Personal Accounts Expose Human Trafficking Problem

By Kari Hawkins, AMCOMApril 22, 2016

SPEAKING FOR THE VOICELESS
Tajuan McCarty is a human trafficking survivor who now runs The WellHouse, a Birmingham-based nonprofit that has rescued more than 200 women from human trafficking situations since opening in 2011. She will be a speaker at Team Redstone's April 27, 2... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- Two Birmingham women who have seen first-hand the horrible effects of human trafficking will share their stories with Team Redstone employees at the close-out event for April's designation as Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.

The April 27 event, hosted by the Aviation and Missile Command, will feature Tajuan McCarty, a human trafficking survivor, social worker and community leader; and FBI victim assistance specialist Helen Smith. The event will be held at 1 p.m. at Bob Jones Auditorium. The theme for the event is: Become a Voice for the Voiceless: Stop Human Trafficking.

"We have planned this event to further promote awareness of human trafficking in our communities," said AMCOM victim's advocate Maureen Trainor.

"On the surface, it seems we live in a safe community where we don't have to worry about things like this. But, we are not living in a perfect little community. We are not immune to this. It is happening in all communities."

Trainor learned about McCarty when she read about her story in the March 2015 issue of Good Housekeeping magazine. She met Smith at a Huntsville-Madison County Human Trafficking Task Force event in January.

"The stories these two women share will make you aware of how a young person can fall into human trafficking and how difficult it is to escape from that environment," Trainor said. "It is easy to become a victim when you have no voice and nowhere to turn for help."

Physical violence, prostitution, illegal drug use, alcohol abuse and crime are all part of the human trafficking scene, used to trap and ensnare young people, mostly women. Growing up in a broken home and with a father who was in and out of prison, McCarty fell victim to human trafficking after she was raped at the age of 12 and began running away from home. In 1997, well into her 30s and after a stint in jail for theft, McCarty found the courage to break away from her pimp and the sex trade to begin the slow process of healing. She rebuilt her life, graduated from college with a degree in social work, obtained a master's degree in public health and public administration, and became a Christian.

McCarty now runs The WellHouse, a Birmingham-based nonprofit that has helped more than 200 human trafficking victims since opening in 2011.

Smith, a graduate of Jacksonville State University with a degree in Criminal Justice, began her career with the Birmingham Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in March 1997. As a victim assistance specialist, she assists with the identification of victims, and coordinates community resources and referrals to help in victim recovery. She has supported victims in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Wachovia/Wells Fargo bank robbery in Bessemer, Ala., and the Midland City, Ala., hostage incident. She has worked in countless cases involving minor victims of child pornography and domestic minor sex trafficking.

Smith serves with the FBI Innocence Lost Minor Sex Trafficking unit and the Jefferson County Children's Council Policy Child Safety Working Group. She has served as a member of the Alabama Sexual Violence Prevention Committee since its inception in 2007 and with the Northern District of Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force.