Trafficking & COVID-19

2 IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS...Sex trafficking is not shutting down because of the coronavirus. Pimps and traffickers are not giving their victims days off or encouraging social distancing practices.And don’t be fooled by the closure of strip clubs in some places. The sex industry is not shutting down. It is simply adapting to, and in some cases, capitalizing off of the coronavirus. One strip club Treasures has been a part of reaching is offering drive-through strip teases and hand-sanitizer wrestling. You can’t make this stuff up.

Legal porn production may be temporarily halted, but all this means is there is a sudden demand for illegal porn and webcamming services for those in quarantine. We are already seeing women being pressured to do both. We are also seeing those who have fought to escape exploitation and trafficking be approached by traffickers looking to lure them back in order to meet the demand.Right now, there are cars driving around Los Angeles with roof ads encouraging young women to enter prostitution and pornography. And, according to the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, “the largest free pornography website offered free premium services to ‘help those quarantined in Italy.”

School closures are resulting in an increased online presence for children. According to the FBI, this is putting them at an increased risk for child exploitation. I cannot emphasize this enough… vulnerable populations, are more at risk than ever. For 17 years, Treasures has been providing care and support to those who have been exploited and trafficked.

The coronavirus will not change this.

This is why we are diligently working to adapt our services to this new landscape we are living in.

WE HAVE DEVELOPED ONLINE SUPPORT GROUPS AND CARE

We are re-envisioning our methods of delivering care and have already started hosting online support groups to replace our in-person ones. We have already seen a 50% increase in the number of women engaging in the Treasures support group. In addition, we are utilizing our private online forums and remote mentoring to provide much-needed care. We will continue to explore new strategies for the time we are in.

WE ARE CANCELING OUR 2020 GALA

The Executive Board of Treasures has decided to cancel the gala in 2020. We know that the coming months will continue to bring an influx of need to care for those being exploited and those vulnerable to exploitation. We LOVE being able to spend a vision-filled, inspiring evening with you, our beloved supporters, and rallying together to impact lives. As much as we will miss this opportunity, we recognize an urgent need to use all of our time and energy to respond to the needs of the women we are called to serve, as well as create new and innovative strategies for what lies ahead.

We invite you to be a part of supporting women in their fight to stay free from exploitation by helping us meet some of their urgent needs…