In Virginia race, human trafficking must be more than a talking point

In the home stretch of Virginia’s gubernatorial race, each candidate is making last-ditch efforts to reiterate their stance on key issues.

Republican candidate for governor, Ed Gillespie, plans to cut taxes and create jobs, while Democrat Ralph Northam wants to prioritize the economy, schools, and the environment. Democrat candidate for lieutenant governor, Justin Fairfax, also wants to grow the economy, invest in schools and career training, while Republican Jill Vogel plans to prioritize the enforcement of immigration laws and defend the Second Amendment.

{mosads}One similarity across these candidates is that they all claim to be tough on crime. In particular, each candidate or their camp has made it a point to campaign on how they will prioritize efforts to combat human trafficking in Virginia.

Human trafficking has become a go-to issue for many politicians in recent years, considering that most people, regardless of partisanship, are against modern-day slavery. However, few politicians have made any measurable impact to combat human trafficking. Instead, they use the topic and stories of incidents to benefit themselves, a phenomenon termed secondary exploitation.  

Fairfax especially should know the human toll of talking platitudes without taking action. He has repeatedly bragged about his work to combat trafficking locally, having served on the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force for a few years. At first blush, that may look like an accomplishment, but anti-trafficking efforts haven’t been particularly effective in Virginia.

Case in point, in 2013 the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force heralded the conviction and sentencing of a massage parlor in Annandale called Peach Therapy, which was accused of human trafficking. The owner was ultimately sentenced to a few years in prison and a couple hundred thousand dollar fine, but several months later a woman in hot pants and heavy makeup greeted prospective patrons at the door. In fact, to this day there is still a business in that exact same location with the same phone number, posting advertisements in the women-for-men dating section of sites known to be used by traffickers and commercial sex consumers.

Also consider that, in Virginia, there was a 168 percent increase in child trafficking cases from 2012 to 2016 and the state ranks 15th in reported cases nationally.

Or, take the fact that in 2015, I rescued a sex trafficking victim in front of Springfield Mall. She had been trafficked on and off for nearly 20 years, at one point once being shot at point-blank range in the leg, requiring a vascular transfusion. Her trafficker was in Virginia on pre-trial release for a malicious wounding case against another woman. The charges were eventually dropped when Fairfax County prosecutors couldn’t locate the victim.

While this trafficker was met with impunity, his victim couldn’t get into some residential placement centers in Virginia because of long waitlists. As a result, she bounced from short-term facility to short-term facility and experienced being erroneously criminalized and denied services post “rescue.”

Unfortunately, these outcomes are all too common.

Politicians need to stop using human trafficking in their campaigns, unless they have actually demonstrated a measurable impact or plan to do something about this scourge. This issue should not be treated as a stepping-stone for election. While combating human trafficking is bipartisan and voter-friendly, touting nothing more than symbolic victories for public accolade is secondarily exploitive.

In a recent ad, Justin Fairfax asserts that, “Virginia’s families need more results, not more politics.” I think we all agree, but it is time for politicians to practice what they preach.

Constituents who care about human trafficking should ask Fairfax how many of the victims helped during his tenure on the task force were revictimized or arrested post rescue? Ask him how many arrested human traffickers had their charges dropped or got off with slap-on-the-hand sentences? I tried to ask, but haven’t heard back from his office. I anticipate that the reality may dishearten and surprise most Virginians.

Regardless of the attention they receive, politicians truly committed to combating human trafficking need to meet with law enforcement, businesses, and experts in the field to find evidence-based ways to actually combat human trafficking by increasing the successful prosecution of offenders, accessibility of services to victims, and preventing new crimes.

Dr. Kimberly Mehlman-Orozco holds a Ph.D. in Criminology, Law and Society from George Mason University, with an expertise in human trafficking. She currently serves as a human trafficking expert witness for criminal cases and is the author of “Hidden in Plain Sight: America’s Slaves of the New Millennium.” Dr. Mehlman-Orozco’s writing can be found in The Washington Post, Forbes, The Crime Report, The Houston Chronicle, The Baltimore Sun, The Diplomatic Courier, among other media.