SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (Border Report) — Law enforcement officers and advocates for victims of human and sex trafficking on Monday highlighted the dangers women often face when they cross the border illegally from Mexico.

Discussions about forced labor, sexual exploitation and Texas having the second-most hotline reports for those crimes kicked off the second annual “Conference on Crimes Against Women Summit: Beyond the Bounds” on Monday morning in the border beach town of South Padre Island.

At any given time, over 313,000 people could be victims of trafficking in Texas, conference officials said.

Keynote speaker Joseph Scaramucci, a detective from Waco, told Border Report that holding the two-day conference at the border brings attention to crimes committed at the border.

“When we’re looking at the border it’s an interesting perspective. One of the biggest ones we see is the smuggling of people coming and they’re coming to the U.S. looking for better lives, things like that, but there are vulnerabilities whenever they get here and people are then coming along and exploiting those vulnerabilities. It’s really unique being this close to the border. That I don’t think most places throughout the country get to see that perspective,” he said.

He told participants that women of color are most prone to being trafficked.

A 2011 report by the Department of Justice found that 40% of sex trafficking victims are African-American.

“Policies aimed at focusing on victims are a solid place to start in decreasing sex trafficking,” according to a report by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

Proving coercion or manipulation of the victims is often difficult, and Scaramucci says getting more agencies to work together to solve and prevent these types of crimes is the solution moving forward.

“We all have to work together and that tends to be one of the biggest hurdles that we come across. We get very siloed in our approaches and how we combat certain crimes. And really just taking a step back and coming collectively to the table and being able to go out and investigate these crimes,” he said.

He told participants that children ages 12 to 14 years old are most likely to be victims.

And victims tend to be low-income, migrant workers, those with substance abuse disorders, and those who have previously been victimized.

The 300 conference participants came from 32 states and included prosecutors, police, law enforcement officers and personnel, victims advocates and counselors.

South Padre Island Police Chief Claudine O’Carroll welcomed participants in the opening address and congratulated them for their work.

“The work you do day in and day out is often unseen, yet it is the bedrock for holding these people of these heinous acts accountable,” O’Carroll said.

She told Border Report that she has not witnessed trafficking on this remote barrier island, which is mostly a tourist beach destination with only one bridge over the Gulf to access the island.

But she says there are many border cities in the Rio Grande Valley where women and children are illegally trafficked and brought to work and some illegally made to perform sex acts.

She says she welcomes the conference, which several of her police officers also attended.

“It’s very good training for us locally here that would not have access probably locally to this high-quality training and involved expertise. So we’re excited to be a part of it. It is very beneficial to our area. Of course, us being down on the border it highlights one of the areas we need to be focused on working on in law enforcement and public safety down here on the border,” O’Carroll told Border Report.

“That’s why this training is so valuable for us moving forward because it’s training advocates, law enforcement professionals, prosecutors on what to be aware of and what to look for. And we’re excited to be a part of it,” she said.

O’Carroll said she hopes the conference will return again next year.

Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.