Human Trafficking Information

Due to several recent high profile news incidents involving human trafficking the Tama County Emergency Management Agency & Tama County 911 Services would like to pass on the following information:

Human trafficking is a crime and a human rights abuse involving commercial sexual exploitation of a child or the use of force, coercion or fraud to compel someone into labor servitude or commercial sexual exploitation. Thousands of men, women, and children are trafficked in the United States every year. Human trafficking can occur in any state and can involve any income level.
Victims often find themselves in a foreign country and cannot speak the language. Traffickers often take away the victims’ travel and identity documents and tell victims that if they attempt to escape, the victims or their families back home will be harmed or that the vic-tims’ families will assume the debt. We recognize that men, women and children that are encountered in brothels, sweat shops, massage parlors, agricultural fields and other labor markets may be forced or coerced into those situations and potentially are trafficking victims.

Report Human Trafficking, 24 Hours

• To report suspicious activity to law enforcement:
  866-347-2423
• To reach a non-governmental organization:
  National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline
  888-3737-888
• To report any suspicious activity of any kind in Tama County (non-emergency):
• 641-484-3760

Trafficking Indicators

• Is the victim in possession of identification and travel documents; if not, who has control of the documents?
• Was the victim coached on what to say to law enforcement and immigration officials?
• Was the victim recruited for one purpose and forced to engage in some other job?
• Is the victim’s salary being garnished to pay off a smuggling fee? (Paying off a smuggling fee alone is not considered trafficking.)
• Was the victim forced to perform sexual acts?
• Does the victim have freedom of movement?
• Has the victim or family been threatened with harm if the victim attempts to escape?
• Has the victim been threatened with deportation or law enforcement action?
• Has the victim been harmed or deprived of food, water, sleep, medical care or other life necessities?
• Can the victim freely contact friends or family?
• Is the victim a juvenile engaged in commercial sex?
• Is the victim allowed to socialize or attend religious services?

Anti-Trafficking Successes

Sex Traffickers Sentenced to 40 years

In Los Angeles, 15 women and girls were forced by a family-run human trafficking organization into prostitution. As a result of the investigation, seven Guatemalan and two Mexican nationals were found guilty of conspiracy, sex trafficking of children by force, and importation and harboring of illegal aliens for purposes of prostitution and sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from two to 40 years depending on their level of involvement.

Traffickers Arrested in Hair Braiding Salon

In Newark, 20 young women and girls from Togo and Ghana were brought to the United States through a visa scheme, forced to work in hair braiding salons under appalling conditions, and subject to physical abuse and threats. Six traffickers from Togo entered guilty pleas or were convicted by a jury for offenses involving forced labor, conspiracy, document servitude, visa fraud, transportation of a minor across state lines to engage in criminal sexual activity, and alien smuggling.

Domestic Servitude Victim Rescued on Long Island

On Long Island, ICE agents arrested a husband and wife as a result of a domestic servitude investigation. The couple was alleged to have held two Indonesian females in their residence where they were forced to perform domestic services. They were found guilty by a jury of forced labor, peonage, document servitude, harboring aliens and conspiracy. The wife was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment and her husband was sentenced to three years. The jury ordered that their residence, valued at $1.5 million, be criminally forfeited in order to assist with victim restitution.

For more information on human trafficking or on any crime please contact Tama County Dispatch at: 641-484-3760

For more information on emergency preparedness or training please contact the Tama County Emergency Management Agency at: 641-484-6261