Mental Post-Its

Thoughts, Notes, and General Mental Mayhem

Monthly Archives: November 2011


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Human Trafficking Stats

I went to a screening of Nefarious, Merchant of Soles, a couple of weeks ago. It was a documentary on human trafficking, and was probably one of the best I’ve ever seen – if you can say that about the subject matter. You can take a peek at http://www.nefariousdocumentary.com.

While there, I received a couple of pieces with stats on human trafficking. They are a bit horrifying but I thought I’d share, because ignorance isn’t bliss and knowledge is power. Consider yourself educated after reading this, and then do something.

National and International:

  • 27 million people are enslaved around the world, which is more than the 9 million during the Trans-Atlantic Slavery period – Free the Slaves, Kevin Bales
  • Human trafficking (sexual, domestic, industrial and agricultural) is a 32 billion dollar per year industry, bringing in more revenue than the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB combined. – United Nations
  • Human trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal industry around the world. – US Department of Health and Human Services
  • There are nearly two million children involved in the international commercial sex trade. – UNICEF
  • 161 countries out of 192 are involved in human trafficking. – United Nations
  • 80% of all trafficking victims are women and children who are forced into the commercial sex trade. – US Department of State
  • The average age of entry into commercial sex slavery int he US is 13. – US Department of Justice
  • Over 17,000 people are brought into the US each year for trafficking purposes. – US Department of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, June 2006
  • The average age of a girl entering prostitution in the US is 12 years of age. – Domestic Sex Trafficking of Minors
  • Her life expectancy after entering is just seven years. – Shared Hope International, “Demand: A Comparative Examination of Sex Tourism and Trafficking in Jamaica, Japan, The Netherlands and the US” Sharedhope.org, July 2007
  • The two other most common forms of slavery in America are domestic servitude and agricultural workers. – The Slave Next Door by Kevin Bales

Atlanta:

  • Atlanta is a major hub for human trafficking in our country.
  • 200-500 underage girls are raped for profit in our city each month. – Adolescent Girls in Georgia’s Sex Trade: Tracking Study Results, Atlanta, GA: The Shapiro Group 2011
  • 7200 menu purchase underage girls for sex each month in Atlanta. 42% of these men come from the upper north side outside the perimeter, 26% from inside the perimeter, 23% from the south metro area, and 9% from the vicinity of the airport. With approximately 3 million adult men in Georgia, 23% have purchase sex with females and 20,700 do so in any given month. – Georgia Demand Study, 2009 by the Shapiro Group, Atlanta, GA
  • 90% of the runaways wind up in prostitution. – Hidden in Plain View: The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Girls in Atlanta, 2005

Local Organizations:

  • Not For Sale Georgia (www.facebook.com/NotForSaleGA)
  • Out of Darkness (www.outofdarkness.com)
  • Wellspring Living (www.wellspringliving.org)
  • Street Grace (www.streetgrace.org)
  • Meet Justice (www.meetjustice.org)
  • International Justice Mission (www.ijm.org)


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Lessons From Disney

Last Monday, Brian White came to speak in staff meeting. He works in the mobile game department at Disney, and also spoke in our senior pastor track last year at The Orange Conference. I really enjoyed hearing about the inner workings of Disney and their cultural. He gave us some really valuable insight, and I thought I’d share it with you.

  1. You can’t fake enthusiasm. People can tell if you are being authentic or not.
  2. Insane talent is not enough. Be sure to play well with others.
  3. Failure can be tolerated, lack of judgement cannot. Failure can still be a path to success. If you’re failing, you probably aren’t trying very hard to make a difference. Lack of judgement is how you treat others or conduct yourself. Do others have to do damage control on your behalf?
  4. Think of art as a team sport. No one can be something big all on their own.
  5. Concentrate on psychographics, not demographics. Disney uses the word “guests” and not “customers.” And they create their experience around the Compass (Needs, Emotions, Stereotypes and Wants – North, East, South, West).
  6. Criticism alone is not valuable feedback. Always include a suggestion or solution.
  7. Focus is the key to organizational momentum. Bobby Iger, former CEO, says their focus is creativity, innovation and going into foreign markets. Examples: Shakespeare In Love vs. Pirates of the Caribbean. Shakespeare In Love was a great movie, but not near the marketing options. Pirates involves many of the staff, so they can rally around the same project.
  8. The guest experience is everyone’s responsibility. This is the thing that really matters. If you think this is beneath you or doesn’t effect you, you have the wrong mindset.

Of course, it was awesome to see all of this unpacked over two hours, but I hope you can still gain some insight from these notes. Now, let’s all go to Disney World for the object lessons!