Human Trafficking Prevention Month

How Can We Help Prevent Trafficking?

Hannah Swift, Director of Community Outreach

As a human trafficking awareness educator, Human Trafficking Prevention Month is one of my favorite times of year! The increased attention creates a renewed interest and energy in our work, and there are so many exciting opportunities to teach, learn and network with others. 

Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions about child sex trafficking. After a decade of being in the anti-trafficking space, I still hear comments about the movie Taken — people snatching children off the streets and girls being trafficked over international borders. While these scenarios do happen, they are not common.

Human trafficking happens in all 88 counties of Ohio — in urban neighborhoods, rural communities and everywhere in between. Traffickers exploit unmet needs like loneliness, food and housing insecurity, system involvement, lack of positive adult relationships and low self-esteem. Anyone can be a victim of human trafficking. It happens to people of all racial backgrounds, socioeconomic backgrounds, genders, and ages. Trafficking most often happens in the context of relationships. Traffickers can be anyone — family members, friends, employers, teachers, online companions. Traffickers often use the process of grooming to build trust and relationships with their victims, forming trauma bonds that create complex feelings that leave victims feeling stuck in their situation. 

When we focus on the sensationalized stories of trafficking that we see in the media, we risk missing what is happening right in front of us. One young person who was in our services put it this way:

“Gracehaven taught me there are a lot of types of trafficking. When I say I’ve been sex trafficked, peoples’ first thought is wrong — that I was physically forced into a van and taken from state to state. I want people to see that that’s not usually true.”

That is why it is so important that we be informed about the reality of trafficking — so we can recognize the risk factors and help build protective factors that support youth. 

Gracehaven has two upcoming opportunities to equip and inform on this important topic. We invite you to join us!