Houston Republic

Dr. Robert Sanborn knows what it’s like to be a child at risk.

Sanborn is the president and CEO of Children at Risk, a youth advocacy nonprofit agency based in Houston that works to help children across Texas live better, healthier, happier lives.

Children at Risk was formed about 30 years ago, and Sanborn, who earned an undergraduate degree at Florida State University and a doctorate at Columbia University, joined it more than a decade ago. Previously he had worked as an academic, including stops at Rice University, Columbia, the University of Tulsa, Emory University and University of Massachusetts, and as a dean at Hampshire College in Massachusetts.

Dr. Robert Sanborn | Twitter

Why the dramatic career change?

“Because I was a kid at risk,” Sanborn told Houston Republic. “The idea of giving back was always of great interests to me, giving kids a chance.”

He was born in Maine but his family moved to Puerto Rico when he was in the first grade and remained there through his high school years. Sanborn saw children placed in dangerous situations then and the memory stayed with him.

Children at Risk focuses on helping youngsters in all aspects of their lives, but it especially aims to help rescue those ensnared in sex work by human traffickers.

“Trafficking is something that we started working on 12-13 years ago,” Sanborn said. “At first we thought it was something around immigration.”

But it turned out that most victims are American-born. Some come from foster homes, he said. They are in bad homes or run away and are on the street.

“These are young women, young men who have been unloved,” Sanborn said.

That’s when they fall into the clutches of human traffickers, who introduce them to life as a sex worker. They become dancers and prostitutes based in strip clubs, work in massage parlors that offer more than a rubdown or are offered for hire online.

Thousands of people are victims of sex trafficking in the United States, and Texas is a particularly troubling area for such activity, according to the Texas Human Trafficking Fact Sheet.

Sanborn said a University of Texas study indicated there are 79,000 sex trafficking victims in the state annually. In response to this tidal wave of abuse, Children at Risk has worked with state officials to enact tougher laws targeting human trafficking.

“Almost every piece of law on trafficking that was written, we had our hand in it,” Sanborn said.

He said, however, that the group has come to realize the only way to combat it is to target the men who buy sex from young people.

“If there is no demand for these boys and girls, it will end trafficking,” Sanborn said. “How do we create a climate where men don’t want to buy girls and boys?”

Part of the problem is the “live and let live culture in Texas,” he said. “We have tried to end that culture in the state of Texas. But some people think it’s part of the economy.”

That’s why there is more sex trafficking in Houston than in New York City and Las Vegas, Sanborn said.

“It’s not just visitors,” he said. “It’s locals that keep the trafficking alive.”

Houston has numerous strip joints and massage parlors, Sanborn said, and many make their employees available for sex work. In addition, people seeking sex can go online and hire girls and boys, men and women.

“Across the state of Texas, there are hundreds of illegal massage businesses acting as fronts for human trafficking and sexual exploitation,” the Children at Risk website reports. “These havens for human trafficking are hiding in plain sight. They exist all across our major cities, tucked inside some of our wealthiest neighborhoods. Many can even be found within walking distance of public schools. Children at Risk created an interactive map showing the more than 600 suspected illegal massage businesses in Texas and their proximity to every public school.”

Sanborn said Texas law enforcement agencies have joined the effort to reduce the number of businesses that provide sex workers, and the traffickers who bring new victims into this industry.

“We have more laws in place,” he said. “Now they’re with us. I think we’re turning the corner.”

One sign is the people being arrested, Sanborn said. In previous years 95% of arrests were of the women, not the buyers. Now, it’s 50-50.

He doesn’t want to see laws passed closing businesses that offer people for sale. Instead, Sanborn envisions a world where young men are taught it’s wrong to buy sex and where people are treated with respect and decency.

“I’d rather there was a culture where the strip joints went out of business,” Sanborn said.

He said massage parlors involved with trafficking often are in affluent areas of cities. They usually have pro-police stickers on their darkened windows and doors — but have barricaded entrances. They are open late at night and offer services that reputable businesses don’t.

Children at Risk’s battle against human trafficking is supported by Polaris, a national organization that works to stop this modern-day slavery, as well as United Against Human Trafficking in Houston, Traffick911 in Dallas and other groups.

“We have partners all over the state,” he said. “A lot of churches have grown organizations to help. They’ve been great allies as well.”

During his time at Children at Risk, Sanborn has overseen centers opening in Dallas and Fort Worth, the creation of the Public Policy & Law Center, the Children at Risk Institute, the Center for Parenting and Family Well-Being and the Center to End Trafficking and Exploitation of Children.

He serves as the executive editor of two peer-reviewed, open-access academic journals, the Journal of Applied Research on Children and the Journal of Family Strengths, and is host for the radio program and podcast “Growing Up in America” on the Pacifica Radio Network.

Sanborn sees progress, but he also is aware of the massive problem.

“We have a long way to go,” he said, adding there are many ways people can join the cause.

“Texans need to ask their legislators as well, ‘What are we doing to help stop trafficking?’” he said. “Vote for people who are actively against trafficking. I think just keeping your eyes open, even in your community.”

If you see an older man with a young person, and he seems to be clearly dominating them, that may be a sign of human trafficking. Hair stylists often spot such behaviors, Sanborn said, and emergency room workers and other health care professionals also provide tips to law enforcement and anti-trafficking groups.

Sanborn, 60, said although the job is challenging, even difficult at times, he has no plans to step aside soon. It’s important work that need to be done even with those troubling moments, as sex workers are very frank about what happens to them.

“You become a little desensitized unfortunately,” Sanborn said. “No blushing going on. You separate it from your real life.”

He said although sex workers are victimized in many ways, few are in danger of death, adding, “For a trafficker, that’s like killing your product.” 

But they are forced into a life of sexual abuse, and, sadly, many are convinced their trafficker loves them and provides them stability. That is a major part of the battle when rescuing them.

They will tell police they don’t want to go, and are content with their lives. But Sanborn said once they are free of captivity and able to think for themselves, they are glad to be done with such work.

However, he noted sex workers need support as they emerge from their captivity. Many nations do a much better job of that, he learned while working with documentary filmmakers studying the issue.

“Other countries treat it like it is a long-term thing,” Sanborn said.

When people are not cared for and supported, they relapse into sex work, he said. It’s one thing to punish the traffickers, Sanborn said, but society also must care for the victims and help them build new lives. Otherwise, they remain at risk.