For the past seven years, calls from Florida to the National Human Trafficking Hotline have increased. That has coincided with the state鈥檚 efforts to raise awareness and combat the issue. This week marked the end of National Human Trafficking Awareness Month.
Jamie Rosseland is a trafficking survivor who now works with anti-trafficking groups as a consultant and trainer. She says Florida is considered the state with the 3rd-highest number of calls to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
鈥淪o I think the reason we鈥檙e number 3 in the nation for reported cases is because we鈥檙e doing a good job at getting the word out,鈥� Rosseland said. 鈥淎nd people are reporting it. And the more it鈥檚 reported, the better a chance we have at intervening.鈥�
Rosseland tries to get the organizations she works with to let survivors be at the center of their service plans. That means paying more attention to the toll trafficking takes on people鈥檚 autonomy.
鈥淭hat means someone was controlling every aspect of your life,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd so to get out of that situation and then work with service providers who -- very well-intentioned, you know, are trying to control every aspect of your life, that doesn鈥檛 do anything for the trauma recovery process. Recovering from trauma really is about finding that autonomy.鈥�
In recent years, the state has pivoted in its approach to trafficking to do just that: Penalize the traffickers, not the survivors. Rosseland also says survivors should have a seat at the table in crafting a community response.
鈥淭rafficking is such a complex issue, it really takes all of us. And so in the last few years, I鈥檝e seen very few seats at the table for survivors,鈥� Rosseland said. 鈥淎 lot of times when I worked on projects, I鈥檇 be the only survivor in the room, which is really discouraging.鈥�
Anything that makes people vulnerable can make them a target for traffickers: age, disability, immigration status, poverty or homelessness, living in the foster care system or the aftermath of a natural disaster. Robin Hassler Thompson is the executive director of STAC鈥攖he Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center in Tallahassee.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about people literally being targeted by a trafficker because they have a certain vulnerability that that trafficker will meet. And that is why everyone in the community has a role to play in ending trafficking. If you help someone to be less vulnerable by helping them to have a roof over their head or pay for their tuition or get health care for them, then you are doing anti-trafficking work.鈥�
STAC helps trafficking victims and survivors. The Center is one of the groups people are referred to locally when they call the National Human Trafficking Hotline. STAC also trains businesses on how to spot trafficking, such as the signs that one person is being controlled by another. Marsha Crowle is the director of corporate compliance for Capital City Bank. She made sure her tellers took the training -- and as a result, one of them spotted a red flag.
鈥淎nd it alerted us to a possible human trafficking situation, and it was on such a level of concern, I reached out to law enforcement to alert them to the activity,鈥� said Crowle.
That鈥檚 where the bank鈥檚 involvement ended, Crowle says. The case involved a potential trafficker, not a victim.
STAC鈥檚 Garciela Marquina says traffickers are getting craftier, so the Center has to keep up, too.
鈥淎nd then they perfection their techniques to groom people to get them to, attract them, to control them,鈥� said Marquina. 鈥淲e need to keep learning. We cannot stay in one place and say, 鈥楬ey, this is a training鈥� and that鈥檚 it. We need to keep learning from each other, from other states, from other countries鈥︹��
According to the Hotline, Florida referrals about sex trafficking still outpace labor as the primary form. But Hassler Thompson says half the people on STAC鈥檚 caseload are victims of labor trafficking. And she doesn鈥檛 see much distinction.
鈥淟abor trafficking victims are often sexually abused, and sex trafficking victims are forced to commit acts of labor. It could be forced criminality like selling drugs or stealing or doing other things. That鈥檚 a form of their being labor-trafficked.鈥�
Since it began 8 years ago, STAC has trained 15,000 people in the region on how to spot trafficking and respond to it. For more information, go to news.wfsu.org.
You can reach the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-3737- 888. It鈥檚 24/7 and multi-lingual.
You can reach STAC at 850 597-2080 and surviveandthriveadvocy.org, where you鈥檒l find training and toolkit information.
And you can reach Jamie Rosseland at jamiefrosse@gmail.com.
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