Women plan Oasis of Hope for victims of trafficking - The York Daily Record

Two Pennsylvania women --one from York County-- want to establish a home for domestic victims of human trafficking.

By TED CZECH
Daily Record/Sunday News
Updated: 03/07/2010 02:11:27 PM EST

Tracy Hagen Powell and Debbie Colton met late last year through a mutual friend because they shared a common goal: they wanted to help victims of human trafficking.

Powell, a health care administrator from Red Lion, had gone on missionary trips to countries such as India, where orphans told her stories of being kidnapped and forced to perform sex for money.

Colton, who runs a Christian retreat home in northcentral Pennsylvania, said that over the years, she and husband Dan, a pastor, have had more than 70 foster children. Three of them, girls, were able to escape from the despotic grip of their pimps.

"I really didn't realize it (human trafficking) was in America until we had the three little girls," Colton said.

According to the Polaris Project, a Washington, D.C.-based anti-human trafficking organization, an estimated 17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked annually in the United States alone. The number of US citizens trafficked within the country is even higher.

An estimated 200,000 American children are at high risk for trafficking into the sex industry each year, according to the Polaris Project.

After e-mails and finally a face-to-face meeting, Powell and Colton decided to establish a home for domestic victims of human trafficking. They plan to call it Oasis of Hope.

A home such as Powell and Colton describe it could not be more needed, said Nancy Winston, a member of the board of directors of Shared Hope International, another Washington, D.C.-based anti-slavery group.

Winston said the Trafficking Victims Protection Act gives foreign victims of human trafficking shelter, a caseworker and a visa to live in the United States.

"The only part of it (the act) that has been funded is for foreign victims," she said. Money was never appropriated for any relief for domestic victims, Winston said.

Because of that lack of funding, there's only about 60 beds available nationwide for domestic victims of human trafficking, she said.

Powell and Colton envision a home in a remote area, to remove victims from familiar surroundings, especially their pimps.

Another important aspect is to have someone that the victims can immediately connect with -- someone who has escaped modern-day slavery and thrived, Powell said.

Winston said she applauds Powell and Colton's ideas, adding that they should also plan a detailed curriculum and hire professionals to carry it out.

"And all of that takes funding," Winston said.

Powell's group, Oasis of Hope -- the York County Connection, is geared toward awareness and fundraising for the home. It's made up of about 6 to 8 people.

"There's a larger group that's ready to kick in when there's something for them to do," Powell said.

Powell and Colton know the task is daunting, but are confident their project will succeed.

"I want a home that we can not only restore their lives but . . . mentor them and treat them and put them back into society, working and functioning normally," Colton said.

tczech@ydr.com; 771-2033.

CONTACT

To reach Tracy Hagen Powell and Debbie Colton, send an e-mail to trapow@comcast.net or debbiesoasis@gmail.com

REPORT TRAFFICKING

Toll-free numbers to report human trafficking: national multi-lingual line: 1-888-3737-888; Korean Hotline: 1-888-976-5274; Spanish Hotline: 1-888-80-AYUDA (1-888-80-29832); E-mail: Report@PolarisProject.org

CASES WITH LOCAL CONNECTIONS

Several examples of modern-day human trafficking have been connected to York County in recent years:

# In 1993, nearly 300 Chinese men and women were smuggled into the United States aboard a cramped steamer called the Golden Venture. "The way these guys bring people to the United States is not much better than slave ships in the 19th century," attorney Craig Trebilcock said in 1998. Trebilcock represented the men who were held at York County Prison for years.

# In 2006, Immigration and Customs Enforcement uncovered a network of brothels along the East Coast, including two in York County, where women were kept as sex slaves. The network smuggled South Korean women into the U.S. and forced them to work in the parlors to pay off their transportation debts. The women were told that, if they left the business before paying off their debts, they would be turned over to police or immigration authorities, federal complaints stated.

# In December 2008, three people were charged with arranging fraudulent marriages to smuggle Vietnamese women into the U.S., then forcing them to work at area nail salons. Former U.S. Attorney Martin Carlson called the actions "modern-day slavery."

On Oct. 13, Lynda Dieu Phan, 39; her brother Justin Phan, 36; and her boyfriend, Duc Cao Nguyen, 41, pleaded guilty to federal charges in the case. Last month, Judge Sylvia Rambo accepted the negotiated plea agreements, sentencing Lynda Phan to 90 days in prison, 270 days under house arrest, one year of probation and $300,000 in restitution and Nguyen to one year of probation and a $1,000 fine. Rambo waved Lynda Phan's potential $250,000 fine so all funds could be directed toward restitution. Justin Phan's sentencing is scheduled for March 23.

Also of interest
· York County human trafficking: 'Three years of ... long hours, often seven days a week, for no pay'.

Women plan Oasis of Hope for victims of trafficking - The York Daily Record

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