It’s a form of modern-day slavery and it could be happening in your town and you wouldn’t even know it.

That was the message shared during a child trafficking forum hosted by the Verde Valley Coalition Against Human Trafficking at the Sedona Public Library on Thursday, Sept. 29.

“As they say, it’s going to take a village — the entire county — in order to work on this together,” VVCAHT member Lynette Jennings said. “That’s what the coalition is all about, gathering all the stakeholders to work together and share ideas. It’s happening in plain sight. It’s happening in this community. We’re not talking New York, L.A. or Phoenix. We’re talking about the Verde Valley. I’m just angry this is happening in my backyard”

The Federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act defines human trafficking as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act where such an act is induced by force, fraud or coercion or in which the person induced to perform such act is under age 18.

Guest speakers at the meeting included Mike Wade of Court Appointed Special Advocates, Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office Det. Chad Shilling and Justin Miller of Training and Resources United to Stop Trafficking project.

Wade said there are currently more than 19,000 children in foster care in Arizona, more than any other state in the country. And in Yavapai County there are between 300 to 350 foster children at any given time. CASA volunteers act as a voice for the children in the court system but in many cases it becomes more than just that.

“Quite often, the CASA is the only constant in that child’s life,” he said. “Once you get involved, you’re going to love these kids.”

But with so many children in the system — and a lack of advocates and adoptive parents — Wade said some do fall through the cracks and end up on the streets.

“All the kids are vulnerable and need our passion and help,” he said.

Shilling, who works in YCSO’s Criminal Investigation Bureau, said prostitution and trafficking continue to increase in the county. And while the YCSO has made several arrests, including 45 prosecutions for sex trafficking, it’s a matter of trying to stay ahead of the problem instead of playing catch up.

“If there is no demand, there will be no supply,” he said. “We stress to the men that this is not alright and that you can’t buy a woman or own a piece of property that’s a human. This whole human trafficking thing is always changing. We can’t just do the same thing over and over and expect things to change.”

Shilling said the average victim is a white female from the ages of 14 to 22. As for the “johns,” he said they have arrested them as young as 17 and as old as 82.

“We’ve found that anyone can be a john — they don’t come from any specific demographic,” he said. “It’s not just criminals who just got out of prison or a specific group of men. It’s everyone.”

According to statistics from VVCAHT:

• The average age a teen entering the sex trade in Arizona is 14 years old, but some are as young as 8 years old.
• 1 out of every 3 teens on the street will be lured into prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home.
• The FBI states that once in prostitution, the average life expectancy of a child is seven years due to homicide and HIV/AIDS.
• 100,000 American children are victims of domestic human trafficking each year in the U.S.
• A victim who is rented for sex acts with 10 different men per night, seven nights a week, for an average of five years would be raped by more than 18,000 johns during the course of victimization.
• The yearly average a sex trafficker makes on one child is $175,000.
• 70 to 90 percent of child victims were sexually abused prior to being trafficked.

“Despite these statistics, we still have police chiefs who say the issue doesn’t exist in their town,” Miller said. “If you have issues like homelessness, you have trafficking. It can happen to your brother, sister, niece, nephew, grandchildren. That’s why it’s our job to get people talking to one another about human trafficking.”

For more information on VVCAHT or to become a volunteer member, contact Jennings at (970) 250-8288.