Bought And Sold
Sex Trafficking in Omaha, NE
Who buys and rapes a young girl for pleasure? Drugs her and controls her every move, threatens her and locks her up, forcefully pries open her legs, and beats her when she disobeys. She didn’t even know such a thing was possible. I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable but this is a very uncomfortable reality that needs to be addressed NOW. There is a silent and inhumane crime much more near to you than you’d think. A hushed crime that slowly but surely sucks the innocence, personality, and life out of a person. And I’m sorry to tell you the atrocious details behind the scenes of this crime but it is important that you know so that we can act against it and put a stop to it. Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry in the globe. Women and children are trafficked for sex. Men, women, and children are trafficked for labor and more. The major problem with human trafficking is that people are unaware of it, young and vulnerable girls are forced into it, and it is very difficult to expose the crime and help recover survivors.
The people of Omaha are unaware.
In one month there are 800 people on sale for sex in Nebraska. 600 of these people were in Omaha. So who is trafficked and how? Women and teen girls are the main targets for sex. And no they are not always abducted and taken off the streets but rather they are lured in, manipulated, coerced, and tricked. Ramon Heredia, an omaha man, manipulated two young girls at a rural football game in nebraska into his home one night. The girls were fifteen and thirteen. He told them he had a nice house and there are no rules. After the fun and games were over they were raped by several men within two days. We all know about this evil deed but we pretend it’s not there. That it doesn’t exist or could never affect us personally. But we pass by the action every day. Have you ever considered who participates in the crime? Who partakes in it? It could be a family member, a coworker, your boss, teachers, politicians, athletes, and even legal authorities. It effects you in more ways than you’d think.
Young and vulnerable girls are forced into commercial sex.
Here are a few survivor stories. One specifically from Omaha.
Candace was tricked by her boyfriend into sex trafficking. The moment he got her alone in Chicago all hell broke loose in her life. “I was continuously being raped, mentally, and physically abused and starting to lose all hope.” she said in an interview.
Katrina Owens was forced into commercial sex exploitation by a man she met while working at a restaurant. He pursued her in a relationship then trafficked her in Atlanta and New York for two years. “It just got to the point where the fear of staying became greater than the fear of leaving, and I literally had to fight my way out.” she said. Katrina was sixteen when she was trafficked.
Christine O’Donnell stumbled upon a man’s tattoo account on social media and started talking to him over the phone. A fun trip to Las Vegas with Shye, the trafficker, turned left toward a Motel 6 where she was forced to have sex with countless men every day for at least two years. “I spent my eighteenth birthday locked up in a hotel room,” she said in an interview only months after she escaped. Christine was sixteen when she was trafficked.
Rachel grew up in Omaha. She was six years old when her sisters boyfriend raped her and started trafficking her to friends for money.”Drugs and alcohol became part of the picture at a very young age, you know, like seven or eight years old. Cocaine mostly and alcohol,” Rachel explained in an interview. She was beaten and threatened whenever she would not cooperate. "It’s really not that hard to buy and sell a human being in the state of nebraska.” she said at the end of her interview with Mike Tobias, a reporter.
“For the state fair we had three ladies brought on motorcycles brom Daytona beach, Florida into the community and locked in hotels for multiple days. The gentlemen that brought them there brought multiple men in, blindfolded the girls, and forced them to have sex. The girls couldn’t even tell me who they had sex with, how many times, etc.” says a worker for Sasa Crisis Center in Hastings, Nebraska.
Notice how the targets are young and vulnerable girls that don’t have a clue what is going on. Youth these days need to be more aware of the action and able to identify signs and qualities of traffickers before it’s too late. This is only four in hundreds of girls that have experienced the horrors of sex slavery.
Human trafficking is a very hard crime to track down and even harder to recover from as a victim.
Like the drug trade, sex trafficking is very hidden but it is everywhere. It’s hidden in plain sight! Grocery stores, parking lots, basketball games, concerts, hotels, schools, parties, clubs, businesses, and neighborhoods. Omaha, NE, is especially targeted by this sick crime. Why, you may ask? I-80 west runs across the country and straight through omaha. While shopping online for sex you would see that a girl will be in Lincoln one week and the next week she is in Council Bluffs, Iowa. I-80 west is traffickers main route and a hit for business. Because trafficking is not well known it is very hard to get victims out of it. Victims of sex trafficking are typically so damaged from the abuse that they don’t open up about it or no one believes them. In more cases the victim is not allowed to be in public without close supervision of their pimps. They are threatened and beaten if they try to escape or bring attention to themselves.
Nebraska is stepping in to stop this atrocious act.
We will not put up with this sick crime and we are doing everything we can to stop it. But we need your help! In order to expose this horrific crime we all need to have the mentality of an undercover spy. As an individual there is a lot you can do to help stop sex trafficking. You can get involved, watch for and report signs of trafficking, and spread the word.
Get involved.
Laws in nebraska have been passed to make human trafficking illegal and have increased the penalty for those convicted of the crime. Does this always hinder a traffickers evil intentions? Of course not! This bus’ is big with the bucks! Like any other market where there is a high demand, supply follows. By making these laws we hope to steer traffickers away from Omaha. To get involved you can work with a local religious community that is taking action or support a victim service provider such as Rejuvenating Women and Women's Center for Advancement in Omaha. They are always looking for volunteers and could use all the help they can get.
Always be on the alert.
As residents of Omaha it is important to always be aware of your surroundings everywhere you go and to report suspicious behavior. Like I said, human trafficking is going on right in front of you. Here are some signs to look for-
1) Look for evidence of physical abuse on the victim. Cuts, bruises, and burns are clues that the victim has been abused by their pimp. Bruises would be around the neck, ankles, and wrists.
2) Take note of inappropriate and sexual apparel or mismatched clothing like scarves, t-shirts, sunglasses, and hoods can be used to try to keep the victim hidden.
3) Try to pick up on anxious or timid behavior. The victim may seem to be in a hurry, keep their head down, avoid eye contact, and conversation. Cautious traffickers typically do all the talking for the victim.
4) Look for obvious effects of drugs and alcohol. They may sway, stumble, have a hard time keeping their head up, or opening their eyes.
5) Be aware of the presence of a controlling figure. Traffickers never let the victim out of their sight. They tend to pose as bosses, business partners, parents, and boyfriends when and if people ask questions.
6) Resist the urge to interfere. I know you may want to step in and take matters into your own hands but that puts your own safety at risk as well as the victims. Take very detailed mental notes of what you see and report it immediately.
If you have serious suspicions call the human trafficking hotline at
1-888-373-7888.
Or you can call 911. Specify your exact location and exact signs that made you suspicious. An officer will be sent out to asses the situation.
The most influential thing you can do to help is spread the word.
Communication is key. Yes, I understand that this is a very uncomfortable topic to discuss. Believe me this is news to me as well! But people are more likely to intervene to stop the trafficking as public awareness increases. As long as more people know it will be easier to catch human trafficking in our midst. This way we can all have a share in putting an end to it. Kids and teens need to be educated as well. It’s important to teach students young and old the signs of trafficking, what to look for, and how to get help.
As you already know, the horrors of human trafficking can be tremendous and hard to bare but there are ways around it. In fact there are ways to end it. So this is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world and now in Nebraska? Well the fact alone that we are aware of it stunts its growth. The fact that we are getting involved prevents it from growing roots into the fresh Nebraska soil. Because we are all mentally trained undercover spy’s no one will get away with it. I hope you are feeling encouraged and enlightened about this topic. My hope is that you become more comfortable with spreading the word and discussing it with those around you. It’s not as distressing of a discussion when you consider the comfort it will bring to girls that have known the horrors or sex trafficking first hand. So what are your first steps? Who do you know has yet to take a stand in the fight against sex trafficking in the city we call Homaha?
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Citations
https://www.wikihow.com/Spot-Human-Trafficking
https://www.rejuvenatingwomen.com/a-survivors-story/
http://fox42kptm.com/archive/sex-trafficking-in-nebraska
http://nebraska.tv/news/local/sex-for-sale-in-nebraska-human-trafficking-hidden-in-plain-sight