When the U.S. Justice Department called Carol Merna at the Center for Prevention of Abuse in Peoria in 2016 offering federal reimbursement to provide services for human trafficking victims, Merna figured it was an easy lift.
“Being as naïve as I was at the time about human trafficking at that time, the answer was, 'Sure, how many could there be?’” Merna recalled. “We quickly learned as we began to educate ourselves that human trafficking happens all around us.”
Merna said education starts with understanding the definition of human trafficking: the theft of someone’s freedom for someone else’s gain. That may involve labor or commercial sex through force, coercion or fraud.
Merna noted human trafficking is the second most common crime in the U.S. behind drug trafficking. It has 27.6 million victims worldwide, according to the UN's International Labour Organization.
“It is a fairly low-risk, high profit crime that we are only just now seeing the tip of the iceberg,” Merna said in an interview on WGLT’s Sound Ideas. “What we don’t see is what’s lurking beneath the surface.”
Merna said human trafficking is an urban and rural problem, and that school campuses are often considered hunting grounds for traffickers.
She said its victims often go unnoticed because signs of abuse may not be obvious.
“We might think of people in chains and handcuffs and confined against their will, and that’s true, but there’s a lot of mental manipulation involved,” Merna said. “As with all forms of abuse, people are often misguided to believe that they deserve the abuse.”
Addressing human trafficking locally
As the discussion around human trafficking has increased in Bloomington-Normal, Merna said it’s for good reason.
Merna said there's been an increase in reported cases locally, perhaps because there's greater awareness about what human trafficking is. She would not give data specific to Bloomington-Normal, citing privacy protection for victims.
Merna said the Center for Prevention of Abuse has provided support services to more than 300 victims since 2018, when it started to provide support for human trafficking victims in the 46 Illinois counties included in the U.S. Attorney’s Central District of Illinois.
Merna said about 87% of the survivors are from McLean County and neighboring and they range in age from six to 65.
There have been two reported human trafficking cases in McLean County so far this year which became public. In one case, no arrests have been made.
The City of Bloomington has sought to regulate message businesses due to concerns about sex trafficking, while the city and Town of Normal offer tips on how to detect human trafficking on a new website they jointly produced to help direct services for the unhoused population in Bloomington-Normal.
The Bloomington City Council delayed on new regulations of massage establishments earlier this month to get more input from business owners and examine laws already on the books.
Four goals
Merna said an ordinance to regulate massage parlors is one of four goals the center has in addressing human trafficking in the community.
“It is a very lucrative business that could also participate in other illegal enterprises that aren’t human trafficking; [such as] drugs, any other things that might be truly illegal. Being able to go in and inspect can make a difference on a number of levels,” Merna said.
Peoria, Springfield, Chatham and Tremont already have massage business ordinances.
“It’s something we encourage communities to discuss,” Merna said. She said the center has not yet talked with the Town of Normal about drafting any massage parlor policy.
The Center for Prevention of Abuse wants local governments to train their staffs on how to detect and report human trafficking. Bloomington has begun that training and, according to Merna, is close reaching its target of 75% staff completion.
Merna said the center also wants communities to adopt an internal policy that any form of trafficking will not be tolerated and to implement a reporting protocol for when trafficking is suspected.
Merna said if you believe anyone is in immediate danger, call 911 and the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888. You can text the hotline at 233733 or chat online.
The Center for Prevention of Abuse can be reached at 1-800-559-SAFE [7233] or centerforpreventionofabuse.org.
