Advocates and legislators discuss human trafficking in Colorado on National Awareness Day
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - With human trafficking becoming a growing problem in Colorado, local and state and organizations gathered to discuss the issue, on National Human Trafficking Awareness day here in Colorado Springs.
The Exodus Road an organization houses in Colorado Springs, helped orchestrate the meeting of legislators and advocacy groups on both the local and state level, on how they can collectively work towards a future of less people becoming trafficked victims.
"We consistently see shortfalls when it comes to issues like training and training our first responders, training for those that are on the ground. We also see limitations when it comes to resources." explained Bob Woolf, the Director of Government Relations and Policy with The Exodus Road.
The roundtable of 18 members discussed topics of training for law enforcement as well as education for lawmakers, and students in schools, to try and tackle the issue from all sides.
"Come together, create those common goals, and really be able to partner together in addressing this really difficult topic." said Bailey Thiry, the Human Trafficking Project Manager for TESSA.
Colorado Springs Police echoed the idea that training on labor trafficking, which consists of forced sex work and other similar acts, would be beneficial for their department, which mostly deals with sex trafficking cases.
"What we really want to get out there is for those juveniles, and that there's a lot of other resources within our community that can help before you get into that type of type of dangerous behavior." explained Lieutenant Mark Chacon with the Colorado Springs Police Department, in regards to at-risk teens who are prone to run away from home without a plan.
In addition, domestic violence groups like TESSA, based in Colorado Springs, reiterate that the number of victims they've serviced have grown in recent years, and so has their team, to work with those cases.
"A number of years ago, survivors started coming in and either self-identifying as human trafficking survivors or were telling their stories. And our advocates were thinking this is different than what we're used to seeing." said Thiry.
It's an issue that the state has also acknowledged, beginning a campaign in recent years to make the problem more visible, including creating a hot-line with experienced professionals to help those who need it. It's a service that the state says has grown in usage.
"It really outlines all the different pieces of what to look for, to think about their situation, and really spells out exactly what the experience would be, to call the hotline so they could feel confident and safe to be able to reach out." explained Maria Trujillo, the Human Trafficking Program Manager of the Colorado Department of Public Safety.
with both senators john hickenlooper and michael bennett in attendance today,
the hopes were to push forward the reauthorization of legislation like the "trafficking victims prevention and protection act" in congress…
reporting live in our newsroom, tyler cunnington, krdo13
we're hosting a webinar on January 22nd at 6:30 p.m.. Go to our website and register for it, and it's in coordination with the Set Me Free project.
