Interstates help human trafficking flourish in Miss.

The numb response elicited from so many Americans by the words "human trafficking" belies the horrors the words represent. 

"We've seen victims locked in trunks; we've seen them chained to trees like animals; we've seen them with every kind of sexual assault you can think of. It's just too horrific to talk about here, but the level of trauma that they experience is worse than even prisoners of war experience," said Sandy Middleton, the executive director of the Center for Violence Prevention. "These traffickers are very violent, bad people, and they use violence and power and control and fear and intimidation to force these victims to continue to sell sex or labor."

It sounds like something that happens far away — if not in a far-off country then definitely in a big city hundreds of miles from here. But it's in Mississippi. Major thoroughfares such as I-55 and I-20 allow for victims to be moved into, out of and through the state.

Hinds County Sheriff's Department Investigator Dean Scott couldn't give a lot of details because of the sensitivity of the case, but he said he's seen evidence that human trafficking destroys the lives of all kinds of people. 

MORE ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN MISSISSIPPI

"Most people say they picture a 20-year-old girl, but the worst case I’ve seen involved a 20-year-old male, and photos were going to be used to extort him," Scott said. "Due to the drug use and the incoherentcy, it turned into a brutal situation, and unfortunately he will be affected by it for the rest of his life, physically and mentally."

At the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officer Training Academy, roughly 70 officers from around the state gathered to learn what to look for and how to combat an issue that officials from the Department of Justice's Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center say is much more widespread than most people recognize.

"It's easy to say, 'Oh it doesn't occur in Pearl or Jackson or Vermont or California,' but trafficking exists at some level in just about every community in the country, and it's been identified in virtually every country in the world, said OVCTTAC consultant John Vanek. "It's a worldwide problem as well as a local problem."

Human trafficking includes labor trafficking, which is basically slavery, officials said. In an early 2016 interview with The Clarion-Ledger, Gov. Phil Bryant addressed the gang connection to human trafficking as well. 

"I hope people will recognize the horrors that go on inside these gangs when a young girl that may be a runaway is all but kidnapped and used in the sex slave, human trafficking world. Now gangs say it’s easier and better than drugs because selling a young girl lasts a lifetime," Bryant said. "We need everything we can to enforce stricter penalties and to bring more law enforcement assets to bear on any crime, particularly those generated by gang activities."

Middleton echoed the governor's position, saying Mississippi is an easy place to commit these crimes. 

"Especially in a state like ours where we really don’t have a plan or a planned response or procedure or protocols, they’re really able to operate pretty freely, so it’s really important that we realize that we need to address this problem," she said. "We need to make a plan and commit funding to it, and if we don’t it’s just going to get bigger. 

Gang investigators hope proposed legislation to enhance penalties for gang activity will define as human trafficking young men being recruited into gangs then being told they cannot leave until they die. 

"That's exactly what it is," Middleton said. 

RELATED: Gang wars: Officials say resources needed to fight gangs 

OVCTTAC consultant Kiricka Yarbough Smith said North Carolina has mandatory training for law enforcement officers as well as rapid-response teams in place to take care of victims within the first 24 to 72 hours after they're identified. Knowing that people arrested in prostitution stings may be victims of trafficking not only helps address the problem but is helping victims find the courage to come forward. 

"Learning that some people out there are victims and not criminals is changing things a lot," Smith said. "Now victims are feeling a little more comfortable reporting and talking to law enforcement service providers."

But with so many victims of human trafficking being reliant on their pimps or their captors for financial support and for their safety — given the violence of most of the situations, relative safety at best — it's hard to get victims to come forward. They're also afraid because they're involved in crime, and sometimes, Vanek said, they don't even fully recognize the situation they're in.

"Most victims of trafficking don't even identify themselves or view themselves as being victimized through human trafficking. They might feel they're being exploited, certainly, but they might also think that they're involved in illegal activity. So there's a lot of reasons these victims are hesitant," he said. "So that's why it's incumbent upon law enforcement and first responders and victim services providers and others to have the knowledge so we can identify them and help them understand how they're being exploited."

Contact Therese Apel at tapel@gannett.com. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

To report trafficking

If you see or experience human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888.