Alaska fights growing sex trafficking crimes

CatholicAnchor.org

Alaska is caught in the international blight of human trafficking, a vicious form of modern day slavery.

And the problem is more prevalent than most people realize, said Heidi Carson, who serves as victim’s assistance coordinator for the Archdiocese of Anchorage and works full-time at Covenant House Alaska, which provides shelter and other services to homeless, runaway and at-risk youth.

“In the last three months, 25 youth who have accessed our services at Covenant House have been identified as exploited by a pimp or trafficker,” said Carson, who is a clinical social worker.

Not only does Covenant House regularly see victims, but traffickers lurk on downtown sidewalks near the youth shelter trolling for vulnerable kids. It’s a problem that transcends socio-economic, racial or religious lines.

“A new girl on the street in Anchorage can be approached within 45 minutes,” Carson said.

“The Archdiocese has been very pro-active in recognizing the problem,” she added. “We’ve done training in recognizing the risk factors and signs, and in knowing how to approach someone whom you think may be in a trafficking situation.”

Covenant House Alaska serves runaway and homeless youth, and provides 62 beds in a crisis shelter, as well as case management and transitional living programs. Its clientele, vulnerable youth aged 13 to 20, are prime targets for human traffickers.

A GLOBAL CRISIS

Covenant House’s national website maintains that sex trafficking in the U.S. is a $9.8 billion dollar industry that ensnares 100,000 youth annually.

The United Nations estimates over 20 million people are caught up in trafficking worldwide. Victims can be trafficked to serve in the sex industry, but also in factories, farms or service industries. Some are shipped to foreign sites; others can be enslaved within their own communities. Some are ensnared by large trafficking circles; others by smaller, local traffickers. The internet has provided a boon to traffickers.

HOW VICTIMS ARE COERCED

Carson said awareness is a big first step in combating trafficking. People must realize, she said, that prostitution and trafficking are two different things. Prostitution involves the choice made by an adult of providing sex for some kind of remuneration; victims of trafficking are coerced and subjected to psychological and actual physical entrapment.

Traffickers prey on the vulnerable — the runaway, the teen who has been kicked out of their home and has nowhere to turn, the traveler alone in a large city, the immigrant or refugee, the homeless, the mentally ill, the poor responding to ads for what they think is legitimate labor opportunities in faraway places.

Trafficking, Carson points out, is a full time job. A teen may arrive in Anchorage and be immediately recruited at the airport, where traffickers frequently wait for victims. Other runaways may be solicited on the streets of Anchorage, or anywhere teens are, including middle schools and high schools, theaters, mall, the transit center. Boys are not exempt, although sex trafficking ensnares more females.

The teen is approached by a male who seems caring. He offers to give her a ride, or help her find lodging. He often grooms her by showering her with gifts and displaying affection. She begins to feel they are in a romantic relationship, but gradually and systematically he asserts control, taking her identification and cash, making her psychologically and economically dependent. Her initiation may come when he asks her to do sexual favors for friends, or even when she is gang raped.

Every part of the country has different trafficking methods, said Carson.

For example, in areas where there are large trucking communities, “lot lizards” patrol various rest stops looking for the vulnerable.

“In Alaska, we have a problem with ‘tundra pimping,’” said Carson. “The trafficker will get a girl from a village, take her money, her identification and force her to call home and recruit others.”

The trafficker maintains control by threats, to the girl or her family, by constant phone contact, by creating complete dependency.

RECOGNIZING VICTIMS

Carson has provided training to people who are involved with various ministries and outreaches of the Anchorage Archdiocese, as well as with health care and social service providers.

How does one recognize a victim of trafficking and what’s the best response?

Sometimes the indicators are similar to the signs of domestic abuse – bruising, injuries. The victim may be accompanied by a male, to whom she is protective and solicitous. Sexual transmitted diseases or pregnancy may be present. She may be a chronic runaway, she may have tattoos that “brand” her to a certain male. She may seem skittish and unwilling to talk. She may receive constant phone and text messages. She may take trips — a sign that she is being trafficked to other locales.

“The front desk clerk at the hotel may see a guy who constantly has a different girl with him. The clerk might ask the girl if she’s okay,” said Carson.

Even employees at tattoo shops can be aware of the clientele and whether something coercive is taking place.

If you encounter someone who indicates they are in a coerced relationship, Carson said the natural response — but the wrong one — is to proclaim, “You have to get away from him.” Often, the enslaved person is so afraid or so totally dependent, they perceive this as threatening their situation and may disappear.

“It’s what’s known as a ‘trauma bond’ with the abuser,” Carson said.

A better approach, said Carson, is to establish trust, to listen, to ask questions that may lead the person to rethink their situation. Be open and available. Provide information on resources that the vulnerable person may not be aware of.

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

Human trafficking has become such a problem on a large scale that everyone from FBI agents working on the issue in Anchorage, to the Vatican and state legislatures are getting involved.

Pope Francis, whose awareness of the growing problem began in Buenos Aires, coordinated a seminar at the Vatican in November with a focus on combating trafficking.

In December, the pope dedicated an entire speech on the trafficking issue to a new group of diplomats presenting their credentials.

“This cannot go on;” Pope Francis told them, adding that human trafficking “constitutes a serious violation of human rights and is an affront to (victims’) dignity as well as a loss for the world community.”

In both 2012 and 2013, the Alaska Legislature passed laws attempting to tighten penalties for traffickers. The U.S. bishops have designated February 8 as a day of prayer against human trafficking, and have joined with twenty other Catholic agencies, including Covenant House and Catholic Charities U.S.A., in efforts to combat the problem.

Covenant House has an outreach team on the street five nights a week building relationships with at risk youth to draw them into services. Additionally, the shelter passes along information to law enforcement about recruiting patterns of pimps and traffickers. They provide emergency transport for youth in crisis, and visit victims in the hospital or jail.

Anyone who suspects they have been in contact with a victim of human trafficking may call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-373-7888.