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Azra Grudic is one of seven anti-trafficking specialists in the state that work for the Washington Anti-trafficking Response Network. Grudic said that all of the human trafficking cases in Spokane are currently under investigation, so she declined to give specific details.
"[Human trafficking] is in your plain sight and you don't even notice it," Grudic said.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 defines human trafficking as "the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage or slavery."
Human trafficking, or modern-day slavery, also includes male and female commercial sex acts by force or coercion in which a person performing the act is under 18, Grudic said.
"Traffickers are really smart; it is not always easy to identify [trafficking]," Grudic said. "We see it over and over again; smart people, young people, not just homeless or runaways, who are actually being recruited [by traffickers] and they don't even know it."
Before 2009, the Northwest region of the U.S. did not have a program dedicated towards protecting and aiding trafficking victims, but since then WARN has exposed numerous cases of trafficking in Washington, Grudic said.
The latest known case occurred on Nov. 8, 2010 in the Seattle/Tacoma area where FBI agents rescued 23 underage girls from prostitution, according to the Seattle Times.
Approximately 12.3 million adults and children were trafficked around the world in 2009 and the majority of the victims are females trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation, according to U.S. government-sponsored research completed in 2010.
Some of the main reasons victims fall into trafficking through migration or smuggling into the country are caused by prospects of better economic opportunities, higher standards of living and demand for labor or goods, Grudic said.
"Our program [WARN] focuses heavily on international victims," Grudic said. "Smuggling easily turns into trafficking, and it happens more frequently than you think."
The first publicized case of human trafficking in Washington surfaced in the Seattle Times in March 2009. The Seattle Times reported that a West Seattle street gang forced 12 women and girls to perform sex acts for money, beat them and took the money the women earned. Six men were charged for the forced prostitution of women and juveniles, and one was charged under the TVPA.
In connection with sexual exploitation, a victim's first involvement in prostitution usually occurs between the ages of 12 and 14, Grudic said. About 244,000 American children and youth are estimated to be at risk, Grudic said.
"We see this in Spokane a lot; drugs are a big motivator," Grudic said. "We have to work for that [improvement] in terms of reeducating community."
Grudic emphasized that in order to fight against human trafficking by reporting suspicious cases, it is important for law enforcement and public service providers to get training in recognizing human trafficking situations.
Another way one organization combats the issue of human trafficking is by offering after-care programs to trafficking victims. The International Justice Mission helps to support trafficking victims and protect them from further abuse, said senior Angela Hartley, member of IJM.
"Every one of us owns products that were made by slave labor," Hartley said. "People just don't know enough [about human trafficking]. There is not enough of a voice being heard."
To raise further awareness of human trafficking in Spokane, WISE will hold "Feminist Fridays" during spring semester, said junior Amanda Ramey, president of WISE.
"We are a club that desires to educate the Whitworth community about the wrongdoings that are occurring in our backyards," Ramey said.
Grudic is also working with Lutheran Community Services to spread the word about trafficking through other presentations.
"Raising the awareness and recognizing [human trafficking] is difficult," Grudic said. "The fact that you're standing here [presenting the issue of human trafficking] and saying this is not OK, it's actually really healing."
Contact Maria Chumov at maria.chumov@whitworthian.com.
Source: The Whitworthian News
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