MIDLAND During Tuesday’s round-table discussion about human trafficking with Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), the phrases “modern day slavery” and “uncomfortable conversations” were front and center.
The round-table discussion took place at Reflections Ministries, which is an emergency assessment center with second stage homes and aftercare programs designed to help sex trafficking victims.
In addition to Cornyn, the discussions featured Reflections Ministries founder and CEO Lisa Bownds, Midland Mayor Patrick Payton, Odessa Mayor Javier Joven, Midland County District Attorney Laura Nodolf, Texas Department of Public Safety Public Relations Sgt. Steve Blanco and Lorie Dunnam, Crisis Center of West Texas executive director.
Cornyn spoke about the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, bi-partisan legislation that became law in 2017, that he co-sponsored along with 25 other senators. The law extends funding to prevent human trafficking, improves training for government staff, expands civil and privacy protections for trafficking survivors and renews trafficking preventing and survivor support programs.
“It’s a sobering and serious topic, but it’s one that we need to talk about and that we need to figure out how we can solve some of the root problems,” Cornyn said. “… This is not a local problem. It’s a global phenomenon.”
Bownds detailed in her opening statement about the round-table discussion that human trafficking is a challenging subject. She also said there are less than 200 beds available in Texas for children who are victims of human trafficking.
Bownds also told Cornyn the expanse of social media has allowed for a person to be purchased online and be delivered to their doorstep in less than 15 minutes. She said there are 1,100 ads a day in the Permian Basin that involved human trafficking.
Bownds gave a handful of staggering statistics throughout the round-table discussion about human trafficking. Those statistics included a person could be sold at minimum 20 times a day, 46% of human trafficking victims are sold by their family, 67% of sexual buyers are white educated men with disposable income.
“When you look at 85% of trafficking victims born in the United States,” Bownds said. “We don’t have to bring them over from anywhere else. … We work closely with three organizations that will handle the international aspect. We mainly focus on U.S. citizens.”
Blanco discussed training that law enforcement does to combat human trafficking. He gave an example of a training that DPS Captain Derek Prestridge created called “Interdiction for the Protection of Children.”
The IPC training helps patrol officers establish the status of a child who may be missing, exploited or at risk of exploitation and what courses of action are immediately available.
Nodolf spoke about the criminal steps taken to assist victims of human trafficking. She explained there is a bigger picture and the Odessa-Midland area is only a stop on the I-20 corridor.
“They have to be addressed as the victims,” Nodolf said about individuals who are being human trafficked, “and not as criminals.”
Payton talked a variety of ways to combat human trafficking including regional specificity, while Joven applauds Bownds for having those “uncomfortable conversations” as he also wants to have those.
Payton explained the answer for West Texas won’t be the same for New Mexico or Oklahoma or Louisiana or Mississippi or California. He also said that it is important for oil companies to remind its employees about being aware of human trafficking.
“We can’t just throw a blanket over this,” Payton said. “We have to be very specific…. We need to get to the bottom of this.”
