Where do victims of sex trafficking go once they're freed?
Some go back to loving families. Others don't have that option.
Needs vary as much as circumstances, and some need a residential program, a place to live, learn and be counseled.
At least two nonprofit groups hope to start residential programs for victims of sex trafficking in Northwest Arkansas -- one for adults and one for children, their leaders confirmed Thursday.
"That FBI program you have up there is great. They're really passionate about helping people," said Melissa Dawson, chief executive of The Centers, which runs residential programs for trafficked minors in Little Rock and Monticello.
She referred to the FBI's Arkansas Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes local law enforcement agencies from Fort Smith to Benton County. Her group is also known as the Centers for Youth and Families.
"Your judges are great too," Dawson said. Their willingness to consider options is part of the reason a residential program by The Centers would succeed in the region, she said.
Another is the sheer number of people needing help, she said. Sex trafficking thrives in prosperous Northwest Arkansas, a FBI task force member and local deputy prosecuting attorney said in a June 21 talk with the Northwest Arkansas Landlords Association.
Jenny Sorey of Rogers, Hub of Hope founder and executive director, said Thursday her group also wants to start a residential program. Hub of Hope works with adults. The group hasn't started a fundraising drive, but has already received what Sorey described as a generous donation for a residential program, and the interest of another benefactor willing to sell the group an apt property for the purpose, she said. People already recognize the need, she said.
Gretchen Smeltzer of Into the Light in Mountain Home and Casey Atwood of Children's Safety Center of Washington County in Springdale both cited the need for such residential services in Northwest Arkansas.
Into the Light assists about 90 people leaving sex trafficking, with cases in a 14-county area stretching from the Missouri border to central Arkansas, Smeltzer said. The group has helped 366 trafficked individuals since its founding in 2016, she said.
A network of nonprofit groups and government agencies ranging from women's shelters to children's shelters to counseling services, and groups ranging from local communities to the state Department of Human Services all pitch in as needed, Smeltzer said.
"Every case is different," she said, with each requiring different services.
HANDLING CHILD VICTIMS
"When a child is identified as being trafficked, it's all hands on deck," Smeltzer said.
The state's Children and Family Services Division is heavily involved in such cases, she said.
"Arkansas is one of the states who will place a trafficked child in the foster child program and take responsibility," she said. "Not all states do that."
For instance, a child lacking legal status to be in the country isn't accepted into foster programs in some states, she said.
"We are thankful our state will take guardianship of them," Smeltzer said.
Even children enticed into trafficking who have good families to go back to have suffered major trauma, Smeltzer said. In other cases, victims are in denial.
"Some are adamant they weren't trafficked," she said. "Others have drug dependencies, and others had drugs forced on them." In other cases, they were trafficked by family members.
Sorey also said many people being trafficked are in denial. Hub of Hope talks to people incarcerated for other crimes such as drug offenses to find people being trafficked, she said.
"Trafficking is exploitation of the vulnerable," Sorey said. "Being homeless, having a disability, anything at all can be a vulnerability."
"Poverty is a major vulnerability," Smeltzer said. "It could be lack of food or shelter, or even just the lack of nice things."
People from all walks of life are drawn into sex trafficking, all those interviewed said.
"It can happen to anyone, and a child in school is more than likely to know someone this is happening to," Dawson said.
Traffickers of either minors or adults will take away basic necessary documents such as Social Security cards and birth certificates, those interviewed said. Those in the country legally, but who have their documents taken are especially vulnerable.
"Traffickers are experts at exploiting vulnerability," Smeltzer said.
LANGUAGE, LITERACY AN ISSUE
U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, a Republican from Rogers, saw people who lacked solid immigration status exploited when he was mayor of Rogers, he said Tuesday, and not just in sex trafficking.
"We had people abused who wouldn't call the authorities," he said. "They fear authorities will take them away."
"Anytime someone's vulnerable, they'll be exploited," Womack said.
And one of the most vulnerable populations in Northwest Arkansas are people who not only lack literacy in English, but are not fully literate -- unable to read, write or even speak well -- in their native language, he said.
"It's hard to master a second language when you're not literate in your own," he said.
Speakers at the Landlords Association meeting said an increasing trend they've noticed since January among those being trafficked are minors from Latin America who don't speak Spanish, but local dialects such as Mayan.
The best countermeasure to trafficking is prevention, all those interviewed agreed.
"Trafficking would not happen if there wasn't a demand," Smeltzer said.
The key to reducing the number of cases is authorities going after traffickers with the help of their communities, she said.
The stereotype of traffickers who seize unsuspecting victims or exploit runaways and haul them across state lines are more often the exception than the rule, said Atwood and the others interviewed.
"An attractive, charismatic man finding and exploiting a vulnerability and building relationships is more likely," Atwood said.
The others interviewed agreed, adding women are effective traffickers too in an increasing trend. Also, boys and trans people being solicited by traffickers are increasing, interviewees said.
Children get too much unsupervised access to social media, Atwood said. The online environment has other kids -- not traffickers -- tearing down each other's self-esteem, she said. Cyber bullying is prevalent, she said, creating a ripe field for traffickers. Children from affluent families -- who can afford more devices and access -- are vulnerable, she said.