Cape Cod is ‘ripe for sex, labor, and domestic trafficking,’ says local survivor advocate
Asia Graves, a human trafficking victim advocate, bustled around the Health Ministry pantry on Nov. 20 to organize food donations. Graves, 35, moved to Cape Cod in 2022 and was impressed by the Hyannis nonprofit, which offers free food, health care clinics, and educational health and wellness classes — and a shower for anyone who needs it, Graves said. "Maybe if I had had access to services like this when I was growing up, I wouldn't have fallen through the cracks," said Graves, who was sex trafficked between the ages of 16 and 18. Graves, who lives in Hyannis, is now a member of the Barnstable Housing Committee and advocates for affordable housing on the Cape. Vulnerabilities such as a lack of affordable housing, food insecurity, poverty, family instability, physical and sexual abuse and trauma can all lead to human trafficking, she said, "even on Cape Cod."
