January is Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month in Montgomery County and local leaders, advocates and law enforcement officials are renewing their commitment to combat trafficking and support survivors.
Julia Aviles Zavala, a case manager with the University of Maryland Safe Center, said trafficking is not limited to one group or circumstance. “It affects all income levels, all different backgrounds, races and ethnicities, as well as legal statuses. It is something that is so broad that it affects, not just individuals who are experiencing human trafficking, but the broader safety of our community,” Zavala said.
The University of Maryland Safe Center supports survivors of human trafficking and at-risk youth throughout the county.
“So, it is really important that people are aware that it happens in Montgomery County and there are resources available,” Zavala said.
The Human Trafficking Prevention Committee is an initiative of the Montgomery County Executive Branch. Its mission is to collaborate by bringing together professionals, volunteers, and community members from multiple organizations and government entities to coordinate prevention and response efforts.
Debbie Feinstein, chief of the Special Victims Division at the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, said the committee benefits from diverse perspectives and she hopes a proposed bill will be approved to create narrow exceptions to Maryland’s wiretapping law.
“Our cellphones are ubiquitous,” Feinstein said. “We have them, we maybe recording things, this is a very narrow exception.”
Feinstein continued by recounting a tragic case. “We had a trial in Montgomery County where we went to trial against a perpetrator of a rape who got on the stand and testified that it never happened, and there was a recording that we couldn’t use,” Feinstein said.
The change would allow recordings made by victims during the commission of a crime to be used in court.
Montgomery County Councilmember Dawn Luedtke said empowering young people with knowledge can help prevent exploitation. “To understand when something has crossed the line, even if you’re not talking about trafficking, help your kids understand labor law, wage law,” Luedtke said.
One of the challenges highlighted during the meeting is the difficulty in quantifying the scope of human trafficking. Officials said fear of retaliation, shame and lack of trust in systems often prevent survivors from coming forward, making the crime largely underreported.
Detective John Witherspoon with the Montgomery County Police Department’s Special Victims and Missing Persons Division said trafficking does not always involve movement across locations.
“Sometimes it can happen in someone’s home,” Witherspoon said.
County leaders say Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month serves as a reminder that addressing trafficking requires ongoing collaboration, education, and community involvement throughout the year.
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