CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Raising awareness and eventually finding a solution to the problem of human sex trafficking is a priority for Shannon Shreve Langford, a volunteer “Ambassador of Hope” at Shared Hope International.
Langford said West Virginia has improved it’s standing with watch dog groups in terms of how it handles the problem of sex trafficking, but believes there is still a long way to go in transitioning from criminal punishment into prevention.
“There doesn’t have to be force, fraud, or coercion with minors,” Langford said on the MetroNews-affiliated “The Mike Queen Show” on the AJR News Network on Tuesday. “We’re doing a fairly good job at punishing traffickers. Where we are lacking is in protecting child victims.”
Sex trafficking, similar to other predatory practices, involves “grooming” victims. Langord said the eventual outcome won’t always involve money, but will always be exploitative.
“It doesn’t have to be money,” Langford said. “It can be anything of value like money, drugs, shelter, food, or clothing. It’s estimated that at least 100,000 children are exploited in the United States each year. 83 percent of them are United States citizens.”
Watchdog groups like Shared Hope International, National Human Trafficking Center, and The Polaris Project play a role in how states form legislation, but also in determining how states are performing in punishment and prevention. Langford said Shared Hope International’s major annual publication, The Protected Innocence Challenge Report, now plays an important role in combating the issue.
“We have been doing that every year since 2011, and we’ve seen substantial improvement nationally with every state,” she said.
According to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, West Virginia has had 44 reported cases since 2012 through March 31, 2016. In that same span, the NHTRC received 171 calls referencing West Virginia.
“We received an upgrade the first year that they did the protected innocence challenge,” Langford said. “That was in 2011. We raised are grades to a ‘D’ in 2013, but we’ve stayed there since that time. We are in the bottom ten states.”
Part of the difficulty with human trafficking is that nobody is really certain how often it’s actually happening. There is strong evidence to suggest that it goes wildly under reported–sometimes out of fear or close connections with the traffickers. There is also evidence to suggest that the U.S. State Department has, in the past, over estimated just how often it is happening.
Langford is hopeful that the West Virginia State Legislature–having come close in the past–will continue to support new legislation in regards to punishment and prevention.
One such bill was H.B. 4489, which would have beefed up penalties for those found guilty of trafficking, granted immunity from prosecution for minors, and made victims eligible for West Virginia’s Crime Victims Compensation Fund and restitution while simultaneously broadening the definition of trafficking.
That bill had support, but didn’t have enough time for a concurring vote in the Senate on the final day of the last legislative session.