Georgia Focus - Rescuing Hope

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Welcome to Georgia Focus. I'm John Clark on the Georgia
News Network. Every two minutes, evil strips innocence from a
child and sells him or her into slavery for sex,
not in a third world country, but in the United
States of America, in Georgia. Before you take another breath,
the next victim will be tricked or taken from a
family by a prophet hungry criminal. We're going to talk

(00:31):
about that today with Susan Norris, the founder of Rescuing Hope.
So Rescuing Hope, I went on the Unholy Tour Tim Eccles,
who was the perfect service commissioner, and I heard you
speak on the bus and that was very interested in that.
How did you get involved with this?

Speaker 2 (00:48):
So I was working in student ministry with a middle school.
The ministry is Fellowship of Christian Athletes and they met
it the school before the school day starts. And I
had done that for four years. And when I was
stepping away from that, I learned that the entry age,

(01:10):
the statistic that was being bounced around said that the
average age of a student who was being sexually exploited
was between the ages of twelve and fourteen, and that
was the demographic I just spent four and a half
years with. So I'm a mother, I'm an educator, and

(01:31):
I'm female. That gives me the license to dig deeper
than the FBI. And so I decided I was going
to jump in and see what I could learn about
this because that demographic lived under my roof. And it
really started off as this mama bear trying to figure
out how to keep my own children safe.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
Well that's amazing, and so you've now started and you've
written a book called Rescuing Hope, and you'd speak out
and speak and everything else. What do you talk about
in speeches?

Speaker 2 (02:02):
So when we started Rescuing Hope, i'd done this work
for about six years by myself and decided it was
bigger than me and I needed to start a nonprofit
and we really focus in the lane of education because
I have a master's in education. So I talked from
kindergarten through college in North Carolina, and I started looking

(02:26):
at who needs to know that doesn't know this information. Obviously,
the students need to know because they're sitting ducks if
they don't know this really happens. So we started a
program called Play It Safe, where we go into schools
and we talk with students understanding their frontal lobes not
fully developed to make wise long range choices. So we

(02:50):
have to help build a scaffolding for them to hang
this information on and then reach back where they can
start matching, because children start matching as young as three
years old. And then I looked at the data and
what was it telling us? And what the data tells
is it used to come from Georgia Cares now that

(03:13):
no longer exists. So we go to the Children's Advocacy
Center of Georgia and their data tells us that of
the minor victims of trafficking that are domestic, that ninety
percent of them are attending school when they're being groomed, recruited,
or lured. So what that tells me as a teacher

(03:35):
is I need teachers to know what to look for
that demonstrate it's that grooming process. I need administrators and
counselors and social workers, but I also need the people
that the kids look at as invisible people. They're the
people they don't have to talk to and they're just
around them, like custodians and cafeteria workers and even bus drivers.

(03:58):
All of those people are seeing of trafficking, they just
don't know it yet, so we go in and teach
them and give them a new set of lenses. And
then there was a study done around twenty fourteen that
revealed that eighty seven point eight percent of victims went
in to an urgent care, to a women's center, or

(04:20):
to an emergency department for some type of medical assistance
while they were being trafficked, So we knew they would
be demonstrating signs and indicators of being a trafficking victim.
So we took a training that a colleague had developed
a while back, and then we sat down with survivors

(04:41):
and got more intel and then developed diagnosis traffic that
we do in those areas, and it's been certified by
Georgia Nurses Association in the well Star Hospital Corporation, so
we work in partnership. We've done stuff with the Georgia
Public Health and other hospitals have brought us in and

(05:04):
then I'm post certified by the State of Georgia to
train law enforcement, and I'm also certified by ADLST to
do a national training for law enforcement. And we don't
go in and deal with statue and code because that's
something they know. But we talk with them about a

(05:25):
trafficking victim and how does that victim present, how does
that victim respond to them? We really get into some
brain science about victim centered and trauma informed. So we're
trying to teach these officers to learn how to assist

(05:47):
the victim, to map them to safety instead of as
a threat. Because a trafficker has told all of them
all along that the law enforcement are against.

Speaker 1 (05:57):
Them, and most of them start in school when they're
in school, in high school, middle school, what do you
talk to people about there? Because I would think the
schools would be the place they start, and is that
what they start? Where they start.

Speaker 2 (06:13):
When you say where they starting with recruiting, a trafficker
is going to sell anyone that they can because they
don't see people as a person. They see them as
a widget to earn money, goods, or services. So the
thing that tells us that middle school age demographic into
early high school is where we're seeing a lot of

(06:35):
grimming and recruiting. And that's just simply because of the
appetite of the purchasers. They are requiring younger and younger
and younger. So as their appetite shift and change, then
the traffickers are going to go out and meet that
demand by finding the supply. So yes, they definitely are

(07:00):
really good at manipulating and communicating with young people. Because
today elementary students have a cell phone a smartphone, and
I always tell parents that the moment that you give
your children a device that gives them access to the world,
it also gives the world access to your child.

Speaker 1 (07:23):
In school. What are they doing to entice them to
get them? I know they user phones and use your internet,
but do they have people like plugged in to help
try to get them back to them or how do
they get them involved.

Speaker 2 (07:41):
It's very simple. They know what they're looking for, and
they're looking for vulnerable children, and vulnerable children tend to
overshare information online and so that's how they work. They
don't necessarily go into the school building. Most of it
is done in the areas where kids spend most of

(08:01):
their time, which is on a gaming system, on an
app of some sort. They talk with their thumbs instead
of talking with their mouths typically, so they start paying
attention and children over share and because of everybody who
have been discovered on YouTube and things like that, they
will all want their fifteen minutes of fame. They want

(08:23):
to be an influencer at ten years old, and so
they start allowing anyone to follow them, like them, friend them.
And so we go in and talk about some safety
measures that they can put in place to keep them safe.

Speaker 1 (08:39):
And then you talked about working with the emergency rooms
or the urgent cares, and when they come in for
treatment for whatever reason, coal flu, whatever you talk about,
you talk to them about looking for it. Then what
do they see in the emergency carecater centers.

Speaker 2 (08:57):
Well, we can't really discuss that actual indicators that we
tell them to look for because unfortunately we know that
anytime we present traffickers could be listening. But there are
some very specific indicators that we ask them to look for.
And then once they think that they have determined enough

(09:18):
information to where they feel like it may strongly be
a victim, then they have a medical protocol that they
put into play to get that individual to safety.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
You probably risk you a lot of people from that situation.

Speaker 2 (09:31):
Well, our organization is not typically an exit strategy organization.
We train other people and then they partner with those
that are in place. If it is a minor then
law enforcement assist with that, and if it is an adult,
then there's Freedom Collective and other organizations that have rescue

(09:53):
teams that will go out. Because if it's an adult,
you don't have to report anything as a mandat Tory
reporter like you wit as a minor said. The adult
has to make that decision for themselves. And the sad
thing about that is very few victims will self identify
as a victim early on. Sometimes it takes consistent compassion

(10:18):
and encouragement and people showing that they care. But if
they cannot get them to self identify where they would
make that phone call and get assistants. They at least
know where there is a safe person who's looking to
help them.

Speaker 1 (10:32):
Is it in their case or is their life really
good with the trafficker or they think it's good with
a trafficker because they give them things and they keep
them and oh you can't can get away from you,
You've got to stay with me, things like that. Is
that that play into it? Yes?

Speaker 2 (10:49):
And no, okay, their life is not really good right
at all. Movies like Pretty Women make people think that
it's glamorous and it's all these fancy parties and it's
you know, great gifts and stuff. The trafficker's not going
to spend money on a victim if it doesn't benefit
him or her. So they'll pay for them to get

(11:13):
their nails done because that makes their product look better.
They will pay to get their hair done or to
buy them a nice outfit because that escalates the value
and the marketability of their product. They're not going to
do something that maybe the victim would choose that wouldn't

(11:34):
benefit the trafficker. That's that's not how they're going to operate.
So a lot of students that miners that are in
the sex trade that are runaways or they are latchkey children,
which some people refer to call they're even some people

(11:54):
that call them throwaways, and I hate that term, but
these are young people, people that are not as heavily monitored.
And it's in many cases it's not a choice. It's
not that parents don't care, but if you're in a
single parent household and that individual has to work a job,

(12:16):
sometimes two or three jobs, there may be situations where
that child is left unsupervised, and unsupervised doesn't even necessarily
mean that you're not in the same building with them.
You could be at home working remotely, but if they
are left with their devices, they can communicate with people

(12:37):
and you're not aware of it. So you know, a
trafficker's going to spend a tile and make a young
lady or a young man think that where they're going
is better. They're going to spend this hotel of how
life's going to be great. They're going to glamorize what's happening.
But it's not glamorous to have to have sex with people.

(13:00):
I have to ten to fifteen times a night, and
you don't get to say no, and you don't get
to pick who it is or where you go, or
what they can or can't do to you.

Speaker 1 (13:11):
And what do you teach law enforcement?

Speaker 2 (13:13):
In the classes that you teach them, we focus on
victims center trauma informed care. How to identify someone that
is very likely a victim, and how to question them
and find out information that they need, but to do
it in a way where a victim does not feel
that they're threatened or that they're going to be arrested

(13:35):
or harmed by being compliant and sharing the information that
law enforcement needs.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
Because I guess that would be a fear of theirs
I'm going to be arrested, I'm going to be taken away.
But the law enforcement is there to do their job
of getting the trafficker. That's kind of tough. That's pretty tough.

Speaker 2 (13:59):
It's hard. A lot of times law enforcement can get
a bad rap, and you know, there's a rotten apple
and every bunch, just like there are in your profession
and mine and everywhere you look. No profession has that
one hundred percent of great people doing the job. But
the vast majority of law enforcement that I've had the

(14:21):
privilege of meeting, they have big hearts and they're there
because they want to help. Many of them are fathers
and mothers, and some are even grandparents and our aunts
and uncles. So when they're working with these individuals are
looking for them. They definitely are seeing, this could be

(14:43):
my child. Because this is not a respector of persons.
It doesn't just impact children who come from single parent homes.
It doesn't just impact kids that live in poverty. Although
we know that systemic issues make them more vulnerable, they're
not the only ones. The very first young lady that

(15:03):
I ever served came from a dual parent household that
was upper middle class, and she was a straight a
student and she played violin in the church choir. I mean,
she was a great kid by all standards. She was
America's sweetheart. She just simply shared some information with someone

(15:28):
she shouldn't have. Then that individual got her trust where
she didn't really need to be trusting this individual, and
the next thing she knew, she was being trafficked.

Speaker 1 (15:40):
What are some of the signs of people listening to
the radio that should be looking for because this is
all over Georgia, in every county in Georgia, just where
this is at, So what's hunt.

Speaker 2 (15:50):
Yeah, one of the things that you can look for
is is someone dressed unseasonable for the situation. If they're
in skin be clothing and it's thirty two degrees outside
and they have no coat, that should get your attention.
If a young boy or young girl is with someone

(16:13):
that is substantially older and they do not appear to
be related, then you need to pay attention. If someone's
getting handsy and touching parts of the body that they
have no business touching, even if they do look like
their family, then you know that's a concern and we

(16:34):
just strongly encourage that people call the Georgia Coalition and
Human Trafficking Hotline number and just share what they know.
You don't have to be an expert in this. You
just simply see something and say something, because there are
experts that can look into things and can get to

(16:57):
the bottom of it.

Speaker 1 (16:58):
Because it is here in Atlanta and it was huge,
and you have the problem here in Atlanta and Savannah
and Augusta and so forth. But it's in the small
towns in Georgia.

Speaker 2 (17:10):
Absolutely, absolutely it is. I mean we I remember when
I first saw a case that came up where someone
was trafficked in Dublin, Georgia, which is a little bitty
rural town. I mean, no slamming Dublin, Georgia. I'm sure
it's lovely if you live there. But because it's tiny

(17:32):
and some think it's a sleepy town, they think, well,
nothing's gonna happen there, But it can happen anywhere. So
I always say, if it can happen in Dublin, Georgia,
it can happen anything.

Speaker 1 (17:44):
That's right, that's right.

Speaker 2 (17:45):
A lot of people that live up in the mountains
and these small towns l J Blue Ridge, Blairsville, Young Harris,
they think, well, we're removed from the city, so this
is not happening here. But it takes nothing for a
trafficker to rent a cabin in these lovely vacation destinations

(18:07):
and set up a pop up brothel. They don't have security,
They don't necessarily even have security cameras because renters aren't
going to want to come into your house if you've
got if you're watching them all the time, So it
makes it very easy for a trafficker to come in,
rent a house, have people coming in and running a

(18:31):
brothel for a weekend.

Speaker 1 (18:32):
That's amazing. What about when they kept they get these
girls or boys and they take them to another country?
Does that happen every now and then too?

Speaker 2 (18:42):
What we do see is that they can be taken
to another country, But we see the vast majority of
the trafficking happening in the United States. It's US citizens
buying US citizens or sex facts that most statistics that
we have come across indicate that at least eighty percent

(19:07):
of the victims are American citizen.

Speaker 1 (19:09):
Okay, now you have a book, talk about it and
what's in it? We have a copyright here risking hope. Yes,
talk about this book.

Speaker 2 (19:19):
So that's really how I started this work as a
mom trying to figure out what was going on. I
was connected to a detective who understood what I was
searching for and the why. So he started connecting me
with survivors and families whose daughters were still missing, and

(19:45):
so I interviewed them and I was just talking with them.
I would buy them a meal, have them talk with me,
told them all at the beginning the end goal is
to try and create a tool that can help other students.
And then he called one day and he said, hey, Susan,
I have a pimp for you. And I said, well,

(20:07):
I'm not looking for a job. He said, no, for
the book. So I sat with this guy who had
trafficked for thirty three years, and he had had his
life turned around. He was no longer involved in that,
he was not in jail. He was actually working in

(20:29):
tandem with some organizations that had rescue centers for girls
and was looking for the miners because he knew how
to look and what to look for and helping law
enforcement retrieve them and get them back into recovery. Said
they could get back to their families. And then I
sat with drug dealers who had dealt before I talked

(20:54):
with basically everyone I could talk with at the time
to just gain At that point in time, I had
not talked with the purchaser. I have since speken with
the purchaser, and so I really wanted this book to
be as authentic as possible. I didn't want to over

(21:15):
glamorize it. I wasn't looking for a New York Times bestseller.
I was looking to create a tool for students to
put in their hands that would help them be safe.
And so there's no one victim whose story is told
from cover to cover in that book. I plucked different

(21:37):
scenarios from different young ladies because all of their traffickers
were still out there. I didn't want to put their
life in danger. So I created Hope, and it's a
double meaning, Yes, we're looking for the girl Hope, but
also the victims of trafficking have really lost all hope
of ever having anyone care for them, lost hope for

(22:00):
being able to get out of this. They're just it's
like they're hollow inside until they finally encounter someone who
is going to believe in them, support them, and encourage them.
So we released it on New Year's Eve twenty twelve.
And since then we have published and sold almost twenty

(22:23):
thousand copies.

Speaker 1 (22:25):
That's good, and it's available. Rescuing Hope is available on
the website you have.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
It's available on our website, on Amazon, on Barnes and
Noble books a million, any place where you would normally
buy books, you can get a copy of it.

Speaker 1 (22:40):
And what if somebody wants to hear have you come
speak to them, they should go to what website tech
that's easy.

Speaker 2 (22:45):
If someone wants to come and have us come in
and speak or provide a training, all they need to
do is email Haley Price. That's h A. L. E.
Y at Rescuing Hoope dot com and then Haley will
take down their information and she has a series of
questions and things she'll ask so that we're understanding exactly

(23:07):
what they need. We do have some set programs that
we do, but we've also done someone else's where we
customize for a particular audience and then once we figure
out what they want and what they need, then she'll
let them know. You know what needs to happen in

(23:27):
order to bring us in.

Speaker 1 (23:29):
And to donate, you can do that as well. And
also we'll be up volunteers.

Speaker 2 (23:33):
So if they want to volunteer, they would also email
Hayley and just let them know they'll have to have
a background, TRUCKI confidentiality, waiver all of that, and then
she will get them in our volunteer pool. If they
want to donate, they can do that at Rescuing Hope
on our website. We have a donate button, or they

(23:56):
can mail a check to the address that's on that site.
They can also send money to us via Venmo at
Rescuing Hope. And we have a gala coming up August second.
It'll be at the Cob Galleria, and we love when
new people come and learn more about us and get involved.

(24:16):
Tickets will go on sale. You can get those at
our website, which is Rescuing Hoope dot com. You know,
we need all players on deck. You know, this is
not going to go away because of Rescuing Hope, are
because of Freedom Collective, or for Sarah or any of
these other great organizations that are out there Atlanta Redemption, Inc.

(24:40):
But if we all link arms and the public comes
on board and really helps us by supporting the nonprofits,
sewing into the work that we're doing, and also reporting
what they see, then hopefully we can push trafficking out
of the state of Georgia. I know our first Lady,
Marty Camp, likes to say she wants to make Georgia

(25:01):
the hardest place to traffic in the United States.

Speaker 1 (25:04):
Thank you for what you doing, Susan, Thank you so much,
Thank you very much. That's Susan Norris, the founder of
Rescuing Hope. You can find out more about them at
Rescuing Hope dot com. If you are someone you know
needs help, call now eight six six three six three
four eight four two. That's eight six six three six
three four eight four two. For the Georgia Coalition to

(25:25):
Combat Human Trafficking. If you have questions or comments on
today's program, you can email me John Clark at Georgeannewsnetwork
dot com. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you next
week right here in your local radio station on Georgia Focus.