By Amy Turim

 

 

By now you probably know what the social media hash tag “bring back our girls” refers to. The message has reached near infamy worldwide, with tens of thousands of shares and retweets, and numerous parodies and critiques.  Television and newspaper commentators have either promoted the missive, or skewered First Lady Michelle Obama for tweeting her photo with a #BringBackOurGirls sign, depending on the network.  Regardless of your opinion of the method of delivery, the message has been a success in raising consciousness.  This 57-day-old campaign has brought the plight of the kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls it represents into homes across America, and the throughout the globe.  The world is watching, and the world wants terrorist group Boko Haram to return the kidnapped children.

 

I want to be clear at the outset that I also want the Nigerian schoolgirls returned home, quickly, and as safe as possible.  We are a global society, and safety from terrorists requires a global approach.  However, the ubiquity of the message #BringBackOurGirls frustrates me, in that the disappearance of our local girls against their will does not cause the same outcry.  The kidnapping, and brutal rapes and exploitation of our local girls does not make the nightly news every night, and does not get discussed daily by world leaders.

 

Human trafficking takes local people from their homes, terrorizes them, enslaves them, and forever scars them, yet the same level of outcry does not exist.  The United Nations defines human trafficking as the recruitment, transport, harbouring or receipt of persons against their will, by threat or use of force or coercion.  Traffickers abduct, defraud, deceive, abuse power, and take advantage of the vulnerable to have control over another person for the purpose of exploitation. The UN indicates this exploitation includes prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude, or the removal of organs.  If the definition sounds dense and complex, that is because it is.  The UN correctly recognizes trafficking as a multifaceted assault on dignity and freedom, occurring worldwide in many forms.  Human trafficking victimizes people of all ages, types and nationalities, including women, men, and children, but the majority of the victims are young women and girls.  The average age of trafficking victims is just thirteen years old.  Traffickers target our local daughters and sons.

 

Although Milwaukee has been called the “Harvard for Pimps,” according to members of the local trafficking task force, this is not just an urban issue.  Seventy-two counties in the state of Wisconsin have reported incidents of human trafficking.  These counties are rural, suburban, and urban.  The argument that “those things do not happen here” is simply invalid, and uninformed.  Wisconsin has one of the highest rates of human trafficking in the entire United States, as do many of the states in the Midwest.  Modern day slavery, as human trafficking is referred to, is happening here, at home, in our backyards.

 

How do we prevent our friends, family, and our young people from becoming victims of traffickers?  It’s not as easy as it sounds.  Traffickers approach potential victims on the street, in schools, and online.  Traffickers use young people to recruit other young people, by using victims under their control to identify new trafficking targets.  Traffickers prey on weaknesses, desires, aspirations and basic needs. They will offer food to the hungry, shelter from bad home situations, flattery to those with low self-esteem, extravagant items to the poor, and an escape from monotonous everyday life.  They might claim to have a modeling company needing new talent, or convince a young person that they are romantically interested in them.  Young people tend to be less wary of potential suitors, and may overlook many warning signs of a bad situation.  The frontal lobe impulse control centers in young brains are still being developed; youth are more inclined to take a chance on something that looks good at first glance.  This mistake can literally be fatal, or result in dehumanization, severe psychological side effects, post-traumatic disorders, and worse. 

 

Local organizations are fighting this battle, but unfortunately they are not fighting hard enough.  The Boys and Girls Club recently held a trafficking awareness event, where an advocate and former victim explained her experience, and experts put that experience in context.  An audience member put that message into local context, confessing in front of the crowd that she had been trafficked, and recruited a friend, also present, into the life.  Three people in the room of not that many were admitted victims, and that is just a small indication of how pervasive this problem is.  The message only reached those in the room that day, and it didn’t offer a ton of solutions to this problem. 

 

The reality of trafficking is there are not many solutions out there. Domestic violence shelters often refuse victims under age 18, and do not have specialized services for victims of trafficking.  Lad Lake, a Milwaukee youth social service agency, has opened a shelter environment for trafficking victims, where they have six beds that can be filled for up to a year by a trafficking victim.  It’s a start, but it’s not enough.

 

State and Federal laws pertaining to trafficking need to change, and more resources need to be available for victims.   Congress has passed a bill (HR3610) that would help ensure victims of human trafficking are not prosecuted for crimes committed while being trafficked, such as prostitution.  The bill would also allocate resources and create interjursidictional task forces to combat trafficking, as well as create diversionary models within child welfare systems for victims of trafficking.  The bipartisan effort, which was cosponsored by Representative Gwen Moore (D-WI), has passed the House and is being forwarded to the Senate.  Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) will likely support this effort, and Ron Johnson (R-WI) should too.  Keeping people safe from traffickers, rehabilitating trafficking victims, and punishing those responsible for trafficking should be goals for all political parties.

 

Wisconsin should also introduce it’s own legislation on this matter, including adding a requirement for first responders and other mandated reporters to be trained in identifying victims of trafficking.  Training medical personal, police officers, social service agents, and teachers to accurately identify victims will save lives, and help stop the traumas associated with trafficking.  Victims of trafficking endure severe physical and mental harm.  Much of the physical harm is sexual in nature.  In Wisconsin, over eighty percent of all trafficking cases involve sex trafficking.  It’s time to take a serious stand for safety, and #BringBackOurLocalGirls.

 

 

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