Molly: Blog Deliverable #5, Part 1
Molly McDade Hood is Sergeant of Human Trafficking at the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office.
“You’ll always have a job if you go into plumbing or law enforcement, cuz you either need to put the shit away, or flush the shit down the toilet”
What first got you interested in this career path?
Molly: Mainly because I recognized through intel gathering -just listening to jail call and mail, talking to individuals- that they continue to traffic from jail...so that started to peak my interest because I like to hold people accountable for their actions. And also if you think about it, this is a facility that’s county funded and we don’t want people to continue to commit crimes from it..so accountability I guess.
Tell us about the work you do to combat human trafficking here in Portland.
Molly: I sit on a number of boards and committees. One is the Sex Trafficking Executive Committee here with Multnomah County….we tend to be kind of the leaders within the state on anti-trafficking measures and how we collaborate, not just with the sheriff’s office but also with the city of Portland and outside agencies and with advocates. You need to actually have a well-rounded approach with collaboration and with non-gov organizations. Quite different than just regular law enforcement because you need to be victim centered if you want to build good cases. So what I do is intelligence and investigations from the jail...I do the data and analysis piece of it. I sit on a state-wide sex trafficking committee under the DOJ. I collaborate with a lot of other law enforcement entities...on other cases, not just sex trafficking, because it intersects with so much...I do a lot of presentations and trainings, forums, coffee meetings….I’ll meet with a lot of different organizations to see how we can collaborate and interface...I may talk to victims upstairs in housing, and find out information what’s going on, every case is unique. I may go to court with them. I might connect them with a PO...match people up I guess...I also talk to traffickers, I’ll take tattoo photos.
What are some misconceptions about sex trafficking and its root causes?
Molly: We still have all these generic images on the internet with chains and bar codes and things like that. I’ve yet to see a bar code on a girl...Misconception one is you don’t have to be kidnapped...it takes a 3rd party exploiter for the sale of sex. With a minor it’s a very easy definition. Minors don’t have the the ownership to be able to sell their sex. It’s not for currency in Oregon for the sale of sex, it’s anything of value -it could be drugs, a purse, Sephora gift cards, money, a roof over your head, food...basic needs, unfortunately. Many individuals are experiencing exploitation by someone who’s an intimate partner. A lot of these 3rd party exploiters are only after money, they don’t really care about the wake of disaster that they’re leaving with individuals….Individuals in the life...they don’t always die at the hands of traffickers; I would say that’s another misconception. In the last 60 days there have been 4 girls that I’ve had contact with that have died...one died from suicide...2 died from opioid overdoses...one died an accidental death...she was still in the life….I think the majority of the injury that they (traffickers) leave behind is mental scarring...some can be brutal...It is domestic violence on steroids with that 3rd party exploiter. It just takes that one act of force, or that fraud...they’re hooked into that life...grooming comes in many different forms…I hesitate to create this box of this is the profile of a victim, this is the profile of a trafficker, this is the profile of a purchaser...ANYONE..
I know that Portland’s location with I-84 and I-5 is frequently cited as a reason for why Portland is a hub.
Molly: People (shouldn’t) put that as a main reason. Are we a hub, or do we just recognize it more?...But electronic communications has a lot to do with it.
I know you were just down at the Super Bowl. Why do sporting events attract activity?
Molly: Any major event really...men without their significant others...The driving force is do you have people that enjoy sex? Do they have disposable income? And we’ve got the internet so that creates more anonymity. That’s gonna create more opportunity, so if there’s traffickers who are wanting to earn money they’re either going to send girls that way or they’re going to take them that way.
As for root causes, do you think that maybe if the victims had more awareness, or a more stable home life where all their emotional needs are fulfilled this would be less of a problem?
Molly: You need to go at it like a three pronged approach...The buyers...first off, is it appropriate to purchase sex? To me, the minute money is exchanged, it just makes it rancid.
Molly: Yeah…And then there’s individuals, victims- there’s many ways they can get in it, but there are definite vulnerabilities...domestic violence, the foster care system, if you really look at the Adolescent Childhood Experiences….And then you’ve got the traffickers -you have to go after all 3. Provide the services -is it mentorship, education, prevention and awareness, is it empowering young women to make choices for themselves and feel good about themselves? If you don’t do each one independently it’s just going to continue. It’s not about rescuing, it’s about recovering and it’s about empowering individuals to want to live a safer life and get a good job and educate themselves, or even just be able to get by because they have been through so much that maybe just getting mental healthcare and being on public assistance is about just what they can do….There are a lot of people who have been very hurt and damaged. I always told my daughter that I didn’t want to raise a victim.
What are your solutions? What’s being done? How can we help?
Molly: Again, the myths vs. reality, awareness and education is critical because it allows people to be more humane, understanding, and compassionate with our victims, who are suffering...It’s the chicken before the egg. Why is this substance abuse an issue? A lot of individuals have been exploited from very young ages...and then our foster care system is very broken...One of the other cultures within Portland that creates an uptick is our adult entertainment culture. I always find it very ironic that women can’t buy liquor until they’re 21 but they can take their clothes off (age in Portland is 18)...Men can’t fully disrobe when they’re stripping...there’s a lot of double standards. I feel like minors being exploited by others have fake IDs. It’s a lot harder for a 15 yr old to fake that she’s 21 than it is for her to fake that she’s 18. ...That doesn’t sit right...It’s exploitative in itself that it’s 18 here...We’ve got a lot to work on. The opioid crisis, the mental health issues, the houselessness -all of this is interconnected...Me, what I try to do is train interns...being an advocate...serve people…A committee I sit on is called Legislative Committee, and we push forward laws...One thing I didn’t tell you about that is awesome...with the help of all my interns we’ve entered all this intel. We’ve identified about 1,500 victims -both adult and minor- in our county, and 1,200 traffickers. We exported the traffickers into a database and out of the 800 that were exported I had 300 hits of other active criminal investigations on those people...I have 12 indicted cases in jail for trafficking, which is good... If we can input better practices into place all over then we’re collaborating better...not with just law enforcement but with advocacy organizations...There’s a university in San Diego that provides free college for women who have been in the life…