Survivors Speak: Human Trafficking in the Mid-Columbia Region
Source. Human Trafficking In Our Backyard, linking arms across America in the fight against human trafficking.
Content Advisory: This story contains details about abuse and human trafficking, it may activate a trauma response for survivors. If you or someone you know needs help, please consider reaching out to one of the local organizations mentioned in this article.
Editor’s Note: The survivor stories included in this article come from local community members. Their names have been changed to protect their identities and prevent former abusers from being able to track them.
By Cole Goodwin
Survivor Story: Hope
Hope, a survivor who was trafficked from ages 6-11, shared her story of being a trafficking victim that was hiding in plain sight. Hope helped develop a training with OnWatch, that can help communities recognize the signs of sex trafficking.
“At six years old, my family began trafficking me. I went to school. I went to church. I went to crowded doctors’ offices. Dozens of adults were around me every day, but no one saw anything,” said Hope.
Washington Gorge Action Programs said that Hope’s story was not uncommon.
“Only one percent of sex trafficking victims in the United States are ever identified,” said Teresa Clyne, of WAGAP Programs for Peaceful Living.
So, while Hope’s story may not be uncommon, it highlights why it is so important for communities to learn what they can do to help prevent human trafficking.
January is recognized as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.
What is Human Trafficking?
Human trafficking is a form of modern day slavery that exists in urban and rural communities in the Mid-Columbia Region, across the nation and around the world.
And while it might be hard to accept human trafficking exists in our own backyard, the impact it has on our communities is too huge ignore.
The scope of the problem is huge.
The U.S. Department of State estimates that nearly 25 million adults and children worldwide and in the US are trapped in a cycle of human trafficking in which traffickers use force, fraud, and coercion to control, manipulate, and enslave victims for labor and or sex.
In fact it’s prevalent enough that local law enforcement told CCCNews, “If you look for it, you will find it.”
“We are constantly trying to assess what the human trafficking situation is in the Columbia Gorge area,” said Travis West, Detective from the Sherman County Sherriffs Office.
West said it was not difficult to find if you know what to look for.
“We have had contact with people we suspect to be traffickers and also with people we suspect to be trafficking victims,” said West. “We have members of our task force that routinely engage with and assist people that have either identified themselves as having been trafficked and/or that we suspect were or are being trafficked.”
Recent Sex Buyer Arrests in the Gorge
In October 2020, the Gilliam County Sheriff’s Office and Sherman County Sheriff’s Office, in cooperation with the Mid-Columbia Human Trafficking Task Force, conducted an online sting operation that targeted the demand side of prostitution and sex trafficking resulting in one arrest.
In September of 2021 The Dalles Police Department with the assistance of the Sherman County Sheriff’s Office, the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Gilliam County Sheriff’s Office, and the Mid-Columbia Human Trafficking Task Force, conducted an online sting operation that targeted the demand side (sex buyers) of prostitution and sex trafficking which resulted in four arrests.
Despite recent arrests it’s been tough for local law enforcement to catch human trafficking operations due to their mobile nature.
“Human trafficking doesn’t necessarily stay within city, county, or state boundaries.” said West. “The parties involved can and are likely going to interact in many different jurisdictions or areas. Sharing intelligence and cooperation is a strategy our task forces are taking advantage of more and more.”
Local law enforcement also said that they were planning to create more trauma-informed sting operations that targeted the supply side (sex sellers / prostitutes) rather than the demand side (sex buyers/ ‘Johns’) in order to connect with potential victims of trafficking.
“We are currently in the planning stages for law enforcement operations that target traffickers and trafficking victims,” said West “I’m actively working with other investigators to develop new/different concepts for these operations.”
Digital human trafficking is on the rise.
Youth advocates, researchers, and law enforcement have also confirmed that digital human trafficking is on the rise. The digital age and the covid pandemic has lead to a significant rise in the use of social media, online forums, and phone apps such as Snapchat to target groom, recruit, and exploit victims.
According to the Guardian Group, 75% of trafficking survivors reported being sold online and 25% of those victims reported that when they were sold online they saw more than 10 sex buyers per day.
Youth Advocate and Trafficking Survivor Randy Knoll told CCCNews that social media and digital messaging apps are two tools traffickers are using to exploit youth.
“It’s really scary, it’s just really really scary,” said Knoll “Youth are definitely being targeted and houseless and LGBTQ+ youth are especially vulnerable to being groomed online due to lack of parental acceptance. They form these strong attachments to adults that are grooming them because they want that love and acceptance that they were denied in the home and the abusers exploit that.”
“A lot of times, like 9 times out of 10, they don’t even know what’s really happening to them. These youth are just so impressionable. Sometimes they think the person grooming them is their own age, and they don’t find out that’s a lie until after they already feel attached to that person.”
Knoll also said that the pandemic, and fewer children in school, had contributed to the rise in abuse of youth as youth had fewer adult eyes on them everyday.
“Kids not being in school is a big issue for a lot of reasons, and one of those reasons is increased vulnerability to human trafficking.”
Source: Mid-Columbia Human Trafficking Task Force.
Local organizations are doing what they can to help.
Several local groups including law enforcement, Mid-Columbia Human Trafficking Task Force, Helping Hands Against Violence, HAVEN from Domestic Violence, and Washington Gorge Action Programs (WAGAP) are working to prevent human trafficking in the Gorge.
Part of that work is to raise awareness that human trafficking can and does happen in our communities.
“Human trafficking can be hidden in plain sight,” said Clyne with WAGAP. “It may come in the form of forced labor or sex trafficking and can affect families from all backgrounds.”
Unfortunately youth are particularly vulnerable to human trafficking.
“According to OnWatch, the average age a person is first trafficked at is age twelve, and forty percent of child sex trafficking victims are sold by family members,” said Clyne.
That was the case for ‘Randy Knoll’, a sex trafficking survivor from the Mid-Columbia region who’s father sex trafficked them for twenty-five years. Randy grew up heavily isolated from the world, was not allowed to attend public school and sometimes spent months or even years locked away in the basement.
Survivors are working to raise awareness.
Local Survivor Story: Randy Knoll
A sex trafficking survivor speaks on thier expereience being targetted as an LGBTQ+ youth living in a cult that sexually abuses children.
“I grew up in a closed community.
Leaving without a chaperone was strictly forbidden. The sexual and physical abuse I endured in that community ran rapidly worse over the years. This trafficking organization had started in the ‘60s, and it forced it’s doctrine onto all those born into it.
I am one of 16 children.
I’m lucky number 13 and my mother’s youngest child. People always said 13 was a lucky number, but I have never felt lucky until recently. My father held a position of power in the community outside our gates. He had two wives: my mother, and my "other mother." Though my parents never divorced, I was separated from my mother most of my life. I once overheard my father say that he kept me from her as a control tactic to keep us both in line. So although, in a way, my mother was able to leave -- she was never truly able to escape because of her children.
We moved often, all over the country, up to Canada, and down to Mexico. My father often traveled internationally, but my mother never went on these trips, and we kids were usually left with not-so-great people. My father was always getting into positions of authority everywhere we moved, and his charismatic nature made him seem perfect, which is how he wanted it. I believe it was to conceal himself and keep up a facade for the outside world, but I often threatened that image.
I don’t ever remember not being abused in some way, but when I turned 12, a lot changed.
I was no longer seen as a child, but a third wife for my father. I knew I was being ostracized and used as a scapegoat because of my “rebellious and strong-willed nature.” They (not just my father, but his friends, too) tried to break me in multiple ways many times– and honestly, I did break at times. But that strong-willed & rebellious nature is ultimately what led to my escape. I was forced into many unthinkable acts with countless assailants, being routinely locked in rooms or basements, used as an object– not seen as a person. I didn’t learn people were paying to do these unspeakable acts until an event where I overheard two of the countless men in the room complaining that I ‘wasn’t worth the money…’ It was then I realized my trauma was something people were buying their way to achieve access to. I was being raped and trafficked, but I didn’t even fully comprehend it until after I escaped.
At 18, I was sent to stay with another couple who were friends of my father. Complying with sexual exploitation and forced prostitution was expected or there would be severe inhumane punishments. When my father picked me up months later, everything spiraled and I was not a lovable family member anymore. I was passed around to be used by others, and it was 100% out of my control.
My whole life, I was made to believe the end of the world was happening, and I needed to be prepared. That being locked away was what was best for my safety when the end finally came, but it never did. My late teens and early 20’s were the worst of it. Although the memories of that time are very muffled. My ability to recall events chronologically during that time is almost impossible. Fortunately, I have a great therapist helping me through my trauma. But even after 8 years, I’m still remembering horrible things from my time in that ‘community’ and in that ‘family.’
Anyone who wanted and had the connection could have full access to me (per my father’s approval). I will never know how many men and women actually paid for these ‘services’ I was forced to provide, and what my father just allowed for his inexplicable reasons. My father felt validated by the divine deity he worshiped that convinced him that all he was doing was acceptable, approved, and necessary.
The echoes of trauma ring daily because of all I have overcome and experienced.
After 25 years of torment and several months being locked away in our basement, abused and tortured at the whim of others’ sadistic desires with my father’s explicit approval, I came to realize I needed to leave or I would die. Being a natural runner, that was what I decided I was going to try first. Once I was finally let out and left alone, I researched how to get away, and not be found– like I had done previously, many times, too many times to count. I wanted to leave and NEVER return this time.
I spent hours calling countless places all over the PNW and finally was led to Helping Hands Against Violence in Hood River. They were the first agency that seemed to WANT to help me, not just give me more numbers to call. My time was running short. I was devastated when they told me they wanted to help, but their shelter was full. They suggested a place in The Dalles, HAVEN, may be able to help.
That night I was attacked brutally, but not locked away, so I decided it was tonight or never.
I knew I’d be leaving all I knew. Family and friends suddenly had to be non-existent for my safety. That night I layered up with as much as I could wear, packed a backpack, and filled my water bottle. I was bound to at least get to The Dalles. I figured if there was a chance there was someone there who could POSSIBLY help. And I would probably have better luck being there in person. At 4 a.m. I slipped out the door, and that night was truly the only time I’d ever felt lucky back then. Our dogs didn’t bark, and I awoke no one. I knew I had until about 10 or 11 a.m. before they would notice I was gone. Every car that drove past me made me run faster to the closest bus stop that I knew would take me where I needed to go. I got to the Greyhound station about 6:30 a.m. but the earliest ticket to The Dalles wasn’t until 10:36 a.m. I was panicking and terrified I would be bum-rushed and forced, once again, to return to that life of torment.
I had acquired a prepaid cell phone my father didn’t know about– nor would he have approved of– and called Helping Hands again as soon as they opened. They helped so much in corresponding with HAVEN for my arrival in The Dalles. Once I was in town, I was led to the HAVEN office, that’s when the weight of the world and what I had just done hit me like a ton of bricks. The truths I came to find out destroyed and paralyzed me for years… but especially at that moment. A HAVEN advocate put me in a hotel for the night then drove me to the Helping Hands shelter the next day as they were able to find emergency space for me. I spent several months there all the while also working with agencies like HAVEN and Mid-Columbia Center for Living. I was hospitalized for a while because of the emotional and physical injuries I had sustained. The Providence hospital staff as well as those at Helping Hands helped more than I can say. Even the small things made a big impact, like when someone gave me bacon for the first time. They helped me adjust to a society I had never lived in, encouraged me to heal on my own time, and supported me every step of the way.
HAVEN became more involved as my safety has been compromised, even 8 years after leaving. Center for Living, HAVEN, The Next Door, and Bridges to Health helped me build and heal my life and to live how I wanted. Since, for the first time, I could finally choose. These days my need for services from these agencies has become slim-to-none, but I know they are always a phone call away should the need arise again. Advocates at these local agencies helped keep me alive on my darkest days, listened to me without judgment, and ultimately taught me how to grow into who I am now.
I’m now a Youth Advocate helping homeless and runaway youth, specifically those who have been crime victims. My first year into my journey, following my escape, my advocate told me she could see me being an advocate one day. I blew it off as just being kind words people gave me but didn’t mean, but if she could see how right she was and where I am now– I know she would be proud.
Many are proud of how far I’ve come after those first 25 years of torment. But ultimately, I’m proud of myself. Though I had so much help from many people, and recognize that without their support, I may not be as successful and proud of myself as I am today, I was still the one who did the hard work of healing.”
Knoll told CCCNews that if they could tell other victims one piece of advice to help them along their own healing journey it would be this:
“You are the author of the rest of your story. Just because something happened in the past doesn’t prevent you from having a future. Just because you were dealt a shitty hand doesn't mean you have fewer options. You may not have always had control over your life, but you can take that control back, and you CAN choose how to live your life now.”
Knoll told CCCNews that they were targeted by their own family at a young age after expressing to their parents that they identified as LGBTQ+ and as a result their parents' treatment of them differed significantly from the treatment their other siblings.
So, while Randy’s story is unique to them, it also has many similarities to many LGBTQ+ youth’s experiences of human trafficking.
For example, family conflict is the most common cause of youth and LGBTQ+ youth homelessness.
Youth experiencing houselessness and LGBTQ youth are the most vulnerable to human trafficking
Youths are particularly vulnerable to traffickers and even more so if they are couch surfing or living on the street. The odds of being taken advantage of are even worse for an LGBTQ+ youth as a vast percentage are estranged from families and are without shelter. LGBTQ+ youth make up more than 40% of youth experiencing houselessness making LGBTQ youth 120% more likely to experience houselessness than their straight counterparts.
As a result, LGBTQ+ youth are targeted by traffickers at higher rates than other youth.
Houseless youth are especially vulnerable to traffickers as they struggle to get their basic needs met.
Traffickers leverage basic need fulfillment such as shelter and food as a part of their control and manipulation tactics. Overall, one in five youth experiencing houselessness have been a victim of sex or labor trafficking. And by the age of twelve, 83% of houseless youth will have experienced violence.
Minorities, undocumented also among the most vulnerable
Adults and children from racial and ethnic minorities, undocumented migrants, and those experiencing houselessness are disproportionately targeted by traffickers.
“Since human trafficking disproportionately impacts racial and ethnic minorities, women and girls, LGBTQI+ individuals, vulnerable migrants, and other historically marginalized and underserved communities, our mission to combat human trafficking must always be connected to our broader efforts to advance equity and justice across our society,” said President Joe Biden in an official procolamation earlier this month.
nyone can be a victim of human trafficking. Human traffickers target certain groups for a variety of reasons, but generally they target vulnerable groups with psychological or emotional vulnerabilities: those experiencing economic hardship, those that have a lack of a social safety net, natural disaster victims, and individuals in situations in which there is a high degree of political instability.
While minorities and vulnerable populations experience sex and labor trafficking at higher rates than other groups anyone can be a victim of human trafficking.
This was the case for Erin Mitchell, a Wasco County resident who experienced human trafficking as an underage youth.
Local Survivor Story: Erin Mitchell
A labor and sex trafficking survivor speaks on thier expereience being targetted as an underage youth in Wasco County.
“I was only 13 years old when I was taken.
I was walking to school one day in Wasco County. I recognized a man I knew from church. He would often linger in the parking lot with other men listening to music while sitting on top of their cars. I didn’t imagine then what would happen to me.
He abducted me. I was laying on the floorboards of a car from Oregon to California while someone else drove. I was made to memorize a birth certificate for an 18-year-old girl born in Mexico, and I was later passed over the border illegally. I was taken to a very tiny town without running water or electricity. There was nowhere to go, no way to escape.
I lived a very hard life washing clothes in a creek bed, bathing there and then carrying the wet clothes home on my back. It made it easier not to have any hope. I even received a cruel nickname for having cut up my feet because he had taken my shoes so that I couldn’t run. At first my feet hurt all the time. But after some time, my feet no longer felt the pain. I worked hard to forget my family during this time because it hurt too much to think of them. I accepted that this was my new life, and that I would never see them again. In fact I worked so hard to forget my former life in the states that I struggled to speak English upon my return.
The man who had taken me traded my labor for money but kept my body as his own.
Source: Mid-Columbia Human Trafficking Task Force.
He would send me to work in a school teaching English. I was never paid for my work but he was.
He was worshiped in his hometown for having brought back a “gringa.” He would have me go places with him, clinging on his arm so that people would give him things to celebrate his accomplishment. He received free beer in a local cantina as I sat and watched. His favorite meal would appear in front of him as I went without food. He even received land ownership as a result of my presence.
Soon my life got harder. I found out I was pregnant, and I went from being a labor trafficked underage girl struggling for survival to a pregnant underage girl struggling for survival. I was terrified to have my child born into the situation I was in because I knew no child deserved the life I was living. I knew I had to escape for my child’s sake. To this day, I know my child is the only reason I fought to survive.
The last six months I was in Mexico, he moved us to a bigger town. It was nothing like what we would consider a town or city in the US, but some people had running water outside and were able to fill tanks for clothes washing. It was still by hand but at least I didn’t have to hike for miles to wash clothing or take a bath
Next door there lived an elderly lady, or she seemed so at the time. I knew he had her keeping and eye on me while he went to work each day, and I also knew she had a phone and those were a rarity. Over long months, I worked to establish trust with her. I would slowly disclose bits and pieces of information in a way to test whether she would relay the information to him. One day, I finally had the courage to ask if I could use her phone and called my mother collect. I’ll never forget the woman who answered the phone. ‘Hi, I am _____ _____ daughter and I need to speak to my mom right away.’ What all was said next is still a blur to me, although I recall saying: “If I do not get out of here today, I will not get out alive.”
We put a plan together and within a few hours I was at a nearby market awaiting a stranger to usher me to safety. It took a couple of weeks waiting for my mom to provide necessary documents for me to return home. Two agents from the American Embassy picked me up and escorted me to the airport. They sat one on each side of me until I boarded the plane. I remember them feeling like giants sitting next to me, although I worried about his response the entire time. Sadly enough, I also worried about who would cook for him and who would wash his clothing by hand. Looking back, I now wish I had left his clothing on fire.
Returning to ‘normal’ society was hard. Over the years the onslaught of shaming comments about my underage pregnancy compounded the guilt and shame I felt about what had happened to me. People would tell me ‘You’re too young to have a child XX years old.’ Or ‘You sure started early. I bet you really gave your mom a run for her money.’ Overtime, I finally coined a phrase to use in these situations that was truthful without revealing too much, ‘I started early, but not by choice. I simply chose to give birth to my son.’
The impact of the guilt and shame piled on to me from my experiences was indescribable. My experiencing of being trafficked and then returning to society that does a disservice to survivors of human trafficking has left a mark. Because of what I went through, I cannot always relate well to people my own age. I haven’t had the same experience as others. I don’t have childhood memories as some do. I have no memories of high school dances, or memories others my age might have from high school. When I attended my 20-year high school reunion not long ago, I felt so embarrassed just attending. I had to make myself go.
And, even though I don’t wear it on my sleeve, somehow, my story always comes up in conversation. I often feel like I must explain why I had a son so young or why I don’t know popular music and culture from that time period.
I wish people would stop blaming survivors of any kind. People have absolutely no idea the damage their words and judgement can have on a person. Some of the things I’ve heard over the years have been worse than the abuse itself. While I have received years of therapy almost 30 years later, there are some things I just can’t unhear. I wish people knew that we need safe spaces to tell our stories, to heal. Often, we don’t even understand what we’ve experienced ourselves, let alone someone else placing labels on us before we can come to terms with things.
Today I am in the healthiest place I’ve ever been, and yet I have much work ahead of me. There’s so much emotional heavy lifting that goes into therapy, and the healing process. For me, it took years before I engaged in therapy as it just wasn’t something immediately offered thirty years ago. The result is that I spent years making decisions for myself and my children through a trauma response lens. It takes time to learn new coping skills, and I’ll always be adding tools to my kit.
To all the survivors out there I just want to say that you are NOT defined by your story and that is something we need to remind ourselves of. It’s an absolute miracle that so many are still here today, often pouring ourselves into others to heal and give back from what we’ve experienced. I think that makes us a badassery force that those around us are privileged to know and share space with.”
Erin MItchell’s story serves as a clear reminder of the dangers of the human urge to judge a situation without having all the information available.
Despite her status as a victim of human trafficking being out in plain sight, those around Erin still couldn’t see the situation for what it really was. Her abuser reaped rewards because those surrounding them thought he had managed to wed a beautiful young American wife, instead of abducting a terrified underage girl. And upon Erin’s return to the US, others judged her as having been a troubled runaway who voluntarily ran off rather than recognizing the signs of human trafficking.
Those false judgements contributed to Erin being trapped in a narrative of shame that did not allow her to seek help. And although she is doing better today, she and other survivors want the public to take this moment during Human Trafficking Awareness month to learn how to suspend their judgement so that they can recognize the signs of human trafficking in our communities.
With the help of multiple local agencies CCCNews has complied the following information to help the Mid-Columbia Region learn the signs of human trafficking, learn what questions to ask, and learn how to support local and national human trafficking prevention efforts
A Beacon of Hope: How You Can Help
Learn the Signs of Human Trafficking
Being able to recognize the signs is an important step for communities seeking to end human trafficking. Recognizing the signs is especially important because victims are often threatened or manipulated into not seeking help in public places.
“Human trafficking is often a hidden crime,” reads the Oregon Departnment of Human Services website. “Victims may be afraid to come forward and get help; they may be forced or coerced through threats or violence; they may fear retribution from traffickers, including danger to their families; and they may not be in possession of or have control of their identification documents.”
Local Survivor, Knoll told CCCNews that it was important to recognize that due to conditioning and grooming, many survivors of human trafficking may also not fully understand that they are being trafficked and may have false definitions of words like ‘consent’ and ‘rape’.
“I didn’t even know I was being human trafficked until after I left,” said Knoll “I had false definitions of things. I didn’t even know the word ‘consent.’ And I didn’t even know that what happened to me was rape until after I escaped, because I had been taught a false definition of what ‘rape’ was.
Planned Parenthood’s Definition of Consent
Freely given. Consenting is a choice you make without pressure, manipulation, or under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Reversible. Anyone can change their mind about what they feel like doing, anytime. Even if you’ve done it before, and even if you’re both naked in bed.
Informed. You can only consent to something if you have the full story. For example, if someone says they’ll use a condom and then they don’t, there isn’t full consent.
Enthusiastic. When it comes to sex, you should only do stuff you WANT to do, not things that you feel you’re expected to do.
Specific. Saying yes to one thing (like going to the bedroom to make out) doesn’t mean you’ve said yes to others (such as having sex).
The U.S. Department of State has listed the following potential red flags as possibly indicating human trafficking activities:
Trafficked employees may be living with their employer.
They may be living in poor conditions.
There may be too many people living in a cramped space.
You may find that it is impossible to speak with the individual in private or even if you can converse, their answers may seem to be scripted and rehearsed.
The employer may hold all of the employee’s identity documents.
They appear to have been physically abused.
Their behavior is submissive or fearful.
They may receive little to no pay.
They may be under the age of 18 and being prostituted.
Gaurdian Group, a Central Oregon organization focused on addressing human trafficking nationally, also lists the following industry specific signs of human trafficking:
Indicators Community Wide
Brands — tattoos of a rose, crown, money or someone’s name. Often on the neck or chest.
A girl inappropriately dressed for her age or for the weather conditions.
A minor with someone during school-hours or late at night.
A young person being demeaned or controlled by another person (often older than them). The young person does not make eye contact with others.
A young girl will often refer to her trafficker as “Daddy” or “Boyfriend.”
A victim may not be able to tell you where they are or where they just came from.
Listen for code words such as: The Game, The Life, The Track, John or Trick, Bottom Girl, Bottom Bitch, Trap or Square
For Parents Caregivers or Educators
Unexplained cash, new expensive clothing, jewelry, electronics or purses.
Changes in behavior such as a sudden onset of depression, anger or appearance.
Possession of a fake ID.
References to modeling or music video jobs or an older boyfriend.
Uncharacteristic promiscuous behavior or references in person or on social media to sexual situations.
Sudden and frequent missed days of school or a drop in grades.
Source: Gaurdian Group “55% of survivors report that they attended school at some point during their exploitation.”
For Hospitality Industry or Travellers
A hotel room that multiple men frequent at various intervals.
A guest frequently requesting new sheets or towels.
An adult checking in with a minor or group of girls that do not appear to be their children.
A young girl being dropped off at a hotel and the driver waiting in the parking lot.
A young person checking in with no identification, no or few personal possessions (often carried in a plastic bag). They may be uncertain about personal information such as: address or phone number.
Know How to Ask the Right Questions
If you have the chance to speak with the potential victim privately and without risking you or the victims safety, there are a few useful questions you can ask. However your safety and the safety of the victim should be considered paramount.
Here are some questions that can help you discover if someone is a victim of trafficking.
What type of work do you do?
Are you being paid?
Can you leave your job if you want to?
Can you come and go as you please?
Have you or your family been threatened?
Has your identification or documentation been taken from you? Do you have your passport/identification? Who has it?
What are your living conditions like?
Have you been hurt or threatened if you tried to leave?
Has your family been threatened?
Do you live with your employer?
Are you in debt to your employer?
Where do you sleep and eat?
Source: Gaurdian Group “44% of survivors reported no one reached out and offered them help out of “the life” with another 26% reporting rarely ever being offered help.
Do not attempt to confront a suspected trafficker directly or make your suspicions outwardly known to the potential victim.
If you believe you have identified someone in a trafficking situation, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 to ensure response by law enforcement officials knowledgeable about human trafficking. They will connect you with the anti-trafficking services in your area, such as the Programs for Peaceful Living Crime Victim Service Center. Or call 911 in the event of an emergency.
Know the Law
FACT: Under U.S. federal law, any minor under the age of 18 who is induced to perform commercial sex acts is a victim of human trafficking, regardless of whether he or she is forced or coerced.
FACT: Victims of human trafficking can access services in the Mid-Columbia region without pressing charges.
“Victims are eligible for services without having a criminal case pending or a trafficker being charged/convicted,” said Travis West, Detective at The Sherman County Sheriff's Office.
FACT: In many cases, being a victim of human trafficking can act as a legal defense for those that may have commited crimal acts such as abduction, prostitution, drug, theft, and assault while being trafficked.
FACT: Thanks to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, those that are not U.S. citizens can report human trafficking crimes committed against them without necessarily being recriminalized and deported.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), is considered the cornerstone of U.S. efforts to combat human trafficking. First passed in 2000, it has gone through multiple reauthorizations over the years with the most recent reauthorization occurring in 2013. The three main components of the act are protection, prosecution, and prevention.
The act allows victims of trafficking to seek a ‘T visa’ that allows temporary U.S. residency and a path to citizenship. It also expands crimes and penalties and enhances international efforts to prevent trafficking.
Other legislation to know about:
Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 which criminlaized those who purchase sexual acts from human trafficking victims and allows money obtained from arrested traffickers to be given to states to assist victims of trafficking.
Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act of 2014 which strengthened child welfare laws and created additional stage actions related to foster care and adoption.
Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) of 2016. The act made financial assistance available to victims to help them rebuild their lives. The funding is now more regulated on a federal level through the final guidelines. For more information, see the publication on model standards here.
For more information about Human Trafficking Laws click here.
Source: TVPA
Other Ways to Support Human Trafficking Prevention Efforts
Donate to local Prevention Agencies
Donate to local organizations that are working to address human trafficking in our region such as Mid-Columbia Human Trafficking Task Force, Helping Hands Against Violence, HAVEN from Domestic Violence, and Washington Gorge Action Programs (WAGAP).
Support anti-slavery organizations.
Groups such as the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, Agape International Missions, and Polaris all work to end human trafficking and support survivors. OurRescue.org works as an underground railroad organization rescuing children with the goal to end child trafficking.
Volunteer with local organizations
Volunteer with local organizations doing prevention work such as HAVEN, Helping Hands Against Violence, WAGAP Programs for Peaceful Living. Work to raise awareness with your local church or community organizations. Or find other organizations to donate your time to through EndSlaveryNow.org, which offers an Antislavery Directory.
Learn more about the problem to inspire action.
Watch this: In Our Backyard Community Awareness forum: Can Sex Work Really Work? Featuring Cyntoia Brown and other experts on human trafficking and leaglized prostitution. In Our Backyard is located in Bend, OR and is an organization working to prevent human trafficking.
Learn more about the Equality Model which could help reduce sex trafficking by partially decriminalizing sex work.
Learn more about the CDC’s Social Ecological Model of addressing violence.
Books and documentaries can also illuminate many aspects of modern slavery, including “Understanding Global Slavery” by Kevin Bales and “A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery” by Benjamin Skinner.
Help break the cycle of exploitation.
Become familiar with the issue and take action today. It could be as small as educating others by sharing resources or as big as becoming a volunteer with the underground railroad and helping to shelter a rescued child.
