By Stan Maddux
Only drugs rank higher than human trafficking as a criminal enterprise and it’s happening right here in southwest Michigan.
In fact, what’s termed ‘’Modern Day Slavery’’ could be going on in Buchanan, Bridgman, New Buffalo or close to anyone’s backyard, said Cathy Knauf, founder and executive director of the Southwest Michigan Human Trafficking Task Force.
Trafficking doesn’t involve just sex but also labor to offer retail goods at higher profit margins and generate money for rings sending victims portrayed as out of work or homeless to roadsides to solicit donations from passersby.
Knauf said the first two cases of human trafficking she ever heard of in Michigan
were from St. Joseph and Warren Dunes State Park.
During her presentations, she includes a video depicting young people from cities like Grand Rapids telling stories of being trafficked
‘’This is the truth where they’re coming from,’’ Knauf said.
She said trafficking is not restricted just to Third World countries.
For example, 58 people were arrested for sex trafficking in early April during the recent NCAA Final Four men’s basketball tournament in Minneapolis, authorities said.
28 victims were rescued.
According to authorities, the suspects were lured by undercover agents posing as minors in chat rooms on the internet.
‘’It happens everywhere and it happens daily,’’ Knauf said.
Knauf said victims are often runaways and foster children vulnerable to force, fraud and coercion by predators to gain and keep them under their control.
Even parents are offering their children for sex at home and elsewhere.
In New York City alone, Knauf said massage parlors with trafficked workers providing sex exceed the number of Starbucks.
It’s also common for businesses like nail salons to use labor brought in from Asia to work on the cuticles of customers for little or no pay.
Many of the workers are shipped from one distant location to another to keep them feeling lost and powerless to help maintain cheap labor pools.
Knauf said victims often feel helpless to escape because of how dependent they’ve become on the people controlling them for shelter, food and other needs for survival.
‘’The psychological and emotional locks and chains on them are so much stronger than the physical ones,’’ she said.
Knauf said commercial sex and labor providers go as far as having tattoos placed on victims but the marks are really a form of branding like ranchers do to heads of cattle to illustrate which ones are their property.
Another form of trafficking involves compromising pictures obtained from text messages and social media posts and using them to bribe unsuspecting victims.
Nude photos are also sold to buyers of pornography without the knowledge of people depicted in the images.
‘’The person who gets it can use it to sell it around the world,’’ Knauf said.
Knauf, who gave a recent presentation April 10 at New Buffalo High School, said informing the public about trafficking creates awareness so parents and children know what to look for to stay out of danger.
The Southwest Michigan Human Trafficking Task Force is a not for profit organization served by 65 members representing Berrien, Cass and Van Buren counties.
The group is a collaboration of law enforcement, non-governmental organizations, faith-based organizations and concerned citizens.
Knauf started the task force in August of 2012 to educate and raise awareness on how prevalent human trafficking is today.
The task force also assists with training law enforcement and other industries about the troubling activity.
Knauf said human trafficking is a $150 billion a year industry second only to drugs as a criminal enterprise.
Human trafficking is increasing, though, at a faster rate than narcotics, she said.
Symptoms of being trafficked include strange marks on the body, poor dental hygiene and overall health, needle marks from drug use and injuries to the mouth from repeated forced acts.
‘’Slavery does exist today and is hiding in plain sight,’’ Knauf said.
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