The safe outdoor space at Menaul and I-25 will not protect women and the homeless and the idea that it will is “just plain crazy talk,” said Caroline Ofe, former outreach coordinator for Refuge City, a recovery agency for child sex trafficking survivors.
“The idea that this 'safe space' will be helpful to care for or protect women is just plain crazy talk," Ofe told the New Mexico Sun. "This is the opposite of effective care and standard practices for trafficking survivors and people experiencing homelessness. Encampments like this are ineffective, actually encouraging destructive behavior and homelessness. No matter what way you slice it, they are bad for the women that they are allegedly meant to protect and they are harmful to the homeless population, as evidenced by what happened in the previous park and similar arrangements in other parts of the country.”
Albuquerque's first safe outdoor space, established by the newly formed organization Dawn Legacy Point at an empty lot at Menaul and I-25, will house mostly women and those affected by sex trafficking and exploitation but will provide no security for them.
“There just needs to be someplace for people to go, especially when they reach the point that they are going through sex trafficking or exploitation,” Kylea Goode, chairperson of Dawn Legacy Pointe, told KOB4 on Aug. 8
However, housing dozens of women on one site with very little security could put them in a highly vulnerable state. “They are bad for the women that they are allegedly meant to protect and they are harmful to the homeless population, as evidenced by what happened in the previous park and similar arrangements in other parts of the country,” Ofe said. As of now, the women who live in the encampment will be in charge of their security.
Ofe's reference to "what happened in the previous park” is referring to the unofficial homeless encampment at Coronado Park, which closed due to violent crime and drug trafficking, KOAT reported.
Goode said she understands neighborhood concern, but contends that arguments against safe outdoor spaces are often based on generalizations that all homeless people would introduce sex trafficking, The Albuquerque Journal reported.
But studies show how homeless systems like this do in fact benefit human trafficking operations and expose people to trafficking at a high level.
Dawn Legacy Pointe's website includes a list of operational rules that were not included with their application and are in conflict with the submitted documents. For instance, its website states they will not accept sex offenders or anyone convicted of human trafficking, but in the application for the encampment accepted by the city, the rules allow sex offenders to live in the encampment, so long as they are registered.
In addition to her time as outreach coordinator for Refuge City, Ofe is a former board member for the North Texas Coalition Against Human Trafficking, the Homeless Coalition of Dallas and the Collin County Homeless Coalition.