Sex trafficking activist works to help victims

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month and many people and organizations are working to help save victims.

Each year over 800,000 women and children are sold into sex trafficking, which is also known as the modern day slavery. Sex trafficking has become the second largest criminal industry in the world. Lilly Paisley, an expert on human trafficking, said it’s a billion dollar industry.

“Human trafficking is a $34 billion industry. The numbers are not exact. It’s hard to really calculate exactly how much, but that’s an estimate. That includes the sex trafficking and labor trafficking. Human trafficking 80% of the human trafficking is the sex trafficking.”

Paisley said it’s an industry with a high demand that traffickers are looking to supply. Traffickers look for different types of victims in all different age ranges.

“The average age that a child gets pulled into human trafficking is 13. And a lot of them are runaways. And of the runaways most of them are like second time, third time runaways.”

Paisley said runaways are usually targeted by traffickers because they are easy to manipulate. She also said summer is a lucrative time for traffickers because kids are out of school and easy to get to.

Paisley runs a non-profit organization called Anchored for Justice. Through her organization, she aims to help victims that have been bought into the business.  She spends her time speaking at seminars and meetings educating the public on signs of human trafficking and what to do if you suspect someone of being a victim. Paisley said there are several ways to identify victims. One way is if a girl is wearing jewelry or clothes that seem out her socio-economic background.

“There are many red flags. One easy one would be to see someone that’s young with an older person being in control not allowing them to speak. Going into the stores with them. One example is the girls that will go in to get their nails done. If their trafficker wants them to look a certain way they’ll go in and get their nails done, but that recruiter will sit right there with them. They’re not allowed to speak. He does all of the talking. That’s one red flag.”

Paisley works to not only prevent human trafficking, but to save victims as well. Paisley said it can be difficult to save a human trafficking victim.

“Getting these kids and young adults out of human trafficking is also a challenge because the after effects is going to be required. Counseling, it’s going to require medical treatment. It’s going to require a lot of aftercare. And these people live in fear. They have like post-traumatic stress disorder.”

Paisley said there are ways to protect yourself from becoming a victim.

“You’ve got to really take the initiative. Maybe learn some self-defense classes or take some self-defense classes. Carry mace with you. Be alert, aware. One of the big things is really is to stop looking down all the time at your cell phone. And put that phone away and just be aware of your surroundings,” she said. “If you see someone following you: yell. I mean if you think that they’re going to attack you yell, holler, make a scene. Make a phone call.”

Part of Paisley’s work is to pass out bags to women on the streets. These bags provide the women with everyday necessities they don’t have access to such as deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, and more.

“So when I go on the streets I take these bags. They’re hygiene bags. And I would like to say that there’s several people that make these bags for us. Debbie Robertson has been very proactive in making these bags and they’re very sturdy. They can last a long time. These bags are these girls’ life. It’s everything that they own is in these bags. It would be like our life savings.”

They hygiene bags also include items such as socks, underwear, hats, and gloves for the women. If you would like to help Paisley and donate items for the bag you can visit her website: www.anchoredforjustice.com.