University of Toledo holds 12th-annual Human Trafficking and Social Justice Conference
Abigail Sullivan
Aravindhan Natarajan, assistant professor of social work, poses by his art displayed at the conference. On his artist statement, he wrote, “I am interested in the intersection of Art and Social Justice ... I believe that we can all benefit from art-making.”
September 16, 2015
Filed under News
What do a doctoral scholar, associate chair of psychology and multiple members of the Lucas County Juvenile Court have in common? They were all speakers last week at the 12th-annual Human Trafficking and Social Justice Conference.
“It allows different professionals such as law enforcement, counselors to get together in a setting where it allows them to share ideas,” Joel Robbins, a third-year criminal justice major, said. “It’s also a good way for victims of human trafficking who are survivors to come out and say, ‘Hey, this is what I went through and this is my story.’”
The term “human trafficking” includes two intersecting concepts — the labor trade and the sex trade. Celia Williamson, executive director of the Human Trafficking and Social Justice Institute, explained the difference.
“If someone is a labor trafficking victim it means that they’re working a job that they cannot quit,” Williamson said. “You’re working a job someone else is economically benefitting, and you’re not getting paid minimum wage at all perhaps. If you’re in the sex trade, you may be working in sex parlors, strip clubs or truck stops or casinos. Things like that.”
At one point the Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission ranked the city of Toledo fourth in the nation in the arrests, investigations and rescues of children involved in sex trafficking. However, Detective Pete Swartz of the Toledo Police Department said the study was misinterpreted.
“It was a misconception that Toledo was number four with sex trafficking cases,” Swartz said. “We were fourth in the nation with recovering minors.”
According to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, there have been 480 calls to the center regarding trafficking and 137 human trafficking cases reported in Ohio as of June 30.
Williamson said there are many different ways victims are approached to be tricked into entering the human trafficking market. It is not always as seedy or dark as it is popularly considered.
“There’s no ‘one place’ to look. Various places. ‘Nice’ places. The mall, where someone goes to shop. A recruiter could go there and talk to a young person and befriend them,” Williamson said. “It’s not going to happen in a dark alley because who’s hanging out in an alley?”
According to Williamson, recruiters also use social media to lure victims into the trafficking market.
Swartz said people tend to be a little too trusting on social media, advising not to be so trusting of people until you get to know them.
“Meeting people on social networking sites, just like meeting people in general, they may seem nice up front — but you barely know them and a lot of times they have ulterior motives,” Swartz said. “If you’re going to meet people, don’t go by yourself.”
Williamson also described an online marketplace commonly used for trading minors.
“They use a lot of Back Page to sell young people. Back Page is like Craigslist where you sell a bunch of stuff,” Williamson said. “There’s code words when it’s an underage person so that you, as a buyer, will know that you’re buying an underage person.”
According to Williamson, some people who are recruited into human trafficking are looking for a sense of belonging.
“It’s those vulnerabilities that you have that recruiters are going to try to fill,” Williamson said.
If you think someone may be a victim of human trafficking, please contact the trafficking hotline at 888-373-7888.
