By Aria Brent
AFRO Staff Writer
abrent@afro.com

The Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) recently received a $50,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Family Services to expand anti-human trafficking efforts. The funding will enhance GBMC’s existing programming focused on identifying, supporting and rehabilitating victims of human trafficking.

One of GBMC’s dedicated team members who work directly in the company’s safe domestic violence and child protection program spoke with the AFRO about the work they do, their plans for expansion and what the Baltimore community can do to help combat human trafficking. 

“We do lots of training throughout the community. We trained almost 10,000 people last year alone. We’re really involved in community outreach,” said Ashley McAree, the trafficking liaison at GBMC. “All of our trainings are provided completely free of charge and we’re focused on building that awareness so we can try to prevent trafficking before it even occurs.”

“When a trafficking victim enters the hospital, we want to make sure they’re not falling through the cracks,” she continued. “We want to make sure that they’re receiving the appropriate care every single time.”

McAree went on to discuss the resources they provide victims and how important it is that these survivors receive total care when recovering from this kind of experience.

“We were able to build our program up to meet the needs of the survivors in our community,” she said. “Whether that be the medical forensic exams we offer, or birth control, HIV protection or prophylaxis, sexually transmitted infection prophylaxis. Additional resources include emergency shelter, referrals for mental health services, referrals for other services that we are not able to offer. We offer pretty comprehensive services within the hospital.”

Human trafficking remains a pressing issue in Maryland and across the nation, with victims often hidden in plain sight. The grant will enable GBMC to expand its outreach efforts, provide their patients with more resources and better understand the needs of survivors.

McAree noted that GBMC is focused on finding and providing more proactive care to people who come from high risk backgrounds. Explaining that children in foster care, from minority backgrounds and from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to fall victim to human trafficking. 

“There’s a ton of risk factors for human trafficking. Some of the main risks are young age, underserved populations, which would include racial disparities, those in foster care systems, those that live in poverty and people with mental health issues or substance abuse issues. There’s lots of different risk factors,” McAree said. 

Korin Arkin, of the National Human Trafficking Hotline (NHTH), echoed similar sentiments to McAree. Arkin noted that people who oftentimes fall victims to systemic issues are the same people to be affected by human trafficking. 

“Things that make people vulnerable to exploitation are things like systemic racism, economic inequality. Anything that would make somebody vulnerable to any type of oppression or violence or harm is also going to make them vulnerable to human trafficking,” said Arkin. “While human trafficking is something that can happen to anyone, it most often is affecting communities where people are already vulnerable and already at high risk. Vulnerabilities like youth who are in the foster care system and  not every person of color, not every kid in the foster care system is trafficked, but they are at higher risk for exploitation because they have a need that’s not being met by the systems in our country or by the people around them.”

Arkin explained that human trafficking is a highly underreported and prosecuted crime meaning  that the hotline is only able to account for the amount of human trafficking crimes that are reported but that never truly includes all of the instances of human trafficking that are happening

Despite not being able to account for every victim of sex trafficking, McAree was able to provide us with some statistics to help conceptualize how many people in Maryland this issue is touching  

“In Maryland, females make up about 80 percent of the reports of human sex trafficking, and in Maryland, 32 percent of all reports of human sex trafficking are of children under the age of 18,” she said. 

According to a 2021 report from the Polaris Project, 21 percent of sex trafficking and sex labor victims were Black. Additionally, a 2024 report from Rights 4 Girls regarding child sex trafficking and Black girls noted “Of the more than 10,000 cases reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, nearly 40 percent were Black women and girls— the highest of any racial group.”

As GBMC rolls out these initiatives over the coming months, the organization aims to position itself as a leader in the fight against human trafficking, demonstrating that healthcare institutions can play a pivotal role in addressing social issues and providing holistic care to vulnerable populations.

McAree explained that the community at large can get involved in this fight against human trafficking by educating themselves and making themselves aware as to what they signs of human trafficking look like. 

“The number one thing is awareness and knowing what sex trafficking is and what it is not. Because that’s a huge problem right now. A lot of community members think sex trafficking is this glorified and kind of glamorized thing that you see on the movies and on TV,” she said. “Because of this you’re going to miss actual victims and miss those red flags. The most important thing is to be aware of what it is and  what it looks like.”