Article in 614 Magazine

Breaking the Chains

Combating human slavery, right here in the capital city

By Kae Denino

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” …he had me by the throat, then he dragged me up the stairs and had me almost all the way over the edge of the balcony and almost threw me off it. Then he pulled out his gun and pointed it on my leg, and said he would blow my leg off the next time. Then he had me give him oral sex and he raped me anally. I had never done that before… I passed out… woke up in the bathtub and I could barely stand up. But he made sure I had some crack on the counter… After that, I couldn’t leave. I had to do whatever he said. The word ‘no’ wasn’t part of my vocabulary. Saying ‘no’ was like telling him to beat my ass or slap me or rape me. There was no, ‘No.’”

The above story didn’t take place in Thailand, or Vietnam. Laura Smith’s story took place in Columbus. The trafficking, control, and sale of people for sex is happening right here; as you read these words, women within a few miles of you are trapped.

Women are owned: controlled by drugs, violence, and fear. The above is an excerpt from a letter by a local woman who was, until recently, held against her will, and forced to use her body to make her trafficker money.

Laura did not grow up in poverty; rather, she was the daughter of an affluent suburban couple that slowly drifted into the company of the wrong kinds of people. Her experimental drug use gradually became more and more serious, and addiction led her to estrangement from her family, making her a prime candidate for a trafficker’s control.

“He is about over six feet tall and huge. He promised me the world… he saw that I needed a place to stay… he got me new clothes and let me stay with him… But within a couple of days he changed.”

Becoming violent and demanding, her trafficker supplied Laura with crack and she was prostituted, sometimes having sex with several men a day. He took all of the money.

“I had to give him money everyday. If he wasn’t high, or I didn’t have any money to give him, he would threaten my life… he wouldn’t let me leave. I had to prostitute. He would call certain people. I would have to have sex with them for drugs. It was so scary. But it’s a big circle. I was scared of him. He always had a gun and a knife to my throat and he told me he would kill me. I felt like I couldn’t get away from him… and he’s done things to other girls…”

So why didn’t she just leave? Why not call the police, or try to escape? If someone forced into prostitution tries to escape, she can still be in terrible danger. Often, pimps will threaten to harm the woman’s family, or their ’sisters,’ fellow prostitutes. If she fails to escape cleanly, she can face brutal rape and violence – sometimes in front of the pimp’s other ‘girls’ to provide a graphic example of what happens to those who try to get away. According to some reports, victims have been set on fire and even electrocuted. Victims of prostitution learn very fast to just say yes – to everything.

But if she does get free and makes it to a police station, the police may see her as a ‘crack whore,’ and book her for prostitution. Then her pimp will come down and bail her out, and she’ll be taken ‘home,’ where her chances for a welcome-back party are slim.

Pimps and traffickers can find runaway girls fast – often faster than the girls can find safety or family. Lots of victims don’t know who to call. Most slaves come from broken or violent homes, and the average age a female becomes a prostitute in this country is 12 years old. The National Center for Exploited and Missing Children estimates 100,000 – 300,000 kids are on the streets right now, hungry and exhausted abuse victims, making them perfect prey for traffickers. The chance of a runaway child being approached by a sex trafficker within three days is nearly 100 percent, according to the NCEMC.

There are more than 15 court cases in recent Ohio history involving human trafficking, including a bust of more than 50 pimps in a child sex-trafficking ring in Toledo. The youngest survivor of slavery from Columbus was three years old when she was rescued in 2006 and turned over to Franklin County Children’s Services. She is a tiny Latina girl who may never speak. And, according to the Licking County court system, a Reynoldsburg man convicted in 2005 repeatedly raped and then pimped out his daughter via online classifieds on the website craigslist.org.

This is slavery
Human trafficking, according to the UN’s definition as laid forth by 2000’s Palermo Protocol, focuses on the exploitation of human beings – be it for sexual exploitation, other forms of forced labor, slavery, servitude, or for the removal of human organs. Trafficking takes place by criminal means, through the threat or use of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of positions of power, or abuse of positions of vulnerability. It relates to all stages of the trafficking process: recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons. Trafficking is not just a trans-national crime across international borders – the definition also applies to internal domestic trafficking of human beings.

For many women in forced prostitution, the door is barred by deep fear and heavy psychological barriers – in Laura’s case, for example. Victims of prostitution interface with the public quite a bit, but as you read above in Laura’s story, the traffickers have shown the capacity for appalling violence, and in the event of an escape, there will be hell to pay.

Globally, human trafficking is the third largest criminal industry in the world, behind drugs and firearms, but trafficking is the fastest growing industry and will, unless fought, rise to the number one criminal industry in the world.

Why Ohio?
It’s odd, isn’t it? We’re a progressive place. Harriet Tubman ran back and forth across our land hundreds of times, helping slaves get to freedom. But slaves have been found in every state in America, and we Ohioans have many elements that make us susceptible to the industry. One main reason is Toledo. Five major freeways join there, linking the East to the West. Police officers and FBI agents have named Toledo as a major hub for forced sex labor and child prostitution in America, leading one Pennsylvanian police officer to joke, “Is everyone from Toledo a prostitute?”

We also have a large illegal immigrant population, and many slaves reach the US illegally. Their IDs are taken, they don’t speak the language, they have no idea where a police station is, or what might happen there – prison? Deportment? Some women brought from far-off countries such as Turkey, Russia, Moldova, may go for periods of time without even knowing what country they’re in.

The Polaris Project, an anti-human trafficking non-governmental organization in Washington D.C., has a special Columbus branch, every one of our major cities has cases of forced prostitution, and only recently has Ohio begun to create a strong law against human trafficking.

Attorney General Richard Cordray is taking a lead in combating human trafficking. He advises citizens to pay attention to what is happening around them.

“If people see suspicious activity in their neighborhoods or communities, like when it appears that a young person or a woman is under the control of someone else, they should call the police,” said Cordray. “We see two forms of trafficking primarily: forced prostitution and forced migrant labor, which can happen over an extended period of time. The individual is often unable for a variety of reasons to contact the police. That’s one way to keep them in control,” he said.

Cordray advises anyone who sees what they think could be trafficking to call the Ohio anti-human trafficking hotline at 1-800-282-0515, or simply call 911. If you do that, you might want to say the words ‘human trafficking’ several times to the operator.

Mike Taylor of Youth for Christ is the compassionate chaplain of two juvenile detention centers, in Columbus and Lancaster, said he routinely sees evidence of forced prostitution.

“Girls seduced by pimps at 15, girls seduced into drugs and prostitution at 12,” said Taylor grimly. “You can’t imagine the frightening lives of children, and that goes on in Franklin County, I’ll tell you that,” he said.

Thankfully, there are many ways to get involved, and to make a real difference in the fight against this reprehensible practice.

Modern-day Abolitionists

All around Columbus, a vibrant new network of people is fighting slavery here and abroad. The fighters include lawyers, social workers, politicians, students – people from all walks of life, united by one purpose: ending human trafficking.

Central Ohio Restore and Rescue Coalition
“These people deserve the very best, because they’ve had the very worst,” says Michelle Hannan, the coalition’s manager and the director of Professional and Community Services of the Salvation Army. Hannan is on the forefront of the fight, and CORRC is her army. This is a super-group that combines forces with every facet of anti-trafficking work in Columbus. Part of the commission is charged with creating new and specific anti-trafficking legislation, and they also work to raise awareness. They work with the police and shelters and GED teachers and everyone in between. CORRC also has a hotline and can get anyone to emergency law enforcement within 15 minutes of receiving the call.

In addition to providing medical attention, and shelter, CORRC also strives to help trafficking victims construct a plan for sustained safety and ongoing case management, especially with regards to counseling, medical care, employment, and educational and legal assistance. They can even reconnect survivors with their families.

But the hotline only works if the slave can get the phone number. CORRC prints flyers of all kinds and in many languages, hanging them in places likely to see the most instances of human trafficking, such as truck stops, gas stations, and motels.

One way for people to participate in their programming is to provide them with opportunities to educate everyday people on human trafficking, offering speaking engagements for churches, clubs, and businesses.

“This is really about hooking us up,” says Nadia Lucchin of the CORRC Speaker’s Bureau. “We’ll talk to anyone.”

The Heroes of Gracehaven
Gracehaven House, opening in Columbus in 2010, will be the fourth shelter in the United States for child survivors of trafficking, and the second in Ohio (the first being in Toledo, called Second Chance).

“We’ll take 11-year-olds if we see them,” said Jeff Barrows, the executive director. “But God, I hope we don’t see many 11-year-olds.”

Barrows was formerly an OB/GYN; he became involved in the fight against sex slavery in 2004, when John Embody of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Trafficking in Persons Office asked Barrows to give his opinion on the effects of human trafficking on women survivors.

“I said, ‘I’d love to, but what’s human trafficking?’ He gave me a few books,” said Barrows, who was immediately outraged. He began talking with survivors and learning the details of the industry, and training health care workers how to recognize and treat trafficking survivors. Now, he is opening up Gracehaven in order to protect some of trafficking’s youngest victims. The shelter will have 10 beds for girls ages 12 – 17, providing long-term refuge and everything the girls need: food, clothes, shelter, counseling, health care, and the skills needed to start life in freedom.

Theresa Flores, the Director of Development for Gracehaven, was trafficked from Michigan as a teen, and then went on to serve as a social worker for 25 years. In 2007, Flores wrote The Sacred Bath about her experience as a victim of commercial sexual exploitation. Now she speaks on anti-slavery all over the country, and has appeared on mass-media outlets like The Today Show. If there’s a meeting in this town about slavery, she’s there, and often running the show. Flores has a kindness to her that is critical when dealing with the battered and terrified women involved in CSE. She believes education is necessary, because so many people have no idea this is going on, especially right here in hometown America.

“Tell two people what you heard, because the one response I get over and over is people saying, ‘I had no idea this was going on,’” said Flores. “People say, ‘I had no clue.’”

Working with this population is no simple task. Survivors have very special needs and require careful therapeutic intervention. In addition, a shelter must have a strong legal presence, qualified counselors, and comprehensive educational, medical, counseling, and security systems in place. Thankfully, those working on the front are not only passionate, but they are also highly qualified.

Bev Delashmutt is the Chair of the Board at Gracehaven. Much of her work echoes the beginning of the anti-slavery movement in our country, started in California by Norma Hotaling, who went into the prisons to speak with survivors who were in prison for crimes committed while they were being trafficked. Victims are often arrested when their pimps commit other crimes. Delashmutt also works to bring volunteers into prisons, building the beginning of a support network; these volunteers can provide an invaluable ear for survivors who just need to tell their story to someone.

Right now, there are approximately 50 such shelter beds in the US, and approximately 300,000 kids on the streets. You can do the math, but it’s depressing, so just help the cause instead. Support for the organization can include volunteering for events like the annual gala and “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes,” an event in which men walk a mile in high heels and raise money for the cause. Gracehaven is in need of a bevy of cash to begin hiring their counselors and staff, and to renovate the house.

Not for Sale Ohio
Not for Sale Ohio is another non-governmental organization that is combating human trafficking by raising funds for rescue, rehabilitation, and awareness in the United States, Uganda, Ghana, Thailand, Nepal, and Peru.

Not for Sale Ohio meetings are held at the Clintonville Global Gallery Cafe on the first Thursday of every month at 7 p.m., at 3535 N High Street.

New Legislation Will Aid Law Enforcement
One of Ohio’s biggest problems is that we don’t have a strong anti-human trafficking law on the state’s books. Human trafficking, therefore, can only be prosecuted through other criminal statutes, such as rape or prostitution, kidnapping or assault.

In hopes of bolstering the state law, a study commission has been formed comprised of Ohio’s attorney general, Richard Cordray, and experts in human trafficking, as well as Senator Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo), Executive Director of Franklin County Children’s Services, Eric Fenner, and Celia Williamson, University of Toledo professor and the founder of that city’s survivor shelter, Second Chance. The commission intends to create strong legislation specifically targeting human traffickers. Although passage of the law itself may still be a few years away, the legislation should also make it easier for FBI agents to work with local jurisdictions on investigations.

As the laws stand at present, only the feds can really be looking specifically for trafficking. While the federal agents certainly do investigate trafficking cases (more below), they have plenty of other areas that need attention as well.

“This is positive, positive good stuff,” says Michelle Hannan of CORRC. “I’m very excited about our attorney general, and about what he and his office are doing.”

The new law will label human trafficking a felony, and enable authorities to efficiently seize traffickers’ assets, allowing them to be used to help survivors. It will also provide for funding of state and local law enforcement training in human trafficking detection and enforcement, and provide funding for rescue and rehabilitation centers for survivors.

The legislation will also update the legal definition of trafficking to include sex slavery, along with debt and labor bondage.

The old law is so weak and incomplete that the Polaris Project, another important anti-slavery NGO that specializes in drafting anti-slavery legislation, doesn’t consider Ohio to have an anti-human trafficking law at all.

“Hopefully that will change,” said Barrows. “We [he, Flores, and other abolitionists] testified before the Ohio senate judicial committee. It came through in a very weakened form. Now, we serve on the Ohio commission for the new law,” he said. “The purpose is to further investigate, then make recommendations to the legislation. We’re divided into subcommittees, doing research.”

“We have a ways to go,” he adds.

State Representative Kathryn Chandler and Kathleen Davis from the Polaris Project will be drafting the bulk of the language, which will build upon the U.S. Department of Justice’s model anti-trafficking state law.

“Most people think [the model is] fairly good, and a good place to start,” said Barrows. “We’re far short of what the Department of Justice has put together.”

Of course, he feels strongly about funds being appropriated to aid survivors.

“The state has got to come in with the next bill and allow for funds that recognize the unique needs of these individuals,” he said.

The first classes on Human Trafficking in the Ohio Police Departments are scheduled to take place this fall. The four-hour classes will be a part of the Ohio Peace Officers Training Academy, and will help officers recognize signs of human trafficking. In 2010, the course will be expanded to include investigative techniques. But right now, all local and state law enforcement agencies can do is pass on any information regarding possible trafficking to the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

One story often told in these circles (and confirmed by several state patrol officers) involves police seeing a van full of people on a freeway traveling North through Ohio, and later returning empty. Police officers reported seeing this occur repeatedly, and not knowing what to think of it. When they do receive training, they’ll know what to think – and what to do.

That’s not to say that police aren’t fighting trafficking. Almost everything traffickers do is illegal, like kidnapping women and children, and beating, raping, and torturing them. But when the law requires all police officers to receive ample training on how to rescue survivors and how to investigate human trafficking cases and enables local jurisdiction to work with federal enforcement agencies, traffickers will have to fear a much more concerted and comprehensive effort. Mike Bales of another advocacy group, Free the Slaves, says that every police department in the world needs a human trafficking agent, or better, an entire division.

Laura is now in prison; she was arrested by police after her trafficker was arrested for another crime, as often happens to trafficking victims who find themselves too closely associated with their trafficker’s other criminal activities. But things could have gone far worse for Laura.

“If no one believes me than so be it, but I know what kind of person Mike is and I know the hell I went through when I lived with him. It was worse than being in here. I was trapped with one way out: death. But thank God I’m here now. I have a second chance at life. I know I can do it… Getting high numbed me from what was going on. From the beatings, rapes, and just that life. Getting high was the only thing that made it not so bad…

I do feel safe in here. It sucks, but I am safe. I don’t have to worry about him. Well, I still worry because whatever I say they’ll tell [Mike]. I don’t know what kind of connections he has. But he can’t touch me in here, I’m healthy. I am so thankful to be away from him, and relieved. I thought the only way I could get out was to die. I’m lucky to be alive.”