Human trafficking is modern-day slavery. It is compelling someone to work or to engage in a commercial sex act- when a person uses force, fraud or coercion to compel another to work for little or no wages or engage in acts of commercial sex (sex in exchange for something of value).”Scott Santoro, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
CULLMAN – On Tuesday, Jan. 26, the Cullman County Human Trafficking Task Force held a free public training at Daystar Church. The event, Human Trafficking Awareness and Investigation, was presented by Scott Santoro, the senior training advisor for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign. The event was sponsored by the Cullman County Human Trafficking Task Force, District Attorney Wilson Blaylock, Judge Kim Chaney and Cullman Savings Bank.
To start the program, Judge Kim Chaney and District Attorney Wilson Blaylock addressed the audience and said a few words about human trafficking. Both agreed that unfortunately, it is something that is going on right here in Cullman County.
“I wish I could tell you that Cullman didn’t have to deal with this, but we have to,” said Chaney. “We have young girls being sold by their parents to strangers for money. One of the things I live in fear of, as do most parents, is that our sons and daughters find someone online and hook up with (them). They think they are gonna go for a romance or a beautiful Cinderella story only to be exploited later; and once they (human trafficker) get them, they isolate them and use them. It happens so quickly. That happens here. With all the drug issues here, we have ladies and women being exploited by their boyfriends with drug dealers to pay for drugs. We see that here in Cullman County. I wish I could tell you otherwise.”
“When I first heard about human trafficking, I was a lot like Judge Chaney,” Blaylock admitted. “I thought it probably happened out in California and Texas; maybe some foreigners they loaded up and took to Chicago or New York for labor, but it’s much more than that. In talking with our child advocacy folks here and in talking with Victim Services here and the people they interview and the questions they ask now to get behind a little bit and dig further on why they are there, it’s apparent to me human trafficking is going on here in Cullman. I’m proud to say we are trying to be ahead of the curve in educating ourselves and educating law enforcement and the teachers that see it and deal with it every day in the children that they teach; the signs they may see that maybe some of these students are victims of human trafficking and can report it and go farther. That part of the task force is very important.”
Mr. Santoro’s presentation was very informative. He focused on defining human trafficking and identifying it in daily situations.
“Human trafficking is modern-day slavery,” he said. “It is compelling someone to work or to engage in a commercial sex act- when a person uses force, fraud or coercion to compel another to work for little or no wages or engage in acts of commercial sex (sex in exchange for something of value).”
Santoro shared several facts. Some were surprising, some were not.
—–Fact 1 – Slavery is NOT history. The number of human trafficking victims in the world today is 20.9 million, according to the International Labour Organization. The number was 44,000 according to the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. The annual worldwide profit from human trafficking is $150 billion, says the International Labour Organization.
—–Fact 2 – Human trafficking happens to both foreigners and U.S. citizens.
—–Fact 3 – Human trafficking is happening everywhere.
—–Fact 4 – Movement (from one country to another) is not required.
—–Fact 5 – Victims rarely self-identify.
There was an interactive part of the night’s presentation. Several short videos were shown and the audience was asked questions about them afterwards. The exercise helped everyone understand some of the many ways human trafficking can happen. It was very eye-opening and roused lots of discussion afterwards.
“I hope to hear back from the Cullman County Human Trafficking Task Force a year from now with some good numbers, with some new investigations, with some new victims and survivors that have actually been identified; that’s what I’m really hoping,” said Santoro. “To get there, keep talking about this issue. You all came tonight through terrible weather; this is obviously an important issue with everyone in this room and I appreciate that. It’s important to me, too. Be involved, talk about it. Download our materials, they are all downloadable, and share them with people. We have general awareness information and information about all we talked about tonight.”
The Cullman County Human Trafficking Task Force needs the community’s help in order to protect both children and adults in our area from becoming victims. Everyone is encouraged to get involved.
The next Human Trafficking Task Force meeting will be Wednesday, March 2 at noon in Judge Kim Chaney's courtroom, on the second floor of the Cullman County Courthouse.
For more information, email endtrafficking25@gmail.com or visit http://qrne.ws/ht.
To learn more about the Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign, visit http://www.dhs.gov/topic/human-trafficking or email BlueCampaign@hq.dhs.gov.
