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Sex trafficking has increased in our area due to instability caused by COVID-19, according to area non-profit Hub of HOPE.
“Despite COVID-19, trafficking continues,” said Jenny Sorey, founder and executive director of Hub of HOPE. “We would estimate that it is actually increasing, simply because of the nature of trafficking. We know that it has a direct relationship with poverty and addiction, and are we not seeing an increase of poverty or an increase of a need for financial stability?”
“Having those great needs and being in a situation where they are at high risk, their vulnerability is increased. A traffickers pleas, a traffickers grooming tactics are going to be hard to dismiss because the promises are very good, but they’re very empty,” Sorey said. “They’re promised love or attention, companionship — who doesn’t want companionship during COVID time, right? — and so many people really lend their ear to those, really, lies, empty promises of a trafficker, and find themselves then caught in sex trafficking.”
Employees of a Little Rock, AR hotel were silent when victims of sex trafficking screamed, ignored women who walked by each day with fresh bruises, and gave traffickers exclusive access to an entire floor of the building, according to a lawsuit filed Friday.
Though it may sound farfetched to some, human sex trafficking is real and regularly occurs throughout the nation, Linda Inmon, Extension specialist for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, said. As inconceivable as it may seem, the crime also occurs in Arkansas.
The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) in Fordyce, Ark. has made 40 arrests for Internet Stalking of a Child. “Every night when we get home to log off, there’s be another one. How do we slow down, how do we stop, when there’s multiple guys out there that are wanting to meet?”
A bill that would seek to amend state law involving obscenity, dealing with issues like revenge pornography and human trafficking, was the only bill filed Wednesday at the state capitol in Little Rock. A person found guilty could face up to a year in jail or a $500 fine, or both “for each prohibited image, video or audio depiction, or website found to be accessible at the time of the offense.”
During conversations, Kaufman told the purported child he was “rich” and had multiple businesses in Memphis, including an escort service. He also said she could make an enormous amount of money modeling for him and claimed he was in the Mafia in an attempt to intimidate her into giving him money for a “modeling fee” and to not call the police.
Finding new and innovative ways to combat the demand for purchased sex, raise awareness to this nationwide epidemic, and provide safe environments for victims.
