How Can I Help Fight Human Trafficking?
Friday, June 3, I was given the privilege of speaking to a group of residents at The Phoenix Dream Center (PDC). Most of these residents were victims of human trafficking that had found their way to PDC or were referred there. Others in attendance are in their addiction recovery program recovering. The topic of my talk was getting into the career of software development. Every Friday, someone from the community comes in and speaks to the residents about a different career path to help the residents determine a new journey in order to leave their old life behind and start again.
My talk finished sooner than I anticipated, but that turned out to be fine as several of the residents had many questions. It was encouraging to hear their enthusiasm about software development. Several seemed genuinely interested in pursuing such a career. It was easy to not think about where these residents had come from and to focus on where they could go. Hopefully the same can be said for them.
There was one awkward question. I had been given instructions not to mention any trigger topics such as trafficking, drugs, sexual slavery, etc. But I was asked the question as to why and how I hooked up with the PDC. I had to pause and think that one through as I didn’t want to say because I was writing about human trafficking and that I had an interest in helping victims of human trafficking. I cleverly answered that I was writing my fiction about one of the issues the PDC deals with and then added on that I had worked in a youth group for eleven years and that gave me a passion for that subject. I didn’t see any adverse reactions, so I guess the answer sufficed.
After the talk I grabbed a slice of pizza and one of the development managers at the facility gave me a quick tour of the place. It used to be an Embassy Suites, so it is capable of housing over three-hundred residents. She also gave me a history of the organization. It was started in Los Angeles by a pastor. And now there are satellite groups all over. Many don’t have facilities but are groups doing community outreach. And they do all different things. They react more to what the community needs.
The PDC started as a community outreach group but when they took in a thirteen-year-old girl who had been trafficked they started their ministry to victims of human trafficking. They also do community outreach as well as addiction rehab. One of the three floors is for addiction the other two are for trafficking victims. The facility is open, so homeless can come in any time for water, food or to use the restroom.
We talked about trafficking in Phoenix. One of the services they have is medical care. An issue many trafficked victims face is when they are having medical issues, and if they can see a doctor, they must repeatedly tell their story. To address that problem, the PDC has one set of medical professionals that come into their facility who are familiar with their backgrounds, alleviating the resident from having to tell a painful story. Many of these victims will live with pain that comes and goes rather than seek medical care. And many are not given the opportunity to seek medical care by their handler.
We also talked about how many of the girls are groomed for up to a year by a person posing as their boyfriend. This, in effect, brainwashes the girl and once trafficked she has a hard time leaving. During the trafficking, the handler will do just enough nice things for the girl to keep her thinking she’s wanted, she’s loved. And these victims come from all walks of life. From Scottsdale to inner city Phoenix.
I asked if the PDC participated in rescues or do they just take walk-ins and referrals. The development manager said they are starting to do rescues and their staff recently participated in a police sting operation.
The biggest problem I was told is still the perception that this isn’t really a problem. The PDC staff spoke to a large contingent of realtors to educate them on the issue and many said they had no idea the problem even existed. I mentioned that I’ve read that around 80% of the women in prostitution are there against their will and she said she believes it’s higher than that.
This was a great opportunity for me, and I pray that some of the audience got something out of what I had to say. Please pray for the victims of human trafficking and if you have a chance to do something to help, please do. This is a huge, unspoken about problem in our society.
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