Once October 25 an outstanding panel of experts on Human Trafficking shared information with the public. This was part of the speaker series provided by Citizen Diplomacy Alliance to provide valuable information to the public and the Alliance members.
The panel consisted, from left to right: Consul Pineda from the Mexican Consulate, Jerry Payton and his daughter, Lisa Hansen, from Sold No More, Mark Tetzlaff from Homeland Security, Chief Byron Gwaltnery from the Pima County Sheriff’s office, Sgt. Frie from the Tucson Police Department and Jacob Stukenberg from Customs and Border Patrol.
It is assumed that the only human trafficking involves sex trafficking when if fact it can be employment trafficking (where illegals are put to work at below minimum wages and worked very hard with no opportunity to better their situation). It can also be sex trafficking of family members, friends, internet porn, and prostitution. The number of foreign people being trafficking is actually not as large as assumed, about 20,000 a year are entered from other counties. That means that the largest number of trafficking victims are from the US. Â
Trafficking has now become a larger income generator for the illegal trade than drugs. Drugs are taken once and are gone, a trafficked victim can be trafficked between 15 and 30 times a day!! Think about that! The continue abuse for both girls and boys being trafficked is unimaginable to most people and yet these people are forced to endure this every day.
So what can you do? Keep your eyes open, if you see something that looks wrong, it probably is!! Call the police, report what you saw and where. Keep watch on your children’s computer use, who are they emailing? What are they emailing? What is being said to them? Intervene, be a parent!
The authorities are there to help, Sold No More is there to help. Call them. Â