Slavery still exists and is a widespread problem, not only through the world but in Wyoming. Human trafficking, often referred to as modern slavery, involves exploiting adults or children and forcing them to perform acts of labor or commercial sex to make a profit for traffickers.
While many people and organizations work to raise awareness of human trafficking all through the year, extra attention is given to the topic in January, which has been recognized nationally and locally as Human Trafficking Awareness Month.
Green River recognized the month with a proclamation at last week’s city council meeting. Part of the proclamation states: “we must shine a light on this violation of the basic human right to be free from violence and abuse, pledge to ensure every victim knows they are not alone, and foster supportive communities that help survivors seek justice.”
When it comes to raising awareness in Sweetwater County, one of the top names over the last few years has been Christal Martin. Martin founded the nonprofit group Sweetwater Against Trafficking several years ago after she and her family experienced the dangers of trafficking personally.
“Honestly I was one of those naive parents,” Martin said. “My 12-year-old daughter at the time was being groomed and sexually exploited online, and her entire demeanor changed.”
After finding out what was going on and putting a stop to it, Martin began to understand what a problem child sexual online exploitation is and how it is closely connected to the issue of human trafficking. But as she looked for local help for her family, she wasn’t able to find much.
“I started taking a deeper dive into it and realized that Wyoming didn’t have the resources that we needed in order for parents and children to be more aware,” Martin explained.
She also found Wyoming to be lacking in treatment needs for somebody that has been psychologically impacted by similar issues.
“So I decided it was time to stand up and start fighting for Wyoming to have more resources,” Martin said.
Martin and her co-founder April Moreno worked together to start Sweetwater Against Trafficking, which has focused on education and awareness. For the past four years, the group has done presentations throughout Southwest Wyoming as well as educational courses for both children and adults.
Courses run by Sweetwater Against Trafficking start with going over definitions and explanations of human trafficking, child sexual online exploitation and grooming, Martin explained.
Then they discuss issues like consent, recognizing vulnerabilities, and finding safe people to share with. They also use examples based on true stories from survivors and work on coming up with plans for various situations where trafficking-related dangers could come up.
Sweetwater Against Trafficking has also been able to work to address trafficking occurring locally in Sweetwater County, according to Martin. The group has been able to identify and work with seven different individuals that experienced a form of trafficking in their life and conduct case management with them. Sweetwater Against Trafficking also worked with the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Department in April as part of law enforcement training to identify buyers for prostitution, which is often closely tied to human trafficking.
“With I-80 being here, it’s a very easy circuit to run,” Martin said, explaining the prevalence of trafficking moving through and taking place within Sweetwater County.
Knowing human trafficking is a problem that occurs in Wyoming, especially along the interstate, the Wyoming Highway Patrol recently announced it is taking part in a new annual three-day Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative launched by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance.
The initiative is described as an awareness and outreach effort to educate commercial motor vehicle drivers, motor carriers, law enforcement officers, and the general public about the crime of human trafficking, the signs to look for, and what to do if you suspect someone is being trafficked.
“Human trafficking has been proven to be a growing problem in the US and Wyoming,” Wyoming Highway Patrol Commercial Carrier Lieutenant Dustin Ragon said in a press release. “This is why the Wyoming Highway Patrol is assisting in the Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative to bring more light and gain assistance from the public and commercial drivers to reduce the occurrences.”
As more organizations through Wyoming work together to combat human trafficking, some adjustments will be made, but the work will continue. Sweetwater Against Trafficking is getting ready to make changes, according to Martin. The organization under its current title will be shutting down in the future, but Martin and her colleagues will be teaming up with Uprising, a similar group based in Sheridan, in order to continue doing the same education and awareness work they’ve been doing for the past several years.
When it comes to normal people getting involved in the fight against human trafficking, Martin said “education is number one.” There are many books, resources and training courses, like those Sweetwater Against Trafficking and Uprising offer, people can use to educate themselves about the issue. Martin also encourages people to start conversations about the problem of human trafficking — particularly for parents to begin having conversations with their children, no matter how old they are, in order to establish trust and implement safety concerns.
“The more we educate the better we’re going to be able to combat it,” Martin said.
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