As Christmas and Hanukah approach next week we are entering another one of the busiest travel times of the year. And that presents challenges when it comes to human trafficking.
As Christmas and Hanukkah approach next week, we are entering another one of the busiest travel times of the year. And that presents challenges when it comes to human trafficking--especially in South Florida, home to two international airports and ports.
The hustle and bustle of the holiday makes it easier for criminals to target victims anywhere from airports to shopping centers, even on social media.
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"I mean, people come here to have a good time. And unfortunately, part of having a good time sometimes includes trafficking," said Amanda Altman, CEO of Kristi House.
"There is so much travel. I mean, we're on track this year to break records for traveling in the United States, and it's so easy to move people around. People are really busy with themselves, with their families, not paying so much attention to what's going on around them," she said.
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Altman is asking the public to be mindful while traveling for the holidays, especially here in South Florida, which has in the past hosted events that draw large crowds, like Super Bowl 2020 and Formula 1 racing.
"You see a lot of trafficking happening around those events, because, again, people are here to have fun. They come here, and they have a lot of money to spend. And they also think, you know, a little bit of the Vegas mentality, what happens in Miami stays in Miami," said Altman.
Kristi House is Miami-Dade’s nationally accredited children advocacy center that coordinates cases involving child sex abuse and human trafficking.
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"We provide victims advocacy services. We do prevention education," said Altman.
There are red flags people can look out for while out and about or traveling. The main one: if somebody doesn’t have control over their own documents.
"Somebody, particularly an older child or a young adult, or an adult who should be able to have control over their passports, their airline tickets, their driver's licenses, but you see that they're relying on another adult to handle all of those things, and they're not able to access those things. That's a really big red flag," Altman said.
Something else to point out, a rise in incidents of kids being solicited online. While kids are on holiday break, they’re not in school, so they’re online even more.
"And so they're vulnerable to people who are looking to prey on a child. We have to be really careful about that. Parents are busy with the holidays, getting ready for the holidays. Maybe they're not paying as much attention to what their kids are doing," Altman said.
Kristi House reminds parents to pay close attention to what their kids are doing online. The FBI reports that one in five children who log on to an electronic device will be sexually solicited online.
