5 insights about helping trafficking survivors

I didn’t want to believe that sex trafficking happens in Hawaii. I was afraid to believe it. I was uncomfortable thinking about it. Yet we can’t do anything about it unless we acknowledge that it’s a problem.

When Defend the Family held their annual conference and training that focuses on sex exploitation, abuse, and trafficking, I needed to learn more.

I attended the night session on the last day of the conference. I was uneasy being there, but Shannon Marocco warmly welcomed me and conference founder Andria Tupola started a conversation with me, genuinely interested in why I was there.

We learned about the wrap-around case management services offered by the Susannah Wesley Community Center from victim specialist Veronica Lamb. The Center assists survivors of all forms of human trafficking.

We listened to Tina Frundt, a survivor and founder/executive director of Courtney’s House in Washington, DC. Courtney’s House has helped more than 1,000 survivors escape from being trafficked and find a new life, while also training law enforcement and other non-profit groups to help and provide resources to victims.

Tina shared a video clip from an interview with a “former” pimp to show how manipulative, persuasive, and seemingly reasonable sex traffickers can be when they explain what they are doing.

We also heard from a survivor of sex exploitation in Hawaii, Malina Briakadasha, who shared her story of kidnapping, sex exploitation, addiction, and domestic violence.

Here are 5 insights I learned about helping trafficking survivors:

1. Start with believing. Pay attention and screen youth and their parents for trafficking. In Washington, DC, 30% of survivors were trafficked by family. Tina also stressed the need to screen and train the staff and volunteers at shelters, because sex traffickers will deliberately seek jobs where they have access to children who are vulnerable.

2. Give survivors different ways to connect. Be available where they are. Survivors need more than a hotline; they need access to help by text and social media.

3. Language matters. We need to use language that survivors understand. “Trafficking” is a legal term, and most children don’t know what that means. “It’s pimping,” Tina said bluntly.

4. Don’t cry when you hear their story. This was one of the hardest things to hear, because we feel compassion for survivors. But Tina says that tears can reveal pity or even show survivors that we can’t handle their story.

5. Ask non-threatening questions. For example, ask “How many times did you leave home?” and “How did you take care of yourself?”

“If you want a different outcome, then you do everything differently,” Tina stated.

Learn more about Defend the Family and Empower Hawaii at https://www.empowerhawaii.org/; and the Susannah Wesley Community Center at https://www.susannahwesley.org/.

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Tags: Andria Tupola, Courtney's House, Defend the Family, Empower Hawaii, Tina Frundt

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