Forum sheds light on dark world of human trafficking

By Stephen Parker

Special to the Journal

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension  was part of a local coalition that hosted a forum on Sept. 20 at the Cass County Law Enforcement Training Center in Linden. The focus of the meeting was to shed light on the issue of human sex trafficking. 

Donnie Vallery of the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, shared statistics about sex trafficking. Human sex trafficking is a $9.8 billion industry exploiting more than 100,000 children annually.  The average age of a child exploited is 13. 

“(Sex trafficking) is fueled by pimping and nothing new, this sort of thing has gone on for thousands of years,” Vallery said. 

Further elaborating that websites like Backpage.com are known for trafficking young girls, and no child should have access to Facebook.com or any other web location where potential predators may lurk. “Lack of discipline in the household,” Vallery said is the greatest factor in the large number of young girls being “turned-out” or converted into prostitutes. He noted that there is not enough law enforcement currently to combat this cartel -run industry.

A Homeland Security produced video was shown depicting some of the warning signs of a girl that might be entangled in the world of sex trafficking such as: significantly older boyfriend, signs of trauma, traveling with an older man who is not their guardian, chronic runaway, substance abuse, and special marked tattoos. The video offers some solutions like: talking to a teacher or contacting Homeland Security directly via the ICE Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.

Draka Strickland, gave an empowering message for young women saying, “Girls you got to work for what you want, don’t rely on a man for what you have and how you feel about yourself."

Strickland added it is important be cautious, do not let your guard down, and keep your chin up.

Founder and CEO of Rahab’s Retreat, Teresa Richenberger was a victim of sexual abuse from an early age due to a lack of parenting. At 16, she ran away from home, started stripping and selling her body for the next 12 years until an overdose at age 28 caused her to reevaluate her life.

Her advice to the audience was, “get in people’s business,” for she she said she wished someone would have intervened on her behalf many years ago. Now Richenberger reaches out to young ladies in a similar situation to her own through Rahab’s Retreat, formally Kilgore Nursing Home Housing. Planning to take in 50 guests at first, the rehab center could house as many as 130 at full capacity, she said.

Attendee Stacia Waters characterized the presentation as heartbreaking, yet informative and necessary.  "As a mother of a small child, I had no idea just how easy it is for people to manipulate young girls into a situation in which they are trapped," Waters said.  "The PowerPoint presented by the sheriff’s office was an eye-opener, and the statistics really made me think about the pier pressures placed on our children.  Teresa, a trafficked survivor, shared her story and her current ministry to other victims; it was empowering  I enjoyed Donna Fraser’s stories about helping take these girls off the streets and helping them get their education.

 "Overall. I believe it was a great success and hope that others will take the initiative to learn more about sex and human trafficking and educate our teenagers so that they can avoid these traps."

Ben Woods contributed to this report.