Firefighter - 2021 - 25

There Are Two Types
of Human Trafficking

Sex Trafficking: In which a commercial sex act is induced by
force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform
such act has not attained 18 years of age.

Let me be clear, I would rather
be doing anything other than
writing this article.
My daughter Tiffany, 25 years old at
the time, was last seen on August
12, 2013. Her car was found locally
eight days later with her valuables still
in the car. Her personal items and
clothing were still at her home. It was
as if she disappeared from the face
of the Earth. After days and weeks
of searching and the police running
down dead-end leads, I started asking
" what are we missing, what else could
have happened? " That's when I started
learning about human trafficking.
Like many of you, I thought human
trafficking was a problem in third world
countries. I also had a misconception
of what constitutes human trafficking.
The more I learned, the more I realized
that we as First Responders encounter
Human Trafficking victims and don't
even realize it.

WHO DO YOU CALL?

Labor Trafficking: The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through
the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to
involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
The history books will tell you that slavery ended in the 1800's. Due
to human trafficking, there are more people in captivity today than
any other time in history with an estimated more than 27 million
victims worldwide. As of 2017, human trafficking has grown to be a
$150 billion a year business.
There are 2,200 children reported missing every day in the United
States. Sadly, 1 out of 7 missing children become victims if they are
not returned home within 72 hours. Most victims are women and
children with 80% being female and 50% of these females being
minors. Florida is consistently the #2 or #3 state behind California
and Texas with the most reported human trafficking cases.

How Do People Become Victims?
Generally, through one or more avenues: (1) Grooming is a process
where the offender (family member, coach, boyfriend, etc.) draws
a child into a sexual relationship and maintains that relationship in
secrecy. (2) Peddling (travel) sales crews that lure 18 to 25-year-old
people into a " care-free life of travel. " (3) Fall under the control of a
pimp. This primarily happens when a person runs away from home
or is lured away from home through person to person contact or
social media. Sadly, there are many reasons why a victim does not
or can not leave this type of situation.

To report suspected human trafficking: 866.347.2423
To get help from the National Human Trafficking Hotline: 888.373.7888
Other information such as patient flow charts (assessment tool),
The Florida Firefighter I 2021 I fsfa.com
25
are available at traffickingresourcecenter.org

http://www.traffickingresourcecenter.org

Firefighter - 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Firefighter - 2021