35% of human trafficking victims in the United States are sold by a family member, according to the nonprofit support center the Alabaster Gift. Voice File Photo
By Kristy King
Staff Writer
WCC’s newly offered course, Non-Profit Management, brought in the director of the Alabaster Gift, Heidi Wilt, along with a survivor of human trafficking, Liz. The professor of the nonprofit course, Douglas Waters, invited Wilt to come speak on campus.
The Alabaster Gift is a nonprofit drop-in center in Warren for people who have been victims of human trafficking. The center is meant to help survivors build trust, connections and get the assistance and support that they need. The center provides survivors with basic-need items, such as toiletries. The center operates on the mentality to make no assumptions because each person has an individual story.
“One of the biggest things I’ve learned is to have grace for people. We make assumptions about a lot of things, but we don’t know someone’s story, and the truth to why they make the decisions that they do, unless we really pay attention,” Wilt said. “And want to get to know them. And hear what they have to say.”
Only 3% of human trafficking victims in the United States are kidnapped, while 35% are sold by family members, according to the Alabaster Gift.
Traffickers target individuals at bus stations, on the street, in the mall, shelters or any prime place for people watching. It makes it easier for them if there is an obvious need to be met, whether it be need of clothing, shelter, food, or other susbtances. Traffickers will pinpoint what someone might accept and then in return start a relationship with the expectation of repayment.
Wilt said it’s important to look out for the kids in your life. She encouraged attendees to pay attention to their surroundings.
“Stop labeling and start paying attention,” Wilt said. “If we actually cared about that portion of society and wondered why they’re dressed the way they are or why they are in a drug addicted state, we would have a different outlook on them.”
Liz estimated that when she was being sexually trafficked she would see 10-15 “clients” per day. Liz said it was easy for her to blame herself for what was happening to her because of the shame and guilt she felt from her long-term substance abuse.
Liz thought of herself as a prostitute, until an FBI agent read her the definition of trafficking and she realized that she was in fact a victim. She said that there is a huge difference between the two, because prostitution is a choice, while trafficking is when someone forces you to engage in acts for their own profit.
“[Traffickers] beat you down to keep you to a level of submission where you feel that you are not even valuable or strong enough to stand up for yourself,” Liz said.
“I wasn’t able to do or decide anything; when I ate, what I ate, when I slept, when I did anything,” said Liz. “So for me to pick out lunch for the first time… I was totally overwhelmed.”
The Alabaster Gift also helps survivors get charges expunged from their records because many are arrested on prostitution charges. The center also helps survivors with creating resumes and locating their stolen Social Security numbers.
One of the many ways that traffickers beat victims down mentally and emotionally is by labelling them with a barcode tattoo on the ankle, wrist or neck. It is also common for a chip to be placed underneath barcode so the victim can be scanned.
Haley Holder is a student in the non-profit class, and said that the presentation was meaningful and effective.
“I knew a lot about this because my aunt does a lot of research on human trafficking,” said Holder, a 22-year-old social work major. “But this was great, and really impactful.”
The class learned that one of the biggest hurdles in running a nonprofit like the Alabaster Gift is being sure to document everything. Wilt has been involved with the organization for six years and has been the director for 16 months.
“Have records for everything you do—filing system, intake forms; I spent the first 12 months just working on that, because if you don’t have a foundation, you can’t write for bigger grants unless you have numbers,” Wilt said.
Documenting everything allows one to pay attention as well. Wilt said she noticed that some women were going through a full bottle of shower gel in one week. One woman said to Wilt that it was because she felt she could never get clean enough because of the psychological effects of being trafficked. Another woman was going through a lot of shower gel because she did not know how to properly use it.
Waters said he was glad that Wilt was their first guest speaker.
“She brought a lot of passion. I think many of us were emotionally touched by the message, particularly from the human-trafficking survivor, whom Heidi is mentoring,” said Waters. “Her rescue story from modern-day slavery has a divine intervention feel to it. What she’s been through and who she is now—courageous and upbeat—was very surreal and impactful to behold.”
Editor’s note: Liz’s last name has been omitted for safety.