Backpage CEO Arrested

On his way back from Amsterdam, Backpage.com CEO Carl Ferrer was arrested on a California warrant in Texas upon landing at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport. For months, the CEO has been hiding out in the Netherlands, attempting to escape the allegations of child sex trafficking cases that have become synonymous with his name in the United States.

After years of Backpage acting as what is arguably the largest online brothel in the world, trafficking victims began to come forward about being bought and sold through the site. Ferrer was arrested on felony charges of pimping a minor, pimping, and conspiracy to commit pimping. Before he can return to his home state of California, he is being held in lieu of $500,000 bond and will face an extradition hearing.

Backpage.com operates much like Craigslist. On the site, you can buy everything from a car to clothing and jewelry. But according to Ferrer’s California arrest warrant, internal business records show that 99 percent of Backpage’s revenue came from its adult services section between January 2013 and March 2015.

According to that same warrant, the site operates in hundreds of cities nationwide, including more than 30 in California alone. Backpage brought in a whopping $2.5 million per month – just from the State of California – equaling more than $51 million during the 29 months covered by the internal revenue reports. That dollar amount doesn’t even include the cities in all other 49 states.

Now, this is not necessarily “new” news. Ferrer has been part of a three-year investigation that found many of the ads on the site included the purchase of children under the age of 18. The site itself has been the subject of recent Senate hearings because of its classified ads. Much to Ferrer’s dismay, the Supreme Court refused to block a Senate subpoena seeking information on how Backpage screens its ads for possible sex trafficking victims just last month.

While this information sounds exciting, it won’t come without changes to how we reach out to trafficking victims. This kind of news makes us ask what might be next for the site. How will law enforcement track these online ads? Will taking down the site, which has been discussed by the federal officials handling this nation-wide sting, ultimately push prostitution underground? Will getting rid of Backpage put these girls at risk of even more danger?

While this situation raises these valid questions, we hope you’ll join us in prayer for the many men and women involved in each Backpage ad. As for the future of Backpage, it’s hard to tell how our job might change in the coming months. Pray that we would be as effective as possible at reaching out to women right where they are.

To learn more about Carl Ferrer and the scandal engulfing Backpage.com, please visit http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/backpage-com-ceo-carl-ferrer-arrested-pimping-charges-n661426

Grand Opening: Tea Trade Café!

WAR, Int’l invites you to stop into the brand new Tea Trade Café for breakfast from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Sept. 23 to try fair trade coffees and teas. That same day, lunch and dinner will be served. There will be special guest appearances by musicians Grooters & Beal, as well as community leaders and local media personalities.

On Saturday, Sept. 24, brunch will be served from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. This family-friendly event will include a free bouncy house, cotton candy, and more. The Wyoming Fire Department will be showing off a fire truck at 11:00 a.m. for children in attendance.

Each purchase at the Tea Trade Café will support at-risk and rescued women all around the world. This café will also serve as a training ground for women who have been rescued from injustices like human trafficking, where barista and business skills will be taught. Serving fair trade coffee and teas, each dining experience will provide sustainable income for artisans all over the world, ensuring they work in safe environments.

The menu is diverse, featuring blended coffee drinks, breakfast foods, soups and salads, Paninis, wraps, croissants, snacks, baked goods, and gluten and vegetarian-friendly options.

Get Involved

WAR, Int’l invites community members of all ages to join us for the Grand Opening of our Tea Trade Café. This family-friendly event will include a bouncy house for children, and even an appearance by a Wyoming Fire Department fire truck. All food served during our opening weekend will be by donation only. Specialty and fountain drinks will be sold at regular café pricing. Regular hours of the café after the Grand Opening will be as follows: Monday-Friday 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and closed on Sundays.

tea-trade-cafe-logo-final

For more information please contact:

Women At Risk, International

Phone: 616.855.0796

info@warinternational.org

Liz Curtis Higgs Event

If the Crown Fits

A day with Liz Curtis Higgs

Join us on November 5, 2016, for a full day of laughter and learning with Liz Curtis Higgs. An award-winning speaker, Higgs is the author of more than 20 books – including Bad Girls of the Bible. During her time with us, she will be sharing from her heart with insight into the life of the Queen of Sheba, based upon the knowledge gleaned from her newest endeavor, It’s Good to be Queen.

To further explore what it means to be queen, WAR, Int’l will be hosting a humorous spin on the traditional auction. Take part in this entertaining fundraiser by bidding on eccentric baskets filled with items even a queen would drool over. Your purchase will have you leaving with items that include artwork and beauty supplies, along with dozens of other gifts to make your Christmas presents the talk of the year. All of the proceeds from these baskets will be given to WAR, Int’l to aid in caring for victims of sexual exploitation. A photo booth, survivor-made product, worship, and more will also be provided. We invite women from all over West Michigan to join us for this extra special event.

Calvary CRC
3500 Byron Center Ave SW,
Wyoming, MI
November 5, 2016
Ticket Price: $20
Early-bird (before October 1): $18
Parties of 10 or more: $15
Doors open at 8:30 a.m.
Event: 9am – 4pm

lunch is included in ticket price



*Location may change based on attendance. Please check back at a later date for final location and times.*

SOAP Project 2016

For three weeks every September, one of the largest art events in the world, ArtPrize, takes over the city of Grand Rapids. More than 400,000 people visit this city to embrace creativity and vote on which art piece deserves the cash award. During this time, hundreds of people walk the streets, creating the perfect opportunity for us to inform our community on the topic of human trafficking. The streets of downtown Grand Rapids become our platform for raising awareness about the prevalence of this injustice in our area.

Part of this heightened awareness includes Women At Risk, Int’l (WAR, Int’l) co-hosting a community-wide S.O.A.P. Project (Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution), founded by anti-trafficking advocate and survivor, Theresa Flores, on September 10, 2016. Flores, who grew up in the suburbs of Detroit in the 1980s, was trafficked out of her own home without her parents knowing at the age of 15 by a classmate and his cousins. The pain of this injustice driving her, Flores started the S.O.A.P. Project to reach out to women and girls who desperately need to escape the sex industry but lack the resources to do so.

S.O.A.P. is a project that includes wrapping bars of soap in labels that have the national human trafficking hotline number (1-888-373-7888) printed on them. Hotels are hotspots for trafficking. Victims and customers are easily hidden amongst those who come and go from their many rooms. The labeled bars are distributed to local hotels to be placed in bathrooms, creating the opportunity for victims to seek necessary help. Along with these bars, posters of missing children are handed out to hotel staff members, encouraging them to report any suspicious activity that could occur at their place of employment.

We invite you to join WAR, Int’l on September 10 to help wrap and distribute the bars of soap. You’ll have the opportunity to hear from our WAR, Int’l President Becky McDonald, law enforcement officials, and Theresa Flores herself. You’ll also be invited to join us on outreach as we drive around to hotels in our area to offer them these labeled, complimentary soaps. The cost for the afternoon is just $10, which covers your lunch.

Join us in making the most of ArtPrize this year by creating circles of protection and becoming modern-day abolitionists for women at risk in the greater Grand Rapids area. We have an opportunity to be advocates and catalysts for change this year. Mark your calendars and join us for the S.O.A.P. Project 2016. Registration for this event is required prior to September 10, and can be found on our website at warinternational.org.

During ArtPrize, we will also be partnering with the exhibit titled “Stories in Blue,” by Stephanie Sandberg. This piece will use various creative elements to tell the stories of trafficking survivors. If you cannot attend our SOAP event, please consider visiting the exhibit in its entirety during ArtPrize, from September 21 through October 9.

Date: 9/10/2016
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Location: WAR, Int’l Headquarters
Cost: $10 to cover the cost of lunch

Women At Risk, Int’l Headquarters
2790 44th St. SW
Wyoming, MI 49519
(616) 855-0796

Register Here!

Commencement Speech

President and Founder of Women At Risk, International, Becky McDonald, recently spoke at Cornerstone University for their 2016 Commencement ceremony. Sharing her personal stories from more than three decades of international ministry experience, Becky shared the heart behind WAR, Int’l with students, and encouraged them to care for others in their affliction. Becky reiterated that no matter what degree students pursued at Cornerstone University, all students can become safe places for the wounded within our society. To view her speech, please click on the video below.