Survivors of human trafficking find lifeline in task force set up to help them break free – Charleston Post Courier

For human trafficking survivors, getting away isnt simple.

As difficult as escaping can be, advocates say rebuilding in the Palmetto State requires victims to navigate the justice system, housing, employment and health care, all without a single statewide agency designed to help.

The Tri-County Human Trafficking Task Force brings together a near-exhaustive list of Lowcountry resources,from churches to police departments,to assist survivors as they try to rebuild stable lives. But without steady funding or a full-time staff, its often been difficult to get quick, thorough help to survivors already overwhelmed by the complexities of finding stability and safety.

Everyone has their own lane, were just trying to build an interstate, said Brooke Burris, co-chairwoman of the task force. Weve all been saying it was a crisis cluster, and now its a crisis coordination.

The task force gets a handful of new clients each month, and on average staffers spend about a year helping each one get health care, housing, employment and community support.

Most clients are women who had been forced into sex work, but the task force also helps men and labor trafficking victims. Many are homeless or transient, leaders said, making it difficult to connect them with long-term support.

A solution, staffers hope, will come by the end of 2021: a physical office housed by The Formation Project, where it will be easy for the task forces slew of partners to meet and help survivors. The task force's subcommittees handle child and adult services, community education, law enforcement and legal issues.

Having a neutral location for law enforcement interviews, or to get therapy or work on a resume or do laundry, thats going to be a game-changer, said Kat Wehunt, who survived trafficking herself and went on to found The Formation Project. Weve been providing wraparound services, but were kind of running it into the ground. Were sending (survivors) to over 20 places just to get their basic needs met.

Ideally, community support would allow the service to have a residential center with some health care services beyond the year that the grant covers.

Even the humblest of setups an office near other social services where survivors can meet with law enforcement and advocates without travel and uncertainty would help the task force as it guides survivors on their journey through the system.

One call came from a Spartanburg hospital, where staff were treating a woman in her 30s who had been trafficked. Without money, education or an ID and wary of tipping off a trafficker who worked in government she couldnt get help from any of the local shelters.

We had to start from scratch, Wehunt said. I would say we made maybe 50 referrals for that one client, we used everything we could think of.

The woman is doing well now, Wehunt said. Shes got her own apartment, will soon start a job and volunteer work, and is working with law enforcement to prosecute her trafficker. But it took three months to stabilize the woman, a period that could have disheartened other survivors.

And while it took time and creativity to find the woman services, Burris was grateful they managed to do so at all. For some survivors with specific needs, she said, theyve had to look beyond the Palmetto States borders, such as sending young victims to Georgia for immediate trauma care.

Even that long process is an improvement for law officers who try to help victims navigate piecemeal services while working their cases, said Lauren Knapp, the counter threat project coordinator for the Charleston County Department of Public Safety, a member of the task forces law enforcement subcommittee and co-chairwoman.

Usually it was the police officer hand-holding all these individuals, Knapp said. Any case that Ive seen move anywhere is because a law enforcement agent went above and beyond. Theyre doing more than theyve been asked, but to actually operationalize that, officers need a resource.

To get help in South Carolina, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888, or text HELP or INFO to 233733. Donations for the task forces shelter initiative can go through theformationproject.org/donate.

Reach Sara Coello at 843-937-5705 and follow her on Twitter @smlcoello.

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Survivors of human trafficking find lifeline in task force set up to help them break free - Charleston Post Courier