Bringing awareness to human trafficking

HENDERSON — Whether through her work as a founder of the local nonprofit Gang Free Inc. or serving as a Henderson city councilwoman, Melissa Elliott has become one of the most publicly visible figures in the area when it comes to raising awareness for issues that impact disadvantaged communities especially.

With a reputation for outspokenness, Elliott helped lead a local movement to take action on gun violence last summer, for example. She volunteered to enter a mechanical bull-riding contest last month at a Hispanic Heritage event and a few weeks ago delivered an impassioned, faith-centered tribute to Eddie Hicks at his memorial service.

Yet for a significant portion of her youth, Elliott didn't feel, or even want to be, seen.

On Tuesday at Vance-Granville Community College, Elliott shared her story of being a human trafficking victim, aiming to shed light on a multifaceted and fast-growing criminal industry that organizations like NC Stop Human Trafficking work to dismantle.

“No one saw Melissa,” Elliott said of her life between the ages of 12 and 14, when she was forced into the world of sex trafficking.

Pam Strickland, the founder of Pitt County-based NC Stop Human Trafficking, presented at Tuesday's Human Trafficking Awareness Training, which VGCC and Gang Free partnered on. Before conducting an interview with Elliott as part of the program, Strickland provided an extensive background on human trafficking including detailing types of trafficking as well as severity, risk factors and red flags.

The UNC School of Medicine describes human trafficking as “a form of modern-day slavery in which people profit from the control and exploitation of others. As defined under U.S. federal law, victims of human trafficking include children involved in the sex trade, adults age 18 or over who are coerced or deceived into commercial sex acts, and anyone forced into different forms of ‘labor or services,' such as domestic workers held in a home, or farm-workers forced to labor against their will.”

At 12, Elliott was a runaway before being held against her will, literally locked in a room without access to a bathroom and with minimal nourishment — mostly rice, she said.

“I ran away from being abused into a whole, total abusive situation,” Elliott said. “So I was abused as a child, but I ran away because I was rebellious, so when I got to where I was going, I thought I was with friends. And they took me into a house and locked me in a room.”

Every Friday afternoon for six to eight months, Elliott was taken to a small grocery store where her traffickers sold her body. She learned to down moonshine to numb the anguish.

On the way to the store, Elliott would seek to cover her face with large-lens sunglasses, allured by the illusion of anonymity.

“For many years, I felt invisible because there were people on the sidewalk, people in the store,” Elliott said. “People saw me but they never stopped to say, ‘Why is this little girl — and I was a very little girl — going into this store? Why are they taking her in the back and keeping her back there for four to six hours every Friday at the same time?' ”

Once, law enforcement approached the home where Elliott had been confined for several months, following a lead that indicated someone in the house might know of her whereabouts. The agents were joined at the door by Elliott's mother, who pleaded for help, but in a cruel twist, the traffickers talked their way out of questioning and it would be another six months before law enforcement was able to rescue Elliott.

About four decades later, the trauma hasn't subsided for Elliott, who exudes confidence and often is a picture of strength on the surface. But she has learned to no longer feel like a victim and even expresses empathy for her buyers, whom Elliott believes are also victims that have been taken advantage of by traffickers.

Strickland covered the role of demand reduction in combatting sex trafficking, highlighting traits of buyers and potential ways they can be discouraged or penalized (ex. fines, inclusion in sex offender registries, shifting cultural attitudes).

Strickland was joined Tuesday by Banesa Berumen, NC Stop Human Trafficking's training specialist and Hydeia Collington, who specializes in law enforcement and spoke about the levels of trauma that a human trafficking victim can experience. Elliott and Strickland both cautioned educators that children who are thought to be “acting out” might actually have undergone trauma and Strickland described how having just one trustworthy and reliable adult in their life can have a profound impact on a traumatized child.

During the sit-down, Strickland asked Elliott what accountability and justice look like to her.

“Accountability to me is education,” Elliott said. “Like this [event]. Getting people the information they need to understand how to look for signs. I think the political arena should be flooded with this topic because we have the ability to write laws, ordinances. And I think we should have more education. Education. Education. Education.”

Last year, NC Stop Human Trafficking reached more than 6,800 people through training events and general awareness sessions.

Recognizing the various channels through which traffickers operate is required to understand the scope of trafficking, particularly as it relates to illegal commercial sex.

Sex trafficking was involved in 72.3% of human trafficking “situations” in 2020, according to the latest available U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline report, while labor accounted for 9.9%.

Some of the most common examples of sex trafficking reported to the national hotline are related to familial trafficking, exploitation of addiction and disabilities, and gangs.

The national hotline report listed pornography as the leading “venue/industry of potential trafficking” in 2020, comprising 12.3% of trafficking situations. However, 49.7% of the situations had no venue specified and “illicit massage/spa business” was second with 8.1%.

That's only a small slice of the sort of information that was dissected on Tuesday in VGCC's civic center, with many of the training attendees representing area law enforcement.

Elliott said she has a soft spot in her heart for law enforcement because ultimately, despite an unfortunate delay, that's how she was saved from trafficking, courtesy of a detective and private investigator.

“Thank God for all of you guys that are here,” Elliott said. “It was law enforcement that brought me home. And that's why I have such an endearment for law enforcement officers… Because of you all and your profession, I made it back home. So I just want ya'll to hear that and know that you don't have to be the therapist. You don't have to be that person to hug. Just know that you have the ability to take someone home.”