Human Trafficking on the West Side

human trafficking: modern-day slavery

Definition: According to the US Department of Justice, human trafficking is “the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery. (22 U.S.C. § 7102(9)).” At any age a person can be exploited in different forms by being forced into prostitution, labor, begging, criminality, domestic servitude, marriage, and organ harvesting while being drugged in the process.

Esther’s Definition: An internal and external assault to God’s most precious creation, human being.

Facts: The public statistics captured by various organizations and/or groups regarding human trafficking are chronically under reported. Every 30 secs someone is being trafficked and it denies freedom to over 30 million adults and over 13 million children around the world. The average age a teen enters the sex trade is between 12-14 years of age. Many are runaways and were sexually abused. We have seen on the West Side 9 year old girls being trafficked. We work with pregnant human trafficking victims who fear having prenatal care because they self-medicate with illicit drugs. Our nonjudgmental approach allows us to connect them to Primary Care One for prenatal services.

This criminal industry makes over $150 billion internationally annually and over $32 billion is generated in the United States. The perpetrators rarely get prosecuted. They are members of an elite squad of high ranking officials from judges, attorneys, law enforcement agencies, sport league owners, senators, physicians, pastors, school principals and billionaires from famous corporations fueling this crime against humanity.

No matter where you live, human trafficking is happening nearby or even in your backyard. It exist inside and outside of the United States. It exists in the four corners of Ohio. However on Sullivant Ave, located on the Columbus West Side it has become the epicenter of human and drug trafficking and other types of criminal activities. According to the U.S. Constitution the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in 1865, yet the current number of human trafficking victims is much higher than both the Atlantic Slave Trade and all the death in wars combined.

Human Trafficking effects the Hilltop it is the fastest growing area in Franklin County and accessible to highways. This community is a beautiful mosaic of diverse people; it is the home of indigenous Hispanics, African tribes, and Appalachians. Unfortunately, sexual violence is kept silent in these cultures. There are undocumented women being trafficked and fear calling cops due to their fear of being deported. 1DivineLine2Health seeks a harm-reduction-style approach by meeting the human trafficking victims where they are at in the “trenches” first locally and then abroad.

saving lives at the LOVE drop-in center

Problem: In Columbus there is limited access for mothers with children struggling with substance abuse disorder to receive help. On Sullivant Ave there are womxn who have been brutally murdered by cops, men with and without uniforms. Some of the stories made national headlines. Trans-womxn are more prone to violence than women and there are no safe houses for those who are over 24 years of age. There are womxn who are death and who do they contact when they are violated? In 2020, the Hilltop’s Infant Mortality was 13.6% compared to 6.9 in Franklin County, 7% at the state level and 5.7% at the national average. The numbers are worse when you look at specific ethnic groups. Only in Ohio’s capital an extinct baby kangaroo born in the Columbus zoo has a better life expectancy than a baby born on the Hilltop.

Officials believe gentrification makes Columbus a smart city where economic development is foremost than human development.  Retirees who own property in those areas with fixed incomes are displaced because of high taxes. The working poor are forced to choose between paying rent, utility bills, and purchasing food and health insurance for their family. The Hilltop has the highest crime rates, highest number of abandoned properties of all Columbus neighborhoods. Frequently our Street Sisters are raped and our Trans Womxn are not immune to violence they are prime targets. They come to our Drop-In Center as haven and temporary bandaid to heal their emotional and clean physical wounds. They are grateful for our services as we often hear them say to us we “THANK YOU FOR TREATING ME LIKE A HUMAN.” We see the migration of homeless people from Franklinton and other areas including street sisters struggling with addiction living in the abandominiums that serve as dope, trap and full houses. The migration is moving more west to Grove City and eventually to Hilliard. Leaders need to address the problems where they at instead of hiding it and pushing it to the west.

SOLUTION: The Drop-In Center has become a haven for womxn, their children and trans-womxn. The trained volunteers are trauma informed and responsive. The victims receive services where they live, and at the pace they choose. As of 2020 we are operating the first full-time Drop-In Center in Franklin County. The womxn eat a meal, have their MRSA+abscesses and others wounds cleaned by a nurse.  They can shower and put on clean clothes. They are given condoms and linked to Primary Care One for their medical conditions. Narcan is distributed when available. They choose an outfit from the boutique and participate in art therapy. Womxn ready to go into recovery are escorted by a volunteer. We see an increase of children visiting the Drop-In Center who enjoy coming for the meal and connecting with people who care.
Operating our Drop-In Center is a large undertaking, so collaboration with individuals, grassroots movements and nonprofits is crucial in order to provide the resources womxn need. In 2018 the National Hotline of Human Trafficking reported there were 219 cases in Ohio. Our Love Tribe served 1250 women, 50 children and 12 trans-gender folks on Columbus West Side. In 2020 our Love Bug Street Outreach served 3094 human trafficking victims covering the four corners which was more than twice the people served in 2019. To support our efforts, including our soon-to-come full-time Drop-In Center, please consider donating to us including purchasing items from our Amazon Smiles Account.

RESEARCH: Drop-In Centers are conduits to help remove womxn from their current situation and introduce them to treatment programs. The research on womxn Drop-In Centers that are child friendly and provide individualized care with peer support and focus group had positive outcomes in the community. They were successful in meeting the needs of womxn with high risk behaviors. Prostitution, addiction HIV, Hepatitis C and other type of infections dropped significantly. This type of harm reduction approach contributed to good parenting skills, sobriety, and empowerment and womxn retain their children. Womxn overcame the stigma obtained from hospital health care workers that made them reluctant, worthless, and develop a low self-esteem which diminished their interest to seek addiction treatment. Many of the Drop-In Centers in metropolitan cities that serve our West Side population who use IV, pill popping, and vaping methods to self-medicate had positive outcomes. The Human Trafficking Victims depended on the commitment and dedication of harm reduction service providers. The providers delivered outreach services, counseling, Sexually Transmitted Infection (STIs) services, syringe exchange program (SEP), as well as educational, training and skills programs that all contributed to holistic healing through nonjudgmental approach. Even though there are multiple studies that agrees with the above findings in both rural and urban areas in developing countries Franklin County HAS NOT ONE operating full-time even on the epicenter. Our goal is to be the FIRST ONE at the Epicenter and then expand to the next area, the East Side.

our mission and meaning

The people we serve are not prostitutes; they are destitute people who lack love. They come from all over the U.S. and are homeless and somebody’s child, sibling, or parent. They are human beings who crave a purpose-driven-life, and need compassionate messengers to redirect them to a path of wholeness. Since most of the victims are womxn we call them “Street Sisters.” Our Love tribe has become a Foster Family to those we serve.

The compassionate messengers and generous partners who make up our Love Tribe touch lives on the alleys, streets, homeless camps, and abandoned houses. We provide tangible love by gathering and distributing clothes, hygiene products, condoms, medical supplies, and food. We also provide a warm and safe space in the Love Bug (Red Utility Truck) or Drop-In Center. During the spring and summer we need volunteers to help plant flowers, fruits, and veggies in our Hilltop Butterfly Garden. We need volunteers to assist in the annual 24 hour “Camping In the Hood is Good” event where our children experience a real camping event under the Columbus Blue Sky.

we need your help

1DivineLine2Health is a 501(c)3 public charity. It’s 100% community funded, solution driven and in the trenches. Locally we provide transitional housing to single women and have plans to eventually replicate this model abroad, we need more safe houses for pregnant womxn, transwomxn, and runaway youth. In the future, we hope to deploy Love Bugs to each of the four corners of Columbus to serve and rescue street sisters beyond the West Side.

As a result of our work, we have witnessed countless stories of womxn grateful for our street outreach and Drop-In Center they are sober and out of Columbus. Their haven was the Love Bug and Drop-In Center. You may not be able to spend time in the trenches however, you can still join our Love Tribe. Please support our just cause through volunteering and see the return of investment as we save lives from harm's way. We need your help now.

1DivineLine2Health does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, marital status, or military status, in any of its activities or operations.