KAILUA-KONA — As the FBI announced the arrests of 239 people on charges related to child sex trafficking nationwide Wednesday, a small group of residents met at Kealakehe Elementary School to learn that Hawaii is not immune to the scourge.
KAILUA-KONA — As the FBI announced the arrests of 239 people on charges related to child sex trafficking nationwide Wednesday, a small group of residents met at Kealakehe Elementary School to learn that Hawaii is not immune to the scourge.
“Talking about kids who are sold for sex is hard,” said Jessica Munoz, founder of Hoola Na Pua.
But it’s necessary, she said.
Hoola Na Pua seeks to provide treatment for victims of sex trafficking and increase awareness of how common the crime is in Hawaii. On Wednesday night, members trained potential volunteers to help spread the message and serve as mentors for child victims.
“We need everybody talking about it. That’s what we need to start anything,” Munoz said.
It’s an under-recognized problem, she said, something even clinicians she works with don’t realize.
“I had to go to Australia to hear about this,” said Jody Allione, the group’s vice president of site operations.
Although she saw some of the prostitution on the streets of Waikiki, she later realized “the young ones are hidden. They’re in the brothels, in the apartments and online.”
Wednesday’s event came the same day the FBI announced the results of Operation Cross Country X, a three-day law enforcement crackdown starting Oct. 13 that led to the recovery of 82 victims and the arrest of 239 pimps and others within the United States. It also involved the cooperative efforts of other nations.
Operation Cross Country is part of the FBI’s Innocence Lost National Initiative, which began in 2003. According to the FBI, since its creation the program has resulted in the identification and recovery of more than 6,000 children from child sex trafficking and prosecutors have obtained 30 life sentences in cases against traffickers and their associates.
But those recoveries and arrests are not the whole story for the members of Hoola Na Pua.
Allione called the current approach as “catch and release,” as the victims are brought into the judicial system, given a limited amount of support, then let back into the community.
“All of the recovered U.S. minors were offered services by victim specialists who are part of the FBI’s Office for Victim Assistance,” the FBI wrote in a press release. “More than 100 victim specialists provided on-scene services that included crisis intervention as well as resources for basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter and medical attention.”
The lack of support locally, and nationwide, led Hoola Na Pua to begin development of a 32-bed treatment facility. Although they need mentors, Munoz was clear that involvement is a major undertaking of time and effort.
“This is not baking brownies and braiding hair with these kids,” she said. “They’ll tell you where to go and how to get there.”
Before the mentors even meet with the girls, they undergo “extensive training,” Munoz said, adding that the people needed most are those who will get the message out in the community.
“You have no idea what one person telling another person, telling another person, telling another person, can do,” Munoz said.
For more information, visit www.hoolanapua.com.
Email Graham Milldrum at gmilldrum@westhawaiitoday.com.