HUMAN TRAFFICKING: IT'S REAL AND HAPPENING IN EVERY COMMUNITY IN MINNESOTA INCLUDING RIGHT HERE

By Vivian LaMoore, Inaajimowin Editor

Human trafficking is a worldwide $150 billion industry. And if you are thinking human trafficking happens only in large metro areas, think again. It is happening in our own communities everywhere.

Fiona Teller, creator of the Anti-Human Trafficking Indigenous Project, presented a series of workshops for Mille Lacs Band members and employees in December 2023 focused on Human Trafficking Awareness in the Digital Age. Teller is a member of the Navajo Nation. She created the project after receiving a fellowship from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Fiona previously worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and Murdered Unit. Fiona received her Master’s Degree from American University, where she focused her studies on human trafficking of Indigenous peoples.

“Human trafficking is alive and thriving in the United States. It is evil,” Fiona said. “There is a common misconception that human trafficking victims are brought to the United States from other countries, but many victims are U.S. citizens.”

Human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of people through force, fraud, or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit. Men, women, and children of all ages and from all backgrounds can become victims of this crime, which occurs in every region of the world.

There are multiple forms of human trafficking; however, Fiona’s presentation focused on the issue of sex trafficking. The wording of force and fraud are key words in regards to sex trafficking. Sex trafficking occurs when someone utilizes force, fraud, or coercion to cause a commercial sex act with an adult or causes a minor to commit a commercial sex act. Child sex trafficking involves those under the age of 18 who have been recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, advertised, maintained, patronized, or solicited to engage in a commercial sex act as a victim of human trafficking, regardless of whether or not force, fraud, or coercion is used. Children cannot consent to commercial sex, therefore, child sex trafficking occurs regardless of whether or not force, fraud, or coercion is used.

Coercion is the criminal motor behind sex trafficking and may take a variety of forms, such as promises of meeting their unmet needs.

“Victims can be anyone — your daughter, neighbor, or nephew. Traffickers recruit victims in schools, online through social media, at shopping malls, bus stations, even in foster care or group homes,” Fiona said. “Perpetrators often target children, believing their age makes them easier to manipulate or control.”

Research has shown that traffickers often targe children with increased vulnerabilities including:

• A history of sexual abuse. Traffickers will work to identify any vulnerabilities in a child’s life and use that to create a closer bond to the child to hold future control

• A history of running away or current status of a runaway.

• An unstable homelife and or involvement in the child welfare or foster care system.

Traffickers may entice children using physical and psychological manipulation and sometimes violence. “They will create a seemingly loving or caring relationship with the victim to establish trust and allegiance that remains even in the face of severe victimization,” Teller said.

Much of the trafficking has moved from street corners and truck stops to the internet, where children are sold for sex. Online sites allow traffickers and buyers anonymity as well as accessibility when exploiting children.

Traffickers will search through social media platforms. A 2021 Ploaris Report using data from the National Human Trafficking Hotline identifies that between 2019 and 2020, traditional recruitment sites such as bus stations, strip clubs, mental health facilities, and private foster homes all experienced significant declines. At the same time, Facebook experienced a significant 125% increase in trafficking recruitment.

The Human Trafficking Institute also found:

• 83% of active 2020 sex trafficking cases involved online solicitation.

• 59% of online victim recruitment in active sex trafficking cases occurred on Facebook.

• 65% of underage victims recruited online in 2020 active criminal sex trafficking cases were recruited through Facebook while 14% were recruited through Instagram and 8% were recruited through Snapchat.

So why the shift to digital social media? Social media networking sites allow traffickers the ability to recruit and exploit victims anonymously with very little risk of being discovered using fake accounts among other options.

Traffickers use social media to recruit victims through a variety of ways, such as romantic interests, presenting a false modeling or acting job, and offering assistance to struggling individuals.

Individuals who spend more time on social media are more likely to share personal information with traffickers on social media making them easier targets.

Human trafficking is a highly underreported crime for a variety of reasons including the fact that many trafficking victims do not identify themselves as victims. Some may suffer fear, shame, and distrust of law enforcement. It is also not unusual for trafficking victims to develop traumatic bonds with their traffickers because of the manipulative nature of the crime.

Traffickers target tribal communities

“We lived here first. We lived here in the United States before anyone ever came here. Sex trafficking, human trafficking, that’s not our way. That was not ever our way,” Teller said. “Our women are highly valued. That is tradition.”

The issue of human trafficking increases in tribal communities due to:

• High rates of homelessness.

• High rates of high school drop-out.

• High rates of domestic abuse — Youth are more than likely to run away from their homes.

• High rates of sexual abuse/assault.

• High rates of suicide.

• High rates of substance abuse.

“All of these issues often become normalized in Indigenous communities,” Teller added. “All of these issues make Native American women, children, and men targets for sex trafficking.”

Keep your children and family safe

One of the most important things you can do to protect your children is to create an environment in which he or she feels comfortable talking with you. Open communication is key. Help make your children be more aware by explaining the dangers of sex trafficking. Thius includes conversations about online safety and how traffickers use social media sites and apps for recruitment. Knowing who your child is with is always crucial to protecting their safety. “Ask yourself if you trust the people with whom your child interacts?” Teller said. It is very important to monitor what your child does and who your child is interacting with on the internet. And remember, if something does not seem right, ask questions.”

Teenagers and parents should talk openly about how they use mobile devices. Get to know the ins and outs of popular social media sites and discuss appropriate privacy settings.

Convey that phones should only be used to communicate with people they know in the real world. Before accepting a request to be someone’s friend on social media sites and make sure it is actually someone you know and not an imposter or someone pretending to be someone else.

“It is important to utilize cultural teachings,” Teller said. “We need to change our communities and help with programs that can facilitate integrating victims of human trafficking back into society.”

Awareness leads to prevention, she continued. “Tribes have a need to take ownership over their awareness, outreach, and education… start holding more sessions like this and get more community members involved.”

The awareness, outreach, and education also falls to community members. “Be a friend, be an Auntie, listen, offer self-defense classes for women. These are just some of the ways community members can start getting involved,” Teller said. “Traffickers are here in the state of Minnesota and right here in our community. Awareness and education are key. Community members can make an impact and make change.”

If you or someone you know is/has been a victim or simply for more information, please reach out to the Mille Lacs Band Family Violence Prevention or Kristen Allord at 320-630-2677, or Elder Advocate at 320-630-4395.

If you or someone you know is in immediate danger of being trafficked, call 911. To report a suspected trafficking situation, call the BCA at 1-877-996-6222 or email bca.tips@state.mn.us.