Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to another episode of Your Briefing. I'm your host, Sergeant Shea Haney, Public Information Officer for the Adams County Sheriff's Office. Like last episode, we're doing things a little bit differently this episode. Recently, I sat down with Karen Napolitano from the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking, and we had a wide-ranging conversation about all things human trafficking. So to stay tuned for that.
Speaker: Join us next week, and we'll be back with you guys. All right, stay safe. I'm here with Karen and Napolitano from the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking. Thanks for joining us today. Yeah, my pleasure. Thanks for having me.
Speaker: Hey, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your guys' as organization? Sure. um So I'm the Education and Partnerships Director at I'm going to call it LCHT because that's a lot easier to say. LCHT has been around for 21 years um'm operating as a nonprofit. We're based out of Denver, but we operate statewide.
Speaker: and And that means that we've been in the community doing anti-trafficking efforts locally for quite a long time. um We manage the statewide human trafficking hotline, which I'll probably talk about a little bit later.
Speaker: And then we do a lot of training and education, which is my role. So we train um community members, and sometimes at churches or rotary clubs or that kind of thing. We also train the professionals that are likely to see trafficking in their work. So that's law enforcement, victim advocates, those were victim service providers, housing and homeless response organizations or shelters, um domestic violence organizations or shelters, and then also hospitals, healthcare care workers, those working in child welfare and those working with systems involved youth, as well as teachers. and teachers and young people. So if anyone who hears this is interested in a training, our trainings are free um and can be offered in person or virtually. And then we also have a leadership development program and we facilitate research.
Speaker: and There's ah a dearth, a lack of research out there on this issue and specifically a lack of research on this issue in Colorado. So we we add to that information base.
Speaker: All right. That's awesome. And so we're talking about human trafficking. So for those listening that may not be familiar with it, can you describe kind of what what is human trafficking? Yeah, absolutely. um So human trafficking is is both labor and sex trafficking.
Speaker: All we really hear about in the media is sex trafficking. So I'm going to talk just as much about labor trafficking today as I do about sex trafficking, because actually it's much more common. um So the the legal definition of trafficking is that is is it is a severe form of exploitation for labor or sex using force or fraud or coercion. So in more more gentle terms, ah human trafficking is ah is a person or group of people forcing another person or group of people to work in various forms of sex work or labor, like prostitution or pornography or webcamming, but also forced criminality, agriculture, ranching, hospitality, ah domestic servitude, construction against their will, right? They're using physical violence force, fraudulent promises, or coercive tactics to do so.
Speaker: Okay. All right. what are some of the biggest misconceptions that you have from maybe the public side or those folks that you teach as far as like what human trafficking is?
Speaker: There's a lot of those because the media really contributes to that, right? I mean, the media only talks about sex trafficking and also only talks about the sex trafficking usually of young females. And the perpetrator is always portrayed as a man.
Speaker: um And all of that is untrue. And in that in that as far as as far as what only happens. Right. So we we always hear about kidnapping. We hear about this kind of like stranger danger narrative. Watch out. the target The the traffickers are at the Target parking lot. They're coming to get you. And that really is fear mongering and incorrect.
Speaker: so um So we really push back on on the fact that it is labor trafficking and sex trafficking and that labor trafficking is much more prevalent. That sex trafficking does not only happen to little girls, but also boys and men and ah trans or non-binary folks. um And that trafficking doesn't just happen to kids. 75% of cases are actually adults, where the victim is an adult. And then lastly, that the perpetrator is not always a man, that 30% of the time the perpetrator is female. um The last part of the the like ah the common narrative that we hear is that kidnapping piece. And actually only 1% of trafficking cases start with kidnapping.
Speaker: That means that 99% of the time that trafficking is perpetrated by someone that the victim knows. And usually it's someone that the victim knows, loves and lives with like a parent or guardian or other family member or an intimate partner, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife. That's 70% of the time that it's either a family member or an intimate partner. And then the other 24 to 29% of the time, it's someone else in a position of power, like a teacher or a coach or religious authority.
Speaker: And that adds up to 99%. So most law enforcement and victim service providers will tell you that that they've never met someone who was kidnapped into their trafficking experience. It's almost exclusively people who are trafficked by someone that they know. It may be someone that they met online. So maybe not someone that they know very well, but it's still not that kidnapping narrative that we're likely to hear about.
Speaker: Okay. And you kind of touched on it, but I threw your answer on that last one. But what does a victim of human trafficking look like? You you gave us a wide range. And is that is that just it? I mean, it could be anybody?
Speaker: I mean, to an extent, it could be anyone, anyone, but um so any gender, right, any ethnicity, and and any demographic background, really. But that said, what traffickers are looking for is vulnerability.
Speaker: So it's disproportionately people of color, it's disproportionately people from marginalized groups. So someone experiencing homelessness might be vulnerable to trafficking because a traffic can trafficker can leverage housing to force someone to engage in ah labor or sex. Right. So what traffickers are looking for is a vulnerability that they can exploit.
Speaker: And ah that could be housing insecurity, poverty, ah somebody who is lacking love or family connection, ah somebody who is part of a marginalized group and is is facing discrimination. They can sort of step in and say, I can offer you those things. Now come with me. Right. and And that's usually there's some level of grooming there. And then the person will say, you know, now that you've been staying with me for weeks, I need you to do this to pay me back. Right. And that's when the relationship shifts and it becomes exploitation. So it's vulnerable people, but they could look like just about anyone.
Speaker: Okay. All right. And then what do you guys do at the laboratory for to come combat human trafficking? What is LCHT? What do you guys do for um like victims of trafficking or kind of explain a little bit more about your guys' mission and what you guys do?
Speaker: Sure. Yeah. our Our mission is to inform social change that eliminates exploitation. So we are more of an umbrella organization. Our direct contact with survivors and with people who might see something on the street or service providers or even law enforcement is through our hotline. So we're a twenty four seven human trafficking hotline. That hotline has actually been around since 2007.
Speaker: Back in 2007, we received about 50 calls a year, and now we receive over 1,200 calls per year, and that's just in the state of Colorado. So we're responding to those calls by either reporting to law enforcement, if that's what the caller wants, or if they are too scared to report to law enforcement at that time and they're just seeking services, then we provide them with services we've got connections to.
Speaker: Currently 281 resources around the state of Colorado that can support survivors and that's in every county all across the state. So that's our most direct contact with survivors. And then the other work that we do is more behind the scenes, like I said, sort of training and education, ah research and leadership development. Okay.
Speaker: All right. and And how do you work specifically with law enforcement outside of the is it is it mainly just the training aspect then and training officers on what to look for look out for? Well, that is a major piece of it. But then the second piece is we're building up our resource directory. So for example, in Adams County, we've got, ah you've got a human trafficking team, and we are connected to that team so that when we receive tips from Adams County to the human trafficking hotline, we report those if the person is interested directly to those individuals who are, you know, specifically trained to respond to human trafficking cases. Because unfortunately, um not all law enforcement officers are required to be trained on human trafficking, not even a 101.
Speaker: And so ah it makes a lot of sense to report tips to the trained folks. So we've got relationships with people in every municipality across Colorado, on police departments, sheriff's agencies, sheriff's departments, and then also the FBI, CBI, State Patrol, all of those statewide and federal agencies about human trafficking units here in Colorado as well.
Speaker: Right. All right. um What are some difficulties that traffickers may face in leaving those you know situations that they may be in? Trafficking victims. yeah So, yeah, yeah, no, just want to make sure that that's clear. um So, i mean, so many and it's different for every situation, but I'll kind of hark back to what I was saying before around vulnerability. So people are vulnerable to trafficking because they have unmet needs.
Speaker: be them housing or love, familial support or other resources related to income. And so traffickers meet those needs, right? They meet those needs. So they are providing the shelter. Maybe they're providing the love. It's probably abusive and trauma-bonded love, but it's still... a familial bond in many cases or a loving bond in some cases.
Speaker: um And so the victims don't leave because they feel like they have nowhere else to go or you know their ah their option of leaving is to be homeless on the street again, right? or ah whatever whatever dangerous or unfulfilled situation they were in before. so they're facing you know bad choices on either end. right um And at least in this case, they're with their trafficker, they have a house over their head right or something like that. So um you know people don't stay because they enjoy the abuse. They stay because they feel like they have no other alternatives.
Speaker: Yeah, no, that's understandable. um Now, um I know we're talking with our human trafficking guys, digital exploitation, online exploitation is really big and kind of the human trafficking role.
Speaker: So can you tell me a little bit about like what what does online exploitation look like? well That is a tough question because it is ever evolving. you know i mean Every day there's something new, but I will say sort of generally speaking, um traffickers are are recruiting people in two ways online. One is through false job opportunities. so For example, I live up in Summit County, Colorado, and ah we have a ah huge construction industry there.
Speaker: And people might answer an ad that they see on WhatsApp or Facebook for a great job up in Summit County. They might spend their life savings ah getting there to work this job. And then when they get there, the housing they were promised turns out to be sleeping in an unfinished construction site. They're not getting paid at all what they were promised, if anything. They're saddled with a debt that they didn't agree to. Their passports and telephones are confiscated, right? So this kind of fraudulent job opportunity.
Speaker: The other way that that traffickers are exploiting people online is by targeting young people or other types of vulnerable people online. So it may be someone with a cognitive disability. um It's not only young people. But what they're doing is going onto social media and onto video games. And that is certainly a newer trend where they're going onto to these video games. And these are video games that people are playing with you know strangers online, they're meeting people through these chats and conversations that they're having with them online.
Speaker: The perpetrators are pretending to be someone that they're not. So they're pretending to be the gender the person is attracted to or closer in age to the person that they're talking to. um and they're trying to extract information out of them. So maybe it's where they live or their phone number, what their parents do, where they go to school, etc. information that they can then use against them later.
Speaker: um Often those conversations are taken offline onto the cell phone and then the person might begin maybe get a more intimate relationship. Perhaps they start sending each other nudes. ah That trafficker might then collect those nudes and eventually at some point say, hey, I need you to do this and if you don't, I'm going to share all of these pictures of you with every single person in your school and your parents and your preacher. and your grandparents, right? Like something we're talking about kids that are as young as 9, 10, 11, 12 years old, their brains aren't cognitively developed yet. And they are they are terrified. They think they've done something wrong. um And it's easier to manipulate them. And so traffickers are
Speaker: ah ah Coercing them to create pornographic content in some cases or in some cases to steal their parents credit card or even meet them in person somewhere So all of these things may lead to trafficking. It may not always be trafficking right away, but it could lead to trafficking Okay, and what are some of those games? I mean you said video games. Are there any ones that stick out? um You know for any parents that might be listening at Yeah, I mean, it's really anything where you're talking to strangers online. But like Roblox is the one I keep hearing about. um And i I'm sure it's not the only one, right? But Fortnite, Roblox, these are the two that hear the most about. And um in those games, like you need...
Speaker: money to pay for I don't know a lot about video games about being honest, but you need you need money to pay for things inside the game. And traffickers are offering that those funds to people in order to get information from them. So they're, they're coercing them using this incentive, like Robux in the game Roblox.
Speaker: Okay. um All right. So let's switch over to some, what are some trends that you guys have seen from your area in like Colorado right now, right? Like we started our email trafficking in January, um our email trafficking unit in January. What are you guys seeing as far as trends go statewide statewide?
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, one of the trends and one of the things that people don't think about much is forced criminality. um So people are who are forced to commit crimes for somebody else's financial benefit using coercion.
Speaker: So say you've got like a eight year old kid who lives with his grandma dad ah comes back into his life and his dad is getting involved and dad starts grooming his son at that age um telling him that if he ever talks about the things that he sees ah his dad will go back to jail and something terrible will happen to his grandmother um in the meantime he's teaching him how to steal cars and by the time he's 12 he's stolen lots of cars but none of those cars that he stole, you know, worse when when he sold them, you know, did the money go into him his bank account, right? Like, there's no college fund for this kid.
Speaker: All this money is going to the gang, right? So um he's being coerced through threats of his dad going back to jail and violence against his grandmother, and he's doing this crime for someone else's financial benefit. So that's an example of forced criminality.
Speaker: And we see this kind of thing popping up all over the place because people are forced to engage in these crimes, and they don't understand that that that is trafficking. And so they're often arrested and and incarcerated for those crimes without ever disclosing the the coercion or being identified as victims by law enforcement.
Speaker: um That's one big trend. I mean, the other piece is is vulnerable immigrants, and because we had such an uptick of of people coming into Colorado in 2023 2024, and coupled with the federal crackdown, um ICE crackdown.
Speaker: immigrant immigrants are terrified um and they are unlikely to come forward to disclose exploitation that's happening. And that means that perpetrators know that and are purposefully exploiting immigrants because they feel that they can operate with impunity.
Speaker: All right. well what can What can the average person do to help kind of come combat this? Is it more of the awareness being aware of it? Or is there anything that any tangible things that these, the average person can do?
Speaker: I think so. um i mean, awareness is is great, right? We want to be aware and we want to be aware in a factual way. So I would say pretty please disregard the stuff you see on social media about human trafficking unless it comes from a credible source, right? If it's some random person, well-meaning though they may be, they're probably making something up.
Speaker: or reiterating something that was previously made up. So I would i would only get your sources of information from the experts. um And that's one piece. And then you can push back against those harmful, often incorrect narratives online as well, if you're brave, and you want to push back on those narratives. um I think it's important that factual information persists. So talk to your family, talk to your kids about how to stay safe online, talk to other people in your lives about this reality and that it is happening in our Colorado communities, both urban and rural. um
Speaker: And then another thing that you can do is call the hotline. So the human trafficking hotline is for survivors, but it is also for are people who see something strange in their neighborhood or have a family member or or a loved one who is experiencing exploitation. That phone number is eight six six four five five five zero seven five call the hotline, report something or get resources for a survivor. um And, you know, it can be punished for being wrong. So even if you suspect that something is amiss, you can call.
Speaker: um The last thing you can do is either volunteer with or donate to a nonprofit that does anti-trafficking work. um You might not have time to donate your time, but there's always um volunteer opportunities. And if you don't have the time, we'll always take your money so that we can can keep doing the good work that we do.
Speaker: There's a few different ways that we can do that. All right. Well, we're getting close to wrapping up. Is there anything that we haven't talked about that maybe you think is important for for folks to know?
Speaker: I mean, I guess what I would say is that um we tend to think of trafficking as this far away problem. And the reality is that it's here in our Colorado communities. We've had thousands of cases of trafficking in the state of Colorado, and exactly zero of them have ever involved anybody famous.
Speaker: So if you think of human trafficking and the first thing that pops into your mind is Jeffrey Epstein, while that is horrific and true, that is not what trafficking looks like on the day to day in our Colorado communities. So educate yourself on what trafficking really looks like here in Colorado. And it's a really good start.
Speaker: Well, we always do a tip of the week. And so ah we'll just finish up with, do you have any tips or one, one night you know, if if people can take away one thing from today's conversation, what would it be? One last tip is that I'm going to go again with the Colorado human trafficking hotline. and So if you see something, say something. You do not have to report directly to law enforcement. If that is a ah consideration, if you are afraid or the person is afraid, you can call and get resources or you can call and report a tip. So again, that number 866-455-5075. All right. And can they find you guys' website? What's your guys' website?
Speaker: all right and and can they find you guys as's website what' your is is website Yes, it's combat humantrafficking.org. All right. And I know you guys are on social media, right? Facebook and Instagram.
Speaker: All of it. All of it. All right. All right, Carol. Well, we appreciate you sitting down and talking with us. And we'll we'll link to all of this stuff in our caption and our show notes. So thanks again. Amazing. Thanks so much for having me.
