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Date: 1/11/2023
EAST LONGMEADOW – On Jan. 11, the East Longmeadow Rotary Club sponsored an event to raise awareness about human trafficking in their own backyard. In February, President-elect Teresa Bendzinski said, they will host a “call to action.”
Annmarie Boulay, Bendzinski’s mother, is the founder and executive director of The Underground New England (UGNE), an organization that bridges faith-based communities with private and public agencies, as well as local, state and federal law enforcement to end sex trafficking and sexual exploitation in New England.
Massachusetts General Law Chapter 265, Section 50 defines human trafficking as to knowingly “recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide or obtain by any means, another person to engage in commercial sexual activity, a sexually-explicit performance or the production of unlawful pornography,” or to financially benefit from these actions. Springfield Police Department Public Information Officer Ryan Walsh said there have been two arrests for human sex trafficking in Springfield in the past five years.
Despite the state’s definition, human trafficking is not always related to crimes of a sexual nature. The federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 defines labor trafficking as “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.” According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, “Worldwide, experts believe there are more situations of labor trafficking than of sex trafficking.”
The UGNE conducts awareness and prevention programs and survivor support services. It was founded in 2012, when Boulay, a pastor, learned about the extent of human trafficking in Connecticut and the wider New England region. After becoming educated on the issue, Boulay reached out to other churches to find a way to help. “How do you just walk by,” she asked rhetorically.
East Longmeadow has had its share of experience with trafficking in the past. In December 2013, three people were arrested in connection with a human sex trafficking operation in which women were being brought from New York to the Feng Health at 611 N. Main St. and two other Massachusetts towns. The owners of Korean Massage Therapy Center, a previous business that operated at the site, faced state and federal charges stemming from sex trafficking investigations in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
At the Jan. 11 awareness event at East Longmeadow High School, experts spoke about warning signs and how to avoid dangerous situations and help others. The organizers also handed out wristbands inscribed with the National Human Trafficking Hotline number.
“Any child is inherently vulnerable,” Boulay told Reminder Publishing.
Human trafficking does not happen the way most people assume, Boulay said. While youth that have run away are at an increased risk, “these are kids who get good grades, participate in sports,” Boulay noted. She said the most common method of trafficking young people involves grooming them online, often through social media. Data from the National Human Trafficking Hotline shows that in 2021, 93 cases of trafficking were identified with a total of 143 victims.
“That device they hold in their hands, the whole world can see,” Boulay said. A trafficker will often pretend to be a teenager, themselves. After a level of trust has been established, Boulay said the trafficker will often ask for an intimate picture. Once the young person sends the photo, the trafficker changes tactics and threatens or coerces the young person by telling them they have committed a crime by disseminating “child pornography,” or that the trafficker will show the photo to family and classmates, Boulay said.
She added, “Then, the kids don’t know how to get out of [the situation].” It should be noted that under the TVPA, a minor inducing a minor into commercial sex is considered trafficking, regardless of whether force, fraud or coercion occurred.
Receiving such a message can be frightening or anxiety inducing, Boulay said, so her organization works to give people agency through education and awareness.
“The Underground’s approach is hope,” Boulay said. “Tell them what’s happening, and then show them how to empower themselves.”
The UGNE also works with adults who have been trafficked. “It doesn’t matter your age,” Boulay said. “The UGNE works to meet people at the point of crisis, help get them out of that crisis and get them on a new path.” The organization provides mentoring and mental health services, safe houses and housing resources, re-education and re-training, medical and dental care, help obtaining licenses and other documents and scholarships to help set people up for future success.
In the past, the East Longmeadow Rotary Club has worked with community groups on a variety of subjects, but Bendzinski said this is the first time she knows of that the club has worked on this type of safety issue. After seeing the public’s surprise when Boulay spoke about human trafficking at the Pleasant View Senior Center in East Longmeadow last year, Bendzinski realized there was little understanding of this issue in East Longmeadow. She said, “I took it and ran with it.”
Having presented the awareness event, the next step is what Bendzinski described as a “call to action. On Feb. 23, with a $4,500 grant from the National Rotary Club, the East Longmeadow Rotary Club and the UGNE will meet with volunteers and members of the public to assemble “outreach bags.” The bags will contain sanitary supplies, mental health and care resources, socks and other comforting items, and will be distributed to at risk youth by the Family Advocacy Center, a Springfield-based social work agency.
Bendzinski is hoping to find more local organizations and agencies to partner with on this issue.
Boulay said people in trafficking situations are open to help. She said, “They want a way out.”
If you or someone you know is in danger from human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1 (888) 373-7888 or text “BEFREE” or “HELP” to 233733. The Underground New England can be reached at 860-242-8996 ext. 102 or by email at TheUndergroundCT@gmail.com. More information can be found at https://theundergroundne.org.