Not someone else’s problem

Grayson community leaders met in town last Thursday (August 6) to discuss a growing problem in communities all across the country; human trafficking. It’s a problem that is on the rise in smaller towns and can no longer be considered exclusively a “Big City” problem. The reality is much more grim, and in fact the problem was never contained or limited to larger population centers. It’s always preyed on those from small towns.

The Grayson event, which was attended by members of community churches, local government officials, and area medical providers, was hosted by The Penny Bolin Foundation and held at the Carter County Health Department. Those in attendance might have had a general awareness of the issue, along with a few who may have had previous knowledge of a specific instance of human trafficking, but the theme of the Community Leadership Briefing was holding up a magnifying glass to common misunderstandings and misinformation.

Human trafficking, after all, is not someone else’s problem; it can and does happen in every community.

The reality is that human trafficking is rarely the Hollywood version of a woman or child being forced into a vehicle and driven away into the night. Abductions do happen, but as Penny Bolin herself shared, in all of the cases in which she was involved, very few were a result of an abduction.

Human trafficking can occur wherever there are vulnerabilities which can be exploited; and this includes rural communities where poverty spreads and exacerbates those issues of isolation and vulnerability. Traffickers exploit children, teens, college students, adults,  and both United States citizens and foreign nationals. These human predators are “equal opportunity” in those they exploit because, sadly, they are able to find a market for anyone they are able to dominate.

The tools of the traffickers’ trade include coercion, threats, addiction, fraud, or force to manipulate others into the commercial sex trade or forced labor. And, sadly, a major tool the traffickers are able to use to achieve their goals is the broader community’s ignorance of how they operate. The Community Leadership Briefing hoped to remove at least that weapon from the trafficker’s arsenal.

“We have to fight this awful thing we call human trafficking,” Penny Bolin told those gathered for the event.

Bolin, the Founder and CEO of the Penny Bolin Foundation, shared her years of experience and the need to look the growing problem directly in the eye and see it for what it is.

“It’s not just in big cities,” Bolin said. “And it isn’t like what you see on television.”

In fact, she shared, it’s not even mostly in the cities.

“Human trafficking is not primarily a big city crime,” she said. “But what does it look like in the rural areas we are in?”

She isn’t asking as an outsider. Bolin has an intimate connection with rural areas, because she was born and raised in Kentucky, and is from Morgan County. She became very active in the fight against Human Trafficking in 2019 when she moved to Houston, Texas.

“I was very drawn to it,” she said. “I wanted to know everything I could about it. So, I started going to events like this to learn. What is human trafficking? What does it look like?”

“I always had the impression that it was always about someone kidnapping someone,” she said of her early exposure to the problem. “But it’s really not.”

Her early exposure to information led Bolin to quickly become involved in the rescue of those being trafficked.

“I have done several active rescues with victims and brought them to safety,” she told the community leaders gathered at the event.

Bolin shared stories about those instances, but also information on how to recognize when human trafficking is happening as well as the best way to react to help those suffering.

There are immediate red flags people need to be able to recognize, Bolin said. One red flag is when someone always insists on speaking for another individual and possibly discourages them from speaking on their own behalf. Another is if an individual appears fearful, anxious, submissive, or avoids any sort of eye contact. Yet another red flag is if the individual has no identification or if another individual has possession of that identification.

In the case of children and youth, some indicators include multiple runaway episodes, significant change in behavior or attitude, or having an older, controlling boyfriend or girlfriend. Other red flags are if the child or youth has frequent travel with unrelated adults or sudden access to expensive clothing or jewelry.

Bolin said that rural communities are especially at risk for human trafficking because of their unique challenges, such as distance from resources, limited employment opportunities, poverty, and addiction, among others.

“It takes all of us,” Bolin said. “And we all have a part to play in this fight. Rural communities often have addiction, poverty, unstable housing, children in foster care, runaways, isolated labor, and we definitely see a lot of online recruitment. Those are all trafficking risk factors.”

“But it isn’t because this community is unsafe,” she added. “It is because traffickers seek vulnerable people.”

Bolin encouraged those in attendance to be vigilant and learn the signs that might point out an instance of human trafficking.

“We can do something about this right here and right now,” she said. “And every effort helps.”

Anyone suspecting they have encountered an instance of human trafficking should call 911 if there is an emergency situation. Other numbers to contact are the Kentucky Child Abuse Hotline at 877-KYSAFE1 (877-597-2331 and the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888. You can also text “help” or “info” to 233733 (BEFREE).

Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com