Major concerns over Child trafficking

 

The awkwardly age of 11- 14, is a time of transition for children. For some of our youths the luxury of normal growing pains are being ripped away; our children are being sold into slavery.

The Genesis Project of Seattle uses the acronym DMST. The acronym has a heartbreaking meaning; it stands for Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking!

The statistics gathered by the Genesis Project of Seattle show that, “[an] estimated… 300-500 youth are involved in DMST in the Seattle/King County area; however, the number is more likely as high as 1,000.” The Genesis Project of Seattle also explains, “The average age of entry into prostitution is 13 years and a minor involved in trafficking has a lifespan of 7-10 years.”

The number of youth involved in DMST is not completely accurate because some cases are never reported.

It is not uncommon to hear of about rebellious youth running away. Some are running from broken or dysfunctional homes, living on the streets, joining gangs and finding themselves in a predators tangled web of servitude.

Human trafficking is an issue that is affecting us locally in our community, across our nation, and around the world.

According to Shared Hope International “Human trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act or forced labor.”

Trafficking is easy in the Pacific Northwest; we live along the Interstate 5 corridor, which runs through several states. We are a port city with cargo ships coming and going constantly. The Canadian border is only a few hours away. Washington borders Idaho and Oregon.

“All it takes is a hotel or motel in a rural area and Internet access, for this crime to occur; it’s transient in nature” said Snohomish County Sheriff Detective Christopher Ferreira.

It is appalling to think that slavery still exists in a country that fought so long and hard to break those chains. Unfortunately, we live in a digital era anything you desire is at your fingertips with just a touch; including children, women and some men as well.

If it was such a problem how come we don’t see it happening, hear or know about it until today? Isn’t it just transpiring in larger urban cities? These are a few of the questions among several myths we tell ourselves about this heinous crime, to insure the comfort level of our home. There is no time like the present for us all to start acknowledging this matter and help make a change for the future.

Persuaded, lured with empty promises or threats of all kinds, these individuals unwittingly enter the market, some never to be seen again and some to live the rest of their lives with more than just physical scars. It seems quite possible that this rapidly growing industry could be just as lucrative as the disruption of arms or drugs; but far less publicized. “We wouldn’t see a child walking the “track” on Highway 99; that would be way too obvious” said Detective Ferraeira.

This could happen to a little sister, brother, friend, stranger; anybody. This crime in general is not prejudiced against race or even gender. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports “Confirmed sex trafficking victims were more likely to be white (26 percent) or black (40 percent), compared to labor trafficking victims, who were more likely to be Hispanic (63 percent) or Asian (17 percent)”.

On Feb. 1, 2011 the Department of Justice announced the launch of Human Trafficking Enhanced Enforcement Initiative. The DOJ funded the creation of the Human Trafficking Reporting System (HTRS). This system provides data on human trafficking incidents investigated by federally funded task forces.

Special operatives have been assigned to help bring down culprits and centers have been built to provide services for victims. Locations like Dawson Place were created, with folks like Azra Grudic who is an advocate, Paula Newman-Skomski a family nurse practitioner; whom also serves as the forensic nurse examiner for DPCAC and Detective Christopher Ferreira of the Snohomish county sheriffs’ Special Investigative Unit.

The words written in the waiting room of Dawson Place speak for themselves, “Transforming hurt…to hope!”

“If you think your community doesn’t have this happening, you are not looking hard enough” said Azra Grudic an advocate specialist from Providence Intervention Center for Assault and Abuse. Some communities are considered “supply or feeder” towns. The perpetrators can come in recruit their victims and be on to the next site before anyone’s the wiser.

So how can we at EdCC address this situation? We can start talking; the more the better. “Community effort is just one entity but by far one of the most important facets to prevention” said Detective Ferraeira. There is a 24-hour hotline to report any possible activity of trafficking 425-258-9037. There are signs from our youth to be aware of, “Red Flags” Paula calls them; things like incongruent stories, clothes or cell phones that are too expensive for them to afford, unexplained bruising or strange tattoos like branding. Even though we are not trained professionals, we can still communicate with our youth and pay attention for the signs of distress.

Azra restated her position, “We have been able to prevent this from occurring on several occasions because people have been educated, seen the warning signs, reported it and helped get themselves or another out of becoming the next victim.”

January is the month of resolutions, new beginnings for the year to come but it is also the time for conciseness and impact; for this is Human Trafficking Awareness Month.

The Black Box Theater is hosting a lecture on this issue Jan.31, 2013 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Azra Grudic and Paula Skomski will be informing us, giving more signs and in-depth prevention tips. Increasing the flow of this information from our campus, to our friends and family maybe we can lift the fog of ignorance