May 26, 2023

Oakland Post

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 24 - 30, 2023

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Activism

Rise in Abductions of Black Girls in Oakland Alarms Sex-Trafficking Survivors

Nola Brantley of Nola Brantley Speaks states, “America’s wider culture and society has consistently failed to address the abduction and kidnapping of Black girls in Oakland and across the country, and this lack of concern empowers and emboldens predators.”

Published

1 week ago

May 20, 2023

Oakland Post

Nola Brantley and Sarai Smith-Mazariegos

By Tanya Dennis

Within the last 30 days there have been seven attempted kidnappings or successful abductions of Black girls in Oakland.

Survivors of human trafficking who are now advocates are not surprised.

Nor were they surprised that the police didn’t respond, and parents of victims turned to African American community-based organizations like Adamika Village and Love Never Fails for help.

Advocates say Black and Brown girls disappear daily, usually without a blip on the screen for society and government officials.

Perhaps that will change with a proposed law by state Senator Steven Bradford’s Senate Bill 673 Ebony Alert, that, if passed, will alert people when Black people under the age of 26 go missing.

According to the bill, Black children are disproportionately classified as “runaways” in comparison to their white counterparts which means fewer resources are dedicated to finding them.

Brantley, a survivor of human trafficking has been doing the work to support child sex trafficking victims for over 20 years, first as the director for the Scotlan Youth and Family Center’s Parenting and Youth Enrichment Department at Oakland’s DeFremery Park, and as one of the co-founders and executive director of Motivating, Inspiring, Supporting and Serving Sexually Exploited Youth (MISSSEY, Inc.)

“It really hit home in 2010,” said Brantley, “before California’s Welfare Institution Code 300 was amended to include children victimized by sex trafficking.”

Before that law was amended, she had to vehemently advocate for Black and Brown girls under the age of 18 to be treated as victims rather than criminalized.

Brantley served hundreds of Black and Brown girls citing these girls were victims so they would be treated as such and offered restorative services. “To get the police to take their disappearances seriously and file a report almost never happened,” she said.

Then Brantley received a call from the Board of Supervisors regarding a “special case.” A councilman was at the meeting, as well as a member of former Alameda County Board Supervisor Scott Haggerty’s Office who had called Brantley to attend.

“The child’s parents and the child were there also. They requested that I give my full attention to this case. The girl was white and there was no question of her victimization,” Brantley said.

Brantley felt conflicted that of all the hundreds of Black and Brown girls she’d served, none had ever received this type of treatment.

Her eyes were opened that day on how “they” move, therefore with the recent escalation of kidnapping attempts of Black girls, Brantley fears that because it’s happening to Black girls the response will not be taken seriously.

Councilwoman Treva Reid

“I thank Councilwoman Treva Reid and Senator Steven Bradford (D) for pushing for the passing of the Ebony Alert Bill across the state so that the disappearance of Black girls will be elevated the same as white girls. We’ve never had a time when Black girls weren’t missing. Before, it didn’t matter if we reported it or if the parents reported the police failed to care.”

Senator Steven Bradford

Sarai S-Mazariegos, co-founder of M.I.S.S.S.E.Y, and founder and executive director of Survivors Healing, Advising and Dedicated to Empowerment (S.H.A.D.E.) agrees with Brantley.

“What we are experiencing is the effects of COVID-19, poverty and a regressive law that has sentence the most vulnerable to the sex trade,” S-Mazariegos said. “We are seeing the lack of equity in the community, the cause and consequence of gender inequality and a violation of our basic human rights. What we are seeing is sexual exploitation at its finest.”

Both advocates are encouraged by Bradford’s Ebony Alert.

The racism and inequity cited has resulted in the development of an underground support system by Brantley, S-Mazariegos and other community-based organizations who have united to demand change.

Thus far they are receiving support from Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, and Oakland City Councilmembers Nikki Fortunato Bas and Reid of the second and seventh districts respectively.

For more information, go to http://www.blackandmissinginc.com

Activism

The Case Against SB357: Black, Vulnerable and Trafficked

on April 25, the committee approved Senate Bill 14 which would make human trafficking of minors a felony and strikable offense forcing exploiters to serve 80% of their sentence.

Published

1 week ago

May 20, 2023

Oakland Post

Nola Brantley is the co-founder of MISSSEY. Photo courtesy of Nola Brantley.

PART 8 – Come Back to Humanity

Although California Senate Bill 357 was intended to alleviate arrests of willing sex workers under anti-loitering laws, The Black, Vulnerable and Exploited series has established that passing SB 357 and other similar legislation harms Black communities, one of the most vulnerable and traumatized groups in America.

Over the past several weeks, overwhelming evidence against SB 357 has been presented showing why sex trafficking disproportionately impacts the Black community and how decriminalizing sex buying and exploitation will further harm vulnerable Black communities.

By Tanya Dennis and Vanessa Russell

One year and one day after Blair Williams had killed herself by walking into traffic on a busy freeway, her sister, Brianna Williams, testified before the California Senate Public Safety Committee on the horrors of sex-trafficking.

Soon after, on April 25, the committee approved Senate Bill 14 which would make human trafficking of minors a felony and strikable offense forcing exploiters to serve 80% of their sentence.

Passed with bi-partisan support in the committee, the bill means a lot to people who have been trafficked as it shows that the punishment for trafficking will be equal to the crime.

Currently, exploiters who receive 10 years for trafficking a minor may be able to get out in as little as two years. This practice of letting someone out after selling a child has created apathy among survivors who wonder if anyone understands the pain and torture they endure. The unanimous acceptance of this bill in committee is helping survivors to feel protected and valuable.

Led by Senator Aisha Wahab, the committee, which included senators Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, Steven Bradford, Senator Scott D. Wiener and Oakland’s Nancy Skinner, unanimously passed the bill written by Senator Shannon Grove.

At the hearing, Brianna Williams, a Black 28-year-old woman who was sex-trafficked in Oakland at the age of 13, shared the story of her sister Blair, who was terrorized, raped, and tortured by her exploiter.

Suffering a mental break, Blair walked onto a freeway where she was instantly killed on April 24, 2022.

Williams described Blair as a beautiful young lady, who was an avid reader and creative who loved to play with her niece and nephews and aspired to be an attorney. Blair died at the age of 23. Many senators teared up as they contemplated the torture Blair endured.

At the age of 17, Williams was able to exit with the help of nonprofits and churches who invested in her life, providing workforce development, education, mentoring, and legal help.

To address the harm that is being done to vulnerable people such as Black girls, anti-trafficking organizations are asking leaders and legislators and even proponents of full decriminalization for sex work to ‘come back to humanity’ and reconsider an ‘equity model’ that decriminalizes the exploited but maintains accountability for the buyers and exploiters.

The equity model would also provide funded exit services including mental health, housing, workforce development, and legal services for the exploited. These services would provide an opportunity for the trafficked to start again, an opportunity that 76% of women, men and transgendered people are asking for.

However, making buyers and exploiters accountable does not mean applying blanket life sentences.

Human trafficking cannot be ‘criminalized’ away, supporters of the new bill say, and instead they call for thoughtfulness and empathy regarding the intentions of those involved and ask tough questions.

Many exploiters have been abused and groomed into becoming exploiters in the same way the exploited are.

There are early intervention diversion programs that can help first-time sex buyers and exploiters take ownership for the harm they have caused, process the root of their behavior, and begin to heal and change.

Giving buyers and exploiters a platform to be accountable and make amends improves their lives, the lives of the families they are also harming, and hopefully bring some healing to the harmed.

Nola Brantley, a survivor, co-founder of Motivating, Inspiring Supporting and Serving Sexually Exploited Youth (MISSSEY), and CEO of Nola Brantley Speaks says, “As service providers, we must unite and support one another because this is very important and hard. We can’t do it alone. We need each other and the community needs us to be in solidarity!”

For more information, go to ResearchGate and Layout 1 (depaul.edu)

To get involved, join Violence Prevention Coalition for a City Wide Peace Summit on June 24^th from 10:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. at Laney College in Oakland. To register, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/city-wide-peace-summit-tickets-622795647547

Tanya Dennis serves on the Board of Oakland Frontline Healers (OFH) and series co-author Vanessa Russell of “Love Never Fails Us” and member of OFH.