Human trafficking is a serious problem that affects all communities around the world. In Prince William County, Virginia Attorney General Jason Myares held a roundtable for a solution.
Human trafficking is a serious problem that affects all communities around the world. In Prince William County, Virginia Attorney General Jason Myares held a roundtable for a solution.
“It’s an invisible crime. A lot of people here in Northern Virginia think, ‘It’s not happening in our community.’ Miyares said ahead of Tuesday’s meeting.
Miyares said there has been an “explosion in addiction” since the pandemic, and that addiction has led to increased trafficking in families.
“People with addictions are literally trafficking sisters, daughters, children and family members to feed this addiction,” Miyares said.
The conference was held at the Prince William County Police Station and was closed to the media after the opening remarks.
Miyares chief of staff DJ Jordan said the decision to end part of the discussion was to allow for “really open and honest discussions about sensitive issues that need to be kept private”. .
In her opening remarks, Tanya Gould, head of human trafficking cases for the Attorney General’s Office, said she herself was a human-tracking survivor. said it was necessary.
“I am a survivor and being bought out is an idea or concept that all of you may not fully understand how that feels. “It’s not just about being there. That’s not the only problem. But negotiating your value, your price, your cost. Nobody faces that feeling like you’re negotiating over the value of something you don’t want to sell,” Gould said. said.
John Richmond of Law Firm Dentons served as US Ambassador focusing on human trafficking. He said human trafficking is a $152 billion a year industry and most of the people behind it never serve time, even if they are caught. He also said there are about 27.6 million enslaved people in the world, up about 3 million from 2017, according to new figures from the International Labor Organization.
“We are on the wrong track. Millions of people are being added to the list of people being exploited by the crime of traffickers,” Richmond said.
Richmond also said governments around the world reported saving 90,000 people from slavery last year.
“This means that 99.68% of victims are currently trapped and thinking, ‘Is anything going to change?'” says Richmond.
Richmond also said global prosecutions of human traffickers have fallen by 45% since 2015, and a majority of those prosecuted have been sentenced to prison terms.
“I spoke with a trafficker a few weeks ago and asked him, ‘Have you ever been afraid the police would catch you while operating in this way?’ It’s like, ‘It’s never even crossed my mind,'” said Richmond.
One of Richmond’s ideas is to target illegal massage parlors where sex is sold.
“We know where these places are and we’re allowing them to go on,” Richmond said.
Richmond also put forward the idea of tracking individuals who buy sex within the state, albeit a complicated process.
“Because if you decide to go that route, and other jurisdictions sometimes have, you’re going to get a lot of teachers, lawyers, judges, police officers, and other people too. Get ready to hit.” said Richmond.
Richmond says more needs to be done to help survivors, including helping those arrested for prostitution under the age of 18 instead of arresting children arrested for sex crimes. said.
“The reality is that we should not be prosecuted for underage children,” Richmond said.
He also called for more to be done to help sex trafficking survivors clear their criminal records for crimes committed during their trafficking. He said he had successfully set up a special prosecution unit dedicated solely to tracking.
Prior to the meeting, Miyares also spoke about some of the things his office is already working on. This includes training first responders and school staff to detect potential trafficking victims. said it was necessary.
“One of the things we will really advocate in the next session is a victims fund to treat victims of human trafficking as witnesses and informants of the mob. They can get money to keep them stash,” Miyares said.
Also before attending the roundtable, Prince William County Police Chief Peter Newsham said his department devotes a lot of resources to missing child cases to prevent human trafficking. I was.
“They’re vulnerable young people, without adult supervision, the type of people these predators prey on,” Newsham said.
Newsham said he’s learned throughout his career that traffickers tend to operate in areas where they feel safe and there aren’t many police around.
“I feel it’s our (police’s) responsibility to focus on this issue and make sure they don’t get comfortable here in Prince William County,” Newsham said.
