Awareness & Training

by Ashley Raymond

I have been working as an Emergency Services clinician for the past 6 years. My job entails conducting mental health and safety evaluations in the ER and helping to determine the right level of care. My training primarily focused on suicidal ideation and psychosis. There was always the occasional unique case which did not present with any of those symptoms, and we would do our best to provide support as needed.

Years after starting my career I saw an ad for A21 (https://www.a21.org) and began researching human trafficking. Like many others, I had assumed this was not something happening close to home. I assumed it presented with more obvious symptoms, behaviors and situations like we see in movies. After getting the appropriate training on human trafficking, I began scanning several cases in my head I had seen in the ER. I can still remember two individuals very clearly that to this day I believe may have been a victim of trafficking and at the time I had no idea.

I was frustrated and disappointed that this topic wasn’t talked about in my schooling and training. I quickly began educating coworkers and encouraged them to join events to spread awareness. Luckily, one of these two individuals came back through the doors of the ER. Because of awareness and training, one of my coworkers was able to identify the signs and report it to the police.

Since then I have changed jobs to a new agency and ER. I have kept the topic of human trafficking frequently discussed amongst my coworkers and agency. After discussing joining the NH task force with my director, I was later encouraged to host a training for my agency on human trafficking. Staff members of the agency ranging from psychiatrists to receptionists joined the training and shared their surprise at the reality of human trafficking happening in our back yards.

Hours after I hosted this training, a staff member sent me a lengthy email explaining a situation her daughter had been in. She stated that after this training she realized her daughter almost became a victim of trafficking and at the time she did not even realize it. The following day I received a similar email from another staff member mentioning a family member that had come face to face with trafficking and they were unaware of how prevalent this was.

What also frightens me is that the women reaching out to me with these stories were from towns and neighborhoods that were considered ‘upper-class’ and these traffickers were able to blend in and manipulate their way into their children’s lives. Human trafficking does not discriminate and it does not disappear no matter how wealthy or secure a town is considered. Because of the response I received from staff members, I understand the need to continue spreading awareness and educating others.

At the end of the day, ensuring full community awareness of the issue and understanding and training among a range of professionals is our best strategy to defeat human trafficking!

Thoughts from a Layperson

I work in IT. I am not a social worker, a police officer, an educator, a nurse, or in any kind of vocation where my day-to-day life interacts with human trafficking. At least not knowingly.

Those front-line workers are heroes. We know they are because children dream of doing most of those jobs. Ask a child what they want to be when they grow up, and most of the answers will be teacher, police officer, fire fighter, doctor, nurse, or astronaut. With the exception of the last of these, these jobs all involve interactions with other humans when humans are not at their best. Aren’t kids awesome?

Working in IT, for large institutions in New Hampshire, I rarely come across victims of human trafficking, or even those most at risk of human trafficking. And I suspect I am not alone in this. The vast majority of human trafficking victims have one of the following attributes:

• Substance addiction;

• No family, or difficult family relationships; or

• Mental illness

None of these attributes are anything to be ashamed of. 1 in 5 people experience mental illness in any given year (source). Only 4% of American adults have blonde hair (source), so mental illness is five times as prevalent as being blond. Mental illness is highly correlated to substance addiction - many people with mental illness turn to substances, legal and not, to cope with their ailment. Of course, substance abuse can also damage one's brain, causing mental illness (source). Finally, mental illness, substance abuse, and bad luck can all cause people to have limited or no family support structures.

As a lay person, these facts break my heart. Through no fault of their own, innocent people are forced to work with little or no pay, commit crimes, and perform other acts which, in normal circumstances, they would not do.

This blog post is not the news, though. I don’t want you to read this and then go away feeling sad and powerless. There are concrete things you can do to help. The following list gets more difficult as it goes down:

• Share news and facts on social media from verifiable sources (e.g. not from online conspiracy theories).

• Donate money to one of the Task Force’s member organizations.

• Volunteer at one of the Task Force's member organizations.

• Become a foster parent.

Just because we do not come across trafficking in our privileged lives, does not mean it does not happen. New Hampshire is a beautiful state, in all four seasons, and this beauty can sometimes make it seem as though there is nothing difficult happening in the lives of our fellow citizens. Being aware is important, but so is being active.

I hope you can join the hundreds of volunteers all around the state in trying to make other people happier.

Gavin Ayling

Community Member

Thoughts from a Therapist

            As a therapist who works with children and families, I don’t often see or treat victims of trafficking.  My work focuses mainly on a question that I feel is very important and occasionally overlooked in the push and passion of fighting the existing trafficking that occurs all over the world: “What are the ways to strengthen and empower families and children who may be at risk for trafficking?” 

             In my work, I see families who may have experienced abuse and trauma, sometimes throughout several generations of the family.  As a Marriage and Family Therapist, I am trained to see families as systems with interconnecting pieces, similar to the wheels and springs in a clock.  When I first meet a family who is engaging in treatment with a specific problem, my training prompts me to go deeper and ask questions about the family, exploring other areas of vulnerability which may either add to the existing problem, or create additional ones in the future.  I like to incorporate an important thought by Monica McGoldrick.  “Families comprise people who have shared history and an implied shared future.”  Her thought that families share not only the past, but also the present and the future no matter where each individual goes and what they do, informs the ways I work with families in therapy.  I think it is important to note that when I refer to ‘trauma’, I am referring to anything that could be considered scary or out of the normal for that family.  I am not referring to PTSD (although PTSD can be a part of a family’s challenge) as trauma does not need to become PTSD for it to create distress for a family or it’s individual members.

Some questions I ask and explore include:

•   What are some of the traumas the family has experienced in the past?

•   Things I usually ask about and try to be aware of: witnessing or experiencing domestic violence; a quick or unusual death in the family; sexual abuse (either in the current generation, or past generations); experiencing rape/birth of a child conceived by rape; abortion or early pregnancy loss; the death of a young child; messy and challenging divorce or separation (either current generation or past generations); perceived loss or betrayal of trust within the family (a family member marrying a disapproved of person or leaving the family religion).

•   What are some traumas that they are experiencing currently, whether as a family, or each family member individually?

•   Such as job loss, illness/chronic pain, car accidents          

•   How do past traumas influence the family’s functioning today? 

•   I especially look at trauma that has occurred in past generations and how ways of creating or maintaining relationships and attachments have been influenced by traumas.  For example, a family who has experienced rape in one generation, may hold differing beliefs about the value of sex and intimacy in relationships. 

•   How have past traumas created vulnerabilities in the family which may be, or have been, used by people outside the family system? 

•   I often look at how friends have interacted with the family.  Have those friends ever taken advantage of the family’s openness or generosity?  I look at the family’s relationships outside their family and explore the value of friendship and the role it can play in empowering the family and supporting the family’s recognition of healthy vs. unhealthy relationships. 

•   How do individuals in the family use past traumas to take advantage of other members in the family?

•   In many families I work with, abuse has occurred by a member of the family.  I often see this in the case of childhood sexual abuse. 

•   How can the traumas be used as protective factors and used to create narratives of positive self-worth and strength?

•   I strongly believe that bad things that have happened to people can be used to create strength and empower them.  I strive to support a family in therapy to identify the challenging events and situations they have been through and ways in which these events have supported them in becoming closer as a family and how those events can be rewritten to incorporate strength-based language.  For example, a family who has experienced a house fire could be supported to identify how the event, which is scary in itself, brought them closer together and how the neighborhood/church community stepped forward to help and support that family. 

•   What external people/agencies/organizations can interact with the family in a positive and strength-based way to bolster the family’s internal and external resources making them less vulnerable to exploitation?

•   Does the family have connections to a church or faith community?  Do individuals in the family have their own therapists?  Does the family receive other community supports?

            I believe that a large part of anti-trafficking work should be identifying possible risk factors and ways families have already been exploited or could be exploited, either as individuals or as a whole.  I also believe it is my job as a therapist to support the family in molding those risk factors and traumas into a positive and strength-based narrative.  A strength-based narrative can support them in minimizing and managing future traumas and reducing the vulnerability to be exploited internally and externally.  I firmly believe that although traumas can create vulnerabilities which others can take advantage of, those same vulnerabilities can be used to empower, strengthen, and protect the family.  Anti-trafficking work can often start within the family!

Natalie Glisson

Task Force Member

Marriage & Family Therapist

Riverbend Community Mental Health

Open Letter: Freedom Needs Truth

The New Hampshire Human Trafficking Collaborative Task Force is proud to stand with anti-trafficking leaders across the country to express our concerns about QAnon

As printed in Medium

An open letter to Candidates, the Media, Political Parties, and Policymakers:

As survivors, service providers, human and labor rights advocates, law enforcement officials, researchers and policy experts, we know human trafficking is real. For decades we have worked to raise awareness, enforce the law with a victim-centered approach, identify and aid survivors in their recovery, address underlying root causes, and establish policies to end this horrific crime. Our collective efforts have been aided by champions across the political spectrum. From Senators Sam Brownback and Paul Wellstone to Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, the bipartisan message has been clear:

You don’t score political points on the backs of human trafficking survivors, and you don’t lie about human trafficking to scare voters. We are in this together.

It is with this collective and collaborative history in mind that we say we are alarmed and deeply disturbed by the intentional spread of conspiracy theories and disinformation about sex trafficking aiming to sow fear and division in order to influence the upcoming election. Anybody — political committee, public office holder, candidate, or media outlet — who lends any credibility to QAnon conspiracies related to human trafficking actively harms the fight against human trafficking. Indeed, any political committee, candidate, public office holder or media that does not expressly condemn QAnon and actively debunk the lies should be held accountable.

Instead of actively propagating or silently condoning disinformation that harms trafficking victims and survivors and dismantles years of bipartisan cooperation, we offer the real facts about human trafficking.

The majority of trafficked youth have been abused or neglected, have run away or don’t have stable housing, or are immigrant children fleeing violence in their home countries to seek refuge in the United States. They are the youth that we as a society have failed. They are not abducted by strangers or Hollywood elites — they are abandoned by failing and under-resourced systems. There is not a deep state cabal of Democratic politicians and Hollywood celebrities who traffic children for sex. No major political candidate or party supports or condones pedophilia or human trafficking.

We work on these issues. We would know. Any time we spend engaging these lies necessarily distracts from the real work needed to combat human trafficking, and there is a lot to do:

• We need policies that address systemic vulnerabilities of children to both sex trafficking and forced labor.

• We need more housing, social, legal and employment support for survivors and vulnerable youth.

• We need to invest in fixing the child welfare system, and building compassionate and robust responses so that meaningful support is available for any young person in need.

• We need to invest in better training, strengthen victim-centered investigations, and expand survivor access to alternative forms of justice.

• We need better data, and greater diplomatic engagement so that human trafficking doesn’t get sidelined as a soft issue to be addressed after “real” foreign policy.

• We need an end to discriminatory practices against immigrants and communities of color.

• We need accountability for corporations who can figure out how to maximize profit but not how to protect their workers.

• We need funding and systems change that reflect these needs, not craven political messaging that ignores these realities in service of harmful lies.

As a diverse field, we acknowledge a spectrum of experiences, views, and approaches. We disagree a LOT. On this though, we stand UNITED and we reiterate: Anybody — political committee, candidate, or media outlet — who lends any credibility to QAnon conspiracies related to human trafficking actively harms the fight against human trafficking. This is an issue where Republicans and Democrats have historically put real differences aside in service of a greater truth: Americans stand united against human trafficking.

On behalf of an underfunded and nonpartisan field dedicated to ending this horrific form of exploitation and abuse and helping those who have survived it, we urge you to engage real needs rather than politically motivated and profoundly dangerous narratives that harm the very people who they claim to be speaking for — victims, survivors, children, families and vulnerable communities.

Signed,

3Strands Global Foundation

Advocating Opportunity

Amara Legal Center

Ameinu

American Gateways

Americans for Immigrant Justice

Arizona State University Office of Sex Trafficking Research

ATEST (Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking)

The Avery Center for Research and Services

Coalition Against Trafficking in Women

Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking

Community Legal Aid Society Inc. (CLASI)

Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants

Corporate Accountability Lab

The Exploitation Intervention Project

Foreign Policy for America

The Freedom Fund

Freedom Network USA

Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition, Yale University

Give Way to Freedom

Global Center for Women and Justice Vanguard University

Global Fund to End Modern Slavery

Grace Farms Foundation

HEAL Trafficking

Heartland Alliance

HIAS Pennsylvania

Human Rights First

Human Trafficking Collorative Network

Human Trafficking Institute

The Human Trafficking Legal Center

Humanity United

HumanTraffickingData.org

Institute to Combat Trafficking

International Corporate Accountability Roundtable

International Institute of Buffalo

International Justice Mission

International Organization for Adolescents (IOFA)

International Women’s Media Foundation

Jewish Women International

Justice At Last

Justice in Motion

Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice

Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Family Services

Liberty Shared

Love146

McCain Institute for International Leadership

Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare — North

Migration that Works

Mosaic Family Services

National Network for Youth

National Organization for Women, Hollywood Chapter

National Survivor Network

New England Coalition Against Trafficking

New Hampshire Human Trafficking Collaborative Task Force

North County Lifeline

North River Law PLLC

North Texas Academic Collaborative on Trafficking

Open Society Foundations

Phoenix Dream Center

Polaris

Preble Street

Project iRISE

Quinnipiac University School of Law Clinic

Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association

Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

Rights4Girls

Sanctuary for Families

Shared Hope International

Solidarity Center

Stardust Fund

T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights

Tivnu: Building Justice

U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking

Union for Reform Judaism

University of Maryland SAFE Center for Human Trafficking Survivors

Verite

Verity

VIDA Legal Assistance, Inc.

###

For more information or to join the growing list of organizations that have signed this letter, please email FreedomNeedsTruthLetter@gmail.com.

The United Way & Human Trafficking

United Way is committed to fighting for the health, education, and economic mobility of every person in every community. That’s our stated mission. It is very difficult to imagine supporting this mission and at the same time turning a blind eye to human trafficking. On so many levels, human trafficking flies right in the face of every aspect of this mission, in fact. For example, we know from research that the vast majority of health outcomes are a function of social determinants. Much more than doctors, surgeries, or medications, it’s exposure to nurturing and supportive environments which shape later physical and behavioral health. Research has clearly proven that high rates of anxiety, depression, suicide, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and drug addiction can be traced back to traumatic experiences, in particular those experience in younger life. Think of this in light of the fact that 1 in 4 trafficking victims are children. It is hard to imagine anything more traumatic than being trafficked – i.e. being a slave – for sex or labor. Furthermore, we believe that education is the “great equalizer” in society. In too many instances, especially with young people, human trafficking results in being pulled out of school and not graduating from high school. This, in turn, dramatically effects our third focus area, which is economic mobility. A person without an adequate education in our society has virtually no chance of breaking out of poverty.

It's easy to see how human trafficking can effect a person’s health outcomes, their financial stability, and their educational attainment. Even if the population of those who are trafficked in our community is relatively small, for those people who are victims of this terrible crime, the consequences can be so dire that they become an overall drain on the systems limited resources. So, not only is the individual victim effected, but also the overall population is effected as resources become scarcer for addressing needs. Therefore, for United Way, fighting human trafficking isn’t just a moral imperative. Of course, it is the right thing to do. But it is also important since the effects can be so dire, and the data proves this out, especially with research around Adverse Childhood Experiences. We encourage all to stand up with us and be vigilant when it comes to human trafficking. Learn the signs. Be careful not to be an economic enabler. And fight for new policies and effective strategies.

As an international organization with a very local focus, United Way recognizes the following strategies for fighting against human trafficking and modern day slavery:

Five Ways You Can Combat Human Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery

1.   Learn about the red flags (or indicators) of potential human trafficking, and how best to help. Check out these resources from the National Human Trafficking Resource Center.

2.   Raise awareness about human trafficking and encourage your networks to get involved on social media. Use hashtag #endslavery and #LIVEUNITED. 

3.   Volunteer or get involved with a local anti-trafficking organization in your area.

4.   Learn about how your consumer habits may be connected to modern slavery. Whether it's the clothes we wear or the phones we use, products we use daily might be produced with forced or trafficked labor. Use this tool to learn more.

5.   Get involved with United Way's Center on Human Trafficking & Slavery. 

Respectfully submitted,

Mike Apfelberg, United Way of Greater Nashua

Q&A: All About Illicit Massage Businesses (IMBs) with Lovely Lauren

Q: What is an IMB and how do IMBs generally operate?  

A: IMB stands for Illicit Massage Business and is considered a business front used to cover up a human trafficking and/or money laundering criminal organization.  There may be labor trafficking, sex trafficking or both occurring inside of the IMB.  

Q: How do IMBs generally operate?

A: There can be multiple IMBs in one criminal network and may be connected to nail salons, grocery stores and dry cleaners that also operate as business fronts.  Generally speaking, IMBs in the United States are filled with female international victims of human trafficking.  These girls and women are working for very little (or even no) pay and are often forced to perform sexual acts as a part of their job.  They are brought into the US under false pretenses of obtaining a legitimate job position (i.e. nanny, model, housekeeper, esthetician, restaurant worker, etc.), but ultimately, end up in forced sexual labor.  A common lie told to massage therapists from Asian countries is that sexual acts are a normal part of a massage in American culture.

Q: What are the red flags that help community members to identify an IMB?  

A: 

1. Open late, past 8pm. The majority of legitimate salons and massage parlors in the U.S. close around 8pm or earlier. 

2. Obstructed views.  The front windows, if not all of the windows, are completely blacked out or covered by gigantic stock photos, dark trash bags, etc.

3. Out of state vehicles.  There may be various vehicles with out of state license plates consistently parked in front of or behind the IMB. 

4. Getting buzzed in.  “Patrons” who are also called the johns or sex buyers must ring a doorbell to be buzzed into the business during regular daytime business hours.

5. Unlisted.  Business is unlisted on the street sign or billboard’s list of businesses.

6. Too many names.  Business has multiple names online for the same address.

7. Ordering your masseuse.   The business has a covert menu for spa services that include the age, race/ethnicity and other physically identifying features of the massage therapists (i.e: young, cougar, Asian, exotic, etc.).

8. More men than women.  Are the clientele of the spa, massage parlor or salon mostly people who identify as male?  Do you frequently (or only) see males entering and exiting the IMB.

9. Excessively secure.  Presence of an unusually large amount of security cameras and locks onsite of the physical business. This applies to the alleyways and all entrances and exits to the IMB.  

10. Living on the premises. It appears that the massage therapists who work there also reside at the massage parlor or salon. 

Q: As a citizen, what are your next steps if you suspect an IMB in your community?

A: If you suspect an IMB, it is crucial to NEVER approach these businesses or try to shut them down yourself.  As a community member, you are encouraged to report illegal or suspicious activity at massage parlors whenever you notice anything that does not look, seem or feel right.  Trust your instincts and remain observant of the details about these types of businesses from a safe distance. If you suspect an IMB in your community, there are 3 main ways to report: 

    1. Contact Local Law Enforcement: Contact local police department (PD) and ask to speak with the Human Trafficking division of your PD.  If the PD is small and does not have a Human Trafficking division, you may ask to speak to the Domestic abuse division.  

    2. Contact Non-Law Enforcement: You may also report the IMB to the Polaris Project and National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) by calling, texting or even making a report online by clicking this link: https://polarisproject.org and 1-888-373-7888. 

    3. Contact Federal Law Enforcement: You may file a report online or an anonymous tip through U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) by clicking on this link or calling this phone number: https://www.ice.gov/webform/hsi-tip-form and 1-866-347-2423. 

Q: If you are an informed citizen you would like to do more and go a step further, what else can you do? 

A:  As a concerned citizen, you are able to advocate for stricter laws to govern massage therapists and massage parlor businesses.  In addition, you can lobby for more oversight and checks and balances to ensure legal, ethical and upstanding businesses in our communities and neighborhoods.  

Here are some additional resources to learn more about IMBs in the U.S: https://polarisproject.org/massage-parlor-trafficking/

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/02/us/massage-parlors-human-trafficking.html

Lauren Lisembee, MA

Task Force Member

Founder/Director-Written On Your Heart (http://www.woyh.org)

Clinical Mental Health Counselor & Dance/Movement Therapist

Boundaries and Vulnerability - The Egg and I

I love to use analogies when I am talking about the various effects of exposure to trauma.  These analogies will pop up at odd times throughout my day when I am not thinking about my work and when I am occupied with something that doesn’t require a lot of thought.  This is just another example of how allowing your mind to rest can help it be more creative.

The other day I was peeling hard boiled eggs for salad and I started thinking about boundaries.  Sometimes I take the egg and lightly tap it against the counter and a small break will occur where I can start peeling away the shell.  Other times I may be in a bit of a mood and I strike it harder against the side of the sink, resulting in a larger break in the shell and the pieces falling off faster.  If the egg is fresh it may be more difficult to peel but there may be more damage to the egg white as pieces of it come off with the shell.

When the egg shell is removed from the egg, the egg becomes vulnerable and we are able to do anything we want with it.  

When a child’s boundaries are broken much care needs to be taken to ensure that the crack does not result in larger pieces of the boundary being removed.  Protective factors such as family support, education, and encouragement of developmentally appropriate physically and emotionally healthy activities can help keep further exposure from happening, increasing the resilience of the child and limiting future vulnerability.  

Many adults with whom we work have had a lot of damage to their boundaries.  I have worked with women who have had so many personal attacks against them starting at an early age that they have forgotten or have never known that they can have boundaries.  They have been exposed for so long without protection that they no longer believe that boundaries exist for them. For some of them, the idea of personal boundaries may be an alien concept or they may be fearful of setting boundaries because when they do so someone comes along and tries to break their shell again.

Persons who are engaging in recruiting persons into human trafficking look for people who have lost their boundaries and are now vulnerable.  They love when that shell has already been cracked for them so that they don’t have to work as hard to recruit the vulnerable person.  

We don’t know what has happened to someone when we first meet them.  We don’t know if their shell was removed all at once, in large chunks, or if they just have a few cracks.  However, we find out soon enough that they struggle with maintaining boundaries and they may need our support.  We can help them find the resources and strength they need to further protect themselves.  This includes modeling appropriate boundaries and respecting their boundaries. 

Unlike the eggs I use for salad, with the appropriate support and building up of community and protective factors, someone who has had their boundaries damaged can rebuild their life.  

Linda Douglas M.Ed., CTSS

Pronouns: she, her, hers

Trauma Informed Services Specialist

New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence

Task Force member

My Little Runaway

The Del Shannon 1961 Hit  and Bonnie Raitt's 1977 version of My Little Runaway imprints lyrics with the " why" and " where' of runaways, although the hit tune undoubtedly described romantic notions. (The lyrics will be spinning in your mind with the link ??? )

Several bars of the hit tune are pertinent to Human Trafficking:

"And I wonder, I wa-wa-wa-wa-wonder

Why, why-why-why-why-why

She ran away

And I wonder where she will stay

My little runaway"

Runaways are frequent targets of traffickers, preying on their desperate need for shelter and constant, gnawing hunger. 

The "why" of running away has many roots: domestic abuse, child abuse, poverty, homelessness and witnessing domestic abuse while the lure of escape towards less violence or poverty are tempting. 

The impact of coronavirus (Covid 19), with increased unemployment rates, no traditional schooling outside of the home, mandated social isolation and confinement all contribute to domestic violence involving youths and adults, linking them to vulnerability as targets for predatory human traffickers. 

Runaway youth are easy prey for the smooth talk and promises of a warm place to sleep, especially appealing during NH's winters. Many youths will not think through where they will go long term and desperately they may trade labor or sex to satisfy basic human needs. With a runaway's new isolation from family, teachers, friends or caregivers, there is increased vulnerability to being groomed and controlled by a trafficker.

Traffickers are experienced in attracting victims using various tactics:

Traffickers are clever and intentional, using different tactics to draw people into conversation, build relationships and trust, and ultimately exploit that individual.

• Romantic – cultivating role as partner (boyfriend/girlfriend), partner, protector

• False advertising – misrepresenting terms and conditions of employment, wages, educational opportunities

Who can help spot these likely children, youth and young adults and intervene before they leave home?

With schools closed, teachers, guidance counselors, sports coaches and extra curricular activity advisors are no longer the customary sentries, observing kids' behavior, identifying those at risk and reaching out to offer help and counseling. Due to Covid 19 and only online lessons, the first hand, in- person assessment of teachers, often the best means of observing students' status is no longer the safety net for identifying potential problems and troubled familial relationships. Lacking traditional school, who will step in to be the lookouts and watchdogs to detect troubling signs now? 

Kids' friends and families, relatives and neighbors can be more attentive to signs of rebellion and isolation leading kids /youths to run.  Here are some points to help increase awareness of human trafficking:  

Misidentification: Our preconceived ideas can make it hard to identify trafficking. This can be related to ideas about gender, age, appearance, choice  Victims often do not self-identify/media misrepresentations

Lack of alternatives: Victims of trafficking may not have, or be in possession of, their identification/legal documents. They do not feel they have any options if they left – means to support themselves, a place to live and other needs:

• No access to an income, home, food, money

• No job skills, some haven’t completed their education

• Some believe this is the only thing they’re good at/for

Next time you hear catchy lyrics about runaways, be aware of those children, youth and young adults who may be at risk and reach out a hand and offer to listen.

- Jane L. Hart, Task Force member and Community Volunteer

Getting a Protective Order

Getting a protective order has one goal: to provide safety to the protected individual. There are different kinds of restraining/protective orders, but this post will focus on a survivor obtaining a civil domestic violence protective order (DVPO). A civil DVPO is unique in that it will provide protection to an individual (it is a crime to violate a civil DVPO) but it doesn’t require an individual to go to the police. This may be important to a survivor who doesn’t want to involve the police or the criminal process, but would like legal protection from their trafficker.

First, if the survivor feels safe enough, seeking the assistance of the local crisis center here in New Hampshire is important. Crisis center advocates may be able to assist the survivor in how to file for a DVPO and provide support and guidance through the filing process. The survivor may be eligible for a lawyer, at no cost to them, to represent them at their final DVPO hearing. However, even if the survivor is eligible, it is not guaranteed that a lawyer will be available to represent the survivor for a DVPO. If an attorney is not available, this is what a survivor needs to prove to obtain a temporary DVPO in New Hampshire. This is intended as general legal advice for New Hampshire and does not guarantee a protective order.

What do you need to prove?

1.     There needs to be an act of abuse. Physical assault (or attempted physical assault) is one of the acts of abuse that can be considered, but it is not the only act. Sexual assault is considered an act of abuse that can be used for a DVPO. There is also: criminal threatening, interference with freedom, destruction of property, unauthorized entry, harassment, or cruelty to animals. So, if the trafficker threatens the survivor, destroys their cell phone or some other belonging of theirs, stalks the survivor, or abuses the survivors pets, these are all considered “an act of abuse” that is needed for the first element to obtain a protective order. You only need to prove one and the judge needs as much detail on the abuse as possible.

For example, lets say a trafficker broke into the survivor’s apartment and broke their phone. How did the trafficker get into the apartment? Whose name is on the lease (is it just the survivor’s?) Is there damage where the trafficker broke in? Are there pictures of this damage? How did the survivor feel when they saw their trafficker? How did the trafficker obtain the phone? How did they break it? Who owned the phone? How did the survivor feel when their phone was broken? Breaking down the event into slow motion is crucial for the judge to understand what happened and how the survivor felt during this time. It also helps the judge understand the credible threat to the survivor’s safety.

2.     There needs to be a “qualifying relationship.” Is their trafficker a family member?  Was (or is) there a sexual relationship between the two parties? Is there a child in common? These are considered qualifying relationships that would meet the second element to obtain a protective order. If the trafficker does not fit under any of these categories and the trafficker is still reaching out to the survivor or following them and the survivor is afraid for their safety, the survivor may want to consider if a stalking petition is more appropriate.

3.     The trafficker needs to present a “credible present threat to their safety.” How does the survivor feel knowing that their trafficker is still around? What abuse has happened in the past? Could that abuse continue? Based on the survivor’s experiences, what could happen if their trafficker found them? This is important for the judge to understand.

What Steps Should a Survivor Take?

If the survivor feels comfortable, they can see if an advocate from a crisis center can accompany them to court. If there is a language access need, the survivor should inform the court or crisis center (to the best of their ability) that they need an interpreter. I always tell survivors to write out their statement about how they know their trafficker, what abuse occurred, and how they would feel if they did not obtain a DVPO. Having the statement written out and ready for court is so important. Being in court is stressful, even as an attorney. Coming prepared with their statement makes it so the survivor just needs to put everything in the petition.

I also tell survivors to have something handy that they can “fidget with.” Whether it’s a hair elastic, scarf, handkerchief, stress ball, etc. something to ease their anxiety but isn’t distracting in court. The survivor should also run through their statement before they get to court as best they can, so they are prepared to speak about what happened to them. If the judge has enough evidence, they will enter a temporary DVPO and will set a hearing for a final DVPO within 30 days.

What if the Survivor gets a Final DVPO?

 If a judge enters a final protective order, that protective order will be good for one year. The date of expiration will be on the final protective order. If a survivor does not obtain a final protective order, there are options. First, they can always call the police of they feel unsafe at any time. If there are any new acts of abuse (that fall under one of the categories above) they can always refile for a new DVPO. The survivor should also work with a crisis center advocate, or someone with similar training, around safety planning and taking care of themselves. The ultimate goal is to feel safe!

Conclusion

Survivors of human trafficking who are trying to remove themselves from their trafficker have a difficult path to travel. It is difficult enough without the presence of their trafficker. However, having their trafficker be a continued presence in their life can make removing themselves from that life even more difficult. Thankfully, there are legal remedies available to a victim of human trafficking. If you are interested in seeking assistance from a crisis center, click this link to learn where your closest crisis center is: https://www.nhcadsv.org/member-programs.html

You can also go straight to the courthouse and file for a protective order without a crisis center advocate. Ask the clerk for a domestic violence petition and they should give you one.

By Jessica Hersom

NH Legal Assistance

Task Force Partner

Opened Eyes

I did not have what most people would call a typical upbringing.  I was homeschooled for grades K-12.  Being the oldest of five, I had a full classroom with my siblings and learned many non-traditional things in addition to having an amazing academic upbringing.  Both of my parents had undergrad degrees and were, and still are, amazingly intelligent and talented people.  I learned how to shovel snow, change diapers, wash dishes, wash floors, and jump a car battery.  All of these experiences, which I found valuable, prepared me for living confidently as an adult.  In addition to traditional classroom material, we were encouraged in various other academic pursuits.  My mother would have us choose a topic to research using magazines, academic journals, encyclopedias, and fine literature.  We would cobble together sources without plagiarizing at a young age and learned how to cite and properly document sources. 

One of these times when I was about 12, I was flipping through a National Geographic article to find a topic to research and write a paper on.  I came across an article about human trafficking.  This particular article was about children being trafficked for labor.  I was horrified.  I remember shutting the magazine and quickly running and finding something else to focus on.  I came back to it.  I remember sneaking the magazine off to my room and reading it at night under the covers, and carefully placing the magazine back in the morning.  It felt as though it was something I had to keep secret.  That was the start of my bug.  This article opened my eyes to the plight of children in other countries who did not have the many blessings I did.  I remember doing limited research online regarding labor trafficking in other countries and writing a report on it.  I remember my mom’s praise for the report and how interesting she found the topic.  

It wasn’t until a few years later, when I was 17, I attended a Real Life Giving presentation at the Goffstown Public Library where I learned more about both labor and sex trafficking.  I also learned that it happens here in New Hampshire, and not just overseas.  I was again horrified and left the presentation feeling numb.  The reality of the crime occurring not only overseas, as the National Geographic article depicted, but right here in New Hampshire, was challenging to take in.  I read more about it, slowly.  I read ‘Half the Sky’ by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, and other books that talked about local and international trafficking.  I read many online blogs which explored the intersection between trafficking and other crimes, as well as how victims and survivors heal.  I also learned about how consumers can make unknowingly support the crime. 

Ever since then, I have worked hard to keep my eyes open and strive to make conscious decisions in both my habits and in my everyday choices.  When shopping for clothes, I choose second-hand firstly, and then, when at all possible, choose fair-trade and ethically made items, generally purchased online.  Although the allure of a cheap t-shirt and on-sale hair clips at Target or Walmart is still very tempting and appealing, those pictures from that National Geographic article still flash in my head.  The small children and thin adults at work stations with little to no space in a cramped and dirty work environment chill me -it is chilling to think others suffer for our pretty conveniences and plethora of choices. 

I dream, hope, and will work for a world in which our lifestyle is available due to the chosen and fair labor for others, both in the US and in every country in the world.  My challenge for us all, is to consider the cost of each choice, each purchase, and work in small ways to make our dollars count towards a safer and freer world.  https://www.thegoodtrade.com/features/fair-trade-clothing

Natalie Glisson, Task Force Member and Volunteer

Runaway and Homeless Youth, with a New Hampshire Perspective - Part Two

Youth and young adults who are experiencing homelessness are doing so in a variety of ways and for myriad of reasons.  The University of Chicago's Chapin Hall produced a report entitled "Missed Opportunities: Youth Homelessness in America" which states that 1 in 30 youth aged 13-17 experience homelessness in a year and a quarter of this is couch surfing and 1 in 10 young adults aged 18-25 endure homelessness in the same time frame with half of this being couch surfing.  Youth who do not have a high school diploma or GED, identify as LGBTQ, are pregnant or parenting, live in poverty, or are youth of color are all at higher risk of experiencing homelessness.    

These national statistics and survey results ring true in New Hampshire.  Youth experiencing homelessness are not always the individual in a sleeping bag under the bridge or standing on a corner asking the passersby for change.  They are youth and young adults who live in the invisible corners of all NH communities.  Most of them have experienced trauma, abuse, violence, generational poverty, a lifetime of housing instability with their families, and/or exposure to untreated substance misuse issues and mental health concerns.    

They are often the individual that is sleeping on the couch or the floor of a friend's uncle or a friend of a friend of a friend because this living situation seems more promising than the one they came from.  Youth experiencing homelessness slide the slippery slope to trafficking often at the hands of someone they "know".  It often starts slowly and gradually and before the young person even computes what is happening.  

Waypoint's Runaway and Homeless Youth programs attempt to intercede in this slippery slope.  We provide a winter coat, connection to shelter, food, and a safe space among many other basic needs in an attempt to prevent a youth from trading sex or taking a job that is not safe in order to obtain these things.  We attempt to help youth to imagine what they would like their life to look like 2 weeks, 2 months, and 2 years from now and walk beside them through the ups and downs of trying to achieve this.  

Unfortunately, what Waypoint can do is not enough.  Youth and young adults who are experiencing homelessness in NH will not completely avoid vulnerability to trafficking until there is an emergency shelter specifically focused on the unique needs of this population in NH, until there is an adequate supply of affordable housing in our state, until wages are livable and housing costs reasonable, until there is a pathway out of poverty and the American Dream is again an attainable goal. 

Developing and implementing a statewide strategy to prevent and end youth and young adult homelessness would drastically decrease trafficking in NH.

By Erin Kelly, Task Force Member and the Director of Runaway and Homeless Youth Services at Waypoint

The Intersection of Homelessness and Human Trafficking - Part One

Homeless youth who are running away, like a car on New Hampshire's winter roads, are often out of control. They no longer have control of the steering wheel and no road map. 

Many homeless individuals are recruited into risky situations to meet their needs, taking a highway that ends with human trafficking. The primary vulnerability of homelessness are the unfulfilled, basic needs for shelter, warmth and food. This is fertile ground for traffickers. New Hampshire's cold winters put homeless individuals at acute need for shelter and predators frequently offer a place to stay and hot meal as inducement to get off the frigid street. 

One can then be lured by the offer that someone will take care of them, with the vague understanding this offer has a cost and that they may 'owe' someone. However alternatives may come with (or seem to) additional risks or even death, should one stay outside in the New Hampshire winter.

The Polaris Project which serves victims and survivors through the 24/7 National Human Trafficking Hotline and as a national access point for trauma-informed support, published a recent survey, focusing on homelessness in recruitment for human trafficking.

In Polaris’s survivor survey, 64% reported being homeless or experiencing unstable housing at the time they were recruited into their trafficking situation. Traffickers are able to exploit potential victims’ fear of sleeping on the street by offering them safe shelter to recruit them into trafficking. LGBTQ+ populations are at an increased risk as well as runaway/homeless youth and some may choose to engage in survival sex to get access to shelter. The National Hotline has also documented cases of traffickers targeting homeless shelters as recruitment grounds.

Be aware of the vulnerability of this population and encourage youths to speak with adults whom they trust when they are desperate, not strangers.

The New Hampshire Human Trafficking Collaborative Task Force is aware of the fundamental need for shelter and housing and one energetic leader has stepped up to this challenge with a grassroots effort to identify potential collaborating agencies and sources of funding to tackle this concern.  The effort is significantly challenging, not simply with the initial funding, but determining the funding stream necessary to maintain a residence, maintain the building, coupled with the service providers and financials necessary to wrap trauma-informed services around the victims.  Initial housing search efforts are north of Concord, focusing on small cities with access to health care and transportation. To learn more visit http://brigidsnh.org/.

Recent news has highlighted this concern: NSF Funds Worcester Polytechnic Institute Research to Help New York City Homeless Youths at Risk for Human Trafficking

WORCESTER, Mass. (PRWEB) November 07, 2019

A research team led by professors at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) will use data analytics and optimization to determine the most efficient use of shelters and services for homeless youths in New York City. Their goal is to disrupt the "supply side" of human trafficking networks by reducing the vulnerability of those most at risk of exploitation.

Renata Konrad, associate professor at the Foisie Business School at WPI, has received a $535,565 grant from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Special Initiatives program for the three-year project. Andrew Trapp, also associate professor, is a co-principal investigator on the project. The study will build on previous research led by Konrad using analytics to develop tools to understand and address human trafficking networks.

"To disrupt human trafficking, we need to look at the beginning of the supply chain—at-risk homeless youths," Konrad said. "The question is, can we stop the trafficking process before it happens with shelters and services for homeless youths?"

By Jane Hart, Task Force member and Community Volunteer

Learning, Building and Responding in New Hampshire

Like many others in rural New Hampshire, I grew up believing that human trafficking is a crisis experienced in faraway lands, by forgotten families I would never encounter and was not sure how to help.  Although I began learning more about the impact of human trafficking in high school, my conversations about this global crisis were infrequent and often discouraging.  The need to support survivors was evident, but the solutions seemed beyond my grasp.  I certainly did not think there was much I could do to combat trafficking from the comfort of my rural hometown.  You can imagine my excitement when given the opportunity to learn more about responding to this crisis several years later through my involvement with the NH Human Trafficking Collaborative Task Force. 

I discovered my passion for learning about other languages and cultures as an undergraduate social work student at the University of New Hampshire.  This growing passion led me to the International Institute of New England, a nonprofit serving refugees and immigrants, where I have been working for almost three years.  IINE creates opportunities for refugees and immigrants to succeed through resettlement, education, career advancement and pathways to citizenship.  In my current role, I provide intensive case management services for our most vulnerable families who were forcibly displaced from their home countries.  These refugee families escaped unspeakable violence and endured great danger or risk of exploitation as they journeyed to safety. 

Learn: Intersection of forced migration and human trafficking

Through my involvement with the Task Force, I have developed a deeper understanding of the relationship between trafficking and forced migration.  At its core, human trafficking thrives on the exploitation of vulnerability.  Forcibly displaced migrants and refugees are among the most vulnerable populations around the world.  According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are currently 70.8 million forcibly displaced people worldwide.  Of these people, 25.9 million are refugees who have fled their home countries in search of safety, often to arrive in unstable host countries or camps with limited access to food, healthcare, education, or citizenship.  Most families are forced to remain in these unstable environments unless chosen for legal resettlement to a third country, where they would be awarded permanent residence status and access to the same basic rights as nationals of that country.  Unfortunately, less than one percent of refugees will ever have the opportunity of third country resettlement.  

Refugee families may be exploited by traffickers while living abroad or after resettlement due to their increased vulnerability.  Within the U.S., traffickers target immigrant communities and exploit their victims’ lack of familiarity with the language, laws, individual rights, or culture of the region. Furthermore, the National Human Trafficking Hotline states that “individuals who have experienced violence and trauma in the past are more vulnerable to future exploitation.”  Refugees experience and witness unimaginable horrors that force them to flee from their home countries and seek safety elsewhere. 

I have met refugees from many countries through my work with the IINE, and I am convinced that these individuals are some of the most resilient people in the world.  I hold the stories they have shared with me heavily in my heart.  A man who watched in anguish as his child was brutally killed.  A women separated from her husband during their escape from religious persecution, never to see him again.  A woman coerced to sell her body in a refugee camp to feed her children.  Despite the horrors and loss of their journeys, still they rise to greet another day.  Still they persevere through great pain for their families and children.  I have learned much from their unrelenting resilience, and yet, due to past trauma and exposure to violence, they are among the most vulnerable people in the world.  For these reasons, when we think of protecting survivors of trafficking in New Hampshire, we must also consider how to enhance protections for our newest refugee and immigrant neighbors.  

Build: How New Hampshire is responding to this crisis

We are fighting for survivors of trafficking every day, and we would like you to join us.  For many years, the NH Human Trafficking Collaborative Task Force has led the fight against trafficking in our state by educating the community on this crisis, advocating for stronger legislation to address these crimes, and employing case managers to help survivors overcome barriers to self-sufficiency.  IINE, along with many other agencies, has partnered with the Task Force to protect those at risk of exploitation.  

Respond: How you can support the movement 

Hopefully by now the need to support survivors of trafficking and protect forcibly displaced migrants is evident.  Please do not feel overwhelmed by the weight of this crisis, as there is plenty you can do to help!  Consider assessing your habits as a consumer and choose to support fair trade companies.  You can learn more about becoming a conscious consumer through the Freedom Cafe’s website.  Contribute your time and resources to organizations like the Task Force or IINE, that are providing lifesaving care for survivors of trafficking and forcibly displaced families in New Hampshire.  Above all, continue to listen and learn and seek opportunities to support the movement.  With your help, New Hampshire can grow to be a state that forcefully expels traffickers, warmly welcomes survivors, and supports our newest neighbors who are often the most vulnerable to exploitation. 

Respectfully,

Megan Clark

International Institute of New England

 Learn more:

1. International Institute of New England:  https://iine.org/

2. NH Human Trafficking Collaborative Task Force:  https://www.nhhumantraffickingtaskforce.com/

3. UNHCR Figures at a Glance:  https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html

4. UNHCR Resettlement: www.unhcr.org/information-on-unhcr-resettlement.html

5. National Human Trafficking Hotline: humantraffickinghotline.org/what-human-trafficking/human-trafficking/victims

Innocently Recruited

Recognizing My Vulnerability Factors:

As a 19 year old college student living in downtown Houston, Texas, I paid my own way through school and I was always looking for legitimate ways to make extra money.  I already worked 3 part-time jobs but I could always use a side hustle to pay for unexpected bills and textbooks! My parents were in the middle of a divorce and it was my first year living away from home on the University of Houston college campus, which sits smack dab in the middle of the inner city.  In 2009, Craigslist was gaining momentum and I started searching for jobs online from my dorm room, specifically modeling jobs. I had done a modeling gig with my friend who had an agent a year before so I figured I would try to find another modeling job for the summer when I was taking fewer classes to make some extra money.  I came across an ad for a company called Pretty Face Modeling and applied for the position, which was listed as magazine cover modeling and runway fashion. I checked into Pretty Face Modeling and they seemed legitimate from the email address, website and phone numbers that were listed so I booked an interview with the company through Craigslist and my friend came along with me, who was much shorter than me by the way (this is important for later). 

Environmental Signs & Somatic Signals: 

My girlfriend and I were feeling ecstatic about the opportunity to be models, as many 19 year old women would.  It definitely seemed better than working multiple jobs in retail at the mall! We pulled up to an office space on the side of the highway that I had driven past hundreds if not thousands of times, which always has a sign out front that says “For Lease.”  My friend and I went inside full of excitement and expectation to discover an eerily quiet and empty office building with no security. This is the moment, when I look back, that I think we definitely should have kicked it into high gear and ran out of there, but our curious naivety overrode any uneasiness that I experienced as I entered the unattended office building.  My friend and I followed the instructions given to us by the Pretty Face employees and used the elevators to go up to the second floor where we were greeted by a women with an Eastern European accent. She was middle aged, petite, pretty and seemed calm and collected as she brought us into an office with a waiting room. It had a few cheap folding chairs set up and one iPad on a small table with a slideshow of poorly edited photographs playing on it.  The photos were poor quality and even if they were legitimate, I decided did not want them taking my pictures anyways. Another oddity I noticed was that there were no pictures hanging on the walls and only one tripod with one camera with nothing and nobody else in the room. The emptiness of the office building and the bareness of the room disturbed me. because It was clear in that moment to me, that this was NOT their office and they had just come into utilize this building specifically for this meeting with my friend and me.  

We were alone.  

All evidence pointed to this being some kind of financial scam at best and at worst-well  I could not think about that because I had to figure out how to get out how to get out of there safely and as fast as possible.  

PTSD Responses: Fight, Flight or Freeze... or Divine Wisdom? 

Now, after we stepped into the waiting room, the woman gave us forms to fill out wherein they captured an uneasy amount of personal information but I knew that I had to give it to them in order to get us out of there.  While we were filling out forms, the woman went to go get her boss. Once he entered the room, the woman’s face turned pale as a ghost and she began shaking with fear and intimidation. Not only did I listen to the man’s words but I attuned to this woman’s somatic communication.  She was shaking like a leaf and went silent. Her body instantly reacted to his presence and it was undeniable. At that moment, I knew for sure this was not just a scam, that it was some kind of dangerous situation like human trafficking that I did not want to be in; and this man was in charge and capable of physically overpowering all of us in the room.  Although I do not have hard evidence, I believe that this man who towered over us in stature was some sort of trafficker. Although I was only 19 years old, I knew that we had to go along with whatever he asked, so I lied and made another appointment to meet with him and set up a time and location to begin our modeling careers. The man told an elaborate lie to us where all of the details seemed legitimate; for instance he mentioned that Pretty Face Modeling had a collaboration with the fashion school at the local community college, which was a real program at the time.  He also asked us to bring hundreds of dollars in cash, which we did not have, next time to pay for our first photo shoot to make our portfolio. It is hard for me to remember the exact amount but I think he asked us, two 19 year old women, to bring between $600-800 each to our next meeting. In cash people! I knew for certain that this was at least some kind of financial scam and I wanted out!

Escaping the Craigslist Interview

Once Pretty Face Modeling captured all of our personal information and we set up a follow up time and location, my friend and I booked it out of the office building as fast as we could.  We promised the man and woman that we would bring the money the next time we saw them. I did not experience any violence or aggression from the man, but I knew it was possible because the woman was silently shaking like a leaf the entire meeting while the man was in the room.  What a gigantic relief it was that my friend and I escaped unscathed from this situation and I knew I would never go back again or get on Craigslist for that matter. I never reported them and I never called law enforcement. At the time I do not even think that the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) was in existence yet. I emailed Pretty Face Modeling and told them that we were not coming to the follow-up meeting and I did not hear from them again until a woman came into the Victoria’s Secret mall store that I worked; one of my jobs, to pass out their recruitment business cards.  Surprisingly, it took me a few years to realize how dangerous of a scenario my friend and I had been involved in and escaped on that day.  

For some victims, they do not realize that they are being exploited until it is too late.  They feel trapped or they have been coerced into thinking that they owe their trafficker something.  In some instances, traffickers use multiple meetings over time like in my situation to groom victims because this meeting appeared safe and nothing explicitly bad happened. A crime was not committed except for trespassing.  Even if I did call the police, what would I even tell them, especially calling a large department like Houston Police Department (HPD)? This gives you an idea of how traffickers fly under the radar undetected, preying on vulnerable people.  For people who desperately need jobs or who have even more and/or different vulnerability factors than I did, there is a possibility that people would go back for follow-up meetings in hopes to make money and launch into the promised career. I was able to escape this situation but not everyone does.  As a family member, friend and concerned citizen it is crucial for you to become knowledgeable about the common recruitment tactics that traffickers utilize and the common settings they frequent. For more information, please visit the Resources page of our website. . 

Common Settings Traffickers Use to Recruit

1. Internet & Applications

2. Malls & Shopping Strip Centers

3. Homeless Shelters

4. Correctional/Detention Facilities

5. After-School Programs

6. Group Homes

7. Public Transportation Stations (Bus & Train)

8. Clubs

Common [Relational] Recruitment Tactics Used By Traffickers 

1. Intimate/Marriage Proposal

2. Family Members and Friends of family members

3. Current Victims recruiting others 

Resources: 

Presentation Drug Endangered Children and Human Trafficking Intersectionality, at Champions for Children’s Conference, October 2019 (https://www.championsforchildrenconference.com/)

https://polarisproject.org/victims-traffickers

https://pact.city/5-common-trafficking-recruitment-methods/

https://www.nhhumantraffickingtaskforce.com/

Lauren Lisembee, MA

Task Force Member

Founder/Director-Written On Your Heart (http://www.woyh.org)

Clinical Mental Health Counselor & Dance/Movement Therapist

Changing Habits

We humans form habits early in life, ways of doing and reacting that are difficult to change. We tend to push away what we find painful, difficult, or disgusting, and we tend to lock on to what we find pleasurable, even if what is pleasurable might cause us harm.

Human trafficking is an issue that many people turn away from, finding it too difficult to grasp, or, at times, too disgusting to think about. And, anyway, “it doesn’t happen here,” is the common refrain.

But when we stop and really look at the issue, listen to the experts and survivors, and begin to get a glimpse into the stereotypes we hold and how they’re blown away by facts, we can break our habitual reaction and realize this is a crime that affects all levels of society, all over the world, and, yes, even in New Hampshire.

Recently, with the support of the New Hampshire Human Trafficking Collaborative Task Force, a Nashua-based steering committee planned a 2-hour community meeting in October to kick off what is hoped to be an ongoing effort to communicate about and prevent this 21st Century form of slavery in our state’s second largest city.

The meeting room filled up with stakeholders in the issue—people whose work brings them in contact with vulnerable populations. School counselors, medical providers, social workers, and people working at various non-profits, agencies, and departments.

Two hours is not exactly enough time to parse this societal issue, but we made a dent, I think, in bringing the issue front and center for the attendees. We heard from experts and a survivor and we broke into small discussion groups, with notes made to develop a map forward. This event, too, served as a prototype for other efforts that can be made throughout the state.

I’ve been involved in the issue of human trafficking for many years, first as a NH legislator as chair of a commission on the subject and then prime sponsor of the first law that made this crime a felony in our state. Then I participated in the early iterations of today’s task force that came under the auspices of the state’s Attorney General’s office, and I’ve been involved ever since.

 I admit it’s a difficult issue to spend time considering, just as child hunger and neglect is. But human trafficking is a crime that doesn’t recognize borders—national or state, city or suburbs or rural areas—nor does it recognize the economic class of its victims. Sex and labor trafficking are among the most profitable “businesses” in the world, buoyed by high demand for paid sex or free or little-cost labor. Based on “force, fraud, or coercion,” this crime steals people’s freedom, not always in the dark, but often in plain sight where you and I don’t recognize what we’re seeing. And sometimes, we probably avert our eyes, offering easy labels, like “prostitute,” that match our stereotypes. We turn away because it’s so unpleasant.

It’s time to change our habit of looking away, of thinking it doesn’t happen here. It does, and we need to stare it down by learning more and joining efforts to “stop the traffic.”

To learn about ways you can get involved, stay tuned to our blog, check out the Facebook page or review our Resources Page (to learn more about organizations doing this work).

-Suzanne Harvey, Task Force Member

Learning & Growing

Over the last three years, the New Hampshire Human Trafficking Collaborative Task Force (hereby referred to as the Task Force) has benefited from a $1.3 million 3 year grant, received in October of 2016 (concluded September 30, 2019). These funds truly propelled forward the state’s response to the crime of human trafficking and enabled several important steps to be taken such as paid social workers and law enforcement focused exclusively on responding to this issue; training for professionals, law enforcement and community members across the state; and data collection to understand what is going on in New Hampshire.

However the most important thing that has happened over this period is that we have found a caring and receptive community across New Hampshire:

• People who are upset that this happening, and concerned that there are potential victims in their community who do not know or have not been allowed to meet kind and safe people.

• Law enforcement who are reaching out to victims of trafficking with empathy and understanding.

• Recovery support workers, family support workers, health care professionals and so many others filling our communities with resources and hope.

• And survivors of this crime who are not willing to live in the shadows any longer, who are strong, resilient and capable. Survivors who are taking their place in our communities as voices against this crime and as active participants in building safer, stronger communities in New Hampshire.

We have learned so much more than money could buy. Lessons that will long outlast the financial resources of this grant. For this we are incredibly grateful.

If you are one of these individuals and are ready to join us in combating human trafficking, please reach out. There are so many ways for us to respond to the issues and needs that make individuals and communities vulnerable to trafficking as well as to those in our communities who have already been trafficked. We look forward to seeing how you choose to join the response.

-Becky Ayling, Project Director, NH Human Trafficking Collaborative Task Force