With Iowa secretary of state’s backing, ‘passionate abolitionists’ fight human trafficking

Melody Stone calls herself a “modern day abolitionist.”

She's also one of the soldiers in an army Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate says is fighting human trafficking in the state.

Stone was one of six Iowans, also including the ninth-grade teacher of Des Moines trafficking victim Pieper Lewis, who were honored in an Iowa Capitol ceremony this week for their efforts to combat the scourge.

A licensed clinical therapist from Mason City who works with trauma survivors, Stone is the founder of a four-county north Iowa coalition combating trafficking. She has launched training for first responders, organized coalition events and lobbied for policies to discourage the exploitation of the vulnerable by unscrupulous people seeking to use them for prostitution, forced labor and other kinds of involuntary servitude.

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She calls human trafficking the “the fastest-growing human enterprise.”

“We will continue on, us passionate abolitionists,” Stone said.

Pate's event aimed not only to honor Stone and the others, but to make that battle more effective. It came as the Iowa Legislature convenes, and the Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking and Slavery is puhing the Legislature for creation of a network that can provide specialized residential care and therapy for child victims of traffickers with the goal of diverting “minors from prosecution for prostitution and other non-felony offenses while they were trafficked,” it said in a statement of its goals.

The statewide, volunteer nonprofit also seeks to double to $10 million the state's appropriation for services to victims of crimes, and amend the list of those served to include victims of human trafficking, homicide and other violent crimes. And it is asking the Legislature to enact a process for expunging criminal records of survivors of human trafficking who were forced to commit illegal acts.

Bringing human trafficking to light

Pate, a Republican who just started his third conecutive term, and fourth overall, also spotlighted the coalition's efforts to help bring recognition to human trafficking, a sometimes invisible crime. Network board chair George Belitsos said it's oftentimes not a case of someone being abducted in the street, but something that's “right in front of you, but we're not looking at it. We aren't seeing it with our two eyes, and it can be very many times in your own home.”

“It's not black and white. It's not that easy,” said Pate.

The network has been putting stickers in bathrooms in public places, including cooperating businesses, to expand awareness and tell victims where to get help. All of Hy-Vees' stores have the rescue stickers, and it's already made a difference, Belitisos said.

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“Last week, a Hy-Vee in Des Moines had an employee who called in suspected trafficking, and it was going on in their bathroom, and they arrested someone,” he said. “Another Hy-Vee made a separate call. They were having trafficking going on out of their parking lot, and arrests were made because of the sticker.”

Training workers to recognize signs of human trafficking is another part of the effort. An employee at the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids who completed the training and less than two weeks later spotted what he suspected was the trafficking of a young woman. He alerted officials who rescued her, Pate said.

“Those stories are there, and we'd like to have more of those, but it's not easy,” he said. “I'll take every soldier I can get in this battle,”

Gathering statistics on human trafficking also has been a challenge, Pate said, adding that until recently, the FBI didn't track them.

Belitsos pointed to one sign of progress: the U.S. attorney for the Des Moines-based Southern District of Iowa has successfully prosecuted 23 traffickers in the past three years, he said, “more than the number for the previous 10.”

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“We're here to send a message to every trafficker in the state of Iowa and the world to set their victims free,” he said, leading the Capitol audience in a chant of “set them free.”

Pieper Lewis' teacher honored

In addition to Stone, among those honored was Leland Schipper, Lewis' teacher. Lewis is the teenage Des Moines sex trafficking victim who in a widely reported case won a deferred sentence for her admitted killing of a man she said repeatedly raped her after her pimp forced her to stay with him. Lewis is currently awaiting a hearing, scheduled for Jan. 18, on whether she'll have to go to prison after walking away from a women's facility where the judge in her case ordered her to stay.

Schipper said he stands by her.

“My former student bravely took the mic during her sentencing period and told the court her voice mattered,” he said. “I was incredibly proud of her. She was powerful and she brought me to tears.”

Also part of the sentence was an order that Lewis, as required by state law, pay $150,000 in restitution to the family of the man she killed. Schipper set up a GoFundMe account for Lewis that has raised more than enough to cover that amount. Schipper is now calling for legislators to not hold victims of sex trafficking responsible for restitution payments, saying “it's morally unjustified.”

More: What's next for Pieper Lewis, the Des Moines teen who killed her rapist?

Others honored were:

• Alka Khanolkar of Keokuk, who organized a drive by Iowa Rotary District 6000 in 2021 to prevent human trafficking and spread awareness of modern day slavery.
• Tish Young of Cedar Rapids, who has been working against human trafficking since 2014 and said she believes “you can effect change in your bubble, with those people around you.”
• IMT Insurance Co. of Des Moines, which is providing three vehicles to aid in investigating human trafficking and rescuing victims, especially minors.
• Sister Shirley Fineran of Sioux City, who is seeking to reopen Lila Mae's House, a place where survivors of sex trafficking can rest, heal, recover and learn life skills to become independent. The facility closed due to lack of funds.

Resources to stop human trafficking:

National Human Trafficking hotline: 888-3737-888 or text “Help” to 233733 (BeFree)

Iowa Victim Service Call Center: 800-770-1650 or text “iowahelp” to 20121

Noelle Alviz-Gransee is a breaking news reporter at the Des Moines Register. Follow her on Twitter at @NoelleHannika or email her at [email protected].