Today, January 11, is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, aka #WearBlueDay. Blue is the international color of human trafficking awareness, as explained in this informational posting by Homeland Security:
https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/wearblueday
Sex trafficking is not the only form of human trafficking. It also can include forced labor, and victims are found in both legitimate and illegitimate labor industries, including sweatshops, massage parlors, agriculture, restaurants, hotels, and domestic service.
https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/myths-and-misconceptions
Under U.S. federal law, any minor under the age of 18 who is induced to perform commercial sex acts is a victim of human trafficking, regardless of whether he or she is forced or coerced. Id. Family members sometimes traffic their own kids or grandkids. Sadly, it is not uncommon.
Yesterday I toured a child advocacy center (CAC) close to where I live. It was profound and very moving.
The U.S. Department of Justice describes CACs as follows: They coordinate the investigation, treatment, and prosecution of child abuse cases, utilizing multidisciplinary teams of professionals involved in child protective and victim advocacy services, law enforcement and prosecution, and physical and mental health.
https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/programs/childrens-advocacy-centers
Forensic interviews are followed by child therapy. They are two distinct specialties. In an initial forensic interview a child, especially a young child, might not be ready to talk about abuse. They might not understand what abuse is, might not understand what safe touch is, they may lack the vocabulary to describe the abuse, they may believe the lies told by their abuser(s), they may not want to get their abuser(s) “in trouble.”
In therapy, the child may eventually be ready to talk, not because they were coerced or coached, but because they now feel safer or more equipped to discuss what happened. Parents are referred to their own therapists in this model.
It’s not a “one and done,” which officers and deputies and their supervisors would understand if they did more than just view the occasional initial forensic interview, or just go to a gala/fundraiser at a place like CARE House in Oakland County, which is a CAC.
I thought back to something a judge said to me well over thirty years ago. I respected him deeply and although he has died, I still do. He told me we didn’t have to worry much about an appeal in a case from one of the reservations. The child victim was 2 and so the allegations of sexual abuse by the father couldn’t be real, right? I mean, if she was 14, that might be another thing . . . . My response fell on deaf ears. Yesterday I heard about two young two-year-olds being helped at the CAC. That interaction 30-plus years ago still saddens and sickens me.
Then I got to wondering about how a place like the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department would treat one of their own in the face of criminal sexual conduct charges with a minor under 13. I mean, a retired Detroit PD employee got some pretty slick treatment by them in a recent “situation”–what would happen in the case of one of their current or retired sheriffs being arrested for a sex crime with a minor? Would they get special treatment with the bond process? Would the arrest be kept under the radar and out of the news? How would this child be treated or undermined? Law enforcement, current or retired, never commit sex crimes, do they??
Equally sickening thoughts.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline is:
1-888-373-7888
or text HELP or INFO to BeFree (233733)