Human Trafficking: Black and Missing

 

 

 

                   

 

Do you know that there are more people in modern-day slavery today than at any other time in our history?  In our effort to highlight January being the National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, I spent some time on the subject, and below are some startling findings I gathered from my research and conversation with Derrica Wilson, a co-founder and a CEO of the Black and Missing Foundation.

 

 

In 2019, FBI statistics reflect that more than 600,000 people were reported missing in the United States with 40% of the missing being black.  In 2021, the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) reported over 520,000 persons missing with just over 305,000 as the race of white and over 177,000 as the race of black. The percentage of blacks is still 34% of the cumulative numbers that are actually reported as missing. Total 2022 numbers are yet to be reported.

 

What is the highlight you say? Post an interview with Derrica Wilson, Co-Founder of the Black and Missing Foundation; The disparity is that African-American cases are remaining unclosed four times longer than missing white Americans. The difference is that black and brown missing person cases are not receiving the same level of priority and equal media notoriety as cases that are reported with the race of white.

 

The level of missing cases also ties into the state of human trafficking. Human trafficking involves exploiting men, women, or children for the purposes of forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. And the statistics of these cases are estimated to be far greater than reported.

 

Let us take a look at what has changed, as well as what hasn’t changed, and due to the assistance of entities and initiatives such as the Black and Missing Foundation, are on their way to great change for not only these cases but for the trajectory of missing persons and human trafficking.

 

 

Since COVID, we are all spending more time online than ever. There’s been a serious uptick in the number of missing person cases, particularly with persons of color, being preyed upon. Every day, there are at least 500,000 predators online searching for the most vulnerable children via social media, their gaming system chat rooms, and any other easily accessible channel. These criminals no longer have to enter through your front door or window, they are now entering through your devices.

 

 

The vulnerability of our children with low self-esteem, adults navigating their way out of domestic violence issues, the potential dangers of online dating, parental abductions, and human smuggling are all some of the top reasons one may fall victim to eventually be added to the missing person list with their final destination of possibly never being found, being trafficked or ultimately being found deceased.

 

What’s in common? Many of the above victims are in a mindset of seeking something better, such as being with someone who makes them feel special, a new sense of freedom, independence, or excitement from “a new friend” (targeted to the youth), a healthier relationship, a means to an end to the complications of co-parenting, or a new life in a new country. All of which sounds wonderful, but without the discernment of the dangers involved by navigating these “new” situations in an unconventional manner.

 

 

Coming from her own professional experience in law enforcement, Derrica Wilson enforces the discouraging fact that black and brown cases are still not being taken 100% seriously, but she is starting to see a shift. At one point, cases of black missing youth were immediately classified as runaways, and black adults were classified in association with the possibility of criminal activity. Either classification would not spark a sense of urgency with law enforcement, and families would still have to wait at least 24 hours before being able to report their child as missing.

 

And let us not exclude that AMBER alerts are still not being issued, reports from the respective law enforcement are not being filed in a timely manner, and local and national media are not covering the stories as they would with the equal priority of a white missing person. This lack of interest is what is known as “Missing White Women Syndrome”. This is a syndrome defined by the heavier media attention white women and girls receive when they go missing compared to anyone outside of those demographics, according to a study published by the Northwestern University School of Law in 2016.

 

 

There are two major types of Human Trafficking - Labor and Sex Trafficking (also known as Modern Day Slavery). Human traffickers often take advantage of the anonymity of the hospitality industry to push victims into forced labor or use hotels as a backdrop for sex trafficking. In 2018, the Department of Homeland Security released its anti-trafficking guide for the hospitality industry within its Blue Campaign. 

 

The DHS guide includes a checklist of signs of human trafficking. It also highlights some steps that hospitality businesses can take to stop human trafficking. These include partnering with agencies that provide services to victims of human trafficking and providing employee training to help them understand and identify the signs.

 

MPI’s commitment to the social responsibility of raising awareness to end human trafficking is clearly defined via their committee’s work of creating an education-in-a-box. These educational components focus on identifying victims and if a victim is identified, what should be done.

 

 

All of the taxes that we pay - yes, those county, state, and federal taxes that are deducted or set aside each pay period - that money is used to fund our public servants including law enforcement. This means, that all of us as citizens have every right to get into “Good Trouble” and be proactive in bridging the gap between the community and our local leaders.

 

On a positive stride, Derrica Wilson, who is also a Certified Human Trafficking Investigator, is a member of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE).  This group has taken a stance on fixing systemic racism issues starting with revising the policies and procedures on how the missing, specifically within the black and brown community, are classified. In many jurisdictions (but not all), families no longer have to wait 24 hours to file a missing person report, and the unaccounted-for family member is immediately classified as ‘missing’ as opposed to a runaway.

 

In addition, our Black Press has been remarkable in amplifying the stories. Leveraging these relationships have put families at the advantage of not waiting on the story to be broken but breaking the story themselves. The end goal is to push the national news to redirect stories of the missing to be less about race, and more about ALL people that are missing. 

 

Using our proactive voice has even prompted elected representatives ,such as State Rep. Ruth Richardson of Minnesota, who created and successfully passed a bill for a Missing and Murdered African American Women and Girls Taskforce. Richardson said she wants to see police give these cases fairer treatment, figure out a trajectory for the stories to make the news, and create a state-level office for missing and murdered black women and girls.

 

 

The exploitation of human trafficking deriving from the missing is a multi-billion dollar industry. There are more people in modern-day slavery today than at any other time in our history. Our ability to recognize the signs of human trafficking, help the victims find a safe space of recovery via programs such as Fair Girls or Courtney’s House (both based in Washington D.C.), and exercise our proactive voice to make a difference in our communities all weigh into the solution.

 

The importance of voting, the courage to ask law enforcement the hard questions, challenging the media and, per Derrica Wilson, “being our own digital milk cartons” will take us one step closer to finding someone’s loved one. Maybe even the unthinkable one day… your loved one.

 

To engage in the cause and learn how your voice matters, please join us on Wednesday, February 22, 2023, at the Hyatt Crystal City for our next MPI Potomac E2 Forum about Human Trafficking.