Increased risk of child exploitation a less-obvious impact of pandemic
For the past several weeks I’ve written about some of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our agency and the work we do – safety precautions and procedures we’ve put in place in our clinics, the fact we are remain open to provide services, and the potential mental health challenges that might result from the disruption of normal routines and social isolation.
But a perhaps less obvious but very serious impact of the outbreak is a potential increase in human trafficking, and in particular child sex trafficking. In March, as the pandemic forced school and business closures, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center issued a stark warning about the threat posed by criminals who seek to traffic individuals through force, fraud, or coercion using popular social media and dating platforms.
If you’re a parent you might find yourself wondering if sex trafficking is one more thing for you to worry about – but also thinking it is something that would never happen to your child. Both of those thoughts may be true to some extent. It’s important to understand child sex trafficking can happen to any child – and while you may not need to lose sleep with worry about it, it is also important to be vigilant about your child’s online activities and signs that something isn’t right.
I am writing about this now for two reasons. First, with school closures, young people are spending more time online – where traffickers are likely to look for victims – with more of that online time likely unsupervised. And, as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports, in times of disaster…disruptions to local services, housing and economic stability, and social disconnection can further increase risk of victimization and exploitation.
Second, Highland Rivers Health will soon be working with Wellspring Living, an Atlanta nonprofit agency that provides specialized recovery services for children and young adults who have been victims of trafficking. Clearly, children who have been trafficked and forced into prostitution will have significant mental health needs – and our ability to acknowledge this issue can only help.
In February, USA Today published a profile of Georgia First Lady Marty Kemp and the Georgians for Refuge, Action, Compassion and Education (GRACE) Commission she co-chairs which seeks to stop trafficking and help victims. Some of the statistics cited in the article are shocking – but also a call to action.
According to the article, the FBI named Atlanta one of 14 U.S. cities with the highest rate of child sex trafficking – because it’s home to the world’s busiest airport, has several major interstate highways and hosts large-scale events such as the Super Bowl. An estimated 7,200 men pay for sex with a child in Georgia every month, state officials say.
Media reports of law enforcement actions tell the story: a 2017 FBI sweep netted 60 traffickers in Georgia. In 2018, the FBI Atlanta office recovered 149 missing or exploited children; in a 2019 sweep it located 231 youths. The average age of children who are trafficked is 12 to 15, and both girls and boys are victims.
Over the coming months, as our partnership with Wellspring Living proceeds, I will be writing more about this topic – not to scare parents but to raise awareness of the risks, of children who may be especially vulnerable, and of what we as a community can do to help.
In the meantime, if you want to learn more about the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on child exploitation and steps you can take to educate and protect your children, the Department of Justice has created a webpage specifically on that topic, which you can find at https://www. justice.gov/coronavirus/keeping-childrensafe-online.