LETTER TO NANCY O'MALLEY AND CARLA DARTIS RE: HEAT
Dear Nancy and Carla:
I moved back to Los Angeles last year because of three major reasons. The first being the trafficking victims I was speaking to who are informing me they are being falsely arrested, threatened, and even outright trafficked by people within law enforcement. When Chris Butler and another officer were finally arrested in 2013 - the ring itself they were a part of was not shut down. RICO laws were invented for these reasons - you can take out one or two players but if the network itself is left operating nothing changes. I have information as to where the heads of this ring reside and do business, that I'm trying to get the authorities to look at and address because things have changed with respect to our work with victims of this ring.
In the past, we've been able to extract victims from trafficking rings that utilized law enforcement. However, with the new technology it's become impossible to do with the more sophisticated rings. Leaving the only solution to freeing these victims shutting down the ring itself. Therefore, I'm trying to get someone in authority to look at the information that I have for that purpose.
Second, because of the calls I've been receiving from southern California who are HIV positive. I've taken informal polls of various industries here from the porn modeling agencies, to the strip clubs and massage parlors. The average sex worker today in their 20's is completely unaware of HIV, is taking no precautions, and is engaging in high risk behaviors. What makes this worse than what I saw in the 1980's epidemic is the fact most sex workers are either seeing clients who travel, or they're traveling a "circuit" which is making the potential spread of many diseases a reality.
Not only are they reporting to me they have HIV, but I'm hearing about TB, Hep C, and chronic fatique syndrome. In fact, many people within the porn industry just accept that 80 percent of the "trick pool" is infected with HPV and chronic fatique syndrome. My work as an educator about HIV back in the 80's taught me that those who have CFS are 10 times more likely to contract HIV if exposed to the virus. Therefore, making heterosexual transmission very likely.
Combined with the fact I've been aware of Charlie Sheens' status for some time now, along with his frequenting of both escorts and porn performers, has me gravely concerned that we are facing another epidemic even worse than we saw in the 1980's. For this reason, I relocated back here because our members are very unwilling to break their anonymity for the purposes of seeing what can be done to work together to do something about this. Since I'm already a "known" figure - they've asked me to come and try to be that liaison for them like I was back then also. Especially since we go back to problem number one - being that many sex workers are reporting that they feel no one wants to even acknowledge they exist, let alone help them.
To give further urgency to what I'm trying to tell you, I saw on TV tonight that there is a confirmed HIV epidemic among sex workers in Tijuana, Mexico. A town as you know just across the border from us. With the rise of drug traffickers also engaging in sex trafficking - there is reason to be very alarmed here. http://pulitzercenter.org/
So I'm going to say what I've been saying since the 1980's - the issue of sex trafficking is also one where HIV has to be addressed. Also, that HIV can't be addressed without addressing trafficking because the traffickers, and men like Charlie Sheen, could care less who they expose to disease. This issue is not just about saving some victims - but truly one affecting each of us from a public safety point of view.
I don't know anyone on any of these committees I'm seeing right now working with sex trafficking that have the EXPERIENCE I have on this issue. We made a lot of mistakes in the 1980's. Mistakes I'd like us to learn from.
So I wanted to alert you to the fact the Global Health people have identified an epidemic across our border. Now maybe you'll understand why I'm so alarmed by what I'm hearing I've relocated back here to get more involved in the solution.
I would like to involve others than just our members. Hence why I've been reaching out to your offices for some time now. Now I'm happy that you've "already chosen your speakers" but in the world of sex trafficking - sometimes things change on a dime. I offered this HEAT event myself as a speaker in the hopes to start incorporating discussions on how corruption and HIV is a part what has to be included in the planning for solutions here.
If your offices want to keep not returning my calls, stalling talking to me for months at a time, this leaves me having to continue to plug along here as best as we can on our own. Which is again why I'm going to start filming what's going on very shortly. Another reason I had hoped to do more at this HEAT event than to submit some comments that no one is going to read.
Anyway, I wanted to send you over that information in case you have not seen it about the epidemic in Mexico. If LAPD had continued to arrest juvenile prostitutes, giving them the mandatory HIV tests that go along with that type of arrest - you might have some hard data on this to review rather than relying upon the fact our hotline is getting an ever increasing number of calls from HIV positive prostitutes, or worse, victims who have been subjected to multiple unprotected encounters per day who could be spreading these diseases as we speak.
Now maybe you understand why I'm becoming increasingly distressed at the way our members are being shut out of these panels and discussions. Yes you may be talking to a handful of survivors. However, I doubt ones with my experience on these issues with respect to solutions that have proven to be effective over the years. The reason why they're coming to me is because they're not being heard. If I'm not being heard - they sure are not.
It's up to you if you're going to change this or not.
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