The Franciscan Peace Center of the Sisters of St. Francis of Clinton, IA, will hold an Anti-Trafficking Committee meeting, on Tuesday, August 13, 2019, at 9:00 a.m. at The Canticle, 841 13th Avenue N., Clinton. All interested persons are encouraged to attend.
Human trafficking exists in Iowa. “We have human trafficking in Clinton,” stated Beth Zimbric, member of the Anti-Trafficking Committee. “There are both buyers and sellers. [We] are making arrests, but have had no convictions.”
The Committee has been in place for five years, raising awareness of local human trafficking and training agencies how to recognize its signs. Current initiatives are with hospitals, medical personnel, Law Enforcement, and schools.
The Clinton County Attorney’s Office will host a two-day training in November for Law Enforcement, nurses, and social workers. Effective evidence collection and criminal case building will be discussed with Law Enforcement officers.
The committee lobbies Iowa Legislators about how human trafficking is handled. Human trafficking often originates with online contacts with children, who may be doing poorly in school. Victims are “groomed” over time with praise and attention, before a request is made to meet in person. Gifts or a shared dinner, for example, are a means to show the victim they are loved. Newly purchased items may indicate a child is being lured into becoming a psychological hostage.
Once held hostage, the victim is threatened, beaten, used in prostitution, sold, or a combination. Traffickers “purchase” young people from Third World Country parents, who desire a better life for their children in the United States. They are unaware of the destructive life that awaits their child.
Contact Lori Freudenberg at 563-242-7611 for more information.
