World-Wide Epidemic: Human Sex Trafficking In Alabama
By definition human trafficking is “the illegal practice of procuring or trading in human beings for the purpose of prostitution, forced labor, or other forms of exploitation” (Dictionary. com). This paper will focus on the aspect of sex trafficking. The state of Alabama is in close proximity to cities such as Atlanta and Chattanooga, which are known sex trafficking hotspots. Interstate 20 is a major interstate that runs from West Texas to South Carolina, but the stretch that runs between Atlanta, Georgia and Birmingham, Alabama, which is traveled by more than ten million people each year, is known as the ‘Sex Trafficking Superhighway” (Sims, 2015). Along this route at any truck stop, truck drivers say there will be fifteen to thirty girls offering their “services. ”
As of May 28, there had been 36 cases of trafficking reported in Alabama in 2019. Sex trafficking is the most common in Alabama, followed by labor trafficking. Alabama Senator Cam Ward (R. Alabastar) says that children ages 11 to 14 are most affected. Tracey Gibson, who works with survivors of trafficking at her nonprofit Fresh Start Life Recovery, says that we are seeing an increase in human trafficking in our state (Smith, 2019).
Human trafficking is not always the horror story you hear about a girl or woman snatched in broad daylight into a van and dragged away, never to be seen again. In fact, this is rarely how it happens. Much more often traffickers target the already vulnerable population- runaways, foster youth, the LGBTQ community, and those with addiction problems. They are promised a new life with a new home and a loving relationship (Brown, 2019). When faced with the everyday struggles of their reality, it is easy to convince them that they are better off away from it all. It doesn’t take long before they realize what kind of life they have ended up in. The victim is now the property of the trafficker, and he is in control. It is a myth that most victims are kept locked up or tied up. Victims are controlled by psychological manipulation and threats of force or violence against them or those they care about. They are given very little if any money and are left dependent on their trafficker (Brown, 2019). This leaves the victim in a state of unimaginable trauma and they are no longer able to see any way out.
Traffickers can be a ‘nice guy’ a girl meets at the mall or the movies. They can be someone they met on social media or through a gaming site chat room. They can even be someone the victim already knew. According to Lieutenant Darren Beams with the Tuscaloosa Police Department, familial trafficking is on the rise, due in part to the opioid crisis. In this case a person sells a family member, usually their own child, in exchange for drugs. Lt. Beams works on a taskforce that combats trafficking in the state. He estimates that 95 percent of people in the commercial sex industry were coerced. This statistic highlights the need to know how to identify a trafficking victim versus a commercial sex worker by choice. The growing drug war in our state and country is making the problem worse. The drug trafficker and sex trafficker are closely linked, sometimes being one in the same (Beams, 2019).
There has also been an increase in younger victims being trafficked. Lt. Beams stated that in recent sting arrests, four men believed they had arranged to meet a 14-year-old female for sexual purposes. Upon their arrival to the agreed-upon site, the johns were met by police. When these johns are arrested, they complete a survey. They indicated in the surveys that they started out watching pornography and eventually were not gratified any longer, so they transitioned into buying sex. Once that was not a thrill anymore, they pursued younger and younger victims (Beams, 2019).
Once a person enters the world of trafficking, their life expectancy is just seven years without intervention (Beams, 2019). This highlights the urgency of the situation for these victims. They suffer from sexual, physical and emotional abuse. Sexual abuse includes any unwelcome or non-consensual sex acts. Physical abuse includes starvation, torture and beating. Emotional abuse includes being mentally destroyed until the victim no longer believes he or she is worth fighting for. They are often addicted to drugs. They are vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancies which can lead to miscarriages or forced abortions. Once a woman has been trafficked for a while and has contracted STIs or is in poor health, the trafficker will drop her off at the emergency room, as she is not considered useful anymore. If an emergency room’s staff is trained on identifying trafficking victims, they can end the life of imprisonment for that victim.
What Is Being Done?
Lt. Beams’ taskforce has done an amazing job combatting sex trafficking in the state. They work with the National Johns Suppression Initiative (NJSI) to conduct reverse stings. This process aims to arrest johns before they can get victims into trafficking. These stings are conducted twice a year in 4-day stints and Lt. Beams’ taskforce has participated in five since 2017. In a combined twenty days they arrested 175 males for soliciting sex with a minor. Trafficking is a supply-and-demand crime. The hope is if the johns (demand) are taken out of the picture, the supply (victims) will not exist anymore. The taskforce has also helped train the staff at hospitals in the Tuscaloosa, Alabama area on how to recognize the signs of trafficking victims, such as untreated STIs and emotional trauma (Beams, 2019)
Alabama does have legislation that allows police departments and victims both to civilly sue traffickers as well as hotel owners or anyone else that turned a blind eye to trafficking on their property.
The burden of proof is less for a civil case than for a criminal case. This allows action to be taken against property owners that choose to ignore obvious signs of trafficking activities like a group of several girls with one older man checking into a hotel, or a revolving door of people coming and going at all times. These property owners can now be held responsible for their inactions (Beams, 2019).
In March 2019 HB261 was introduced by Alabama Representatives Coleman and Collins. This bill requires all truck drivers to be trained on how to recognize, prevent and report human trafficking activity. This bill was passed in June 2019 and will go into effect in January 2020. In an interview with WHNT 19, a Tennessee Valley news channel, Kevon Kirkpatrick who owns his own CDL school said that you can hear it on the CB radio. He is referring to soliciting. Mr. Kirkpatrick says he has been in the commercial trucking industry his entire adult life and that every time he would drive past a truck stop or rest area, people would be soliciting. “It’s everywhere”, he said (Smith, 2019 and HB261).
HB264 was also introduced in March 2019 by State Representatives Coleman and Collins and it was passed in May 2019. It also takes effect in January 2020. HB264 requires business such as bars, massage parlors, airports, train or bus stations, gas stations, etc. to display a poster with information detailing the warning signs of trafficking and listing resources for victims to obtain help (Smith, 2019 and HB264). The aim is to spread awareness, increase visibility, and make it easier for victims to get help.
Another proposed bill, HB262, would amend Alabama’s existing law on solicitation of a prostitute, which does not allow the offender’s photograph to be published without a court order.
The proposed amendment would allow the offender’s photograph to be published after a prostitution arrest (Smith, 2019 and HB262). Lt. Beams tells me this bill was rejected, but they plan to change some of the wording and present it against next session (Beams, 2019).
Alabama government and sex trafficking advocates are also currently working to pass legislation to enact mandatory trafficking training for all law enforcement officers. There is nothing specifically pertaining to human trafficking in the current curriculum taught to new Alabama police officers. The Alabama Gang Investigators Association (AGIS) teaches one small block on trafficking once they complete their part of Alabama’s officer training program (Beams, 2019). This standardized curriculum would help officers know how to spot trafficking victims and differentiate them from voluntary commercial sex workers.
Alabama is not alone in the war on human trafficking. It is a world-wide epidemic. It is essential that our state continues to fight back by passing new legislature, forming task forces, and speaking up when we suspect there is a problem. We are off to a good start, but sex trafficking will be a constantly-evolving problem. Alabama must evolve with it, for the safety of its citizens.
