Discussion about the need to raise awareness and work collectively on pragmatic solutions to address human trafficking in Ohio took center stage at this month’s forum of the First Friday Club of Cleveland.
A diverse audience ranging from police officers to social service providers and Cleveland diocesan staff listened intently to the presentation of Laura Bartchak, co-founder and executive director of the Harriet Tubman Movement, a faith-based advocacy group dedicated to helping people who have been victims of human trafficking navigate the road to freedom.
“We need the community to come together and address this issue, especially in Ohio, which according to some statistics has the fifth highest rate of trafficking in the nation,” remarked Laura. “If we don’t get a clear picture of what we’re looking at, we can’t come up with appropriate solutions.”
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, human trafficking is a crime that involves compelling or coercing a person to provide labor or services, or to engage in commercial sex acts. The two most recognized forms involve labor or sex, and coercion can be subtle, overt, physical or psychological.
In her presentation, Laura offered a simple way to understand human trafficking as a case in which one person exploits the vulnerability of another person for financial or material gain. She noted that sex trafficking is the most common form in Northeast Ohio and stressed the importance of understanding that, in most cases, prostitution is not a choice but, instead, involves some sort of force, fraud or coercion.
Contrary to scenarios depicted in Hollywood movies which involve kidnapping by strangers, most victims are in relationships with their traffickers who may even be family members.
Traffickers are shrewd and manipulative and set up situations so that “their victims become completely dependent on them,” explained Laura. She went on to detail how traffickers know how to groom victims and prey upon their weaknesses and vulnerabilities which often include mental health issues, prior childhood sexual abuse and addiction.
The Harriet Tubman Movement is dedicated to helping survivors navigate various barriers and red tape that may impede them from receiving long-term treatment for the trauma they’ve endured. Lauren likens her group’s work to the good deed in the Biblical parable of the Good Samaritan. When a victim is rescued, she and her volunteers act like the Good Samaritan to get their clients to the “inn keepers” who operate long-term restoration programs and provide other services. She stressed there is a critical need to establish more such programs in Ohio as well as support advocacy groups like hers.
“This is an important issue that we need to open our eyes to,” remarked Jonathan Wolnik, president of the First Friday Club of Cleveland. “We, as Catholics, are called to help when we can.”