(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Human trafficking is the second-most common criminal activity, behind the illegal drug trade nationwide. Thursday, Jan. 11, was National Human Trafficking Awareness day, which draws attention to this growing crisis.
On Thursday morning, Colorado lawmakers and leaders in the fight against human trafficking in Colorado all came under one roof to combat this increasing concern.
“Today was incredibly important to be able to understand better what’s happening throughout Colorado, but also where the gaps are,” said Bill Woolf, director of government relations and policy for Exodus Road.
Senators John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and Michael Bennet (D-CO), law enforcement and other officials agreed human trafficking is on the rise in the Centennial State and even locally in Southern Colorado.
“It has increased with the amount of vulnerable population that have come into the country and into the state,” said Jo-Ann O’Neil, chair for the Human Trafficking Task Force of Southern Colorado.
Some topics during the round table included awareness and education, which is why Exodus Road has free training on their website.
“It was just really a lot about: ‘How do we educate our community? How do we educate our legislators in regards to — really what the issues are with labor trafficking specific’,” said Lt. Mark Chacon with the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD).
Some discussion centered around education for first responders on human trafficking calls.
“We consistently see shortfalls when it comes to issues like training; training for our first responders and training for those that are on the ground,” Woolf said.
A big piece was education as it pertains to minors, who nationally represent half of trafficking victims.
“Now, we’re ready to go in and really meet educators where they are and make sure they are trained on human trafficking,” said Maria Trujillo, human trafficking program manager for the Colorado Department of Public Safety. “So, that’s how much the eyes and ears of a lot of people who are vulnerable to this crime.”
Trujillo said with educators helping begin the conversation of safety, it could also lead to discussions about caution with internet and social media use. In fact, officials said social media plays a large role in the rise of trafficking of children.
“It’s the conversations of what is safe versus not safe when it comes to communicating with people on social media,” Lt Chacon said. “We do some undercover operations, and so we know that there are a lot of predators that are out there waiting to find a victim.”
Looking ahead, the hope is to also spread this awareness and education to those who can make a difference.
“We need our elected officials to make sure that we have the necessary resources to start to address at-risk issues through prevention, prosecution and protection of those that have survived this horrific crime,” Woolf said.
