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Catholic Conversations #198: Hidden in Plain Sight: Allies Against Trafficking on Catholic Conversations · Catholic Spirit Radio

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Catholic Conversations on Catholic Spirit Radio.
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Welcome to Catholic Conversations. I'm your host, David Liptak.
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A pleasure being with you today. So glad that you're with us.
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We've got a wonderful program coming up.
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And as always, I'd like to go ahead and start off our program with a prayer,
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the Memorare, if you would.
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And together, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
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Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known,
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that anyone who fled to Thy protection,
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implored Thy help, or sought Thy intercession, was left unaided.
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Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin, the Virgin, my mother.
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To thee do I come. Before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful.
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O Mother of the Word incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy.
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Hear and answer me. Amen. In the name of the Father, and the Son,
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and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Thank you very much. Well, today we're very privileged to go ahead and have
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in-studio guests with us today.
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And I've got, I'll get to the introductions here shortly.
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I'll let them do them themselves. But I've got Wendy, Kelly,
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and I've got Nancy, and they're all here to go ahead and give us the lowdown
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and the insights when it comes to allies against trafficking.
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It's a nonprofit here in the state of Illinois. And-
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exactly what it says. They're working against and trying to minimize,
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eliminate as best they can, any type of trafficking circumstances that are proliferating
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within our communities.
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And much of it from the conversation we've had kind of goes unseen,
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unnoticed, and that's why they're here to go ahead and bring that attention
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to that particular circumstance as far as the trafficking.
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So welcome, ladies. Thank you so much for coming in today.
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I appreciate your understanding and your patience, getting things going.
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So let's do this. Let's go through just a simple introduction.
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Wendy, if you want to start with you, we'll go to Kelly, and then we'll finish
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up here with Nancy. If you can kind of just get a little bit of background,
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who you are with the organization, that sort of thing, and we'll go from there.
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So if you'd be kind enough, Wendy. All right. Thank you.
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My name is Wendy Klinkner. I am a co-founder of Allies Against Trafficking with
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Nancy and Kelly here, and I'm the advisory committee member.
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Okay. Thank you. How about you, Kelly? My name is Kelly Schwabberger,
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and I am the Chief Program and Strategy Officer, as well as one of the co-founders.
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Wow, all these high titles. Holy cow. So, Nancy, that leaves you.
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That leaves me. Thank you so much.
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I'm Nancy Bolliger. I am the Executive Director of Allies Against Trafficking
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and also one of the co-founders. Outstanding.
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So you've got three of your ladies here that have some very significant titles
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here, for sure, as far as your uniqueness with respects to the organization.
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Just how large is the Allies Against Trafficking?
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The three of you here, do you have a large footprint? A lot of people,
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a lot of organizations out there, a lot of people that work with you, volunteer for you.
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What's kind of the background? Well, David, we just incorporated last summer.
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So right now, it's just the three of us working together, but we are collaborating
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with business partners, law enforcement, healthcare providers, things of that nature.
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So right now, it's just the three of us.
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What a passion. So that begets the question.
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So how did the three of you get together to collaborate and come up with this
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wonderful opportunity here?
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I'm happy to tell you how we got started. We all worked together,
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and we had the privilege of working with survivors of human trafficking.
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And they trusted us with their stories.
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And once we heard their stories, we realized and felt called to do more.
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We were very horrified with the lives they have gone through,
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but also we were very grateful to hear the resilience and the passion and how
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they worked very hard to get help.
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And we understood after working with them that this is a very unseen and hidden crime.
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It's not something that's out in public. These folks that are trafficked don't
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come forward and tell people that they're being trafficked.
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There's a lot of shame. But we realized then this hidden scale of trafficking
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and how we could involve the community and really take a look at what we can
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do to help get ahead of it and prevent it.
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So we took a year and we talked to law enforcement. We talked to health care providers.
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We talked to all of these folks in the community and said, you all see trafficking in one form or another.
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What do you need from us? and basically they told us in their respective organizations
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what they see and how they treat or handle, but nobody really had an understanding
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of trafficking as a whole.
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Nobody was overseeing trafficking as a whole and they said they really needed that.
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So based on our learnings from them and based on our learnings about human trafficking
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that we had done, we got together and we formed a non-profit.
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We put together our mission and vision, and here we are today.
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Wow. What an endeavor. God bless you. So.
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To, excuse me, to have been engaged or exposed to this, each one of you probably
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has some type of a aha moment or something that said, boy, I want to be part
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of this, or I came across this.
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It's not like you're working at, pick a business or organization or company
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here in town, and you're in your office or wherever you may be working in your
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cube, and you go, hmm, I think today I'm going to go ahead and get involved with non-trafficking.
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So give me a little background on how you got together and collaborated.
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What were you doing beforehand before you got immersed in this?
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Well, I moved to Normal Bloomington about eight years ago.
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And in the process of looking for, I didn't want to go out to pasture.
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I wanted to find an opportunity to keep growing and serving.
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And I sort of bumped into the recovery home.
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And I'm a former, well, licensed clinical social worker. And so I wanted to
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work with the women in the recovery home.
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And I just felt like these women have been through so much.
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And I was just really moved by their strength, by their courage,
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and their willingness to just do whatever it takes to heal and to reclaim their lives.
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And so when the recovery home moved to another state, we wanted to do something
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here and keep doing that. And I felt like one of the biggest things was...
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People need to be educated about human trafficking, what it is,
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how it happens, so that they can protect themselves and protect others.
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Outstanding. That was Wendy, by the way.
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Kelly, what's your background to go ahead and have brought you into this wonderful group here?
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Well, I was a stay-at-home for a long time and did a lot of volunteering,
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whether it was in the schools or church. And then as my kids got older,
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I ended up serving full-time with an organization that was serving the foster care community.
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And through that process, really got to understand that vulnerability and the
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circumstances that families find themselves in when they are,
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you know, struggling very often.
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And so I became passionate about helping people that just needed a little bit
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of help to get over the hump, the situation that they were in.
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Once that COVID happened, I stepped away from that organization.
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When COVID was over, I decided to become a CASA, which I still currently do.
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Again, trying to help those vulnerable populations. And then I became aware
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of an opportunity to serve at the restorative home.
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And like both Nancy and Wendy have talked about, once you hear those stories,
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once you find out how how this happens.
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The biases that we have about human trafficking and what you think it is because
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of what's portrayed in the media, that isn't typically what happens.
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And so we really wanted to go, wait, this happens all over to everyone that
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just really has a need. And so we started serving here.
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Fantastic. I want to come back to that after we hear from Nancy here.
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I would imagine that's going to be one of your topics you're going to be talking
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about is the idiosyncrasies that are inherent to this, and most of us have a
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certain perspective, and that's not necessarily the case.
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Nancy, what's your story? My story is I took an early retirement from State
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Farm and didn't know exactly what I was going to do.
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I attended a lunch at my church and met a trauma counselor, and she started
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telling me what she did for a living, and she was working with.
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Women who had been human trafficked. And I was very upset.
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I didn't realize it was happening here. In my mind, it was big cities,
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Chicago, New York, things of that nature, overseas, but not here.
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And she really talked to me about that. And I went away feeling just wrecked. It hurt.
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And I was so moved. And I probably met with her three more times.
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And I thought after this, She said, why don't you go talk to the director at this restorative home?
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So I talked to the director, started going out and volunteering and speaking
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about this, and then COVID hit.
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And once COVID hit, oh, I had just been so excited to do this and really start
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educating people about trafficking in our area.
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And then we were prohibited. We couldn't go out. So I did work with one of the
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women who was at the restorative home, helping her work on a resume to get a job.
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And once I met her, my life changed completely. And that was the pivotal moment.
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I thought, I have to do whatever I can for the rest of my life to help people
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who are in this horrific situation.
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And that was it. Wow. God bless you. And then I met Kelly and Wendy.
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The restorative home was the connection between the three? Yes. There we go. Okay.
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Now, I was wondering, you weren't just strolling down Main Street here in Bloomington
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and you came across one another.
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So the restorative home, little background, but with respect to this restorative home.
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So we got some synergies there because that seems to be the catalyst that brought
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you together to go ahead and really develop your passion against this trafficking.
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So what is the restorative home?
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It was a home that's,
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Women that were sex trafficked, that were adults, could come here and stay for
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two years and receive the services that they needed to, you know,
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get over the vulnerabilities that they had that got them into the situation.
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They could receive trauma therapy and all of that.
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And the thing about the home, and it's really important to have these,
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but survivors very often need to get out of their community and move somewhere
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else so they can get away from their traffickers.
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And that's what we saw. These people that we were serving had come from other areas.
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And so we realized that Bloomington Normal, although they were supporting the
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home that was here, that they have closed down and moved to another state.
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Even though that was happening...
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And it's a great survivor's need, those kinds of resources.
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We weren't doing anything in the community to really prevent trafficking from
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happening, trafficking from happening.
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We weren't doing anything to help bring that knowledge to more people.
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And so that's really what was the foundational light bulb for us that said we
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need to go into McClain County and we need to make a difference here.
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Most definitely, because the home was the after effect, that you were dealing
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with the results, but not trying to go ahead and be preventative on the front end. Right.
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And certainly, if you want to go ahead, you can treat the issue,
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but you're not treating the symptom, or the cause, you're treating the symptom.
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I can understand that. And David, another thing that we thought of was.
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That was— Nancy, go ahead. Just one small part of the population here in McLean
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County that was involved.
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And we really understood as we learned more about this, that we need everyone's eyes on it.
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It's more than just a handful of people, but we need everyone.
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So we worked to really figure out a way how we can bring the community together.
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So that's government officials, city officials, law enforcement,
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healthcare providers, schools, churches, professionals, everyone.
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And if we can educate them and let them know what this is, that it is happening
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here in many different forms—
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How to get ahead of it, we can help prevent it. So that's really another impetus with that.
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So the Allies Against Trafficking is now formed, okay?
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And you just mentioned you're trying to go ahead and reach out to all these
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other entities so you can educate those particular groups to try to get ahead of this.
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So how long have you been, how long have you had that plan together, number one?
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And how is it going as far as reaching out to two and trying to get these other
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organizations engaged, and what would those organizations be?
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I'm thinking teachers in school have to be a, they have to have their eyes on
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our head on a swivel for all the things that are going on in school.
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But if you'd be kind enough, Kelly?
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Yes. We really have three areas that we want to focus on, and that is prevention,
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collaboration, and then connecting people.
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And with the prevention, you know, we started that really first.
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That's the way that we can put together our trainings.
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We started doing trainings the beginning of last year, even before we were an official nonprofit.
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We had set a goal that we would meet and train 250 people within the first during 2025.
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Oh, that's ambitious. Yeah. Well, we succeeded and we exceeded that.
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We ended up training 266 people.
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So not by a lot, but that was pretty good for just the first year and getting
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started. And it's the three of you.
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It's the three of us. It is the three of us. That's pretty good.
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Yeah. And really, part of that in the beginning, we wanted to make sure that
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we were setting up a nonprofit doing what we could do successfully.
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So the need is so great. And in so many areas, they need support and they need
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all kinds of areas that you could pick a lane and help for human trafficking.
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But because it was small and we're starting where we can do that,
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and then we have a plan as we grow.
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So we have done that. We have praying, we have.
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Training that we have done with multiple different people for National Human
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Trafficking Month in January.
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We collaborated with SIU School of Medicine and ROSC, Recovery Oriented Systems
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of Care, which is a part of Chestnut here in town.
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And we provided a training for.
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Children that are at risk for familial or family trafficking that are exposed
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to drugs and within their family systems or in some way or form. So we provided that.
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We had approximately 60 people that attended.
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And we were able then to bring in people from the community that were working
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in nonprofits. We had state police there.
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We had some people that had come from other communities.
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We had educators. So it was great, really, our first really big education that we did.
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We'd done some smaller ones to start the year off and get that information out there.
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One of the things that was wonderful from that training is we had someone come
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up to us later that is a counselor serving in a nonprofit here in town.
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And she recognized a story that we had provided an example. She recognized those
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same situations as someone she was working with.
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And she let us know that she talked with this person and the person then recognized
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that they were being trafficked and left their trafficker.
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So that is a perfect example of what we want to do with education.
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We want to bring not only education to people so they understand how to protect
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themselves from unsafe people and unsafe situations,
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but Bloomington Normal has amazing nonprofits, organizations that are supporting
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vulnerable populations.
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And they have a lot of work to do within their own siloed areas.
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So they support, you know, domestic violence. Right.
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Foster care, unhoused children, all of these areas, they're doing a good job.
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So we want to walk alongside them. That's the collaborative part.
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We want to educate them so they better understand what trafficking is,
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just like this counselor told us.
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She better understood what was happening so we can identify people better.
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We can then get them to the services that they need. we know that research right
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now says that approximately less than one half of a percent of victims are actually identified.
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And of those people that are identified, if they don't receive support services
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for the vulnerabilities or their trauma, 80% will be re-victimized.
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Right, right. Well, we're going to come back in just a second here to go and
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explore that, because we're going to, we're right up against the break.
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You're listening to Catholic Conversations. I'm here with Dave Liptak,
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and we're here with Wendy, Kelly, and Nancy with Allies Against Trafficking,
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a wonderful nonprofit, getting themselves off the ground here.
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And we'll go ahead and pursue their networking right after this.
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Welcome back to Catholic Conversations. I'm your fortunate host today,
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David Liptak, and we've got three lovely ladies here who are doing their best
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to go and bring the awareness of human trafficking out to our community here.
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And I would venture to say that most of us are clueless when it comes to just
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how much of this is going on right underneath our noses.
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Now, we were talking to Kelly before we went to break, and Kelly was talking
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about some type of percentages.
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Can you follow up on that with you, Kelly, if you'd be kind enough? Yes.
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It's estimated that only or that less than one half of a percent of people that
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are victims are actually identified.
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And because of that, we really can't trust a lot of the percentages or the statistics,
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but they do point us in a direction of understanding, especially when we see
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trafficking growing in different areas or the numbers going up.
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We know that that's just a small difference.
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Sampling of what's actually happening. So why is it so difficult to try to go
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and kind of corral this epidemic that's going on here?
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So with organizations that are working with those vulnerable populations,
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they're really doing the best they can within their specific population that
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they're working with. Again, pointing fingers.
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Sometimes people like for DCFS and organizations like that think that they're
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not doing enough. And those systems are stressed.
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Oh my, yes. But it really is an area that they're trying to work on getting
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systems in place, communications in place, knowledge in place.
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I've had the honor of working with quite a few caseworkers within DCFS and other
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organizations that work with families that are struggling or that children have
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been taken away and they're really doing their best.
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But what across the board we need to make sure is people can recognize those
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symptoms that they see, those red flags of situations.
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And when you do that, then you can hopefully identify it and we can have these
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people that have been victimized identified and then they can get the help that they need.
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Well, just two things. And I was just made aware of a little while ago that
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we actually have a unit that's been set up in the state now.
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I guess it's in Decatur, specifically the task force for this.
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I'll let you address that in a bit. But I do want to touch base on it because
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I think it's very important.
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What are the red flags that myself or anybody should be aware of?
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I mean, that's got to be very important.
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That would be Wendy? Yeah. Yeah, please. Well, we have to remember that trafficking
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is all about control. And so some of the warning signs might be if somebody's
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movement, conversation.
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Their relationships are being controlled, then you see that there's some warning signs.
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So say if somebody has no control over their money or they don't have access
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to their passport or their ID,
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maybe you might note some signs of abuse, physical abuse, or they are in an
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unsafe living situation or abusive work setting,
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abnormal hours of working.
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The thing that we have to remember is that the list of red flags is not the
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whole story, because it's just the surface.
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You have to understand the abuse or the signs that you see in the context of
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that person's situation.
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We can't just jump to the conclusion that because you see somebody who's disheveled
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or has tattoos, that they're being trafficked.
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So that's the outward appearance. Yes. Okay.
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But there's also a subversion, almost psychological control of this as well,
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correct? Right. And that's called grooming.
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Okay. And so grooming is a process where the trafficker, it gains the trust
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of the victim before the exploitation begins.
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So they can come across, traffickers usually target people who are vulnerable.
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So for instance. Yes. Go ahead. Vulnerability.
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It could be anything like for survival needs, like money, food,
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shelter, clothing, or it can be emotional needs, the need for friendship,
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attention, love, maybe just somebody to understand and listen to.
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And so the trafficker gains the trust of the individual.
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And he may do this by noticing what they need and then starting to try and meet those needs. Okay.
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And in doing so, he creates an emotional dependence on the person and has their full trust.
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And once they're in that position, he may begin to isolate that person.
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And then when I say trafficker, I mean he or she. Okay. Just to clarify that.
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But this could be a family member too. Absolutely.
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Okay. So anyway, they will try to isolate the person and sort of keep them from
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having the support systems and the friends that they have.
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And once they're in that position where they're isolated and emotionally dependent,
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then it shifts and the manipulation begins.
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And it's usually a dance of abuse and kindness over and over again with threats and control.
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And so it leaves the person confused and in a position where,
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because their survival needs are being controlled and their emotional needs
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are being controlled, they begin to do what it is that they wouldn't normally have done.
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Right. Well, you bring up a good point because I think a majority of us will
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go ahead and say, well, it's got to be those folks that are down and out.
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Oh, gosh, now they're homeless or they don't have the wherewithal.
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And now they're very, very vulnerable in that capacity. But that's not always the case.
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From what I understand, there's opportunities out there that people are being
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taken advantage of from well-to-do families, be it even in some cases adults,
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not necessarily just young adults, adolescents, or children.
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And that to me is amazing because it comes down to, as you mentioned,
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the psychological grooming behind this. So, this is a very sophisticated organization
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when it comes to this trafficking.
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So, it's got its tentacles just about anywhere and everywhere,
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doesn't it? Exactly. Mm-hmm. So…,
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Go ahead, Kelly. And I think, too, we have to realize that when we have that
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bias, when we think that traffickers or victims are going to fit into a neat box that we can say,
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check here, this is what they look like, this is what someone acts like,
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this is what's going on with them,
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we're going to miss it really what it's happening and how we can help.
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And so, really, it's going to be almost impossible for someone to see that someone's
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being trafficked if they're a stranger.
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Instead, it's better for you to think about people that you are around,
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situations that you're around.
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And that can mean, you know, you go to the coffee shop every morning and you
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get to know people and you get to know situations.
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An example of this is if your teen daughter has a friend or teen son has a friend
27:04
that doesn't have their phone because they got in trouble from their parents.
27:07
They don't have their phone for two weeks.
27:10
That's not a situation. You know the context. You don't need to be concerned.
27:14
But if that same person gets a new romantic relationship and they are not allowed
27:20
to use their phone or they have to make sure that someone is looking on it at
27:23
all times and they have to make sure that someone is tracking their location,
27:28
that situation is concerning.
27:30
And so that's an example of you can't just say, you know, someone doesn't have
27:35
a phone or their phone is being controlled of what is actually unsafe and what isn't unsafe. Gotcha.
27:41
So in this case, there could be an opportunity where a parent could be oblivious
27:45
to something going on with their high school child or something.
27:49
Would that be accurate? That could be very accurate.
27:53
And as parents, you know, I think we're always looking for situations or people
27:59
that seem a danger for our children.
28:02
One of the reasons why trafficking is getting to...
28:07
More of us all the time is because of our phones. And so really,
28:13
online trafficking is exploding.
28:15
And one of the things in the past is you worried about the people on your street
28:20
or that unknown person that was going to come by and take you somewhere else.
28:25
But right now, we have little computers in our hands that connect us to anyone
28:31
in the world at all times.
28:33
And so traffickers are taking advantage of that. And online trafficking is exploding, as I said.
28:40
Right now, we're seeing that in apps like social media, gaming apps,
28:45
or any kind of app that's a messaging app.
28:48
And they, perpetrators will pretend that they're someone else and have fake personas.
28:55
And then they reach out to individuals in ways that they're meeting those needs.
29:01
Maybe someone is in need of connection, or they just share an interest,
29:06
or they go to the same school.
29:08
They find out through your history online, and also what they communicate with you, a way to connect.
29:16
And you have that connection, our kids and people trust that,
29:20
and they take advantage of it.
29:21
One of the things that is happening more and more that we see is sextortion. And that is when kids.
29:28
It can be really adults, though, too, when this person who is coming across
29:35
as a new romantic partner and as they get to know each other, everything's fine.
29:41
It's, you know, looking wonderful. And then they want you to send an explicit picture.
29:46
So once someone sends that picture, then that's when the trafficking happens
29:52
and they start threatening them.
29:53
And what we're seeing now is with the online grooming, the statistics show that
29:59
the average age for the first contact is 13 years old. Oh, my.
30:03
Yes. And of those grooming cases, about 75 percent involve the perpetrator trying
30:10
to make personal contact with them.
30:12
So a very high percentage, we'd like to think in our biases that these are,
30:17
you know, the older kind of people, but really about half of grooming predators
30:23
online are between the ages of 19 and 30,
30:26
and only 5% are over 45 years old, according to a study that was done.
30:32
So when kids are exposed to this at such an early age, and very often parents
30:38
don't even realize how the perpetrators
30:41
are embedding themselves in these games, in these social media.
30:45
People that are children that are become victims, 82% will experience anxiety
30:53
or depression within six months.
30:54
We have almost 70% have difficulty forming trust in relationships even years
31:00
later, and about half they're seeing have either suicidal thoughts,
31:07
where around 10% are actually attempting suicide.
31:11
So this is very devastating for people.
31:15
The victims. And we do know that that happens everywhere. It's happening right here.
31:21
So, Nancy, you had a comment. Yes. So this is very accurate information,
31:27
and we've seen and heard examples of this.
31:30
But parents, people always ask us, what can we do? What can we do to help keep
31:34
our kids safe? I was going to ask that.
31:37
And it's very important.
31:39
Interesting, but it's also very intentional that parents need to watch for the
31:44
changes in behavior of their child. They know their child better than anyone.
31:48
So if their child becomes much more secretive or is acting a certain way,
31:53
that's something to take a look at.
31:55
But also, stay involved with your child.
31:58
Know what games are playing. Know what they're doing online.
32:02
Know the platforms they're using, because this is something very shameful.
32:06
If it's a sextortionist issue, the kids are humiliated and embarrassed.
32:11
Their minds can't comprehend, you know, these gradual grooming stages. Right.
32:16
And they're not going to tell their parents. I mean, they're threatened.
32:19
I was going to say, they're not going to be coming clean with their folks.
32:21
No. And they're going to try to hide it as best they can. Sure.
32:24
So, it's really, as Kelly and Wendy have mentioned, it's really looking at the behaviors,
32:28
the situational behaviors, knowing that something isn't right,
32:32
and then delving down and perhaps getting some help with that. But just stay involved.
32:37
Kelly? And I think parents, too, they want to know what the answer is.
32:42
Like, okay, on TikTok or Instagram or whatever the, you know,
32:46
their children are using, how do we control it? The app du jour.
32:50
Yeah. And if you could figure it out today, they would change it by tomorrow.
32:55
So instead of trying to run after, of course, use parental guidelines and know
33:01
what your child's doing, like Nancy said.
33:03
But what they're finding is if children have a trusted adult that they feel
33:09
seen and heard around, they're more likely to come to you to say something that's
33:13
happening and to ask for help.
33:16
So they don't send the money or they don't send more pictures or they don't
33:21
decide to do something awful just because they don't know how to get out of this situation.
33:26
So having that relationship and then talking to them and empowering them,
33:32
even at an age of, you know,
33:34
if you're going to let your children be online and in these areas,
33:37
and even within gaming systems, very often parents don't understand that when
33:43
they're playing the game.
33:44
Whatever it is, that platform is, they can be having conversations with people.
33:49
And so knowing what they're doing, but then talking to your children and saying,
33:54
this is behavior that you should be aware of. This is not right.
33:58
Someone shouldn't be your best friend right away or your romantic partner right away.
34:03
And even if they want to pursue something they think might be the real deal, don't send a picture.
34:11
Even especially illicit explicit pictures but
34:14
we're seeing now that ai if even
34:17
if they send a regular picture they can take that and they can make the picture
34:21
into something that it's not and extort you that way wow so it's getting more
34:28
and more complicated just to go ahead and try to maintain anonymity on the line
34:31
as best as you can you know i'm thinking about the gaming aspect of things.
34:35
I'm not a gamer. My son is.
34:37
And he talks about the conversations that are constantly going around in the
34:40
background all the time.
34:41
But I find it almost inconceivable that one would develop a.
34:50
Again, I'm old. So to go ahead and say, I'm going to develop a friendship or
34:55
a relationship coming up on a platform that's on someone I don't know, I'm very, of course,
35:02
cautious in that respect anyway, that I would be very reluctant to go and share
35:06
much of any information, let alone a picture as such.
35:10
But like you said, all it takes is a couple of Google clicks,
35:13
and you can get a picture of someone and turn around, and all of a sudden,
35:16
now you're able to go ahead and create another persona for that.
35:21
So I think, too, another aspect of that is the people that are going to be more...
35:28
At risk, susceptible and at risk for it.
35:31
I mean, those are really young kids and at ages where they're really struggling
35:37
to fit in and they're trying to not be kids anymore.
35:41
They want to grow up. And so sometimes these line places feel like a safe place
35:47
to reach out and experience a more adult situation where they're not getting
35:53
the chance to do at home or in school or they're We're not connecting in a way
35:59
there. So it's meeting that need again.
36:01
So let's, we have to take a quick break here. When we come back,
36:04
let's figure, let's address how we're trying to go ahead and meet that need.
36:08
Because I think there's a disconnect from parents who would always like to have
36:13
some type of continuity here with their child, so they don't have that disconnect.
36:17
Not only in this circumstance, but I think in a way they make friends with anybody
36:21
else as well as their school. So we'll be right back after this message.
36:24
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37:59
Welcome back to Catholic Conversations. Your host here, David Liptack,
38:03
is having wonderful conversations with Wendy, Kelly, and Nancy from Allies Against
38:09
Trafficking, a wonderful non-profit.
38:12
And geez, what a passion. If you were sitting here listening to these ladies
38:16
in person, you can read their eyes.
38:18
They're very passionate about what they're doing and what they're trying to
38:21
go ahead and do for these people that are unfortunately being trafficked.
38:25
And in some cases, aren't even aware of the fact that they're being trafficked
38:28
until they're up to their eyeballs.
38:30
Would that be right, Kelly? That's accurate. Okay.
38:33
So we finished off on the avenues of gaming as part of the gateway, if you will.
38:41
But certainly gaming isn't the only way that groomers go ahead and try to have
38:45
access to those that are vulnerable.
38:47
My perception was it always had to be face-to-face, typically a person in an
38:52
authority. We talked about maybe, unfortunately, in some cases,
38:56
a family member, coach, teacher, counselor, something of that nature.
38:59
But that's not always the case. Is that correct? Kelly?
39:03
Yeah, that's correct. That's correct. We see situations of grooming happening in any situation.
39:10
I think the thing to remember is going back and remembering that a perpetrator
39:16
is just someone who wants to use someone else for some kind of gain,
39:21
whether that's an economic gain or some kind of trade of a valuable commodity.
39:28
And they're doing that at the expense of someone else's freedom and against their will.
39:33
So they're going to force, use fraud, or use coercion in any way they can.
39:39
And so we do see that online.
39:41
We can see that with job offers for, we haven't talked a lot about labor trafficking,
39:45
but that happens as well.
39:48
Here in McLean County and everywhere, just like we talked about sex trafficking,
39:52
here in McLean County, we see labor trafficking happening in legitimate businesses.
39:58
We often see it in a way that people don't recognize. And those are begging
40:03
rings that are happening.
40:05
We see a lot of people sitting out on street corners.
40:07
And very often they are being trafficked. They're being forced to stand out
40:12
there, meet a daily quota.
40:14
And if they don't meet their daily quota, you know, whatever has been threatened
40:18
to happen against them will happen. And so they're handing that money over.
40:22
So that's one way that people are labor trafficked.
40:26
We've had a lot of storms go through the area recently.
40:30
And sometimes, not the legitimate, the kind of businesses that have been here
40:34
all the time aren't really what I'm talking about, although it could happen in that situation.
40:39
In construction, in construction,
40:41
Where all of a sudden, you know, everyone needs a new roof and a roofing company
40:45
from out of town with super low rates, you know, sweeps in.
40:49
And then when they are putting the roof on, you know, something seems wrong
40:53
that the people that are working there, they won't talk to you.
40:58
They may maybe they don't even speak the language.
41:01
Although we don't want to we don't want to think that just because,
41:04
you know, everyone labor trafficked is, you know, not English speaking or they're
41:09
from a certain country or whatever.
41:10
So we just see it in any situation that someone's going to take advantage of someone else.
41:16
Okay. Well, let's do this. You've got an opportunity. I want to touch base here
41:20
with Wendy because Wendy wants to go and bring up an avenue that we're probably
41:25
not familiar with, we were talking about.
41:27
But if someone wants to reach out to contact you ladies with regards to getting
41:33
a hold of Allies Against Trafficking, what's the best way for them to go ahead and do such?
41:38
Well, you can go to our website, which just came live as of today,
41:44
I think, and it's alliesagainsttrafficking.org. Okay.
41:48
And if they want to email us, they
41:50
can email us at info at alliesagainsttrafficking.org. Okay. One more time.
41:58
Alliesagainsttrafficking.org for the website and for the email address,
42:03
info at alliesagainsttrafficking.org.
42:06
Outstanding.
42:07
So I assume that somewhere along the line, as I go ahead and email,
42:10
I'm either going to get a response from Wendy Kelly or Nancy.
42:14
There we go. See, boy, oh boy. Hands on for front line. You got to like this.
42:19
But Wendy. We want to give some credit to, we have three amazing board members
42:23
as part of our nonprofit.
42:24
So we do have, we're a little, we're six instead of three, but yeah. Okay.
42:28
Well, I'll let Nancy go ahead and get to that.
42:32
But I think, did Wendy, you want to bring up something? I just wanted to bring
42:36
to light a population that's often overlooked for being trafficked.
42:39
And that is older adults.
42:41
How's that? And that's often because, say, older adults who are lonely,
42:46
who want companionship, they may get on a dating app. Really?
42:51
Yes. And what happens is, again, the person may, again, gain trust,
42:58
build a relationship, maybe even profess to love them.
43:02
And they can sort of move in and say, you know, let's get married.
43:08
Let's build our life together.
43:11
But what often happens or what can happen is that person may eventually say.
43:18
Hey, I really want to start this business.
43:21
And I just, I wonder if this business could be for us for our retirement.
43:26
I wonder if you could loan me some money. And then they are out of the money
43:31
and out of the relationship.
43:33
Actually, this happened to one of my husband's, one of his clients in a nursing home.
43:39
And it was a romantic relationship. And the sad thing is that she thought it
43:44
was a real relationship, but it turned out to be manipulation.
43:48
So not only from the financial crush, but from the emotional crush as well.
43:52
Absolutely. How terrible.
43:53
That's awful. So we have been to retirement homes and nursing homes to do trainings.
43:57
And I think this is a population that we don't want to overlook.
44:01
Well, you've got so many avenues that any of this can fall under,
44:06
from teachers to parents to nursing homes, the people at DHS, the law enforcement.
44:14
So, where do you decide and how do you go ahead and figure out where's your
44:19
next plan of attack? You've got so much going on.
44:21
Well, thank you for asking. We have three main goals with Allies Against Trafficking.
44:27
The first is policy and licensing advocacy.
44:31
We work with local leaders to strengthen their policies, especially around businesses
44:36
that can sometimes be used as fronts for trafficking.
44:39
We support McLean County municipalities in licensing and regulating massage
44:44
businesses to prevent sex trafficking.
44:48
Our second goal, community awareness, just as we've been talking about in professional education.
44:52
We really want to provide trauma-informed human trafficking awareness training
44:57
for youth, young adults, social services providers, and the general public to
45:03
prevent victimization and increase identification.
45:06
So, again, we can get ahead of that and prevent it.
45:09
And then third, we want partnership development for survivor support.
45:13
We want to come alongside and collaborate with professional partners to strengthen
45:17
that survivor support and build a network of resources for them.
45:22
So, but somewhere along the line, you've got to develop these particular programs
45:26
unique to each one of these resources, correct? Yes, we do. Oh, boy.
45:29
Yeah. You got your work cut out for you. We did. We do.
45:33
And we have many of those in place already.
45:36
We have the kinds of trainings that we can provide on our website.
45:41
You can go on there and see trainings, and you can see what we do for the public
45:45
and what we do for professionals and our focuses.
45:48
We're also willing to talk with people to see what it is that they want.
45:53
We have been working with multiple organizations and businesses here in town
45:58
that we're going to do just that setting up trainings, getting things on the calendar.
46:03
We have been already, we've talked to some small businesses.
46:07
We've talked with and done some training at Home Sweet Home.
46:11
I've talked about, you know, the trainings that we did here.
46:14
We reached out and did an afternoon kind of lunch and learn training with baby
46:18
folds, therapists, counselors, and some educators.
46:23
And we have a lot of other people that we're working with right now to do trainings.
46:30
One of the things that's really important to us and one is our core value is
46:33
that relationships come first. And so that's really where we started.
46:38
And we've been attending a lot of different groups, meeting people in town,
46:43
getting to know people that are working in those areas so that we can come alongside with them.
46:49
We don't want to develop things and say, guess what?
46:52
We decided that this is what's best for you and we're going to push this on
46:57
you. What we want to do is take people and help them understand trafficking and
47:02
with our trainings. And then if they want to take that further,
47:06
whether it's a church or it's a nonprofit or a doctor's office,
47:10
we can say, okay, where do you see gaps within your organization?
47:14
And then how can we help you fill those gaps? So that's really what we want to do individualized.
47:22
Well, and that's what I was curious about because in, let's say,
47:26
the medical field as a doctor's office.
47:31
For as many times I've been in and out of ERs and emergency rooms,
47:35
and I can look around and you might see 50 people sitting there in this emergency
47:39
room, various different maladies that they have going on.
47:41
And I can imagine if you've been to an ER, you may be there for six or seven
47:46
hours before you get seen as well.
47:48
But somewhere along the line, any one of those people could have had a circumstance
47:53
that brought them to, that would have been a traffic issue possibly on the outside
47:57
that brought them to the ER.
47:59
That's right. There are a lot of barriers to helping survivors right now.
48:04
And part of that are systems that aren't set up to identify and then to know what to do.
48:10
Even early on when we talked to the police, and I do think that we've moved
48:15
beyond this for the most part,
48:17
you know, they said there aren't resources always that they know if they do
48:23
get victims that have been trafficked, they take care of the perpetrator.
48:27
And then the victims, the survivors, are left with the same situation they were in.
48:34
In health care, very often the perpetrators are telling the victims, you cannot do it.
48:43
You cannot trust them. They're going to hurt you. This is going to happen.
48:46
And so the people that are wanting help don't have a way to reach out.
48:50
And the people that are asking questions, even if maybe they aren't always looking
48:57
at human trafficking, but they may be asking other questions,
48:59
aren't identifying what's going on.
49:02
Well, you bring up a good question. You started to elaborate on this.
49:06
We might be able to go ahead and catch the groomer or catch the person that's
49:11
doing the trafficking. And I don't know today's day and age what law would do
49:16
to those particular people.
49:18
But what type of safety nets are out there are available now?
49:22
I think that's probably what you're probably your biggest hurdle is when you
49:27
finally are able to get somebody out of this circle of demise.
49:33
Where do they go if they need to have housing or to get off drugs or medical
49:38
treatment? And then after this is done, they might need counseling.
49:43
Where's the safety net to try to accommodate them in that respect?
49:47
That's got to be one of your biggest hurdles, I would expect.
49:49
It is a really big hurdle.
49:51
And very often, survivors, we don't rescue them from their situation.
49:58
Very often, they find the strength or they find a way out on their own.
50:02
And then they are dealing with the trauma on their own. And if they're not willing
50:07
to come forward because of all the feelings that are involved in that or they
50:11
want to put it in the past, you know, it's very hard for them to reach out and get resources.
50:16
We do have very often see survivors that are being helped within the domestic
50:22
violence organizations or they do have substance use abuse disorder and they're
50:27
getting help in those areas.
50:28
We don't have a lot of resources that are specifically tailored to being trafficked. So, so.
50:36
One of the things on our website you can look at, we have some resources listed
50:41
there that give crisis hotlines, you know, where you can receive some help. And I think...
50:48
What has to happen is we have to be trauma-informed and understand.
50:53
So within those areas that they're going for help, they are able to be very trauma-informed.
50:59
They know what to ask.
51:01
And then people feel comfortable starting again with relationship.
51:06
If you can build a relationship that feels safe and supportive,
51:11
then people are going to disclose what's happened and they can get help.
51:16
Well, I agree. their relationship has to be there and they have to feel comfortable
51:19
enough to go ahead and share their circumstance, which isn't always the case.
51:23
But of course, if you don't have the resources
51:27
after the fact to try to get them through this, because I would imagine there
51:31
may be substance abuse, there's physical abuse, you've got the mental capacity
51:36
of this, that all of this has to be addressed in one shape, form or another,
51:39
especially if you're coming out the other end.
51:41
And I think as you grow and network with this and it becomes more prominent,
51:47
that your synergies to have these available for these victims becomes much more
51:53
agreeable to them to be able to have confidence enough to seek out.
51:57
I think of the Center for Domestic Abuse. It took a while for somebody to sit
52:02
there and get on the phone and say, listen, I think I need a place for myself and my kids.
52:06
And where do I go? Well, now they've got a place to go. And I think that's probably
52:09
what you're going to be working toward in that respect.
52:11
It is. And, you know, the last goal that we talked about is that connecting people.
52:17
We want to, as our organization grows,
52:20
figure out those vetted, safe pathways for survivors to receive services and
52:26
develop that network so that people can get into the places that they need to heal.
52:33
And that people working within those organizations know what to do with someone. and where to get help.
52:39
So it is, there's a long way to go, but people are really working towards that. Excellent.
52:44
Any last thoughts, Nancy? Yeah.
52:47
Well, we've really enjoyed this today, and I feel like we've really been able
52:50
to tell our story and tell what we are doing.
52:53
But I just want to say, pay attention to the people around you and situations.
52:58
And if you see something that you think is suspicious, please report that.
53:02
If you see something, say something. If you're in immediate danger, call 911.
53:07
One, but report suspecting trafficking to the local police, the McLean County Sheriff's Department.
53:14
Local national human trafficking hotline is also a good number,
53:18
but just stay aware because that's really how most of these are uncovered.
53:24
Well, in the awareness part of this, from my perspective, because most of us
53:29
are not, and we walk around blind to this effect, are you folks,
53:33
you folks to go ahead and bring the attention to the rest of us.
53:37
And the rest of us need to be able to recognize these things and to do so,
53:42
we've got to be in contact with you.
53:43
So once again, how do we go ahead and get in contact with you?
53:48
Our website is alliesagainsttrafficking.org. And on the website,
53:54
there's a contact form that you can fill out.
53:56
And all those resources and places to report trafficking that Nancy talked about,
54:02
there are links on our pages to go to those as well.
54:06
So it's information, it's support, it's how to report and how to contact us all on the website.
54:11
So alliesagainsttrafficking.org. Excellent. Any last thoughts?
54:15
We just thank you for having us today. It was a pleasure having you here.
54:19
I appreciate your patience.
54:20
As always, this is a wonderful endeavor, much needed.
54:24
I call it a ministry, if you will, to go ahead and look after for those that
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are certainly less fortunate than us.
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And boy, it really pains me to go ahead and understand that people are being
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taken advantage of in such a manner.
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It's in any way, shape, or form. So this is a wonderful thing that you folks are doing.
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God bless you. I hope continued success, and I hope it only grows by leaps and
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bounds, but somewhere along the line that I hope that it's not as necessary as it is today.
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So, thank you very much for your time. Thank you so much. And thank you for
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listening to Catholic Conversations. I'm Dave Liptak.
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I'd like to go ahead and conclude our program with a prayer,
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as always, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Eternal Father, I offer you the most precious blood of thy divine Son,
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Jesus. in union with the masses said throughout the world today and for all
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the souls in purgatory, for the sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal
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church and for those in my own home and in my family.
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For this, I pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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In the name of the Father and the Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Have a blessed day. You've been listening to Catholic Conversations.
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