Documentary Film To Shed Light on Child Sexual Assault: Connie Lee and FACSA Launches National Tour

SHATTERING THE SILENCE TOUR AND DOCUMENTARY  PROJECT

Issued by: 
Connie Lee - FACSA Foundation Founding Director
(Tele. 318.540.4464)
(Email: facsasavethechildren@hotmail.com)
(Website: www.facsafoundation.org)

                                                                   

The Shattering The Silence Tour and Documentary Project, at FACSAFoundation.org, is changing the social stigma of child sexual assault, public policies, conducting current research of community needs and assessment, educating communities on prevention and education of child sexual assault, by hosting free conferences with local advocates; filming a documentary on survivors stories across the nation, the latest healing modalities, and the most effective counseling techniques, with the hundred and fifteen cities Shattering The Silence Tour and Documentary Project, at FACSAFoundation.org.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice 1-3 girls, and 16 boys, will be sexually assaulted before their eighteenth birthday. Statistics are from the 10% of reported accounts, for 90% do not tell. They are silenced by the perpetrator with threats to their lives or the lives of their loved ones; who is usually a dad, mom, uncle, trusted neighbor, friend, or community leader. The children remain silent due to fear of retribution from the perpetrator, or losing their only circle of support and love they have ever known, their family. This becomes their way of life until someone steps in and protects them. According to ChildHelp USA, 5 children die a day due to abuse and neglect.

Today is the day we no longer turn away in indifference. Today is the day we tell our children, we have heard their silent cries in the night and we share their pain. People believe it is easy to turn away because you don’t see it. I say, “This is not true, for you see it every day from the angry and volatile society; which shoots up schools, murders and rapes children; where crimes of petty theft receive more sentencing than the rape of a child; where children are sold into indentured servitude, child porn, or into prostitution. What kind of society have we become, where we stand by and allow such atrocities take place, and not raise our voices to change this?

Where is the OUTRAGE?  "Enough Is Enough, We Will Not Be Silent Any Longer!" Join the FACSA Foundation Revolution at FACSAFoundation.org, or any local child advocacy groups!! I pass the baton to you, for you to advocate for our children. The children are counting on you!

 

 

Listen To Connie Lee Speak About the

SHATTERING THE SILENCE TOUR

 

 

Learn More About The

FACSA Foundation and Connie Lee's Incredible Work

 

 

Peter Senese Film On International Child Abduction To Film At United Nations

Peter Senese's Child Abduction Film To Shoot On Location At United Nations

Film. Books. Advocacy. Rescuing Children. Heroes. International Child Abduction. United Nations. The Hague Convention. Kidnapping. Fighting Kidnappers. Chasing The Cyclone. Hope. Murder. Abuse. Targeted Parents. Hopelessness. The I CARE Foundation. Protecting Children.

In no particular order, these are some of the words that come to my mind when I think of international parental child abduction (IPCA). 

For those of you who are not aware of IPCA, it is the crime of child kidnapping.  It is a brutal crime against both child and targeted parent: one that is legally complicated to obtain true justice on, and one which in many ways, does not protect innocent children of kidnapping the way you might expect.

The reality is every child of abduction is severly abused. Some are murdered.

It is a worldwide epidemic. A plague that is finally being pushed back in the United States, but one that continues to spread in nations around the world.

The key to curing this plague is to educate society, particularly those parents who may be at risk of abduction ... and who may not know that such risk exists.

Creating various tools that educate others has played a very important role in having the abduction rate in the United States decline by over 15% per year the last two years.

My work in this area continues.



I am very pleased to share that a portion of the film on international parental child abduction titled 150,000 Internationally Kidnapped Children presently in production and being produced in conjunction with the I CARE Foundation will add the United Nations as a key location to the film.

Filming at the United Nations is no easy task. I am very thankful to the team at the United Nations for granting the necessary access required to film on location.

However, having previously sponsored a conference and spoken at the United Nations in my capacity as the founding director of the I CARE Foundation concerning the issue of international parental child abduction (IPCA) in conjunction with the United States Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program, it is both an honor and only fitting to have an important portion of the film take place at the United Nations.

I am very excited about the potential positive impact that 150,000 Internationally Kidnapped Children may have on others, including parents who may be targeted to have a child internationally abducted by the child's other parent or by a stranger.

Previously, and in an ongoing effort, I produced the rather straight-forward educational documentary series on international parental child abduction titled Chasing Parents: Racing Into The Storms Of International Parental Child Abduction which discussed a wide-range of issues associated with international parental child abduction, including warning signs and risk factors, what to do if your child is targeted or taken, the Prevent Departure Program, and the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative amongst many critically important topics associated with child kidnapping.

Judging from the tens of thousands of views of the Chasing Parents: Racing Into The Storms of International Parental Child Abduction along with the rather large number of parents who personally contacted me and shared that the information contained in the educational documentary series made the difference between having their child remain at home as opposed to being internationally abducted, there is a clear international need for a film such as 150,000 Internationally Kidnapped Children: one that not only shares critically important new research conducted by the I CARE Foundation concerning IPCA, but a film that clearly shows both the incredible dangers of stranger and non-stranger abduction in a way that gives light to ways which these kidnappings may be prevented.

Of course, at the core of all the information that I create concerning IPCA is the unbending desire and commitment to help educate society and targeted parents so that children will not face the dangerous, and at times deadly ordeal of IPCA.

There unquestionably is a great crisis on our hands as too many children around the world are being abducted. However, if the statistics of reported cases of abduction originating from the United States demonstrate anything - there has been a two-year consecutive decline of over 15% per year the last two years - it is that stewarding the message that IPCA is a real threat, and enlightening society of the reality of IPCA does in fact mean something: after nearly 30 years of near-consistent growth in the number of IPCA cases, we've pushed back the proverbial mountain in the United States . . . and though there is a great deal to still be done, there is measurable indicators that raising awareness has made a sizeable difference in protecting children from abduction.

On a very personal note, and as a storyteller and writer, when I first began my journey as an international parental child abduction prevention advocate by writing the critically accalimed novel Chasing The Cyclone that was deeply inspired by my own experiences, I never thought that so many miracles would happen as a by-product of these efforts. But that is what happened because through it, dozens of internationally kidnapped children have been reunited while an even larger number of targeted children of abduction have remained safe.

And that is very cool.

-Peter Thomas Senese-

Peter Thomas Senese and I CARE Foundation Confirm New Film About International Parental Child Kidnapping

I am very pleased to confirm that I will be producing on behalf of the I CARE Foundation and Pacifica an upcoming feature documentary film 150,000 Internationally Kidnapped Children focuses on the cataclysmic growth of international parental child kidnapping in the United States, Canada and abroad.  The film will dissect why the hideous crimes against innocent children has reached pandemic levels that have claimed so many lives and what can be done to prevent abduction, while also offering solutions that should be implemented that can help current child-victims of cross-border kidnapping.

The film's title 150,000 Internationally Kidnapped Children originates from a widely distributed and cited study titled Crisis In America written by renown child advocate Carolyn Vlk (a member of the Board of Directors of the I CARE Foundation, and a member of the Special Advisory Board of the Amber Watch Foundation) and myself.  150,000 Internationally Kidnapped Children is the average weighted forecast of that takes into consideration how many children living in The United States, Canada, and Mexico are anticipated to actually be internationally parentally kidnapped over the next ten years.

The film will bring viewers into several intriguing parental child abduction cases, through the legal system available to targeted parents and children, the psychological trauma of kidnapping and its affects, and eventually above a microscope looking at the government agencies and their existing policies responsible for protecting children. Paramount to the film's direction is the intent to offer new solutions to a serious social problem that in the United States alone is expected to cost the American economy over Six Billion dollars over the next decade.

150,000 Internationally Kidnapped Children will also focus on how children of both parental and stranger-abductions are easily removed from one nation's border to another under existing policies in North America, and particularly in Europe.

The I CARE Foundation and several of it's Board of Director members have been studying key aspects of international parental child abduction for some time.  150,000 Internationally Kidnapped Children will include substantial data and information based upon these unique and groundbreaking studies. Studies and information, I might add, that I fully expect will change the landscape of abduction prevention. Which is, by virtue, the mission of the I CARE Foundation.

And of course, I am thrilled to once again be working and writing with Carolyn Vlk, who is one of the brightest and most knowledgeable persons concerning abduction that I know.  In the past, Carolyn Vlk and I produced the important educational documentary film series Chasing Parents: Racing Into The Storms of Child Abduction that has come to benefit many targeted parents from around the world, as well as our publication of the most up-to-date resource guide on child abduction prevention and reunification titled The World Turned Upside Down. 

As a storyteller deeply familiar with the world of child abduction, it is my personal hope that this film will not only raise awareness of parental abduction so targeted parents may act to protect their families, but it is my aspiration to also provide keen social insight into the horrors that exist so our lawmakers will move on new laws and policies that will help protect children in a similar manner that we accomplished through passage of Senate Resolution 543, the State of Florida's Child Abduction Prevention Law, the State of New York's and the State of California's criminal Cyber-Impersonation and Cyber-bullying laws, and the implementation of the highly effective abduction prevention tool - the federal Prevent Departure Program by the Department State in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security.

150,000 Internationally Kidnapped Children  will be released during the late Spring - early Summer, 2013.

Similar to all projects associated with my work as a child advocate and steward raising awareness of child abduction, the 150,000 Internationally Kidnapped Children film is personally funded through charitable donations from my business holdings. 

For those of you interested in learning more about abduction and my writing, may I suggest you read my critically acclaimed novel Chasing The Cyclone - and remember, 100% of all my proceeds from sales of all my books are presently donated to the I CARE Foundation, which sure has created more than a few miracles for children.

Attorney Joel Walter, who is a member of the I CARE Foundation's board of directors and one of the best litigators I know, and who, over the course of many years, has represented many professional athletes and entertainers, and who is intimately involved in the upcoming production recently wrote, "The research on abduction the I CARE Foundation has and continues to conduct is critical to the fight to save children of kidnapping's lives.  In Mr. Senese's upcoming 150,000 Internationally Kidnapped Children film, the work of the I CARE Foundation will act as the story's rudder, guiding the narrative into a solution-oriented universal message. On a personal note, I continue to be flawed at the deep committment of Mr. Senese, including using a tremendous amount of his personal resources, in our fight to help families in crisis.  As a critically acclaimed storyteller and one of the most committed and published child advocates around, combined with the data drawn from the I CARE Foundation's research, we expect 150,000 Internationally Kidnapped Children to become a socially important and influencial film.

I CARE Foundation and Peter Thomas Senese Release Educational Film Series

In my capacity as a writer, producer, child advocate, and founding director of the I CARE Foundation, I am fully aware that one of the most important challenges facing society when it comes to international  parental child kidnapping is raising awareness and and obtaining accurate information.

In order to help other parents as well as stakeholders dedicated to assisting targeted children and their parents, I have created the 'Chasing Parents' educational documentary film series that addresses key issues associated with IPCA.

There is nothing fancy here - just me - a father who found himself Chasing The Cyclone of international child abduction and decided to do something about it so others could learn from my experienes - going over information that will help you not only understand many issues related to IPCA, but issues that may either help you protect an at-risk child or help bring a kidnapped child home.

Before I go any further, I want to be very specific and say that international parental child abduction is the federal crime of kidnapping in the United States as well as in Canada and many other nations. It is a form of severe child abuse and child neglect.

In viewing these documentary films, please know I am not an attorney, and the subject matter presented is based on my opinion.

In my capacity as the founding director of the I CARE Foundation, as well as a best-selling author and writer who has a high concentration of published material extensively distributed concerning abduction, I do believe you will find what I share in this video series to be informative and citeable.

A special thanks is extended to my fellow I CARE Foundation board member Carolyn Vlk, writer of the unanimously passed, ground-breaking Florida CAPA law, along with many research publications on child abduction.  Carolyn is a co-producer and writer of this video series.

As for the number of children and parents we have helped, there have been many.  I believe this is our great responsibility.  I think we all have a responsibility to help one another.

Please visit the I CARE Foundation's website to learn more about the foundation's work.

                 Part I - International Parental Child Abduction Overview by Peter Thomas Senese

         
         Part II - Warning Signs Of International Parental Child Abduction  by Peter Thomas Senese

             
              Part III - International Parental Child Abduction In Progress by Peter Thomas Senese

     
              Part IV - Reunification & International Parental Child Abduction by Peter Thomas Senese

                  Part V - International Parental Child Abduction Overview by Peter Thomas Senese

              Part VI - New Laws, Policy Modification & Reforms Needed To Protect Children From  
                                International Parental Child Abduction by Peter Thomas Senese

                                           Part VII - The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative &
               International Parental Child Abduction and Human Trafficking by Peter Thomas Senese

Please note, this is an ongoing educational documentary series. There may be additional segments created.

Please check on the official website of Chasing The Cyclone or the official website of Peter Thomas Senese for more information.

I hope the material contained herein has been helpful to you.

And if you are a parent considering to illegally remove your child from the country or wrongfully detain the child in another country, please do not.  Consider writing to me personally at the I CARE Foundation: whatever your issues and concerns are, there can be alternative resolutions other than abducting.http://newyorkattorneyjoelwalter.blogspot.com/2012/09/author-peter-thomas-senese-makes.html

Chasing The Cyclone author Peter Thomas and Florida’s CAPA Law Architect Release Prevent Departure Program Film.

Child abduction prevention advocates Carolyn Vlk and Peter Thomas Senese are pleased to announce the addition of the ‘Prevent Departure Program’ to the ‘CHASING PARENT: Racing Into The Storms Of International Parental Child Abduction’ documentary film series produced by Pacifica TWST. According to the two advocates, the little-known ‘Prevent Departure Program’ may be one of America’s most useful and powerful tools capable of preventing international parental child abduction.
In a joint statement, Ms. Carolyn Vlk and Mr. Peter Senese said “ The ‘Prevent Departure Program’ may be one of the most important tools available for targeted parents at risk of having their child internationally abducted. It is critical that targeted parents and individuals at the forefront of this great battle understand its existence and potential implementation. It is our hope and anticipation that by creating this important segment in the ‘Chasing Parent’ documentary series, we have made accessible critical information parents and lawyers need in order to protect our nation’s children.”

Carolyn Ann Vlk, who drafted Florida’s ‘Child Abduction Prevention Act’ law, and Peter Thomas Senese, the author of ‘Chasing The Cyclone’ and the creator of the ‘CHASING PARENT’ educational documentary on international child abduction are committed to raising society’s awareness and understanding on the growing epidemic of international parental child abduction while also calling for new abduction prevention laws and having existing child abduction prevention laws fully implemented and utilized.

With over 1, 600 reported cases of U.S. child-citizens criminally abducted from America in 2009 alone (the year of the last reported data), it is clear that creating and enforcing child abduction prevention programs and laws are critical to protecting our nation’s defenseless children. Since 2006, the number of reported international child abductions has doubled. The vast majority of these children are never returned, as is best demonstrated that there are over 230 American children illegally detained in Japan due to their abduction. Japan has never returned a U.S. child-citizen abducted to their country.

The actual complete picture on international parental child abduction is much more grim.

As Carolyn Vlk and Peter Thomas Senese have pointed out in previous published reports, the number of actual international child abductions originating from the United States is substantially larger than what is reported due to a failure to weigh the large number of unreported international parental child abduction cases. This is discussed in the recently published report titled ‘Crisis in America: International Parental Child Abduction (2010 Updated).

The Prevent Departure Program may be used by the Department of State’s Office of Children’s Issues (OCI) in conjunction with the DHS in preventing the departure from the country of non-U.S. citizens considered to be either in the process or at high risk of abducting an American child-citizen.

The Prevent Departure Program documentary segment was directed by child advocate J.J. Rogers (D.G.A), and produced by Peter Senese and Carolyn Vlk. The film segment was narrated by Peter Thomas Senese.

To view the film segment of the Prevent Departure Program or to learn more about International Parental Child Abduction, please visit the official website of Chasing The Cyclone (www.chasingthecyclone.com).

At risk parents of child abduction or their lawyers should contact the Department of State’s Office of Children’s Issues Abduction Prevention Unit in Washington, D.C.