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DNA Foundation media type="youtube" key="aSdDZP45-ks" height="360" width="480" align="center"

** Case Study Wiki Page Group 2 **  Wiki Members: Stacy Garcia, Jennifer Romero, Yvonne Lopez, Yumi Sato   Video Members: Adriana Bush, Catlin Dorset, Alyssa Johnson, Hayley Rafner

Introduction

By: Stacy Garcia The Demi and Ashton foundation was founded on Jan. 25, 2010 by Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher in an attempt to end child sex slavery and spread awareness. The DNA foundation works around the world in collaboration with other organizations and celebrities to help those who have been affected. Their main goal is to spread awareness around the world and to stop human trafficking.

1. What is the issue or cause the organization or individual is targeting?

By:Stacy Garcia The Demi and Ashton (DNA) foundation is about fighting sex slavery or commercial sexual exploitation. The issue is that many young children run away from abusive parents and they end up on the streets where they fall into the hands of pimps. The pimps are the ones that run the business of domestic sex slavery. This organized crime is leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars to the pimps and the more they can exploit the young child the more money they will get. According to DNA, the average age of girls going into sex slavery is 13 years old. The foundation wants to raise awareness because people think this doesn’t happen in the U.S. but it does. According to the National Report the main problem is that the victims are not identified, and so the wrongful IDs criminalizes the victim instead of giving him or her the proper treatment they need. The study also said that when police get involve in a crime like this, the only person that comes out walking like if nothing had happen, is the buyer.



2. What methods are being used by the organization or individual to promote this cause (Facebook, twitter, etc.) Be specific.

By:Jennifer Romero The greatest advantage that social media provides is the ability to communicate instantly and more efficiently. The DNA foundation is making use of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube to help spread their cause. These social networking sites allow individuals from around the world to be part of a foundation that is working hard to end child slavery. Thanks to these websites, the DNA foundation can successfully communicate new ways of donating to this cause and informing their viewers of new campaigns that are being created to support this institution. Not only are they making use of the Internet, but they are also launching a campaign called “Real Men,” in which more than 2 million people have contributed including celebrities such as Justin Timberlake, Jamie Foxx, Drake, Ludacris and many more. Microsoft is also playing an important role in this organization because they are helping the Demi and Ashton (DNA) Foundation fight online child exploitation by creating programs that help detect child trafficking.



3. What has been the result so far of this effort?

By: Yvonne Lopez Although the Demi and Ashton Foundation is fairly new, it has been able to raise awareness of modern day sex slavery through active involvement in other organizations that also focus on human trafficking and child prostitution. The co-founders, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, actively participate in events that advocate for the DNA’s causes so that they may gain media attention to help raise awareness and support for their foundation. This foundation has also partnered up with NFL football player Adrian Peterson to fundraise money for DNA throughout the entire 2011 NFL football season. As of now, this fundraiser has raised approximately $147,600 to help fund programs that will target at-risk youth to prevent them from becoming victims of sex trafficking.



4. Evaluate the effort overall.

By: Yumi Sato The Demi and Ashton Foundation created a positive brand for the movie star couple Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher. Their activities have been continuously picked up by a variety of news organizations such as CNN and USA Today. However, in the beginning of July 2011 Ashton Kutcher attracted negative publicity after he requested advertisers withdraw their advertising from the Village Voice in his response to a critical piece about him, “Real Men Get Their Facts Straight” (Jardin, 2011). In spite of this event, the DNA foundation has caught people’s eyes in positive ways since it appears that the couple really cares about the cause. Their passion seems to have its root in the incident where they met a victim of child trafficking in their visit to the U.S. – Mexico border in January 2010 (McLaughlin, 2011). Since then, the DNA foundation has been making continuous efforts in eliminating child trafficking.



Martin Cizmar, Ellus Conklin, and Kristen Hinman. “Real Men Get Their Facts Straight.” //The Village Voice//, June 29 2011 , [|http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-06-29/news/real-men-get-their-facts-straight-sex-trafficking-ashton-kutcher-demi-moore/__]

Conclusion

By:Jennifer Romero The DNA foundation has changed the lives of many people by encouraging them to start school, find jobs and by providing them psychological help. This organization puts victims in safe houses to make them feel secure and give them an opportunity to start all over again. There are many ways to get involved with this foundation and give survivors around the world a second chance for a better life. If you are interested in donating to this cause simply visit the DNA main website and click on donate. Let’s work together to end human trafficking! media type="youtube" key="rAffHoO51Ww" height="360" width="640" align="center"

References 1. Xeni Jardin. "Ashton Kutcher bullies Village Voice over sex slavery hype-debunking cover story." //Bong Bong//, July 1, 2011, [|http://boingboing.net/2011/07/01/ashton-kutcher-bulli.html__] 2. Katie McLaughlin. “ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Moore, Kutcher: Join our crusade to end child sex trafficking. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">” //CNN//, April 14, 2011, <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> 3. Fraracci, T. (2010). Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher launch DNA Foundation to help end child slavery. Retrieved October 26, 2011 from [] 4.[] 5.[]