‘Dignity bags’ aimed at helping potential trafficking victims

In recognition of National Human Trafficking Awareness Month in January, the Flathead Valley Human Trafficking Task Force is specifically looking to raise awareness among those in the community who are vulnerable to targeting by human traffickers.

That’s why the task force, funded through Soroptimist International of Whitefish, has started providing “dignity bags” at the Flathead County Detention Center as an option for incarcerated people when they are on their way out the door. The bags include basic necessities such as a toothbrush and washcloth, plus a list of resources to help prevent involvement with human trafficking.

Diane Yarus, a member of the task force and Soroptimist International, said the group provides the bags for released prisoners “so that they’re ready to go out in the world.”

When they’re in the jail, Yarus explained, “They’re kind of sitting ducks.”

Traffickers often target incarcerated populations, even making contact with the individuals while they are in the jail in order to connect with them once they’re released. Since jail rosters are publicly available online, inmates are especially vulnerable to having their information fall into the wrong hands.

Traffickers are known to use this information to post bail for their targets and pick them up upon release. Other times, recently released individuals, particularly women, fall prey to trafficking because they don’t have a job or a place to stay immediately after they get out.

“Nobody deserves to be exploited that way,” Yarus stressed.

She and her colleagues realized they might be able to curb this problem at the source when they saw a video from The Guardian that investigated the way traffickers zero in on incarcerated victims.

In the past, the task force had given dignity bags to law enforcement officers so officers could hand them out to people they encountered around the valley. But Yarus said the video helped them see how the resource bags could have a direct effect if they were available at the jail. This past fall, the task force got together with jail officials to get the bags into the right hands.

The bags, which are optional to recipients leaving the jail, provide information about resources such as addiction counseling, the Flathead Warming Center and the National Human Trafficking Resource Center’s hotline. They also include necessities like personal care items, nonperishable food and a coupon to Flathead Industries.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the bags also have hand sanitizer and disposable masks. Yarus said they’d like to switch to reusable masks if anyone in the community donates cloth face coverings to the project.

Yarus added the task force is also looking to expand the offerings available at the jail. In particular, she hopes to offer warm clothes for people who become incarcerated in the summertime and get released months later, without adequate clothing for the season.

But she stressed Soroptimist International needs financial support in order to stock the bags and additional resources. She urged community members to donate to the effort.

“A lot of these folks are down and out,” she explained. “If we really want people to come back into our communities and give them a chance to be contributing members, this is not the path we want them to take right away. If we turn our back on them…then they’re on their own.”

She pointed out the need is especially great right now because law enforcement agencies have seen exploitation increasing, particularly online, due to the rise in online education brought on by the pandemic.

“Not all of sexual exploitation is trafficking, but a lot of it can lead to trafficking,” Yarus said. Lately, underaged individuals have been targeted to share information and photos of themselves with online exploiters. Selling photos of people who are underage qualifies as trafficking, Yarus clarified.

There also seems to be a disturbing rise in what’s considered “familial trafficking,” which often involves a family member targeting a relative in order to finance a drug addiction. She advised community members to be on the lookout for this kind of suspicious solicitation. Human trafficking is not always conducted through a typical syndicated criminal network, she pointed out.

To donate to the dignity bag project, checks can be sent to Soroptimist International of Whitefish, with Task Force in the memo line, at P.O. Box 1843, Whitefish, MT 59937.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at 758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.