March 30. By Melissa Atherton. The Ada Jenkins Center hosted a human trafficking forum with panelists from the Davidson Police, Project NO REST and Council for Children’s Rights. Panelists addressed the big questions: What is human trafficking? Why is it happening? How can we prevent it?

“We are not going to stop this until everyone gets involved,” said Davidson Police Det. Vernon Siders.

According to the Department of Homeland Security human trafficking is modern-day slavery and involves using force, fraud or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.

It became a concern when commercial development met Davidson residents head on in November 2017. The Board of Commissioners approved plans for a hotel between Community School of Davidson and the Westside Terrace neighborhood.

Residents wondered if the location of the hotel would put children in danger.

There are 40 million human trafficking victims in the world. Its a $150 billion industry.

Trafficking tends to be concentrated near coasts, borders, seaports, big cities and highways. It is happening all over the world and it is happening right here in North Carolina. The latest data from the Human Trafficking Hotline lists North Carolina as eighth in the nation for number of trafficking reports. There has been a child trafficking case documented in Davidson.

Lynn Puma is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Adjunct Social Work Faculty at UNCC, and a Community School of Davidson (CSD) parent. She conceived the forum idea in response to community members’ concern about the hotel.

Puma wondered, “Can this happen in Davidson? Will a hotel increase the problem?”

Puma’s search for credible information led her to local experts Shawna Pagano, Heather Johnson, and Vernon Siders. Pagano is a social worker and the Mecklenburg County Project NO REST Coordinator. Johnson is a social worker and attorney for Council of Children’s Rights. The three presented information on the types of human trafficking, differentiated between truths and myths, identified the signs, explained the types of traffickers and provided community resources.

Siders described the types of human trafficking: sexual exploitation, forced labor, forced marriage, refugees, organ removal, military service, and domestic servitude. He also distinguished between fact and fiction. Siders said human trafficking does not have to involve violence or confinement. The victims are both poor and wealthy. They often do not know that they are victims and frequently do not seek help.

This story hits home. Siders said a trafficker from Michigan began grooming a Davidson girl online. When she went to stay with her father in Michigan over the summer, the trafficker took her. Police found her at the man’s home.

“No matter how you look at it, it’s slavery,” said Siders.

Signs of human trafficking include both physical and behavioral indicators. Physical indicators include: scars, cuts, bruises, burns, poor dental health, and the appearance of malnourishment. Behavioral indicators include: confusion, tearfulness, anxiety, submissiveness, paranoia, fear of law enforcement, substance abuse, and the presence of a controlling person.

Pagano said victims are often the most vulnerable people whose risk factors include: poverty, sexual abuse, homelessness, identifying as LGBT, foster care, migrant work, and being displaced. The types of traffickers include: family, boyfriends, gangs, neighbors, strangers, and independent business owners. Traffickers convince the vulnerable that they are in a relationship. They use the “dark web” internet to groom victims.

“Vulnerabilities are the common thread,” added Johnson.

Pagano explained that social media is a large factor in grooming victims. Traffickers identify vulnerable youth online, then start “liking” their pictures and private messaging them. Traffickers slowly gain victims’ trust, fill a need, exploit a void, then begin isolating and sexualizing them.

Siders informed that it will take the entire community to address the issue. He said police rely on neighbors to call 911 when they see something suspicious. Pagano recommended that parents keep close watch on their child’s social media accounts. She said children should not have “friends” who are more than seven years older than them.

Pagano addressed the original concern about the construction of a hotel next to a school and neighborhood. She said that traffickers are not likely to prey on children playing outside of a school or in the neighborhood where adults are watching. They are much more likely to be at truck stops, near highways or lurking on the internet.

Resources:

National Trafficking Hotline: 888-373-7888

Project NO REST: www.projectnorest.org

Present Age Ministries (Volunteer, School Education): www.presentageministries.org