In Georgia, between 200 to 400 adolescent girls are sold online per month. There are 8,700 sex acts with a minor purchased every month in Georgia. In Atlanta, traffickers make an average of $33,000 per week.
These are only a few facts from Tabitha’s House, a Georgia-based organization to provide assistance to those impacted by human trafficking.
SGA SPREADS AWARENESS
The Georgia State Student Government Association dedicated a full week to Human Trafficking Awareness from Jan. 22 to Jan. 26, utilizing different means to advocate to Georgia State students.
“Human trafficking goes all around with many instances that are happening down the street that students aren’t aware of,” SGA University-wide President Franklin Patterson said.
One of the first ways students could participate in the week was a series of panels which discussed human trafficking and provided necessary information and answer potential questions concerning the issue.
Jazmin Mejia, SGA senator for the college of arts and sciences who organized much of the week’s events, also noted that SGA will be “tabling in the Library Plaza to spark some conversation about human trafficking” and to increase awareness of the issue.
On that Friday, students participated in the “Human Walk” toward the Civil Rights Museum to see the human trafficking exhibit there.
Mejia and other members made signs to spread the issue of trafficking during the Human Walk as they would “walk around Centennial with the signs so people that drive by and walk by will see [them] to spark more dialogue,” said Mejia.
The day after, an event hosted by several human trafficking organizations explored the city to find potential victims of human trafficking. Transportation was also provided for the Let’s End Human Trafficking Walk to make it more accessible to more students.
Franklin’s suggestions to resolving the issue of human trafficking “[is to] make it more of a prominent issue. To make sure that schools of young children know to protect themselves and not being sheltered from the fact that [human trafficking] is a possibility,” he said.
SAFETY ON AND OFF CAMPUS
On Feb. 5 the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that 169 arrests were made in Atlanta after an 11-day human trafficking investigation by the FBI. This, ahead of the Super Bowl, is one way city, state and federal officials have come together to fight the city’s epidemic.
Eric Aguiar, a GSUPD officer from the Crime Prevention unit, assured there are efforts made from GSUPD in concern over human trafficking.
“The Georgia State University Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division is well versed in Human Trafficking issues and all cases are referred to them. They work hand in hand with the Georgia Statewide Human Trafficking Task Force Coordinator,” Aguiar said.
If a student suspects that someone is being trafficked, Aguiar said to retain as much information as you can as the witness and alert public safety as soon as you possibly and safely can.
“Don’t try to talk yourself out of your suspicion. Time is of the essence. As soon as you suspect call public safety,” Aguiar said. “The best way to minimize your risk is to minimize your interaction with strangers.”
Aguiar emphasized that in order to suppress human trafficking, there must be a solid partnership between the public and the public safety team, including with local communities and organizations like SGA.
Officer Jarius Daugherty from Atlanta Police Department’s public affairs said that APD’s Special Victims Unit will be working both on proactive and reactive operations targeting human trafficking activities in conjunction with the FBI’s Metro Atlanta Child Exploitation Task Force.
“There is also a dedicated operations center to monitor potential activity. The task force includes agencies from around the metro region, as we know this is an issue that does not recognize borders,” Daugherty said. “Additionally, all APD officers department-wide have received a two-hour instruction block on human trafficking awareness to assist in recognizing any potential victims.”
MORE THAN SEX TRAFFICKING
Jonathan Todres is a human trafficking specialist and law professor. For students interested in understanding human trafficking, he said the first step is to thoughtfully educate yourself.
“There is a lot of misinformation about human trafficking, and popular portrayals of the issue often focus on a very limited set of sex trafficking cases, rather than seeing the full range of labor and sex trafficking that occurs,” Todres said.
He said that understanding the complexity of human trafficking and its root causes is the most important part of an effective solution. One of these he offers is rooted in the importance of public health on human trafficking.
“Much of the current response to human trafficking deals with the issue after harm has already occurred. Public health has a wealth of experience working to prevent or reduce harm and it has insights into how best to address root causes of harm,” Todres said.
Todres emphasized the importance of discerning myths from fact concerning human trafficking, as it provides more useful information that can further protect students and individuals from becoming victims.
The Polaris Project is an organization that works to divide the myth from fact around human trafficking. One of these is as Todres mentioned, not all trafficking involves commercial sex.
In fact, there are 20.1 million people across the globe trapped in forced labor environments in a wide range of industries such as agriculture, construction and manufacturing.
Check out The Signal’s story online with Atlanta Redemption Ink, a survivor-led non profit covering marks from past trafficking and abuse with tattoos.
If you or someone you know are afflicted by human trafficking you can visit https://humantraffickinghotline.org or call the hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
