As I have said on this blog before, I have been blessed in a sense, with a simpler more basic linear line in which to travel in my grief over being apart here on Earth from Daniel. Daniel passed quickly, being completely well and joyous one moment, and then absent from his body in the next. As diligently as we worked to get him back with CPR, and as diligently as the sheriff's office and the medical helicopter staff worked, we had no moments where we got him back for even a fraction of a second. He was gone as if called in that moment, by God. As I have also said, as much as I miss my Dan-man, I am fully appreciative of God's gentle taking of him, and that he was always God's to call, and on "glorious rental" to me and to our family.
Lately, I have become aware that a huge number of children, savvy young adults, young mothers, and others of all walks of life, ethnicities, and educational backgrounds have disappeared without a trace, never to be found. Exact numbers are not quite available, and they change daily, but in the US a couple of hundred thousand people are missing, and many of them are never found. Some of these people may have been murdered, and often when this is the case, their bodies are located in pretty short order, but many of them, are simply never heard from again. A few may commit suicide, but again, these bodies should eventually be found. A few, may simply run away, perhaps the victim of a mental health issue, a fugue, or a medical issue in which they don't quite remember who they are or how to get home. This still leaves an AWFUL LOT of people who are missing and completely unaccounted for, often for many years,
Sometimes, they are found, located and returned, as is the case with Elizabeth Smart, Jaycee Dugard, and others.
According to a myriad of articles written in the past couple of years, human trafficking occurs not only with children, and pretty blond teens, but opportunistically with people of all ethnicities, different sexes, different appearances and with different educations. Although many of them are snatched ultimately to be used as sex workers, many of them have been incorporated into organized crime in a variety of capacities. Apparently, a child or person is opportunistically snatched, and drugged for a period of time, often in an environment in which they are reprogrammed in a sense. The world they knew is so far and disconnected from where they are now, that many of them begin life as a new person. Even when they are freed or unsupervised sufficiently to call family for help, many of them never do, as they believe to do so might endanger their families.
If this can occur when we least expect, and occurs when our children are vulnerable, or have had a celebratory drink with friends, then this is profoundly disturbing to us as parents, and as human beings. I wanted to profile this issue and try to talk about some strategies in order to spread some awareness and perhaps locate some of these missing individuals.
This is a paper on : "Hiding in Plain Sight: A Practical Guide to Identifying Human Trafficking Victims in the US. By: Prof. Donna M. Hughes
http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/hiding_in_plain_sight.pdf
Books on this subject:
- A Crime So Monstrous: A Shocking Exposé of Modern-Day Sex Slavery, Human Trafficking and Urban Child Markets
- By E. Benjamin Skinner, 2008
- The Trafficking of Persons: National and International Responses
- By Kimberly A. Mccabe, 2008
- Measuring Human Trafficking: Complexities and Pitfalls
- Edited by Ernesto Ugo Savona and Sonia Stefanizzi, 2007
- Smuggling and Trafficking in Human Beings: All Roads Lead to America
- By Sheldon Zhang, 2007
- The War on Human Trafficking: U.S. Policy Assessed
- By Anthony M DeStefano, 2007
- Marshaling Every Resource: State and Local Responses to Human Trafficking
- Edited by Dessislava Dimitrova, 2006
- Selling Olga: Stories of Human Trafficking and Resistance
- By Louisa Waugh, 2006
My goal here is simple. We need to be more attentive to the possibility that someone we know or with whom we have contact has been snatched, or has been relocated for some purpose. Be alert to the faces of those who are missing, and be alert to things you see in your travels. Report things that seem odd. Sometimes, your report coupled with the report of others will result in a person finding their way home.
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| This is Lauren Spierer. She has been missing from Bloomington, Indiana, since June, 2011 Contact the Bloomington, Illinois Police Department with any information.. |
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| This is Luc Joly Duroche. He has been missing since March, 2011 from North Bay, Ontario, Canada. | North Bay police (705) 476-8477 Or Ontario Provincial Police (888) 310-1133 |
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