VICTIMS HOTLINE:
855-BEST811 (855-237-8811)
IF YOU ARE IN DANGER CALL 911

JUDGE REFERRAL LINE:
855-811-LAWS (855-811-5297)
  • Photo: Kay Chernush for the U.S. State Department.

    In 2005, the Department of Justice reported there have been an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 sex slaves in the U.S. since 2001 -U.S. Department of Justice. Report on Activities to Combat Human Trafficking Fiscal Years 2001 – 2005. (Image ©2005 Kay Chernush for U.S. Department of State)

  • The total market value of illicit human trafficking is estimated to be in excess of $32 billion -United Nations research (Image ©2005 Kay Chernush for U.S. Department of State)

  • "There are no quick fixes to human trafficking, forced labor, debt bondage, and child labor. Though I have documented these offenses on all six continents,nothing I have seen anywhere approaches the scale of these crimes as I have seen in South Asia.-Siddharth Kara, author and human trafficking fellow at Harvard University (Image ©2005 Kay Chernush for U.S. Department of State)

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B.E.S.T.™ Mission

Building Empowerment by Stopping Trafficking from aiding the victim to pursuing and prosecuting the trafficker, nationally and internationally. Changing the World with an evidence-based model that is appropriate and voluntary, linking the judicial systems, law enforcements, and governmental institutes, pairing with B.E.S.T. LAWS™ attorneys, and liaising B.E.S.T.™ certified coaches from the only Accredited Program to Certify Coaches in Trafficking providing fiduciary and ethical guidelines for victims.

B.E.S.T. Becomes Only Accredited Program for Certifying Victims Coaches

B.E.S.T.’s Academy is the only global Accredited Program to Certify Coaches that wish to become Certified Coaches for Victims of Sex Trafficking. For information on training process and cost please fill in the contact information form and identify that you are interested in becoming a Certified Coach in this area. The Program is offered worldwide through various venues. Upon completion of the full program, you will receive your Certification as a Certified Coach for Victims of Sex Trafficking.

B.E.S.T. presented at Plantation Rotary meeting

By on April 6, 2013   /   NEWS   /   Leave a comment

Plantation, March 26, 2013

 

 

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Human trafficking and human rights in Russia

By on April 4, 2013   /   Blog, Featured, NEWS   /   Leave a comment


Interview with Kirill Boychenko on Kathya Cibelle Dawe TV show “Human Rights Around the World”, recorded in February 2012 and broadcast on January 1, 2013 on channel 16, MTN (Minneapolis Television Network).

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Miami Dade College Wolfson – Human Trafficking Awareness Week

By on March 29, 2013   /   EVENTS, NEWS   /   Leave a comment

BEST joins Miami Dade College Wolfson in Spreading Awareness about human trafficking.
 

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Louis Fawcett, Director of Development at our partner Mercy & Sharing, speaks about the organization’s work in Haiti

By on March 27, 2013   /   Previously Aired Shows   /   Leave a comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Tina Frundt, founder and Executive Director of Washington, D.C.-based Courtney’s House, speaks about the organization’s work

By on March 20, 2013   /   NEWS, Previously Aired Shows   /   Leave a comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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March 20 Radio Show

By on March 19, 2013   /   NEWS   /   Leave a comment

We are excited to welcome Tina Frundt, Founder and Executive Director of Washington, D.C.-based Courtney’s House, as a special guest on Your B.E.S.T. Voice Radio Show tomorrow! The show will air March 20 from 12-1 pm Eastern time. Tune in at 1470 AM or worldwide at http://wwnnradio.com/!

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B.E.S.T.’s Bradeis Training

By on March 19, 2013   /   NEWS   /   Leave a comment

On Thursday, March 14thB.E.S.T.™ held a training event for Brandeis University in the Bet Shira Synagogue of Miami. The event was held for the Sex Trafficking in South Florida Study Group for Brandeis and was organized by Joan Wolf. About 20 people attended the early morning training. The speakers at the event included Tory and Linda Sullivan, the cofounder of B.E.S.T.™. Topics covered included presentations Awareness, Do’s and Taboos for First Responders—Need for Attorneys ASAP and ESI for Anti-Trafficking Demand Reduction.

Tory and Linda Sullivan, speakers at the event

Organizer of the event

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B.E.S.T. provides training to The Life TV Series

By on March 19, 2013   /   NEWS   /   Leave a comment
B.E.S.T. just held its first training in a series of trainings that will be provided to its partner, The Life, TV Series. Trainers were Linda Rinaldi, Etty Foodman, and Linda Sullivan from the Board of Directors and B.E.S.T. Attorney Michael Wolowitz. The intense trainings will cover all aspects of human trafficking and all of the players that are involved in the world of modern day slavery.
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Executive Director Linda Sullivan quoted in Sun Sentinel article about massage parlors

By on March 19, 2013   /   NEWS   /   Leave a comment

Late-night masseuses aren’t rubbed wrong way by state bill

Reaction to Florida lawmakers’ effort to limit massage parlor operating hours
January 20, 2013|By Brett Clarkson, Sun Sentinel

South Florida massage therapists who work late at night said a proposed law to set hours of operation would not infringe on their freedom to work whenever they want.

Asked about a new bill that would ban massage establishments from operating between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., several South Florida massage therapists and business owners said it’s not a bad idea.

“That doesn’t bother me,” said Lisa Wong, owner of the East Village Spa on State Road 7 in Davie. Wong, whose spa closes at 10 p.m., said her business relies on night traffic from the nearby Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

A Florida House of Representatives subcommittee Wednesday unanimously voted to support the legislative effort to crack down on human trafficking and sexual exploitation in massage parlors.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Dave Kerner, D-Lake Worth, also would make it illegal for massage establishments to allow anybody to live on the premises.

If passed into law, the proposed legislation would take effect Oct. 1.

Despite the optimism expressed by lawmakers after Wednesday’s vote, not everybody was totally excited about the proposed changes.

When the subcommittee met in Tallahassee on Wednesday, a member of the Florida State Massage Therapy Association questioned the hours restriction. He said there are legitimate late-night clients including airline pilots and theatrical performers.

“Personally, as a licensed professional, it’s hard to accept that I’m being limited on the hours I’m allowed to work,” Alex Spassoff told the subcommittee.

Spassoff, based in Tampa and licensed since 1976, said the hours of operation restriction should be between midnight and 5 a.m., not 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The legislative effort comes amid increasing awareness of potential human trafficking in disreputable massage parlors. Police and federal agents fear that victims are being forced to live on the premises while working long hours and performing sex acts on clients.

Across the country, law enforcement has been witnessing that that exact scenario play out. A Department of Justice spokesperson cited recent federal prosecutions involving brothels posing as massage parlors in several states including Alabama, California, New York, Montana, Missouri and Illinois since 2003.

There have also been several prostitution-related arrests at local massage parlors in recent years. Last April, the owner of an unlicensed Hollywood massage parlor was charged with running a house of prostitution. Two employees were also charged with fraudulently representing themselves as licensed massage therapists.

More recently, law enforcement officials in South Florida have been reluctant to go into detail about the late-night massage parlor industry because of ongoing investigations. But they are suspicious of certain practices.

“If you’re going for a massage after 10 p.m., you might work (a late) shift, it may be legit, but it does lend itself to people wondering if it’s actually credible,” said Adriane P. Reesey, community specialist with the Broward Sheriff’s Office and chair of the Broward Human Trafficking Coalition.

Reesey said she has noticed a new trend among the late-night massage establishments in Broward County. Many of the businesses seem to be dropping the cliche blacked-out front windows for colorful, lit-up murals depicting massage scenes.

“They’re drawing more attention, which is interesting to me,” Reesey said.

Kerner, a former Alachua police officer, said it would seem evident that late-night massage establishments are a “hotbed” of illicit sexual activity.

“I think what law enforcement has communicated to us is that a lot of these illicit business tend to attract customers or should we say, johns, during the late-night hours,” Kerner said.

As well, public officials and law enforcement keep tabs on websites such as Craigslist and backpage.com, where massage establishments post sexually suggestive advertisements.

“Prostate relaxation available also,” reads one ad for a Sunrise-based ‘spa,’ posted to the Fort Lauderdale ‘body rubs’ section of backpage.com. Another selling point in the same ad is “Sexy girls!!!”

Wong said that despite perceptions, massage parlors like hers are not engaging in sexual activity.

“Most people are good people,” Wong said, referring to her fellow masseuses who work seemingly unconventional hours. “They want to make a living. It’s a job.”

Linda Sullivan, executive director of the Miami-based Building Empowerment by Stopping Trafficking organization, said any attempt to thwart the demand for sex trafficking in massage parlors is a good thing.

But Sullivan said more attention needs to be paid to resources that address the needs of human trafficking victims.

“I do think we need to focus on long-term housing for (victims),” Sullivan said.

(Original Article at: http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-01-20/news/fl-massage-parlors-new-law-20130120_1_massage-parlors-massage-therapists-masseuses)

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Local Government raises awareness of human trafficking

By on March 8, 2013   /   NEWS   /   Leave a comment
Thursday, March 7, 2013

Local/National News

Local Government raises awareness of human traffickingOver 50 individuals participated in an intense two-day training course about human trafficking on Friday, March 1, and Saturday, March 2 at the Shiloh Baptist Church Hall.

Human trafficking or modern day slavery is a global issue.

It is currently estimated that over 30 million people are enslaved by the human trafficking industry, more people than the entire populations of Australia and New Zealand combined. Human trafficking is tied with arms dealing as the second largest criminal industry in the world at $32 billion per year.

No country is unaffected by this blistering reality of modern day slavery, by the reality of people being taken, moved through, or sold on the streets and in our cities and towns. Anyone can become a victim of this trade—any man, woman, or child.

The traffickers recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, or receive persons using threat of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power, and control. These victims of modern day slavery are then sexually exploited, or forced into labor, servitude, and even the removal of organs.

Chief Councillor for East Grand Bahama, Albertha Cooper together with the island’s remaining chief councillors and council members agreed that human trafficking is an issue requiring increased awareness without further delay.

Chief councillor Cooper commented, “trafficking is a serious issue and given our geographic location we certainly are involved, if not as a source country then as a transit and/or destination location. I have spoken to many of the professionals in both Freeport and Nassau who are actively involved in this issue—Social Services workers, educators, guidance counselors, law enforcement and medical professionals. Across this broad spectrum, interest in this training is extremely high.”

Cooper then reached out to BEST (Building Empowerment By Stopping Trafficking), a Florida not-for-profit organization that is leading the way in training individuals to identify, intercede, and counsel victims in the human trafficking industry.

The BEST training program covered analysis of trafficking in persons (TIP) in the Bahamas, discovery of trafficking operations using the Internet, identification of sex and labor trafficking victims, and appropriate questions to use in interviewing victims or perpetrators. BEST co-founders and certified life coaches Linda J. Sullivan and Etty Foodman, and advisory board members Victoria Brieant and Ben H. Bell III also presented trafficking control methods, special considerations for First Responders and community outreach, and an introduction to BEST’s Clubs for the schools and the certified coach training program.

Fourteen employees of Urban Renewal 2.0 Grand Bahama, and representatives from the Local Government districts of Grand Bahama, the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Bahamas Customs Department, Ministry of Health, Department of Social Services and several volunteers earned certificates for completing the training. Comments from the trainees ranged from “eye-opening and disturbing” to “I can use the information and skills from this training in my work starting tomorrow!”

Michelle Reckley, Deputy Director of Urban Renewal 2.0 Grand Bahama, feels that the damages go beyond individual victims.

“These damages undermine the health, safety, and security of all nations. It increases global health risks and fuels the growth of organized crime,” she said. “We are living in a changing world. Therefore, I felt it necessary for Urban Renewal staff to participate in this timely and needed training. On a daily basis, many of us come in contact with individuals from all walks of life. I am appreciative to the organizers of this training because it provided all the participants, especially the staff at Urban Renewal 2.0 Grand Bahama, with the tools and skills necessary to effectively rise up and do their part in the struggle against human trafficking as they go about doing their daily duties.”

BEST is a multi-faceted and dynamic Florida-based organization that provides outreach, education and direct treatment services to human trafficking victims (www.beststoptrafficking.org).

It is the leader in establishing a holistic program that focuses on identifying victims of human trafficking and providing them with appropriate legal representation and Certified Life Coaches.

BEST offers the only global accredited program in anti-human trafficking where coaches act as experts on legal cases and work with the legal communities to reduce demand for trafficked victims and provide testimony, training and assistance to prosecute the traffickers.

BEST has the only outreach center in Florida that provides immediate assistance to trafficking victims by providing medical, psychological, legal, and coaching assistance on a pro bono basis. It also has a full service lifestyle center in Florida that readies survivors for their new lives, with skills, jobs and education to re-enter the world.

BEST is prepared to assist in establishing outreach and lifestyle centers in The Bahamas and has offered to establish the renowned BEST Club program in the Bahamian school system.

Chief Councillor Cooper speaking for all the participants expressed gratitude to the entire training team for delivering an outstanding and informative two days of professional training. Additional information regarding this horrific issue can be obtained from Chief Councillor Cooper at 727-3355.
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