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Uninhibited Podcast ShownotesEpisode 6: Human Trafficking & Sexual Abuse AdvocacyWelcome to Uninhibited, a podcast with the mission to discuss taboo, multicultural, multi-generational, and multi-layered topics that matter to women. Our host, Dr. Makunda Abdul Mbacke, is an Ivy-League trained OBGYN, practicing medicine in rural America. She is a mother, career professional, part of Generation X, and so much more.---1:00 - Today, Dr. Makunda is joined by Ms. Mary Jones, a sexual abuse counselor that Dr. Makunda met through her own work with patients that need special counseling. 1:57 - Mary is a Sexual Assault Victim Advocate at Southside Survivor Response Center in Martinsville, VA. Her main role is to help and assist sexual assault victims by accompanying them to forensic exams, police interviews, attorney’s visits, and anything else that they need. She emphasizes that she is also there for her clients emotional wellbeing.2:47 - Dr. Makunda asks how did Mary found interest in this field. Is this something she knew she wanted to do since college, or did she discover this profession later on?Mary did not stumble into this work. She had her own sexual assault experience at a young age and felt she couldn’t tell any of the adults in her life. As a young adult, a friend of Mary’s was raped and had no family near her - so she turned to Mary for help. 4:15 - Witnessing the suffering of her friend and seeing the lack of support for victims of assault motivated Mary to move into the medical field to help people, where she continued to see a growing need for sexual assault advocates. Later, she went back to school, earned her MBA, then earned another Masters degree in Human Services. Mary knew that this was the path that she needed to follow. 5:15 - Right before she graduated with her Masters in Human Services, Mary found a part time sexual assault victims advocate position in Virginia, which she applied to and got! Through that work, she helped open up an office in Danville in 2012, a community which previously didn’t have those kinds of services. 6:21 - Opening the office was widely supported in the Danville community, getting news coverage and positive support from residents of the town. In Mary’s first support group, she had over 16 people in attendance, and within the first year of the Danville office opening, Mary assisted 76 victims, demonstrating that they were providing a much needed service. Despite the huge need, the grant for the office ran out two years later, leading Mary to a position in Martinsville, where she has been for the last five years. 7:40 - Dr. Makunda explains to listeners that she and Mary live and work in a very small, rural part of Virginia, where services are needed but not always provided or funded as they should be. Dr. Makunda asks Mary to give some insight on the issue of human trafficking in their somewhat sleepy, Southern town. Mary explains that, unfortunately, human trafficking looks the same in a small town as it does in a big city. Human trafficking is a criminal activity in which people profit from the control and exportation of others. There are two kinds of human trafficking: sex trafficking and labor trafficking. This abuse can happen anywhere, to children and adults, citizens and non-citizens, and all genders. It is a unique crime because it is hard to identify, investigate, and prosecute. Mary did some research on current trafficking statistics, which found that the US is the world’s largest consumer of human trafficking. 12:23 - Dr. Makunda asks Mary what human trafficking looks like in their home of Henry County; Who are the traffickers and who is being trafficked?Mary tells us that traffickers can operate individually or in an organized group, like a gang, although she has dealt with cases where family members have acted as traffickers. Traffickers seem to pray on young people, foreigners, runaways, homeless people, victims of sexual or domestic violence, those that live in poverty, those desperately looking to improve their lives somehow, people suffering from substance abuse, those with mental illness - they target vulnerable people. 14:50 - Dr. Makunda asks if traffickers typically keep their victims in the same location, or if it’s normal for them to relocate. Mary explains that rarely, traffickers will move their victims around - typically to other southern states on the east coast. But normally, victims usually end up working within the same place where they were trafficked.16:07 - Dr. Makunda inquires about how traffickers get to know and build trust with their victims.Mary explains that traffickers have a rather easy time targeting their victims in places that you might not expect, like the mall or a state fair, where a lot of teenagers are present. Occasionally, traffickers have people working with them, like a female friend or even a child who can more easily earn the trust of the victim. 18:06 - What keeps victims of human trafficking trapped, even if they want to escape?Fear, mostly. It’s difficult for victims to escape because traffickers don’t want them to inform authorities or lose business, so traffickers make threats against the individual or their loved ones.19:22 - Dr. Makunda asks Mary to tell us about some success stories of those who escaped human trafficking situations.Mary tells of an air stewardess who noticed a nicely dressed older man accompanying a young girl who appeared disheveled. The stewardess attempted to make conversation with them, but the man was very aggressive and did not want to talk. When the girl got up to go to the bathroom, the stewardess left the girl a note in the bathroom and the girl responded to the note, indicating she was in trouble and needed help. The stewardess informed the pilot and they were able to rescue the girl when the plane landed.  21:40 - Dr. Makunda asks Mary what signs parents can look out for to help someone who may be targeted by traffickers. Mary says to look for people who look like they don’t exactly go together, like the old man and girl on the plane. Another sign is to look for children coming home with expensive gifts like a new phone, something out of the ordinary that they might not be able to afford. 23:50 - If we start to notice these signs, what are the things that parents can do to protect their kids?Mary emphasizes the importance of parents talking to their children about sex trafficking and discuss ways that children may be targeted by a trafficker, that promises of making their dreams come true can be enticing but also a lie. Parents should also be involved with their child’s social media, know who they’re talking to online, because that is another way traffickers can contact victims. 26:08 - If you suspect something with your own child or someone else in the community, what are the next steps someone should take to help?Mary says it is best to talk to law enforcement, or call a sexual assault center like Mary’s office for help. It’s better to get the situation checked out and investigated than to ignore it, even if it ends up not being a trafficking case. 28:00 - Dr. Makunda asks why trafficking is such a difficult crime to prosecute?Mary explains that it is much easier to prosecute if the victim talks to law enforcement. But, it can be so hard for victims to speak out against their trafficker and retell their painful experiences; sometimes parents don’t want their children to go through that either. In some cases where the abuse happens between family members, a family may choose to let the problem go unaddressed rather than destroy relationships. 29:32 - What has been the process of working with victims when they seek help, especially in situations where the trafficker may not be prosecuted and see justice done?Mary says the most important thing is to build up the victim and revive their self-esteem. When working with younger children, she uses games to help them express and understand their emotions, and to help her understand how to assist the child.31:33 - “Human trafficking, sexual trafficking, labor trafficking knows no borders, it doesn’t discriminate on race or class or age, even. It’s so important to understand that yes, it can happen in my little neighborhood, yes, it can happen on my little street. I challenge each of us to be that stewardess, to be vigilant and notice the people around us.” - Dr. Makunda If you or someone that you know has experienced abuse or are in a trafficking situation, there are resources that are available to help you. Southside Survivor Response CenterYou can also contact Mary Jones at 276-403-4085.If you are outside of the Virginia area, you can contact the Office for Victims of Crime, a component of the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. YOu can also seek out your local agencies for help.