How one teacher equips students to stop trafficking before it starts
| TOLEDO, Ohio
When teacher Mona Al-Hayani looks at high school students, she sees possibilities. But after years of social justice work, she鈥檚 also keenly aware of unseen dangers to young people.
So when the state of Ohio mandated five years ago that public school staff receive training on human trafficking 鈥� without providing any money or much direction 鈥� 鈥淢s. Al,鈥� as she鈥檚 called, stepped up.
She developed a curriculum for the Toledo district, trained more than 20,000 students and educators in how to identify risk factors, connected the schools to local advocacy groups, and has started offering training for nearby communities. The effort earned her Ohio鈥檚 Teacher of the Year award in 2019, and the admiration of advocates for impoverished young people who are most at risk.
Why We Wrote This
Teachers often take their responsibilities beyond the subjects they鈥檙e expected to teach. In Ohio, Mona Al-Hayani developed a curriculum for human trafficking that raises awareness among adults and vulnerable young people.
As her school prepares to start the year remotely, Ms. Al-Hayani has been helping develop an app called Youth Pages, which offers resources to mitigate factors that lead to human trafficking.聽聽
Sandy Sieben, co-chair of the Lucas County Human Trafficking Coalition (LCHTC), has a simple answer for those who ask how Toledo has managed to come this far: 鈥淲e say, 鈥楳ona.鈥� It鈥檚 because of Mona鈥檚 respect in the community and her ability. Mona鈥檚 really talented and skilled in talking to all levels.鈥�
Traffickers prey on victims鈥� vulnerabilities, and high school students can be easy targets. A 2019 report by the University of Cincinnati School of Criminal Justice said most victims trafficked that year were between 12 and 30 years old, with about 86% identified as minors. Most cases involve teenagers in abusive relationships who are tricked into sex trafficking by their partner.
Anti-trafficking advocates are also fighting a newer phenomenon, the conspiracy theories perpetuated on social media that attempt to link high-profile people to trafficking.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e giving you the caricature of a sensationalized sliver of what might be happening,鈥� says Celia Williamson, director of the Human Trafficking and Social Justice Institute at the University of Toledo and founder of the LCHTC.
False stories often focus on a specific prominent person or organization that is supposedly trafficking. But that misinformation discounts the factors that contribute to the problem, she adds. Instead, it panics the public and leads to 鈥渋nstitutionalized privilege鈥� 鈥� with individuals investing money to help communities that are already protected. 鈥淲hat we鈥檙e trying to address is the more common manipulation that occurs,鈥� says. Dr. Williamson.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not really about snatching and grabbing people off the street. That is doing a disservice to the reality of trafficking and it has everybody looking in the wrong places.鈥�
Vulnerabilities preyed on聽
Toledo and Lucas County have a large proportion of vulnerable young people. Ohio Department of Education that Toledo public schools had more homeless students, about 2,700, than any other district in the state during the 2015-2016 year. Almost 20,000 of the district鈥檚 23,000 students are economically disadvantaged. Those challenges could worsen in a recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Dr. Williamson considers it a victory of sorts that Ohio placed fifth on a list compiled by the of states with human trafficking problems. The list is based on calls to a hotline, so Ohio鈥檚 ranking reflects a high degree of awareness, she says. By focusing on the demographic most at risk, Toledo is able to identify individuals being exploited that other cities do not.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 about vulnerability ... That鈥檚 the common denominator about trafficked youth,鈥� says Ms. Al-Hayani, whose program includes educating students and teachers on how to resist and detect trafficking.
Ms. Al-Hayani says her passion for community education began as she watched her mother lead discussions about Islam during a time when Americans had little concept of it. Her mother, Fatima, taught French and English while completing her doctorate in Islamic jurisprudence.
鈥淢y mom always spoke the truth,鈥� Ms. Al-Hayani says. 鈥淓ven if she knew that it would alienate people. She always was political, in the sense where she used education as a tool to teach people about the right path, and I took all of that from her.鈥�
Dr. Al-Hayani gave a university talk about Islam two days after 9/11, though friends and family worried for her safety and pleaded with her to cancel it. Through her work on a peace and justice committee, she has held anti-human trafficking workshops for social workers, teachers, and detectives, and she worked on state legislation to stop the criminalization of victims of sex trafficking.
鈥淢ona and her mom were advocates for the victims of human trafficking even before it was popular,鈥� their family friend, Cherrefe Kadri explains. 鈥淪o when that movement was first getting started, they were at the forefront.鈥�
A self-described 鈥淭oledo girl,鈥� Mona Al-Hayani studied sociology at the University of Toledo. The first Gulf War was raging when she was a freshman, and she recalls a group of young men who shouted 鈥淕o back where you came from鈥� as she was returning to her car after attending a lecture.
鈥淚 remember that moment really was a defining point for me,鈥� Ms. Al-Hayani says.
Her father鈥檚 country, Iraq, was at war with America. She protested the sanctions against Iraq, because of how children were negatively affected by them.
Watching her father get pulled aside for extra airport screening, or adjusting to FBI monitoring of their house because her father was a supervisor of a municipal water plant, made her reflect on her identity, Ms. Al-Hayani says.
鈥淎ll of those things shaped me to look at social justice through a different lens,鈥� she says. She got a chance to act on her values when she set foot in Woodward High School in Toledo as a substitute teacher in 1999.
The school had a reputation for a high suspension rate. Her students included seniors who had failed ninth grade reading tests. Many were unsure if they would graduate.
鈥淢y goal the first year was to make sure that they graduated, and they did,鈥� Ms. Al-Hayani says. So she remained a high school teacher, moving later to Toledo Early College High School.
Thirteen years ago, she created an international festival for one of the most diverse schools in the state, focused on the food and culture of different countries. The idea came after a student of Mexican heritage approached her about arranging a Cinco de Mayo celebration.
鈥淚鈥檝e never seen anything like this in the system,鈥� says Victoria Smith, a Toledo Public Schools Spanish teacher, who鈥檚 taught for about 25 years. 鈥淚t makes my job easier because the kids, they get fired up about the I-Fest. They do look forward to it all year long.鈥�
The event is organized by Young Women for Change, a group at school that Ms. Al-Hayani started. Other students create displays full of historical facts about each country.
I-Fest has changed their perception of the world, says Jada McIntyre, a team captain for the event. 鈥淵ou could be in social studies class all day,鈥� she adds. 鈥淵ou can retain that information, but when you get that visual, when you get to just help in the project, see it come together, you know, taste the food, see the performances, see all the boards and artifacts, it makes it feel more real and it鈥檚 easier to connect with it.鈥�
Empowering young women
In addition to being Ohio鈥檚 Teacher of the Year in 2019, Ms. Al-Hayani is this year鈥檚 teacher fellow for the Ohio Department of Education and the recipient of a YWCA award that honors women in northwest Ohio for their work in empowering other women. Lisa McDuffie, president and CEO of the YWCA, says Ms. Al-Hayani鈥檚 contribution was so significant that she could have won in several other categories, as well.
Dr. Williamson says that Ms. Al-Hayani鈥檚 role as an educator was a game changer for the anti-trafficking coalition, allowing it to progress from education and awareness to prevention.聽 By collaborating with the LCHTC and the University of Toledo, Ms. Al-Hayani has reached out to students in cities like Tiffin and Sandusky. Through the LCHTC, representatives of 36 agencies from five counties meet monthly to discuss prevention, intervention, and programming.
During a gathering at the Ohio state capitol last year, Ms. Al-Hayani鈥檚 students performed a skit demonstrating how predators use coercion, force, and fraud to lure vulnerable young people.
鈥淚f we don鈥檛 arm students with knowledge and power 鈥� that when they take informed action change can happen, we鈥檙e doomed as a society,鈥� Ms. Al-Hayani says. Teachers act as both 鈥渨arriors and advocates鈥� in their classrooms every day. 鈥淧eople don鈥檛 really realize that.鈥�
This story was produced in association with the Round Earth Media program of the .
