Keeping D.C. Area Children Safe from Human Trafficking

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This is a guest post from Andrea Powell.

Walking alongside my five year old daughter as we explore the National Zoo, I treasure the delight that makes her lips curve into a huge toothless grin when she sees her favorite animal, the lemur. The vast array of art, nature, embassies, culture, and food make our city a true treasure for parents raising curious children. 

Only, I know another side to Washington, D.C., where children are not treated as treasures. They are treated as commodities to be used and disposed of time and time again. Sex trafficking is a thriving crime impacting both girls and boys across our city.

In addition to being a single mom living in the heart of the nation’s capital, I am also the founder of two nonprofits, Karana Rising and FAIR Girls, that help survivors of all forms of human trafficking. Here in the nation’s capital, local children, especially girls of color, are the most at risk in D.C. toward sex trafficking. Shocking as that is, the reality is that children in the nation’s capital are the most impoverished (one in four live in poverty in the country. They are typically sold by traffickers who lure them with promises of love, protection, and family. In my years working with survivors, I have learned that many were first exploited and sold for sex starting at age 12 to 14 years old. On average, they are sold between five to ten times a night to men from all backgrounds. They are sold in hotels, apartment buildings, and even on the streets near the White House.

Here are a few things all moms can do to help protect our children from sex trafficking:

Protect Children from Human Trafficking:

Protect your child from the dangers of human trafficking by telling them the warning signs of trafficking. Speak openly to your child and let them know if they see a friend who might be in trouble that they can talk to you or use some of the tips below to help. If your child has social media accounts, be sure you are able to view their friend list clearly.

Here is a short series of graphic art videos that can educate your child, appropriate for children ages 11 and up. They are based on the lived experiences of young survivors who worked with me to create these stories designed to reach children. Please watch them before you share them with you child. 

Here are some tips for you and your child (most relevant to children ages 10 and up):

  • Teach your child the red flags of human trafficking as told from survivors at I am Jasmine Strong.
  • Here are more stories, based on the real experiences of child survivors. 
  • Suggest that your child pay attention to the people around them and don’t share too much about yourself. If an adult they don’t know asks personal information, they should walk away and tell you.
  • Remind your child that adults should not be sending friend requests to children without your knowledge. Encourage your child to never accept a friend request or Direct Message from someone you don’t know – even someone they believe is their age. Sometimes traffickers might say they are your child’s age but are in reality a trafficker or predator.
  • If someone makes your child uncomfortable by coming on too strong, acting over interested, promising them gifts or saying they love them – especially if you do not know them in real life – tell your child to tell you and get away. They do not owe them anything. 
  • Your child may be asked to share sexualized photos with someone they believe is trustworthy. Please let them know that this could lead to someone exploiting them for sex in exchange for not sharing these photos online. It’s called sextortion.
  • Your child should know about local resources for kids in trouble. 

Resources for Human Trafficking

Immediate danger: 911

Sasha Bruce: A safe space for youth who need a place to stay and help outside of home. 202-547-7777

LoveIsRespect: dating and relationship help 1-866-331-8453 or text “loveis” to 22522

National Runaway hotline: 1-800-Runaway

National Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-888-3737-888 or text “BeFree” to 233733

Photo: Graphic Novel Characters based on Teen Survivors of Trafficking Who Worked with Andrea to create survivor-based comics for @Unitas_Official
Art by Dan Goldman.

Educate on Human Trafficking:

Ask your child’s teachers to educate their students about human trafficking. There are now programs inside D.C. schools educating youth about trafficking. You can take a look at some of them here and recommend them to your child’s school or invite us to come speak to your school’s parent teacher association or other parent groups. 

Know Facts about Human Trafficking:

It’s important to know the facts about human trafficking. Here is a short list of facts and key red flags that might indicate that someone is a trafficking situation. Here is the latest report on the number of calls to the National Human Trafficking Hotline and a study on human trafficking in Washington, D.C.

Advocate about Human Trafficking:

Let your Council Member and your ANC Member know that you take the issue of human trafficking seriously. Be sure to check out this bill in DC. What may appear to be simply prostitution might actually be a victim of trafficking whose trafficker is nearby ensuring they do not escape. Until recently, even children could be arrested for prostitution. More than half of the victims of sex trafficking I have served have been arrested for prostitution. 

Share About Human Trafficking

Please share facts, tips, and information about human trafficking on your own social media or however you best reach your friends and family. Information can save a life.

As I write this, I think about the incredible joy I have in raising a strong and kind young girl. Every parent in the D.C. area should have this experience and no one should suffer the pain of seeing their child trafficked. I write this so that you have more knowledge to keep your own child safe. Please contact me if you want to learn more, get involved, or have concerns. I look forward to more moms helping keep kids safe from trafficking in our nation’s capital.

About the guest author:

Andrea Powell is the founding executive director of Karana Rising and the founder of FAIR Girls, two D.C. based nonprofits providing empowering services to survivors of human trafficking and working directly with youth to prevent their exploitation.  With FAIR Girls, she founded the first safe house specifically for young women survivors of human trafficking. She is also the director of survivor and youth engagement for Unitas and a consultant to Polaris, a national organization that runs the National Human Trafficking Hotline.  She has been published in the Washington Post, New York Times, Huffington Post, NBC, MSNBC, and PBS. www.karanarising.com 

Photo from Mark Story

Have you been affected by human trafficking? Please share below.