Tough to talk about: supporting a coordinated community response to human sex trafficking

For many people, it is an uncomfortable topic to speak about. It is surrounded by stigma and misperceptions, perhaps the most harmful being that human sex trafficking does not happen in northeastern Minnesota.

Sadly, human trafficking exists in our communities and affects some of the most vulnerable of our population. One local nonprofit organization, in collaboration with a number of key partners, is broaching human trafficking openly with the goal of bringing the community together to respond to this complex issue. The Program to Aid Victims of Sexual Assault (PAVSA) is taking a lead role in addressing human sex trafficking in the region. This effort has received major funding support from the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota and the Northland Foundation.

What is trafficking? In basic terms, it is any instance where a person is forced to have sex with others in exchange for money, drugs, or other goods or services. Trafficking also includes survival sex, which is sex in exchange for food, shelter, or protection. According to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, trafficking crosses all age, gender, race, and socio-economic boundaries, but highly at-risk are homeless or runaway youth, victims of trauma or abuse, and people who are living in poverty or otherwise marginalized by society.

“Creating a model response to trafficking is a natural next step for our community." —Candice Harshner, PAVSA

The results of a 2012 survey by PAVSA of local victims of sex trafficking (female and male) confirmed these statistics. Of the 63 people who participated in the survey, over 85% had experienced domestic violence, 74% were people of color, 70% had been sexually assaulted, and 47% currently were homeless. Trafficking also often “runs in the family” affecting multiple generations.

Since 2010, PAVSA has facilitated the Sex Trafficking Task Force to provide education about this problem and has seen a rise in the number of victims stepping forward to seek help. Last year, more than 100 trafficking victims reported to PAVSA.

With support from a $25,000 Northland Foundation grant, PAVSA is now leading an effort to build an interdisciplinary model to respond to human sex trafficking. The project will take a team approach including medical providers, social services, law enforcement, youth agencies, homeless shelters, and others to address the spectrum of needs related to helping victims and reducing trafficking.

“Our intent is to shape what a coordinated response looks like then establish protocols and systems around that,” explained Candice Harshner, the Executive Director at PAVSA.

“Duluth has been a recognized leader in developing model programs for both sexual and domestic abuse. Creating a model response to trafficking is a natural next step for our community,” continued Harshner.

Erik Torch, Northland Foundation Director of Grantmaking, stated of the grant award, “The scope of this project not only aligns with the Foundation's priority of domestic abuse and violence prevention, but the positive track record Northland has with the organizations that are involved also made the funding decision an easy one for our staff and board.”

PAVSA and other area organizations have tackled the difficult work of opening the conversation and opening minds to the fact that human sex trafficking happens here. Their next step is to build comprehensive services for victims.

Visit PAVSA's website and its Duluth Trafficking Task Force webpages for more information about human sex trafficking.