By Gerri Miller
Special to the Elmore/Autauga News
The room was packed with law enforcement officers, teachers, mental health experts and others as the Alabama Alliance for Human Trafficking and Child Safety held its first meeting Wednesday night at Springhill Suites in Millbrook.
Human trafficking has been called modern-day slavery and a violation of human rights. Technically, it is defined as the use of fraud, force, or coercion to compel and person into commercial sex or labor. Members of the Alliance want this insidious business to crumble and fall.
The Alliance is the brainchild of David Humphrey, a five-year Millbrook Police Reserve Officer who is passionate about saving children from sexual abuse and being sold for sex. He said that a few years ago he heard about a girl who was sold for sex and went on to work for the drug cartel. She is one of success stories because, unlike many victims, she was able to escape from that life. She now owns two homes where she houses trafficked victims.
“I heard about that and it lit a fire under me,” Humphrey said. “You have to be in the trenches to see what is happening on the front lines of our state. We have to do something different. Someone needs to be the voice for these kids in Central Alabama.”
Humphrey said it sometimes takes a long time for a child to be groomed in the trafficking industry. The trafficker may be an older teenager at school who pretends to be a boyfriend and initially showers the victim with gifts and attention. As the victim begins to trust the trafficker, he may ask her to have sex with another man to prove that she loves him. The victims who can get out often suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, sexually transmitted diseases, or other physical and mental health issues.
People of color and LGBTQ youth are more likely to be trafficked. Humphrey said human traffickers can look like anyone. “They often live respectable lives and come from various walks of life,” he said, adding it is a common misconception that traffickers only target people they don’t know.
“Many survivors are trafficked by romantic partners, including spouses and family members such as parents,” Humphrey said. “It’s going to take everybody from mental health therapists to doctors and many others to get ahold of what’s going on in Alabama.”
“We have to have a place where our victims can heal,” he said. “We also need to create ways for our victims to leave the exploitation voluntarily.”
Karen Sullins is the owner of Helping Hands, a professional counseling and consulting corporation. She is also a trauma therapist. She said that parents in all income brackets must do better in recognizing when their children have problems.
Sullins said it is important that children are taught that they are valued. “We must speak up,” she said. “If we’re silent, then we are okay with everything.”
“We have children cutting themselves, trying to commit suicide and we need to get to the source of the problem,” Sullins said. “We have to connect the right people with the right resources.”
Humphrey is working with a team of that includes educators, legal counsel, mental health experts and private investigators. The organization is a 501-3c nonprofit working to end human trafficking and child exploitation.
“We will work with the communities and law enforcement to help end human trafficking and child exploitation as well as improve the quality of life for the survivors,” Humphrey said.
Humphrey said the organization wants to work with law enforcement to help officers recognize the signs that someone is being trafficked. He said only 15 percent of law enforcement officers in the United States have been through human trafficking training classes.
“Florida is educating K-12 students on human trafficking issues,” Humphrey said. “Alabama doesn’t do this. This training is important because traffickers start grooming these kids in junior high school.”
Humphrey said some red flags that indicate a person is being trafficked include:
- Fearful of law enforcement or authorities
- High security measures exist in living location (opaque windows, boarded up or bars on windows, security cameras, etc.
- Appears younger than stated age, in relationships with much older people
- Carries condoms, wet wipes, more than one cell phone and not in control of his/her money
- Carries odors of chemicals indicating drug use or they are around drug use
- Not appropriately dressed for weather (not enough clothes for cold weather or too many clothes for hot weather) or dressed provocatively
- Inability to clarify address where he/she is staying
- Has numerous inconsistencies in his/her story
For more information, visit the Alliance website at https://www.alabamaahtcs.org/
