Friday, January 17, 2025
In recognition of January’s designation as National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, Nassau County Legislator Seth Koslow is partnering with Pepper Martin, head pastor of Destiny House Christian Center, in Freeport, and the founder of Women Intended for Excellence, to host a Human Trafficking Prevention Symposium on Jan. 9.
The event will take place at the Theodore Roosevelt Executive & Legislative Building, in Mineola, from 6 to 9 p.m.
“Human trafficking inflicts unimaginable violence upon its victims, robs them of their dignity, and relies upon silence to enable such heinous crimes to slip through the cracks of our society,” Koslow said. “Working with Dr. Pepper Martin and our community partners, it is our hope that this symposium during National Human Trafficking Prevention Month will raise awareness and spark critical conversations about combating this ongoing humanitarian crisis.”
Martin, who has been deeply involved in the battle against human trafficking and has addressed related issues through her ministry and WIFE, a nonprofit, has spoken extensively about the importance of raising awareness of the problem.
“Human trafficking is big, and it’s big on Long Island, but a lot of Long Island residents didn’t realize it,” she said. “The nature of trafficking is so subtle that you don’t even realize that somebody — if you’re going in to get your nails done, as an example, the person working on you may not be an employee. That person working on you may be a trafficked individual working there for free. They’ve been brainwashed and told that they have to work off debt.”
Women Intended for Excellence has supported numerous survivors of domestic violence and trafficking. Martin explained how the issues intersect, and how trafficking victims often face compounded trauma.
“There are three basic reasons for trafficking: sex, labor or organs,” she said. “Now, organ trafficking is really becoming a growing problem.” Organs, she added, are in high demand on the black market due to the difficulty if obtaining them from legal sources.
“It is unbelievable,” Martin said. “Some people can’t explain where their loved ones are. This is across the country. I’m not saying that it is exclusive to Long Island, but because Long Island is the suburb outside of New York City, you don’t think about it.”
Martin’s journey in ministry and advocacy began years ago. She founded Destiny House in 2015, responding to a spiritual calling, and WIFE provides critical support for professional women dealing with the hidden scars of abuse and trauma.
“I’ve had women who are attorneys, doctors and teachers disclose their struggles with trauma and abuse,” she said. “Many don’t seek help because they fear tarnishing their image or exposing their pain. They look great on paper, but they’re dying inside.”
The collaboration with Koslow was a natural extension of Martin’s work. She detailed how their partnership developed through mutual community involvement and shared values.
“When Seth began to run for office, he and my husband connected,” she said, referring to her husband, Sydney Martin. “My husband was also running for town council with the Town of Oyster Bay, and they needed a place, and we had just rented out space across the hall from our church, and the Democrats utilized that space. They loved it. We welcomed them, and we forged a relationship in the community.”
Next week’s symposium will feature speakers from across Long Island and beyond, including law enforcement officials, advocates for trafficking victims, and survivors.
“The purpose of Jan. 9 is really not to be judgmental, but to simply raise awareness, because we can’t address an issue until we’re educated and aware,” Martin said. “It is not yet a call to action, because it’s too new and fresh in our minds, but we just want to raise awareness on this issue and then work with all facets of people in critical roles, from the church to the Legislature, on taking action against this issue.”
Human trafficking affects all demographics. According to Martin, traffickers exploit vulnerabilities such as immigration status, economic hardship, and prior trauma.
She also highlighted the factors that make Long Island a prime location for trafficking and for kidnappers, like the fact that it is surrounded by water, and has three major airports and many hotels.
“This is prime area — the hotels,” Martin said. “And when you talk to these young girls, they’ve been shipped from one hotel in Suffolk to another one in Nassau, back and forth from hotel to hotel. And I’m not talking about the motels. I’m talking about the notable hotels. The traffickers are very savvy, and dress them up, and they don’t look like prostitutes … they are dressed, they go to work and they are not getting any money, so they have to rely on their traffickers for everything.
“There are different places that are prime for people who are traffickers” to kidnap victims, she said, “and it’s from major entertainment platforms like the Super Bowl or the NBA, bus depots (like) Greyhound, the Port Authority in New York City, Long Island Rail Road stops. Freeport is a hotbed for this: the Freeport stop.
“Or when major teams play at Madison Square Garden,” Martin added. “Because that’s Penn Station. That’s a direct conduit to Long Island.”
The goal of next week’s event is to spark dialogue and create pathways for future action.
“What I expect to achieve is people walking out and saying, ‘Wow, I didn’t know.’ That’s really what I expect to achieve,” Martin said. “To raise awareness and maybe look for a path where the average citizen can see themselves in helping to defuse this issue — either as a volunteer for an agency, writing a letter, or being specific about who they vote for and really making this something that should go on the ballot.”
For more information about the symposium, call Martin at (516) 519-0092 or go to WomenIintendedforExcellence.org. Additional resources are available at the National Human Trafficking Hotline, at (888) 373-7888, by texting 233733, or at HumanTraffickingHotline.org.
