BILLINGS — Lea Wetzel’s story of overcoming substance use issues and human trafficking now opens up ways for others to see themselves more clearly, as law enforcement and advocates in Montana grapple with a lack of survivor care.
“I know with me, when I spoke up and I got to share what I felt I needed to at the offender's sentencing, it was the most empowering thing I’d ever done, and I think that piece is so important for everybody’s story,” Wetzel said.
Wetzel is a licensed Criminal Justice Certified Behavioral Health Peer Support Specialist and holds several roles in advocacy groups and agencies across Montana, including a coordinator for Big Sky Missing and Murdered Indigenous People.
She now trains people who work directly with others receiving services on compassionate support for people who share her experience.
“When we’re in those situations there’s such a power imbalance and we’re so hard on ourselves, you know. But to know that what you’ve gone through and what you have to say is important and needs to be heard, that just changed the whole picture for me,” Wetzel said.
Wetzel said she experienced intergenerational trauma growing up in the Helena area and began using substances at age 13. She become sober 20 years later.
Her healing journey kicked off a life of work to support others through peer support, education, and advocacy.
She says peer support helped her overcome substance use issues and trauma related to human trafficking, which she says can be hard to recognize.
“I know within my own story, I was two years into recovery before I even knew what human trafficking was, and was able to make that connection,” she said.
She speaks across the state. Her story connects with many, including in Montana’s tribal communities. Wetzel is a descendant of the Blackfeet Nation.
“Sometimes afterwards I’ll have five, six ladies lined up, and I see that look in their eye, like they made that connection," she said.
She works directly with others who share her same story too, helping them to write a new chapter.
“There’s a lot of gaps in support and resources and knowledge of what’s out there. I see a lot of fear to come forward, there’s a lot of fear in what might happen to me if I do say something,” Wetzel said.
Her story serves as an example.
“If someone is still in a world of drugs, of a toxic lifestyle, it's got such a corrupt outlook that sometimes, until we have somebody that’s been that example or gone through it, that we can connect with, we don’t realize how powerful it is to speak up and share,” Wetzel said.
Sharing testimony in court is also key to many successful prosecutions of traffickers.
Attorney General Austin Knudsen says this is challenging when victim services in the state are lacking.
“State of Montana, we’re good at prosecuting bad guys. We’re good at locking bad guys up. But we’re not great about the back side of that, victim’s services, what happens to that victim of human trafficking pending trial, and after trial even,” Knudsen said.
Investigators may put someone who was just pulled out of a trafficking situation into a hotel room for a few days, but he says they often disappear.
“You have to understand, most of these victims have been brainwashed to believe this is their only value, this is the only thing they can do, this is the only way they can create a living for themselves. And so very, very often you see those victims go right back to the life that we just got them out of because it's all they know,” Knudsen said.
The Montana legislature passed House Bill 112 which funded two additional human trafficking investigators and a victim’s advocate during the 2023 session.
That brings the total number of human trafficking investigators to four, covering the entire state.
Knudsen said investigators track trafficking cases in small towns and larger cities across the state. He says their department sees an uptick in incidents during large events, like festivals.
“I do think we’re seeing a sea change at the legislature and within the respective caucuses. I think everyone is understanding this is a much bigger problem in Montana than anyone wanted to admit before,” Knudsen said.
The Montana Division of Criminal Investigation has placed an increasing emphasis on human trafficking in the past decade, from 0 cases in 2014, 23 in 2018, to 106 in 2022.
Changes to the criminal code that passed into law this past session increased penalties for people soliciting sex.
“Mandatory minimums did away with a lot of the misdemeanors. Again, you could solicit sex from a child in this state up to four times, and prior to this session it was a misdemeanor. It was a 500 (dollar) fine and some probation. That’s horrifying,” Knudsen said.
Soliciting sex from an adult or a child is now a first-time felony, with heavier fines, and possible prison time.
While pending trial or after a case is resolved, there aren’t many options for survivors.
“I mean right now, best case scenario, we get them into a non-profit organization treatment program. That really is the best-case scenario in Montana,” he said.
Groups like the HER Campaign in Billings and the Sentinel Project in Missoula offer long-term residential treatment to survivors.
HER Campaign founders say their emergency safe house is the only program of its kind in the state for people leaving a trafficking situation, either through law enforcement or through a hotline.
More from their organization and its efforts to fill the gap in survivor care here: Human trafficking survivor from Billings speaks out, encourages others to get help
