City Explores Social Services for Sexual Exploitation Victims

New York City remains one of the top entry points for human trafficking in the country with the second highest number of trafficked women.
City Explores Social Services for Sexual Exploitation Victims
HIDDEN CRIMES: (L-R) Jan Forly, Sara Hemmeter, Alexandra Patino, and Susan Morley, discuss programs and services for victims of sexual exploitation at a public hearing at the New York City Council on Monday. (Catherine Yang/The Epoch Times)
Catherine Yang
6/27/2011
Updated:
10/1/2015

<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/DSC_0313.JPG" alt="HIDDEN CRIMES: (L-R) Jan Forly, Sara Hemmeter, Alexandra Patino, and Susan Morley, discuss programs and services for victims of sexual exploitation at a public hearing at the New York City Council on Monday. (Catherine Yang/The Epoch Times)" title="HIDDEN CRIMES: (L-R) Jan Forly, Sara Hemmeter, Alexandra Patino, and Susan Morley, discuss programs and services for victims of sexual exploitation at a public hearing at the New York City Council on Monday. (Catherine Yang/The Epoch Times)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1801856"/></a>
HIDDEN CRIMES: (L-R) Jan Forly, Sara Hemmeter, Alexandra Patino, and Susan Morley, discuss programs and services for victims of sexual exploitation at a public hearing at the New York City Council on Monday. (Catherine Yang/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—New York City remains one of the top entry points for human trafficking in the country with the second highest number of trafficked women. City Council members met with representatives from the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) and the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence on Monday to discuss upcoming initiatives to provide services in aid of sexually exploited victims.

“The sad reality is that this type of sexual exploitation [trafficking] happens every day and it happens here in New York City. Because of the social and psychological complexities of sexual exploitation and the nature of the underground sex industry, it is hard to determine how many victims exist,” said Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras, Chair of the Women’s Issues Committee.

“According to the FBI, this has become a multi-billion dollar criminal enterprise,” said Alexandra Patino, executive director of NYC Family Justice Center in Queens.

Because it is such a “hidden crime,” the city has run campaigns to increase awareness and bring to the public’s attention different services and their locations. In April the second phase of “Let’s Call an End to Human Trafficking,” launched and posters and palm cards featuring everyday people who may be affected by trafficking were distributed.

But sexual exploitation is not something the victims themselves want to be identified with, and thus it’s hard to pinpoint and remedy. The ACS and other similar services have found that in the majority of the cases where victims of sexual exploitation were identified, they came forward for other issues, like assault. Patino says it usually takes multiple visits before the victims are comfortable enough to disclose further information.

Patino says unlike victims of domestic abuse, there aren’t physical signs someone like a beautician could look out for, and there isn’t much an average person can spot to tell if someone is a victim of sexual exploitation.

“Physically you’re not going to see a lot of differences. They’re not going to be dressed a particular way,” Patino said. “Usually what we teach and look for at our centers are things like ‘where are your identity documents? Where do you work? How do you get paid, under what conditions do you get paid, and what’s your salary?’”

She says the victims are usually walking around their neighborhoods, but brainwashed and intimidated by threats both towards them and possibly family members outside the country. In most cases they are not able to access their identity documents.

“There tends to be a connection between that person’s ability to move around, ability to choose what they do, and also their paperwork. For someone who’s here in the U.S. who doesn’t necessarily have a U.S. passport, those identity documents are very, very important,” Patino said.

Jan Flory, the Deputy Commissioner for Child Protection at ACS says there is a link between foster care and sexually exploited youth. But as in the case with adults, their office rarely receives reports of sexual exploitation and it is almost always only uncovered after investigating neglect or abuse.

“In the course of interviewing the family, the parents may disclose behavior on the part of the teen that causes our worker to become suspicious of sexual exploitation” Flory said. “Some of these behaviors include spending money without having an apparent source of income, dressing provocatively, disappearing for lengths of time and returning in different clothing, and exhibiting signs of physical and emotional abuse from a romantic partner.”

In addition to the youths’ disinclination to disclose their sexual exploitation, those unfamiliar with it may dismiss the claim. Flory recalled one case where a girl had told her school counselor she was being sexually exploited, but the counselor did not believe her until she showed her photos that were on the internet.

“But our worker had also been in the home where she was staying and asked a lot of questions and called in a report about her family,” Flory said.

The girl, who Flory calls “Sherry,” had been living with another family who had “taken her in.” The worker had originally been there on a routine home visit because there had been an allegation of a five-year-old in the home, and found that they had taken Sherry in “to help her out,” after she had been thrown out of her home. A report was called in and it was found that the family had been involved in sexual exploitation recruiting.

Both the members of the City Council and the services agreed there was a need to expand their service options. The ACS will be partnering with the Jewish Child Care Association (JCCA) in the upcoming weeks to launch Gateways, an “intensive, specialized residential program for girls ages 12 to 16 who have been victims of commercialized sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking.”

In addition, the Council has partnered with Preventive Services to launch New Beginnings at St. Luke’s—Roosevelt Hospital Center specifically targeted towards youths 12 to 17 and preventing foster care placements of sexually exploited youths.

Flory says services like Girls Educational and Mentoring Service (GEMS) are important victimized youths and preventing a lot of these children, who have mental health problems, from being vulnerable to future exploitation.

“There are many reasons why [victims] do not want to disclose this aspect of their lives, ranging from safety concerns to feeling cared for by the adult or adults who are in reality exploiting them,” Flory said. “Our work with GEMS and our own experiences have taught us … it takes many interventions before the youth is ready to admit the depth of this issue and accept treatment and support.”