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Red Sand Project Brings Light to Human Trafficking

The Red Sand Project will fill in cracks in cement outside of MATA Airways Transit Center. (Photo: Courtesy Red Sand Project | Facebook)

Of all the counties in Tennessee, Shelby County’s population is the most vulnerable to human trafficking, according to the Tennessee Community Assessment 2023 Report released by the Engage Together Project. 

That ranking along what has been labeled the Vulnerable Population Index has been determined through a number of factors, like population density, poverty levels, crime rates, the percentage of population that speaks limited or no English, and much more. 

Individuals may be trafficked for sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, or organ sales. “There’s been human trafficking documented in every one of the 95 counties of Tennessee, so human trafficking happens everywhere,” says Rachel Sumner Haaga, executive director of Restore Corps, which aims to eradicate human trafficking by working with survivors and seeking justice through systemic change.

“One thing to note with regards to human trafficking is, it is a victimization that, unless someone reports being victimized, is exceptionally hard to assess,” Sumner Haaga adds. “If someone busts the car window of your vehicle, it is very clear that you’ve been victimized, and it’s easy to gauge that victimization. No one’s going to ask, ‘Are you sure that somebody busted your window?’ 

“Whereas, human trafficking is not only a crime that goes underreported because even the victims themselves sometimes might not be aware of their own victimization for a number of different reasons, or they may have the belief that even if they were to say something, they might not be believed, because it’s hard to understand the grooming and recruitment process.”

So building awareness of what human trafficking is and that it happens here in Memphis is important, for the victims and for the community at large. That’s why Restore Corps, in partnership with MATA, is putting on the Red Sand Project, a participatory art installation created by Molly Gochman. 

“The purpose of the project,” Sumner Haaga says, “is to utilize the red sand to fill in cracks in the sidewalk, where had the sand not been there, we likely would just jump over it; we would walk by. That’s just what we do on a daily basis. The cracks are ignored, but the red sand draws attention to them. So just like people, all over the world or in our community here, who are caught in human trafficking, they’re easy to not see; they’re easy to go by. But when there’s red sand poured in the crack or a light shined on them, it paints the idea of filling the gaps in our community. We all can have some part in filling the cracks and bringing awareness to the issue. You don’t have to work with an organization like ours to [have awareness and raise awareness about human trafficking]. Anybody can do something.”

For the Red Sand Project, which will occur on Tuesday, July 30th, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., the organization will spread sand around the MATA Airways Transit Center (3033 Airways Blvd.). Those who wish to help spread sand are encouraged to sign up here and will be welcome to take sand home with them afterward to fill cracks in their own neighborhoods. 

July 30th is World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. 

For more information on Restore Corps or to donate, visit their website here.

If you know someone who needs help to escape trafficking, contact the Tennessee Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-855-558-6484.

If you suspect you have come into contact with a victim of human trafficking, you may call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text 233722. Hotline staff members will identify resources in your community. For more information on human trafficking and the hotline, visit humantraffickinghotline.org.

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News The Fly-By

New Data Reveals Human Trafficking Remains Prevalent in Tennessee

Laron Matlock smiled and blew a kiss to his family shortly before being sentenced to 15 years in prison for sex trafficking last Thursday.

From July to August 1st, 2012, Matlock benefited financially from forcing and coercing a 16-year-old girl to work as a prostitute in Memphis and Nashville.

Matlock, 33, conspired with co-defendant Briana Harris to transport the minor, simply identified by the moniker “T.S.” in court, from Racine, Wisconsin, to Memphis. Following her arrival, Matlock took seductive pictures of T.S. and posted them on Backpage.com to solicit clients interested in hiring minors for prostitution. She was trafficked to clients in both Memphis and Nashville. All the money made from her clients went to Matlock.

Laron Matlock

In August 2012, Matlock was arrested in Arlington, Tennessee, while attempting to traffic T.S. to an older man for commercial sex.

U.S. Senior District Judge Jon McCalla said that Matlock’s sentence would convey to others interested in trafficking that the penalties are extremely serious.

“Minors shouldn’t be marketed as just a thing for someone else’s gratification,” McCalla said in federal court on February 12th. “The role of sentencing is to change public behavior — unequivocally say minors are off-limits.”

Human trafficking remains prevalent in Tennessee’s western district and the state as a whole. Data from a recent report released by Polaris, an anti-human-trafficking agency, revealed that more trafficking cases were reported in Tennessee than Mississippi and Arkansas combined last year. The information is attributed to reports made to Polaris’ National Human Trafficking Resource Center [NHTRC] hotline and BeFree (233733) texting helpline.

In 2014, 73 cases of human trafficking in Tennessee were reported to the NHTRC. Since 2007, the NHTRC has received reports of 262 cases of human trafficking in Tennessee. 

In Mississippi, over the same time frame, 29 cases were reported. In Arkansas, there were 17 cases of trafficking reported last year.

Lara Powers, program specialist for the (NHTRC) hotline, said the numbers in the report are more indicative of awareness of Polaris’ hotline number than the actual prevalence of trafficking in the area.

“When it comes to Tennessee’s numbers being higher, really that’s just an indicator that more people are aware of our hotline number in Tennessee, and it’s possible that there might be more outreach and training on human trafficking,” Powers said. “We tend to get a lot of reports from those [areas that] have been working on trafficking for a while and have pretty good infrastructure for that response.”

In 2014, NHTRC experienced a 26 percent increase in calls directly from trafficking survivors nationwide, compared to the previous year.

Last year, there were 5,167 cases of human trafficking across the country reported to the NHTRC hotline and Polaris’ BeFree texting helpline. Since the NHTRC hotline was established in 2007, there have been nearly 20,000 cases of human trafficking reported through it, along with Polaris’ BeFree texting helpline.

Once victims contact the hotline or helpline and a trafficking assessment is completed, they have the option to receive emergency health care, temporary shelter, and assistance from law enforcement. If the victim is a minor, their case is automatically reported to law enforcement.

Following Matlock’s 15-year sentence, U.S. Attorney Edward Stanton said the outcome is another example that law enforcement will remain vigilant and aggressive in prosecuting sex traffickers.

“Sex trafficking is akin to modern-day slavery; human beings are being treated like property,” Stanton said. “When we prosecute these cases federally, there’s no opportunity for parole. We’re holding these [traffickers] accountable.”

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News The Fly-By

Tennessee Scores Grade A On Nationwide Study of Human Trafficking

Each year, across the nation, more than 100,000 kids are trafficked for commercial sex, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. And the Mid-South happens to be a hub for the illicit trade.

But Tennessee is working hard to erase that fact. The state was recently recognized by anti-trafficking organization Shared Hope International for boasting some of the strongest laws against sex trafficking in the country.

Shared Hope released its annual Protected Innocence Challenge report, a comprehensive study of existing state laws regarding domestic minor sex trafficking. Tennessee received a 94 out of 100 on the study for its anti-trafficking laws. The only state with a higher grade was Louisiana with a 96.

Ryan Dalton, policy counsel for Shared Hope, said one reason Tennessee received such a high grade is because it intensely penalizes traffickers as well as patrons of sex with minors.

“If convicted, [perpetrators are] looking at between eight and 60 years, depending on the circumstances of the offense,” Dalton said. “In 2011, Tennessee got a C-grade on its report card from Shared Hope. And between 2011 and 2014, [the state has] jumped 21 points to an A-grade.”

Tennessee received a C on Shared Hope’s 2011 and 2012 Protected Innocence Challenge reports because, at the time, the state had mediocre penalties for traffickers and patrons of sex with minors. Since then, Tennessee has strengthened its trafficking penalties. In 2013, Shared Hope ranked the state number-one, giving it a 93.5 for its legislative efforts to combat domestic minor sex trafficking.

A person convicted of trafficking a minor for sex and/or promoting prostitution of a minor can be sentenced from eight to 30 years in prison. However, if the trafficked minor is under 15, the perpetrator can be sentenced from 15 to 60 years.

Unlike in some other states, such as California, Florida, and Nevada, minors cannot be prosecuted for prostitution in Tennessee.

“Most of the victims of human trafficking are minors, and I think it’s unconscionable that this type of abuse exists,” said Representative Jim Coley (R-Bartlett), who has been instrumental in the establishment of state anti-trafficking laws. “We tend to say it could exist somewhere else but not here, and it does exist here. One of the things I think is very disturbing about [sex trafficking] is that much of it originates in homes that are dysfunctional, where children do not have the proper care given to them by their parents.”

From the inner cities to the rural areas, sex trafficking is a problem across Tennessee. But a 2011 study conducted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) revealed that it has a significant presence in four particular counties: Shelby, Davidson, Coffee, and Knox.

According to the TBI’s Tennessee Human Sex Trafficking Study, more than 100 cases of adult and minor sex trafficking were reported in the aforementioned counties.

Although Tennessee received an A on the Protected Innocence Challenge, sex trafficking remains a serious issue. And there are still areas the state can improve on, such as providing mandatory services and treatment options for children who are sexually exploited. Failing to modify its child protective response cost Tennessee points on Shared Hope’s 2014 challenge.

“We have important work left to do on human sex trafficking from a policy standpoint and from a training and awareness position,” said Senator Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown), who’s also played a significant role in enhancing penalties against sex trafficking. “I am confident that a combination of stronger laws and a highly trained first responder population will begin to make progress combating this crime. Rescuing victims and putting the offenders in jail is of paramount importance.”

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News The Fly-By

Harsh Reality

CREDIT: Lucidwaters | Dreamstime.com

At the age of 18, Kimberly Benson was kidnapped and forced to engage in sex acts for money. Years after escaping that life, Benson now runs A Bridge of Hope Ministries, an organization that provides resources to help restore the lives of adult victims of human trafficking.

In light of National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, which was declared for January by President Barack Obama in 2010, Benson is visiting churches and social organizations to inform people about the problem of human trafficking in the Mid-South and ways they can identify and report it.

“I want people to start a dialogue,” Benson said. “The best way to combat a problem of this magnitude is to bring awareness. And the only way to bring awareness is to start talking about it, because most people correlate human trafficking with sex trafficking, but that’s taboo. Human trafficking is broader than just sex trafficking and people need to start learning what it is [and] where it is.”

Human trafficking is the second-largest criminal enterprise in the world, behind illegal drug distribution, and also the fastest-growing. The trade of humans for sexual slavery or forced labor generates up to $32 billion in annual profits, according to the National Association of Attorneys General.

According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s 2011 Tennessee Human Sex Trafficking Study, 78 out of 95 counties in the state reported at least one case of human sex trafficking over a 24-month period. Shelby County was among four counties, including Davidson, Coffee, and Knox, that reported more than 100 cases of both adult and minor sex trafficking.

Last April, Osbie Antonio Sea, better known by his rap alias, Mr. Money, was arrested for allegedly trafficking a 14-year-old girl he met in a Raleigh Kmart. Sea will report to federal court in February. If convicted, he faces a minimum of 15 years.

Millington resident Michael Lilley was recently indicted for trafficking teens for commercial sex at his home and other locations. If convicted, he faces a minimum sentence of 10 years for each child sex trafficking charge. He also faces additional charges for child pornography production and distribution.

Benson said she’s thankful that there’s more attention being placed on combatting human trafficking and providing resources to victims.

“There was nobody there to tell me, ‘It’s going to be okay. I can help you get out of this mess’,” Benson said. “Going through it was pure hell, but I’m a person of faith. It was because of people surrounding me and actually loving me for me that I was able to get out. And that’s the reason that our organization was birthed, to be able to help people who didn’t have help and give hope to the hopeless. People need to know that they are not alone, that there are people out there who won’t revictimize you, who will stand there and fight with you.”

Those who suspect human trafficking can contact the national human trafficking resource center hotline at 888-3737-888. They can also text HELP or INFO to BeFree (233733).

For more information on A Bridge of Hope Ministries’ upcoming events, visit

abridgeofhope.org.