TERRE HAUTE —
Drug trafficking in the Wabash Valley makes headlines all too frequently these days.
Human trafficking, not so much.
But the illegal practice of exploiting people for labor, sex and servitude does happen in America all the time, and it is conceivable that a small-scale operation could be active in cities the size of Terre Haute.
FBI agent Michael Prendergast talked about “Making the Case Against Trafficking” as one of the speakers at the Ninth Annual Human Rights Day at Indiana State University on Tuesday.
“One of the key reasons for trafficking is money, no matter what kind of trafficking,” Prendergast said.
Even in Indiana, Americans are used to seeing seasonal migrant workers come in to work at farms harvesting vegetables and fruits and doing labor that is too exhaustive, tedious or low-paying for U.S. citizens. But even though those migrant workers are sometimes found to live in horrendous conditions, Prendergast said, they are voluntary workers and many of them send a portion of their pay to their native countries to help other relatives.
There have been cases, however, where migrant workers are actually “slaves” who have paid their way to be illegally smuggled into the U.S. and now are working off their debt by earning wages for the human trafficker.
In another recent case, a sex ring was uncovered at a northern Indiana massage parlor operation that extended to several affluent cities. While each business seemed harmless in practice, and did offer massages, it also offered sex services for an extra fee.
The women involved, Prendergast said, turned out to be Koreans who spoke no English and had been taught to fear the American police, so it was not easy to get them to cooperate with the investigation. What tipped police off was the high volume of customers through the business, the large bank deposits made by the business managers and absence of employees leaving or returning to work daily. The women were held captive at the business.
While people in the Wabash Valley can look around and say that they don’t see those types of suspect businesses anywhere, there is still another source for human trafficking that most Americans have in their homes these days – the Internet.
The people photographed or videotaped in pornographic scenes are often victims of exploitation, particularly young women and especially children. While the pornography may originate in places far overseas, Prendergast said, cybercrime is just around the corner when people view and download the porn.
The FBI has shifted its influence to cyberspace in recent years, Prendergast said, because that is where a lot of the human trafficking is evident.
The women used as slaves come from a variety of countries, mostly in Southeast Asia, Africa, India and former Soviet-bloc countries. The industry has become so specialized that customers can pick the age, ethnicity, size and profiles of the sex slaves that they want to purchase, he said.
While the FBI has become more involved and effective in tracking and breaking up human trafficking rings that operate in the U.S. and elsewhere, Prendergast said there is no easy way to eradicate human trafficking overnight.
The ISU event included campus and community partners to talk about the issue of human rights.
Student-made posters highlighted facts such as:
• 2 million people are trafficked worldwide every year, according to the U.S. State Department.
• The average cost of a slave around the world is $90.
• Eighty percent of trafficking involves sexual exploitation, and 19 percent involves labor exploitation.
• Half of those exploited around the world are younger than 18.
• Each year, 1 million children are forced into the sex trade, and 244,000 American children are at risk of sexual exploitation.
Lisa Trigg can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or lisa.trigg@tribstar.com.
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Human Rights Day: FBI agent offers ways to stop human trafficking
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