♪ opening music ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ <Thelisha> Good evening, and welcome to Palmetto Perspectives.

I'm Thelisha Eaddy.

Human trafficking here in South Carolina has continued to rise but with increased attention given to this hard to recognize crime, more and more cases are being reported.

Tonight we take a look at what human trafficking is, how to recognize it, and what we can do to help stop it.

We invite you our viewers analyst necessary to join in this conversation, and you can do that by leaving a comment on our Facebook page, at South Carolina ETV.

Our Gavin Jackson will be taking your comments live on the air.

And, joining us in our studio, a group of community stakeholders.

We first start with Monique Garvin.

She is the Deputy Director of The Violence Against Women program, and state human trafficking task force at the attorney general's office.

Also, Lieutenant Jade Roy, is with the State Law Enforcement Human Trafficking Unit.

Welcome.

Kat WeHunt is Founder and Executive Director of the Formation Project and a survivor of human trafficking herself.

Dr. Shanee Moore is a child welfare training director at the Department of Social Services and a former child sex trafficking trainer for the Children's Law Center at the University of South Carolina School of Law, and also, developed the Human Trafficking for DSS, and rounding out our panel for this evening, is Robbie Croft.

He is Special Needs Coordinator for Juvenile Victims of Human Trafficking at the Department of Juvenile Justice.

Thank you all for being here this evening.

We greatly appreciate your time and your presence.

And, thank you for being here, as well.

So, it has been more than ten years now since the state legislature created the Human Trafficking Task Force.

It is headquartered, I shouldn't say headquartered, but it is chaired by our attorney general and it's made up of various agencies.

The goal is to curb this growing issue.

How bad it is?

We hear more from Gavin Jackson.

<Gavin> In 2022 the South Carolina Enforcement Division supported 416 human trafficking victims from 444 cases throughout South Carolina.

According to the state human trafficking annual report of the total number of victims, 399 were minors, and 17 were adults.

They led four commercial sex operations to combat human trafficking in the regions around the state.

Resulting in the arrest of 13 sex buyers.

Here is South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson.

>> Well, when you look at the sharp increase in labor trafficking, I think a lot of that could be to the very thing that we were talking about earlier is that when people think of human trafficking they think of sex trafficking.

Right!

You know they think of someone being the snatch and grab or the coercion, forcing someone into prostitution, but people don't realize that there's a labor trafficking area in our state, and people who are the easiest to prey on, for labor trafficking purposes, are people where there is a language barrier, maybe they're here illegally.

Latinos, people from south of the border, and other countries below there, they're coming to our state.

They don't speak good English, or any English at all.

They don't have the ability to communicate.

They're also afraid to report to law enforcement authorities because they're afraid that they'll be taken away and returned back to their country of origin.

So, there probably a lot of, as many reports on it because people didn't recognize it as a crime but also because the victims of the crime themselves were like in sex trafficking arena.

People who were prostituting wouldn't go report they were trafficking victim because usually they're engaged in elicit crimes themselves.

So, that's why they're easy to exploit.

That's why I believe you're seeing an uptick in labor trafficking because we're seeing, we're educating people about it.

We're seeing the effects of it more frequently, and then we're able to identify it as such.

<Thelisha> South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson there explaining at least one reason why we're seeing this increase in human trafficking cases here in South Carolina.

Monique, I want to start with you.

We heard little bit from attorney general, from our attorney general, in that piece, but at the very beginning, exactly, what is human trafficking?

<Monique> Human trafficking is when someone uses force fraud or coercion to compel someone to engage in sexual or labor behaviors against their will.

We oftentimes see that happening in various communities, but people oftentimes have concerns or questions around what does force, fraud and coercion look like, and so, when we talk about forced fraud and coercion, we think about force being more of that physical violence, that physical abuse.

We're looking at things like restraint or confinement.

When it comes to things like fraud, one might be compelled to do fraud by offering things like a modeling career, a better life, marriage, anything that is going to offer something that they probably can't follow through on or won't follow through on but use to lure the victim in to manipulate them.

The most common form of trafficking, The most common form that we see, although, is coercion.

Coercion is going to be that psychological abuse.

You might see things like shame, abuse, control, threatening their family, their individual.

One thing we've been seeing with our youth, we've seen uptick in youth exchanging inappropriate photos between one another, then traffickers using that as a way to blackmail them, to compel them to engage in sexual acts.

So those are the three forms that we see.

While we're talking about that, it is important for us to highlight that youth who are under the age of 18 cannot -- if they're engaged in the commercial sex, they are -- you don't have to prove that force, fraud or coercion, and if they're engaged in commercial sex they're automatically going to be a victim of human trafficking.

So it is important for us to notate that, because we don't want to lead the perception that we have things like child prostitutes or blaming children for their vulnerability and for their exploitation.

<Thelisha> I think when people here the word, human trafficking their mind may automatically go to sex trafficking, but like we've been seeing in the headlines, and what we saw in the piece, there's sex trafficking and then labor trafficking.

Is one more prevalent than the other in South Carolina?

<Monique> We do have an emphasis, We do see an emphasis on sex trafficking in South Carolina.

However, we have seen a 450% increase in labor trafficking compared to last year's data, and so while sex trafficking has gotten more attention over the years, we are refocusing and seeing and putting an emphasis on labor trafficking as well.

Sex trafficking is one of the types of trafficking that is not more prominent, necessarily, but it is more recognizable.

So that's why it is important for us to increase the labor trafficking initiative that we're watching at our state's task force, and also just highlighting both forms, so we don't overemphasize one over the other.

<Thelisha> Got you.

Okay, so this past January, marked the ten year anniversary of the creation of the task force, and the attorney general's office held a press conference, and many of you were there, on stage, along with the attorney general, along with other members from the different agencies that make up that task force.

So Lt. Roy, Dr. Moore, and Mr. Croft, when your agencies are brought into a case, what is it that you see?

<Dr.

Moore> From a training perspective, and I can speak from that lens, what we want to train is how to identify victims of human trafficking.

So we actually have created training for DSS employees, that's an annual training, where they first learn about the legislation of what human trafficking is from the federal as well as the state perspective.

They also learn and delve into sex trafficking.

What it could look like, what it has been seen to look like, and the normalcy of what it can be, who are traffickers, which can be parents.

We talk about familiar trafficking, as well, as well as survival sex, and that children do have agency.

We also talk about where it could happen, red flags, and then we have a module about labor trafficking, and we talk about our undocumented children, unaccompanied minors, in the United States, in the industries.

So we think about just labor, like farming industries or food industry, but if you could happen in beauty parlors.

It could happen in sports, people coming from different countries to do sports, and then we have a module where the victim is not my name, what does it happen when we are reaching out to survivors.

You as a case worker, what do you need to do?

How do we get our MDT or our multi-disciplinary team involved?

How do we reach out to our children advocacy centers to make sure that, that child is whole and can get the services they need, and also, what's the impact of sex trafficking or labor trafficking on that child?

What is the psychological impact?

What is the spiritual impact?

What's the physical impact of that child?

And also, how do you plan for that child, and have them be part of the process, and then also educate what do we do as an agency, the last module, in regards to when a child is identified, how to use the sex trafficking or the trafficking screening tool that we have implemented, who to contact, how to contact law enforcement, how to contact SLED, also, when to reach out to again our CACs when the child gets medical examined, and for undocumented youth, what steps do we need to take with the Department of Homeland Security to make sure that they get still protected and the services that they need.

<Thelisha> So, extensive training?

<Dr.

Moore> Yes.

<Thelisha> Lt. Roy, Mr. Croft?

<Lt.

Roy> Sure, so, the short answer of what we see when we're actively starting to engage in investigations for human trafficking, we see a lot.

Every case, every incident, every situation, where our vulnerable populations around our state are being taken advantage of, presents in a different way, and so it's challenging for us to sometimes work through those instances.

In many cases, our young folks, or any of our victims that we're encountering don't sometimes understand that they are victims of trafficking.

In fact, only twice have I ever had someone come forward and say, hey, I've been, I've been a victim of trafficking, and we have worked many, many cases where folks don't realize that they've been put in different situations that is, in fact, a human trafficking situation.

And so, they present differently.

Our particular unit exists obviously at the state law enforcement division where we serve to assist our local and federal law enforcement partners around the state with different investigations that may present to them, and we're able to provide that technical expertise and manpower to them in a way that brings that specialized training that our team has been able to go through and develop and work with our multi- disciplinary team partners, to be able to provide that expertise in this field, and so we're working different sex trafficking investigations, labor traffic investigations, and so when we talk about these different issues, there is already different examples I guess you could say, that come to mind, when we're working through those different types of cases.

<Robbie> So, at the Department of Juvenile Justice, we work with really a subset of the sex trafficking population.

We deal with those trafficking victims, who come into contact with the juvenile justice system.

They've been charged with some type of criminal offense, or possibly a status offense, and so typically we -- they come to our attention as a possible trafficking victim when we do a screener on them, particularly those kids who have been ordered by the court to have a psychological evaluation with us, so the psychologist will do a screening tool, and if the child comes up as high risk for trafficking, we make a report to DSS and then we will also schedule an inter-agency staffing to bring these folks and people from other agencies together because these kids typically have a wide array of needs.

There is often substance abuse, serious mental health illness, possibly abuse at home, and so we will bring DSS, Department of Mental Health, SLED, the attorney general's office, and whatever other agencies may have a stake in what's going on with this child and may be able to assist with determining what services are needed, and we'll have a staffing and try to come up with appropriate plan.

Our goal at DJJ, and I think that's also the goal for the other folks on the panel, is to not have trafficking victims locked up in a secure DJJ facility.

These children are victims, and we don't want to have them treated as offenders, even, even though they may have broken some law at some point.

Frequently, their criminal behavior is tied to them being a trafficking victim, and so we want to funnel them to the appropriate agency or agencies to get the treatment and the services they need.

Rather than simply being locked up.

<Thelisha> Also in that January press conference, we learned about the intentional effort to collect information and data to be used in the right way or in the most wise way to help fight this issue, or these issues that we have.

What picture is that information forming for us here in South Carolina?

Where do we see the most cases, and who are the most impacted?

Anyone?

<Monique> The majority, the top five number of cases that we see is based upon our data that we see from Polaris and that information changes from year to year, but we generally see the most cases in some of our larger cities like Greenville, Myrtle Beach area, Columbia, et cetera.

However, we try not to focus too heavily on where we're seeing the most cases or getting the most calls because what we know is that people are reporting to the human trafficking hotline as a result of the education, the awareness that's happening in those communities, which might in return increase those numbers.

So we actually do have regional task forces, over majority of the state.

We actually have ten and a few more to launch by the end of 2023, and so we do see an increase in cases in those areas.

However, we do know that we haven't in the recent years seen a lot of high numbers in our Pee Dee area, in our rural communities, but we know in those rural communities people are more vulnerable, as a result of being in those rural communities, and so the data does inform what we are doing at the state-wide level, but we still have more of those pieces to put together before we can really develop a comprehensive understanding of the data.

I think we can all speak to data is one of the things that we, at each of our agencies, are trying to build out and grow, so that we can advocate for where services, what services need to be.

We do have a gap in the service array in South Carolina for human trafficking victims designed specifically for them, for adults, and for youth, and I think that we we'll also having that bigger picture of data will also help us increase the number of people who are specialized to deal with these cases, because they are so complex, and that goes from law enforcement to victim services to residential housing, et cetera, and so, we are all working together to formulate what that looks like, and that's the importance of the state task force is because we're bringing together, people from different disciplines, whether it be in healthcare, or law enforcement, or in victim services to really combat this issue and to really understand what it looks like on the grounds, but also from a micro level.

<Lt.

Roy> Monique brings up some valid points.

I think it is also important to understand that as she said we're working hard to bridge that gap, in a number of different ways through the state task force data and research subcommittee, as well as some of the regional task forces that have those same subcommittees that are plugging in to the state task force.

It's also though important to understand that while it may present that this particular year or month, you know, a number might present in a way that would lead our communities to believe, our community leaders to believe that maybe, hey this, crime isn't happening here, or it might not be in my backyard, it is important to understand that that's not always the case, and so while it may be that there are top five number of counties every year that get presented in a way that would lead one to think that trafficking is happening more often there than not, it is important to understand as Monique said, that's where the calls are coming from, and growing up in the Myrtle Beach community, the Horry County has been one of those top five, a number of different years.

I took pride in that fact in that in our community, we were doing a great job of helping people understand what this looks like.

And so I would just encourage folks to understand that while it may seem that this particular moment, it presents in a way that doesn't -- that may lead to you believe that it's not happening, understand that it probably is.

And that it is important to understand that and report in those instances where you think it may be.

<Thelisha> It's almost like this is another thing added to just the every day verbiage or the training that should go on in homes.

So we tell our kids about stranger danger and looking both ways.

We should also be telling our children about what to look for or being comfortable enough to report this, an incident like this.

It is almost like, it needs to be -- this conversation needs to be a part of our every day life when raising children, and with working with members of the community.

<Lt.

Roy> Absolutely.

<Thelisha> This is Palmetto Perspectives, I'm Thelisha Eaddy.

Thank you again for joining us this evening.

Tonight's conversation is about human trafficking.

Our South Carolina Human Trafficking Task Force is comprised of both state agencies, and organizations.

One organization is Formation Project.

It's founded by a survivor.

Kat WeHunt will take us inside the signs and effects of this crime, but first, many of you are hanging out with us on social media, Gavin Jackson has your comments now.

<Gavin> Thanks, Thelisha, I don't know who wants to take this question?

Maybe Robbie or Monique, but when we talk about human trafficking and labor trafficking which industries, which jobs do we typically see the most activity in?

If either of you want to jump in on that?

How do we typically discover that there's trafficking going on?

<Monique> Well, I'll let Jade speak to how that's discovered, because I don't investigate any of those crimes, but I will say last year we did see increase in the forestry, in de-forestation industry.

That was our number one venue for labor trafficking last year, but we also see it in venues such as hospitality, landscaping, and also forestry.

So those are the ones we named from last year, but forestry and de-forestation were the number one venues for last year.

<Gavin> Jade can you give us any insight how you discover these cases?

<Lt.

Roy>Sure, again, in particular with labor trafficking, we, again, we're starting to see those numbers increase, and I think it's as a result of the fine work that's being done, and that continues to grow with our state task force, but also the effort by our team, and law enforcement to get a better understanding of what this looks like, so that we can help those folks come out of the situation that they're in.

Labor trafficking oftentimes involves our foreign national community.

So they, in and of themselves, are vulnerable when they come into our country, whether they're here illegally or they've crossed the border or come into the country in a different way, not legally, so we're here to help those folks understand that they may be getting taken advantage of.

So what we want to ensure is that they're reporting those things to us, when they occur.

Some of the red flags that come into that that come into those elements are, that we see restaurants, and hospitality, our community, as Monique said our agricultural community and sometimes in our factories, and in our industries, is that, you know, their working long extended hours, many instances, where they were recruited for one particular pay rate, they may be, that it may be that they're not getting paid what the original contract said or what they were told that they would be paid when they took on the job, or they're forced to work extended hours beyond what they would have normally worked, and so in speaking of, in the agriculture community, if you know, in many instances those jobs start early in the morning, to beat that hot South Carolina sun, and so in many instances we've seen where they're called upon at 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning to go out to different fields where they wouldn't have otherwise been, and in other instances, there's commonly threats of either deportation, if they're from our foreign national communities, or threats that they're going to be reported to law enforcement if they don't continue to cooperate with the job that they're in, and so those different things present in different ways, a lot of instances... they're living on certain properties, or with families, in some instances again where they're told if they attempt to leave there's threats of like again the deportation or threats of violence, threats that they will be -- that their families will be taken advantage of or abused, if they don't continue to participate in these labor services.

<Gavin> But there are some protections if they do report to law enforcement if they are... <Lt.

Roy> Absolutely.

<Gavin> if immigration status is questionable.

<Lt.

Roy> Absolutely.

In those instances we work with our victim service providers and our non-profit organizations to be able to provide services to them, in an effort to ensure that they're protected through the process, and we want to make sure that, again, folks that are being taken advantage of no matter where they're from, no matter their background, no matter their shape, size, color, age, gender, that we're here to serve them and protect them from the situations that they've been put into.

<Thelisha> Thank you, Gavin.

So Kat I want to turn to you now, you are the founder of the non-profit Formation Project.

If you can, share your story and how it led you to Formation Project.

<Kat> Sure.

So I moved to South Carolina in 2015, and had just escaped a couple years before that, my trafficking circumstances, I was trafficked by an older relative from the ages of 14 to 17, but didn't realize that it was human trafficking.

I identified with lots of different vulnerabilities, and lots of different other things, but did not think that what happened to me was human trafficking because I wasn't taken across state lines or taken to another country or held in a basement against my will or duct taped or handcuffed or any of those things that I saw in TV, and that I saw in the media, and so I identified as a survivor of many things, but not human trafficking, and I did know that I had a story and that I wanted to use my experiences to help other people.

There's really no way to compensate for some of these things, but there is a way to make it a gift to other people, and I knew that that's what I wanted to do.

So I was volunteering, and working with a rape crisis center and I was sitting in there training to become a victim advocate and I heard about human trafficking for the first time.

And I heard the term familial sex trafficking for the first time and was like that is what happened to me, and I had no clue, and so that led me to another organization doing work overseas, and then doing work domestically with trafficking, but while I was in the domestic work I was getting -- we were getting started I would say in 2015-2016 in our human trafficking efforts in our state, and I met some really amazing people with really great intentions to serve this population, but I realized there wasn't a lot of survivor representation.

There wasn't a lot of survivors, there was no other survivors that I knew of at that time working in the movement in our state, and so I will quickly tell you a quick story but I was specifically serving this one girl who worked so hard at trauma recovery, and went through horrific trafficking experiences and got all three of her kids back and got a job and was doing so wonderful, and a couple of years later she ended up relapsing and passing away, and it wrecked me.

I almost -- I said I don't know if I can do this work any more.

What I realized was she didn't have anyone that she thought that she could call and say, "Hey, I'm thinking about using, "Hey, I'm struggling and I need help."

She didn't see other survivors on the other side of trauma recovery to say I can do this, too.

She didn't have a community of support, and she didn't have a network.

And so really her story was what propelled me to start the Formation Project.

I knew we needed to create a space for survivors led by survivors and to give opportunities and options for survivors to have a seat at the table to use their voice however they choose, and to impact the space, and let us know what we were doing well, and let us know what we were not doing so well.

<Thelisha> How is the work going so far?

<Kat WeHunt> It's going amazing.

We've grown tremendously in the past four years.

Our -- we have a staff of eight.

And we've been able to serve over 100 survivors and their family members and walking through trauma recovery.

<Thelisha> It is one thing to be educated about a topic or an issue and well versed in the it, but it's a total other thing to actually walk that road and experience it and live it.

Through your personal experience, what was the sign or the signs for you... that got you ultimately to the point where you could understand or know that you were being victimized?

<Kat> That's a great question.

Looking back, I had lots of signs, and I would say signs for human trafficking are tricky, sometimes, because they can be indicators of other things that are going on.

However, when you're getting multiple signs and multiple vulnerabilities that are overlapping one another, that's what it starts to I think raise a really big red flag for human trafficking.

So I had childhood sexual abuse from as far back as I can remember, and we know that around 80% of women and children experience prior sexual abuse before their recruitment into human trafficking.

I had night terrors, and behavioral issues, and struggles with eating disorders, depression, a number of different things, where I really look back now and say wow, you were crying out for help, and nobody realized.

Nobody saw what was really going on, but, unfortunately, my situation was really hard to spot unless you were close in proximity into my life from the outside.

It looked pretty normal.

My -- both of my parents are in law enforcement, and I went to school and did really well in school.

I got doctors, I went to all of my doctor's appointments, and continued on with my life, but really socially and behaviorally is where I started to act out and you started to see more of those red flags.

<Thelisha> At the beginning of the show, we used a phrase, hard to spot, sometimes hard to identify, or recognize crime.

For the rest of our panel, what are some of the signs that you see through the work that you do.

<Robbie> I can speak to the victims that we run into at the Department of Juvenile Justice.

Some of the things that have already been touched on, but there's usually some type of abuse in that child's background, some type of trauma that has occurred at a very early age, and that proceeds if that's not dealt with, it proceeds into substance abuse issues, frequent running away.

So many of the children, the victims, become involved with our agency.

Their first involvement would be through getting a run away charge.

So it is really important that we focus on education, as I mentioned earlier, that we see these children, as victims, and understand that there is no such thing as a juvenile prostitute.

That doesn't exist, If somebody's under the age of 18, and they are receiving anything of value in exchange for sex, and that could be something as small as a hamburger, it could be a ride to somewhere, money, jewelry, whatever, and again, if they're under the age of 18, they are victims of sex trafficking, and frequently probably more times than not they don't view themselves as being trafficked.

They would tell you that this person is my boyfriend.

I'm doing this because I want to, and that's where our society needs to make a shift in how we view these children.

<Dr.

Moore> As a former case worker, and hindsight is 20/20, now that I think...It's...human trafficking is taught about, It's talked about now, but I think of some of the warning signs for some of the children that I used to case manage, and it was the frequent running away, it was a drastic change in behavior, hanging around gang members, wearing jewelry that was too expensive, getting tattoos, and it was just so, the boyfriend or girlfriends who was much older than they were, and it was so many warning signs, but we just didn't know what to call it then, but it was definitely happening.

<Thelisha> For the parent or the guardian listening, if they suspect that there may be something wrong, what advice do you give them?

What steps do they take?

How do they?

What are the orders of the steps that they should take?

<Kat> I would say to ask, don't be afraid to ask curious questions to your children and to dig a little deeper.

If a youth typically when they're going to disclose something, they're going to gave you a little bit of information, and test to see how you handle that information, and whether you handle it well or you freak out, they might recant, might recant their disclosure because they don't want to put any stress more on you or want to see you really upset or really heart broken over something that's happened to them.

They would rather keep it to themselves so they don't have to see a caregiver go through that.

So realizing that, those little tiny disclosures are moments to build trust with that youth, and that child, and then, to report that to somebody that can provide services and provide options, as soon as possible, to make that report, even if it is a questionable situation, better be safe than sorry, and get somebody involved that can help.

<Thelisha> On the other side of that, what does the road to recovery look like?

I'm assuming it was probably different for different people, but...what can people expect once they finds themselves on this journey?

What does the road to recovery look like?

What does it entail?

Or can entail?

<Kat> I can answer that.

The road to recovery is a long and hard process, and it is important to take baby steps, I think it is really important first to establish a sense of safety, psychological safety, emotional safety, physical safety and then you want to work on more stability.

That means getting a job, getting access to resources, mental health, medical care, employment, education, and then more, I would say, the third kind of last phase is, re-integration and I wouldn't say that these are linear in any way.

Sometimes you'll be establishing safety and be working on stability, and then something will happen and you'll need to go back and re-establish safety.

That's pretty normal in the trauma recovery process, but that third phase is more connection and re-integration, which is building connections with yourself and other people.

How do you have healthy relationships?

How do you build trust with people after so many people have been distrustful and taken advantage of you.

I would say it's a long process and a hard process, but a worthy process to go through.

<Thelisha> Is social media playing a role in this at all?

And if so, how?

<Lt.

Roy> I think it is a resounding yes from the entire platform.

It is absolutely, absolutely aiding in the process of folks being exploited, whether it is through means of labor services or for sex trafficking, and so we have folks that pick up their smart phone, and it's on average now that our teens are on their phones or on these electronic devices more than seven hours a day sometimes, and so it is important to understand that there are folks out there that want to take advantage of you, that want to exploit you that want to make money that want to be sexually served or aroused, and so, or they want to put you into a particular job or field to where, again, they're able to hire you on at low, at low rate of pay, or not pay you at all in some instances and so, those things are happening, our folks are often recruited online through social media platforms, or different software applications on their cellular phones, and then our young folks as Monique referred to earlier are starting to be engaged more in exchanging images, and things, such as that, and these online platforms in many times we've seen where they begin with chatting with folks, that they have no idea who they're chatting with and what they're sharing with these individuals and so, you have know that it is not safe to be sharing information, that's certainly personal, your address, where you live, and things such as that, to where folks will use that information against you a lot of times to then coerce you and to participate in these types of acts, and that's where in many instances is where it starts.

<Thelisha> For those of you joining us on social media, our safe and vetted and monitored social media account, South Carolina ETV.

Gavin has more comments now.

<Gavin> Monique, maybe you can answer this question, talking about what more needs to be done, obviously fighting human trafficking is a bipartisan issue up at the State House.

They're always talking about getting more laws on the books but we know you can't always legislate your way out of problems, but in your opinion maybe other folks want to weigh in, what more can be done when it comes to passing laws or getting more awareness on the books to fight this problem?

>> I think you're absolutely right, that legislation doesn't solve all of the issues around human trafficking.

So one thing I do want to point out, and ETV's a testament to that, because they're partners with us, is the prevention education piece.

Kat spoke a lot about the importance of looking at what services are needed, and healthy relationships, and boundaries, and the road to recovery, but it would be so much more impactful if we can get this information in the hands of our kids before these sort of things happen so they're equipped with the knowledge beforehand, and so that's why we are partnering with SCETV to launch our prevention education initiative, that's catered high school students, so that we can bring this information to their schools, to their communities groups, and to make sure they understand the realities of human trafficking.

I think prevention is worth a lot more than a cure, right?

If we can prevent it from happening altogether, then we won't have to worry about finding a cure for it.

So legislation can continues to grow around human trafficking.

We have had some changes over the last couple of years, that's required support from DSS, And we're look being to make sure that we're constantly looking at having conversations about how do we make sure that the legislation aligns with the best practices for people who provided services and protecting our youth.

<Gavin> Dr. Moore, did you want to follow up on that?

<Kat> Yes, I just wanted to mention, that this industry is economics 101.

It's fueled by demand of people purchasing sex.

If people weren't purchasing sex at alarming rates in South Carolina, people wouldn't be selling sex at alarming rates in South Carolina specific to sex trafficking.

And we have one of the lowest penalties for buyers in the nation.

That is simple legislative issue that really could use some work so that we can hold buyers accountable.

<Gavin> Dr. Moore, I want to follow up on social media.

Thelisha asked about that, I saw you nodding along too.

I want to just get your thoughts, and maybe what parents should be looking for, how they can maybe monitor their children to make sure they don't get caught up in human trafficking or sexual extortion?

<Dr.

Moore> I think social media, they have 24 hour access, so I think things the parents could do is make sure that, you know, maybe have devices on the phone to lock the phone, check the phone.

Also, have the locator on, where your child is going, so I think social media has changed the game.

It really has.

Because, again, it is 24 hour access, and you don't know who's is behind the screen.

It could be connected to a person.

It could be connected to a whole organization, and people use, especially with AI technology, somebody could be faking a voice.

It could be somebody who is recruiting that you think is your peer and is actually an adult and when you go to meet them you don't know, somebody an adult comes to you.

So, it is important to monitor what children are seeing what apps they're downloading.

I know in a perfect world it is not going to happen, but and screen time, how much screen time are they available, and how much alone time in their rooms do they have with gaming systems and phones?

<Lt.

Roy> If I may, on the question of what more can be done, the bottom line is, a lot.

And I say that because while the numbers are increasing, the number of cases that are increasing, the more reporting that's out there, the more our state needs to be able to serve the folks that we come into contact with that are victims of this crime.

And so without the resources to be able to protect these folks, they're going to go back into the different situations that they're in.

They're going to relapse, and if we can't provide those resources for extended periods of time, then we're really spinning our wheels.

And so we need more resources to serve our adult population, our adult community, to serve our minor children that we see time and time again, that are falling back into these situations.

We have folks that are under the age of 18, and getting services through the Department of Social Services and other victim service providers that when they turn 18, and they start to transition to being an adult, they, in many times find themselves back into the traumatic situations that they were in because that's what they knew, that's what they've experienced in their life, and so we need help to be able to get those things done, to get those services in place, around our state, which we're all working towards systematically to be able to do that, but that to me is where we will start to see that success.

<Thelisha> This is Palmetto Perspectives, I'm Thelisha Eaddy.

Tonight's conversation is all about human trafficking, what it is, how to recognize it and how to stop it, and as we talk more now on prevention, what is on the horizon for the task force?

You celebrated ten years.

So we know what things were like before you guys have been working, more attention has been placed on the issue.

You've had more funding.

You've been able to grow your staff, and teams, and regional task force across the state.

What are some of the successes within this ten years, and then what does progression look like in the next decade?

<Monique> That is a very loaded question.

I can spend an entire time talking about that, but I think because you mentioned prevention education, and I spoke a little built about it but really proud of that piece, We've also increased our emphasis on labor trafficking because we have seen 450% increase in labor trafficking, we've partnered with a variety of agencies, and partners throughout this state.

So we've partnered with the South Carolina ...Association, We've partnered with multiple agencies... locally, and regionally, We are really are proud of our law enforcement subcommittee who has been working diligently to train law enforcement officers throughout the state, so is that they're equipped with the information that they need to not only be able to respond to the crime but to investigate it and the hold offenders accountable.

We're also, very proud of the increase in staff, so we have more capacity to be able to respond to it not only from a state level but regional level as well, Additional things we've been able to accomplish over the years, over last ten years, We just actually developed a four page document on this, so I'm trying to regurgitate all of it but other things we've been able to work on is really developing our survivor advisory council sub-committee, making sure that the work that we're doing is informed by survivors and we have their input so they can help guide our initiatives.

We are in the process of hiring someone to look at data so we have someone who can take a keen look at what data we need, what data is going to be necessary to move our issues forward, to help us increase number of services and funding that's dedicated to those areas.

We're also incredibly proud of the regional task forces when the task force was created we only had three regional tasks forces we now have total of ten, and then by the end of this year we'll have state-wide coverage and that's really important, because we want to ensure that we aren't just looking at the effect and the reality of human traffic interesting a state level, but looking at it from regional level so we can have a community response to the issue.

We can go on and on about what we've accomplished over the last ten years, but we've done some really incredible work.

We've built a lot of partnerships.

We're working not only at the regional level with other regional states, but we're working with the region for southeastern states.

So, we're collaborating with other states to see what they're doing and comparing it and making sure that we have a coordinated response not just only within our state but around the region and we also serve on several national work groups, the National Compendium for Human Trafficking.

So we know what's happening at the national level.

It can inform what's happening at the regional level.

We can also implement things throughout the state.

<Thelisha> A lot going on.

<Monique> There is a lot.

I can probably go through all of it but I probably shouldn't, because I want to make sure we have time to answer questions.

<Thelisha> That's a good thing though.

It sounds like there's a lot in place and a lot being put in place to make sure the next ten years, we have a really even better report than what was announced back in January at that press conference.

You mentioned this earlier, the partnership with South Carolina ETV.

We know that education is a major component to this.

So students will be back in the classroom in just a few weeks, talk a little bit about this new initiative to create videos and curriculum for students.

What age groups and when will students be able to start to see and engage with this content?

<Monique> Absolutely.

So on July 7th, we actually launched our prevention education initiative at the state house grounds, with Attorney General Alan Wilson, in partnership with SCETV.

In that partnership, we are developing a four part series for human trafficking, sex trafficking, labor trafficking, and social media, and looking at an overview of all of those issues and making sure we're bringing in subject matter experts, to speak to those issues.

The videos can and will be able to act alone, but we also want to make sure we were providing people and youth with a little more so they can actually understand and digest the information.

So we'll also have accompanying curricula that will go with each of those topics and we will be bringing those into the schools, by September 1st, launching our Traffic SC website.

We've also be doing outreach efforts on our end through our regional task force and their incredible work, so we also have been launching, also been hosting regional back pack giveaways.

Each of the communities, we actually have one tonight we're hosting while we're doing this, so we are going to have -- we actually have two education coordinators who we have been able to, one we've onboarded, one we're preparing to onboard, who will also work with SROs and community groups and system involved youth, to ensure that we're giving their information to those who are in traditional settings within the school, but we're also catering to those who might not have access to schools at this time for variety of reasons and backgrounds to ensure we're training staff at different agencies and we're training those who might be in the community, and so we are looking forward to host, launching that on September 1, and we hope that you guys can reach out to us, and request a presentation, and so as that information is continuing to develop we'll let you guys know what to look forward to, but that's what we have in the works right now.

<Thelisha> What age group?

<Monique> Oh, so we're focusing on high school students.

That will be the 9th and 12th grade section, and we hope to be able to deliver additional curriculum for younger groups, as we continue to build this initiative out.

<Thelisha> As we wrap up in just a few moments, I want each of you to share what is the most important thing you want our viewers and our listeners across South Carolina to know about human trafficking in this state.

I will leave it open like that.

If you had to, if you were talking to the mom or to the guardian or to the local store owner, from the perch of your experience, what's the most important thing you want people to know about this subject?

We'll start here.

<Robbie>I think coming at it from the point of juvenile justice, what has already been mentioned, is that just to reinforce that these juveniles who are being trafficked do not belong in a lock and key facility.

Because of the lack of resources, in our state, so often, If a child is continually running away to their trafficker, so often DJJ is looked at as the default place, where they can be kept safe, but that's an improper solution.

I think there needs to be education in our family court systems, for the family court judges, the solicitors, the public defenders, who are going into court with these children, who are being trafficked, but also have charges filed against them.

For the court system to be aware of what their needs are, and move beyond a punitive response to a more treatment-based response.

<Thelisha>I want to put you on the spot for a little bit.

If DJJ is not the appropriate place to go, if I had a genie in a bottle right here, what would you create?

What needs to stand in that place instead?

<Robbie> That's a good question.

And I think all of us up here would probably agree with this to some point.

There needs to be a facility or facilities where a child who is being trafficked, especially if they're continuing to run away, and their parents can't maintain them at home, where they can go and be secure, a place they cannot run from, but not a jail, not a DJJ facility, also, a place where they can receive appropriate services, whether it is mental health counseling, trauma-focused counseling, substance abuse counseling, and almost like a one stop shop for those needs to be met.

We don't have that in the state of South Carolina, and we see so often where kids come to us, we make a report to DSS, we have inter agency staffing.

DSS doesn't have anywhere to place them.

The child may end up staying in the DSS office overnight or they run away again.

It ends up where finally the court has had enough of it.

So they say okay, I'll put in you DJJ because that's the only place we can keep you safe.

And that's just re-traumatizing someone who's already a victim of severe trauma.

<Thelisha> Dr. Moore.

Go ahead.

>> Dr. Moore?

Go right ahead.

>> I think from a training perspective as an educator, I think it is important that people realize it is happening.

It is here in South Carolina, and the more you know, the more that you can, I always say if you see something, say something, and not be afraid to say something.

I think it is important for agencies to really train staff, and what the warnings signs are, and every case will be different, how individualized human trafficking can be, it does not always look like what we think it is.

A lot of people are uncomfortable with the familial trafficking part in regard to a child's parent or that child's...kin, somebody that child knows is trafficking them.

It happens.

I think we need to stop this romanticized view of what a victim should look like, how they should react, everyone reacts differently.

Every service is going to be different.

So, for me, as an educators, and as a trainer, I think it is so important that not only do we know what it look like, but what do we do when we have the information?

How do we report, or how do we access services for our youth?

<Thelisha> Kat, most important thing you want folks to know?

<Kat> Dr. Moore stole mine and it was very good, so I'll say my second I think the most important thing.

Don't forget your boys in this, your young boys.

Not only can they be victims, but I think we can spend all day teaching young women how not to be trafficked but don't spend a lot of time teaching young men not to purchase sex.

So I think making sure that we're teaching people what hyper sexualized culture is teaching us and where those boundaries should lie, and how to respect someone's boundaries, and what consent is, what consent is not, is super important for the this issue.

<Thelisha> Yes.

>> The most important thing that folks in our communities across South Carolina need to understand that it is happening.

It is happening no matter what county you live in, what backyard, what community you're from, whether it is big, small, gated, or it is a rural community with all kind of beautiful fields going up and down our coast.

There are folks being taken advantage of, our most vulnerable populations in our state being some of the folks that are mentally ill, dependent on narcotics, you know, single parent households, all kind of different folks that we come into contact with that have been victimized for trafficking.

The second part to understand that not only is it happening, but there is a team of people through the South Carolina human trafficking task force and all of our regional task forces that are here to help you.

If you've been victimized in this state, and are a victim of trafficking, there is a team of folks here that want to be able to provide services for you, want to be able to get you to where you're living a different life and one that you'd proud and we want you on our team, third most important thing, we want those folks in the communities to got engaged.

We want them to join our regional task forces, because the stronger we are in numbers as a task force, the better we're prepared to be able to fight these crimes that are happening in our communities.

Back to Robbie's point, is that, and to the point we were talking about earlier, is we need the services.

We in the criminal investigations lane of this multi-disciplinary team continue to spin our wheels with many of these investigations because the service array does not necessarily exist yet in our state, and obviously it's one of the things that we're working towards, but when we talk about some of our youth, you know, one of the questions that I commonly pose to our victim service providers and our folks from the other disciplines, is if it is 2:00 or 3:00 o'clock in the morning, and I come into contact with a victim of trafficking, where do I take them?

What am I going to do to be able to provide a safe place for them?

Because these folks are different than being victims of other crimes, respectfully, and so we've got to be more prepared to be able to provide services to them so that we can see what success truly looks like.

We've been able to see that in some of the cases in the investigations that we've all worked, we know that success is not always through the criminal justice system.

In many instances it is that procedural justice where we've been able to provide proper services.

And the last part is, there is a state plan that exists, and I would recommend that folks go to the attorney general's website, take a look at what that state plan says, it involves that one stop shop that Robbie's talking about.

It involves putting into place acute care centers across our state so that all of us on a team can work together to be able to provide those service to get folks out of those situations, and then it involves increasing those services to our teams.

<Thelisha> Monique you're going to get the last -- <Monique> Oh...all of the good points are taken, but I just want -- want to echo in and reemphasize the points that have been made already.

As Jade stated, we do have state plan that does include an acute care center.

That gives people the opportunity to pause and stop and find the best solutions for youth and for adults, as well, and then also, one thing that I failed to mention earlier is that we're also working on building out human trafficking courts for youth.

That's going to allow them, a lot of people who maybe have status offenses or who are vulnerable to trafficking or at risk for trafficking to be able... <Thelisha> I'm so sorry we're going to have to cut it off.

You're fine, but you guys gave great information.

That's going to have to do it for us tonight.

If you are a victim, there is a number that you can call, if there is an incident.

That number is on your screen.

It's 888-373-7888.

This show will be archived on our website for to you share the link and the information.

That's South Carolina ETV.org.

Thank you very much.

Have a good night.

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