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15-year-old Girl Snatched from Basketball Game and Trafficked to Another State

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Updates on Local and Regional Iowa Anti-Trafficking Coalitions

The Network Against Human Trafficking is Iowa's only statewide coalition, however, there are also 12 local and regional coalitions. Several of these coalitions are represented on the board of the NAHT. Bernadette Rixner, NAHT board member recently requested an update from each of the 12 coalitions. Seven coalitions responded, the others are simply listed with contact information. View the list here (PDF). If you would like to join a local coalition please connect with the contact listed.

Missing Chicago teen found in another state thanks to hotel employees; Michigan man charged with human trafficking

A missing teen from Chicago was found in Tuscaloosa recently thanks to the quick actions of hotel employees. At about 12:40 p.m. Thursday, May 21st, the Tuscaloosa Police Department received a call from a hotel requesting a welfare check on a resident.

During check-in, a front desk staff member noticed suspicious details she recognized as possible indicators of . The staff member then signaled her coworker, and they reported the details to their supervisor.

Officers arrived at the hotel, along with West Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force investigators. Investigators identified the guest as a 17-year-old, who was recently reported missing from Chicago.

A 33-year-old Michigan man, Geremy Lemel Glass, was arrested and charged with first-degree human trafficking and second-degree possession of marijuana. He is being held in the Tuscaloosa County Jail with no bond set on the trafficking charge and bond set at $6,000 for the marijuana charge. Additional charges are also expected in connection to this case.

Investigators say the rescued teen will be transported back to Chicago.

A Labor-Trafficking case exposes farmworker abuses. The US government is promising change.

Labor trafficking is human trafficking: farm workers
is human trafficking: farm workers

Federal reforms for farmworkers are in the works following a blockbuster human trafficking case out of Georgia late last year. That case highlighted loopholes for abuse in the federal visa program that provides workers to farms and meat processing plants across the nation, including Iowa.

Earlier this month, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the department is preparing to take the first step toward creating a rule reforming the H-2A and H-2B nonimmigrant worker visas.

2022 witnessed the indictment of two dozen defendants in the multi-year human trafficking case in Georgia that found the defendants allegedly defrauded the government of over 70,000+ H-2A visas – forcing hundreds of workers to illegally work on Georgia onion farms. The case reignited anti-trafficking advocates' push for increased labor protections among America's essential farmworkers.

To read more about farm worker labor trafficking tap this link: Georgia Farmwork Article (PDF)

Why the average age of 13 for victims entering human trafficking is not an accurate statistic

There is literally no way to accurately measure many . There is one that has been amply repudiated – see this article link from the , for example: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/06/11/the-dubious-claim-that-on-average-girls-first-become-victims-of-sex-trafficking-at-13-years-old/

More than 100M people are displaced and at risk of exploitation by traffickers

The number of people around the globe forced to flee conflict, violence, human rights violations and persecution has crossed the milestone of 100 million for the first time on record, propelled by the war in Ukraine and other deadly conflicts.

“One hundred million is a stark figure – sobering and alarming in equal measure,” High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said. “It's a record that should never have been set. This must serve as a wake-up call to resolve and prevent destructive conflicts, end persecution and address the underlying causes that force innocent people to flee their homes.”

UNHCR said the number of forcibly displaced people globally approached 90 million by the end of 2021, propelled by new waves of violence or protracted conflict in countries including Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Myanmar, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Congo.

Since then, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has forced more than 6 million people to flee the country, and a further 8 million are displaced within Ukraine.

The 100 million figure includes refugees and asylum-seekers as well as people displaced inside their own countries by conflict – a figure that the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre recently put at 53.2 million.

Human trafficking risk for Ukraine refugees

Russian President Vladimir Putin's barbaric war in Ukraine has spawned a humanitarian catastrophe. But the tragedy is even greater than the Russian military's indiscriminate bombing of residential neighborhoods, hospitals, and schools which has already resulted in thousands of civilian deaths.

The Kremlin's nightmarishly brazen attacks have also caused a refugee crisis, with almost 7 million Ukrainians fleeing their homes at their own peril. With Ukrainian men between the ages of 18-60 required to remain in the country to fight, women and children who successfully escape the battlefield are at dangerously high risk from human traffickers.

To read more about human trafficking for Ukraine refugees tap this link: Ukraine Refugee Article (PDF)

Girl snatched from a basketball game

Eight people have been arrested for allegedly trafficking a 15-year-old girl who was snatched from a basketball game and trafficked to another state, as the victim's family claims that they had to track down their daughter themselves when Dallas police failed to launch an investigation.

The girl was kidnapped on April 8 when she went to use the bathroom at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, where she was watching a Dallas Mavericks game with her family.

She was finally found 10 days later around 200 miles away in Oklahoma City after her parents sought the help of the Texas Counter-Trafficking Initiative (TXCTI) to find their missing daughter.

The counter-trafficking nonprofit found nude photos of the 15-year-old girl on a prostitution website, leading Oklahoma City police to raid an Extended Stay America Hotel on April 18.

There, they found the girl inside a room with convicted sex offender Kenneth Nelson. Subsequently, Oklahoma police arrested a total of eight people who have since been charged with crimes.

With the teenager now back home, her family is demanding answers from Dallas Police Department as they begged officers to open an investigation as soon as she vanished at the game.

Despite their pleas and the nature of her disappearance, the family's attorney said that the department failed to investigate because of Texas Family Code Laws, which consider missing juveniles as runaways.

To read more about this teen tap the following link: Missing Teen Article (PDF)

Information, Articles, and Resources

The post 15-year-old Girl Snatched from Basketball Game and Trafficked to Another State appeared first on Network Against Human Trafficking and Slavery.

 

This “Eyes on Trafficking” story is reprinted from its original location.

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PBJ Learning is a leading provider of online human trafficking training, focusing on awareness and prevention education. Their interactive Human Trafficking Essentials is used worldwide to educate professionals and individuals how to recognize human trafficking and how to respond to potential victims. Learn on any web browser (even your mobile phone) at any time.

More stories like this can be found in your PBJ Learning Knowledge Vault.

 

EYES ON TRAFFICKING

This “Eyes on Trafficking” story is reprinted from its original online location.

ABOUT PBJ LEARNING

PBJ Learning is a leading provider of online human trafficking training, focusing on awareness and prevention education. Their interactive Human Trafficking Essentials online course is used worldwide to educate professionals and individuals how to recognize human trafficking and how to respond to potential victims. Learn on any web browser (even your mobile phone) at any time.

More stories like this can be found in your PBJ Learning Knowledge Vault.