Separating fact, fiction essential in fight against human trafficking

By KATE COIL

TT&C Assistant Editor

While it is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the state, many Tennesseans are unaware of the signs of and risk factors for human trafficking.  

Richard Schoeberl, director of graduate studies at the University of Tennessee Southern, has 30 years of law enforcement experience and now serves as a professor of criminology and homeland security. He has also worked with the Multidisciplinary Research Team at Baylor University, which examines human trafficking and partners with law enforcement agencies to address gaps in enforcement. 

“Every county in the state of Tennessee this past year had a human trafficking case,” Schoeberl said. “Human trafficking is the second-fastest growing crime in the U.S. and definitely the second-fastest growing crime in the state of Tennessee.” 

Schoeberl said law enforcement, educators, and those who have any interactions with the public can be a helpful force in putting an end to trafficking.  

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS 

One of the first misconceptions Schoeberl comes across is what human trafficking actually is. The legal definition involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to make any person of any age take part in any type of labor – sexual or not.  

The use of any kind of physical violence or assault, use of a weapon, rape, restraint, or confinement constitutes force. False promises of a better life, job, or romance constitute fraud while Schoeberl said psychological intimidation of any kind and threats against a person or their loved ones fall under coercion.  

Schoeberl said substance abuse is also often overlooked as a type of coercion. 

“Drugs are a common tool to use as a mechanism to control someone,” he said. “I interviewed a girl named Heather who was a victim of human trafficking and was addicted to heroin. She said she didn’t always use it, but it was given to her by another girl to get through a day of being sexually trafficked. It made her dependent on her trafficker for not just food, clothing, and shelter but also her addiction.” 

At present, 28 million people live in modern-day slavery, which Schoeberl said is a $236 billion industry. He said there is not an industry that is not touched by human trafficking in some way. Additionally, less than 1% of trafficking victims are kidnapped by a stranger.  

“That is too much attention, and traffickers don’t need that,” Schoeberl said. “They want someone who is under the influence of drugs, alcohol, romance, or something else. Victims also don’t self-identify, and we are going to see less of that. When we start doing mass deportations, then you are going to see people who would rather stay in exploitation than say they are victims of trafficking. They would rather be exploited than deported. There is also a myth that if you get paid you aren’t a victim. That is not the case. Traffickers often pay their victims, though they may be paying them $5 an hour versus what they should be paying them.” 

Schoeberl said 80% of trafficking victims in the U.S. are U.S. citizens and not foreign-born.  

RED FLAGS 

There are several factors that can put an individual at more risk of being trafficked including a lack of personal safety, isolation, homelessness, childhood sexual abuse, having a family member involved in exploitation, family dysfunction, poverty, mental illness, learning disabilities or developmental delays, lack of social support, emotional distress, substance abuse, and a history of being a runaway.  

However, Schoeberl said these conditions can come together in different ways to create victims.  

“If I asked everyone for a chocolate cake recipe, I would get a bunch of different recipes,” Schoeberl said. “At the end of the day, all these recipes are going to get me a chocolate cake.” 

Children who have been in foster care are 50-60% more likely to be victims of trafficking with the average age of trafficking victims being 13-17. Schoeberl noted there is no one ethnicity or race that is more likely to be victimized, but ethnicity and race of victims typically align with the population where they are being trafficked.  

Signs a person is being trafficked may include poor physical or dental health; they appear overwhelmed, nervous, tense, or paranoid; evidence of current or previously untreated physical injuries or abuse; untreated STDs; tattoos or brands that emphasize property; inappropriate clothing; an inability to speak for themselves; scripted responses to questions; and avoiding eye-contact or social interaction.  

“We rescued this girl once whose pimp decided that he was a freelance surgeon,” Schoeberl said. “Her arm broke, and he took some coffee stirrers and duct tape to fix it. It had been there so long her skin had grown up around the duct tape. The doctor looked at me and said he spent years in the Middle East with Doctors Without Borders during the Afghan War, but this was the most traumatic thing he had seen on a live person. Traffickers dehumanize; it’s what they do.” 

Schoeberl said many victims do not walk away because they have developed a trauma bond with their trafficker.  

“These people are victims,” he said. “They are not doing this to make a living. They are doing this to survive. They are being forced to do it.” 

LABOR TRAFFICKING 

While sex trafficking is often the focus of media coverage, Schoeberl said forced labor is actually the most common type of trafficking in the U.S.  

There is also a difference between trafficking and human smuggling, as trafficking does not require a person to be transported while smuggling does. However, these two crimes are often connected.  

“I have never seen anybody raise their hand and say will you please traffic me, but we have seen about 10 million people over the last 5 years raise their hands and say, ‘will you please smuggle me into the U.S.,’” Schoeberl said. “I want you to think about this. The average cost of smuggling someone is between $10,000 and $60,000. If you have $60,000, you are probably well off in your country and will stay right there. If you owe someone $60,000 for smuggling you into the country, how do you pay that off? It’s either through bonded labor or commercial sex. These smuggling fees are like a payday loan. You’re never paying off the initial principal, just maybe the interest you owe. You can go your entire life and not pay it off.” 

Child labor trafficking has become a rising issue in the U.S., particularly as the labor market tightens. As a result, more underage employees are working in dangerous conditions. Schoeberl said larger corporations are frequently the perpetrators of child labor trafficking and usually only face fines as a result. 

“We are talking about people who are vulnerable, who were often pushed into this country or pulled because of violence or better opportunities,” Schoeberl said. “They then get exploited and caught up in labor trafficking. These cases are hard and extremely complex. Prosecutors tend not to prosecute these cases because of how difficult they are. In the past 20 years, U.S. federal prosecutors focused 93% on sex trafficking cases and only 7% on forced labor, yet 70% of people are trafficked for labor and only 30% for sex.” 

Domestic servitude is one of the most common ways people are labor trafficked. Schoeberl said he had worked on the case of a woman who came from the Philippines to take a job working as a maid for a family in California. She helped raise the family’s kids and take care of their parents after the kids had moved out. The woman slept on the floor and was only allowed to eat what was leftover on the family’s plates following meals. She was not paid for her work. 

She went to a hospital during COVID and told a nurse what had happened to her. The nurse then reported it to the police. The 76-year-old woman had been working as an indentured servant for 38 years. The family was prosecuted, and funds were set aside to put the woman into an assisted living facility. 

“I met with her a year after this, and she asked me if she had to go back to the house,” Schoeberl said. “I told her she never had to go back to that house. The interpreter leaned over and told me she actually said, ‘when do I get to go back to the house.’ It felt like I had fallen out of a tree. She had formed such a trauma bond with this family. They were all she ever knew.” 

ONLINE DANGERS 

One of the difficulties for law enforcement is how easy the Internet has made trafficking. Websites like eBackpage.com are often based outside the U.S. and are thus beyond reach of law enforcement. Traffickers also often use Airbnb and similar services to stay on the move.  

“Online exploitation can take a lot of forms, whether it’s grooming, production of child sexual abuse material, or livestreaming,” Schoeberl said. “It’s become a normalized behavior for a lot of teenagers. A growing concern for parents and teachers alike is sextortion. This is extortion for sex or money. [Criminals] talk to these young kids to normalize sending risqué photos. Only 17% of those who are sextorted ever report it.” 

Sextortion is not sexual trafficking but is a gateway to that crime, with Schoeberl indicated 83% of sextortion happens over social media. While 80% of these victims are girls, Schoeberl said those statistics may be skewed because boys are highly likely to not report victimization. Schoeberl said one in four sextortion victims are under the age of 13.  

Schoeberl worked with a student for an experiment to create several fake profiles of underage girls online. He said within 24 hours they were getting emails from strangers, even though the girls were identified online as being middle school age. They engaged in conversation with the respondents, who sent them pictures of themselves and promised that they would send money if pictures were returned. 

“How many kids who live in poverty would raise their hand and say sure I’ll send some photos for $10,000,” Schoeberl said. “This is what we are dealing with. This whole thing took place in 72 hours. It’s a game of statistics for the people who are out there. If they do it enough, someone will send them photos.” 

Based on his research, Schoeberl said these groomers look for kids online, earn their trust, meet their needs – particularly emotionally – and then isolate them. They then maintain control of their victims, often through information their victims have given them like phone numbers, home addresses, the schools they attend, and images they may have sent. 

“Traffickers don’t need to go to the mall anymore and pick up runaway children,” Schoeberl said. “They can find people online so easily. The important thing to do is to educate the community about this. We have to identify where this is happening and not be naive and think this doesn’t happen here.” 

In addition to training law enforcement to conduct complex investigations and maintain a victim-centric approach, Schoeberl said it’s important to other city officials also know what to look for. 

“Think about the other people in your city government who might come into contact with traffickers or people being trafficked,” he said. “Think about your first responders, your utility department staff, your water department staff—the people who go out to houses all the time. Identification is key, and I’d rather someone report a situation and be wrong than not say something and be right.”