This, in a strange way, is a follow-up to my blog of Sunday called Oakland Rapper Alleged Sex Predator? It started with a totally unrelated phone call from a friend, who asked me to cover a rally planned for the Wednesday of this week; the rally featured in the video that was made today.
Oakland's faced with an enormous problem: human trafficking. Human trafficking is where children, girls, are literally bought and sold for sex. According to the FBI, Oakland has been a hotbed for this activity, and has maintained this distinction since 2003.
How bad is it? It's so bad that a prostitute was seen on that corner at about 10:30 AM that morning, and one onlooker said he could not talk about it on camera because his friend talked and got shot. Not kidding.
Mayor Quan and Ms. Brantley says that we all must get involved in stopping this major problem in Oakland. But even with the FBI's 2003 designation, Mayor Quan says the street part of the problem is less than it was then, but now we have The Internet. "I think there's was a lot more prostitution in Oakland, when I was first elected (as councilmember) eight years ago. Many more streets. I think now, unfortunately, much of it has gone off the streets and online. And we have a whole undercover group that just answers Internet ads, and bus people that way."
And while incidents of child prostitution are less than years ago, Mayor Quan says that Oakland Police are arresting people for online child prostitution activities much more than in the past.
Ms. Brantley says who to blame for the problem isn't one person, but all of us, society as a whole. "If we have a problem in '03 and we (still) have a problem in '11, then something ain't being done about it."
You can get involved in helping stop child prostitution by visiting Missey.org, or attending a fund-raiser Thursday, April 21, at Z Cafe, at 27th and Broadway in Oakland from 5 PM to 11 PM.
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