A local expert said a sex trafficking sting in Chattanooga last week serves as a reminder that minors in the Upper Cumberland region are often being sex trafficked to larger cities.
WillowBend Farms CEO Sarah McKinnis said her non-profit works with sex trafficking survivors. McKinnis said minors, particularly between the ages of 12-14 years old, are groomed mostly online. McKinnis said sex traffickers tend to groom minors in outlying areas and bring them to larger cities like Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Nashville.
“When you’ve got you know, communities, those outlying communities, and you have youth that are you know, being groomed, being recruited, then you do see sometimes that, that transportation is taking place or it will move to a larger city,” McKinnis said.
McKinnis said the Upper Cumberland is vulnerable to sex trafficking due to the region’s demographics.
“For the first few years that we were in operation, I answered a question, ‘does it really happen here?’” McKinnis said. “And unfortunately, it is, you know. So, not being afraid to have the conversation. Not being afraid to really look at you know, what are the gaps. How do we feel in, so that no victims fall through the cracks? And they receive the services that they need, and that victims are identified quicker. That they receive services sooner. All of those things are really important, and it takes a community working together in order to be able to do that.”
McKinnis said minors are also vulnerable to sex trafficking due to their young age.
“A lot of times it’s you know, what does love mean to that individual, what does relationship mean, you know, there’s a lot of peer pressure in that age range and vulnerability factors, and that’s what an individual is looking for, you know,” McKinnis said. “And then on the demand side of that, there are individuals that you know, that is their appetite is for those that are underage, and unfortunately, we live in a society where we have men and women who look for ways to engage in online sexual exploitation.”
McKinnis said when talking to minors who are survivors of sex trafficking, they tend to tell why they were trafficked. McKinnis said minors from ages 15 and up tend to be more difficult to talk about why they were trafficked.
McKinnis said it can take a long time to walk with survivors throughout the journey to restoration.