valeriaosorio.files.wordpress.com · web viewthe issue of human trafficking is quickly becoming a...
TRANSCRIPT
Valeria Osorio
Professor Scalise
Human Trafficking
December 13th, 2013
The Relevance of Human Trafficking in Kentucky
December 2nd, 2013: A Subway restaurant is busted for having illegal immigrants
working there. The problem is that owners Amrutlal Patel and Dakshaben Patel had
brought these people into the country from India to work at their restaurants and were
even forcing three of them to live in a hidden room in their home. This sounds like a
story from a distant place, a different country or maybe even a different city, a more
dangerous one where midnight pizza runs are completely out of the question. That is not
the case though, this story happened right here in Lexington, Kentucky. So close to where
we go to school, hang out with friends, and support the Kentucky Wildcats. The issue of
human trafficking is quickly becoming a bigger issue in Kentucky and without anybody
to stop the problem it will continue to grow. In this state alone there have been over 25
cases of human trafficking with twice as many child victims alone, this is excluding the
adult victims. Authorities have been unable to successfully slow the spreading of the
issue. Some of the reasons for there being such an issue are the lack of knowledge in the
community, hardly no training for law enforcement and the community, and not many
serious long-term ways to help victims. Kentucky will become a hot spot for human
trafficking if nothing is done to help stop or at least slow the problem.
As previously stated, there is a serious lack of knowledge given out to
members of the community. The people are uninformed about the issue and therefore
cannot help themselves or others. People, especially women don’t know they are targets
because they don’t see themselves as such. In a survey conducted by myself, 84% of the
girls in my sorority’s pledge class did not believe that human trafficking was a problem
in Kentucky. Another 10% of the girls chose to skip the question of defining what human
trafficking meant, stating lack of information as the reason why they were unable to do
so. This means that 65 girls out of my 78-person pledge class don’t believe that we have a
problem and 10 girls don’t even know what human trafficking is. This is a scary number
when one begins to notice that many times a person’s own trustworthy nature is what gets
them into trouble. The victims look at their helpful neighbor and don’t suspect that their
friend who is almost always over could actually be his or her pimp. They don’t look for
the signs that are so clear once pointed out. The signs include, but are not limited to being
paid very little, long and unusual hours, high security in order to visit that person, a
victim avoiding eye contact, victim appears malnourished, few personal possessions,
inconsistencies in stories, loss sense of time, and showing signs of physical abuse. While
these sound minor, they are actually very easy to recognize once you know what to look
2
for. Another way to keep an eye out for these victims is to think about places where a
person can be snatched. A lot of times, people believe that it’s going to be in parts of
town where are a lot of immigrants and at-risk teenagers, but it can happen anywhere
even in the most expensive gated communities. Most likely women will get taken, but it
could also be men.
Another way to recognize a victim of human trafficking is to notice if that person
is always on the go. This doesn’t include if they have work or four kids with intense
soccer schedules, but if the same person is always picking them up at unusual hours of
the day, after a normal shift of work would be over then it’s time to speak up. Don’t play
police to these people, while citizen’s arrests can be useful the best way to help is to
simply notice what they are doing and what’s going on. If it appears shady, then call the
police and let them handle it. Here in Kentucky, local law enforcement agents are being
trained to deal with human trafficking. Kentucky is one of only 12 states in the United
States to have a law requiring the training in this area. The state encourages training on
topics related to child trafficking victims. However, Kentucky only requires the police
force and state attorneys to receive this training. They fail to do what other states such as
Minnesota does. In Minnesota the local trafficking cases they use must be used not only
to train the law enforcement agents, but must be also used in public awareness campaigns
to “train” the public. This would be extremely useful because states would be killing two
birds with one stone. They would be showing police officers how to deal with human
trafficking as well as showing the public how dangerous the issue is. If Kentucky were to
adopt this practice into their training then the state would be using resources well and
they would be learning from past cases so they could be prevented in the future.
3
By Albert Einstein’s definition insanity is doing the same thing over and over and
expecting different results. So when there is no
progress made in the area of human trafficking
because nobody believes there needs to be change we
are by definition insane. This is why there needs to be
a serious change in the way Kentucky deals with the
issue. Representative Overly from Paris, Kentucky
stated that, “the incidence of child trafficking is growing at an alarming pace in
Kentucky.” While Governor Beshear has taken steps to alleviate some parts of human
trafficking, there is still a lot of work to do. Just this past March, Governor Beshear
signed a bill into action that would increase protections for victims of trafficking
specifically child victims. The bill also strengthens the punishments of the criminals who
commit these crimes. This is will hopefully make strides in bettering the situation.
Another big problem that needs correcting quickly is the lack of help provided to
the victims. There are organizations like Restore and Rescue, and Catholic Charities, but
there is only so much that these organizations can accomplish. After victims are taken
into safety the first thing that needs addressing is the possible language barrier. In most
cases the victims will speak another language. After this there is not much available to
victims. Kentucky has many counselors in all areas of the state, but long term there is
virtually nothing. The Center for Women has much to offer women and families who
have fallen victim to domestic violence, rape/sexual assault, or economic hardships. They
also host training for people who wish to help victims of human trafficking, even an
award winning curriculum titled, “Human Trafficking and Slavery: Tools for an effective
4
Response.” The Center for Women does not however, have anything serious to help
victims. This is highly disrespectful to victims though. This is equivalent to the Good
Samaritan giving his money to someone else and having him or her help the man who
needed help instead of doing it himself. When someone has time, money and resources to
help another person out then that person has the responsibility to do that. Kentucky can’t
just be put down for its lack of long-term help, especially when there are so many
counselors here to help victims.
There has been an increased number of human trafficking cases since the last
formal report in 2009. A recent study conducted by Restore and Rescue shows alarmingly
large numbers in the amount of minors being trafficked. There has also been a huge
increase in the number of boys being taken as opposed to girls. Most people think that it
is only girls being taken for sexual reasons, but in reality 55.9% of victims are male.
5
Another shocking number is the amount of people being recruited right here in Kentucky.
Professionals who work with victims stated that 79.5% of victims were recruited in
Kentucky and 95.7% lived in Kentucky while being trafficked. This means that the pimps
are coming into our state, taking our people and selling them to people right here in our
states. We have a responsibility as citizens of this state to stop this. We should not be the
reason that pimps can live luxurious lives. So many people think that the pimps are
selling out of state only, or that they are selling the people to drug addicts and people
generally thought of as “bad people.” The people that your mom said to stay away from
when you were a kid, but most times it’s people one would never suspect. For example,
in Louisville, Kentucky a wealthy family took a 10 year old girl from her home country
and brought her to the east end of Louisville. They promise to give her a life of fulfilled
dreams and an education, but instead she was locked in a basement and forced to be the
family slave until she escaped at age 20 while her captors were on vacation. Nobody
would have suspected that a wealthy, upper class family with kids of their own would do
this. Being naïve about who is capable of what causes so much harm.
Kentucky is a state full of promise, full of rich natural resources, racehorses and a
growing social and economic scene. With all this growth come negative side effects. All
6
around the world Kentucky is known for the Derby. Celebrities and millionaires from
around the nation and the world are known to fly in on private jets to watch the
festivities. With all the excitement and flow of booze and alcohol comes the added
danger for possible trafficking victims and added business for pimps. There are more
customers to please therefore a pimp will acquire more employees. A prestigious event in
our city meant for everyone to enjoy is turning into a dangerous time of year for women
and men who can no longer go out and enjoy this time of the year. Family events such as
Thunder Over Louisville are now so dangerous that parents don’t take their kids out to
enjoy the show. Human trafficking has damaged Kentucky traditions and has especially
put kids in great danger.
There have been 44 child human trafficking victims in Kentucky, but there is little
to no work or true information available. Authorities have allowed the children in the
state to slip through the cracks. In some instances, this is understandable. There are 6,872
children in the foster care system, of these only 842 will be adopted. That is a lot of
7
children to watch out for and take care of, there is no human way possible to keeps tabs
on these kids at all times. While this is a big number, the number of neglected and abused
children is even larger. In 2011 there were 17,470 kids that fell under this category. Some
of these kids will fall into trafficking. Restore and Rescue’s report on minors trafficked
included a child who trafficked himself in order to feed his drug addiction. Other times,
parents will sell their children to provide for their own drug addiction. Such was the case
of a woman in Bowling Green who charged men to come into a 16 year old girl’s
bedroom and do whatever they pleased with her. She even started to charge the men to
make videos to sell to potential customers. In order to correct this specific part of the
problem, there should be harder screenings for Foster parents. While there may not be
many people willing to take in a troubled teenager, if all the foster parents are going to do
is neglect and ignore the child then they should not have them in their home. There
should also be harsher punishments for people who commit these crimes against children.
The seriousness of the problem also calls for more help to be provided to children.
Counseling for these victims should be more available and targeted specifically to them.
A child will not respond to the same kind of counseling that an adult will respond to so
their counseling needs should be more tailored to how the specific person will react and
heal the most effectively.
In conclusion, there is a serious lack of support for human trafficking in
Kentucky. There are plenty of cases and evidence showing how big and widespread an
epidemic it is becoming in our state. If we as citizens do not control it then it will
continue to grow and put more lives in danger. There are many, clear and simple
solutions to the issue at hand that include, but are not limited to: creating a home for
8
victims to receive long term help, provide more training for not just law enforcement
agents, but for everyone, make stricter rules for those wishing to take a foster child,
provide information in schools to all kids on how to protect themselves, have more
counselors, and inform the public on how to catch victims and capture pimps. If there
was a home where victims could live and heal until they were ready to face society then
the chance of them falling back into trafficking would significantly decrease. In this place
victims would have counselors tailored specifically to their needs and situation. The
training here in Kentucky is nationally recognized so it should be put to good use. The
state should train not just the people who are most likely to run into the issue, but
everyone. The Juvenile Justice panel is severely lacking in information so when a child
gets into trouble or falls back into trafficking the people responsible for their punishment
show no mercy, which only makes the child more likely to continue in their path. When a
child is growing up, they are formed and molded by experiences and the examples of
adults around them. There needs to be a better way of screening foster parents. There
may not be many people willing to become foster parents, but that doesn’t mean that as a
society we can allow just anyone to take on the job. It would be better for a child to be in
an orphanage with other kids than in a foster home where the parents do not care what the
child is doing and where the child can fall into serious danger from being ignored.
9
If everyone
knew the simple
symptoms of a
trafficking victim then
many lives would be
saved. In order to teach
people these signs, there should be school programs dedicated to teaching the state’s
children about how common and easy it is to fall victim to this billion-dollar industry.
School programs would be very easy to implement into the system, there are plenty of
people that could teach the program. Anyone from a social worker to a volunteer can
learn the information necessary to teach these kids and the results could potentially save
many lives. These programs could also be altered to teach other citizens of Kentucky. A
simple way to teach everyone would be to have a short 4 minute segment on local news
channels during the news or shorter clips in the commercials of popular TV shows. Also,
by making the national hotline number common knowledge people would be more likely
to step in. At times people are simply too lazy to look up the number and because they
have no real knowledge of what to look for they just brush it off.
Kentucky has so much to offer like a growing music scene and better quality of
life, but the state’s positive growth is marred by the negative growth of the human
trafficking industry. Now more than ever the problem has increased to the highest it has
ever been and if more steps are not taken soon, the problem will not improve. In order to
prevent the state from becoming just another hot spot with big numbers everyone’s help
10
is required. The state’s legislature cannot do it alone, and the people of the state are
needed to combat the issue. Everyone has a responsibility to protect their fellow man
from falling into this terrible fate. With solutions as simple as they are, there is no excuse
not to help, not anymore. Not when numbers are increasing as high and as quickly as they
are. They say it can’t happen to you until one day it does. Then what?
Translation: “I asked God to help me get out of my country and the devil answered.
Don’t fool yourself. You can be a victim of human trafficking.”
11
Works CitedAnti-Trafficking in Persons. Digital image. Office of Refugee
Resettlement. US Department of Health and Human Services, n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2013.
Children' s Defense Fund Statistics. Jan. 2011. Raw data. Kenticky, n.p.
Cole, Jennifer, Ph.D. Sex Trafficking of Minors in Kentucky. Rep.
Rescue and Restore, Aug. 2013. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.
Governor Steve Beshear's Office. Communication. Governor Steve
Beshear's Communications Office. Kentucky.gov. N.p., 26 Mar.
2013. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.
"How Much Do You Know About Human Trafficking?" Interview by
Valeria E. Osorio. n.d.: n. pag. Print.
Hughes, Donna M. Hiding in Plain Sight. Rep. N.p.: n.p., n.d. University
of Rhode Island, 2003. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.
Human Trafficking - Spanish. Digital image. Domestic Human Services, n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.
Osorio, Valeria E. How Much Do You Know About Human Trafficking Survey. 22 Oct. 2013. Raw data. N.p.
Raymond, Janice G., and Carol J. Gomez. SEX TRAFFICKING OF
WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES. N.p., Mar. 2001. Web. 22
Oct. 2013.
12
"Training for Law Enforcement." ThePolarisProject.org. The Polaris
Project, 2013. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families. N.p.: U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families, n.d. 17 Aug. 2012. Web.
22 Oct. 2013.
<http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/orr/child_explotation_e
nglish.pdf>.
"Violent Crimes Against Children." FBI. FBI, 31 Aug. 2010. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.
Williams, Bethanni. "Human Trafficking Allegations at Subway in
Lexington, Ky." Whas11.com. N.p., 3 Dec. 2013. Web. 11 Dec.
2013.
13