Human Trafficking in the Midwest: Selected Findings PRESENTED BY: DR. ERIN C. HEIL AND DR. ANDREA J. NICHOLS

Types of Sex Trafficking/CSE in St. Louis Boyfriend-as-pimp Survival Sex Pimp-controlled (without IPV)

Fraud Parents/Drug Debt Pornography

Weak Social Institutions The Family Education Systems Economic systems– Poverty

Weak social safety nets

Weak Economic Conditions Combined With Lack of Social Safety Nets Poverty Teen Parents Minimum wage jobs

Cost of daycare Homelessness Lack of stable housing

Lack of employment or low wage labor Sex work turned sex trafficking, survival sex

Lack of Social Safety Nets: Barriers to exiting Sex Trafficking/CSE situations Lack of available resources Felony record Denied welfare, food stamps

No marketable job skills Substance Abuse Mental Healthcare

Gaps: Best Practices Unknown Little Evidence Based Research Evidence based in other areas– IPV, rape & sexual assault, child abuse, trauma treatments.

Labor Trafficking

Labor Trafficking in St. Louis and the BiState Area In Missouri alone, 50% of agriculture and the livestock industry require some form of cheap or migrant labor There exists insulated immigrant communities on which traffickers can prey There is a cross-connection between labor trafficking and sex trafficking.

Labor Trafficking in the Rural Sector Southern Missouri and Southern Illinois Agricultural, factory Work, restaurant work Foreign nationals/migrant laborers

Concerns ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦

Debt bondage Holding of papers Physical control Housing

Labor Trafficking in St. Louis and the Metro East Less likely to be identified Victim demographics Overlap with sex trafficking

Visa violations

Outreach Efforts Rural sector ◦ Education ◦ Working with hotels ◦ Outreach at places of employment

St. Louis and the metro-east ◦ Training ◦ Education in immigrant communities ◦ Overall, outreach is limited

Problems in Identification Localized enslavement Police misperceptions Insular ethnic communities

Language barrier Fear Awareness of non-traditional forms of labor trafficking

What is needed to improve identification and protection? Increase in translating agencies as well as English proficiency courses Increase in available social services, specifically housing Survivor-informed services (trauma associated with abuse, threats, and general fear)

Identifying non-traditional forms of labor trafficking during routine stops (e.g. ticketing for soliciting without a permit) Protective policies

Education and training

Policing Human Trafficking

Local Level Law Enforcement Perceptions of Human Trafficking Trainings Human trafficking is a trendy topic Informational at best Only important to specific investigative roles

No hands-on experience

Improving Trainings Trainers conducting the training need to be from the same group of people that are being trained More interaction in the trainings/interactive scenarios

Officers’ Perceptions of Trafficking in St. Louis and the Bi-State Area The critical issue is law enforcement officials’ viewpoints about whether or not trafficking is occurring in the St. Louis area Federal attitudes versus local level attitudes Successful prosecutions affect perceptions Identifying and investigating cases affect perceptions

Investigating Sex Trafficking Underlying problem of constant mobility Victims and offenders identified online or during regular street patrols Problems with victims coming forward to the police to report their victimization

Investigating Sex Trafficking cont. The Internet ◦ Successful in identifying potential buyers and victims ◦ Fake profiles to draw in buyers

Routine traffic stops ◦ “The traffickers have to take people in transit to get to and from, so how do they get stopped in transit? Some traffic violation”

Online Challenges for Law Enforcement SAVE Act ◦ Displacement of advertising ◦ Blocking undercover sting operations

United States of America v. David Keith (2013)

Investigating Labor Trafficking Cases Much more difficult to investigate than sex trafficking cases ◦ Victimization is hidden and victims are not repeatedly sold

Investigative tools of law enforcement are limited Outreach to ethnic communities met with obstacles ◦ Distrust of law enforcement ◦ Traffickers preying on the community from which they reside

Investigating Labor Trafficking Cases Cont. Immigration issues Creative investigative techniques Political obstacles

Very little public interaction

Challenges for Prosecution Evidentiary burden Consistency in victim’s story Victims not viewed as worthy of sympathy

In order to ensure a successful prosecution, the prosecutor will charge with a lesser offense than human trafficking ◦ Promoting prostitution, visa fraud, wage per hour violations, pimping, or pandering

Keeping witnesses and victims available throughout investigation and prosecution ◦ Leaky pipeline

Social Services for Sex Trafficking/CSE Survivors

Why do We Need Sex Trafficking Specific Services? Unique Trauma Ineffectiveness of non-specific services In some cases, to prevent running from services

Promising Practices Survivor-informed/involved programming Survivor-defined programming/practice Community of Survivors

Trauma-informed Care Motivational Interviewing

Gaps: Lack of Services Lack of Shelter/Services compared to demand, Lack of Sex trafficking specific services -Adult Women, Men and Boys, LGBTQ*

Gaps: Cultural Competency and Revictimization LGBTQ people rejected from some services Gender-inclusive language LGBTQ unique forms of trauma (parental rejection, school bullying, “corrective” rape

Some staff in organizations reject training related to cultural competency Institutional discrimination

Gaps: Best Practices Unknown Little Evidence Based Research Evidence based in other areas– IPV, rape & sexual assault, child abuse, trauma treatments.

Promising Practices Trauma Informed Care (TIC)

Motivational Interviewing

Survivor-informed

Sex Trafficking Specific Services

Survivor-defined/centered

Transformational Relationships

Cultural competency/intersectional practice

Safety Planning

Strengths based

EMDR

Stages of Change Model

CBT/CPT

Community Based Responses (CBR)/ Single point of contact

*note that many of these things overlap/are interrelated *this is not an exhaustive list

Upcoming Workshop Indicators and Responses to Sex Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation Abby Howard, MSW, LCSW, Youth in Need Andrea Nichols, Ph.D., Brown School of Social Work

This workshop will introduce the various types of sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation apparent in the St. Louis Metro area, and dispel common misconceptions. Indicators of sex trafficking/CSE that service providers are likely to encounter among this population in various organizational settings will be delineated, as well as recommended responses through interactive scenarios. The session will close with a description and provision of community contacts with a "what can you do?" approach. October 23, 8:30-11:30, Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis

Human Trafficking in St. Louis and the Bi-State Area Available on amazon.com Available on cap-press.com