ELY - The Safe Harbor for Sexually Exploited Youth legislative provisions are in the process of being implemented and Northeastern Minnesota is at the forefront of the effort.

St. Louis County Attorney Mark Rubin was in Ely this week to talk about making the decision to not prosecute young girls who are being trafficked, long before it was a legislative requirement. As County Attorney, Rubin has been a statewide co-leader on the issue of protecting girls who have been sexually trafficked, resulting in the successful passage of the Safe Harbor Act.

He spoke at Tuesday Group and Vermilion Community College on Tuesday. His programs were sponsored by Ely EMPOWER and the Ely chapter of the American Association of University Women.

He likened the crime of girls being sexually exploited to a character, the little match girl, in a story by Hans Christian Anderson.

“There is so much publicity today, including stories about the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota,” Rubin said. “Is it new? Why are these young girls out on the street? Why are they being victimized? Why are people preying on them?” he asked.

“Not unlike the little girls and young women who are out on the street in our communities, she (the story character) has made a choice. She is afraid to go home. She made a decision. Like the girls in our community, very few are forced to be out. We know from interviews from young women, and disproportionately native girls, they made a choice not to be home. They live in an environment that is toxic. They decide to be out on the street. In their minds it is a better place to be than at home.”

He talked about the provisions of the Safe Harbor legislation.

“There is no wrong door,” he said. “Help can be found through social services, schools, churches, and other parts of our communities. And once they get out of that environment how do we get them some semblance of a normal life? And what can we do to make sure that person doesn’t have to make that choice again?”

He said he has found many parallels to the whole issue of domestic abuse and violence. Rubin’s office prosecutes the county’s major domestic abuse cases, but assistant prosecutors try the cases originating in the other municipalities in the county. More training for all prosecutors in the county will soon be made available in St. Louis County. “We need to be more consistent with prosecution,” he said.

“I think women and children will continue to be safer,” he said, “but the problem is at home. Something is going wrong in that house that is making it more attractive to be out of there.”

The Safe Harbor Law was implemented last August.

Minnesota youth who engage in prostitution will no longer be seen as criminals, but instead as victims and survivors. The Safe Harbor Law treats these youth with dignity and respect and directs them to appropriate supportive services, including shelter and housing.

In St. Louis County, Life House has received funding from the legislation that has allowed the organization to have two shelter rooms available for children who might report having been trafficked, he said.

The legislation also calls for Regional Navigators who are available to connect youth with trauma-informed resources in their area which include access to housing, healthcare, mental health, chemical health, education and employment services.

“Our Regional Navigator covers the seven-county area in the northeast part of the state as well as the three Indian Reservations,” Rubin said.

Nigel Perrote has been hired by the Program for Aid to Victims of Sexual Assault (PAVSA) for this region. “He has been at work since last summer, working in education and outreach. His primary role has sometimes included direct intervention with making sure that the young girls get referred to appropriate services,” Rubin said.

 The Regional Navigator is also working closely with the Duluth Police Department on identifying potential victims and trying to build some type of relationship.  “We have learned that the only way these young girls are going to report what has happened to them is if they have some comfort and confidence in the system,” he said, “so as not to be exposing themselves to greater danger. I am told that the Duluth Police Department has a list of approximately 50 girls who they consider to be ‘high risk.’ This would mean that they are on the run, have a history of abuse, or maybe have acquired some new things without the obvious means to afford them. One of the things we wish to do in St. Louis County is to bring this type of heightened awareness and relationship building to other law enforcement agencies.”

He noted that next month there will be a regional conference that will be providing supplemental training for law enforcement and social service workers involved in this area.

“Of interest here is the fact that we have made connections with the Canadian Mounted Police and want to find out what we can do to assure that the girls are not being trafficked from or to Canada,” he said.

Rubin said his office successfully prosecuted a few cases. “Across the state, the heightened awareness is paying off. In 2010, there were only 17 prosecutions for solicitation, inducement and promotion of prostitution; sex trafficking. In 2013 that number had risen to 72.  Of the 72, 63 were successfully prosecuted,” he said.

“In the future, we will need safe shelter and housing available in not just the Duluth area, but in all of our communities. We need more trauma-informed, culturally specific services and some way to effectively reach the youth who are trapped in this lifestyle.”