Slavery in Prince George's County?

Slavery in Prince George's County?

By Aileen Kroll

On the third Monday of every month, Greenbelters (and those in the know) expand their hearts, minds and souls through the offerings of Reel and Meal, the free monthly social justice, environmental and animal rights film series at the New Deal Café presented by Beaverdam Creek Watershed Watch Group, Green Vegan Networking and Prince George's County Peace and Justice Coalition. 

Co-sponsored by Greenbelt CARES, July’s showing was FLE$H: Bought and Sold in the U.S. A searing account of sex and labor trafficking across the United States. FLE$H exposes a world where girls and women are kidnapped, tortured and enslaved.  Through carefully orchestrated displays of deceit and manipulation, girls, averaging twelve to fourteen years of age, become the targets of this large-scale criminal industrial operation.

Representatives from organizations serving those entrapped by the modern-day slave trade attended the showing and stayed until 10:00 pm providing additional background information and responding to audience queries. Human trafficking and slavery, we learned, exists in Prince George's County and Greenbelt is not exempt.

Humans trafficked for labor also include domestic workers brought over from abroad; nail salon workers, nannies and many in the so-called ‘massage parlor’ sector. Boys also fall victim to enslavement and Jeanne Allert, founder of Samaritan Women, informed us that there are no designated shelters for boys in Maryland.

The evening’s facilitators included: Jeanne Allert, Founder and Director of The Samaritan Women; Tina Bigdeli, MSW, Maryland Outreach & Direct Services Program Manager, FAIR Girls; Glenda Bullock-Willis, Crisis Counselor at Greenbelt CARES; Corporeal Robert Lauer, Police Supervisor/Homeland Security Coordinator for the City of Greenbelt; and Kathryn Maslanka, Development Associate, Polaris Project.

To learn more about how this growing issue is impacting our town, county, state and region, check out the excellent resources below:

:

www.marylandcoalition.org: “40 Things You Can Do To Prevent/Eliminate Human Slavery”

www.safehouseofhope.org: “Together We Can Change Lives”

www.polarisproject.org: “How Does Your State Rate on Human Trafficking Laws in 2012?’

www.fleshthemovie.org: More information on this movie and what we can do to help

Most importantly, if you see something, say something. The Human Trafficking Hotline # is 888-373-7888 - lock the number into your cell phone. Your anonymous phone call can save a life.