November 2, 2024 // Diocese

Event at St. Jude Raises Awareness of Human Trafficking

Clare Hildebrandt

Reporter

“Think back to when you were coming of age,” Cameron Shackelford told the crowd. “You were trying to figure out who you were and, in many situations, wanted to feel special.”

It is this desire that human traffickers manipulate, as traffickers are willing to give attention to those who are starved of it, Shackelford said during an event hosted by St. Jude Catholic Church in Fort Wayne on Thursday, October 25. The goal of the event was to raise awareness of human trafficking and how to identify it in the community. Around 90 individuals met in Thaddeus Hall to listen to Shackelford, Allen County Safe Place Coordinator of the YMCA of Greater Fort Wayne, who shared his experiences working with vulnerable teens.

“[At the YMCA], we help all the way from bullying to suicidal ideation to human trafficking,” he told Today’s Catholic. 

He frequently encounters youth suffering from drug addiction, mental health issues, and even homelessness.

“The youth that I deal with are often habitual runaways,” Shackelford said. “The problem with that is sometimes they’re looked at as criminals, when in reality, they just want to find some form of love and stability.”

According to YMCA statistics, there are around 2,000 homeless teens in the Fort Wayne area, living in cars, shelters, and sleeping on neighbors’ couches.

The sobering truth is that these young people, ridden with hardship, are targeted by the trafficking industry.

What is Trafficking?

“Typically, we think it happens fast: A white van comes up, and they kidnap you. Then, they take you to an undisclosed location,” Shackelford explained. “But in reality, it happens much more slowly. A lot of the time, there are no chains or beatings.”

In his presentation, Shackelford defined trafficking as the “use of force, threat of force, fraud, or coercion to compel a person into any form of work or service against their will,” with the intention to exploit.

In order to do so, traffickers slowly build trust with their targets.

Shackelford shared an example of a young woman caught in the trafficking industry. Her trafficker seemed to be her friend, spending time with her on the weekends. It was not until six months into their relationship that the trafficker tried to convince the young woman to perform sexual acts for profit.

“It was a six-month investment into her life, and this was actually in Indiana,” Shackelford said.

Need to Know

Fort Wayne is a hot spot for trafficking because of its close proximity to major U.S. cities, as Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati are all hubs for human trafficking.

Shackelford gave examples of businesses and industries that are frequently meet-up spots for traffickers, including massage parlors, the hospitality industry, construction, and the foster care system.

But brick-and-mortar companies aren’t the only places teens are solicited; social media is also a common place where teens are roped into being trafficked.

“Sometimes it’s a modeling agency and they comment on social media posts and say: ‘Hey, we really like your photos. We want to fly you out here. We’ll talk to your parents.’ They go the whole nine yards, and when they go out there, it’s not what they thought it would be,” Shackelford told Today’s Catholic.

In Labor Trafficking, employers take advantage of vulnerable financial situations, Shackelford said at Thaddeus Hall.

“There are ads for servers in New York with your housing wages covered. What they do not tell you is that when you arrive, your housing wages are put into the amount of wages that you’ve earned throughout the day. And so you can’t earn enough to get out of the situation,” Shackelford explained.

“These traffickers operate like any other Fortune 500 company. They have conferences where they compare notes. They even have books and literature,” Shackelford said. “In order to be more informed on this topic, you should know their mindset. A lot of it is based on misogyny, especially for sex trafficking, and labor trafficking is more just businesses taking advantage of people in those vulnerable situations,” Shackelford said.

Signs of Human Trafficking

Among youths being trafficked, indicating signs might include many absences from school, mental health issues, large amounts of cash without having steady employment, physical injuries, and even new tattoos.

“At certain clubs, they’ll have them wear a certain type of jewelry or brand them with tattoos so you know they can be purchased. Like, ‘All the girls with the butterfly tattoo are girls we can purchase,’” Shackelford shared.

To recognize trafficking at business locations, look for stray poker chips or marbles. During the time of purchase, clients will exchange marbles for sexual services so funds cannot be traced if the police were to arrive.

How to Help

Shackelford gave a simple yet effective answer on how to help these teens.

“It’s not so much about providing an answer at that moment,” Shackelford said. “As long as they know you are someone who they can reach out to in the future, that is more than enough in their life.”

Those wanting to help may not be able to convince someone to leave the industry, but by building trust and being a steady figure in their lives, they can open up and receive healing.

Sheila McGarry, a member of the Social Action Committee at St. Jude, told Today’s Catholic that “the first step is education.” 

Attending different events and making your voice heard in the community is a way to combat these practices.

“One of the spiritual works of mercy is to ransom the captive, so we try to do educational events and service projects,” McGarry said.

If you or someone you know is being trafficked, or you suspect that they are victims of trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888. For aid from Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, call 260-422-5625.

Clare Hildebrandt is a reporter for Today’s Catholic.