More than 260 people, most of them women and children, were reported victims of human trafficking in North Carolina at the end of 2020.
The actual number of victims and survivors in the state could be much higher, according to the state Department of Administration.
A crime that hides in the shadows, human trafficking is defined by people subjected by force, fraud or coercion, or all three, into sex or labor, or when a child under 18 is forced to perform a sexual act, according to the department. Some consider it a form of modern-day slavery.
Illicit massage parlors, spas and hotels are common trafficking venues where victims are forced to work long hours or perform sexual acts for customers, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
After a year-long investigation, the Neon Moon Spa in Durham was raided in 2019 for offering $40 “happy endings” and its owner charged with promoting prostitution after it was found that three women who worked 12-hour days there were trafficked, slept on beds their customers used and lived on the little tips they earned.
In 2021, a South Carolina woman was charged after she was found to own six massage parlors in Cary and Wilmington and in the Myrtle Beach area where employees were subjected to offering sex for money.
North Carolina ranks ninth in human trafficking, contributing to the thousands of women and children forced into sexual slavery in the United States.
Now a new task force created by the federal government will combat the issue with education, outreach and partnerships with local law enforcement agencies.
Monday, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina Michael Easley announced the launch of the Human Trafficking Task Force primarily focused on the Raleigh-Cary area.
“It is easy to dismiss human trafficking as a problem that happens only in other parts of the country or the world, but sadly it is something that is happening right here in our communities in Eastern North Carolina,” Easley said in a news release.
The task force
The Human Trafficking Task Force will meet regularly “to share intelligence and investigative leads, receive specialized training, develop investigative tools and expertise for law enforcement agencies,” the release stated.
The goal is to bring together federal, state and local law enforcement to have a more significant impact on human trafficking, said Don Connelly, a spokesperson for U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Though the task force will focus on Raleigh-Cary, its work could lead to task forces for other regions in the Eastern District, Connelly said. “Especially those that historically have seen a higher incidence of human trafficking cases,” he said.
The group is made up of three prosecutorial offices and 11 law enforcement agencies:
- Wake and Johnston County district attorney’s offices
- Department of Homeland Security
- FBI
- U.S. Marshal Service
- Internal Revenue Service
- N.C. State Bureau of Investigation
- N.C. State Highway Patrol
- Wake County Sheriff’s Office
- St. Augustine’s University
- Police departments in Raleigh, Cary and Apex
Connelly said St. Augustine’s, the private, historically Black university on Oakwood Avenue in Raleigh, is the only university on the task force but other schools may join.
In addition to Easley’s announcement, he highlighted several prosecutions from 2022 that have helped to put traffickers and members of their organizations in prison. Among them:
- Marcus Gambrell, 30, of Raleigh sentenced to 17 years for making child pornography. His partner Kevin Rudolph pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of a minor and aiding and abetting.
- Xiang Yue Jin was sentenced to 15 months and fined for bribery charges intended to protect her illegal massage parlor business.
- Several defendants were charged with 20 counts of human and drug trafficking related offenses.
Human Trafficking Awareness Month
January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month to raise awareness about the over 27 million people around the world, including the United States, who are are subjected to forced sex and labor, the U.S. Department of State said.
Monday, Gov. Roy Cooper signed a proclamation designating Jan. 11 as Human Trafficking Awareness Day in North Carolina.
The COVID-19 pandemic, the opioid epidemic and homelessness have all increased sex and labor trafficking in the state, experts say.
Last year, the National Human Trafficking Hotline received 318 calls from victims and survivors in the state reporting223 trafficking case.
Additionally, the state’s Council for Woman and Youth Involvement reported that their sexual assault agencies helped 392 human trafficking survivors between July 2021 and the end of June 2022, the proclamation continued.
The council said North Carolina’s interstate highways, large military population, rural areas with high demands for cheap labor for agricultural work, and gang activity all create a “hotbed for human trafficking.”
Some areas with the most activity are Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham, and Wilmington. Some of the most vulnerable populations are
- Women
- Children
- Black, Indigenous and People of Color
- LGBTQ+ people
- People who are homeless
- Immigrants
- Children in the foster care/welfare system
- People with history of trauma or abuse
You can help fight trafficking
According to the council, trafficking victims typically interact with the public.
“Friends, neighbors, and even strangers have helped victims escape trafficking,” the council’s website states. “Knowing and recognizing the signs can help a victim connect to the services they need to get out.”
Those signs include people who
- avoid eye contact and appear depressed, anxious or submissive
- have a sudden, unexplained change in attire, behavior or friend group
- suddenly acquire or possess expensive items
- have memory gaps
- don’t know what day or time it is or where they are
- lack an ID or personal documents
- have a significantly older boyfriend or girlfriend
- are frequently absent from school
- have advanced sexual knowledge for their age
- have unexplained bruises or injuries
- are employees who live at their worksite
In addition to looking for warning signs, legitimate massage therapists are licensed by the state and their licenses can be found online at bmbt.org.
If you suspect human trafficking, agencies encourage people to call 911 or the National Human Trafficking Hotline. It can be reached by calling 1-888-373-7888 or texting 233733 or by chatting online with a representative at humantraffickinghotline.org/en/chat.
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