Our View: Watch for sex-exploitation red flags

So every year around this time — with January presidentially designated as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month — we hear reminders that, frustratingly, are still needed: Our kids and others are at risk, especially those who have trouble making friends, whose home lives are unstable, who've experienced abuse, who are homeless, who are transgender or who share any other of a number of vulnerabilities that make them a target.

No one should be pressured to exchange sex acts for a warm place to stay or a bite to eat or to feed a drug addiction, to avoid a beating, or because they feel they have no other options. But, sadly, that's what's happening. And yes, here in the Twin Ports, too.

"Youth need to know what healthy boundaries are, what healthy relationships are, what internet safety looks like, coping skills, and self-care skills," PAVSA's Mel Alvar said.

So the focus this year, the sixth time Duluth has participated in setting aside January in the name of taking on trafficking, isn't on awareness; it's all about education.

That includes a curriculum PAVSA, Duluth's Life House, and North Homes Children and Family Services developed and already is being shared with "Girl Power" through YWCA and with a growing number of Northland high schools and middle schools, including in Duluth, Wrenshall, and Cloquet.

"We can equip youth with tools to be able to ask for help when they need it and to get connected to services sooner," Alvar said. "Even when they have those skills, sometimes they're still engaging in online unsafe (activities) or are using drugs or alcohol. But at least they know the risk."

Without anyone telling them otherwise, young people and others susceptible to being exploited can be convinced or conditioned to believe that survival sex, doing a "favor" for a friend, or intimate reciprocation for an expensive gift is normal. Is expected. The internet can feed the normalizationation. Predators can be "trusted" older adults.

"Some of these kids, they don't even know they have a choice to say, 'no,' or to say, 'stop,' or to say, 'I don't want to send a nude (cell phone photo),' or to say, 'I don't want to meet up in person.' They're manipulated to the point where they feel obligated," Alvar said. "They've been trained their whole life to listen to people who are older than them."

That's why others of us who are older but aren't predators, who want to be watching out and are more than aware that trafficking is real and that action is necessary, can step up and can be extra vigilant for those who need protection. We can watch for these "red flags," among those North Homes distributes on bookmark-like reminder cards:

• Slang like "the life," "daddy," "track," "johns," and "stable."

• Older boyfriends or girlfriends.

• Evidence of being controlled or dominated in a relationship, including repeated phone calls.

• Online activity at backpage.com, craigslist, and other similar sites.

• Tattoos that go unexplained, especially on the neck or hand.

• Health problems that are downplayed.

• Inappropriate or sexually provocative clothing.

• Sudden cash, expensive clothes, a new cell phone, or other big-ticket possessions without an established income.

• Frequent fear, anxiety, hypervigilance, and paranoia.

• Secrecy and vagueness over whereabouts.

• Late nights or unusual hours.

• Running away.

The state of Minnesota in 2014 took a major step in combating trafficking. Its Safe Harbor for Sexually Exploited Youth Law treats those sold for sex as they should be treated: as the victims they truly are rather than as the criminals they've historically been seen as. The new law brought funding, too, resulting in staff, beds and services to rescue, house and help victims across the state. In Duluth that help is at PAVSA, North Homes, and Life House. Duluth Police have officers who work directly with victims, building trust and helping to rescue them.

"Make sure when you see something, you speak on it," said Jada Tuskall-Pierson, a member of PAVSA's Youth Advisory Board.

But are we doing that? Are we doing all we can? And not just in January? Taking on trafficking takes a whole community.