Nonprofit groups are working to bring attention to the problem
By Aaron Martinez
El Paso Times
EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The world of sex-trafficking is complicated and complex, yet the solution may be as simple as education.
“Education is key,” said Virginia, a victim liaison for the Paso Del Norte’s Center of Hope who requested that her last name not be used so traffickers couldn’t use her to find the victims she works with. “I am a native El Pasoan and I had no idea how big of an issue sex trafficking — human trafficking in general — is here in El Paso.”
In recent years, anti-trafficking nonprofit groups such as the Center of Hope and federal, state and local law enforcement have worked to bring sex trafficking to the public’s attention.
“Sex trafficking and human smuggling are somewhat ‘breaking’ for a lot of people,” said Edward Owens, assistant special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in El Paso. “And what we mean by ‘breaking’ is that because of the recent level of increased awareness, we are seeing a lot more information and tips come in, which gives the ability to federal, state and local law enforcement to investigate more cases.”
Owens said El Paso is a hotspot for sex trafficking in two ways — many victims are forced into sex here and traffickers use El Paso as a key stop along the circuits of cities where they sell their victims.
“El Paso is kind of a gateway, with the I-10 corridor and the proximity to the border,” Owens told the El Paso Times (http://bit.ly/1kHSJ0y). “Everyone that gets smuggled into El Paso doesn’t stay in El Paso.
“This makes it more important for us to try to intercede at this level,” he said. “It gets harder once they are moved into the interior of the United States. We talk about educating the public on different things to look for and different signs to spot trafficking, and that is where we are going to get the biggest return on our investment.”
While El Paso’s location along the border draws international human-traffickers, victims in the Southwest are just as likely to be domestic.
“This isn’t an immigration issue like many people assume. This is a community issue,” said John Martin, executive director of the Center of Hope. “We get victims from all over, including young girls from El Paso. There is an eyes-wide-shut phenomenon here in El Paso. People know it’s happening, but they don’t see how much of an impact sex trafficking is having on our community and community members. They associate sex trafficking with immigration, but it is affecting people here in El Paso.”
Law enforcement and anti-trafficking groups want people in El Paso to recognize how big a problem sex trafficking is in the area, more importantly, they want people to recognize the signs so they can help.
“Keep your eyes open and keep listening,” Virginia said. “Most of the victims, nationwide, come to the attention of entities like ourselves because someone see s something where they get a gut feeling that something just isn’t right. This person just looks like they are being controlled or beaten up and needs help.”
A shy person who won’t make eye contact, a neighbor who never leaves the house alone, someone who seems to be controlled by someone else, houses filled with people who are not allowed to go outside unaccompanied or have an unusual number of visitors — all could signal human trafficking.
“It could be a visit to a grocery store, a salon, a hotel or at your apartment complex,” Virginia said. “There are so many different places where a sex-trafficking victim could be forced to go. If people are aware of the issue and the signs, when they see a suspected victim they will start to notice that something just doesn’t feel right with that person and then they will make the call to us or law enforcement and let the experts look into it and save that victim from the abuse and forced labor.”
Increased efforts to raise awareness in El Paso have already paid major dividends.
HSI has launched two major programs to combat sex-trafficking — its Anti-Trafficking Coordination Team and its Blue Campaign, an anti-trafficking education program.
The anti-trafficking team, which is a partnership between the HSI, FBI, Department of Labor and U.S. Attorney’s Office, was created in 2011 to coordinate federal criminal investigations of suspected human traffickers, said Gus Correa, supervisor of the anti-trafficking team in El Paso.
Because of its role in sex trafficking, El Paso was selected as one of six cities in the country to take part in the pilot program.
“Working with our ACT partners and along with (El Paso County) Sheriff’s Office and the El Paso Police Department, allows us to share that intelligence and synthesize that information, so more cases are being brought to the table,” Owens said.
“History has shown that having collaboration with other law enforcement agencies has proven successful, and now we are seeing that with the Anti-Trafficking Coordination Team.”
Since the creation of the team, 23 people have been indicted and 17 have been convicted on charges related to human trafficking, Correa said.
Currently, six suspected sex traffickers are in jail and three cases involving multiple suspects are heading to trial soon.
The team has been so successful in part because of the HSI’s Blue Campaign, officials said. HSI officials visit schools and community meetings to explain human trafficking and how to spot victims.
HSI also hands out posters intended to put a face to the victims of trafficking. One poster depicts a teenage girl staring into a mirror with bruises on her face with the words “Lured by fairy tale promises, she learned not every prince is charming.” Another shows a middle-age woman sitting on the front steps of a suburban home with cleaning equipment and says, “Some prison cells have mental bars, and some have white picket fences.”
“Getting our name out there, letting the community know what signs to look for and a number for them to call to report anything out of place they see have all been a tremendous help,” Correa said. “Also, as part of the Blue Campaign, we have created these posters that put a face to trafficking and show people that it isn’t just an immigration problem. It is happening in our community and to members of our community.”
While law enforcement agencies continue to target websites like backpage.com and Craigslist that are breeding grounds for prostitution and sex trafficking, the best tips come from the public, said Sgt. Jose Hernandez, supervisor of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office strike team.
“When it comes to sex trafficking, the best tips and leads we get are from the public,” Hernandez said. “We will comb and search some of the sites that are known to post ads for escorts, and that is kind of the starting point for some of our investigations. But information for the public is almost always our best leads.”
Education does not stop at just the general public. Officials are reaching out to the victims, and even the traffickers themselves.
“We also try to reach out to the victims and hope they see our message,” said Sgt. James Belknap of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office’s Criminal Investigations for Crimes Against Persons unit. “For the victims, the message is that it is OK: Contact us and let us know you need help. We are here to help you and get you to a safe place. For anyone involved who wants out but may be reluctant or scared, it is OK to contact us and we will help you.”
Law enforcement agencies have had to conduct training within their own organizations.
“There needs to be continued training” of law enforcement, said Gladys Carmona, crime victims liaison for the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office Victim Services. “The Sheriff’s Office does have training, and we need to continue that because law enforcement officers need to know what to look for and what the new trends are when it comes to sex trafficking.”
Correa, of the federal anti-trafficking team, said, “When it comes to training, it is about teaching law enforcement officers to look past the basics of a case and look for the signs of a potential trafficking victim.
“For example, when they respond to a domestic violence call, we train them to look for the signs that this may not just be a domestic dispute case,” he said. “The gang unit may be looking at a case they get as just another prostitution case, but any of these cases could be related to sex trafficking.”
An educated public also encourages changes at the local, state and national levels, Correa said.
“This is where the Blue Campaign comes in,” Correa said. “Public awareness is very important. With public awareness comes pressure from the people on congressmen to make changes to the law. Increasing public awareness is vital in more ways than one in combating sex trafficking.”
Texas ranks as one of the best states in the nation for its anti-trafficking laws, according to 2013 report by the Polaris Project, a nonprofit anti-human trafficking advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.
The project rated anti-human trafficking efforts by all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The ratings are based on 11 categories — sex-trafficking provisions, labor-trafficking provisions, asset forfeiture and investigative tools, training and human-trafficking task forces, human-trafficking hotlines, safe harbors for protecting minors, lower burden of proof for sex trafficking of minors, victim assistance, access to civil damages, and vacating convictions for sex trafficking victims.
States with laws covering at least seven of the categories are put in the Polaris Project’s top tier. Both Texas and New Mexico rank in the top tier.
Texas meets the requirements in 10 of the 11 categories, only lacking laws that vacate convictions for sex-trafficking victims. New Mexico had laws in place in seven of the categories. It lacked laws regarding asset forfeiture and investigative tools, posting of a human-trafficking hotline, safe harbors for protecting minors, lower burden of proof for sex trafficking of minors, and vacating convictions for sex-trafficking victims.
“Sex trafficking, human trafficking in general, is a big issue affecting our community, and we in the Texas Senate have taken notice and worked on strengthening anti-trafficking laws,” said state Sen. Jose Rodriguez, D-El Paso. “In 2011, we created a task force to look into human and sex trafficking and created a bill, which I was one of the coauthors of, to address the concerns brought up by the task force.”
Senate Bill 24, which became law in September 2011, focused on two key aspects of combating sex trafficking — prosecution and protection.
“In this bill, we made sure we addressed all the concerns raised by the task force,” Rodriguez said. “Some of the concerns we addressed were the concerns about the ability of prosecutors to have the tools to prosecute sex trafficking cases, enhancing punishments to send a message that if you engage in sex trafficking you will face serious punishment, make convicted traffickers register as sex offenders and enhance services to victims.”
Rodriguez said the work of the Legislature is not done yet.
“We have made great efforts to combat sex trafficking and we should be proud of our state for taking the initiative to combat all human trafficking,” Rodriguez said. “But we must and will continue to evaluate the situation dealing with sex trafficking and human trafficking in our area and throughout the Borderland to make sure we are doing everything we can.”
While education may seem like an oversimplified solution to a large, complex problem, many sex-trafficking survivors realize how much awareness can help.
Denico Harris, 28, lived what seemed to be normal life to his neighbors. What they did not know was that he was sold for sex and labor for two years.
Harris is now receiving help at the Life Link Anti-human Trafficking Initiative, a nonprofit sex-trafficking advocacy group based in Santa Fe that provides a home, counseling and other services for trafficking victims from across the United States.
During his two years of abuse, every day his neighbors would say hello with none of them realizing he was being forced into sex labor by a gang of wealthy men in the Pacific Northwest.
All the signs were there, he said, but no one knew what to look for in a victim. Harris says just one person who was educated on sex trafficking could have saved him from years of abuse.
“I want to see change in the public’s mentality,” Harris said. “I want to see change in the government. I’m ready to talk about this. Exposure is the big thing. When you let people know what is going on, you have a weapon that is amazing.”
