Rally puts focus on human traffikcing

Salem woman works to find a solution to worldwide problem

BY TIMOTHY ALEX AKIMOFF
Statesman Journal
March 23, 2007


Two hundred years ago this month, the transatlantic slave trade was abolished as an economic policy.

They didn't abolish slavery as a practice.

Today 600,000 to 800,000 humans are trafficked across international borders each year, eclipsing the total number of slaves trafficked during the height of the slave trade in the 1800s, according to the U.S. Department of State.

That's why Rochelle Potter, 29, of Salem is hoping Mid-Valley residents will join her on the steps of the state Capitol today.

"Freedom Day is an awareness event that we are bringing to Salem," Potter said as she prepared signs and petitions for the rally. "We're inviting everyone to come and learn what we can do right here in the United States."

Potter said she didn't organize the event so much to lobby lawmakers as to give a voice to the voiceless, those thousands who cannot speak for themselves.

It turns out there is a bill in the 2007 Legislature that deals with human trafficking and sex slavery that would do just that.

House Bill 2683, sponsored by Reps. Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer, and Linda Flores, R-Clackamas, would give prosecutors more tools to deal with slavery crimes -- currently prosecuted as coercion or kidnapping.

"We've had situations where children under the age of 18 were compelled into prostitution for the purposes of raising money for drugs," Marion County District Attorney Walt Beglau said.

House Bill 2683, which would make involuntary servitude, the sexual servitude of a minor and trafficking in humans major crimes, grew from an initiative to stop the trafficking of migrant workers and sexually exploited minors, two areas where human trafficking is affecting Oregon, lawmakers said.

"We really haven't made smuggling people or slavery a serious crime with seriousness consequences," Thatcher said. "I believe that's something we need here."

Thatcher said 18,000 to 20,000 people are brought into the United States every year.

"Odds are there are a few in Oregon," Thatcher said. "This bill would help those in those who are afraid to speak out and come forward."

The rally, scheduled for 3 to 5 p.m. today, is in partnership with Stop the Traffic, an initiative of Justice for Children International.

While working in Seoul, South Korea, Potter walked through the "red light" districts on her way to work. She saw women from places such as Russia and Eastern Europe working as prostitutes.

"I kept thinking, 'I can't walk by these women every day and not do something about it,' " Potter said. "I started with the idea that I would teach them English, which I hoped would give them other opportunities."

But Potter hit a road block.

"The pimps wouldn't let me talk to the women for fear I'd give them a way out," Potter said. "There was this wall. I couldn't talk to these women. I could smile at them maybe but that was it."

So Potter did the only other thing she could think of. She offered to teach the pimps English.

Through teaching English, she was able to start full-time work among the prostitutes in Seoul's red light district.

Until she ran out of money.

Looking for a way to continue work with trafficked humans, especially those involved in sexual slavery, Potter found an international missionary organization that was decentralized and willing to send people wherever there was a need.

Potter joined Youth With a Mission, an international ministry with a training campus in Salem.

"Youth With a Mission is an organization that encourages young people to get involved with arts, government or justice issues. They basically cover everything and encourage people to get involved on a global scale," Potter said.

Potter moved to Salem a little more than a year ago, and she said the rally is a way to spread the word and find out about about opportunities to get involved.

There will be a petition sponsored by Stop the Traffic, which will be presented to the United Nations, as well as a Freedom Wall, where people can write their names or put a handprint up to show their commitment to ending modern slavery, Potter said.

"You don't have to go overseas and bust down brothel doors," Potter said. "There are things you can do right here."