Organizations discuss fighting sex trafficking in Pittsburgh – WTAE

PITTSBURGH — A group of organizations working to fight sex trafficking in the Pittsburgh area met Tuesday night to share information with each other and the public.Law enforcement sources who were on the panel described Pittsburgh as a hub for sex trafficking. They said it happens in ways the public may not even realize.

“So many people don't know what human trafficking looks like here, so we want to just bring that information out,” Executive Director of Refuge for Women, Theresa Golden said.

Golden represented one of several organizations that brought their insights to the discussion. Most of the people who sat on the panel could not be filmed in order to protect their identities for the sake of their work.

This meeting was held the same day that the sex trafficking case against Eric Jefferson, of Pittsburgh's Polish Hill neighborhood, went before a judge. He pled not guilty in federal court.

Jefferson has been accused of multiple counts of sex trafficking. Federal prosecutors list four adult victims, as well as at least one minor exploited in the production of child pornography. Jefferson also waived his right to a detention hearing.

In a past case filed and then withdrawn in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, Pittsburgh Police claimed Jefferson told them women he forced into prostitution were addicted to narcotics and that he would give them drugs in exchange for sex.

Golden said she's been working with the alleged victims of Jefferson.

“All those women that they've been able to identify through his case, through the Jefferson case, we've been working with them and helping to find housing and resources for them, so all the housing options… we've sent other places. There haven't been a lot of local places for them to be able to get somewhere safe quickly,” Golden said.

She hopes to see the Refuge for Women's emergency home open in early 2023 to be a safe haven.

Amber Knight said she was trafficked from the age of 13 to 27. She is now a survivor who works as a mentor with the organization Gwen's Girls.

“Try to make sure they understand what sex trafficking is so that they can realize if they are or are not being sex trafficked,” Knight said. “Even if you think it, you have a gut feeling of it, just report it, it never hurts to report. It never hurts for it to be investigated. Just make sure that child is safe,” Knight said.