Human Trafficking In Washington State and Whatcom County
Note:CW
this has been included because I see wage theft and human trafficking on the same continuum of labor exploitation with wage theft as a “mild” side and Human trafficking as a more “hot” topic
By Valerie Rupp
Human Trafficking is a global problem that needs to be addressed. What can be done at a local level to combat human trafficking in our own community and what can we do to have greater impact locally? First, we must look at what is human trafficking, The contributing factors that make people vulnerable to being trafficked, blind-spots in our policing that must be addressed and how we create policies and enforcement in order to eliminate trafficking.
What Is Trafficking
The international community has condemned human trafficking, and there are international, federal and state laws prohibiting human trafficking Washington State “RCW 9A.40.100 (a) Such person:
(i) Recruits, harbors, transports, transfers, provides, obtains, buys, purchases, or receives by any means another person knowing, or in reckless disregard of the fact, (A) that force, fraud, or coercion as defined in RCW 9A.36.070 will be used to cause the person to engage in:
(I) Forced labor;
(II) Involuntary servitude;
(III) A sexually explicit act; or
(IV) A commercial sex act, or (B) that the person has not attained the age of eighteen years and is caused to engage in a sexually explicit act or a commercial sex act” (1) further into the laws we have the following: “RCW 9.68A.101 Promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor—Penalty—Consent of minor does not constitute defense.(2)”
Washington State has a fairly strong set of laws and legal definitions for what constitutes human trafficking. The United States is considered a tier 1 county in regards to human trafficking, meaning, our legal systems and enforcement against human trafficking is fairly comprehensive. Even with our tier 1 status, human trafficking is still an issue in our society.
Who is vulnerable?
According to the U.S. Department of State:
“Traffickers often target those who experience compounding forms of discrimination (such as discrimination because of one’s racial or ethnic group, gender identity, disability, or sexual orientation), violence (such as intimate partner or domestic violence), or who interact with government-run programs (such as the criminal justice system, runaway and homeless youth services, foster or institutional care, and the immigration enforcement system).”(3)
In this quote we see that there are many factors that contribute to being vulnerable to human trafficking. This report also admits that people who interact with and are under the control of certain governmental programs are more vulnerable, such as people who have been in the foster care system or have been incarcerated.
Young black girls, mostly children, make up a small proportion of Washington State residents yet disproportionately make up sex trafficking victims. As well as this, trans people make up less than 2% of the population but account for 8% of juveniles who have been sex trafficked according to Kelly Mangiaracina, JD the Policy and Program Manager for Juvenile Court Services in Seattle. These statistical disparities point to issues like racism and transphobia making people vulnerable.
Being unhoused is a major factor in the vulnerability of people to being trafficked. Many women who are forced to sleep on the streets are raped with in a few months of becoming unhoused. Severe weather can also be a factor, and people who have no other options but sleeping outside in freezing temperatures might feel they have no other options than to trade sex for a warm space to stay. This was the case of one unhoused woman I met this year who told me that she had recently been kept as a sex slave for a man who had lured her in by offering her a warm couch to sleep on during a cold weather snap.
“Routes to and within the U.S.: traffickers move women destined for the sex industry around an internal circuit through major cities including New York, Miami, Las Vegas, Houston, Reno, Seattle and San Francisco (pg 16)” (4) Often trafficking victims are moved by gangs and trafficking rings from city to city. Considering the efficiency of the I-5 corridor to connect major west coast cities, people in areas around this major transit artery are in areas where trafficking will be more prevalent.
Young people who are experiencing systemic oppression and instability in their home life are particularly vulnerable to being trafficked especially in the age of the internet where predators have greater access to them through social media. Traffickers are good at manipulating people and they bank on children not having parental oversight.
Local instances of trafficking
Washington State has many hot spots for human trafficking, and transport. Seattle is a major hot spot area that is bisected by the I-5 corridor which extends from Canada all the way to the southern California/ Mexico border. This Interstate is an efficient and effective way for truckers to move goods as well as human trafficking victims. Washington State also has areas with booming tourist industries and inhabitants with large amounts of excess income from the tech and other high paying industries who have the financial ability to purchase sex.
Whatcom County lies on the border with Canada, where some of its trafficking victims are smuggled from. It is also in close enough proximity to both Vancouver, Canada and Seattle that the trafficking that is arriving at or leaving these urban centers are likely to come through Whatcom County through the I-5 corridor.
“Folks do transit through here since we’re on I-5 and the border,” (Whatcom County Undersheriff Jeff Parks) said. “A human-trafficking offense occurred every 16 days in Washington state in 2015, according to the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs’ 2015 Crime in Washington report. In addition, of the 23 reported cases of human trafficking, only nine were solved.”(5)
It's not just urban centers that have instances of Human trafficking. Agriculture as an industry utilizes seasonal workers who may be vulnerable to labor trafficking, especially in instances where employers also control and provide housing. One such case in Whatcom County was reported in 2018 by the Seattle Times (6) where 600 farm workers here on H2A visas were exploited on a berry farm where conditions violated Washington State human labor trafficking laws.
Our county has a lot of agriculture and often requires the labor of migrant workers here on H2 Visas to work temporarily, these programs leave migrants in situations that can be vulnerable to labor trafficking. The recent termination of the Immigration Advisory Board by Bellingham City Council has created a void of outreach for this particular population. Many of the public comments during the City Council meeting (7) where this board was disbanded pointed out the particular vulnerabilities to labor exploitation by our local immigrant community, and the loss of a valuable resource in connecting immigrants with resources, knowledge of their legal rights and supportive community.
What part does policing play in trafficking?
While police are often the first point of contact for victims of human trafficking, there are many reasons why our current methods of policing are either ineffective or counter productive. Often victims of trafficking are treated as criminals themselves as highlighted by this quote from the U.S. department of state:
“In a national survey released in January 2023 that was conducted among 457 survivors who had experienced human trafficking prior to the reporting period, 62 percent stated they had been cited, arrested, or detained by law enforcement at least once, and among those who were cited, arrested, or detained, 71 percent had or have a criminal record as a result. Ninety percent of those who had a criminal record reported a portion or all of their criminal records were related to unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked.” (8)
In private conversations with several formerly sex trafficked women a through line is how often the police are straight up dismissive of victims of violent crime, or are suspicious of them and will often try to get them in trouble themselves. In the case of one woman I spoke with, who was trafficked in Bellingham at the age of 15, she says she was arrested for prostitution in 2007 and had those charges dropped, but was sent to jail for possessing heroin. Never in her experience, did any officer or person in authority wonder who was selling a fifteen year old child heroin or how that child, who was too young to be legally employed, could afford the drugs. The answer was that she had been trafficked for drugs, and her trafficker, who was present at the time of her arrest, was not investigated. In this particular case, the misplaced priority of the police toward criminalizing drugs and non violent offenses put this victim in a situation where she was punished when what she really needed was assistance. The negligence of the police to properly identify this child as a victim of human trafficking led to the continued behavior of the man who was pimping her out to continue to perpetrate violent sex crimes in Bellingham.
In some cases, police and authority figures are directly involved in human trafficking rings often getting kickbacks in order to look the other way. Corruption by authority figures is an issue, though not as bad as some other nations, the United States does see cases of corrupt cops and border patrol agents. The recent Epsitien case in the media and the flight logs to his private island also highlight the amount of well connected, powerful and wealthy individuals who purchase sex from human trafficking victims.
For Immigrants, the constant fear of having their status revoked, or deportation is a factor. Traffickers use this fear to control victims. When the police and other agencies like ICE work in these communities they are often seen as a threat. There have been many cases of abuse by ICE and the police that these fears are justified. According to the Attorney General’s Office of Washington State in October of 2021, they found that the ICE detention facility in Tacoma WA had been engaging in massive amounts of illegal wage theft and labor exploitation since at least 2005 where detainees had been paid around $1 a day in dangerous working conditions and illegal hours. While this exploitation is not being classified as human trafficking, the similarities are close. This was enforced by our government and a private corporation working with a government contract benefited from this state sanctioned labor exploitation. This is not only an example of why people are right to be suspicious of authorities, but also is an example of where lines are blurred on human labor trafficking, wage theft and the morality of labor for people who are detained.
While slavery has been officially abolished, critiques of the American justice system point out that the U.S. constitution’s 13th amendment states: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." This loophole allows for, what some people criticize, as state sanctioned slavery that is intertwined with our militarized police state.
Financial and social pressure force police to prioritize non-violent crime in order to fill quotas, and discourages interest in investigating violent crimes and human rights abuses. The local police have been focusing on sweeping the unhoused and criminalizing drugs. Both unhoused people (particularly women and children) and people struggling with substance abuse disorders are particularly vulnerable to being victims of human trafficking. Yet, our current policing targets these groups of people as criminals. A distrust in police and authority figures means we need to be looking at alternatives to the policing systems we are currently using when we interact with vulnerable populations. Gaining the trust of these traumatized individuals is extremely important in combating human trafficking.
What policies are in place, and how can we implement them and build off of working models more effectively at a local level?
Washington State has many organizations and efforts already in place to prevent human trafficking. Locally in Bellingham and Whatcom County we can be working on creating smaller localized groups that work closely with larger state groups. The following is an example of a program we already have put in place: “WashACT is a multi-disciplinary task force convened in 2006 by the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington. The Committee’s mission is to insure that victims of trafficking receive all resources available to them, and that human traffickers are identified, investigated and prosecuted to the utmost extent of the law” (9)
Organization for Prostitution Survivors (10) is a Seattle based organization led by survivors to support victims of human sex trafficking. Their use of art, poetry and music as therapy not only provides an outlet for survivors to discuss their experiences, but also reframes the narrative around sex trafficking. This organization gives victims agency and helps to alleviate a lot of the stigma involved with survivors of sex trafficking. We could fund a similar organization in Whatcom County.
Whatcom County and Bellingham should have an advisory board set up specifically about Human trafficking that would work with other groups such as: the Homeless Strategies Work Group, the Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force, and the Commission on Sexual and Domestic Violence.(11) The group should be victim centered with survivors taking the lead with trauma informed professionals in supporting roles. The people who have been directly impacted by issues related to human trafficking will have valuable insight into its prevention and ways to help survivors.
Worker protections and labor inspectors are needed in our county for many reasons, from combating wage theft, enforcing labor laws and also screening for, preventing and identifying human labor trafficking. Labor trafficking is prevalent in immigrant communities often for workers here on H2 visas are particularly vulnerable, so these labor organizations should also work closely with an Immigration board that can help victims of labor trafficking safely report their employers and attain visas that will prevent deportations. There are resources for this available that our county could be utilizing. Work with immigration outreach groups is necessary particularly as Whatcom County shares a border with Canada. Often international trafficking victims are afraid of deportation and do not trust law enforcement, so peer outreach groups and organizations are extremely important.
Creating more housing and working towards ending homelessness through housing first models would do alot to prevent human trafficking as it would provide safety and stability for potential victims, and would also allow people more options to leave their abusers in domestic violence situations. Unhoused women and children are particularly vulnerable to being trafficked.
Our actions locally can make a greater impact in the world, as we are all connected economically. Globally, many goods are produced with Human trafficking labor, and many products sold in stores in the U.S. are made with some form of Human trafficking in the supply chain. As a state with relative wealth compared to many other communities globally, we do have a responsibility as consumers and regulators to monitor the goods consumed within our state. In discussing policies, we need better oversight of products sold in our city to be removed if the company involved in manufacturing it is found to be using human trafficking in the supply chain. This action by city and state governments would place pressure on international companies to better regulate their supply chains. If we can ban straws, we can ban goods produced from labor exploitation.
Considering the tax in Whatcom County that was just passed last November funding a new Jail in Whatcom County, we should be diverting some of those funds to retrain all officers in how to conduct arrests and investigations in order to see if the arestee is actually the victim of violent crime such as human trafficking or rape. Specifically when engaging with populations vulnerable to exploitation.
As discussed earlier in this essay, Police are often at odds with human trafficking survivors either because of lack of trauma informed training, mishandling of situations and the inability or unwillingness to spot red flags of human trafficking in the people they are arresting. Because of these issues we need to be addressing how policing and investigations are being handled. The U.S. Department of State discusses these issues on their website in their annual Trafficking of person’s report:
“Advocates again called for increased training across all criminal justice system sectors, including law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges, to improve their trauma-informed approaches in working with human trafficking victims and survivors, broaden the scope of their training to include considerations for how to engage survivors who are U.S. citizens and noncitizens of all ages and gender identities, and improve their understanding of the kinds of evidence that lead to successful investigations of labor trafficking.” (12) Locally, we can achieve more comprehensive, trauma-informed police training and better oversight for the police in our community is a crucial step towards fixing issues of corruption.
Funding services like drug treatment from a medical perspective rather than punitive one could also make an impact for victims of Human trafficking who often use substances to cope with the trauma of being trafficked. Other services could be created or better funded as well such as housing vouchers for formerly trafficked people, funding for therapy for trafficking victims and victims of violent crime and other human rights abuses is also necessary and should be a priority with some of the Tax revenue that will be raised for the new Jail and other “crime prevention programs” critiques of this new jail have pointed out that the services in the county are taking a back seat to prioritize this new jail, and that services are crime prevention and should not be overlooked.
Educating the public on these issues is also an important way to combat human trafficking, and awareness of red flags is important. Considering the ages of many victims of trafficking, age appropriate curriculum in schools discussing this topic should be introduced the same way that we discuss the issues with drugs, puberty, sex education. Students should be aware of the dangers they may face and also the warning signs so that they can tell a safe adult if they believe a peer is being trafficked. Parents should also be informed of the dangers and warning signs so that they can also be better informed as to how to discuss these topics with their children. The curriculum could also discuss social responsibility as a consumer when purchasing products that may have had slave labor in the production.
First responders, hospital staff, social workers, librarians, hotel workers, transportation staff and any other workers who are in industries where there is a high likelihood of interaction with trafficking victims and vulnerable populations should also be taking yearly training on how to spot the signs of human trafficking and ways to handle situations.
There are many other policy ideas that could be enacted with input and collaboration from survivors of trafficking and experts who work combating human trafficking. Our City, County and State can make an impact and lead the way in combating this atrocious human rights violation.
(1)
RCW 9A.40.100: Trafficking., https://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9a.40.100 (last visited Mar 9, 2024).
(2)
RCW 9.68a.101: Promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor-penalty-consent of minor does not constitute defense., https://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=9.68A.101 (last visited Mar 9, 2024).
(3)
United States - United States Department of State, U.S. Department of State (2023), https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-trafficking-in-persons-report/united-states (last visited Mar 7, 2024).
(4)
Bales & Lize (2005). “Trafficking in Persons in the United States”
(5)
Human trafficking in Whatcom County, Whatcom Watch Online, https://whatcomwatch.org/index.php/article/human-trafficking-in-whatcom-county/ (last visited Mar 7, 2024).
(6)
Hal Burnton, Mexican Workers File Suit, Accuse Whatcom County berry Farm of Threats, Intimidation, Seattle Times, January 25, 2018.
(7)
Bellingham City Council meeting recording, Video conferencing, web conferencing, webinars, screen sharing, Zoom, https://cob.zoom.us/rec/play/4N5BzRS72oy9zy_BAuppo2MU_UrzRYHzUzDQIRomK3eIWosV3clP8UEsfIxW4GZH2yEQOqGt062xpRFd.Tj5JDBfQhsDjrizm?canPlayFromShare=true&from=share_recording_detail&continueMode=true&componentName=rec-play&originRequestUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fcob.zoom.us%2Frec%2Fshare%2F0OL7SUt0lQ3m1vTV2wxsyjy0oPtWlMmJ2DXk5Cn5uNRakfNSZL5QF2Opjfxq1t-o.b3skl6aihfbsIhoZ (last visited Mar 9, 2024).
(8)
United States - United States Department of State, U.S. Department of State (2023), https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-trafficking-in-persons-report/united-states (last visited Mar 7, 2024).
(9)
Washact, WARN, https://warn-trafficking.org/resources/washact/ (last visited Mar 7, 2024).
(10)
Organization for prostitution survivors Organization for Prostitution Survivors, https://www.seattleops.org/ (last visited Mar 7, 2024).
(11)
Boards & Commissions, Boards & Commissions | Whatcom County, WA - Official Website, https://www.whatcomcounty.us/210/Boards-Commissions (last visited Mar 9, 2024).
(12)
United States - United States Department of State, U.S. Department of State (2023), https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-trafficking-in-persons-report/united-states (last visited Mar 7, 2024).
