The "Human" Part of Trafficking

Human trafficking is a growing issue in the United States and daily more people are learning about the reality of modern-day slavery. Americans are becoming more aware through newspaper, television shows, movies, conferences, and word of mouth. It is, in many ways, becoming the "issue-of-the-day". There is a building momentum of information telling us that slavery still exists in our world and that there is much to be done to end it. Organizations across the country have made an entire living just telling people that there is a problem. As a result, there is a growing trend of mass marketing to the public to become 'abolitionists', which is great. But, what does that mean?

If we look at the history of the first abolitionist movement, we see a growing awareness of the public, with key people stepping out in dynamic ways to 'free the slaves'. Public outrage, political action, and a long, bloody war resulted in the beginning of freedom for slaves in America. People risked their lives and their reputations to stand up for what was right. It took time, patience, and vigilance to accomplish the abolishment of human slavery in the United States.

In the 1830's, it was William Lloyd Garrison, who demanded "immediate emancipation, gradually achieved". In other word, the spirit of the law came before the actual application. We could morally demand freedom; though the reality of lives set free would take time. But, I also think that there was something greater at stake.  What would happen when hundreds of thousands of people were handed their liberty. When the Emancipation Proclaimation finally came about in 1863, the slaves in America were finally set  'free'.

But, history tells us a very different story - what actually happened to the slaves? What happened to the people decimated by years of exploitation and abuse? Where did they go? What futures were provided for them?

Certainly, we have stories of slaves that were given land, money, or some other form of subsistance that went on to achieve great things. But, the vast majority of slaves in the South remained in their stations as slaves. They knew nothing else, but a live of captivity. So, we just called it something else - servitude or 'paid help'. In the end abolitionists asked the imperitive question of freedom. But, it failed to ask what the cost to those enslaved would be.

Ultimately, slavery never went away. It went underground. By 1910, just about 50 years after the Emancipation Proclaimation, American writers such as Emma Goldman and Reginald Wright Kaufman were talking about trafficking of white womenin America for commercial sex. But, that

 is another story.

Today, we are looking at an enormous number of human being enslaved around the world - somewhere in the millions - 12 - 27 million to make our best estimates. In the United States alone, we are talking about 300,000 American children at risk of trafficking every year. If we look at that as raw data, that means that there are 6,000 children in every state of the US that are enslaved. So, if the abolitionist movement that is emerging today were successful tomorrow and every slave were 'set free', what would happen to these people?

One of the core principles that our organization lives by is that "freedom without a future is simply another form of slavery". We have an imperative to remember the human side of human trafficking. Its not about statistics, buying 'slave free' goods, watching gut wrenching movies about trafficking, or wearing clothes made in the US. It is about the people - the men, women, and children that have had their lives crushed and futures stolen from them. How do we provide these lives with 'true freedom'?

In my life of working with survivors of sex trafficking, I am constantly reminded that all the efforts and strides we make in the anti-trafficking world are about the girls that we serve. I keep pictures up at my desk that ask me to keep my focus on the lives that need rebuilding and opportunities provided for. These are girls that by most standards have been rescued from their captors, but they have not been freed from the hell that lives inside of them. They have not been emancipated into the possibility of a new future. So, instead of asking what slaves are being freed 'from', maybe we should ask ourselves what they are being freed 'to'?

Cry of the Innocent

Today, I spoke at Cascade College in Portland. An auditorium full of students and a great morning of sharing the vision for the domestic trafficking shelter in Oregon. After making a number of great connections, we were getting ready to leave and a girl ran to the door and handed me a piece of paper. During the time I was up front speaking, she was in the back writing...the following is what she handed me:

Cry of the Innocent

On a street you know,

Not so far away

Stands a girl.

She stands there day and night

Except when she's not there;

Ominous absence.

And then when she returns

Nothing has changed. 

Nothing at all.

Fishnet stockings and pretty hair,

Eyes too big in her too-small face

She knows too much.

People walking by don't look at her

They don't see her, she doesn't matter.

They don't know her.

But she looks a them with her big eyes,

Dull, a frightening non-expression on her face,

And she asks them silently...

See me,

Help me,

Know me...please.

I was struck by this girl's brief poem...it brought up the trauma and pain of a young girl that we cared for at Transitions a couple of years back, who with tear filled eyes, asked me, "Why didn't you rescue me sooner?" How many people just didn't see her? In our busy lives, with our focus on so many things, do we take the time to look for those that are in need of rescue? 

Today, I have taken some time to reflect on the fact that victims only matter, when we do something to change their futures.

Thank you Rachael. Thank you for the reminder that seeing is more than what we take in with our eyes.

James

"Truthiness" and Domestic Trafficking Shelters

In 2005 Steve Cobert used a new term "truthiness" during his satirical report on Comedy Central. The term was defined to mean "truth that comes from the gut, not books." "We're not talking about truth, we're talking about something that seems like truth – the truth we want to exist," he explained. Something that seems like the truth - this is the air of honesty occurring within the human trafficking world.

In 2007, there were large questions surrounding the statistics being thrown around, with very wide variances. International victims in the United States has a margin of error, somewhere between 17, 500 and 50,000, without any explanation of the origin or methodology of these numbers. In SE Asia, there have been studies that put children in Cambodia being sexually exploited at anywhere from a meager 10,000 up to a sensational 100,000! Why such disparity? Well, there are probably many reasons. One, organizations seeking to get donors attention have felt the need to 'pad' the numbers to get a more urgent fiscal response. On the other hand, naysayers have wanted to quell the issue by throwing cold water disparity on the issue, taking a lower number to minimize the urgency.

Yet, on large - we really don't know. I feel fairly confident that the FBI's number of 300,000 domestically trafficked children is close. This number was extrapolated using numbers from homeless and runaway youth, youth agencies encountering unsafe youth, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). But, there is more at stake than just some inflated numbers.

Working in the United States, we are working carefully to approach domestic trafficking in an honest, intellectual, and non-sensational way. We have done this to our best ability in Cambodia and it has paid off. Intellectual engagement is really all there needs to be to communicate the horrors of sex trafficking. We don't need tear-filled eyes and dramatic images to get the point.

This means, we don't get to exaggerate, use suggestive marketing, and make outrageous claims. We need to work hard to respect our supporters and the public with the dignity and integrity of the actual work being done. There is no reason to make untrue claims on the basis that we think they will be true in the future. We have all heard the saying, "say what you mean and mean what you say."

So, what is going on with all of the sensationalism? One organization in California claims that they have shelters "located throughout the US...", but they haven't build a single thing - in a recent television interview the executive director said they are still in the 'dream phase'. On the website, they have a picture of a home, but its not the shelter they are claiming. So, why the deceptive language on the website? Well, truthiness - its the truth they want to exist. Another organization on the East Coast claims that they work in 12 countries (including Cambodia, but no one has ever heard of them), have a domestic trafficking shelter (described with photographs), but their most recent 990 says that their total income was around $90,000 dollars. For a point of reference, a quality aftercare program in Cambodia for 20 girls runs a little over $200,000. So what is going on?

Well, domestic trafficking is a flashy topic. It is inviting a large number of people to move quickly to get involved in establishing domestic trafficking shelters without any idea of what it will take to be successful. Look at a quality program like GEMS in New York and you will see that it is not about glitz and glamor or big dollars. It is about some very difficult and challenging work. Work that requires a lot more than great intentions and good ideas. This is a field in need of experienced organizations to take on this type of work.

But, we also need some truth in advertising. We, as organizations, are asking the American public to 'buy in' and help to provide the needed funds and support to establish shelter services for children being exploited in the commercial sex trade. As non-profit organizations, we need to understand the integrity of public trust. We have to be truthful and honest - eliminating 'truthiness' from our communication styles to allow the reality of sex trafficking and the need for shelter services to speak without clouding the issue.