The Key2Free Brings Hope and Healing

Peaceful.

That’s how it feels to sit in Teri Jansen’s office at The Key2Free. As a Co-Founder and the Executive Director of Programs at the Georgetown nonprofit, peace is the feeling she hopes to emanate to all who enter, especially those whom the nonprofit directly serves.

For almost nine years, The Key2Free has been doing their part in fighting human sex trafficking in Central Texas.

“Human trafficking encompasses a lot of different components. It does involve labor trafficking, organ trafficking, as well as human sex trafficking,” Teri Jansen, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Programs, told Hello Georgetown. “[The Key2Free]’s focus is survivors of human sex trafficking and those that are involved in sexual exploitation in various capacities.”

Admittedly, the conversation about human trafficking on any level is heavy. But, it’s a conversation that needs to happen, Jansen said. As The Key2Free continues it’s work to help survivors of human trafficking, it’s important to help the public better understand the myths that prevail and dispel those with truth to better arm communities, families and individuals.

Myth #1: Human Trafficking Isn’t Happening Frequently in Texas

“A common misconception is that our proximity to the border affects human sex trafficking,” Jansen said. “That would absolutely be a possibility, but what we have seen in our experience with, The Key2Free…and with the exception of one client, every single one of our clients was trafficked here in the United States solely, and not from another country.”

Not only it is happening frequently in the United States, Texas is one of the top states in the nation struggling with human trafficking.

“It is happening in Texas,” Jansen said. “Where we are specifically in Central Texas, statistically…Texas is the number two state in frequency of calls to the National Human Trafficking Hotline number every year…because of what they call ‘The Triangle’: Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas.”

The connection between these three cities creates an easy pathway for transporting victims, Jansen said.

“So, the exploitation will typically begin in one major city or area and then move to another, relocate to another, and then be relocated to another and move around that triangle regularly,” Jansen said. “Because of the I-35 and 110 corridor, Texas has a significant rate of human trafficking. Houston has regularly ranked as the number one city in the nation of incidences of human trafficking as well.”

Though the numbers may be shocking, that doesn’t mean Texans aren’t doing anything to tackle the issue, Jansen said.

“Houston…[is] doing amazing things to fight human trafficking,” Jansen said. “But, yes, it’s absolutely happening in Texas….I feel that…the reason that we aren’t recognizing or understanding that it’s happening here is because it doesn’t look like what we’ve been taught that it looks like.”

Myth #2: Human Trafficking Is Mainly Operated Through Kidnappings and Strangers

One common misconception about human trafficking is that victims are kidnapped or coerced by strangers. While that certainly happens, Jansen said, the main driver of human trafficking is much closer to home for many.

“Only 9% of victims of human trafficking are trafficked by somebody that they don’t already know,” Jansen said. “Human sex trafficking in the United States is very much relationship-based. It is coercion, it’s manipulation. Traffickers have no shortage of money. It is a very lucrative business, so they have finances and take the time to invest in potential victims. They do this through seduction, through wining and dining, providing and meeting needs that perhaps weren’t being met before.”

Myth #3: Sex Trafficking Victims Are Only Female

Women are most often thought to be victims of human trafficking, but Jansen said the traffickers are no respecter of gender and instead focus on finding victims through vulnerabilities.

“Traditionally, yes they are mostly female, but…victims could be any gender,” Jansen said. “It all has to do with their heightened vulnerabilities, and so traffickers will specifically target the vulnerabilities, take the time to learn the needs, wants and interests of their potential victims, so that they can invest that time in them to create a relationship (or façade of a relationship) in order to exploit them.”

According to the Polaris Project, men represented over 14% of likely victims in 2020.

Myth #4: Sex Traffickers Are Only Male

“The truth is that there are many, many females that traffic victims as well,” Jansen said. “There are couples that traffic individuals, there are families that traffic their own children…So, when we are only believing or defining human trafficking by what media has taught us and not recognizing what it really looks like, it’s very easy to not recognize that it’s happening in the Georgetown area, in Williamson County, because it doesn’t look like what we thought it looked like. ”

Dispelling this myth in particular, Jansen said, is a vital component in helping survivors. When myths are propagated, not only will the public struggle to understand, so will those who are in the middle of human trafficking….they will not self-identify as victims.

“They don’t identify themselves as victims of human trafficking,” Jansen said. “They just thought they’d kind of gotten themselves into a bad situation and it was their own fault, and the traffickers absolutely will feed that by saying, ‘You’re right, this is your fault. This was something you created…You became indebted to me, and this is now what we have to do to pay that debt back. This is on you.’ So, we have to debunk those myths, not just for our own wellbeing, but for the wellbeing of victims themselves.”

Educating Communities, Families and Individuals

These myths represent just a part of the education process The Key2Free is working to impart to communities, families and individuals. In addition to helping survivors of human trafficking, they also focus on dispelling myths, sharing information to help people be proactive in protecting themselves and others, as well as identifying those who may need help from their organization and others.

“The biggest piece in fighting on the prevention side is knowing the facts and knowing what to look for, those red flags, that’s the biggest piece,” Jansen said. “We love to be able to get in the community and educate people because again, education is the best way to fight in prevention efforts. So, if anybody’s ever looking for speakers at any of their clubs, organizations, classrooms, etc, we always welcome those opportunities.”

Parents should also learn about internet safety for their children, as traffickers increasingly continue to turn their sights toward finding potential victims online. Traffickers go where potential victims are…that could be physically or virtually.

“The internet is the significant place where traffickers go…the recruiting piece is…simpler for them now because they can play any role they want to play,” Jansen said. “One of the best presentations that I’ve ever heard about internet safety is from the Williamson County Children’s Advocacy Center. They have a wonderful presentation to present to kids and families about internet safety. I would absolutely encourage any parent to make sure their kids know how to be safe online.”

Everyone can do something, Jansen implored, and there are several ways to get involved in helping.

“There’s absolutely something that you can do regardless of what capacity you fit,” Jansen said. “Find what you do well and use it…anyone can fight this through the prevention side, taking the education that you’ve received and then sharing it with other people. The restoration piece is a little bit more specialized, but if there are people that want to be involved with The Key2Free, we have different tiers of volunteer opportunities based on the current needs of the organization coupled with what the potential volunteer is looking for.”

The organization is also always looking for volunteers who can offer their services, like legal aid, car maintenance, teaching basic computer skills, lawn maintenance, gardening, attorneys and physicians who can do pro bono work, and more, to help survivors get back on their feet. For those who would prefer to donate monetarily, there are ways to help The Key2Free too.

“We’re always looking for monthly donors,” Jansen said. “It’s really nice to be able to have something we can rely on month to month…that can be whatever amount individuals are interested [in giving]. If you can be a monthly donor, that’s a huge blessing for us to have that consistency. We accept monetary donations anytime. There’s a DONATE button on our website, that’s the easiest way to do it.”

Most recently, the organization completed a 100 Days of Giving campaign that helped them expand their services to those in need.

“We exceeded our goal, which was fantastic,” Jansen said. “The 100 Days of Giving campaign was to further our program development, which is what we are working on right now. We are expanding our housing. We are expanding our programming. We are expanding our team, not just staff, but just the direct-services team in general, which includes volunteers,  in order to meet the needs of the individuals that are needing those services. So, we are able to begin funding for that now, which is a huge blessing.”

In addition, The Key2Free is celebrating their 9th Anniversary with a Boots & Bling Gala and Auction on Saturday, April 30th at Reunion Ranch.  For more information, click here.

Learn more about The Key2Free on their website or their Facebook page.

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