By Jim DeLa
As seen in the July/August 2008 issue of The Southern Cross

A modern-day slave trade is taking root and thriving in Florida, putting a strain on social service agencies that are turning to the church for help.

Human trafficking is a $34 billion industry in the U.S., second only to the drug trade, said Giselle Rodriguez, victim specialist/outreach coordinator for the Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking. Florida’s growing ethnic population is becoming increasingly attractive to traffickers, she says, with only California and New York reporting more cases.

“If things continue the way they are going, by 2010, human trafficking will be No. 1,” she told The Southern Cross. The reason is simple — the profit potential of the human trade is greater. “Once a drug dealer sells his drug and the buyer consumes it, that’s it. You can sell a human being 20, 30 or 40 times in a day and we see that a lot with victims of sexual trafficking.”

Her agency, based in Bonita Springs, handles hundreds of cases a year.

The scope and breadth of the problem in Florida is opening eyes within the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida. “I’m just beginning to learn about this problem,” said the Ven. Denis McManis, the diocese’s canon for mission and outreach. “It’s everywhere.”

McManis sees opportunities for the church to help victims of labor recruiting scams and commercial sex exploitation, particularly with temporary housing, transportation, securing social services and counseling. The diocese is forming a committee to assess opportunities for such outreach.

The diocese has recently been working with the Coalition and The Salvation Army in a case involving 50 foreign workers rescued from near slave-labor conditions on the other side of the state.

The workers, recruited from the Philippines, were allegedly promised free housing and full-time jobs in food service at a Boca Raton country club. But when they arrived in South Florida, nearly 30 were forced to share a three-bedroom house, and instead of working at a country club, they were sent to work part-time for $6.67 an hour at various clubs throughout Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. A lawsuit filed by the Florida Attorney General’s office against the two recruiters charges the workers’ passports as well as return airpline tickets were confiscated.
In many cases, since workers are brought into the country legally, prosecuting traffickers can be difficult. A spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office says pursuing breach of contract lawsuits in civil court is often their best option.

Also, Rodriguez said, many foreign victims, once they are rescued, simply want to return home. “From a prosecution standpoint, if we let them go home, there goes our case. If you don’t have a witness, you don’t have a case.“Then the traffickers are free to exploit other people,” she said.

Most of the Boca Raton workers were taken to various shelters on Florida’s west coast. The Rev. Ray Bonoan, the diocese’s canon missioner for Asian ministries and himself a Filipino, said this case is special for him. “It hits home because the victims are Filipinos and the [alleged] perpetrators are also Filipino.”

Bonoan and his congregation, the Church of the Holy Spirit in Safety Harbor, have contributed money and resources and have welcomed them at Sunday services. His ties to the Filipino community in Tampa Bay have also produced an outpouring of aid.

Letting these people know someone is there for them has been important, he said. “It’s so difficult when some of them left their children in their own home country to come over here and look at greener pastures, so to speak, and become victimized. It’s really difficult.”

The amount of time that victims need assistance varies from case to case, Rodriguez said. Recovery from the kind of abuse leveled against young sex trafficking victims takes time. “Some of the things [traffickers] do to these girls is just horrific. So we have to retrain them not to epect to be treated like a dog.”

Some of the Coalition’s clients have been in their care for as much as two years. “It’s a long process,” she said.

“It’s organized crime and it’s incredibly profitable,” said Kip Corriveau, the Salvation Army’s director of social services for north Pinellas County. His agency has provided assistance but primarily brings victims and services together. “The Army is a broker,” he explained. “We’re very connected in the local service community and trying to get clients connected to services.”

McManis says conversations with the U.S. Attorney’s office have convinced him the church can play an important role. “They [law enforcement] want churches to get involved,” he told The Southern Cross. Besides providing basic social services, he said, many victims, particularly from Hispanic and Eastern European countries, trust a church more than the legal system. “Victims often will tell us things they are afraid to tell police.”

Educating congregations to recognize signs of trafficking in their own neighborhoods and knowing what to do will be an initial goal, McManis said.

If you are interested in becoming involved, contact Deacon Denis McManis at (941) 556-0315.