Latest news with #violenceAgainstWomen
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Yahoo
Women on Pensacola streets are trafficked every day. It's difficult to prove and stop.
Lisha Banks has been living off and on the streets for years, camping in the woods, along rail lines, or wherever the 59-year-old can find a quiet place to be. There's no such thing as a 'safe' place to live for most women on the street. They are disproportionately vulnerable to violence, including sexual violence from people they know and others they don't. In fact, escaping violence can be the reason why some women, like Lisha, end up homeless. 'It's hard. If you're not tough bad things happen. They get raped all the time,' Banks said. 'When I was at Beggs Lane, I had a 28-year-old try to rape me. Thank God a friend came by and got his attention and I could get out of there. You have to keep one eye open and whatever weapons you can have, and still that's not going to do any good if you got 10 guys coming on you, especially the older women.' To survive, she has learned several ways to cope including putting up barbed wire around her tent or creating booby traps like digging holes and covering them with old carpet. Banks said protecting yourself is somewhat easier when you're sober, but for people who are in addiction it's hard to hide from sexual exploitation. It's a scenario she says she has seen play out time and again. 'I have sat and watched young girls go into prostitution and all this other stuff because they had nowhere to go,' Banks said. 'They ran away from home or when their parents were like, 'You do drugs,' and kicked them out. You don't trust anybody because the ones you trust, they're the ones who will get you. It is really hard, and if you're not a strong woman, you're not going to make it out here.' Homelessness, sexual exploitation 'go hand in hand' Service agencies who work with women coming out of homelessness say addiction can lead to a vicious cycle. Some girls and women end up on the street because of substance abuse, while others become homeless for other reasons, but turn to drugs and alcohol to 'survive' their situation. Either way they are vulnerable to predators who manipulate and use them for their own benefit. Low barrier shelters can help: Fighting for a place to stay: Offentsive wants to move women's camp to lot in Pensacola Addiction and homeless outreach group Offentsive has been working with women to help them transition out of homelessness. Offentsive President Brad Bishop says the women they see often turn to what's called 'survival sex,' where unsheltered women trade sex for a place to stay. 'That leads to trafficking out on the streets,' Bishop said. 'There's also a lot of stigma around it. It's like they're making a choice, but if they had enough money, they wouldn't have done that, though. If they had literally anything else to offer, they would. It's just having to be in a situation where you have nothing and that's all you have to offer. They're just extremely vulnerable.' Ministry Village at Olive operates Charis House, a residential, faith-based, substance abuse recovery program for women. Administrators and counselors who work with street survivors say what they experience is akin to human trafficking. Getting home: Program helping homeless return home hits 100th milestone in first year. Will it continue? Although these girls and women aren't kidnapped and sold into slavery for sex or labor as is commonly depicted in Hollywood movies and news reports, they are also used, abused, threatened and forced into having sex with others to benefit their 'handler.' Most of the time that person using them is someone they know, and the women are so far down on themselves or addicted they don't know how to escape, service providers say. Outreach workers in both organizations believe 100% of the women they serve have been exploited or trafficked in some way. 'It seems as if addiction and human sex trafficking is really going hand in hand,' said Nicole Dibono, intake recovery director of Ministry Village at Olive. 'It's one or the other, or sometimes both. Sometimes these women, after hearing their stories, they have been exposed to substances and after being exposed, they become addicted and then that's used as a tool to traffic them. Sometimes they are involved in human trafficking and they're using drugs to cope and numb themselves because of what they're doing.' Dibono says many of the girls and women have been 'groomed' into believing they are prostitutes, and they are choosing to sell themselves for drugs. She said it's hard for them to come to terms that someone they know or love, who is essentially a 'pimp,' has manipulated them and their addiction to make money off them or some other gain. What is human trafficking? Ministry Village Executive Director Drayton Smith said it's not the kind of human trafficking most people may picture, like '100 people in the back of a Conex box and shipped to a foreign country,' but it's exploitation just the same. But because police say it doesn't meet the legal definition of human trafficking, there isn't much data on the problem and that can make it hard for service providers to access funding and programs that would help victims and survivors get the specialized counseling and care they often need. Helping victims: Human trafficking is 'hidden in plain sight,' and it's closer than you might think Tracking data not only helps identify and document ongoing issues and needs in the community, but it also raises awareness about an issue, which can lead to more resources to address it. Smith says both the data and resources to address it are sorely lacking. 'If you reach out to any law enforcement agency or anyone that deals with these things on a regular basis, the data is so unclear because they're going to tell you it's a lot easier to do a drug charge or a gun charge than it is to do a trafficking charge, because it's so hard to prove,' Smith said. 'Understanding the data and getting that data is the largest concern that I think right now we face.' Col. David Ingram with the Escambia County Sheriff's Office is also an executive board member for the Circuit 1 Human Trafficking Task Force. He says there have been four cases so far this year that are classified as trafficking cases, and while they had connections to Northwest Florida, none of them were in our jurisdiction. He says the primary focus of the Task Force is to prevent people who are vulnerable, like children and teenagers, from falling into the hands of predators through internet exploitation, a common and growing threat. Task Force aims for prevention: Area launches human trafficking task force When it comes to investigating sex trafficking of unsheltered women, he said victims often don't report the crimes and when it is reported, proving they were trafficked is difficult because of their circumstances. Ingram says they base human trafficking charges on the same legal definition outlined in state statutes, which requires 'force, fraud or coercion.' 'We look at, 'What we can actually charge?'" Ingram said. 'If we have a person that we think might be taking part in human trafficking, we may charge them with something other than that, because that's what we can charge them with. Like prostitution. We can charge somebody with prostitution, which that takes a lot of work because you've got to go undercover and additional manpower hours to do that, but I can charge that person with prostitution and get her out of that situation.' Breaking the cycle of addiction and abuse Ingram says another priority of the Task Force is to connect victims and agencies that work with them with the appropriate service providers, like Magdalene's. Magdalene's is a Pensacola-based, not-for-profit organization that fights human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of women through education, awareness and survivor support. Angie Ishee is the executive director and says one of the biggest issues facing survivors of sexual exploitation is helping them find work once they're back on their feet. Putting brakes on trafficking: Magdalene's Inc. combating sex trafficking by giving victims a place to call home She says the community usually does a good job providing for their immediate needs like food and shelter once someone is ready to get off the street and away from their handler, but they carry the 'stigma' of their previous life, especially if they have a criminal record. Ishee says education and a steady job can go a long way to helping people think better of themselves, as well as support themselves, but they need support to pursue those opportunities. 'The stigma associated with addiction, homelessness and the sexual exploitation makes it hard,' Ishee said. 'These people are somebody's daughter, they're somebody's mom, they're sometimes somebody's wife, a grandmother. They need job readiness skills to just help them understand that they are lovable and worthy and can function in a sustainable way.' Breaking the cycle is the goal and service providers say the resources needed to do it include addiction treatment, specialized counseling, education and jobs. Success benefits the individual as well as the community because it reduces crime and other expenses related to being unsheltered. Experts say homelessness can cost a community about $30,000 a year for just one person. 'We break the cycle for future generations when we help people,' Ishee said. 'I know of a survivor of sex trafficking, whose mom and grandmother were in what's called the life of trafficking, so it was just expected that she would be also. The fact that she broke free and got the help she needed and had hope, it's a great benefit to our community when somebody breaks that cycle.' Lisha Banks wants off the streets, too, and is working to that end. She said most people she knows living that way didn't intend to end up that way. 'I've had a house with a fence and two kids and dogs and cars and all that good stuff,' Banks said. 'Then things just happened, and it happened too fast. I don't understand why some people are like, 'Damn the people out here that have mental issues or addictions.'' This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Women on Pensacola streets trafficked daily, proving it, stopping it is difficult Solve the daily Crossword
Daily Mail
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
From poster boy to pariah: How Andrew O'Keefe almost killed the White Ribbon cause - and its CURSE of celebrity ambassador endorsements
It's hard now to believe disgraced gameshow host Andrew O'Keefe was once a celebrated White Ribbon ambassador, at the forefront of its fight to end violence against women. He would often be photographed with the movement's emblem pinned to his jacket, and was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2017 for his work with them, adding its distinctive stud to the same lapel. But by the time O'Keefe was first accused of assaulting a woman in 2021, he and White Ribbon had already parted ways, and it was revealed this week the shamed TV star had finally handed back his AM last month. With the 53-year-old's string of court cases over - his last appearance was in February - the onetime host of Deal or No Deal and The Chase Australia has given up wearing suits. It's been a long time since he needed a tuxedo. These days, O'Keefe can be spotted hanging around Sydney 's eastern suburbs in one of his lurid casual outfits, smoking a cigarette and doing little else. O'Keefe says he has once and for all been able to give up the drugs that fuelled his appalling conduct and even White Ribbon, which he once chaired, wishes him well. White Ribbon has also learned from its mistake using O'Keefe to push its message and has completely abandoned using celebrities as ambassadors, according to its CEO. 'White Ribbon Australia is no longer reliant on public figures or ambassadors,' Merinda March said. 'That model failed us, and more importantly, it failed the cause. Real change doesn't come from celebrity endorsement.' The notion that all publicity is good publicity clearly doesn't apply when you're trying to stop men being violent towards women. Among the entries on his rap sheet, O'Keefe was found guilty in January last year of a 'violent and degrading' assault on a woman he had called a 'lying dog' and a 'c***'. He was convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault and contravening an AVO, and placed on an 18-month community corrections order. In October, Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge sentenced O'Keefe to another 30-month community corrections order for breaching an AVO. O'Keefe had previously avoided convictions for assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in June 2021, when those charges were dealt with under mental health provisions of the law. He also faced six charges after he allegedly punched, kicked and choked another woman in January 2022, but by the time the matter was heard, the alleged victim had left the country. Having pleaded not guilty - claiming he acted in self-defence - charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault and choking were withdrawn in February 2023. Back in 2014, when O'Keefe was host of Weekend Sunrise, he told the Daily Telegraph he was on a mission to change men's attitudes about violence towards women. O'Keefe particularly encouraged men not to speak in a way that denigrated the opposite sex and to challenge those who do. 'It's a really simple thing on paper to say, it's really hard to do in practice,' he said. 'But having done it myself, you get nothing but kudos from mates when you do.' O'Keefe's long prior association with White Ribbon was raised almost every time he was arrested and continued to do its reputation no good. But he was not the only man to cause the movement embarrassment after being made an ambassador, just its highest-profile bad choice. Ballarat man Jon Seccull, a former prison officer who had been a White Ribbon ambassador, was arrested in 2017 and charged with sexually abusing his wife between 2014 and 2015. He was found guilty in 2023 of three counts of rape and one of threatening behaviour and in 2024, was jailed for a minimum six years and 10 months. In 2015, psychiatrist and White Ribbon ambassador Tanveer Ahmed wrote a column for The Australian newspaper in which he blamed violence against women in part on 'male disempowerment'. By the time O'Keefe was first accused of assaulting a woman in 2021, he and White Ribbon had parted ways. He is pictured at the 2006 Logies with singer and actor Natalie Bassingthwaighte Ahmed, who wrote that discussion about domestic violence debate focused on 'male villainy… and a cult of victimhood', was not asked to stand down from his White Ribbon role but resigned voluntarily. Seven months later, NRL great and former White Ribbon Day ambassador Hazem El Masri was charged with assaulting his wife, but a year later was completely cleared. In 2018, former NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Cowdery resigned as chair of the White Ribbon board after he made comments about baby killer Keli Lane's sex life on the ABC. Later that year, Luke Foley resigned as NSW Labor leader and was stripped of his White Ribbon ambassadorship after being accused of having put his hand down a female ABC journalist's underpants in 2016. Onetime federal MP and Australian Rules great Phil Cleary has campaigned to stop male violence against women since his sister Vicki was murdered in 1987 by an ex-partner. Cleary got to know O'Keefe through White Ribbon, and in January he told Daily Mail Australia the fallen presenter should return his AM if he really wanted to show remorse. On Monday, it was revealed O'Keefe had finally done exactly that, and Governor-General Sam Mostyn had accepted his resignation of the award with effect from June 4. The next day, White Ribbon Australia issued a press release reiterating its association with O'Keefe had ended in 2019 and stating it 'denounces, in the strongest possible terms, Mr O'Keefe's actions and violence against women'. White Ribbon Australia was established in 2007, went into voluntary liquidation in 2019 with debts of $840,000 and was resurrected under the stewardship of community services provider Communicare the following year. CEO Merinda March said White Ribbon's past association with O'Keefe and 'other former ambassadors whose actions have come under public scrutiny' had prompted a 'fundamental shift' in its approach to ending violence against women. 'Andrew O'Keefe's actions are deeply distressing to Australians who support our organisation's aims to end violence against women,' Ms March said. 'Mr O'Keefe was White Ribbon Australia's former chair, and a founding ambassador, and his appointment to these positions has been harmful to the values and reputation of our organisation.' Ms March said 'real change' had to come from 'everyday men - dads, brothers, mates, co-workers and the women who support and influence them'. Addressing the scourge of domestic violence in Australia would require 'having honest conversations, challenging harmful behaviours, and taking responsibility'. 'That is where the movement lives now, and that is where our focus must stay,' Ms March said. White Ribbon's press release ended by acknowledging the main victim of O'Keefe's offending and with a final note of hope for the future. It added: 'We also wish him well in his journey towards recovery and healing.'
The Guardian
02-07-2025
- The Guardian
French police arrest ‘incel' suspected of planning knife attack on women
An 18-year-old French man who claimed affiliation with the misogynist 'incel' movement has been arrested and placed under formal investigation on suspicion of planning attacks targeting women, France's national anti-terrorist prosecutor's office (PNAT) has said. The arrest on Wednesday was part of PNAT's first case linked to the 'incel' (involuntary celibate) movement, an online network of men motivated to engage in violence against women whom they believe unjustly reject their sexual or romantic advances. PNAT confirmed on Tuesday that it had opened a judicial investigation 'against a young man, aged 18, claiming to be a member of the incel movement', adding that he was being investigated for allegedly 'associating with terrorist criminals to prepare one or more crimes against people'. A source close to the investigation confirmed French media reports that the suspect was arrested near a school in the Saint-Étienne region in central France, and that the man, who was carrying two knives, was suspected of planning to attack women. Ideologies based on distrust and hatred towards women have been gaining mainstream interest worldwide over the past decade through online channels, especially social media platforms.
The Independent
02-07-2025
- The Independent
Man remanded in custody charged with murder of Sarah Montgomery
A 28-year-old man has appeared in court charged with the murder of pregnant mother-of-two Sarah Montgomery in Co Down. Zak Hughes, from Ardglen Place in Belfast, was also charged with child destruction during a brief appearance at Newtownards Magistrates' Court on Wednesday. Dressed in a grey tracksuit, he stood in the dock and nodded when asked if he understood the charges. A PSNI detective chief inspector told the court he could connect Hughes to the offences. No facts of the case were laid out and there was no application for bail. The date of the offences given on court papers was June 27. District Judge Conor Heaney remanded Hughes in custody until July 30. Ms Montgomery, 27, died at her home in Donaghadee. Floral tributes have been left outside her house in Elmfield Walk. A 42-year-old woman, who was arrested in Belfast on suspicion of assisting an offender, was released unconditionally on Tuesday. The death of Ms Montgomery has led to renewed focus on the rate of violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland. She was the 27th adult woman to be killed in Northern Ireland since 2020.
BreakingNews.ie
02-07-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Man remanded in custody charged with murder of Sarah Montgomery
A 28-year-old man has appeared in court charged with the murder of pregnant mother-of-two Sarah Montgomery in Co Down. Zak Hughes, from Ardglen Place in Belfast, was also charged with child destruction during a brief appearance at Newtownards Magistrates' Court on Wednesday. Advertisement Dressed in a grey tracksuit, he stood in the dock and nodded when asked if he understood the charges. A PSNI detective chief inspector told the court he could connect Hughes to the offences. The brief hearing took place at Newtownards Magistrates' Court. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA. No facts of the case were laid out and there was no application for bail. The date of the offences given on court papers was June 27. Advertisement District Judge Conor Heaney remanded Hughes in custody until July 30. Ms Montgomery, 27, died at her home in Donaghadee. Floral tributes have been left outside her house in Elmfield Walk. A 42-year-old woman, who was arrested in Belfast on suspicion of assisting an offender, was released unconditionally on Tuesday. Advertisement The death of Ms Montgomery has led to renewed focus on the rate of violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland. She was the 27th adult woman to be killed in Northern Ireland since 2020.
