Human Trafficking in Montana

“According to recent reports, the Montana Department of Justice (MT DOJ) tracked 68 instances of human trafficking in 2021. This is an increase of 871 percent from 7 instances of human trafficking tracked by the MT DOJ in 2015,” shared Penny Ronning, the founder of the Yellowstone County Area Human Trafficking Task Force. She provided a firsthand account of an organization fighting human trafficking in Montana. Ronning supplied many insightful details that will hopefully allow GHS students to understand this very serious issue plaguing the globe and what to do about it.

To begin, there are two main models of human trafficking—sex trafficking and labor trafficking. In sex trafficking, female victims make up to 80% of the population, and up to 50% are minors. In labor trafficking the higher percentage often falls to adult men, and more often immigrants over naturally born U.S. citizens. As for buyers and traffickers themselves, the perpetrators are usually male, with 54% being married and coming from all different ethnicities and races. According to a study from Kent, Washington, “Although female sex buyers may exist, the data shows that they do not constitute any significant percentage of the market.” Finally, you never know who a trafficker will be. They could be a parent, grandparent, spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, sibling, or friend selling a person for drugs, rent, payment on utilities, labor, or anything else of value. The first time a victim is trafficked the trafficker is most often a family member, or someone known, loved, and/or trusted by the victim, an unfortunate fact regarding the traffickers in the United States.

One of the tricky things factoring into human trafficking is the lack of victim reports, leading to possible skewed data. According to Ronning, “Victims rarely self-identify/report because of shame, belief that no one can help them, belief that they will be arrested, belief that they will be deported if in the country without documentation, fear that their family will be in danger, fear for their own lives, some may not understand that what is happening to them is human trafficking, etc.” Because of these reasons, human trafficking statistics can be difficult to acquire.

Despite the struggle for exact data, cases in Montana are proportionally high. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, Montana is a large state, meaning that we have few law enforcement resources covering a very large landscape. Federal agents and state agents have jurisdiction throughout the state. In 2014, the FBI dedicated one federal agent to investigating human trafficking in MT, and two state agents. As well as this, Ronning added that “MT is also a state with low population, low wages, no state sales tax to help pay for public services, and, historically, a male dominated state legislature.” Inequality and gender-based violence is a large part of human trafficking. For example, victims of sex trafficking, prostitution, and sexual violence are predominantly female. Yet females have never been the dominant body writing the laws in our state or even our country. This leaves significant room for gender bias, ranging from small acts of discrimination to women being the target demographic for human trafficking. Ronning posed the thought-provoking question of “What would our laws on sexual violence look like if they were written from a predominately female point of view?” Beyond this high enumeration of female victims, it’s important to recognize that males and people identifying as LGBTQ+ are also sufferers of human trafficking attacks.

The profile for the majority of human trafficking victims include not only adults but minors as well. According to Ronning, “In the United States, what data has been collected shows that victims are about 50 percent minors and 50 percent adults.” She elaborates by expressing, “Victims can be the infant child next door,” or she says,“the 75-year-old woman being trafficked in an illicit massage business.” In Montana, victims and survivors can range from adults to high schoolers to middle schoolers to even elementary school children. Again, women are also the predominant gender of victims, but women of color are targeted even more so.

In Bozeman specifically, there have been few human trafficking cases. One of the biggest instances of trafficking occurred in August of 2018, where seven people from Gallatin and Lewis and Clark counties were arrested on prostitution charges. Since then there have been less cases, at least publicly announced ones.

In recent years, the FBI created a statewide task force made up of officers and agents from various jurisdictions that work together investigating crimes of human trafficking and internet crimes against children. This is showing the significant efforts the U.S. is taking to combat human trafficking. Ronning’s very own organization is hard at work doing just this. According to the YCA Human Trafficking Task Force overview document, “The Human Trafficking Task Force was created in 2016 to help coordinate the efforts of law enforcement, service providers, and community groups and volunteers in Yellowstone County, Montana and the surrounding areas in their work to investigate and prosecute traffickers, to assist victims of sex trafficking and labor trafficking, to increase community awareness and prevent future trafficking.” They are doing so through many effective actions, one of which being spreading awareness and educating the community of the issue, such as through this very article.

When asked about the organization, Ronning said that “Through our Task Force leaders, committees, and partner agencies and organizations, we have grown to be the largest such task force in MT and we now work at the state and national levels as well.” Her organization has grown from the ground up to become a crucial and supportive system diligently helping to prevent human trafficking and protect the community from facing the same threats. As for GHS students wishing to personally spread this message and raise awareness of the subject, Ronning suggested to “Write articles like this one, talk to your parents and other adults about the importance of equality under the law, and become educated as well as help to educate others on what gender-based violence is. Students and schools can sponsor organizations like Fight the New Drug to present at assemblies and the Bozeman Public Schools Superintendent and School Board can make training on human trafficking available to educators and faculty, which is something we strongly recommend.”

Finally, when asked what students here at Gallatin High School can do to avoid human trafficking, Ronning replied, “First, students need to encourage their principal and the Bozeman Public Schools Superintendent to implement a human trafficking reporting protocol if one is not in place.” Secondly, she pressed the importance of individuals not falling prey to social media traps such as false profiles, strangers, or groomers. Thirdly, students should never hesitate to show a parent, teacher, or trusted adult a suspicious message or a message that makes the student feel uncomfortable. Finally, “Know your rights and know your value. YOU have rights and YOU are valuable in this world.” 

As a reiteration, human trafficking is a serious issue in today’s society. However, this should not require high school students to be scared of everything or everyone. Be aware —don’t ignore the issue and act as if it’s not real—but don’t spend your life in fear of being a victim. Take the necessary precautions, spread awareness, and don’t hesitate to ask for help. Some useful resources for you to utilize if you’re ever in need include the 24-Hour Victim Services Hotline for a call, text, or live chat at 833-406-STOP or 406STOP.com. Some more contacts for tips or to report anything suspicious include FBI Special Agent Brandon Walter (406-254-8117), MT DOJ Agent Andrew Yedinak (406-413-0035), and Bozeman Police Officer Connor Foley (406-582-2218).

Ronning concluded with this wisdom, “Victims are not responsible for the crimes done against them or for reducing the demand to do crimes like human trafficking. This is the responsibility of the ones committing the crime -- the buyers and traffickers.”