By Faith Montalvo
TAMPA, Fla. –– Her father was her trafficker. She attended high school and The University of Tampa for a while, but no one knew about her situation. She didn’t realize it herself. Her life and her family seemed normal on the outside.
This survivor did not know that she could go somewhere to seek help or tell anyone, said Charrita Ernewein, nursing professor at UTampa. It had been ingrained in her mind that she was worthless, could not make a decision, take a stand, or do anything different. It started as childhood sexual abuse and eventually led to trafficking.
Ernewein said she frequently presents with this survivor. She integrates real stories like this into her trainings and presentations to show people that human trafficking is real and how healthcare providers may have failed to recognize its signs in patients.
Florida ranks third in the U.S. for human trafficking, which is often referred to as modern slavery. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security defines human trafficking as “the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.” With human trafficking being such a complex issue, there are countless ways to tackle it.
As the chairperson of the board of directors, an anti-human trafficking organization at Shared Hope International, Ernewein educates the community and trains healthcare providers, reaching between 500 and 1,500 people annually through her trainings and presentations.
According to Ernewein, many victims do not know they are being trafficked. She said many are trafficked by loved ones who are supposed to take care of them, and their lives look relatively normal to outsiders.
“They started out as these children that had this happen to them,” Ernewein said. “Some survivors don’t remember anything different; this is all they’ve ever known.”
They would either not identify as being trafficked, or they would not feel safe speaking up.
Ernewein began her doctorate not knowing that she would interview 30 human trafficking survivors. As she researched different topics to write during her program, she found that there was little academic literature on the issue. She published her dissertation and thesis in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners in 2015, arguing that nurse practitioners may be the only professionals to interact with trafficking victims.
As she interviewed survivors for her Ph.D., she found that healthcare providers were unaware of human trafficking and did not know how to recognize it. She eventually traveled across the U.S. and abroad to provide trainings and presentations to healthcare providers, teaching them how to recognize signs of human trafficking in patients.
“I think it comes from having grown in a needy community,” said Ernewein, referring to her upbringing in the inner cities of Chicago. “Knowing that there was never the right person to educate people appropriately.”
“It’s helped me to be the strong person that I am, and then my strong mom helped give me the strength to be able to do what I do,” Ernewein said.
At Selah Freedom, an anti-sex trafficking organization in Sarasota, UTampa criminology professor Nicole Dolack is the full-time outreach coordinator. Selah Freedom’s outreach program is the first point of contact for a survivor, where they respond to referrals and assess what resources victims need.
She is also the coordinator for the Turn Your Life Around (TYLA) diversion court program, which provides rehabilitation for people arrested for prostitution-related crimes. Survivors who participate in the program’s trauma therapy and drug and alcohol treatment can have their charges dropped. Dolack said that while diversion programs typically have a 30% graduation rate, TYLA’s is around 50%.
Dolack said survivors can learn how to live a stable life and make their own choices through Selah Freedom and the TYLA program, opportunities they never had before. She said she’s seen victims getting reunified with their children, hitting milestones in sobriety, and even discovering a hobby they enjoy.
“[Recovery is] still ongoing, but it’s not sitting as heavy and as present as when I first screen them in jail, or in the hospital, or when they’re on the streets,” Dolack said.
Dolack said she’s always been a free spirit who’s wanted to work with women. Although she couldn’t point to a specific moment that led her from Connecticut to Florida, she recalled stopping a man from taking her friend into a bathroom at a house party in high school. There was also the time a few years ago when a former college roommate said her job in human trafficking outreach must have been her dream job. She doesn’t remember talking about human trafficking then, but she knows she wanted to empower women and stand up for them.
“To hear that people’s freedoms were being taken away from them, I just couldn’t comprehend it,” she said.
Selah Freedom has a five-pillar program addressing human trafficking. The organization has served over 7,000 survivors and trained about 85,000 youth and adults on the issue.
Laurie Swink, co-founder of Selah Freedom and director over its consulting program, said they still encounter people who do not know what human trafficking is and that it’s happening in Florida.
“Until we all recognize it for what it is and we all become part of the solution, it truly cannot be wiped out,” Swink said.
The first phase of Selah Freedom’s residential program is characterized by a time of rest and stabilization, providing survivors the opportunity to reflect on how they want to continue life. The second phase teaches them life skills and reintegrates them into society. Selah Freedom boasts that 87% of survivors who graduate their residential program do not return to human trafficking.
“So many times we can take things for granted,” Swink said. “Some of these women have never sat down at a table and had a family meal together.”
Swink said that sex trafficking leaves victims with years of trauma and often leads to other issues like substance abuse, self-harming tendencies, and eating disorders. Survivors could have anywhere from 15 to 20 felonies because of the crimes they’ve been forced to commit, which prevent them from getting a job and housing.
More information about Selah Freedom and Shared Hope International can be found on their websites.
You can reach Selah Freedom’s Survivor Helpline at 1-888-8-FREE-ME.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline is available 24/7. Call at 1-888-373-7888 or text 233733.
If you have information about a missing child or suspected child sexual exploitation, call the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678 to report it or visit their website at cybertipline.com.
In an emergency, call 911.
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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Shared Hope International (left) and Nicole Dolack (right).