Photo via Selah Freedom
Gabrielle Triplett is not only a dedicated volunteer with Selah Freedom; she’s also a survivor and program graduate.
Selah Freedom is an anti-human trafficking nonprofit organization. This organization helps victims of human trafficking in the Tampa area build new lives away from pimps, prostitution, and addiction.
As a survivor, Triplett immensely relates to the young women and men looking to escape the criminal underworld of trafficking.
Gabrielle Triplett’s Story
Triplett said her family moved to Florida from Maryland when she was 12 or 13. But her journey into the world of trafficking and prostitution started in her 20s after an addiction resulted in her being a person without a home.
“My trafficker approached me as someone who was interested in me,” she said, noting his promises of safety and protection.
After being trafficked, Triplett said she felt like many others she helps now.
“I just considered myself a prostitute. I put myself in this situation,” she said.
One day, her trafficker found out she planned to break free of his grips. She had a harrowing escape.
“He shot me in the chest,” Triplett said. “It sparked a police investigation.”
Time with Selah Freedom
She later graduated from Selah’s program for trafficking survivors. This program helps survivors stay sober, earn GED degrees, and potentially earn an associates degree. Additionally, the program assists with everything from jobs and housing to medical and dental care, as well as obtaining driver’s licenses.
Triplett joined Selah in 2019. She serves as an awareness and volunteer advocate. She said her experiences help her connect with other survivors seeking help.
“It’s been very helpful. They see me. They see there is hope,” she said.
Triplett said awareness of programs and support structures are key to convincing victims there is a way out. There are plenty of wider misnomers and misconceptions, including that victims are frequently kidnapped.
Photo via Pxhere
Tampa Bay Human Trafficking on the Rise
Tim McClintick, a sergeant with the St. Petersburg Police Department, supervises the agency’s Human Exploitation and Trafficking Unit.
He said sex and forced labor trafficking are both on the rise.
“It is definitely on the rise locally,” McClintick said.
Human trafficking is a $150 billion criminal industry worldwide with the sex trade making up $99 billion of that total, according to the International Labor Organization.
Kassy Brewer, awareness development coordinator for Selah in Pinellas County, spoke about the local level of this issue. Brewer said the Tampa-St. Petersburg metro area is top in the state for human sex trafficking.
Florida is the third worst U.S. state for the issue. Only California and Texas have more cases and reported victims, according to Wisevoter research.
“Tampa has more strip clubs than Las Vegas,” Brewer said.
Vulnerability in Victims
McClintick said social media allows pimps and traffickers to target more potential victims. Florida’s affordable housing shortage pushed more people into homelessness situations that could make them vulnerable to trafficking.
“It cuts across all ages, all races, all genders,” he said.
Sex trafficking doesn’t only affect women and girls, but also young men and boys. McClintick explained how trafficking rings often move prostitutes and escorts between the Tampa Bay area, Orlando, Miami, and Jacksonville. Sometimes, they follow big sporting events, such as the Super Bowl, or large conventions.
Triplett says that model is common.
“My trafficker would take me to different areas,” Triplett recalled. “We might be in Tampa for a weekend, for a week or two before moving to another city.”
McClintick said drug dealers will sometimes take advantage of a person’s addiction. They turn monetary debts into exchanges of sex for substances at first. Then, it transitions into prostitution.
“We have people who will take advantage of that,” he said.
The Tampa Bay Human Trafficking Crisis: “Difficult to Hear”
Most trafficked prostitutes are ages 18 to 40 — though there are underage sex and child pornography rings in the darkest corners of the internet and society, McClintick said.
“We’ve mostly dealt with local victims,” he said.
He noted that some of the forced labor trafficking relates to agricultural work.
Triplett said most victims she worked with were born in the U.S. and the Department of Justice report that 63% of those trafficked domestically are American citizens.
Officials at Selah see underage victims and recently upped their awareness outreach at local schools. They hope to expand their assistance efforts in Pinellas County.
“They can be as young as 6 to 9 years old — which is difficult to hear,” Brewer said.
Brewer pointed out how sex traffickers also target girls ages 12 to 14 via social media.
Police and anti-trafficking groups estimate as many 500,000 “predators” are online at any time with half of victims of “online exploitation” are 12 to 15 years old.
One in seven kids report an online predator approached them.
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Underreported, Unrecognized
Human trafficking — including its prostitution and other sexual components — is also underreported.
McClintick said societal stigmas, past traumas, and criminal records, as well as intimidation and threats by traffickers, dissuades many victims from coming forward.
A significant number of trafficking victims faced abuse, sometimes sexual, and traumatic situations during their childhoods, and have been in foster care. Others have past criminal records related to their substance addictions or prostitution and other crimes they were compelled to commit.
McClintick said some migrants entering the U.S. are forced into sex and other work to pay off debts to smugglers.
Traffickers and pimps will also threaten to notify immigration agencies to have victims deported, or that if they talk to police they will get arrested for their crimes.
All that discourages victims from coming forward, along with direct threats of violence and other retribution.
“A lot of times victims go unrecognized,” McClintick said. “One of the hardest things is to get accurate numbers behind trafficking.”
Police and advocates say it is especially difficult for male victims to come forward because of gender and societal stigmas. Most programs, including housing, focus on women and girls.
Those helping victims — including at Selah and other nonprofits — also face challenges with providing housing for survivors.
Brewer said there is an acute shortage of beds, specifically for those who have escaped prostitution and other trafficking locally, statewide, and nationally. She said in 2022, there were slightly more than 1,600 beds nationally dedicated for trafficking survivors.
Photo by Monroe Roark
What’s Happening in Gulfport?
In Gulfport, Police Chief Robert Vincent said human trafficking hasn’t been an issue within the city.
“I think that is primarily because Gulfport does not have the type of service industry or housing that would attract those seeking trafficking opportunities,” Vincent said.
Gulfport Police Department officers receive training, as per State requirements. Florida law also requires training for workers in tourism and other service industries.
Vincent said there are a number of awareness courses online.
“This is good information for anyone with friends or family who work in any type of service industry,” Vincent said.
Heightened Tampa Bay Human Trafficking Awareness
Awareness efforts extend to Tampa International Airport and St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport. Both airports partner with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection to better spot trafficking.
“TPA regularly trains its employees — in particular, its Police and Guest Experience teams, which interact with the public the most — to look for signs of human trafficking. We often have heightened awareness, including extra signage, during events such as the 2021 Super Bowl,” said Emily Nipps, communications director at the Tampa International Airport.
Michelle Routh, public relations director at St. Pete-Clearwater Airport, said TSA talked to airport tenants about the issue in January as part of Human Trafficking Awareness month and that signs offering information for those seeking help are posted in airport restrooms.
She also suggests people put the national human trafficking hotline number (1-888-373-7888) into their phones, so they can report suspicious activity quickly.
According to TSA, agency personnel train annually to help spot trafficking at airport checkpoints. Suspicious activity is then reported to local police and federal law enforcement.
A TSA awareness program — dubbed the Blue Campaign — also includes an indicator card showing some of the signs that some are being trafficked or part of a prostitution ring. Those include physical signs such as bruising, deference to another person, and lacking their own identification, travel documents, or money.
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