During Human Trafficking Awareness Month, News 12 is revisiting a Turn To Tara investigation that exposed significant failures in the enforcement of some of the tri-state\u2019s anti-trafficking laws.<\/p>\n
Monica Allen is a trafficking survivor. <\/p>\n
She says her two-decade trafficking nightmare did not look like the movies. <\/p>\n
Allen says it unfolded in her New Haven, Connecticut neighborhood – hiding in plain sight.<\/p>\n
\t“The neighborhood overlooked it because it was so common,” she says. “So, I didn’t have a particular trafficker; I had hundreds, whoever I bought my drugs from.”<\/p>\n
\tFor years, she says the abuse was so normalized it became invisible, even to herself – until the emotional weight of it all finally broke through<\/p>\n
\t“You know, by the grace of God, I was able and fortunate to run into the PEHT Foundation,” she says.<\/p>\n
\tJamie Manirakiza is the executive director of PEHT, which stands for the Partnership to End Human Trafficking. <\/p>\n
She says stories like Monica Allen’s show why laws on the books mean little without enforcement and resources. <\/p>\n
News 12 senior reporter Tara Rosenblum’s recent investigation found those gaps were especially inside hotels.<\/p>\n
\t“It makes me angry,” says Manirakiza. “We have these mandates without a lot of resources to implement them. Of course, the reporting that you do exposes it, so that we expose the harsh reality that there\u2019s non-compliance with laws that could help victims get identified.”<\/p>\n
\tHer group offers survivors safe housing, long-term support and works closely with law enforcement agencies, like Stamford police, which recently launched an aggressive crackdown targeting traffickers and buyers.<\/p>\n
\t“What better way to help those individuals than to go after those individuals who are targeting them,” says Lt. Jerry Junes, of the Stamford Police Department.<\/p>\n
\tAt the federal level, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says a new law signed just last week removes one of the biggest barriers survivors face after escaping trafficking.<\/p>\n
\t“It represents a real win for survivors of trafficking. This expunges their criminal record for non-violent crimes they were forced to commit,” she says.<\/p>\n
\tThat recognition matters for Allen.<\/p>\n
\t“They need to see that we survive,” says Allen.<\/p>\n