News : Iowa ranked one of the worst states for sex trafficking in Iowa

At a presentation for the local Kiwanis noon luncheon, Nick Mullnix spoke on behalf of the organization that is starting up called, Iowa House of Refuge. The House of Refuge, the nonprofit is developing from an idea created by an organization in Idaho that works to rescue victims of human trafficking or sex trafficking. When they looked at the numbers, Iowa is worse than Idaho in the industry. 

Mullnix shared with the group that the United States moved from 20th in the world for trafficking to 1st place with over 100,000 people trafficked every day in the United States.

Unfortunately, all that can seemingly be done is to bring awareness and protect yourself and your children. They have been working with law enforcement and crisis centers to find help for the victims, but resources are limited. 

There are only two states that rank higher than an F for trafficking and that is Florida and Texas, everyone else is failing. One of the problems that Iowa faces is that all of the major traffic corridors that cross the state.  On our western border is Interstate 29 that travels along the Iowa and Nebraska border. Another route, Interstate 35 goes north and south through Des Moines, in eastern Iowa we have 80, 380 and 20 all and on the southern border of Benton County we have Highway 30 which is also used for trafficking. 

Traffickers can make $250,000 per person for however long the person lives. Using the interstates and highways, traffickers own homes, not always in a seedy part of the neighborhood, but in the better neighborhoods. The first day that the organization was up and running and had launched their number, 319-800-5012 the had a call, from Newhall from a victim of traffickers. The person had been bounced around to various small towns in the area.

So yes, it's happening in Benton County. 

Traffickers use online sites where ads are listed. Sometimes it's listing something for sale, and you click on it and will find trafficking information in the comments or descriptions. 

In some branches of law enforcement, they are able to use a computer program to track this online activity. Within a 30 day span, Cedar Rapids, had 6,900 ads placed by sex trafficers. In Waterloo during the same 30 days, there were 4,762 such ads. The software used to track this is also able to track how many ads a person places as well as the routes that they are traveling. They found that the Interstates are the preferred route of travel for traffickers. 

The problem with helping to rehabilitate someone who has been trafficked is the lack of help. Usually, drugs are involved to keep the person compliant to the trafficker and no doubt to deal with all the trauma. 

If they get arrested for drugs they will only have a minimum of three days sometimes 30 days in a treatment center. After that, they usually go back to their abusers because they don't have any structure in their lives to fall back on and  have been disconnected from their family.

In Boise, Idaho, Mullnix explained that they have 10 safe houses. All under the name of private citizens to avoid being tracked by the traffickers. Mullnix said that the goal is to begin opening safe houses to rescue the women in these situations in hopes that they can be reunited with family and begin their lives again.  

86% of trafficking is perpetuated by parents, grandparents, relatives, friends, boyfriends and girlfriends. It is even happening in schools he said where boyfriends are trafficking their girlfriends barricading them in bathrooms while other boys are attacking them. 

Right now the organization only has enough resources to help with awareness, but they want to open safe houses to rescue victims. In the whole of the United States, Mullnix said that there are only 22 houses available to help the thousands of victims. The structure of a safe house includes food, shelter and a place for them to just be safe. Counselors check in with the residents of the home daily to assess any needs. 

Someone in the Kiwanis meeting asked how young are the people that traffickers look for. Mullnix shared the following story. 

A woman who was nine months pregnant was brought into a "trap house." (A trap house is a house where victims are brought in and usually tied up to be used.) As soon as they listed the pregnant woman online, there was a line waiting for her. He said that this was not a house in a run-down neighborhood, but a new house, in a new neighborhood.

The woman delivered her baby at the house, and fortunately ran into issues, so she along with her baby was taken to a hospital after delivery. The baby tested positive for drugs so it was taken away. Later it was discovered that the baby was set to be sold...before it was even born.  He said the ages are from newborns to when the person is no longer any use. One of the profiles listed for Waterloo had 12 different women available.

The victims are not all women and girls, but half are men and boys. 

Mullnix had warnings for parents. He suggested not allowing the children to watch channels like YouTube, unattended. The comments section are often used to solicit or start up conversations with children. SnapChat, Instagram, TikTok basically all social media programs are being used to traffic children. The average interactions before asking for pictures was two. Something simple like, "hello, you sound nice," is followed by, "send me your picture."

Any program that uses a chat feature, will have traffickers lurking.

He explained that the TikTok app can reverse the camera tracking what the child or the adult is doing all day long, or at night. They can see what car you have, where your house is and use that to prey on your kids or flat out kidnap them. They can use the camera so that they can describe your house or car to your kids leading kids on if they decide to kidnap them. As for Mullnix, he has removed any online access on his devices for his family in a way of protecting them. 

Another of the issues that Mullnix hopes to change is to change the thinking about the victims of trafficking. Often the women are labeled as prostitutes rather than the victims that they are. They don't keep any of the money that is brought in. 

The group reached out to motels in Cedar Rapids and Waterloo in an attempt to provide free training to spot human traffickers, all refused training. It's suspected because that's where their money comes from. To find a list of motels that are state approved and have had the appropriate training to spot traffickers, check this website. (Both the motels in Vinton and Urbana have had training.) The schools, city and county use the list to find hotels. Mullnix also recommends that even if you are at a "safe" hotel, not to trust your children out of your sight at the pool or anywhere else. 

While it's an area with very few resources for help, the organization is hoping to begin to build a base of support and to eventually open a safe house for victims of trafficking. They also seek groups that they can speak to in hopes of educating the public of what is going on around us. 

If you would like to reach out to the organization, you can go to the Iowa House of Hope Facebook page. At least follow the page to see what's happening, and share it among your friends and family. 

Most of all, be careful, be aware of your surroundings, be aware of what your kids are doing online. Realize, in just two short messages, they could be talking to a trafficker.