Fact. Three hundred children are identified as missing every month in Iowa and 10,030 children are homeless or have runaway from home. (National Center on Family Homelessness 2012). Fact. One in three homeless children will be approached for human trafficking, sexual victimization or asked to participate in the sex trade. (Estes & Weiner 2001).
According to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC), “Human trafficking is a modern form of slavery in which traffickers use force, fraud or coercion to control victims for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts or labor services against his/her will.” Traffickers will use violence, threats, blackmail, false promises, deception, manipulation and debt bondage to trap their victims into horrible situations. Human trafficking is a growing problem in our society. The International Labor Organization and U.S. Department of State estimated in 2014 that human trafficking reaped $150 billion and that it is the fastest growing crime in the world. While human trafficking may seem unlikely in an unassuming Midwestern state like Iowa, that is far from the case. In fact, in 2014 Iowa ranked 33 out of the 50 states to receive the most calls regarding human trafficking suspicion.
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There are two main contributing factors for this. The first is the high rate of homeless youth in the state. There is a severe shortage of beds for them and the shelters do not have enough space. Without shelter, those individuals turn to the streets where they are subject to sexual victimization and being trafficked. Traffickers will take advantage of the fact that these kids have nowhere else to live, promising them help and a comfortable life. This is almost always never the outcome of those situations. They may receive a portion of the money the first time and then never see a dime again, while being subject to a life of violence and sexual abuse. And it's not just homeless children being trafficked. The Drake Relays and Iowa State Fair have some of the highest rates of human trafficking. In those cases, anyone is vulnerable and can be abducted or approached without anyone noticing.
The second factor is Iowa’s lack of laws concerning human trafficking. Iowa is the worst in the country with the number of law enforcers per number of people. The amount of law enforcement has not increased since the 1960s. Currently in Iowa, escorting is legal. The problem is that human traffickers disguise their sex solicitation as escorting, therefore creating a loophole in the system. There are numerous sites for Iowa alone dedicated to “escorts.” Just type in Iowa escorts into Google and hundreds of sites will pop up. These sites contain hundreds of thousands of young women and men being advertised for commercial sex. An indicator that someone might be being trafficked is if his/her face is not shown. Their descriptions are written in codes of emoticons and numbers indicating how old they are and what they will offer.
It is so unbelievably easy for people to get away with human trafficking in Iowa and all over the nation and the numbers are only increasing. What's even more surprising is that the people who are buying these individuals are more often than not, men of high social status and income who are well-respected. They often have wives and children and unbeknownst to their families, are purchasing women on the internet.
Data collection on human trafficking is often compromised because victims can be criminalized for prostitution, sold through "legal" storefronts or are too young to understand what is happening to them.
Currently, there are steps being taken to eliminate the issue of human trafficking in Iowa. The Network Against Human Trafficking, a coalition of organizations around Iowa, actively works to educate and train communities and professional groups on the issue of human trafficking. They also do a great amount of policy advocacy. For more information visit, www.iowanaht.org.
While this information is heavy and may be hard to hear, the purpose of this article is not to bring you down. Rather its purpose is to raise awareness for what is going on right in our midst. You may think that because you don’t see it, it isn’t there. However, human trafficking doesn’t always occur behind closed doors and in back alleys. Often times, individuals are trafficked in the middle of a busy street or mall. People are being trafficked every day all over Iowa. It can appear like a regular family. But take a moment and really look at what’s happening. Is there a young girl or boy that looks uncomfortable or scared? Maybe they aren’t making eye contact with the person they are with. There are so many signs and if you stop and take notice maybe you can do something. If you are ever suspicious of human trafficking, do not hesitate to report it. You may be saving a life.
If you ever suspect human trafficking, Call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center HOTLINE: 888-373-7888 or dial 911 and ask for the sexual assault response team.
