Photo Courtesy of the It Happens Here Facebook Page.
Ashley Yuan participates in the It Happens Here campaign which is in partnership with Street
Ransom, a ministry located in Roanoke, Virginia that provides a safe house for all victims of sex
trafficking in the New River Valley.
Sex Trafficking: an epidemic no one is safe from
Nicole Verdin | nicoleev@vt.edu | 703-508-0454
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Virginia had an
astounding 54 cases of sex trafficking
reported since the beginning of 2017
according to Virginia First, a south-west
Virginia television station.
Sixty year-old Barbara Amaya, a south-west
Virginia native, was trafficked from state to
state for 10 from the time she was 12 to 22.
Since being rescued in 1979 she has been
traveling around the commonwealth to share
her story, raise awareness and speak about
overcoming adversity.
I was thrown out of cars, cut with razors
and even shot, said Amaya. It can happen
to anybody, said Amaya in an interview
with a WFXR reporter in August 2016.
South-west Virginia residents are no
exception to this modern day slave trade. A
story of a blonde woman roaming the 1-81
corridor following college-aged females to
their apartments and claiming she was raped
in order to coax them into comfort so she
can sell them into sex trafficking has taken
the social media scene by storm according to
Kristen Hornbaker, a local native.
According to James Madison Universitys
chapter of Kappa Alpha Thetas Facebook
page, there have been several claims
referring to the blonde woman from the
week March 12 2017 made by several
students at James Madison University,
Virginia Tech and Radford University
following their return from spring break.
Several stories of various encounters have
been published on Facebook groups and
local forums.
The Radford Police Department took to their
Facebook page on March 14, to assure their
community they were aware of the matter
and investigating all claims made, while also
reminding them to look out for one another.
Above all else, they urged people to report
any suspicious behavior.
My first instinct, I was scared. We live in a
scary world but during the day I do feel safe
on campus said Erin Biger, a sophomore at
Radford University said in regards to her
safety on campus according to The Tartan.
Several of Bigers friends have made
postings on Facebook of being followed by
a suspicious man and women off the 1-81
corridor. One even said that these two
perpetrators showed up at her apartment.
At Radford University, there was an
investigation of an incident that occurred
with the blonde- woman involving a
member of the Alpha Sigma Alpha (ASA)
sorority on March 12.
The members of ASA have begun a
campaign in order to raise awareness of this
global epidemic and to remind girls of their
surroundings. Caroline Haase, recent alumni
of ASA at Radford, said she is proud of the
initiative her sisters are making and will
continue to support her sisters from her new
home in Richmond, Virginia where sex
trafficking cases have also been reported as
of 2016 according to the Dispatch Times.
Virginia Tech Students have also taken a
stand against human slavery. In September
2016, Jordan White ran for homecoming
king with the slogan It Happens Here, to
raise awareness for those who were sold into
trafficking.
Nationally, 35 percent more cases of human
slavery, were reported last year in the U.S.,
according to the Polaris Project, a non profit
organization that works to combat modern
slavery. Virginias numbers have been
following that trend as the commonwealth
remains a hotspot for gangs trafficking
victims into sex and work labor.
Keith Farmer is the director of Straight
Street, a youth center located in Roanoke
Virginia. In 2015, Straight Street opened
Street Ransom a shelter that serves as a
resource to victims that were rescued from
the sex industry. The program addressed the
sexual exploitation of youth in the Roanoke
Valley.
The Department of Homeland Security has
started the Blue Campaign which partners
with local governments and law
enforcement agencies among various states.
Virginia has recently joined forces in order
to heighten awareness of common indicators
that typically correlate with those who have
been sold into trafficking.
Photo Courtesy of the Department of Homeland
Security.
Members of the Department of Homeland
Security display a pocket guide for the Blue
Campaign which identifies common indicators of
According to The Department of Homeland
Security, Virginia Department of
Transportation has begun putting up hotline
numbers to report and incidents on major
highway signs where young women are
typically sold or smuggled. According to
Street Ransom, because of the strict laws on
sex trafficking in Maryland and the District
of Columbia, the traffickers are moving to
Virginia. Interstate 81 has become a highly Photo Courtesy of TedTalk.org
traveled route for these perpetrators and Barbara Amaya giving her TEDtalk titled
made Virginia the fifteenth most prevalent Human Trafficking A compilation
state for this crime.
Amaya is now an advocate, author and
Media coverage has played an important speaker. She has moved to Alexandria,
role in spreading victims stories. If it wasnt Virginia to help lobby for legislation and
for a local news report, Amaya claims she even began giving TEDtalks related to this
wouldnt have known that this crime is what issue.
had happened to her. Hopefully, the more
light that is shed on the issue the more lives We dont think we are all victims. Amaya
will be saved. says in one of her speeches. But every time
I help someone, I think that this happened
for a reason.