Click a link below to jump to a particular article or scroll down to read the whole newsletter.

2023 Iowa Human Trafficking Statistics

The DPS Office to Combat Human Trafficking also reported in 2023:

  • Number of certified lodging staff who successfully completed the Human Trafficking Prevention Training Certification – over 24,000
  • Iowa Certified Lodging Facilities – 740
  • Number of law enforcement and public/private sector individuals trained in identifying human trafficking – 1,805 (January 2023 – October 2023)
  • The Iowa State Patrol hosted nine (9) public training sessions to help identify human trafficking victims.

All 2023 prosecutions lead to convictions. There have been 81 Iowa traffickers brought to justice between 2005 to 2023.

There was also a $5.3 million settlement paid by Western Iowa Technical Community College for two lawsuits alleging the school engaged in labor trafficking brought by 10 students from Brazil and 13 students from Chile.

Please Donate to the NAHT on GivingTuesday

After Black Friday and Cyber Monday, celebrate GivingTuesday on December 3 by donating money to help end human trafficking in Iowa. This is our once-per-year solicitation, and we’re hoping to raise $5,000. Funds will be used to help highlight the issue of human trafficking during Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention and Awareness Month in January.

Ways you can get ready for GivingTuesday:

  • Share our GivingTuesday campaign with your family and friends. Invite them to join the cause, too.
  • Make a donation online.
  • Mail a check to:
    Iowa NAHT
    5508 Lincoln Way
    Ames, IA 50014

Three Rotary Sponsored Events Raise $91,350 to Support Trafficking Survivor Nonprofits

For a third year, 124 Rotarians and their guests paid $25 each to attend a fundraising program focused on ending human trafficking across greater Des Moines. Each of the clubs matched the funds raised at the Rotary-sponsored event, which added up to a total of $91,350 raised over three years. All net proceeds were donated to Central Iowa nonprofits fighting human trafficking.

The Iowa NAHT provided human trafficking awareness and educational information on September 24 at the Rotary’s “Putting an End to Human Trafficking” event. Anti-trafficking advocates staffed the NAHT information table, including NAHT board members Karl Schilling, Maggie Tinsman, Tom Barr, and George Belitsos.

Presented by the Greater Des Moines Rotary Multi-Club Committee, the “Putting an End to Human Trafficking” event was held at the Hilton Garden Inn in West Des Moines on September 24. Participants learned from a three member panel of knowledgeable human trafficking experts. The panel included:

  • Dan Nash, Founder of the Law Enforcement Human Trafficking Training Center
  • David Gonzalez, Human Trafficking Trainer for the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy
  • Ray Fiedler, Human Trafficking Coordinator, Iowa Department of Public Safety

The Des Moines Rotary Multi Club Committee also sponsored a second two-day training event for 104 Iowa law enforcement officers entitled Human Trafficking Interaction, which took place on September 24 and 25. This course was designed to provide police officers with the signs and indicators of possible human trafficking victims in the course of their everyday duties and how to conduct an initial investigation into this type of crime.

Iowa Rotary District 6000 is made up of 67 local clubs and over 4,000 members. Three years ago, twenty of these clubs formed a Prevent Trafficking Action Team. The Greater Des Moines Rotary Multi-Clubs are participants on the Action Team. Each Rotary Club has committed to launching a prevention/education program in their local community. The Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking is collaborating with the Rotary Action Team and providing educational materials.

Background Information on the Global Scale of Human Trafficking

The Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking is committed to connecting, empowering, and equipping Iowans to engage their communities to eradicate all forms of Human Trafficking/Modern Slavery. Although the NAHT is not focused on the global HT/HS fight, here are some international resources:

13 Countries Complicit in HT/MS

In its 2024 TIP report, the US State Department identified 13 countries as “Tier 3” countries, meaning the governments had a documented “policy or pattern” of human trafficking. That included trafficking in government-funded programs, forced labor in government-affiliated medical services, sexual slavery in government camps, or the employment or recruitment of child soldiers, the report said.

In 2024, the 13 countries identified as “Tier 3” were Afghanistan, Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Russia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Turkmenistan. As the migrant crisis intensifies across the world, countries are more likely to see an increase in human trafficking.

The US State Department encourages governments to prevent trafficking and prioritize screening among migrants, who often assume debts to pay migrant smugglers and are then vulnerable to trafficking when they are unable to repay the money.

The United States follows the “3P” paradigm – prosecution, protection, and prevention, to combat human trafficking.

Iowa Needs to Deliver Justice to Human Trafficking Survivors

Written by Phylicia King, Iowa Trafficking Survivor

When people started learning about my trafficking situation, they judged me based on what they thought they knew. They wrote me off as a “criminal” and thought I deserved my sentence. In reality, my experience was far from what they understood. Now I’m setting the record straight, advocating for myself and others, and urging Iowa’s representatives in Congress to support the Trafficking Survivors Relief Act.

In 2018, I was arrested in connection with a sex trafficking operation and was later convicted of two felony charges. I was arrested alongside my trafficker, as if I was like him, grouped together with a predator. Instead of recognizing that I was victimized by this man, the criminal justice system decided to press charges against me too.

Like many survivors, my trafficker was my boyfriend, someone I thought loved me. He exploited my trust in him, and he blackmailed me into selling my body. Not only did he take the money I got from selling myself online, he also took the money I earned in my day job. The cost of resisting him was physical violence, so I stopped resisting to protect my own body.

My trafficker forced me to give him my car, and made me go with him across the country, where he also trafficked others. Eventually, I was arrested and charged alongside him. Following my conviction, I was incarcerated for three years before being released on probation and required to register as a sex offender. During my legal proceedings, a member of law enforcement said to me, “I know you’re a survivor, but you should have acted differently.” That is easy to say after the fact — but harder to do with a gun pointed at my head, as I had experienced many times.

I am far from the only survivor to have a criminal record because of their trafficking. Criminal records have wide-ranging effects on survivors, including tangible barriers like trouble getting a job, and emotional wounds like recovering from the trauma of surviving trafficking. For me, it has mostly been the latter. I was incarcerated during the pandemic, and due to isolation requirements I was not able to access the mental health services that might have helped me begin my recovery. Now that I am out, my criminal record, and the high profile nature of my situation in my small Iowa town, has made it impossible for me to escape the stigma associated with a criminal record.

I seek peace by spending time with my family and with my church community. But my record clouds these experiences too. At church, even though I know my probation terms allow me to be there, I am constantly in fear that something I do, any small action or glance, will be wrongly perceived as a violation of my probation.

What I want is simple: To be able to live my life without judgment or rejection by others, to not be unjustly discriminated against because of my criminal record, and to be free to pursue my dreams to advocate for people with similar experiences.

Bipartisan Federal Bill Supporting Survivors of Human Trafficking Approved by Senate

The U.S. Senate passed the Human Trafficking Survivor Tax Relief Act – bipartisan legislation introduced by Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema, along with Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas), James Lankford (R-Okla.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). The bill provides tax relief for survivors of human trafficking who have been awarded restitution or won civil litigation against their traffickers, but will face taxation of their awards.

“Our commonsense, bipartisan bill provides tax relief to human trafficking survivors pursuing justice and restitution to rebuild their lives,” said Sinema.

Human trafficking survivors face a difficult path to receive justice against their traffickers. In many cases, survivors’ only choice to seek restitution for the crimes committed against them is through civil litigation. IRS Notice 2012-12 makes criminal restitution payments for survivors of human trafficking exempt from federal income tax, but civil damages are still subject to taxation. This can result in a hefty tax bill just as these survivors are beginning to rebuild their lives.

The Human Trafficking Survivor Tax Relief Act would exclude civil damages and restitution awarded to survivors of human trafficking from federal income taxation, enabling more of the funds to be used to help support their economic futures. Additionally, the bill allows survivors to file their taxes without fear that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) might audit or penalize them for not reporting civil damages as income.

Free High School Online Trafficking Awareness Program (HSOP)

HSOP is a FREE, online educational curriculum on human trafficking and social justice created specifically for youth.

This program will not only educate youth about human trafficking and social justice, but also give youth the tools to fight against injustice and empower them to enact change. Each module includes videos, activities, discussion questions, and more to engage students.

Module topics include:

  • Human Trafficking 101
  • Survivor Stories
  • Substance Abuse & Addictions
  • Healthy Relationships
  • Youth Rights
  • And MORE!

How to Access HSOP

HSOP was created specifically for high schoolers, teachers, and educators who work with youth. The program is FREE and can be accessed at any time of the year. The goal is for users to work through the content at their own pace. Feel free to jump around to different modules that interest you most!

Learn More About HSOP here.

Cedar Rapids Annual Freedom Ride Raises HT Awareness

Chains Interrupted, a nonprofit based in Cedar Rapids, held its sixth annual motorcycle ride to raise awareness of human trafficking last month.

Since its inception in 2007, the National Human Trafficking Hotline has identified more than 100,000 cases of human trafficking across the country. The purpose of the ride was to make people realize that some of those instances of trafficking are happening in Eastern Iowa.

Tish Young with Chains Interrupted said the ride would incorporate education on what human trafficking can look like and how people can help.

The riders were scheduled to go to towns in Benton and Linn counties. Young said people might not think human trafficking would be an issue in these areas, but they would be mistaken.

“So this ride is really an awareness ride, right? We are working our tail off to go to these little towns and tell them it’s here, too. And show them—we’re coming into town big and bold, a little bit loud, and talking about what’s going on in these little towns.”

Young said, “One easy thing parents or guardians can do to protect their kids against trafficking is to know what they’re up to online.”

Watch the TV News report here.

 TV News Clips & Articles

By on November 1, 2024   /   News