Local & State Efforts

The legitimacy of one of our local businesses, University Massage, has been questioned for some time now (massage parlors are often fronts for illegal brothels which rely on trafficked women). Thus far, requests for investigation by law enforcement have not been met with success. During the conference, the Mayor of Chapel Hill was asked about this issue and has committed to meet with the CHPD to determine further action.

State Senator Ellie Kinnaird, Victim Specialist Kory Williford of the FBI, Jennifer Stuart, Legal Aid attorney, and Donna Bickford recently met with Franklin Freeman, Senior Assistant for Governmental Affairs in the Governor’s office, to request the formation of a State Commission on Human Trafficking. Mr. Freeman was very receptive to this proposal and legislation to establish this commission is being drafted.

As a result of the community interest generated by the conference, RIPPLE: The NC Human Trafficking Task Force has divided into two complementary groups: (1) RIPPLE will continue to work on advocacy, policy, and infrastructure development, and include members who are involved in social service work, legal advocacy, law enforcement, etc. (2) NC Stop Human Trafficking will include individuals, community organizations, and faith-based groups who are interested in doing community education and grassroots activism. Two current RIPPLE members will also be members of NCSHT to ensure coordination and the sharing of information and strategies.

Priya Desai, one of the undergraduate volunteers at the conference, has started CAST (Carolina Against Sex Trafficking) through the Campus Y. APPLES Intern Meg Hamilton is helping Priya get started (she wrote a resource guide and provided Priya with a list of 65 undergraduates interested in the issue of trafficking). Pam Lach will work with Priya to provide support for CAST efforts.

Education, Training & Awareness

Conference Committee Member Diane Kjervik was invited by the 30th Judicial District Domestic Violence-Sexual Assault Alliance, Inc. to speak at a day-long seminar aimed at first responders and health care providers in Franklin (Macon County on the border of Georgia and South Carolina) (June 2008). The seminar is sponsored by the Zonta Club of Franklin, REACH of Macon County and the 30th Judicial District Domestic Violence-Sexual Assault Alliance.

Donna Bickford and Pam Lach were invited to speak about sex trafficking in North Carolina at the Duke Human Rights Working Group in April, 2008.

Using grant money from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, the CWC and RIPPLE hired a statewide training coordinator, Dana Vaughn-Mgunda. Dana will travel throughout the state from June-December, 2008.

Donna Bickford and Dana Vaugn-Mgunda presented “Sex Trafficking 101” to Interact of Wake County, a United Way Agency, on June 10, 2008.

Pam Lach was invited to speak about sexual trafficking to a class at UNC. The students, enrolled in HIST 362: Women in American History (Summer Session I 2008), also watched the film Trade as part of a unit, "Second Wave Feminism and Its Legacies."

Several faculty members at UNC-Chapel Hill have indicated an interest in including units on sex trafficking in their classes when relevant.

Research

UNC doctoral candidate Shana Judge, a conference poster session presenter, received a summer stipend from the Center for the Study of the American South for her project on sex trafficking in the Southeast.

Through CWC outreach, Anne Johnston and Barbara Friedman, members of the faculty of the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication, have begun a research project detailing how the media cover trafficking. They presented their initial findings, “Media and Sex Trafficking: Coverage of Sex Trafficking in U.S. Newspapers, 1998-2008,” at the conference poster session.

Donna Bickford and Pam Lach are beginning to explore the creation of an inter-institutional working group dedicated to trafficking in the Triangle. Cynthia Irvin of Research Triangle Institute (RTI) hopes to partner with them, and there is the potential to receive funding from RTI for such a collaboration.

Steven Buter completed his MPA Thesis, “Local Governments and Sex Trafficking: Lessons Learned about how to Identify and Prepare for Cased of Sex Trafficking,” in the Spring of 2008. This project examines Atlanta’s efforts to combat trafficking to make recommendations for North Carolina. The CWC provided support and resources for this project.

Regional Efforts

Dr. Andrew Silver, Department of English at Mercer University, attended the conference with 10 of his students. In addition to their lively contributions to the conference, Dr. Silver and his students now plan to host their own conference on trafficking in Georgia, and have already begun recruiting a conference planning committee and seeking advice and consultation from Dr. Pam Lach, CWC Conference Coordinator.

Since the conference, Dr. Silver and Mercer students have been actively trying to raise awareness of the problem of trafficking in Macon, Georgia, as well as petition their town council to crack down on local massage parlors. They have received a great deal of media coverage for their efforts. Students have also formed Sex Trafficking Opposition Project (STOP): www.stoptrafficking.weebly.com.

Stephanie Davis, Policy Advisor on Women’s Issues for Mayor Shirley Franklin in Atlanta and a speaker at our conference, has indicated that our conference has pushed her to rethink some of her approaches to enacting policy related to the commercial sexual exploitation of minors. Ms. Davis said she was inspired to stop drawing a distinction between women and children when drafting policy on this topic. We are hopeful that we can begin to see a shift in Atlanta’s efforts to combat trafficking as a result of Ms. Davis’s participation.