After I filled the Bird Buddy AI bird feeder and birds were stopping by, these two hawks decided to hang out on our fence. All the other birds left immediately. (Photo has nothing to do with story except the hawks prey on weaker birds and animals than them.)
Yesterday, I attended a lunch with a women’s group I belong to. Our mission is to help victims of sex trafficking. We support the Phoenix Dream Center, a residential facility for victims that offers counseling, medical care, a safe place to live, ophthalmology, gardening, food, clothing and worship services if desired. They are changing their name to the Phoenix Dream Center Where Hope Lives. I’ve written about it HERE.
The guest speaker was from Arizona Anti-Trafficking Network, named Nate Boulter. He works with the Dream Center along with other organizations including government, police departments to train and save the victims of human trafficking.
One organization he belongs to is called CEASE Arizona. From the AATN website about CEASE:
OUR MISSION
The mission of CEASE Arizona is to train and educate employees of Arizona cities and counties, including first responders (law enforcement and fire/EMTs), to recognize, report, and respond to incidents of human trafficking in their communities thereby disrupting demand for commercial sexual exploitation. CEASE stands for Cities Empowered Against Sexual Exploitation.
https://aatn.org/cease-arizona/
Here’s a bio of our guest speaker from the AATN website:
NATE BOULTER
Program Director, Cities Engaged Against Sexual Exploitation (CEASE)
Nate joined the AATN team in July 2022. Nate retired after over 22 years as a law enforcement professional, having reached the rank of Sergeant with the Mesa Police Department. During his career, Nate has worked in plain clothes and undercover assignments and has been involved in all levels of investigations in Gangs, Street Crimes, Drug Interdiction, Special Investigations, and Human Trafficking. He was an AZPOST Instructor, having amassed several thousands of hours of specialized instruction, and is a qualified and certified subject expert in the Arizona Court System in Drug Trafficking, Prostitution and Sex Trafficking Investigations.
As the Mesa HEaT (Human Exploitation and Trafficking) Sergeant, Nate successfully planned, carried out, and assisted in numerous major operations in Mesa and across the Valley to combat sex trafficking. He created and hosted training for undercover decoys across several Valley law enforcement agencies, and established a partnership with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office to better prosecute sex trafficking cases. He has worked to influence the revision of state statutes and city codes to better respond to the very real victimization of people in The Life.
Nate received numerous awards, citations, and commendations during his tenure at Mesa PD for his work keeping the community safe and “smashing bad guys!”
https://aatn.org/board/
I was seated at his table for lunch and asked him about our border crossing in Lukeville that is closed to legal crossers like myself to get to Puerto Penasco, our beach getaway, but has an influx of single men from throughout the world coming through.
He explained that it’s a staffing issue. Without the budget dollars being passed in DC to address our border issue, they can’t hire enough people. They have no idea if a position would be funded full time or for one month, so they are having a tough time filling positions. He also explained that Mexico has a zero immigration policy. They are bussing the immigrants to the border crossing to get them out of their country and into ours.
His words to describe the situation at the border: “It’s radical.”
Later in his talk to our group, he explained there is a difference between sex trafficking and human smuggling. Human smuggling is happening at our border. It’s a crime against our border, but it’s willful by those being smuggled. Sex trafficking is completely different and it’s a crime against a human being. Some of the people crossing the border may find themselves human trafficked at a later date, but that is a separate issue and crime.
According to Boutler most of the people sex trafficked are young girls from age 14 to 27. They are US citizens. Many are groomed online by someone they fall in love with, although some may be trafficked by family members. Like any abusive relationship, the victim believes things will change and that the trafficker loves her.
Boulter said “Nobody who loves you will sell you.”
One shocking statistic is the quota. A victim of sex trafficking may have a quota of $1,000 a day. Taking out days for illness, etc. one girl may make her trafficker $300,000 a year. If he has three girls, he’s making close to a million dollars a year.
The relationship is one of control. The trafficker controls what she wears, where she lives, when she can eat and he may dole out drugs to her. Her ID and credit card are in his possession and she’s been cut off from support of family and friends. Her phone will have an app on it where the trafficker can track her, listen to her calls and read her texts.
Boulter talked about “Force, Fraud and Coercion” which is used by the sex trafficker on the victim. He gave us things to look out for in public — like a huge age difference in a couple. Also, if the girl has her head down and cannot look the trafficker in the eyes. He also said parents need to take phones out of their kids rooms at night. Phones are the way most teens meet their sex trafficker.
He gave us a local number to call if we see something suspicious and said the best number to call is 911.
As parents how many of us were or are aware of what our children are doing on their phones?
Do you know if your area has a problem with sex trafficking?
Yet another reason to be grateful for the lives we have!
