Karen Herbert: Fighting Exploitation with Awareness
Business owner seeks to inform Connecticut about human trafficking and how to fight it.
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Karen Herbert recalls a moment in her life years ago when a customer came into her store on LaSalle Road in West Hartford complaining about the horrors of the Bosnian War, and Herbert found herself entirely ignorant of what the customer was talking about. In the present day, however, that customer would have been hard-pressed to surprise Herbert with news of human misery, especially since Herbert now dedicates herself to stamping it out.
Herbert is a co-director of the Not for Sale Campaign in Connecticut, an organization committed to eliminating human trafficking and the sex trade worldwide. With the help of other charitable organizations and hundreds of volunteers, including her own family, Herbert works to raise awareness and report grotesque human rights violations often thought to have been eliminated a century ago.
"Every day we touch slavery, in the clothes we wear, the food we eat ... and the sex industry is a whole other side of it," Herbert said.
Sex trafficking is only the most sensational aspect of the human rights violations fought against by Not for Sale. The others include such crimes as inedentured servitude and child labor.
Herbert was introduced to Not for Sale through her daughter Jamee, who did volunteer work with the organization during a semester abroad in Peru. Jamee was affected enough by her work with children rescued from trafficking rings and orphans that she attended the Not for Sale Academy in San Francisco upon her return to the United States, becoming certified to investigate and document human trafficking violations for the organization. She later became Connecticut's first Not for Sale director, establishing the organization in the state.
Herbert's decision to assume her daughter's role in Connecticut might have been inevitable, however. "Growing up, my mom was always involved with various different causes and helping people in various different ways, whether through an organization or through the youth group she works with," Jamee said. "It was part of my foundation, but then I was the one who connected with Not for Sale and brought it to the rest of my family."
Herbert took over for her daughter in Connecticut in August 2010 when Jamee moved to Half Moon Bay in California, where she holds the title of campaign manager and runs the Not for Sale Store. The store sells products constructed by individuals rescued from human trafficking and at-risk communities that might not have other legitimate sources of income. Jamee herself oversees product development, website management, and shipping logistics, as well as running events like the store's "Turn Black Friday Orange" sale.
Herbert's everyday tasks with Not for Sale involve passing information along to the 400 people on her email list and making sure the the organization's Connecticut Facebook page is up to date. Beyond that, Herbert speaks at schools, churches, and secular venues to raise awareness about modern-day slavery, as well as managing long-term projects and events with her fellow director Steve Ferraro. She has also enlisted and educated the youth she works with at St. Mary Star of the Sea in Unionville.
The most recent such event was Free2Create on Nov. 20, a gathering of artists, musicians, and poets at the Provenance Center in New London. Herbert said that the event worked from the assumption that different people hear about causes in unique ways, and that informing people through the arts was a fairly non-threatening means of educating them about Not for Sale's goals. The event concluded with New London's mayor declaring the city to be a "zero-tolerance community" for human trafficking and slavery. Herbert is now planning for Free2Create to travel to colleges around Connecticut to reach students from all walks of life and in all majors, with specific schools targeted being Connecticut College, Mitchell College, Yale, the University of Hartford, St. Joseph College, and the University of Connecticut.
Herbert has also involved her business, BK & Co., which she has owned with Barbara Karsky for over 25 years. BK & Co. donates a portion of its profits to Not for Sale in addition to being a sponser of "28 to Emancipate," whereby individuals donate $28 per month to Not for Sale to help fund their emancipation efforts worldwide. During the annual Spring Stroll in West Hartford, Herbert also sets up a booth to inform people of the volunteer work available through Not for Sale."
Herbert notes that as the organization is only four years old and established in only a few states, Not for Sale collaborates with numerous organizations to help reach their goals. In Connecticut, Not for Sale works with the Harriett Beecher Stowe Center, Connecticut College's Operation 21st Century, the Women for Change at the University of Hartford, and has the support of the Provenance Center and the Holy Family Passionist Retreat. It has also been affiliated with the International Justice Mission, which shares similar goals to Not for Sale.
"You're working with other groups that are doing great works to forward the movement," Herbert said. "Even if it's not their main focus, it becomes part of their focus."
Herbert rarely works directly with victims of human trafficking, but what she has seen has affected her deeply. One such individual Herbert is personally familiar with was a girl from New Hampshire who had been trafficked on the Berlin Turnpike. Herbert said that it's incredibly difficult to escape that life due to the way it's designed to trap a person into it.
"It's hard, because you're in that life and it's hard to break out of the reason you're in it. You're a runaway, addicted to drugs, get addicted to drugs, get addicted to this guy who you think you love ... It's just a whole ramification of events that happen." Herbert said that this girl still struggles from day to day to hold down a job and problems she has with addictions, having once said to Herbert that it's impossible to get out of a life like hers except by dying or getting saved.
In regards to human trafficking problems facing Connecticut, Herbert said that indentured servitude is on the rise. Sex trafficking has been a continuous problem for several years, Herbert said, because human beings are more lucrative for pimps because they can be turned over more times and are safer than drugs.
What's most precious to Herbert in her work are the differences she makes just by spreading awareness. At Miss Porter's School in Farmington, for instance, student Anna Preston started a human rights club this school year with Not for Sale serving as its inspiration and largest component. It's large for a new club at five members, with Preston saying between 10 and 15 more students have expressed an interest in joining.
At Hall High School in West Hartford, meanwhile, students organized a fair trade chocolate bake sale without any input whatsoever from Herbert following her first visit. When she came to speak at the school again, the students gave her the proceeds with a check made out for Not for Sale.
"All these little triumphs are huge to me," Herbert said. "People inspired and involved to take the initiative, to empower them to do something. It doesn't have to be about me or even Not for Sale, but it empowers them to do something."
National hotline for reporting suspected human trafficking: 888-373-7888
In This article
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St Mary Star of the Sea
145 Main St, Unionville, CT -
B K & Company
64 Lasalle Rd, West Hartford, CT
Nancy usich
6:55 am on Friday, December 30, 2011
Jamee, Karen and her family are amazing people doing incredible things. They are a true inspiration to all.
Nancy Usich
Norma Jean Almodovar
7:12 pm on Friday, December 30, 2011
I find it so offensive that consenting adults are not consulted about their own lives and asked whether or not they are 'victims' of exploitation. Leave consenting adults alone and perhaps there will be sufficient resources to help those victims of domestic violence, rape, child sexual exploitation etc. in other words- people who have asked for help.
Beth Kintner
9:04 pm on Saturday, December 31, 2011
Norma - Ms. Herbert is working to increase awareness and understanding of human trafficking and the sex trade, where in most cases the only consenting adults are the ring leaders. Certainly you don't really mean that only those capable of asking for help are deserving of help? That if someone doesn't ask for help then he or she is not a victim? The human trafficking issue, along with domestic violence, sexual abuse, and rape are more complex than you are allowing yourself to see. Try reading: http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/about/slavery/ to get a complete picture of the widespread problems Not for Sale seeks to combat. I am pleased to have learned more about the issues, this organization and the work being done locally to support its mission, thanks to this article. I wish Ms. Herbert and her volunteers and supporters much success.
Norma Jean Almodovar
11:25 pm on Saturday, December 31, 2011
And I am trying to increase awareness about the vast number of sex workers who are NOT victims and do NOT need help- there are far more of US (I am retired) and I am NOT a ring leader- we ARE consenting adults- do YOU think we are all stupid, ignorant women, incapable of speaking for ourselves? I suggest that if you truly want to learn more about trafficking, you investigate the fraud that the rescue industry has perpetrated on the public- asking for millions of dollars to 'rescue' us poor, stupid women from our big ol' pimps. If you search for sex worker rights organizations (which are NOT funded by either the government OR those who allegedly make money off us), you will find that we are quite capable of speaking for ourselves. And if you want to read the US Government's OWN reports on the 'number' of human trafficking victims, you might start by reading some of the information on http://www.policeprostitutionandpolitics.com/ and then ask yourself, why is everyone trying to force us into victimization?
Norma Jean Almodovar
11:26 pm on Saturday, December 31, 2011
Why do you want to put our lives in the hands of law enforcement agents who have such a terrible track record with raping us, extorting us and with domestic violence in their own relationships?
I've been a sex worker rights activist for 30 years, since I left the LAPD in 1982 because I saw the corruption, the way the cops treated women in general and prostitutes in particular and I knew that I had to do something. No one pays me to 'increase awareness'- in fact it cost me years of my life by pointing out police abuse and corruption. I suggest you do a lot more reading- and ask real live sex workers what their lives are like- because we are quite capable of speaking for ourselves. We do not need the Ms. Herberts of the world to speak for us.
Norma Jean Almodovar
11:32 pm on Saturday, December 31, 2011
And here is a list of cops who extort prostitutes for sex, money and information:
http://www.policeprostitutionandpolitics.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60:cops-rape-and-extort-sex-workers&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=41
And a list of pedophile cops: http://www.policeprostitutionandpolitics.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57:ped-cops&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=41
And again I ask, you really want to put our lives in their hands because you think we are victims? What about the wives and families of the cops who ask for help and do not get it? What about the victims of rape who do not get help because there are no resources available as the resources are spent to arrest consenting adults LIKE ME who are NOT ring leaders of anything? Here is a list of the rapes and arrests for rape and arrests for prostitution: http://www.policeprostitutionandpolitics.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=80:2010-rape-and-prostitution-arrests-by-state&catid=35:links&Itemid=54 All these stats were taken from the US Government reports- links to which can be found on this website.
Norma Jean Almodovar
11:34 pm on Saturday, December 31, 2011
"Domestic violence is far more common among the families of police officers than among the rest of the population, according to the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Center for Women and Policing. At least 40% of police families are affected by domestic violence, as opposed to an estimated 10% in other households..." October 30, 2011 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/police-department-ignores-national-standards-for-officers-accused-of-domestic-violence-132868198.html
Norma Jean Almodovar
11:40 pm on Saturday, December 31, 2011
If you really want to help victims of human trafficking (which includes domestic servitude, agriculture, garment manufacturing, the restaurant industry, etc.), start by treating adults like adults and allow us to speak for ourselves. Understand that while not everyone enjoys their job- whether it be in the sex industry or as a housekeeper at a flea bag motel- it is not trafficking if the person has chosen to do that type of labor even if YOU might find that labor offensive or immoral. Domestic violence and spousal abuse are a huge problem around the world- including and perhaps especially among the families of law enforcement agents- but NO ONE suggests that wives are incapable of asking for help and therefore we ought to ban marriage to protect women from abusive men. You help NO ONE by arresting the non violent, non abusive clients of sex workers OR by arresting sex workers and putting them in jail- where they are likely to be raped by the prison/ jail staff.
Norma Jean Almodovar
11:44 pm on Saturday, December 31, 2011
Finally, I would say that, as an international sex worker rights activist for the past 30 years, I know far more sex workers than you OR Ms. Herbert. And what all of them say is: WE WILL CALL YOU WHEN WE NEED YOU! Help the victims of pedophile coaches, priests, preachers, teachers, cops, and parents. Help the victims of rape who have called for help. There are between 400,000 to 500,000 untested rape kits in the US where someone has called the police, filed a report and ASKED FOR HELP- but everyone is so focused on us poor victims of sex trafficking who have NOT asked for help- that there are simply no resources to help them. You need to think about their well being for a change. Real victims who have CALLED FOR HELP!
Beth Kintner
3:53 pm on Sunday, January 1, 2012
Norma Jean- You are obviously a very knowledgeable person with a wealth of experience and expertise on which to base your arguments. Your agenda and the work that you do addresses the issues faced by sex workers who have made a *free choice* to employ themselves in the sex trade (consenting adults). My comment referred to those in the sex trade involving human trafficking/sex slavery, and those with little or no choice given their situation, including children torn away from their families and communities to perform sex acts (not consenting adults). I came across this quote on the SWAAY (Sex Work Activists, Allies and You – a sex workers rights group) website: “Sex work is not the same as forced sex trafficking or sex slavery”. So there it is, while the issues may overlap at times, your work and the work of organizations such as Not for Sale seek to help different populations.
Norma Jean Almodovar
6:48 pm on Sunday, January 1, 2012
Unfortunately, the US Government and these organizations have conflated sex work and sex trafficking. I will provide you with documentation if you like.
As I said in previous rants, the number of actual (documented) victims of sex trafficking is very, very small. Unfortunately, the number of documented victims of homicidal cops (and those cops with violent tendencies who abuse their significant others) runs into the thousands that I have found so far. What are we doing to raise awareness about the true victims? Why is money that we now spend arresting consenting adults NOT going toward helping the families of cops who are victims of domestic violence and who WANT TO GET OUT of their homes- alive?
Perhaps you aren't aware that the US Government studies show that 90% of the cases of child sexual exploitation are at the hands of someone the child knows and trusts- like the coaches, priests, preachers, teachers, etc. and that 68% of the perpetrators are family members? But no one is out there raising awareness about these statistics, and are apparently only concerned about the very small number of cases of victims of sex trafficking... http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/cshti0810.pdf
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/saycrle.pdf
http://www.unomaha.edu/criminaljustice/PDF/dwf2003final.pdf
Norma Jean Almodovar
6:50 pm on Sunday, January 1, 2012
Here's a recent example of cops gone wild:
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/crime&id=8484157
Norma Jean Almodovar
6:58 pm on Sunday, January 1, 2012
I challenge anyone who reads this article to give me some concrete numbers of those who are forced into the sex trade against their will... not a theory of how many unfortunate victims there are- I want real numbers- actual statistics- cases which were reported... which of course you can't give me. On the other hand, I can give you a long list of violent cops who kill their families and themselves or who assault their loved ones OR inmates... or who rape prostitutes- and other women... and prison guards who do the same... visit http://www.policeprostitutionandpolitics.com/ to see the horrifying lists of them!
You can also find the links to the websites of sex workers around the world - and see what they have to say about themselves.