The oil and the money are gushing from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota.  But so is the boom in sex trafficking.  No surprise, since the practice has always followed a financial boom.  This time, however, it’s worse than usual.  Whenever there’s been a congregation of young males with lots of cash and nothing to do, prostitution has flourished.  Researchers say that some of the great family fortunes in San Francisco were built by madams running successful brothels.

The research I did for my book, Fallout, included criminal trafficking of illegal goods including young people.  (Girls and boys)  Here are four things to keep in mind about the problem in North Dakota.

1.  It is true that some enterprising women are savvy enough to go north on their own and operate their businesses.  These are people who already work as call girls or exotic dancers and are very intelligent.  Usually, they don’t have pimps and are sophisticated about the business.  It’s not that they’ve “chosen” the career over marketing or nursing, for instance.  They have decided that the risks are out-weighed by the independence and money they can make.  These solo workers are rare.

2.  Some of the girls (and boys) come from the local, Midwest areas.  They are managed by a pimp who has simply moved the “crew” from one area to North Dakota for better business opportunities.  Pimps have always been experts at exploiting vulnerable girls.  The market for sex services is so good in North Dakota that pimps can make a fortune  Some have even bought houses for their girls to live in.  It is possible for police to make headway against these kinds of sex traffickers.

3.  North Dakota still arrests women for the crime of prostitution.  Other states recognize that these girls are victims not criminals.  They have “safe harbor” laws that protect and try to rescue the girls rather than criminalize them.  Luckily, North Dakota has many services, both government and volunteer groups, who help and try to save the girls.  In law enforcement, the effort now is rescuing the girls.  Police work with resources such as hospitals, medical caregivers, shelters, social workers, and lots of volunteers from concerned groups to stop the sex trafficking.

4.  The biggest threat is from organized sex trafficking groups.  These are international groups that have been smuggling all kinds of illegal goods into the U.S. for years.  They are strong, well funded, ruthless, and very difficult to stop.  They have virtual organizations that change all the time, making if almost impossible for law enforcement to discover and prosecute.  They even use older, female prostitutes who have “worn out” on the streets to recruit and break-in the younger girls since the younger ones trust women more easily.  These powerful groups are the scary criminals and will prove to be tough to stop.  That’s why so much of the effort today is focused on identifying the girls on the streets and trying to rescue them from these sex trafficking organizations.

If you’re interested in further information and research, check out http://www.traffickedreport.com

Or read my book, Fallout in which I write about an international trafficking organization that threatens Minnesota.