Orange ups its fight vs. human trafficking

Officials say they are gaining ground in battling human trafficking in Central Florida, with the opening of the state’s first emergency shelter for commercially exploited women and two new safe homes for victimized children and teens.

The news came Friday on the eve of the 10th Annual Human Trafficking Awareness Day in Orlando, a free family-friendly daylong event today with speakers, films, workshops in English and Spanish, and resources to safeguard youth.

“We are putting Orlando on the map in addressing this problem,” said Tomas Lares, chairman of the Greater Orlando Human Trafficking Task Force, which is hosting the event. “But we’ve all heard that it takes a village to raise a child, and with this issue it takes the entire community.”

The new emergency shelter, a

confidential Orange County location that officially opens next week, will house up to 10 women at a time rescued from trafficking. Most of them are expected to come from the sex trade, though some could be forced laborers.

“These are women who have just been rescued, and we’ll be trying to get them whatever medical or mental health help they need right away,” said Tracy Salem, division manager for youth and family services in Orange County. “We’re looking at this like a triage program, where people may stay for up to around 90 days — longer if they need to — and then be transitioned.”

The women will be referred by law-enforcement agencies, the Orange County Jail, local courts and operators of the National Human Trafficking Hotline, 1-888-373-7888.

Salem said the women might go on to substanceabuse treatment, mentalhealth facilities or nonprofit organizations such as Samaritan Village, a faithbased program that helps women heal from sexual exploitation. Still others might choose to live independently at that point.

In 2016, Orange County commissioners voted unanimously to approve $375,000 for the initial six months of the pilot program, with an option to renew the contract for two more years. Leaders hope it will serve as a model for counties throughout the state.

Lares said he has a waiting list of women for the shelter. “It will be full,” he said. Meanwhile, for victims under 18, officials on Friday announced the region’s first two “safe” foster homes for youth rescued from trafficking.

“Not all kids who have been commercially sexually exploited need group care for the rest of their [youth] — or even ever,” said Erin Wirsing of Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health Florida, which provides specialized services for trafficked minors. “We’re so excited that we have some families who have decided that this is a path for them” — and have been willing to undergo additional training to know how to deal with the challenges.

In Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties collectively, there are 22 kids currently in foster care who were rescued from sex trafficking.

Foster parents need to be especially vigilant in caring for those children, ensuring the kids make it to all meetings with therapists and prosecutors — and especially that they don’t end up recruiting other children in the home for their former traffickers.

“This is not easy,” said Stephanie Weis, regional family and community services director for the Florida Department of Children and Families. “We did this huge foster teen recruitment campaign and we would go to these events and say, ‘OK, now we have an even more special population — victims of sexual exploitation.’ And there’s this stigma around that population that makes it really difficult to recruit for. But we know there is a need.”

But there’s also a growing movement to crack down on hotels and other businesses that facilitate sex trafficking, and a bill that would allow civil suits against those entities is currently making its way through the Florida Legislature.

Other advocates are focusing on educating children, teens and parents.

“Parents need to talk to their kids about this, even though it’s an awkward conversation,” said Jan Edwards, CEO of the anti-trafficking nonprofit Paving The Way. “A lot of them think this only happens ‘over there’ in Thailand or the Philippines or Africa. They need to wake up.”

Paving The Way helped to educate about 1,300 of the state’s high-school and college students last year on how to spot victims and avoid traffickers. It is hosting a film festival at Saturday’s awareness event with showings throughout the day, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For more information on today’s event or human trafficking in general, including how to get help, see floridaabolitionist.org.