Michael Watson, Mississippi Secretary of State during the MBAT Summit
Shakell James
Staff Writer
The Mississippi Businesses Against Trafficking (MBAT) Summit was held on April 4, 2023 in the Student Center Auditorium. Secretary of State Michael Watson sponsored the event in collaboration with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI), the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH), and the Jackson State University (JSU) Public Safety Department led by Chief Herman Horton.
“I wanted Jackson State University to be the first HBCU to host this important summit on human trafficking. It is my hope that other HBCUs follow suit and host this summit on their campus also,” said Horton. “As Chief of Police for the Jackson State University Department of Public Safety, I’m compelled to be a driving force behind spreading the word about the ever-increasing issue: human trafficking.”
MBAT is a statewide initiative to raise awareness and empower Mississippi businesses to combat human trafficking. It is open to any business, nonprofit organization, or association in the State of Mississippi that is interested in promoting human trafficking awareness both internally and externally.
In the welcome by JSU Acting President Elayne H. Anthony, she stated, “We’re very pleased to be a part of this because we see it is very important for our community. We want our community to remain safe.”
Secretary of State Watson gave opening remarks and an introduction of the keynote speaker, Brian Montgomery.
“When I learned about the stories they were talking about, one was out of Lincoln County and it was about a grandfather who was trafficking his granddaughter for drug money and it stuck with me and it hurt because I’m a father of three little girls. So when I think about something happening to small little girl and little boys…it really hurts my heart. I couldn’t help but to get involved with this topic,” explained Watson.
He added, “We worked a great deal with Speaker (Philip) Gunn and several other legislators to get a lot of legislation passed in the state senate and the state house and on to be signed by the Governor. But more importantly than just the legislative piece, but the knowledge that evolved to all of us in the legislature and the idea that we need to spread this and make sure people are aware of what’s going on. And it really just kind of grew out of that.”
Watson explained that MBAT programs not only offer training to employees at the over 100 businesses who are members, but the summits allow the organization to be active within the communities and spread the word about the seriousness of human trafficking even farther.
“You need to be looking for trafficking everywhere, not just your convenience store or truck stops. It’s everywhere you’re going to be,” said Watson
An overview of human trafficking was presented by JSU Professor and Hinds County Sheriff’s Department Lieutenant Kevin Lavine.
Lavine began the overview with a definition of human trafficking, which is a serious crime and violation of human rights involving force, coercion, or fraud to exploit a person into slave or sexual exploitation.
Lavine, who stated that human trafficking is multi-billion-dollar industry, reported that most people think that trafficking comes with certain criteria and always involves sexual exploitation, but labor trafficking is also a serious human trafficking issue.
“Believe it or not, it doesn’t matter about your age, race, physical appearance and make up, we are all vulnerable,” said Lavine. “You are more vulnerable when you are apathetic.”
According to Lavine, women are often used for sexual exploitation and men are typically used for forced labor. Although this is the case in most instances, this is not for every situation.
Lavine stressed that police, businesses and the community must work hand in hand to combat human trafficking.
“We cannot just police our way out of this, we have to have our community stakeholders and forums like this help us to bring factual information that we can all take back and share with our employees and our community,” said Lavine.
The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime has listed a series of indications that help people identify victims of human trafficking. These indicators include:
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- Appearing malnourished
- Appearing injured or having signs of injury or physical abuse
- Avoiding eye contact, social interactions and law enforcement
- Responding in manners that seem rehearsed or scripted
- Lacking personal identification documents
- Lacking personal possessions
Situational awareness will only not save you, but also the victims from being further harmed. Be sure to ask questions and report anything that seems suspicious.
Lavine stressed that private citizens should never try to intervene if human trafficking is suspected, they should contact local authorities who are trained to handle these situations.
Next, keynote speaker Brian Montgomery gave an emotional testimonial about his son Walker, who was a victim of sextortion, another component of trafficking. Walker was a 16-year-old student who played football and enjoyed the presence of people.
Brian told the audience that on the night of Dec. 1, 2022, Walker received an Instagram direct message from someone pretending to be a young girl from his school. One thing led to another and the conversation led to Walker sending the person explicit information of himself.
The trafficker in return wanted $5,000, threatening to expose the information to friends on his social media contact lists. Walker begged them not to release the footage. When he refused to send the money requested, the traffickers told him that they sent the information to friends and if he didn’t comply, they would send the explicit information to his mother.
According to the emotional father, his son, unable to deal with the threat of his mother seeing the information, committed suicide. The hackers, although never caught, have been traced to Nigeria.
“I think it’s easy to think that these types of problems only attack the people that find themselves in those situations. That’s not the case,” said the Brian Montgomery.
Brian hopes that his son’s story can be shared and also encourages parents to take extra precautions when it comes to the safety of their children.
Next, a panel discussion was held that included: Dana Hunter, executive director of Louisiana’s Governor’s Office of Human Trafficking; Matt Bogue, vice president of Dutch Oil Company/Sprint Mart; Deputy Helen Brown, CEO of No More Tears, an organization that empowers as well as guides victims of human trafficking and domestic violence; and Joy Jones, director of the Office Against Interpersonal Violence.
The panel offered more information on recognizing and reporting suspected human trafficking situations.
Chief Horton was pleased that JSU was able to host the event.
“I want to make every effort to educate our students as well as our faculty and staff about human trafficking. I am thankful that Michael Watson, Secretary of State, brought the Mississippi Businesses Against Trafficking (MBAT) summit to the JSU campus. Businesses play an integral part of helping to identify victims of human trafficking by working with local, county, and state law enforcement agencies as they are often the ‘eyes and ears’ of the community as they have first-hand knowledge of human trafficking occurrences around their places of business,” said Horton. “We (law enforcement) are appreciative of their involvement by simply contacting law enforcement. JSU Department of Public Safety will continue working with Mr. Watson’s office to help share the knowledge of the dangers and impact of human trafficking in our community”.
Horton added, “I feel it is our (JSU Department of Public Safety) responsibility to help educate our campus community about human trafficking. If any student ever finds themselves in a human situation, we encourage them to contact the JSU Department of Public Safety and report it immediately and provide as much information as possible: If you see something or hear something, please, say something.”
