Last Sunday’s front-page article in The Post, “The Price of Freedom,” began circulating early in the morning throughout anti-trafficking networks and to thousands of activists committed to ending the heinous crime of human trafficking. Surely, the people of Colorado are as outraged and concerned as our organization, Polaris Project Colorado. Colorado’s law enforcement officials deserve to be commended for their efforts to combat trafficking.
In addition to pushing massage parlors out of Denver, we must also extend our educational efforts to other communities – the very communities into which we are possibly pushing these enterprises. Labor exploitation, particularly of agricultural labor, is already a problem in many areas. As part of this educational effort, we must dispel common myths around the issue:
1) Trafficked persons must be foreign nationals or they are only immigrants;
2) Trafficking requires transportation across state or national borders;
3) If the trafficked person consented before the abuse or was paid, then it is not trafficking;
4) There must be elements of physical restraint or bondage for it to be trafficking.
As alluded to in the article, there is a misconception that “sex slavery is rare.” Unfortunately, sex trafficking is not rare. A University of Pennsylvania study showed that hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens are estimated to be at high risk for being trafficked within the United States, many of them prostituted children. According to the National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway and Throwaway Children, one in three teens on the street will be lured towards prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home. The University of Pennsylvania study also revealed that 75 percent of runaway and sexually exploited girls are controlled by pimps. In fact, pimp control cases are now being prosecuted under federal sex trafficking statutes.
But human trafficking reaches far beyond sexual slavery. An estimated 14,500-17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked into the U.S. each year for sexual and labor exploitation. Trafficking has been investigated in all 50 states, and cases have been reported in 91 U.S. cities.
Following only the illegal trade of arms and drugs, human trafficking posits the illegal trade of people as the third-largest (and most lucrative) and fastest-growing criminal industry. While targeting parlors, which often serve as commercial fronts for sex trafficking, is one way of curbing the problem, it is important to remember that it is only one fraction of human trafficking. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act legally defines human trafficking as any situation where commercial sex acts are induced by any violence, threats or pressure, or deception. In this case, if the victim is under 18, then no force, fraud or coercion of any kind is required. Labor trafficking occurs when a victim is kept in slavery-like conditions which include violence, threats or deception. The act further requires that victims prove that serious harm was done to them.
It is important to clarify that trafficking victims do not remain in their situations because it is lucrative. Traffickers collect $9 billion to $10 billion in profits annually, creating a scenario of high profit with relatively low risk. Common reasons why victims cannot or will not leave their exploitative situations include: captivity/confinement, interactions are monitored or controlled, use and threat of violence against victim or family, shame, self-blame, debt bondage of amounts that can’t be repaid, language and social barriers, no access to personal ID or documentation, distrust, and hopelessness. The result is physical and/or psychological imprisonment and modern-day slavery.
Many victims are reluctant to speak up, as their traffickers convince them that the police will take away what little freedom they have left. We cannot continue to treat and prosecute victims as though they are criminals. Instead, we must provide victims services and advocate justice.
Sixteen “parlors” are now closed, but how can we ensure stricter laws to keep brothels out of our city? The article reported there is a “never-ending supply of workers,” but the equally sobering consideration is that this is due to the never-ending demand for these services. We must take into account that our society plays a key role in the trafficking of humans. Through the continued purchase of illegal services, ignorance and denial, human trafficking will continue be one of the world’s leading criminal industries. Please contact your elected representatives to let them know that human trafficking will not be tolerated. Slavery should be a thing of the past.
Amanda Finger is coordinator of Polaris Project Colorado, the state affiliate of a national organization that works to combat human trafficking. Dr. AnnJanette Alejano-Steele and Chris Anders Minter of Polaris contributed.
