The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is making homelessness worse in greater Austin and, in turn, is increasing human trafficking in Texas, according to news reports.
Of the more than 300,000 victims of human trafficking in Texas, nearly 79,000 are minors and youth victims of sex trafficking, according to a 2016 University of Texas at Austin Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (IDVSA) study, the Lone Star Standard reported in December.
That same study linked homelessness, drug addiction, undocumented status and being part of the state's foster care system as risk elements for trafficking.
Austin Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Co-Director Bruce Kellison
| utexas.edu
"We estimate the number of workers in Texas in industries known to be vulnerable to human trafficking, such as migrant farmworkers, cleaning services workers, construction workers, kitchen workers in restaurants, landscaping and groundskeeping workers," IDVSA co-director Bruce Kellison told the Lone Star Standard. "Other labor sector examples of hard-to-estimate populations would include domestic work, begging rings and massage parlors."
The Texas Tribune reports that a recent count in the Austin-Travis County area of unsheltered homeless rose 45% from 2019 to 2020.
The pandemic has reduced the number of foster families in Texas, which mean fewer homes available for vulnerable children and youth, the Austin-American Statesman reported last month. Children and teenagers also are spending more time online, much of it unattended, which creates a greater pool of victims for trafficker to target on the internet.
Safety protocols required to slow the spread of COVID-19 also are making it more difficult for health care workers, educators and others to spot trafficking victims, who are less likely to adapt to new practices presented by the pandemic. This decreases the likelihood they’ll be identified and rescued.
It's also becoming more difficult to determine how bad homelessness is in many regions of the country, including Texas. Austin and other U.S. cities canceled its usual January census of people experiencing homelessness outside shelters. Almost 60% of regions nationwide asked for waivers or exemptions to count its unsheltered residents amid the ongoing pandemic, Reuters reported earlier this month. Reuters cited U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development figures.
Despite the lack of counting, it's clear that COVID has worsened Texas' homeless problem. Widespread job loss last year increased homelessness and housing insecurity, which in turn created unstable living conditions, the perfect environment for people - especially minors and other young people - to fall victim to traffickers, The Texas Tribune reported Feb. 4.
"We know that our community has been hit very hard," Sarah Duzinski, vice president of quality assurance for Austin ECHO, told The Texas Tribune. "We know that people are struggling and scrambling. They're experiencing those first-layer risk factors for homelessness, which are food insecurity, housing insecurity and job loss."
Matters may not get better when the pandemic ends, Duzinski said, adding, "I think we'll be bracing ourselves to see increases in homelessness in the coming years."
