Got Faith Ministry hosts sex trafficking discussion with Tigerlili Resources
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By Steven Spencer
Got Faith Ministry hosted Tigerlili Resources and speaker Meredith Seithel to discuss the issues surrounding sex trafficking last week.
Seithel started the outreach program in 2017 to expose the realities of human trafficking and support victims in recovery.
Through various videos and recorded interviews, Seithel explained how trafficking happens in rural America through family trafficking and social media.
“It’s very quiet out here,” Seithel said about human trafficking in rural areas. “We can feel pretty insulated from vicious crimes, but our children are not immune to it. Our kids are given a tablet from the time they’re tiny, to occupy time and they know how to work apps by the time they’re three and four years old. They can be messing around on their phone and you have no idea they’re being groomed right there. Nowhere is immune to this. It might not happen openly, but they’re fishing for their next victims.”
Sheriff Mike Ringhausen also spoke at the event discussing the issue and work that the Illinois Sheriffs Association has done with Truckers Against Trafficking.
“It’s truck drivers that have gone through their program and have been trained to look for things when they’re out here in the trucks,” Ringhausen. “They will literally order up a girl and somebody will get that girl off the street and transport her truck to truck to truck to get her to the location.”
One topic discussed was the dependence that girls can develop on their captors and the importance of getting them in a safe location for recovery.
“They can become reliant on their captors,” Ringhausen said. “They provide a roof over her head, clothes on her back, the food she ate, so they go along with what has to be done for survival.”
The dependency can also make things difficult for law enforcement to provide help. Ringhausen used an example of a girl who had been stopped multiple times by law enforcement, but gave a false name to protect herself from any repercussions from her captors.
With the necessity of a safe place for victims, Seithel has started the House of Rahab which offers emergency placement for survivors of sexual exploitation and trafficking.
“They come in at their worst,” Seithel said. “Straight off the street, straight out of jail, straight out the hospital. Sometimes they’re still high, we’ve done detoxes at the house. We work with a lot of other organizations all over the country to help provide them with more healing options. We let them choose and put their life back in their own hands.”
