BY JASON COHEN
When the average person thinks
of human traffi cking, they often picture
scenes from the long-running
TV series “Law and Order SVU.”
However, in real life, such elaborate
and widespread crimes aren’t solved
in 60 minutes.
In total, 40.3 million people are
victims of human traffi cking worldwide
and 25% of traffi cking victims
are under the age of 18. January also
marks national Human Traffi cking
Prevention Month.
According to Pamela Damon, executive
director for Not Only My
Watch, Inc., (NOMW) a Bronx-based
human traffi cking survivor-led organization,
there is often a misconception
that women who are traffi
cked are the same as prostitutes.
While sex workers make their own
decisions, people that are traffi cked
are brainwashed, controlled and often
are between the ages of just 12
and 15.
The organization was launched
in 2013 to strengthen collaborations
and build strategic partnerships in
an effort to identify the needs of atrisk
and traffi cked victims and provide
them with the resources, awareness
and training.
“The reason that our youth are
easy prey is because they lack the
self-esteem to realize they are better
than their surroundings,” Damon
said. “The reason the younger
ones are used is because many are
virgins.”
What makes matters worse is
that many children do not realize
they are being traffi cked until it’s
too late. The traffi ckers use the internet
to lure them in by telling girls
they are pretty and can make some
money. Next, they pretend to be their
boyfriend or girlfriend and shower
them with gifts. But soon after violence,
drugs and forced sex kicks in.
Some traffi ckers even brand girls
with a tattoo on their neck or shoulder.
Damon said instead of transporting
girls across state lines, victims
are usually kept in one location or
city because they are making so
much money. Some parents also sold
their children to landlords for sex
to make ends meet during the COVID
19 pandemic, Damon added.
However, identifying a traffi cker
is not easy.
“Your next-door neighbor could
be a traffi cker,” Damon said. “Traffi
cking is not just in fl eabag motels.”
A protester holds up a sign outside the courthouse ahead of a bail hearing in U.S. fi nancier
Jeffrey Epstein’s sex traffi cking case in New York City, U.S. July 15, 2019.
Photo courtesy REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
Damon said human traffi cking is
quite common because unlike drugs
when a bag can only be sold once, a
person can be sold 20-30 times a day.
Seamus Clarke, supervisory special
agent in charge of the FBI New
York Child Exploitation and Human
Traffi cking Task Force who has overseen
the task force for a year and a
half, investigates traffi cking in the
fi ve boroughs in partnership with the
NYPD. He told the Bronx Times that
currently there are more than 1,700
pending human traffi cking cases nationwide
and in 2021 alone, 604 traffi
cking cases led to 786 arrests.
Clarke said often people ask why
the girls don’t leave the traffi ckers.
For many of them, he said, it is the
fi rst time someone has paid attention
to them, so they get drawn in and essentially
develop a form of Stockholm
Syndrome takes place — where hostages
develop a psychological bond
with their captors during captivity.
“A lot of the times they look for
young girls who come from unstable
backgrounds,” he said.
Like Damon, Clarke said there is
no description of a typical traffi cker
and a lot of the practice today takes
place online. He added that it is diffi -
cult to shut escort sites down because
of the Communications Decency Act
of 1996, which essentially says websites
aren’t liable for what users post.
“There’s no picture I can paint of
what a traffi cker looks like,” he said.
He also said it is a myth that traffi
cking only occurs in motels and hotels.
It takes place anywhere where
they can make money.
“It (traffi cking) knows no boundaries,”
he said. “A lot of times it happens
in front of people, and they don’t
recognize it. They think this couldn’t
happen in my town.”
Clarke said if young girls are suddenly
wearing expensive jewelry or
fancy new clothes or hanging around
with older men, those are signs
they are being traffi cked and people
should contact law enforcement.
According to Clarke, it often can
be diffi cult to get victims to cooperate
because they are afraid of retribution
by the traffi ckers.
“It is a fi ne line for us to provide
support to the victim, but also to obtain
the information we need to successfully
prosecute,” Clarke said.
NOMW holds support groups for
families and Damon has learned it
takes parents a long time to realize
their children were being traffi cked
as the majority assume it only happens
in third world countries. While
the trauma never goes away, they do
their best to help people heal.
“There’s a gamut of emotions that
come into play as they think what
did I do wrong?” she said.
Human traffi cking month
highlights hidden crimes
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