Rest, Relax, Run for Your Life
Page 16
Human trafficking is essentially enslavement of fellow humans. As long as there is a demand for free or cheap labor, laborers who can’t demand safer working conditions, or commercial sex there will be human trafficking. It is the rule of economics.
Traffickers use force, intimidation, threats, or lying to coerce men, women, and children into providing some type of labor or commercial sex. Traffickers prefer to exploit victims who are easily manipulated due to psychological or emotional vulnerability, dire economic circumstances (think homeless, foster runaway, orphaned, addictions and all those entail, unable to support a family), lacking a social safety net and more.
A number of reasons often prevent victims of human trafficking from receiving help or even from asking for help. Language barriers are one of the obvious reasons for not asking for help. Often, the victims fear physical retribution from the traffickers should they try to escape or talk to people about their situation. And, sadly, some victims fear being labeled as perpetrators by law enforcement. An example would be the crime of prostitution. That is a punishable offense and many of the participants are there willingly and deserving of arrest. Unfortunately, there are numerous people who themselves are actually victims of sex trafficking, unable to break free or scared to ask for help. When caught, rather than being provided victim services and a safe exit from that life, they are prosecuted.
Law enforcement is making great strides in trying to identify prostitutes who have been victims of human trafficking and forced into commercial sex so that a victim-centered approach can be taken. There are many resources becoming available to law enforcement that haven’t always been in place and human trafficking-specific training materials are being implemented.
How to identify a victim?
The DHS website also includes a helpful list of the signs of human trafficking. As we have discussed, it is often hard to identify victims but more so when we are in denial that human trafficking occurs everywhere, including where you live most likely. Several of those signs include:
- Disconnected from any family, friends, or organizations.
- Doesn’t appear at school any longer.
- Sudden or dramatic change in behavior.
- A juvenile engaged in trading sex for money or drugs or other payment.
- Persons disoriented, confused or showing signs of mental or physical abuse.
- Bruises? Breaks? Injuries in various stages of healing?
- Is the person timid or fearful?
- Does the person live in unsuitable or unsafe conditions?
- Unstable living situation and lack of personal possessions.
- A person in the control of someone else, requiring permission for where to go and who to talk to.
- Unreasonable security measures at the persons home, no freedom of movement.
NOTE: Not all of those signs are visible in every human trafficking incident, and the presence or absence of indicators does not necessarily prove human trafficking.
Who to tell?
The Department of Homeland Security would like to make it very clear that you should not at any time attempt to confront someone suspected of human trafficking or alert the victim to your suspicions. Doing either of these things could put you and the victim both in danger. Safety is key. You are urged instead to contact local law enforcement directly or to call the following tip lines as provided by DHS:
Call 1-866-DHS-2-ICE (1-866-347-2423) to report suspicious criminal activity to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Tip Line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year. Highly trained specialists take reports from both the public and law enforcement agencies on more than 400 laws enforced by ICE HSI, including those related to human trafficking. The Tip Line is accessible outside the United States by calling 802-872-6199. [This information is taken directly from the DHS website.]
To get help from the National Human Trafficking Hotline (NHTH), call 1-888-373-7888 or text HELP or INFO to BeFree (233733). The NHTH can help connect victims with service providers in the area and provides training, technical assistance, and other resources. The NHTH is a national, toll-free hotline available to answer calls from anywhere in the country, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year. The NHTH is not a law enforcement or immigration authority and is operated by a nongovernmental organization funded by the Federal government. [This information is taken directly from the DHS website.]
If you or a local organization you are part of would like to receive Blue Campaign materials to use in raising awareness and educating the public about signs and indications of human trafficking, you can request them at no cost here:
https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/request-materials
These materials may include posters, pamphlets, and cards for display and for information on how to report suspected trafficking.
Note from the Author
Thank you so much for taking the time to read Rest, Relax, Run for Your Life!
I hope that you enjoyed getting to know Piper and Sam. I also hope you were able to take the time to learn something new about human trafficking and the many lives it impacts. Unlike Piper in the book, to my knowledge I have never had a real-life encounter with this terrible practice of enslaving humans; however, it is prevalent in my county and in this country. As long as we bury our heads in the sand and allow this to be a “hidden crime” that nobody acknowledges, the perpetrators will continue to profit from this heinous way of life. This book is one tiny way I can do my part to help spread awareness.
For more about me or information on other books, visit www.katherinebrownbooks.com
Sneak Preview
Book 2 in the Ooey Gooey Bakery Mystery Series.
Knock, knock, knock.
Three sharp raps sounded at the door, causing us both to jump.
Griff and I were in my apartment. My mind reeled from the unexpected turn our conversation had taken. I expected him to deny all the rumors of a relationship between us, to insist I help convince his mother it wasn’t true, and to make it clear that I was a nice girl, his sister’s friend, but nothing more — imagine my surprise when instead, here he knelt on my living room floor telling me that he found me amazing, beautiful, kind, adorable (okay he might have said ‘stubborn in an adorable way’, I’d take it) and that he couldn’t wait another moment to tell me how he felt.
Knock, knock, knock.
Griff dropped my hand. The moment shattered and vanished. I didn’t have time to process these new revelations, much less form any type of response. Saved by the door.
“That’s, uh, probably Sam,” I said as I got up. Griff followed me to the door, whether out of some new desire to protect me or simply to clobber his sister, my best friend, for interrupting I couldn’t guess. Both thoughts made me want to giggle in a completely giddy, absolutely unacceptable way that made no sense right now.
This time, I didn’t check the peephole before opening the door. Despite my recent trauma, being kidnapped and nearly killed, I felt secure and safe with Griff there behind me. I never saw myself in need of a white knight but having someone there with me felt good. Swinging the door wide, I experienced my second round of speechlessness in less than fifteen minutes.
“Piper?” the tanned, trim, muscular guy on my doorstep asked.
“Hi?” it came out as a question, my brain running on less than its optimum speed at this point in the evening. I tried to place this sandy-haired stranger and come up with a plausible reason for him to be at my door at this time of the evening. I drew a blank.
“Piper, it’s me. It’s Landon.”
I clutched at my heart in shock as recognition dawned. Too stunned to resist, I just held on as Landon scooped me up in a huge hug and spun me around the doorstep.
“Piper, are you okay? I saw the news.”
“What? How are you here? What news?”
“I planned to surprise you. On the trip here to see you, I heard on the radio you wer
e missing. Then the media said you had been kidnapped? The news showed no other headlines. They said someone was killed.”
“A trip to see me? How did you know where I lived? How did you find me?”
The words rushed like a raging waterfall as we pinged questions back and forth at each other.
“Piper,” another voice crashed into the moment.
I turned and exclaimed, “Griff! Griff, I’m sorry, this is my friend from school. Landon, this is Griff. He’s…” I trailed off in embarrassment, dreadfully aware our important discussion had been interrupted.
“I was just leaving,” Griff said. “And Landon, Piper really needs her rest as you can imagine. Do you need me to give you a ride to a hotel?”
I would have been offended at this alpha male gesture if I wasn’t tickled pink on the inside and trying not to laugh on the outside. Griff crossed his arms and spread his feet wide in front of my door; it was glaringly obvious he had no intentions of leaving me alone with another man at this time of night. I yawned. Plus, he was right. This day had been too much for me. Anything else could wait until tomorrow.
“Thank you but no, I have my car. You’re right. I just had to make sure Piper was okay though...” Landon turned back to me, “Piper, would you be alright with me coming to see you tomorrow, maybe taking you to lunch so we can catch up?”
“That would be wonderful,” I told him. “Swing by the Ooey-Gooey Goodness Bakery anytime. I’m always there.”
As Landon gave me another big hug, Griff glanced between us before dropping his eyes. “See you, Piper,” he said, a slight frown tugging at his mouth, looking tired again as he turned and trudged to his truck.
I watched them both pull away, my heart aching for the conversation I botched with Griff and filled at the same time with the joy of knowing my old friend Landon was safe.
“Goodnight,” I whispered to the quiet night.
Closing and locking my apartment door, I leaned back against it and sighed.
Apparently, tomorrow was going to be another long day.
~
Sleep did not come without a fight, still I did at last wrestle the pillows and my thoughts into submission. Somehow, the next morning, my eyes sprung open well before my alarm went off. I stared into the darkness toward the ceiling as I thought about the events of the last few days.
So much had happened. From winning the fundraiser contest to staying at the spa, the most luxurious place I had ever seen, to being stalked and sabotaged while there. Of course, it would be a very long time before being kidnapped by a lovesick lunatic ever left my mind. I shuddered, remembering Abigail’s body splayed out on the hospital floor. Such a tragic waste of a life, all because she determined to have her fantasy marriage and lifestyle come true by any means necessary.
Then there was Griff. And Landon.
Sigh.
I threw back the covers and headed to the kitchen. Going back to sleep with so many thoughts playing tag in my head was clearly not an option. So, I did what I always do. Lose myself in my baking.
Now, I might have awoken before the alarm but that didn’t mean I had a lot of time. I still needed to leave for work in about half an hour. That meant I cheated a little. Yes, I snagged the can of pre-made crescent dough from the fridge. Don’t judge me.
I slathered butter in the little triangles, rolled them up, and added more butter on top. After they had baked six or eight of the ten minutes, I would add a little more butter to help them brown. Who doesn’t love butter?
For the really good part though, I found the bag of butterscotch chips. My mouth watered with anticipation as I melted the butterscotch chips, brown sugar, and water together in the microwave. The delicious aroma assaulted my senses making me feel warm and cozy.
When the crescents were finished, I arranged them on a plate and poured the beautiful glaze over the tops. Crushing up a handful of walnuts, I sprinkled them over the glaze to add a little crunch.
Mmmm.
The warm glaze had me licking my lips and the crescents, now bursting with flavor, melted in my mouth. Glancing at the clock, I put a few crescents in a to-go container to take to Sam and hurried to my bedroom to get dressed.