Program will highlight the risks and realities of human trafficking
Did you know that January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month? It’s easy to consider ourselves removed from this issue within the comfort of our small, rural communities. On the flip side, it is difficult to process the reality that such a huge violation of human rights would not be blatantly obvious if a victim of human trafficking were standing right in front of us. However, only 1-2% of children who are trafficked will ever be recovered from the dangerous situations they’re forced to be in. The realities of human trafficking are indeed likely to rattle many of our preconceived notions.
Human trafficking by its very nature is shrouded in secrecy and reinforced by threats, fear and control. In addition to the coercive practices of traffickers, the general lack of knowledge and misconceptions surrounding modern-day slavery ensures most trafficking victims are left to suffer in silence, even in rooms full of people. This statement does not ring true due to a lack of care or courage possessed by the people within said room; many of us would jump to help someone we knew was being harmed in this way. One of the biggest issues happens to be that the average person is not well educated on the subtle signs of trafficking. Among those who are well-informed on the subject, most don’t expect to spot them here in Taylor County. The reality? Human trafficking has happened in every county in Wisconsin.
The picture we paint of the “typical trafficker” is about as outdated as the “watch out for the stranger in the dark alley” rhetoric that many of us were raised on. Just like grooming and child sexual abuse, perpetrators of trafficking are rarely strangers forcefully snatching up their victims. The heartbreaking reality, according to MissingChildren.org, is that 41% of child trafficking cases (both sex and labor trafficking) involve a family member acting as the trafficker. Victims of trafficking are not bearing the physical chains we associate with enslavement. Instead, the tactics used by most traffickers are significantly stronger and harder to spot. Whether familial or romantic, “love” is by far the most powerful weapon traffickers use to gain access and control over some of the most vulnerable members of our society today.
To learn more about the heartbreaking realities of human trafficking in America, where it’s estimated more than one million people are enslaved at this very moment, please consider attending a presentation on this topic on Thursday, February 22nd. This opportunity to educate ourselves is free, open to the public and is being brought to us by a collaborative effort between Holy Rosary Catholic Church and Stepping Stones. The event will take place in the Holy Rosary Gymnasium and will begin at 6:30 p.m.
