The Marshall Democrat-News
Ten community members attended "Look Beneath The Surface," a program about human trafficking held Tuesday, Sept. 15, at Missouri Valley College.
Paul Schlup, special investigator with the Cole County prosecuting attorney's office, works in conjunction with Human Trafficking Resource Project, the group that organized the presentation.
HTRP was founded in 2006 and is a federally funded task force with jurisdiction in western Missouri, said Schlup.
One focus of HTRP is training of law enforcement personnel and civilians on identification and investigation of human trafficking victims, he said, adding that the Coalition Against Human Trafficking assists with victim welfare and rehabilitation.
Since its creation in November 2006, HTRP has investigated more than 60 reports of possible human trafficking, opened more than 35 human trafficking cases in federal and state courts, rescued more than 100 victims of human trafficking and had its presentations attended by more than 2,000 law enforcers and civilians, said Schlup.
After drug trafficking, human trafficking is tied with the illegal arms trade as the second-largest criminal industry in the world, said Schlup, and it is the fastest-growing.
Schlup reported that statistics show that annually, between 800,000 and 900,000 victims are trafficked across international borders and between 18,000 and 20,000 are trafficked into the U.S. He added that estimates of the true number of victims of human trafficking range from five to 10 times higher than those numbers.
Because there are more victims of human trafficking than are brought to the attention of law enforcers, "there are no true facts" about the number of victims of human trafficking, said Schlup.
Of the victims of human trafficking, he said, more than half are children, and victims are more commonly female than male.
Schlup gave a brief overview of a few sex trafficking cases, showing they can be perpetrated by anyone from a complete stranger to a family member.
He then told the story of "Sally," a runaway who lived in central Missouri, saying this was one of the most horrific human trafficking cases Missouri has seen.
At 18, "Sally" began to live with her ex-boyfriend's family, and, a year or so later, the father forced her to become a sex slave.
"Basically, all he told her was, 'Either you do what I tell you to do, or I'm kicking you out on the street,'" said Schlup. "(He) didn't beat her up, didn't chain her up, ... but she had no place to go."
For six years, "Sally" was tortured and forced to strip in clubs -- making up to $1,800 a night and giving all but $50 to her abuser --before she escaped, Schlup said. Her escape came when she suffered cardiac arrest during one of her beatings. When she awoke surrounded by EMS personnel, she began to tell her story, and HTRP got involved.
Schlup then spoke about another sex trafficking victim whose movement was never even restricted.
This girl was raped and had photos taken of her by a male schoolmate.
With the threat of these photos being shown to her family, the girl went home, "slept in her bed," and continued her life by going to school. When contacted by the boy, however, she would submit to further abuse before returning home.
Her escape came because her father secured a new job out of state, and she told no one of it, instead simply leaving the area with her family.
"She was a victim. She couldn't get out. ... She was afraid that they were going to tell her parents and bring shame to her family," Schlup said.
Schlup then told of "Operation Guardian Angel," an ongoing effort by law enforcers to identify those seeking encounters with underage prostitutes through posts on Craigslist.
This operation has netted the arrest of several, including a recruiter for the Navy who wore his uniform when he arrived for his alleged appointment with a child prostitute.
Undercover officers would advertize the availability of girls as young as 12 because conviction for solicitation for prostitution with an individual younger than 14 carries a minimum 20-year sentence, Schlup said, rather than the 10-year minimum sentence for soliciting prostitution with a minor older than 14.
Schlup defined human trafficking as "modern-day slavery" where victims are exploited for commercial purposes of either sex or labor through the use of force, fraud or coercion. To prosecute a case as sex trafficking, Schlup said, use of such methods in unnecessary so long as the person performing the sex act is under 18.
One requirement for the label of human trafficking is that money must be made, said Schlup. If a 17-year-old wants to dance in a strip club, club owners can be charged with sex trafficking because she cannot legally do so and they are making money from that illegal activity. However, if someone, regardless of age, has his or her movement restricted, is physically abused and forced to perform sexual acts without any monetary exchange, this does not constitute sex trafficking. The person who commits those acts may be charged with kidnapping or attempted murder, said Schlup, but not sex trafficking.
Labor trafficking victims often do not believe they are victims, instead thinking they will have a chance to send money home to help their family or better themselves by learning a trade, according to an advertisement produced by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime that Schlup showed to those present.
One form of labor trafficking occurs when a person pays to be illegally transported into another area, but then the transporter states the individual owes more money and must work to pay it off, said Schlup. This is called "debt bondage."
Another form is the "negative paycheck," in which individuals are provided with a job and a place to stay, but spend all of their paychecks on housing and are told they still owe more.
Labor trafficking victims can commonly be found working as nannies, maids, janitors and construction workers and at factories, restaurants and farms.
Schlup mentioned some myths regarding victims of human trafficking.
Not all prostitutes are willing participants, he said, and relayed the statistic that 89 percent of women involved in prostitution wish to leave the life, but have no other options for survival.
Although the word "trafficking" brings to mind physical movement, such movement is not a requirement for the label of "human trafficking." Instead, the crime occurs with the exploitation of the victim.
Although victims of human trafficking are often arrested under the assumption that they are criminals or illegal immigrants, said Schlup, the only criminals in human trafficking cases are those who control the crimes and profit from the activities.
Schlup compared human trafficking to cocaine distribution, saying that when someone buys and sells a kilogram of cocaine, a profit is made from the sale of that cocaine, but the seller must then purchase more to sell. Conversely, if someone "purchases" an individual for sale as a prostitute, he or she may repeatedly sell that individual for a long time to come without having to re-invest.
Through repeatedly selling four young women or children for sex acts, pimps can earn up to $632,000 per year, said Schlup.
One speaker who appeared in another video by UNODC said that it is not uncommon for a child prostitute to be forced to perform 15 sex acts nightly.
One subject in the same video said that children are seen by human traffickers to be low-risk, high-profit and easy to move.
The average age for entry into work in pornography and prostitution by sex trafficking victims, said Schlup, is 12.
Victim Service Coordinator for Centro Latino in Columbia Carrie Tyler spoke about the mindset of human trafficking victims.
Many do not consider themselves to be victims, she said.
Project Director Deb Hume interjected that victims, especially sex trafficking victims, are often ashamed to go home and develop Stockholm syndrome, a state where hostages show loyalty to their captors, as a coping mechanism.
Contact Geoff Rands at marshallreporter@socket.net
http://www.marshallnews.com/story/1576721.html
Paul Schlup, special investigator with the Cole County prosecuting attorney's office, works in conjunction with Human Trafficking Resource Project, the group that organized the presentation.
HTRP was founded in 2006 and is a federally funded task force with jurisdiction in western Missouri, said Schlup.
One focus of HTRP is training of law enforcement personnel and civilians on identification and investigation of human trafficking victims, he said, adding that the Coalition Against Human Trafficking assists with victim welfare and rehabilitation.
Since its creation in November 2006, HTRP has investigated more than 60 reports of possible human trafficking, opened more than 35 human trafficking cases in federal and state courts, rescued more than 100 victims of human trafficking and had its presentations attended by more than 2,000 law enforcers and civilians, said Schlup.
After drug trafficking, human trafficking is tied with the illegal arms trade as the second-largest criminal industry in the world, said Schlup, and it is the fastest-growing.
Schlup reported that statistics show that annually, between 800,000 and 900,000 victims are trafficked across international borders and between 18,000 and 20,000 are trafficked into the U.S. He added that estimates of the true number of victims of human trafficking range from five to 10 times higher than those numbers.
Because there are more victims of human trafficking than are brought to the attention of law enforcers, "there are no true facts" about the number of victims of human trafficking, said Schlup.
Of the victims of human trafficking, he said, more than half are children, and victims are more commonly female than male.
Schlup gave a brief overview of a few sex trafficking cases, showing they can be perpetrated by anyone from a complete stranger to a family member.
He then told the story of "Sally," a runaway who lived in central Missouri, saying this was one of the most horrific human trafficking cases Missouri has seen.
At 18, "Sally" began to live with her ex-boyfriend's family, and, a year or so later, the father forced her to become a sex slave.
"Basically, all he told her was, 'Either you do what I tell you to do, or I'm kicking you out on the street,'" said Schlup. "(He) didn't beat her up, didn't chain her up, ... but she had no place to go."
For six years, "Sally" was tortured and forced to strip in clubs -- making up to $1,800 a night and giving all but $50 to her abuser --before she escaped, Schlup said. Her escape came when she suffered cardiac arrest during one of her beatings. When she awoke surrounded by EMS personnel, she began to tell her story, and HTRP got involved.
Schlup then spoke about another sex trafficking victim whose movement was never even restricted.
This girl was raped and had photos taken of her by a male schoolmate.
With the threat of these photos being shown to her family, the girl went home, "slept in her bed," and continued her life by going to school. When contacted by the boy, however, she would submit to further abuse before returning home.
Her escape came because her father secured a new job out of state, and she told no one of it, instead simply leaving the area with her family.
"She was a victim. She couldn't get out. ... She was afraid that they were going to tell her parents and bring shame to her family," Schlup said.
Schlup then told of "Operation Guardian Angel," an ongoing effort by law enforcers to identify those seeking encounters with underage prostitutes through posts on Craigslist.
This operation has netted the arrest of several, including a recruiter for the Navy who wore his uniform when he arrived for his alleged appointment with a child prostitute.
Undercover officers would advertize the availability of girls as young as 12 because conviction for solicitation for prostitution with an individual younger than 14 carries a minimum 20-year sentence, Schlup said, rather than the 10-year minimum sentence for soliciting prostitution with a minor older than 14.
Schlup defined human trafficking as "modern-day slavery" where victims are exploited for commercial purposes of either sex or labor through the use of force, fraud or coercion. To prosecute a case as sex trafficking, Schlup said, use of such methods in unnecessary so long as the person performing the sex act is under 18.
One requirement for the label of human trafficking is that money must be made, said Schlup. If a 17-year-old wants to dance in a strip club, club owners can be charged with sex trafficking because she cannot legally do so and they are making money from that illegal activity. However, if someone, regardless of age, has his or her movement restricted, is physically abused and forced to perform sexual acts without any monetary exchange, this does not constitute sex trafficking. The person who commits those acts may be charged with kidnapping or attempted murder, said Schlup, but not sex trafficking.
Labor trafficking victims often do not believe they are victims, instead thinking they will have a chance to send money home to help their family or better themselves by learning a trade, according to an advertisement produced by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime that Schlup showed to those present.
One form of labor trafficking occurs when a person pays to be illegally transported into another area, but then the transporter states the individual owes more money and must work to pay it off, said Schlup. This is called "debt bondage."
Another form is the "negative paycheck," in which individuals are provided with a job and a place to stay, but spend all of their paychecks on housing and are told they still owe more.
Labor trafficking victims can commonly be found working as nannies, maids, janitors and construction workers and at factories, restaurants and farms.
Schlup mentioned some myths regarding victims of human trafficking.
Not all prostitutes are willing participants, he said, and relayed the statistic that 89 percent of women involved in prostitution wish to leave the life, but have no other options for survival.
Although the word "trafficking" brings to mind physical movement, such movement is not a requirement for the label of "human trafficking." Instead, the crime occurs with the exploitation of the victim.
Although victims of human trafficking are often arrested under the assumption that they are criminals or illegal immigrants, said Schlup, the only criminals in human trafficking cases are those who control the crimes and profit from the activities.
Schlup compared human trafficking to cocaine distribution, saying that when someone buys and sells a kilogram of cocaine, a profit is made from the sale of that cocaine, but the seller must then purchase more to sell. Conversely, if someone "purchases" an individual for sale as a prostitute, he or she may repeatedly sell that individual for a long time to come without having to re-invest.
Through repeatedly selling four young women or children for sex acts, pimps can earn up to $632,000 per year, said Schlup.
One speaker who appeared in another video by UNODC said that it is not uncommon for a child prostitute to be forced to perform 15 sex acts nightly.
One subject in the same video said that children are seen by human traffickers to be low-risk, high-profit and easy to move.
The average age for entry into work in pornography and prostitution by sex trafficking victims, said Schlup, is 12.
Victim Service Coordinator for Centro Latino in Columbia Carrie Tyler spoke about the mindset of human trafficking victims.
Many do not consider themselves to be victims, she said.
Project Director Deb Hume interjected that victims, especially sex trafficking victims, are often ashamed to go home and develop Stockholm syndrome, a state where hostages show loyalty to their captors, as a coping mechanism.
Contact Geoff Rands at marshallreporter@socket.net
http://www.marshallnews.com/story/1576721.html
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