Human trafficking: See something? Then say something

This national campaign may have started to raise public awareness of terrorism and terrorism-related crime, but Capt. Scott Kent of the Alexandria Police Department said it should be used all the time, especially when it comes to human trafficking-related crimes.

With the amount of people coming for the Super Bowl, the potential for an increase of prostitution and trafficking is significant.

"If it (a situation or incident) doesn't sit well in your gut, it doesn't hurt to report it," he said to a crowd of nearly 150 people Monday night. "It doesn't matter who you are saying it to, just report it (the situation or incident) to someone, although reporting it to law enforcement is important."

Kent added, "There could be 500 people on Facebook who knew about it, but no one reported it to us."

Kent, along with three others, were part of a panel who spoke at an event — "Human Trafficking: What can we do about it?" — organized by Forever Reaching to Eliminate Exploitation in Alexandria — FREE Alexandria. The free event took place at Alexandria Technical and Community College.

Josh Waltzing, who formed FREE Alexandria, emceed the discussion. Joining Kent on the panel included Pope County Deputy Bryan Klassen, Regional Youth Educator for Someplace Safe Jeanine Thompson, and Becki Jordan, who is the Safe Harbor regional navigator for human trafficking for the Minnesota Department of Health.

According to statistics provided by Jordan, there are more than 20.9 million victims of human trafficking globally and that annually, human trafficking is a $150 billion industry worldwide.

She also said that human trafficking is the fastest growing and most lucrative criminal enterprise in the United States, behind only drug smuggling, and that Minnesota is the 13th largest center for human trafficking in the nation.

Jordan provided a few more statistics that hit a little closer to home. She said that the popular sell-it website, Craigslist, featured more than 700 ads soliciting sex in the St. Cloud area, which includes Douglas County, during one week of April last year.

"The thought that it doesn't happen here, in our area, is just a myth," said Jordan. "It is happening."

Jordan said that every month in Minnesota, more than 200 girls are sold for sex through the internet or some type of escort services and that the average age of victims — both female and male — for when they enter into trafficking/prostitution is 12-14 years old.

She also said that most often it is not a choice the child is making for themselves. Jordan said no one ever says, "When I grow up I want to be exploited." The choice is not theirs to make, she said.

To answer the question of who is at risk, Jordan basically said all youth: those who have access to a computer and internet, fight with their parents, feel their parents don't care, want more independence, like to test boundaries and take risks, walk to school or the store alone, or sometime feels insecure and misunderstood.

She said youth are targeted in many different places including malls, churches, rural communities, large cities, sporting events, malls, other places youth gather and especially online.

And lastly, Jordan said there isn't a perfect picture of who it is that is targeting and recruiting the youth. She said it could be boyfriends/girlfriends, peers, other victims, pastors, teachers, coaches, social media acquaintances, parents, pedophiles, drug dealers or gang members.

"We don't have a stereotype of what a pimp looks like. They come from all walks of life," said Jordan. "We know our kids are smart, but sometimes they don't get the concept of there are people who want to exploit them. But it can literally be anyone."

Thompson said that oftentimes the people who are doing the exploiting have gained the trust of their victims through a "grooming process" and make a personal connection with their victims because they are telling the victims what they want to hear.

The panel all agreed that education is key and that communities need to not turn a blind eye or be naive to the fact that it is happening. Talking about it in plain English and teaching the younger generation that it is not OK is what needs to happen.

"We can't just push it in a closet because we don't want to talk about it," Kent said.

Klassen said talking about human trafficking should be just the same as talking about drinking and driving or drugs and alcohol.

"Parents need to take proactive role," Klassen said. He added that parents can look at their children's cell phones/computers.That they need to do a thorough check and be active in their children's lives.

Jordan reiterated that education is key and that the first step is having people recognize that human trafficking is a problem and secondly, "We have to talk about it."

For more information, visit FREE Alexandria's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/FREEAlexandriaMN/.