January is human trafficking awareness month. Human trafficking has become a growing concern in our world today. It can happen to anyone, even males at any time.
Between 2019 and 2022 there has been a 25% increase in the number of victims globally. Trafficking of boys has quintupled between the years 2004 and 2020. Adult male victims were 23% of 62% total for adults. Of child victims 16% of them were boys.
The Blue Campaign is national public awareness campaign with Department of Homeland Security, designed to educate the public, law enforcement and other industry partners to recognize the indicators of human trafficking and how to appropriately respond to possible cases.
Adjunct instructor of student success Adrain Mendez attended an event held on NE campus raising awareness on human trafficking. The event had a speaker who had some real-life experience on the topic.
It highlighted the importance of paying attention to human trafficking because of how close it can be to you.
“If 10-15 people can walk away with something, we never know how that [awareness] can trickle down,” Mendez said.
Human trafficking victims can be any age, race, gender identity, sex, ethnicity, nationality, immigration status or socioeconomic class. It involves the use of force, fraud or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. The crime hinges on the exploitation of another person.
Recently in Midlothian, Texas, which is southeast of Dallas, in one of the local neighborhoods a human trafficking bust happened. It can happen closer than you think.
Tayren Mangolni-Thomas talked about how it happened in his neighborhood. He explained how he and his wife startednoticing their ring camera going off in the middle of the night with what looked like a U-Haul. His neighbors also noticed the same thing. This prompted them to say something to the local police department.
“It just was upsetting knowing that the individual who is so prominent in the community was using it as a cover for those type of activities,” Mangolni-Thomas said.
This can also happen on college campuses. Sometimes students who are seen as more vulnerable, including scholarship students with less money, can be targets.
“I was a little surprised at some of the scenarios they showed,” administrative assistant for supplemental instructions Maria Taylor said. “It [trafficking] can happen to anyone but on college campuses, it might be an individual manipulating people. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a group.”
It’s critical when reporting suspected human trafficking activity that you include as many details as possible.
How can you recognize that someone might be trafficked? A great first step is to learn indicators, these can be physical, behavioral or social.
Physical or behavioral indicators can include appearing to be deprived of food, water, sleep, medical care or other necessities. Suddenly having more expensive material possessions, tattoos or scars which could indicate branding by a trafficker or showing sudden, dramatic changes in behavior.
Social indicators can include having on campus housing but rarely staying in their dorm, having a romantic partner who is noticeably older, engaging in unhealthy coping behaviors and seeming restricted from contacting family, friends or a legal guardian.
If you see something don’t be afraid to say something.
