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On Thursday of this week I completed the third and final part of my Plastino experience at the International Justice Mission Headquarters in Washington, DC. Needless to say, as co-founder and chapter president of UD's IJM, I was beyond excited for this visit. It only lasted a day, but it was one jam packed with things to do. Seth Wispelwey, the Field Organizer for the Government Relations and Advocacy (GRA) department was my inside contact and set up the entire day's agenda for me. I got to sit in and offer my comments on a new advocacy presentation he gave; I received a tour of the office and (one of my favorite parts)- got to be a part of the staff prayer (they do this EVERYDAY and it's mandatory for all. Emails and phone calls stop, and staff members bring up prayer requests pertaining to the current projects at hand. I loved it!). I also got the opportunity to interview four members of the GRA dept: Holly Burkhalter, the Vice President of the department, Erica Boonstra, the Senior Advocacy Manager, Clara Campbell, the Online Campaign Manager, and of course, Seth. I gained so much insight from them about what advocacy looks like and how it operates! Then, Seth and I headed to Capitol Hill for meeting with Valli Sanmugalingam and Hailie Soifer (pictured above), aids to Senator Coons (Delaware). I had already been in contact with Sen. Coons's office, urging him to co-sponsor the S.1249 bill (which he did!). This meeting was simply to put faces to names, and to strengthen the relationship between the office and IJM at UD, as well as IJM as a whole. All in all, it was a fantastic experience, and the perfect way to end my Plastino Adventures. Stay tuned for one last wrap-up post! :)

#Plastino Scholar #University of Delaware #IJM #RecessReachout

A few more pics of the wonderful staff at CAASE! From top to bottom:

Caleb Probst, Educator, who appears to have never been happier to hold the CAASE sign.

Christine Evans, Legal Director, from whom I was able to gain a glimpse into international work regarding trafficking, as she shared with me her time spent with IJM in Chennai, India. Christine also shared with me a lot of the struggles she and the other staff attorneys face in the courtroom (most of which relating to judges and juries being blinded by rape-stereotypes), and how she stays encouraged (apparently, watching a lot of "stupid TV" helps!).

and Karen Belstein, Office Manager, who is actually the reason I was able to get my foot into CAASE's door. I am very grateful to Karen for her kindness and her help!!

#Plastino Scholars #University of Delaware #CAASE

"What I've Learned at CAASE" part 4

"What I've Learned at CAASE" part three

#Plastino Scholars #University of Delaware

"What I've Learned at CAASE" part two

ps...why has no one ever told me that either my glasses are always crooked, or my face is lopsided......

#Plastino Scholar #University of Delaware #lopsided face

"What I've Learned while at CAASE" part one

#Plastino Scholar #university of delaware

These past few days I have been very busy interviewing CAASE staff in an attempt to better understand what they do and how they do it. Highlights from their interviews will be forthcoming, but here are some of their pictures. Listed from top to bottom:

Kaethe Morris Hoffer, Executive Director (and an amazing example of Servant Leadership!)

Leena Salah, Communications Manager

and Lynne Johnson, Policy Director

#Plastino Scholar #Universit of Delaware

Today was a busy one filled with lots of community. I attended a fantastic church called New Life Covenant, and the new mayor of Chicago stopped by to speak about the recent, senseless violence that has plagued the city. He spoke in a way that made the huge city of Chicago feel smaller, more closely connected and, thus, a place where everyone is accountable for the crime anywhere in the city. I liked that sense of community.

Then, I went to Taste of Chicago, a huge five day "feast-ival" in Grant Park. On the way there, I met Peggy (pictured above), who describes herself as "a 60-something year old with a 30-year old's heart". In a particularly uncharacteristic move on my part, I spent my entire time at the feast-ival with Peggy, allowing her to show me the ins and outs (i.e. where to get free stuff) and listening to her hilarious adventure stories.

Seeing the mayor speak and spending the day with Peggy both reminded me of this idea of "community" that my fellow Plastino Scholar, Becky, has been blogging about. This semester I took a "community development" class, which has done wonders with the way I see cities. That knowledge, combined with Becky's fantastic descriptions and definitions of communities abroad, definitely contributed to my decision to spend the day with Peggy, a complete stranger (and utter sweetheart). I'm not so naive that I don't recognize the inherent "stranger danger" that lives in cities (especially Chicago). And to be honest, I'm not sure if Peggy's kindness was an example of community or of...well...kindness, but either way, it made for a great day.

PS, check out Becky's blog here: http://beckychasesnature.tumblr.com/ as well as Mark, the other Plastino Scholar completing summer research: http://markrucci.tumblr.com/ !!

#Plastino Scholar #University of Delaware #UD Research #Chicago

Some pictures from my Chicago adventures, sprinkled with a few selfies. This city has the strangest sculptures/monuments and the most beautiful parks!

#Plastino Scholar #University of Delaware #UD Research #Chicago

As president of IJM at UD, it's my job to take the opinions and goals of the other officers and members, and combine them with my own to create a vision that is both inclusive and unique; one that is specified for IJM at UD yet accessible and relatable to anyone. This year, (though I'm still thinking through the details), our vision is to get back to the "why". It's so easy (for anyone, all of us!) to get caught up in the logistics of running an organization that we unknowingly stray from the original purpose of why we started or joined the organization to begin with. It is the "why" that drives literally everything, and if we lose sight of that, we unwittingly render ourselves useless.

This Saturday, I was invited by Caleb Probst (pictured above) to tag along with him to one of his human trafficking training. Caleb, the Educator at CAASE, typically works with high school students (especially high school boys), teaching them what trafficking is, the forms it takes, and what can be done about it. But he occasionally gets asked to train adult professionals on the topic. This weekend, his audience was a group of adults taking a 40-hour certification class on domestic violence. They collectively seemed to already have a solid base knowledge of what trafficking is, and both they (and I) learned a lot about the legal definitions and classifications.

From seeing Caleb teach about it and from having the opportunity to teach a lesson to the girls at GEMS with Sophia, I realize that this is the primary way that I personally find my way back to the "why": teaching others. Educating others about what trafficking is forces me to re-educate myself. My heart sinks as I recite the startling statistics, simply because the statistics are still true. And my eyes brighten when the person I'm talking to is surprised/appalled/angry/sad because it means that there is now one more person who can help end it. Talking about human trafficking brings to the forefront of my mind the ever-burning passion within me to eradicate the world of the crime altogether.

Part of my three-fold goal for this summer experience is to get an idea of where I belong in the anti-trafficking "business" (for lack of better words). I can't say for sure, but I can certainly see myself as a Sophia or a Caleb: educating others.

#Plastino Scholar #University of Delaware #UD Research

Found a stack of these in the Subway next to where I'm staying. Shoutout to #ElanaDelleDonne for doin her thing over here. #UD is everywhere! 💙💛

#UD #proUD to be

What's a CAASE?

So, I realize that I haven't actually given much insight into the organization that will characterize the second phase of my Plastion experience. Allow me to remedy that:

CAASE stands for the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, and was founded in 2006 by Rachel Durchslag (I know, yet another Rachel!). CAASE's mission is to address "the culture, institutions, and individuals that perpetrate, profit from, or support sexual exploitation." They do so through legal services, policy reform, prevention and community engagement. It is these latter two thrusts that I find most interesting (prevention and community engagement).

#Plastino Scholar #University of Delaware #CAASE #UD Research

Holy moly, Joc. I'm so proud to know you. I knew you'd do great things one day.

You know the emoji with the hearts as eyes? The one you use when someone says something so sweet all you can do is smile? That's what I'm doing with my face right now. Thanks girl.

#livemusically-livebeautifully

As I dig deeper into the issue of human trafficking this summer, I am constantly confronted with the issue of women's rights. I always knew the two (trafficking and women's rights) were related, but I never realized just how inextricably intertwined they are. And the thing is, although it is TERRIBLE overseas (women are literally treated and viewed as disposable objects), it's bad here in the US, too.

The difference is, here, we sort of hide it. Instead of outright sexism, we cloak it (rather sloppily) behind a pop culture that equates a woman's worth with the "quality" of her body. We allow our children (and, let's face it, our grown men) to use "like a girl" as an insult, thus reinforcing to girls at a young age that they are less than boys purely because they are "girls".

I came across the above commercial (in a totally non-research related way, actually. I was looking at natural hair tutorials, and this was the ad before the video...). I commend Always for this, and I can only hope that it catches on. If we want to protect our girls from trafficking, we need to stop making them believe that they are less than.

(hint to my non-tumblr readers, click on the link at the top entitled "always #likeagirl") :)

#Plastino Scholar #University of Delaware #LikeAGirl

Allow me to backtrack for a moment: I realized that I never posted this picture of me and Sophia, the woman who I worked under at GEMS. Sophia really took the time to try and ensure that I got everything out of my experience with GEMS that I hoped for. It's amazing the power of a friendly smile in an unknown place. So thanks, Sophia for your openness, willingness to allow me to invade your office space, and ever-present friendly smile.

#Plastino Scholars #University of Delaware #GEMS

Ending Demand

Tomorrow (Monday) I begin working at the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE). Just as GEMS was chosen to show how anti-trafficking organizations work with victims/survivors, and IJM will demonstrate the policy advocacy portion of the work, I chose CAASE to learn about public awareness and involvement. However, as I look through their website in preparation of my first day, I realized that I may in fact learn about something totally different: ending demand.

CAASE has a fantastic multi-year campaign entitled "End Demand: Illinois", in which they are working feverishly to change the way communities and law enforcement view prostitution and other sex crimes. They are especially asking this crucial question: why, when prostitution arrests are made, are only the women being arrested and prosecuted? Why not a stronger focus on the men who pimp, exploit and buy the sex?

Helping to deepen my understanding of EDI is this fantastic research article that features interviews with 25 pimps. It is titled "From Victims to Victimizers" and I highly recommend it.

Look out for more from me about the EDI. As I eagerly learn, I will eagerly share!

#Plastino Scholars #UniversityofDelaware

“If people want somebody to blame for this, they need to look in the mirror. We all contribute to this stuff one way or the other. If we didn’t, there wouldn’t be so much money to be made.”

A pimp/trafficker on the topic of the commercial sex industry, "From Victims to Victimizers"

Wow.

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