U.S. criminals, including those in the Pacific Northwest, have realized that young prostitutes can be sold many times. It's easier money than selling drugs. And, drugs can be sold just once.
Human traffickers get big profits through luring young, naive girls into a captive state of prostitution. These victims are often ages 10 to 14. With no one to protect them, they are subject to abuses such as rape, beating, malnutrition and are at risk for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS.
Human traffickers/pimps control the girls by physically and emotionally beating them down until they have no self-esteem and fear for their lives. The girls have no control over the money they earn. These girls may never be heard from again.
This was the beginning information about human trafficking offered by the Soroptimist International of Greater Bremerton on May 6 and 7.
The presenters had painful personal knowledge of how the pimps/human traffickers operate. Jeri W. from Portland was gang-raped by 10 men and forced out on the streets as a prostitute. One early morning she was stabbed by a man trying to steal her night's earnings. Sarah C. from the east Puget Sound region saw her daughter pulled into prostitution by a boyfriend-turned-pimp. Two years ago the girl disappeared without a trace after giving court testimony against her pimp. Doug Justus, retired police sergeant, spent three years on the Portland vice squad. Daily, he saw young girls selling themselves; part of his role was to help them. He said in nearly 30 years of police work, it was the hardest job he ever had.
All speakers stressed that this is not just a big-city issue. They pointed out that Kitsap is an hour away from Seattle and Tacoma, and a few hours from Portland. Once in the hands of a human trafficker/pimp, a girl can be transported far from her community and home.
Malls, food courts and public transit systems are common places where traffickers wait to approach young girls. Girls who are loners or suffer from low self-esteem or are young runaways may all be easy targets. The trafficker may be a young man who befriends a girl then lavishes her with attention and gifts or maybe alcohol and drugs. He may work to put an emotional wedge between the girl and her family. He may use conflicts between the girl and parents as part of the wedge. He convinces her that he loves her. Once he gets her trust and gets her away from her family, he may turn her over to others and be paid a fee for his work. The girl is spirited away and forced into the sex trade.
In an alternative approach, the young man may convince the girl that he's done so much for her that she should do something for him. The "something" is prostituting herself.
Another approach was reported in In Vancouver, WA. A young girl met a boy in a mall. It was chilly and he loaned her his coat. When she returned the coat, he claimed that money his parents gave him for needed purchases was missing from the pocket. She did not have any money and panicked. She got in a car with him, allegedly heading for Portland. She was never seen again.
Sadly, girls who are actually rescued from the web of prostitution are very often viewed as criminals rather than victims of human trafficking. Additionally, there are almost no safe places for these girls to go if they are willing to testify in court against pimps/traffickers. They are at risk of being kidnapped and/or murdered for cooperating with the justice system. Then, fear may drive them to run away; they may be scooped up by another pimp and be pulled back into prostitution.
Part of the message from the speakers was to parents. Know your children's friends. Decide if each one is a "safe friend." Keep computers in general family space so you can see what's coming up on the screen. Know whom your children talk to on the Internet. Know the websites they use — a lot of human trafficking begins on the Internet. Talk to your children about safety. There are resources to help such as "take 25," a list of age-appropriate suggestions for a 25-minute discussion with your children. More information is at www.take25.org or call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 1-800-843-5678. General information on human trafficking, including pending legislation, may be found through www.polarisproject.org or contact the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, 1-888-373-7888.
Additionally, the Soroptimist International of Greater Bremerton has taken the issue of human trafficking as a three-year project. Contact the organization at bremertonsoroptimist.org.
MY TURN | Human trafficking is a threat even in Kitsap » Kitsap Sun
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