Fighting human trafficking in North Carolina

GREENVILLE, Pitt County — January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month, and one organization in eastern North Carolina is trying to stop it in its tracks.

The state ranks 10th in the nation for cases of human trafficking, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.

Stop Human Trafficking Now founder Pam Strickland says the issue is prevalent all across the area, and nearly 300 cases were recorded in the state last year.

She says both types of trafficking - sex and labor - are prevalent in eastern North Carolina due to tourism, travel and agriculture.

The average age of a sex trafficking victim is 11 to 14 years old, Strickland says, and they can be recruited on school campuses, the internet and other youth hangouts.

While she says specific numbers are hard to come by due to human trafficking crimes often being underreported, the majority of cases involve females.

"People find it really hard to believe that victims don’t self identify," she explains. "They’ve been so traumatized and so brainwashed by the trafficker that they’re not out there saying help me, 'help me,' like you would expect a victim to do, instead they are very often saying, 'leave me alone.'"

Warning signs of human trafficking, according to Strickland, include a person acting worried and not speaking for themselves, especially in the company of a much older male.

"She may seem anxious," she says of a potential victim, "or she may seem a little bit worried, not making eye contact."

Strickland says she has collaborated with law enforcement and schools in the area for more than a decade to bring awareness to human trafficking, but she wants to remind community members that they should also keep their eyes out for potential trafficking.

"You don’t have to know for a fact that it is," she explains, "if your gut is telling you something is wrong - make the call."

In order to raise awareness, Stop Human Trafficking Now is hosting several Human Trafficking 101 seminars throughout the area during the month of January:

• January 23, 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.: Sheppard Memorial Library, Greenville,
• January 28, 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.: 229 Kingold Blvd., Suite G, Snow Hill,
• January 30, 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.: Edgecombe County Public Library, Tarboro.

For more information or to register, email melinda@encstophumantrafficking.org.

A screening will also be held on January 23 for Blind Eyes Opened, a "first-of-a-kind Christian documentary that dives deep into the sex trafficking industry in the U.S." It will take place at Regal Greenville Grande at 7 p.m.

Those with concerns that someone is a victim of human trafficking should gather as many details as possible and call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1 (888) 373-7888. Callers can remain anonymous.