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I’m not asking for anything other than for you to understand what’s happening.

I have had the opportunity to support my wife Carolyn in an organization she helps lead, called Door To Grace. (www.doortograce.org). DTG is a faith-based non-profit whose mission is provide restorative care services and safe houses for children (under 18) who are survivors of commercial sex exploitation. The girls need all sorts of care and services once they are rescued. Through Carolyn and through a series of events, I had the opportunity to meet two of the four officers assigned to the sex industry in Portland.

Last night I spent their evening shift with them.

The officers that work the sex trafficking unit in the Portland Police Bureau are unbelievably dedicated, compassionate towards the girls, and passionate about their mission. My observation is that their main goals are to arrest and/or prosecute the johns (reduce the demand) and the pimps. They operate with minimal resources and sometimes pay for things out of their own pocket so that a girl can be safe for a few days. To do the job right they need more officers. You may have read about the pimp that was recently convicted and sent to prison– Oregonian Story
This type of prosecution requires a huge amount of time AND required the cooperation of the girl—not always easy to get because she has been brainwashed into believing the pimp is the only one on earth who cares about her.

The first thing we did last night was look at the internet ads that were posted earlier this day. Girls are forced to post ads by their pimp.

As I type this at noon on Saturday, there are already 60 Portland ads posted on “backpage.” There were 120 yesterday. Some of the ads from yesterday had over 1300 “views”. These ads are pornographic so, don’t look at them unless you really want to see what these girls are subjected to. Many of the ads say the girls are 19 years old, they obviously say this in an effort to convince their customers they are of legal age. The first ad we looked at, the officers recognized the girl, knew her by name, and knew she was 17 years old. The ad said she was 19. She has been “posting” (posting ads) since she was 14. They say she is very soft spoken. They have talked to her on the street and tried to get her help, but it is hard to undo months of brainwashing by the pimp in a couple of hours.

Sometimes they will set up a “date” and pretend to be a john. This takes a lot of resources and planning. The unit is forced to make a decision whether to work the street (possibly more impactful) or, set up a sting on a specific john.

If you are watching and listening at all, you already know that there are ads like this on the internet. What I believe people don’t want to know is: this happens everywhere. While there is only one 82nd avenue in the metro area, sex trafficking goes on all over the place. I have heard people, including government officials; state that there is no problem in “their area” or “their town”. All they have to do is go onto one of these websites and they would see this is not the case. You can search for girls in Lake Oswego, Tigard, Salem, Beaverton, Vancouver, downtown Portland, etc. They are in hotel rooms or apartments or homes, and being essentially held captive. Many of them will come to your location; get dropped off by their pimp. Hotel employees, including many luxury hotels, look the other way or are too busy to notice. This on-line, underground business is called “indoor prostitution”. Most of these other suburbs and counties have no one specifically assigned to the sex industry.

There have been news stories and politicians trying to push back and say that there isn’t a big problem in Portland. This is all just political spin and PR. It is unbelievable to me that people would say there isn’t a problem just for their own self-interests or so that tourism won’t be hurt, when there are teenage girls out there being held captive and raped several times a night.
In 1999 Sweden became the first country to criminalize the purchase, not the sale, of sexual services. Why can’t Portland and Oregon and the US do something like that? CNN Story

This article states that “Furthermore, the police, as well as social workers, state that criminal groups that sell women for sexual purposes view Sweden as a poor market. They choose not to establish themselves in Sweden because of our legislation.” It would be nice if that would happen in Portland but it will take a lot of MEN to step up in order for this to happen. Otherwise the ultra-liberal free-speech anything-goes crowds will rule the day.

You can’t use statistics to determine what is happening because; the police are trying to HELP the girls get out of the sex trade. This means that arresting them isn’t always the best thing. These officers try and have relationships (trust) with the girls. The officers give out their cell numbers and tell them they can call any time, 24/7. This causes these officers to spend a lot of time in addition to their normal shift but if they don’t do this they lose credibility with the girls. The officers want the girls to view the police as there to HELP them.

Back to last night.

It was cold last night. There were girls out “working.” The officers drive and look for girls. They have been doing this for years and they know what to look for. Again, they are mostly interested in the johns and pimps so they hunt for girls that are “working” and then look out for johns and pimps nearby. The johns we stopped (after they picked up girls) all had made-up stories about why they had the girl in their car. They are normally cited and if they are a first time offender they can go to “john school” and get it off their record. “John school” has been designed by the officers in this sex tracking unit, and in this seminar they really try and explain to the johns that the girls are being trafficked, and that they (the johns) are a part of the problem because they create the demand. If there was no demand the problem would go away. Portland Tribune Story

When they stop the john’s vehicle, what the officers really try to do is and engage with the girl. They want to have a trust relationship with her. They want to get her help and they give her a lot of information about how to get that help. They offer to meet with her to follow up. Sometimes, if the girl has an attitude, they will arrest her or cite her but it is only in an effort to force her to get the help she needs. One of the girls we talked to last night was sincerely embarrassed and I believe she will get the help that was offered. Her driver’s license said she was 24 years old. The picture on her license was of an attractive young woman. The picture on her license did not look anything like the girl they were talking to, I would have guessed she was ten years older.

Two of the four officers in this unit are women. Sometimes they become decoys in an effort to pick up johns. This is risky and they put themselves in harm’s way in an effort to prosecute these guys. Many of the johns have been picking up girls so long that they know to check for bullet proof vests once the girl is in the car to see if she is a cop. Thus the female officer cannot wear her vest when she is on this type of mission, further putting her in harm’s way.
Many of the customers are from Vancouver. The officers pretty much know when they see Washington plates going slower than normal on 82nd, it’s a john.

There are new laws being considered, and some recently implemented, that will make the john’s punishment more severe and the officers believe this will help.

We are talking about girls under the age of 18.
I and many of you have daughters the same age.
Yes, there are some women working the street because they are supporting their drug addiction but very few if any of those, are under 18.

The biggest myth about these underage girls is that they are in the sex trade by their own choice. These girls get lured into the trade by pimps who prey on girls with low self-esteem. The vast majorities of the girls are from bad family situations, had abusive relatives, are newly homeless for some reason, or are vulnerable in other ways. Pimps prey on them at shopping malls and other similar areas, and pimps can tell which girls to approach. The pimps start by befriending them and making them think they are their boyfriend. Then they systematically strip them of all other acquaintances including family, to a point where all they have is their pimp. They break down everything about who they once were to where they have no self-worth other than money for sex.
Thus while they seem to be free to be on the street or not, while it seems they can leave whenever they want to, they can’t, they are actually being trafficked. You can find out more about how these girls are held captive, unfortunately there is a lot of information available about “how to pimp”. You can simply Google or go to Amazon and type in “how to pimp”! There is not enough backlash from MEN in the US about this type of thing.

Do we really believe that a teenage girl would put her life in danger several times a day by her own choice?

As a side note, you should, as a MAN, object to the use of the word “pimp” in our culture. This word has become mainstream and used to glorify any number of things from houses, to jewelry, to “pimp my ride”, etc. Pimps are cowardly men who make money from girls and throw them away when they are no longer useful to them.

Last weekend the “Justice Conference” was held at the Oregon Convention Center. Stephen Bauman, the CEO of World Relief, spoke about the injustices to women all over the world, and about how MEN need to step up and care deeply about it, that it’s our job as men. After last night I think the least I can do is advocate for the women (girls!) in my own city when, advocating for them doesn’t really require me to do anything outside of my comfort zone.

I asked the officers, what can MEN in the community do?
They said that letters and emails to the Mayor and the Portland Police Chief can be very impactful.
The only other thing they said is, please help educate people about what is really happening and what the police are doing out here. This is why I am writing this. It would be great if you would forward to other Portland area men for strictly educational purposes.

In a time when budget cuts are always on the table, their unit needs more help and resources. Portland is very low when ranked among all other large cities regarding the ratio of officers to population, and when budget cuts are brought up, this prostitution unit is always discussed. People are (somewhat understandably) more concerned about the drug house in their own neighborhood than they are about this issue.

AND, the officers need safe places to take the girls. As of right now, there have nowhere to take these teenage girls where they will be safe AND where they will get the care they need.

—-Dan Quatier

“I began to rebel when I was about 14 years old. I wanted to see what was out there.” When Rachel was 19 years old, she became friends with two new girls from out of town. “They brought the love of money into my life,” she says, “and I started asking them questions about how to make money. Questions I shouldn’t have asked.”

Rachel now knows the girls were baiting her. “They talked about traveling and making money, and they invited me to go with them to California. When we arrived at the door of their California apartment, they introduced me to a most horrific man. As soon as I met this man I knew I was in trouble.” Rachel quickly realized he was a pimp.

“I had taken these girls to my house in Portland to help me pack, so they knew where I lived,” Rachel says. The pimp told Rachel that he would kill her family if she left. He told her he had spent a lot of money to bring her to California and if she wanted to leave she’d first have to earn $15,000 to pay him back.

The pimp took Rachel and the other young women to Boston. “He gave me a new name and birthdate,” Rachel says. “He also gave me a script to say if I got caught by a police officer. I had to work the streets of Boston and I wasn’t allowed to talk to the other girls.”

“One night one of the women was killed by one of the johns. A cop picked me up that night and I thought: I’m going to get to go home. But the cop was a john. I cried a lot that night, so much that he made me sleep on the floor. I was crying out to God, praying and crying.”

After three months Rachel had earned the $15,000 the pimp said she owed him, and he let her go. “He said, ‘You better be happy you’re leaving with your clothes and bag.’”

“I got on a bus and fell asleep. It was a peaceful rest.” Rachel says she was so tired she slept for twenty-four straight hours. “A woman on the bus woke me up and asked me if I was hungry. She bought me a McDonald’s chicken sandwich at a rest stop. I fell asleep again and when I woke up she was gone. I believe she was an angel.”

Rachel made it back to Portland and returned to her parents’ home. “I wondered who could help me. I wanted help but couldn’t find it. There weren’t organizations back then that wanted to help women like me.”

Unable to find help and still bearing the shame of her experience, Rachel worked in the adult industry in and around Portland for five years. “Then God brought me to my brother’s church,” she says. “God kept coming after me.”

“I began volunteering in the church nursery. I later worked with the older children and then the teens. The church started to reach out to victims of domestic violence. I went and served the ladies through the church program. That is where God met me.”

“I knew of God from my youth but I didn’t have a personal relationship with Him. I now know God as a friend. This is how I’m able to work effectively with others that are in pain.”

“One day God said to me, ‘Open your mouth so others can heal.’ I didn’t want to because of the shame. I continued to become a student of the Bible, and by serving others, my healing continued. God gave me my message that I share today: Turn your pain into your purpose. This is why God will have all of the glory. Because he gave my story beauty from the ashes of my pain.”

“Today, I am blessed to be saved by God. I have a beautiful husband, kids, and a granddaughter.”

Rachel is on track to graduate with an associate degree in paralegal studies in January. She is a trained volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate in Washington and Multnomah counties and speaks to churches in the Portland area. “I’m a community leader who advocates for the rights of our children.” Rachel is committed to helping families and works with other leaders to build healthy communities.

“I remember the chains of bondage that I once had. I want to show strength in courage, not boasting in my own works but in the faith I have in God who rescued me.”

Today we ask for God to be glorified, and for the following requests for our region and our nation.

- For safety and protection for persons at risk and those already enslaved
- That the body of Christ will stand as one body in opposition to this evil
- That pastors and leaders will begin confronting the evil by praying and repenting
- That the Holy Spirit will guide, strengthen, and give favor to all who seek to restore life to victims
- That God will provide Door To Grace the resources to open and operate sustainable aftercare homes in 2011

God is not man that He should lie. Or a son of man that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do it? Has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it? (Numbers 23:19)