By Kayla Hallac, Editor-in-Chief

In 2019, the USA and Puerto Rico had a total of 1,883 human trafficking cases, according to the FBI. That total included the following: 

• 1,607 non-consensual commercial sex acts. 
• 274 cases of involuntary servitude. 
• 708 offenders who were arrested.

While the topic of human trafficking may seem far beyond the Outer Banks, the beach community might have the perfect conditions offenders seek.

“We live in an area with lots of hospitality rooms, which is a factor that can increase the potential for human trafficking,” said Reida Roberts, Dare County Schools Exceptional Children’s Director said. “Traffickers are now moving to smaller areas of states with big cities to help them stay under the radar.”

The North Carolina General Assembly and NC State Board of Education have enacted legislation and policy requiring all educators to receive six hours of professional development in mental health this school year. A portion of this training, entitled the “1,000 Eyes For Schools” campaign, is an in depth hour-long program that provides all school staffs with the information they need to recognize human trafficking and who is at risk.

Administrators and politicians alike knew something needed to be done to prevent the spread of human trafficking at the local level, especially with mental health in the spotlight after COVID-19. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic has brought emotional well-being to the forefront,” Roberts said. “We want our students and teachers to work in safe and healthy places! When someone is in crisis, there’s a renewed commitment to get them help.”

Principal Chuck Lansing agreed with the importance being placed on promoting positivity for students and teachers.

“I think locally we have become more aware of this issue and how it could be really happening in our community, and any time we discover a problem, especially one affecting our students, we want to take steps to fix that problem,” Lansing said. 

While the session is only an hour long, it provides top-notch information allowing staff to recognize warning signs they identify in the school system – and across the world.  The program is especially important because human traffickers often disguise their motives to gain their intended reward. 

“Knowledge is power. Just having an awareness of the signs of a person being trafficked can make a huge difference,” Roberts said. “A person who suspects that a young child is being groomed or an older child is being victimized can notify the proper authority and actually save a life.”

Having knowledge about human trafficking is especially important due to the unique signals. Human trafficking always involves an exchange of something valuable. Because of this, the offender may disguise his or her motives to gain their intended reward. 

“At first the trafficker may be nicer to their victim to gain their trust and make them go along with what they want. As time goes on, they become more controlling and will start telling them they can’t do certain things,” Roberts said. “If the victim does not comply with this, they may become erratic and violent towards their victim.”

 Spanish teacher Nitzia Gale witnessed a real-world example of these signs when she owned a laundromat service in the Philippines. 

“Traffickers are very clever and often offer high-paying jobs, and these offers are attractive to a person that wants to get out of poverty,” Gale said. “Traffickers target not only poor people but also people in search of jobs such as modeling or acting.”

 One day, a young girl came claiming she was not allowed to speak with anyone because her “boss” didn’t allow it. 

 “I found out that she was working for a Saudi family for three years. They did not pay her a penny in three years and held her passport as well,” Gale said. “She was not able to sleep in a bed, she slept on the floor with a blanket. She was malnourished as well. I encouraged her to run away.”

Because the risk factors can be hidden, the training will be especially important so that staff can recognize the issue before it’s too late.

“Now you have a larger mass of adults as teachers – it’s almost like another watch group,” Health Sciences teacher Jennifer Kovacs said.

Lansing agreed, stating it’s important to know what’s occurring within students’ lives inside and outside of school. 

“Many students are not able to articulate what is happening to them, so knowing warning signs allows us to get a head start on helping them,” Lansing said. “I want all of our students to feel safe at school and to trust the adults that we have here. My office is always open, as is every office of each counselor and assistant principal.”

For more information on the 1,000 Eyes Campaign visit https://www.friendtofriend.me/1000-eyes-campaign

Senior Kayla Hallac can be reached at 22hallacka85@daretolearn.org.