Stop Human Trafficking
January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month
National and local hotlines are available
By Teresa Clyne, Programs for Peaceful Living - Most Americans take their security for granted. But some face violence and exploitation that ordinary Americans cannot imagine. January was designated as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Month by Presidential Proclamation beginning in 2010, to fight this global human rights issue.
Human trafficking is a human rights violation. According to the United Nations website (https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking.html), the three constituent elements of human trafficking include:
1. The Act (What is done) - Recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons
2. The Means (How it is done) - Threat or use of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or vulnerability, or giving payments or benefits to a person in control of the victim
3. The Purpose (Why it is done) - For the purpose of exploitation, which includes exploiting the prostitution of others, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery or similar practices and the removal of organs.
This crime often goes unnoticed, but can exist in common industries including domestic work, manufacturing and agriculture. Common venues for sex trafficking include massage parlors and strip joints, according to the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST), one the nation's largest provider of services to survivors of human trafficking.
This global issue has been in existence for millennia. In ancient days, mariners would ‘Shanghai’ innocent victims aboard their boats and force them into servitude or sell them into slavery far from their home. Women and girls would be kidnapped and forced in to sex slavery or unwanted marriages. Homeless orphaned children would be sold into slavery.
In our world today forced labor, forced prostitution and forced marriages are still occurring, but there are other elements to human trafficking that have also arisen including child abduction, selling babies and small children, organ harvesting, drug trafficking, and the trafficking of disabled persons.
Who are the traffickers? According to Human Rights First, a nonpartisan nonprofit international human rights organization, many traffickers are trusted people including relatives, friends or acquaintances, and significant others. Sometimes they are strangers, employers, and even governments. Statistically, most traffickers and victims belong to the same ethnic group. About 54% of traffickers are male, whereas 46% are female.
How do they traffic? In order to recruit and exploit their victims, traffickers employ psychological coercion using lures such as the promise of a high paying job, a loving relationship, or new and exciting opportunities. Or a victim may be ensnared through what seems to be an innocent invitation to a party to enjoy alcohol and other drugs, only to be entrapped by the trafficker and forced to pay back what they consumed, leading to situation of sexual exploitation or prostitution.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) website, drug trafficking and human trafficking often occur at the same time. “Human traffickers can use drugs as ’bait’ to recruit people who have a substance use disorder. Or they can use drugs to force a victim to obey their orders, or work harder or for longer hours.”
The common thread among traffickers is that there is a willingness to exploit other human beings for profit. Traffickers choose to trade in humans because there are low start-up costs, minimal risks, high profits, and large demand. The fact that selling humans can be done repeatedly is an advantage for organized crime groups.
Stay home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic have made levels of human trafficking even worse, according to Kay Buck the CEO of CAST. In a video press release from 12/17/20, https://abc30.com/video/embed/?pid=8848949, Buck cited that after an initial decrease in cases when the pandemic first began, activity then increased to 185% compared to the same time in the last year. She explains that the homeless population is the most vulnerable to human trafficking during the pandemic.
If you, or someone you know, are a victim of human trafficking, call the national hotline at 1-888-373-7888 for help or visit https://humantraffickinghotline.org/ for more information.
For local assistance in Skamania County call (509) 427-4210 to reach the Crime Victim Service Center, operated through the Skamania County Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. All services are free and confidential, for more information go to https://skamaniadvsa.webs.com/.
For local assistance in Klickitat County call the 24-Hour Crisis Line (844) 493-1709 to reach Programs for Peaceful Living, operated through Washington Gorge Action Programs, or call their local number in Bingen at (509) 493-2662, or in Goldendale at (509) 773-6100. All services are free and confidential, for more information go to https://www.wagap.org/programs-for-peaceful-living.
Programs for Peaceful Living is a Crime Victim Service Center, providing services for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and other crimes. If you are outside of the Klickitat County area, they will work to assist you and provide an immediate referral to the crisis program located where you live.
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Washington Gorge Action Programs (WAGAP) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit Community Action Agency that helps individuals, families, and communities. WAGAP addresses basic human needs, including food, shelter, energy assistance,and more, in Skamania and Klickitat Counties. For more than 50 years, WAGAP has helped people help themselves and reach self-sufficiency. Learn more at wagap.org, or contact WAGAP at (509) 493-2662 or info@wagap.org.