A Call to Arms: Human Trafficking So Close to Home

1. A Call to Arms: Human Trafficking So Close to Home Gretchen M. Hubbard Digital Research Project 16 April 2011

2. BLUF: Bottom Line Up Front • Human trafficking is the second largest illegal activity in the world next to the illegal drug market • The United Nations reports that 1.2 million women and girls are trafficked around the world for the purposes of forced prostitution, labor, and other forms of exploitation each year • Toledo, Ohio ranks fourth among cities in the U.S. with the highest number of human trafficking cases (Only Las Vegas, Miami (Fl.), and Portland (Or.) rank higher) • The issue of human trafficking simple does not receive the attention and visibility is deserves

3. Different Forms of Trafficking • Sex Trafficking • Victims of sex trafficking are often found in the streets or working in establishments that offer commercial sex acts, i.e. brothels, strip clubs, pornography production houses. Such establishments may operate under the guise of: • Massage parlors • Escort services • Adult bookstores • Modeling studios • Bars/strip clubs • Labor Trafficking • People forced into indentured servitude can be found in: • Sweatshops (where abusive labor standards are present) • Commercial agricultural situations (fields, processing plants, canneries) • Domestic situations (maids, nannies) • Construction sites (particularly if public access is denied) • Restaurant and custodial work. • *Derived from: http://www.humantrafficking.org/combat_trafficking

4. Why Ohio and Why Toledo • Toledo is at the crossroads of major highway systems such as Interstate 75 and Interstate 71 making transportation easy and quick for traffickers • Ohio and neighboring states have to market for human trafficking, Ohio alone has the 5th most strip clubs of any other state in the U.S. • Toledo/Ohio has a close proximity to the Canadian border

5. Prevalence of Human Trafficking in Ohio

6. Factors Contributing to Human Trafficking in Ohio * From the Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission (Report on the Prevalence of Human Trafficking in Ohio)

7. What increase the risk of our youth? • The Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission (Report on the Prevalence of Human Trafficking in Ohio) identified four factors that may increase the risk to youth in Ohio. • (1) Ohio’s weak response to trafficking victims • (2) evidence that first responders to human trafficking in Ohio are unaware and unprepared • (3) customers who purchase youth remain protected, receiving minimal charges and rarely being prosecuted in Ohio in any significant way, while traffickers suffer minimal consequences • (4) high rates of vulnerable youth in Ohio * From the Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission (Report on the Prevalence of Human Trafficking in Ohio)

8. Real Toledo Story • Three Arrested in Connection with Prostitution Case- TOLEDO -- Two Toledo teens are back home safe after police say they were abducted and forced into prostitution. Police say it all started about a week and a half ago when 39-year-old Deric Willoughby abducted two teenage girls while they were walking in East Toledo. "We'll be right back." That's what the two teenage cousins told their parents. When they didn't return from a walk, their parents thought they had run away. It wasn't until Monday, they learned what had happened. "Just being sick to my stomach, legs shaking like crazy, just wishing the guy was there," said one of the victim's fathers. Police say 39-year-old Deric Willoughby, along with 23-year-old Jennifer Huskey, and 18-year-old Brandy Shope had taken the girls to several truck stops and forced them into prostitution. Washtenaw County Sherriff's deputies picked up one of the girls at a truck stop near Ann Arbor, Michigan. "If my daughter did something wrong or talked out of line then my niece would get beaten or if my niece did it then my daughter got beaten," said the other victim's mother. Deputies still didn't know where the other teen was. The family went back to Toledo and started looking for her. "My niece had the street name, but not the address. We drove by the house. She pointed out the house, and then we called 911," said the teen's father. The teen's father didn't wait for police to arrive. He busted into the home on Downing Avenue, and a fight broke out. "Tire iron, piece of asphalt, piece of brick, they bashed into my head," said the victim's father. When police arrived they arrested the three suspects. "I want to see them locked up forever. People like that need to be locked up forever. Everybody doesn't need to worry about their children," said the victim's mother. Deric Willoughby, Jennifer Huskey, and Brandy Shope all appeared in court Tuesday morning. Willouby is charged with kidnapping. All three are charged with felonious assault, and face two counts of compelling prostitution. • Story From: http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=3386434

9. Toledo Public Service Announcement • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QZDlfb90uI • This public service announcement was created by students and other members of The University of Toledo's Social Work Department.We won't tolerate the abuse and misuse of our precious youth. Report suspicious activity to the national trafficking hot line 1-888-373-7888.

10. What is Happening Internationally? • Human Trafficking is the second largest illegal activity occurring in the World • The United Nations reports that 1.2 million women and girls are trafficked around the world each year • The U.N. estimates the total revenue of the human trafficking industry world wide at between $5 billion - $7 billion USD • The World is simply not doing enough to combat human trafficking and draw attention to this issue

11. International Trafficking Law • Trafficking Victims Protection Act: Minimum Standards for the Elimination of Trafficking in Persons • (A) Minimum standards For purposes of this chapter, the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking applicable to the government of a country of origin, transit, or destination for victims of severe forms of trafficking are the following: • (1) The government of the country should prohibit severe forms of trafficking in persons and punish acts of such trafficking. • (2) For the knowing commission of any act of sex trafficking involving force, fraud, coercion, or in which the victim of sex trafficking is a child incapable of giving meaningful consent, or of trafficking which includes rape or kidnapping or which causes a death, the government of the country should prescribe punishment commensurate with that for grave crimes, such as forcible sexual assault. • (3) For the knowing commission of any act of a severe form of trafficking in persons, the government of the country should prescribe punishment that is sufficiently stringent to deter and that adequately reflects the heinous nature of the offense. • (4) The government of the country should make serious and sustained efforts to eliminate severe forms of trafficking in persons. • Full TVPA Information at http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2010/142765.htm

12. Findings of the 2010 Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report

13. Ohio Resources • Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission (Report on the Prevalence of Human Trafficking in Ohio)http://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/TraffickingReport • Second Chance Website: http://secondchancetoledo.org/ - Toledo based organization helping vicitims • Toledo and Ohio News Agencies and Companies • toledoblade.com • abclocal.go.com/wtvg • www.wtol.com • www.dispatch.com (Columbus)

14. Helping Hands • Toledo Based Second Chance: Second Chance is a social service program located in Toledo, Ohio which provides comprehensive services to victims of domestic sex trafficking and prostitution. • Second Chance Mission: • To offer supportive services to women and youth affected by or at risk for involvement in sex trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation, as they reclaim lives of choice. • To raise community awareness about the issues of sex trafficking and the commercial sexual exploitation of children and to work diligently to end the exploitation and victimization of women and youth. • To advocate with women and youth throughout the country to secure and provide resources for treatment and services for victims of sex trafficking and exploitation. • Second Chance Website: http://secondchancetoledo.org/

15. U.S. Resources • State Department- http://www.state.gov/g/tip/ - The Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons leads the United States' global engagement against human trafficking, an umbrella term used to describe the activities involved when someone obtains or holds a person in compelled service. • FBI.gov- http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/civilrights/human_trafficking/human_trafficking • NHTRC- http://www.polarisproject.org/what-we-do/national-human-trafficking-hotline/the-nhtrc/overview- The National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) is a national, toll-free hotline, available to answer calls from anywhere in the country, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year.

16. International Resources • http://humantrafficking.org/- is a web resource for combating human trafficking world wide. The website give detailed information on many different countries around the world. • http://www.giftasia.in/- is the United Nations is the global initiative to fight human trafficking

17. Recognizing Victims • Questions to ask if you suspect you are in the presence of a trafficking victim • Screening Questions • Is the person free to leave the work site? • Is the person physically, sexually or psychologically abused? • Does the person have a passport or valid I.D. card and is he/she in possession of such documents? • What is the pay and conditions of employment? • Does the person live at home or at/near the work site? • How did the individual arrive to this destination if the suspected victim is a foreign national? • Has the person or a family member of this person been threatened? • Does the person fear that something bad will happen to him or her, or to a family member, if he/she leaves the job? • *Derived from: http://www.humantrafficking.org/combat_trafficking

18. Conclusion • Human Trafficking is right in our backyard. Toledo ranks 4th in the nation in terms of trafficking cases. • Increased awareness and visibility is needed in Ohio, the U.S., and internationally. • Human Trafficking is the second largest illegal industry second only to the illegal drug market • The world must take action on this important issue and realize how it affects the whole world.

19. Human Trafficking Images

20. Continued.