- [Narrator] The following program contains adult themes and graphic language.

Viewer discretion is advised.

(intense music) - [Narrator] Sold for sex.

- Here he is.

- [Narrator] Exploited for labor.

It's called human trafficking, it means modern day slavery.

- [Elle] When I was young, I didn't wake up and say, "When I grow up I wanna be a prostitute.

When I grow up, I wanna be pimped out."

(intense music) - [Narrator] Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world today, and it's the second largest kind of organized crime right after drugs.

- [Mary Burke] Human trafficking is very profitable, especially in comparison to say the trafficking of weapons, or drugs, because a person can be reused, and reused and reused.

- [Narrator] Every year, it generates 32 billion dollars in profits for traffickers, and the United Nations Human Rights agency estimates as many as 12 million people are enslaved worldwide.

- If I didn't make a certain amount of money, he would beat me severely.

- They had us completely wrapped, completely controlled, you know, to where we were brainwashed, to where we were like, okay, we have to do this or else, you know, something bad could happen.

- People now cost about an average of a $100, so you can buy an individual for $100.

- [Narrator] Yes, it does happen here in Pittsburgh, and over the next half hour, you'll find out where and how.

- [Mary] And what I learned in that was that there was a lot.

- [Narrator] And, you'll meet the people who are fighting back.

- I was faced with a a bunch of um, survivors and didn't know how to get their needs met, so I turned to you all in the community.

- [Narrator] Mary Burke is the director of the Western Pennsylvania Human Trafficking Coalition, a community-based group that grew out of a non-profit Mary started in 2003, called The Project to End Human Trafficking.

- [Mary Burke] We have wonderful representation from law enforcement, from the FBI, from human service, social service, providers, medical doctors, therapists, concerned citizens.

Pittsburgh is a very, very generous community.

When there is a need, in my experience, Pittsburgh citizens respond, and that has been crucial to the success of the coalition.

- [Narrator] The federal law to fight modern day slavery defines trafficking as using force, fraud, or coercion to exploit persons for sex, or for labor.

Victims could be male or female, young or old, foreign nationals or U.S. citizens.

Fighting back boils down to the three P's, prevention, protection, and prosecution.

(intense music) Considering the horrors trafficking victims endure, one common question is, "Why don't they just run away, or call for help?"

Few people understand the extent of the violence and mind control pimps use to dominate their victims.

- [Mary Burke] We know of one story, in particular, where the young girl was taken from her grandmother and the first time she was with a john, she fought back, and she was then taken by the trafficker, she was beat up and she was raped, and she was unconscious, eventually, and she awoke with a pole with red pepper paste on it in her vagina.

That played into and caused her to not fight back.

So survival, her need to survive kicked in, and she became more compliant.

- [Narrator] In another trafficking case in nearby Ohio, a pimp controlled two cousins by beating one of them, if the other cousin tried to escape.

- He threw me into the dining room table, it was glass and busted me up pretty good, um, but Chrissy, he dragged up the stairs by her hair, like all the way by her hair, and threw her down the stairs, and did it again like three more times, busted her lip up, got her bruised, black eye a little bit right here and, it was really horrible to hear her screaming, and screaming for me.

- I think it's important for us to educate the public that the problem is out there, and that it could be in their neighborhood, it could be something they've seen, but weren't quite sure of.

We've had cases everywhere throughout Western, PA. - We wanna bring awareness to Western Pennsylvania and we wanna find victims.

- [Narrator] The FBI has had so many requests for presentations, that they started training volunteers from the Western Pennsylvania Human Trafficking Coalition to help talk to community groups.

- If they bring awareness to one person who identifies a victim for us, that's a win for us.

- [Narrator] In another session across town, the statewide advocacy group, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, is talking to more than 100 Pittsburghers, who work in the criminal justice system, social services and non-profits.

The focus here is on recognizing signs of gang-related trafficking.

- [Krista] Gangs are smart, they might organize things, they might be sitting outside the hotel room in some cases, um, but they're not going to get pulled in by law enforcement, unless law enforcement knows what they're looking for.

Human trafficking.

- [Narrator] And one subtle sign to look for, are the tattoos pimps use to brand their victims.

- [Krista] Um, the brands may say things like "cash money, the trafficker's name, money maker."

If you look in the mirror and you see your trafficker's brand on you, it just reinforces it every single day that I'm not Krista Hoffman, I am property of.

- [Narrator] From tattoo artists to taxi drivers, hotel staff to healthcare workers, the more everyday citizens who recognize and report signs of trafficking, the better chance law enforcement has of cracking down on pimps when they least expect it.

- [Bradley] People are hesitant, at times, to, to call law enforcement, and they even may more so be hesitant to call the FBI, uh, 'cause they don't wanna make a federal case outta something that isn't.

We ask that if you think you see an indicator of human trafficking, we want the call, and the more of the victims we identify, the more cases we open, and the more people we arrest.

And that's our goal.

- [Narrator] You probably expect prostitution to start in the streets and sometimes it does, but it also starts on the internet, and in fake businesses set up to sell sex.

It happens in our hotels, and in broad daylight in the suburbs.

- [Linda] It could be disguised in any neighborhood.

- [Narrator] Commander Linda Rosato-Barone, heads the city's narcotics and vice squad.

They made more than 370 prostitution related arrests last year alone, including one that led to the city's first successfully prosecuted human trafficking case.

A Pittsburgh man, who prostituted a 15 year old runaway girl he picked up at the bus station.

Do you think 15 sounds too young to be a prostitute?

The average age when a person enters the life is 14, and vice detectives see prostitutes even younger than that.

- [Linda] As early as 11 and 12 years old, that are out there, some as young as 11 and 12 years old.

- [Narrator] According to federal trafficking laws, anyone under the age of 18 is automatically considered a trafficking victim.

- [Detective] (indistinct) I just saw one, I'm gonna come back around.

(beep) - [Narrator] It's barely dusk, but undercover detectives from the city's vice unit are already patrolling the streets in unmarked cars.

- [Undercover Detective] We'll come out early, and, and there'll be girls working at five, six o'clock in the morning.

We'll be here at noon if you come out at midnight.

You know, people think oh, this is Pittsburgh, this doesn't happen.

Yeah, it does.

- [Narrator] We can't reveal the vice detective's identities, but a five person unit is responsible for the entire city of Pittsburgh.

One detective travels alone, looking for prostitutes who proposition him.

The other detectives are parked and waiting nearby.

- [Detective] All right, you can roll it.

It was him that just went by.

- [Narrator] Once they get the signal, the team moves in and makes the arrest.

- [Woman Detective] You've never been arrested for prostitution, ever?

- [Woman In Pink Shoes] No.

- [Woman Detective] I mean, you realize that a lot of girls get hurt doing this, right?

- [Narrator] Sex trafficking involves a pimp, someone exploiting a victim for economic gain, but there are prostitutes who are out there willingly.

- [Woman Detective] Did you have a job at some point?

- [Woman In Pink Shoes] No.

- [Woman Detective] You've never worked?

- [Narrator] The interview process is crucial to figuring out the difference between street prostitution and trafficking, but law enforcement officers say "it often takes time and multiple interviews before a clearer picture of human trafficking emerges."

- [Detective] It's unbelievable, but until you see it, the sense of loyalty that exists with these women towards their pimps.

And I'm, I'm gonna give you a, a specific example.

This will stick in my mind probably forever.

We were conducting an interview after the arrest was made on this, on this female like a week or so later, and we're like, "You gave him all your money."

And she responded back, "Yeah, but when I'm hungry, he gives me anything I want to eat, and I only have to be with five or six men in a day."

- [Narrator] These street patrols aren't the only way the vice unit fights trafficking, because in the past decade or so, pimps and prostitutes have moved online.

- [Detective] And I will tell you right now, that if I went to one site that I'll show you advertisements for Cranberry, for Monroeville, for Murrysville, from New Kensington to the South Hills in upper St. Clair, to the city of Pittsburgh, to the airport, to Robinson, it's everywhere.

- [Narrator] Detectives search internet sites, looking for prostitutes who appear to be particularly young.

They make appointments to meet, usually in one of our region's hotel rooms.

(indistinct chattering) We obtained this video from the FBI, which conducts similar undercover hotel operations.

- [Detective] When you start dealing with the internet, and we have some beautiful hotels in the city of Pittsburgh, every hotel we've made an arrest for prostitution.

- [Narrator] The vice detective said they are most likely to find trafficking victims in these hotel stayings, but this method is also the most dangerous.

- [Detective] You need to be really cautious, you don't know what you're walking into when you go into that room.

(car horn beep) - [Narrator] But there's no lack of danger on the streets either.

Two hours into our ride along, the detective is flagged down again.

This time, by two women and one of them is carrying a knife.

- [Police officer] Where do you reside at?

- [Detective] It's such a subculture that, that exists with this, that um, to you, unless you're looking for it and you're involved in it, you would never know that it's there.

- [Narrator] The Vice Unit made one other arrest that evening, and it's the most common kind they see in Pittsburgh, street sex to support a drug habit.

She agreed to be interviewed to help other girls avoid the lifestyle.

[Interviewer] How old were you when you first started to work on the street?

- [Woman In Handcuffs] Fifteen.

- [Interviewer] How come you started to work on the street at that, that young age?

- [Woman In Handcuffs] Because my mother didn't take care of me.

- [Narrator] Prostituting since she was 15.

She's 28 now and says she can't remember how many times she's been arrested.

- [Detective] Every day, when we come into work, I, I'm hoping that I find that next juvenile that's either working out on the street or the internet, and hopefully get their lives turned around.

The more educated we are about this particular subject, the better off we'll be.

(uplifting music) - [Narrator] It's race day in North Park, another nonprofit group turning out for a 5K run.

- Just checking in?

- Um, we already registered.

- Yes.

- [Narrator] It's not an uncommon site, but it is an uncommon cause.

Living in Liberty is Pittsburgh's first safe house for sex trafficking survivors.

It opened its doors in the fall of 2013.

Founder Elizabeth Echevarria got the idea nearly a decade ago, after she learned about trafficking at a church event.

- [Elizabeth] After that, my heart was really broken for this, I really had um, a burden, like I was supposed to do something.

Lots of good ideas.

- [Narrator] This 5K run is the organization's first big event.

- [Elizabeth] And thank you for coming out and supporting Living in Liberty.

We're gonna have Elle DeRomano share with us a little bit.

She's a survivor of trafficking and she's joining us today, so she's gonna share a little bit.

(clapping) - Hello, my name is EleSondra DeRomano.

Everybody calls me Elle.

I'm a survivor of human trafficking.

I was pimped out from the age of 11 to 12 and a half.

I was kidnapped and then rescued.

- [Narrator] Trafficking survivor Elle DeRomano, learned about Living in Liberty at an advocacy event.

- There's also information over there about it.

- [Narrator] She's from Ohio, but she travels here regularly to assist Elizabeth.

- [Elle] She's just outstanding.

To me, this really isn't even her plight.

That's what made me say, "if this woman wants to help, then I'm gonna give it to her."

- [Elizabeth] On your mark, get set.

(horn) - [Narrator] These runners, the people cheering them on, the volunteers, they're all here today because of this, the Living and Liberty Safe House.

In order to protect the occupants, we won't reveal the Pittsburgh suburb where the safe house is located, but it can accommodate four adult women at a time.

Housing is one of the biggest challenges for survivors.

Social services can provide public housing, drug treatment, facilities, or homeless shelters, but those places don't always meet the unique needs of a trafficking victim.

Elizabeth wanted to fill that gap.

- I want them to most of all feel love.

- There can't be enough of these to help all the women and girls and boys that are out here being exploited.

- [Narrator] While we were visiting the Living in Liberty Safe House, Elle DeRomano shared her story of survival.

She said she was raped repeatedly as a child.

Then when Elle was 11, gang members kidnapped her.

She says they were enemies of her father, and they prostituted her for revenge.

It lasted for more than a year.

- [Elle] When I was being um, molested, I was, my body was there, but my mind was never there.

You know, I was always praying, man, I just know they were pedophiles, period, because who wants to have sex with an 11 year old girl?

What pimps are doing are recruiting outta high school.

- Yeah.

- [Narrator] Elle's ordeal ended when a customer dropped her off at a police station.

But then, she spent more than a decade involved in gangs, hooked on drugs, and in and out of prison.

With the help of her family, she eventually got clean, and that's when Elle started her own organization to educate at-risk teens and spread awareness at events like this one.

(cheering) Today's race is over, but it's really only the beginning for Living in Liberty.

Elizabeth is already at work on a thrift store to help fund Living in Liberty, and she hopes to start more safe houses in our area.

- Thank you, Stephanie.

I appreciate it.

To see a person go from hopelessness to hope, it's an amazing thing to see.

When you see it happen, and it kind of doesn't always happen instantaneously.

It's over time and you just kind of look and are like, "oh wow."

You know, that's for me a good day.

(uplifting music) - [Narrator] Truckers are particularly well positioned to report trafficking because pimps have identified truck stops as prime places to sell sex.

This is actual footage of women and girls being prostituted at a truck stop in the Midwest.

Sometimes truckers are customers, sometimes they're part of a sex trafficking ring, transporting girls across state lines.

And thanks to one national nonprofit called Truckers Against Trafficking, some drivers serve as industry insiders, who help fight trafficking and rescue its victims.

- [Kendis] And primarily, we want truck drivers to become aware of this because truck drivers are the eyes and the ears of the nation's highway.

- [Narrator] 3.5 Million truckers travel America's roadways and their help is crucial, especially in Pennsylvania.

We're known as a pass through state, meaning traffickers use our roads to transport victims between the East Coast and Midwest.

- [Kendis] And so what we're asking the trucking industry to do is become aware of this issue, and then take action on it.

- One nine.

- [Narrator] Mark Krupinski is a local member of Truckers Against Trafficking for McKees Rocks.

- [Mark] I have seen going to truck stops, prostitution.

All you have to do is go down the road through the, the town of Washington toward Wheeling.

That place was a haven for prostitution.

When they're soliciting and I am in the truck, and they would come up to my truck.

Behind where I'm sleeping at, I have a set of vent windows.

They're more just regular ventilation uh, ducks.

- [Narrator] The women and girls speak to truckers through those vents or they knock on the windows, to solicit customers.

(inaudible) Truckers, traffickers and prostitutes also use the Citizens Band radio to communicate.

- Sometimes you're gonna get, you would get a man's voice, sometimes you would get a woman's.

It's all in CB jargon for more or less, but it's the same kind of solicitation setup.

- [Narrator] Some internet sex sites even include truck stop reports, where people ask for and advertise sex.

Plenty of reasons why it's so important to have truckers like Mark, on the lookout.

- [Kendis] Recognize that this is somebody's daughter, this is somebody's family member, and that you can make a difference here if you pick up that phone and call the national hotline.

- [Narrator] That's exactly what happened in a sex trafficking case that took place in Ohio, in 2005.

It started with two cousins, girls, just 14 and 15 years old, who were kidnapped by this man.

For 10 days, he beat the girls, sexually assaulted them and forced them to prostitute at motels and truck stops.

- I am 15 years old, my cousin is 14, and we're here at a truck stop.

You know, being forced to work it, you know, being forced to go from truck to truck, asking, you know, if the guy would like to have sex with us, you know?

And we're young girls, terrified out of our minds.

- [Narrator] The girls were set to be moved to Harrisburg, but just one day before that happened, a conscientious trucker saw one of the girls at a truck stop and called police.

- [Shari] Thank God, what saved me was that truck driver that called in and said, "Hey, you know, this is whoever at the TA's truck stop."

You know, and we have some girls out here that look pretty young.

- [Narrator] That trucker's single phone call led to the rescue of the two cousins, and it helped police bring down a 13 state prostitution ring and convict 31 offenders.

- [Kendis] And so, if these folks can see what's going on at the truck stops and at the rest areas, we really feel they will put a dent in our country's sex trafficking issue.

- [Shari] Because this trucker made the call, I have an opportunity to actually have life because of, you know, that trucker I have, you know, a future.

(suspenseful music) - Human trafficking isn't only about sexual exploitation.

Victims can also be exploited for labor.

And that happens in Pittsburgh, too.

- [Mary Burke] We've actually worked with more labor trafficking survivors here in our area, than we have sex trafficking survivors.

Construction, restaurants, they're also, um, possibilities, big possibilities for where we see labor traffic in Pittsburg.

- [Narrator] The US Department of Homeland Security says "Common jobs for labor trafficking include agriculture, hotels, and factories."

Another type of trafficking called domestic servitude exploits people who work as servants in private homes.

- [Kim] Rita, can I show you the emergent care bags real fast?

- [Narrator] North Way Christian Community is an interdenominational church, with more than 4,000 members.

They formed a team of volunteers and each month, they respond to requests from the Western Pennsylvania Human Trafficking Coalition.

- We knew, um, I guess in the back of our heads that there were always victims and survivors here in our city, but I don't think we realized the extent to which this was really happening in our city.

And these are real people with real names, real stories, real families.

Toiletries, notebooks.

- [Narrator] Although North Way volunteers don't usually meet the trafficking survivors they help, in one special case, a volunteer did find herself in a unique position to personally assist two Latin American men exploited for labor by a local company.

The men needed a translator.

And Kim Brown happens to be a high school Spanish teacher.

- [Kim] Speaking in Spanish to them and saying that there are people here that, that care about you.

We want you, you know, you were brought here under such a negative um, connotation, and we want you to survive here and to rebuild your lives again and, and have hope.

Throughout the time that I have known them, I've definitely seen their demeanor change, their hope change.

- [Narrator] Labor trafficking victims could be US citizens or foreign nationals, who are in the country illegally or with a work Visa.

Traffickers may exploit a victim who is unfamiliar with the language or the law, confiscate work papers and use threats of jail or deportation to control victims, while withholding pay or forcing them to work long hours in poor conditions.

One way you can help stop labor trafficking is to think about your consumer habits.

- [Mary Burke] Most of us would like to buy a pretty high quality product for a pretty decent low cost, and that push is definitely a piece of the demand with labor trafficking.

- [Narrator] Unethical businesses keep prices low by using slave labor.

Locally, pay attention to the people working in the background at high risk businesses.

Globally, fight labor trafficking by avoiding corporations that use slave labor.

In 2012, the US Department of Labor published this list of goods most suspected of using forced labor.

It includes 134 different products from 74 countries.

(intense music) - [Mary Burke] What we need to do is make sure that the products we're buying and the company's responsible for making those products are doing their due diligence along the way, with regard to how and where and under what conditions their product is being made.

(intense music) (clapping) - Barbara Amaya has a fear of public speaking, and yet this is her 26th speaking engagement, in the past 13 months.

- Anything you can imagine happened to me, and things you probably can't imagine happened to me.

- [Narrator] A pimp prostituted Barbara from the time she was 12 to when she turned 20.

An ordeal, she's talking about at an event called Close to Home, an overview of human trafficking.

It was organized by Diana Fletcher, a private citizen who put this entire evening together on her own.

- Do you know Mary Burke?

- [Narrator] Simply because she felt compelled to educate the community.

- [Diana] So, I wanted to raise awareness.

I want to inspire hope.

So, as sad as this is and as horrific, I want everyone to leave with a feeling that, okay, we can fight this.

- People say, why don't you just leave?

- [Narrator] Barbara's trafficking began when she was 12, sexually abused by a family member, she ran away from her Virginia home, and ended up in Washington, DC.

- Wherever there are runaways, there are predators waiting to find those runaways.

- [Narrator] It didn't take long for those predators to find Barbara.

- [Barbara] My self-esteem was nonexistent.

It wasn't that I had low self-esteem.

I probably would've done whatever they, I probably would've robbed a bank if they asked me to.

I would've done whatever they wanted me to.

And then one day they sold me, and I remember it like it was yesterday.

They sold me to another trafficker who was from New York.

- [Barbara] He controlled everything that I did, everything from the clothes that I wore, the hair, the food that I ate, where I lived, everything.

- [Narrator] But when she turned 20, she left New York and built a new life, and she never spoke about her past.

- [Barbara] I didn't think I was a victim, until a year and a half ago.

I saw a newscast about traffic teens in my area, and it, I really had that moment.

And I went, "oh my God."

That's what happened to me, that's what happened to me, that's what happened to me.

- [Narrator] And that's when Barbara Amaya decided to break her silence through interviews, blogs, social media, and public appearances.

Now, she advocates for stronger laws to protect victims.

- I got a criminal record.

I was criminalized that the person that trafficked me was never arrested for trafficking.

- [Narrator] We have federal trafficking laws, but what are our state laws and where are the gaps?

- [Judy] The Pennsylvania laws on human trafficking, the commonwealth laws are very simple and brief.

It, it is a criminal offense in the Pennsylvania code, but it's very short.

So, it's one thing to have a policy that your corporation.

- [Narrator] Wording and our current state laws does not include the crime of trafficking people for commercial sex acts.

And that means once money changes hands, prostitutes can be charged with a crime, too.

- [Judy] If you have someone who is forced to engage in an activity that was illegal, and then that person, the victim is picked up and prosecuted for whatever legal activity they're engaged in, a lot of people see that as a problem.

And rightly so.

- [Narrator] As of 2013, only 14 states allow prostitution convictions as a result of trafficking to be vacated from criminal records.

But Pennsylvania is not one of them.

In fact, the international nonprofit, Shared Hope, conducted a state by state analysis of trafficking laws and they gave Pennsylvania an F rating, but improvements to our laws are on the table.

In 2012, an advisory committee recommended updates to our entire legislative framework to fight trafficking, and Senator Stewart J. Greenley responded with Senate Bill 75.

- So, what we have to do is start treating the pimps as the criminals and not the victims as the criminals.#~ - [Narrator] As of December, 2013, the Pennsylvania Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 75, and moved it to the House of Representatives for consideration.

The bill expands legal tools and provides more resources for victim services, first responder training and advocacy.

- [Barbara] I'm empowered when the audience asks me questions and I see that they get it and that they wanna make a difference.

That empowers me.

- [Narrator] And Barbara felt even greater power when she recently returned to New York City for the first time since she was trafficked, to vacate the prostitution charges from her criminal record.

- Yes, thank God New York was the first state.

What I believe now, I believe everything that I went through was so I could be here now doing what I do.

That's what I choose to believe.

That's what I believe.

(clapping) - Hi, So nice to meet you.

- And Joyce, do you know?

- [Mary Burke] Recognize that even a little small bit helps.

So, if someone can just get involved by telling one other person, well, that's an act of activism and that does count.

- [Mark] And I'm always looking out for something going on.

- [Elle] Educate the young girls.

If I could save one person's life or change one person's life, then it's worth it.

- [Judy] I personally see justice as doing for someone else what I would want done for me.

- [Kim] Half of the boys clothes can go in here.

Everyone has talents and abilities that they can use.

What do you have, what can you do, what can you give?

- [Detective] We just want to try to do something to get these women and men off the streets and hopefully get their lives turned around.

- Today is how we move.

- [Bradley] All it takes is to get one victim off the street and we're ahead of the ballgame.

- [Mary Burke] I think if we can see more prosecutions, more of the perpetrators successfully jailed, um, if I could, we could see more survivors coming forward and getting help, then I think I'll feel like we've done our job.