Educator talks danger that follows drugs; human trafficking in rural areas – The Corry Journal

With a number of drug arrests in the past few weeks, the Corry community may have to keep its eyes peeled for another issue — human trafficking.

Although not something that necessarily happens often, Amy Blackman, director of prevention education and co-assistant director of the Crime Victim Center of Erie County, said it is something that they've been seeing as an issue in rural areas of the county.

It may not be in the way that people typically think of human trafficking, though. Blackman explained that people tend to think of it as strangers or somebody they met online connecting with them and taking them.

In reality, the type of issues they have been seeing in rural areas has been when family members sell children in exchange for drug fixes or to settle a debt owed due to drug use.

“In the rural areas, we know that there are a lot of issues with opioids and drug use,” she said. “So that can very much contribute to trafficking, and people don't necessarily see it or label it as trafficking.”

It becomes increasingly difficult to stop this type of trafficking, according to Blackman, because the red flags aren't as apparent as with other types.

Typical red flags would include someone having new possessions they can't necessarily afford, if someone is branded in some fashion or if someone is seen with a new, much older boyfriend or girlfriend suddenly.

But in the case of drug-related trafficking that happens within a family unit, whether it be a parent, aunt or uncle, it's harder to detect.

Some behaviors that Blackman said can be indicative of an issue include a child experiencing more absenteeism in school, being incredibly tired due to lack of sleep and having heightened knowledge of sexuality at a young age.

She said with Erie and Corry being on transportation rails, there are historical ties that make communities conducive to this type of human trafficking.

“When we talk about Erie being on a transportation line where people are moved from Detroit through Cleveland and Erie to Buffalo, the reality is that all of that started as drug routes,” Blackman said. “It still moves the same, and the same issues come up. There's a lot of linkage to drugs and drug use that happens with trafficking.”

As far as social media posts warning people of strangers who may attempt to abduct them, Blackman said that's not typically something they see within the Corry community.

“How often that happens is so slim because it's very difficult for a trafficker to just grab somebody out of nowhere that they have no already established relationship with and think it's going to be an easy transition into trafficking,” she said. “Most of the time, it's someone who is being groomed in some way for it.”

One example she used is of a post circulating on social media warning residents of traffickers hiding under cars in busy parking lots and slashing the person's achilles tendon then abducting them.

It's hard to get under and out from under a car, she said, mentioning that by the time it happened, somebody would notice something was going on. The best way to dispel these is to just stop and think about how feasible and realistic the hypothetical situation is.

“If somebody tried to grab a person out of the parking lot, that person is most likely going to attempt something to get out and get away,” she said. “People in Corry, they're going to get noticed if they're hanging out in the parking lot of Walmart. Somebody is going to say something.”

And although it can be hard to spot, Blackman emphasized that addressing drug issues is a first step and acknowledging it as human trafficking rather than just child abuse is important.